Alex stopped in his tracks. With a complicated expression, he turned to Bayeta, who had a slightly crazed look, and said,
"Why bother with so much? Isn't this good? You are also a Scholar; you should have something you want to explore."
Alex took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Do you know? My greatest wish is to have a mechanical factory like this."
"A mechanical factory that belongs only to me, where no one disturbs me, and where I can fully unleash my abilities!"
At this point, Alex clenched his fists and said with emotion,
"I am very humble, so humble that I even feel inferior. I am also very introverted, so introverted that I have few friends."
"But when it comes to mechanics, I have immense confidence! I can tell you this: in my eyes, all the mechanics in the kingdom, every single one of them, are useless!"
"However, my humility made others think I was incompetent, and my introversion kept me from high positions. I could only silently be a researcher and live out my life like that."
Alex thought of his past experiences. He shook his head and continued, "I am a content person. As a researcher, I do a researcher's work. As for my Talents, I pretend they don't exist."
"But now, these Talents have a space to be displayed, and the current situation is so wonderful, so why should I break it?"
Alex was utterly confused. In a sense, he was also an extremely terrifying person. Content with the status quo, whether it was beautiful or painful, real or illusory.
After hearing Alex's words, Bayeta walked around the now motionless robot and once again stood in front of Alex.
She re-tied her hair, which had come loose from her excitement, and quietly said,
"You have your thoughts, and I have mine. You said every Scholar has something they want to explore, and you're right, I do too!"
Bayeta took out a black, muddy substance and placed it in her palm. Looking at the flowing sludge, her face involuntarily showed infatuation, "Look! Such stable Abyss power, such peaceful forbidden knowledge!"
But soon, a look of struggle appeared on Bayeta's face. She squeezed the Abyss lump in her hand and casually threw it away.
"But I know that true Abyss power can't be stable enough to touch with your hands."
"My Talents are good, but in front of the Abyss, these Talents are useless. But even so, I still want to explore."
"I'm not afraid of anything—forbidden knowledge, corruption, the Abyss. Even if I turn into a non-human monster, I can accept it!"
"But the only thing I cannot accept is that the power of the Abyss would become so stable! I want forbidden knowledge from beyond the world, not a docile sheep like elemental power!"
These thoughts had been brewing in Bayeta's heart for a long time. In this false world, she had no one to confide in.
Now, seeing Alex as an exception, she unconsciously revealed everything she had been thinking.
Bayeta patted her chest. Those words had released all the pressure she had accumulated during this time, and now she felt exceptionally relieved.
She looked at the silent Alex and took a few deep breaths. Then she bowed to him.
"Whew! Sorry, Alex, I got too excited just now. Since you think this world is good, I won't bother you anymore. Let's part ways here."
Alex nodded at her words. Just as he said, he liked this world very much. Even if he suspected this world was fake, it didn't affect his life.
Real or fake, in his eyes, there was no difference.
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
Just as Bayeta was about to leave, a crisp round of applause suddenly echoed between the two silent individuals.
Then Yu Jin appeared between Alex and Bayeta.
He had been peeking since Bayeta entered the mechanical factory. He also wanted to know why Bayeta could discover that this world was fake.
However, when he heard Bayeta talk about those "anomalies," he realized that those so-called "anomalies" were all due to his own laziness.
Because Yu Jin found it too troublesome to create a world for each person, he simply threw everyone with similar worldviews together.
But he didn't expect to encounter Bayeta, this stubborn individual. She always noticed details that ordinary people wouldn't. He had been careless.
Why was Khaenri'ah's artificial sun so gentle? That's because Yu Jin knew that in the hearts of the people of Khaenri'ah, the artificial sun was dazzling, not as gentle as the real sun.
Why were the rabbits here the same as those on the surface? That's because the people of Khaenri'ah yearned for everything on the surface; they hoped that what was underground could be the same as what was under the Sky.
However, most creatures created within the Alchemical Academy could not satisfy this. They either had the same appearance but different habits, or different appearances but the same habits.
All of this seemed to tell the people of Khaenri'ah that the underground and the Sky were, after all, different.
As for the Abyss power in this world, that was dead skin Yu Jin peeled off the Deep. It was just a disguise for the Abyss of Teyvat.
For dangerous things like the Deep, Yu Jin definitely had to employ some methods, otherwise, the souls of this world would probably all become the Deep's nourishment.
"A very bold statement." Yu Jin nodded in appreciation to Bayeta. To have such a desire to explore forbidden knowledge to this extent, she was also a madwoman.
Speaking of which, why is the proportion of madmen so high in Khaenri'ah? Could it be that this country is actually Teyvat's mental hospital?
"Yu Jin? Why are you here? Does Katheryne have new information?" Alex had met Yu Jin many times, so his arrival was not unexpected.
He had long suspected Yu Jin's identity, but after confirming that Yu Jin would not affect his current life, Alex no longer cared about Yu Jin's background.
Yu Jin nodded and then shook his head, casually saying, "Katheryne is happy every day; what situation could she have? I'm here for you today with a new task!"
With that, Yu Jin instantly pulled out a pure white Young Dragon.
Then Alex and Bayeta's eyes widened. Because they saw that Durin's figure was illusory—this meant that Durin was currently a soul body!
Cases of souls remaining in the world exist, but since records began, they have all occurred in areas of ley line disturbance. Alex and Bayeta had never seen anything like this, where a soul could directly appear in reality.
If Yu Jin knew their thoughts, he would definitely say that they were overthinking it. Because if you really want to be precise, Alex and Bayeta don't even have physical bodies.
However, it was also true that Durin's will was extremely strong, even though his mindset was similar to a child's.
"Mama… I shouldn't have appeared; I shouldn't have appeared…" The miniature murmuring continued from Durin's mouth, making Yu Jin feel a bit numb.
It was Durin, and yet not Durin; it was more like a wisp of Durin's lingering regret before his death, a wisp of guilt and pure innocence.
But for Yu Jin, it made no difference. After all, he was most familiar with things like souls. Regret and consciousness, to him, were the same.
However, after Durin was stripped from Dvalin's subconscious, he was in this half-dead state, which Yu Jin found exceptionally difficult to deal with.
He really didn't know how to cure depression. After all, he couldn't just hit every mental illness with a personality correction stick, could he?
"Stop crying! Will crying bring everything back? You should become stronger, stronger than anyone else!"
"Strong enough to protect everything, strong enough to reverse tragedies, strong enough to atone for your mistakes!" Yu Jin said, gesturing with his muscles.
However, due to the obstruction of his armguard, it made him look like he was gesturing some unknown sign language.
"Get stronger…" Durin looked up at Yu Jin in front of him and said, "How do I get stronger?"
Yu Jin chuckled at that and said to Alex and Bayeta, "See? I told you you had work to do!"
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