"Grand Sage Idris, you're truly willing to share the Primal Machine God's technology with us?"
Wriothesley's interest was obvious.
This underwater fortress was, in essence, a massive industrial complex. From an engineering standpoint, it had more than enough capacity to construct a Primal Machine God-sized colossus.
And now that their gigantic floating ark was nearly complete, the factory's lines were slowing. They'd been churning out mechanical parts for years; just letting the machines idle felt wasteful.
If Idris really was willing to hand over the Primal Machine God's research framework as a "technical exchange", then the factory would very soon have a brand-new project to devour its capacity.
After all, the Fortress of Meropide wasn't just a prison—it was a city where the inmates enjoyed a surprisingly high degree of freedom. If they didn't have work to burn off their energy, they would cause trouble eventually.
And as for the Primal Machine God itself…
A colossal humanoid war machine?
As a man, Wriothesley couldn't pretend he wasn't tempted.
Idris saw his expression and nodded calmly.
"That's right. As long as what you're secretly building here in the fortress is interesting enough, I can share the Primal Machine God's research data with you on the spot."
That was the advantage of bringing Nahida along as his "secretary."
Nahida was practically a living supercomputer. Her mind stored absurd amounts of high-level data; when it came time to "exchange technology", she could write out entire design frameworks on demand.
Wriothesley nodded, satisfied.
He had plenty of confidence in the project the Fortress of Meropide had been working on all these years—the floating ark.
He also knew he was on the back foot at the negotiating table.
After all, he had to reveal the fortress' biggest secret first before Idris would reveal the Primal Machine God's data.
But really, there was nothing shameful about that.
Even gods and Neuvillette himself had come off worse than Idris in matters of rhetoric. Wriothesley had never intended to fight Idris in that arena.
So once he confirmed Idris was serious about the exchange, he rose, gestured for them to follow, and personally led Idris and Nahida toward the hidden sector of the fortress—
To see the "big project" with their own eyes.
On the way, Nahida linked her mind with Idris'.
"Grand Sage Idris, are you really planning to trade away the Primal Machine God's research data?"
"What's wrong?" Idris replied lazily. "Don't tell me even you, little Miss Kind-Hearted, are suggesting I just steal it instead?"
Nahida shook her head.
"That's not it. I just remember how much effort you put into that mech. You gave it a power source, you had Kaveh design a specialized maintenance hangar, and you even killed Scaramouche just to take full control of it…"
"And now you're… trading away the research data? I just… don't really understand."
"And I still hope you won't resort to killing again if it can be helped."
"The more reckless a person becomes, the easier it is for the Abyss to take hold of them…"
Idris chuckled.
"Relax. I'm not giving them the mech, just part of the research data."
"And in the end, anything already in my hands is just… bargaining chips."
"Humans are always drawn to the unknown, and to reach it, they're willing to pay with the things they value most."
"If a person only clings to their past accomplishments and never trades them for anything new, they stop growing."
"As for killing—" he continued, reaching out to flick Nahida lightly on the forehead,
"That's just a method. I am still a sage. Violence is never my first choice."
"Remember that, little Princess of Wisdom."
Nahida flushed, covering her forehead as she nodded.
A while later, Wriothesley guided them through a concealed passageway.
This time, Idris wasn't at some far-off observation balcony like the Traveler once had been.
He was standing right in front of the massive floating ship itself.
Up close, the thing was overwhelming—an artificial mountain of steel and brass. Just the hull alone was easily the height of a skyscraper back on Idris' old world.
He stared at it, eyes lighting up, unable to suppress the boyish thrill that rose in his chest.
It was like a teenager seeing a real steel battlefleet for the first time.
Wriothesley caught the look on his face and couldn't help feeling a surge of pride.
After all, the man standing beside him was the so-called Human Sage, the pinnacle of mortal intellect. To see that kind of awe on Idris' face was… quite satisfying.
"If it's inconvenient for me to board," Idris said, "can I at least walk a lap around her hull?"
"Of course," Wriothesley replied. "Grand Sage, please—take your time."
Idris walked slowly along the ship's side, one hand resting lightly on the armored plating as he went, feeling Fontaine's mechanical genius condensed into every rivet and seam.
Just from touching it, his mind was already racing ahead—concepts for aircraft carriers, missile destroyers, artillery platforms piling up one after another.
He'd thought about building warships before, but Sumeru was an inland nation. Traditional naval vessels were… impractical.
Floating sky warships, though?
Now that was a different story.
After circling the outside, Idris asked if he could board. Wriothesley knew he couldn't out-argue or out-fight the man, so he simply nodded and made the arrangements.
About an hour later, Idris had finished his tour from bow to stern.
"So," Wriothesley asked, "what do you think, Grand Sage?"
"You seemed quite taken with it."
"Of course," Idris said. "I am the Human Sage—and I'm also still a young man."
"But after walking through it, I noticed something—this ship doesn't appear to have any weapons systems."
"Are you planning to rely entirely on whoever's on board to fight for her?"
Wriothesley nodded.
"Correct. The Fortress of Meropide is its own power bloc. Our status has always been… distinct from the main Fontaine court."
"That alone makes it easy for the nation to treat us as outsiders."
"In that situation, if we unveiled a behemoth like this armed to the teeth, the resulting panic would be… difficult to imagine."
"Besides, this ship was never designed as a warship. It's meant as a way for Fontaine to respond, should the disaster truly come."
Idris found that a bit wasteful.
Such a magnificent hull… and they weren't going to arm it?
Well, that was their choice.
Once Sumeru started building its own floating warships, he fully intended to rectify that oversight.
As for weapons platforms, he already had a direction in mind—Liyue's Guizhong Ballistas.
At this point in the "original timeline", Ningguang and Keqing were already working on improved models. It wouldn't be hard to visit Liyue later and "borrow" some research.
As he mulled this over, Idris turned to Wriothesley.
"Does this ship have a name?"
Wriothesley hesitated, then shook his head.
"I'm afraid not."
"It was inspired by an ancient ship from a bygone Fontaine kingdom, the Fortuna."
"But this vessel itself… has no name. For now, it can't be exposed to the public eye, so there's little point in naming it."
He knew very well—this was an emergency ark, built for a single, critical moment in the future. Until that day came, it had to remain hidden.
Idris chuckled.
"Then you'd better hurry and pick one."
"Otherwise, my country's ship will be finished and christened before yours even has a draft on paper."
"Haha, I don't think it'll come to that," Wriothesley replied, laughing off the jab.
He didn't really believe it.
This single ship had consumed an unimaginable amount of effort, time, and resources from everyone in the fortress. How could another nation just casually replicate that?
Idris couldn't be bothered to correct him.
Instead, he reached out and patted Nahida gently on the head.
She flushed again, but nodded slightly—she knew this routine by now.
A moment later, a broad, leaf-like sheet of paper materialized in midair before her.
Nahida lifted her small hand; divine light flickered at her fingertips, and lines of text and diagrams began etching themselves rapidly into the surface of the leaf.
After ten or so minutes, she finished and passed the "blueprint" to Idris.
Naturally, it wasn't complete.
No one in their right mind would hand over all of their core technology. The data on the leaf contained maybe seventy to eighty percent of the true design—the rest, the most crucial sections, had been… artfully glossed over.
Idris skimmed it, confirmed there were no obvious issues, then handed it to Wriothesley.
The Duke looked it over, and a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Haha. Her Highness' abilities are enough to make every scientist alive burn with envy."
"Fortunately, the researchers who built this ark are all stationed here in the fortress. I'll have them copy our design notes and schematics for you."
"Don't worry—no matter what, you'll have them before the night is over."
Idris smiled lightly.
"Very well. I trust you, Duke Wriothesley."
If Wriothesley did go back on his word, Idris would simply stroll in and "inspect" the sealing formation for the Primordial Sea… in person.
By the time night fell and dinner was over, Wriothesley returned as promised with a stack of schematics and documents, and hosted Idris warmly once again.
His enthusiasm toward Idris was so obvious that Sigewinne, who joined them for the meal, couldn't help being puzzled.
In her mind, the Grand Sage of Sumeru and the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide should have been, at best, polite strangers.
How had they ended up so… friendly in the span of a single day?
Later that night, Idris retired to the Serenitea Pot as usual.
He lay in bed with the Little Dendro Archon in his arms when Nahida finally asked:
"Grand Sage Idris, now that we've collected everything we came for… does that mean this trip to Fontaine is almost over?"
"It does," Idris replied. "Though from the sound of it, you almost seem reluctant."
"I am," Nahida admitted softly. "Once we go back, you'll be buried in work again, won't you?"
"And then… we won't have this much time alone together anymore."
Idris chuckled.
"That may be."
"But even so… we still have to go back eventually."
"After all—that's home."
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