With world-level telekinesis for positioning and instant spatial movement, traveling became almost laughably easy.
Combined with the Authority of Reason, Su Xuan, Ying, and Paimon crossed half the desert in a few flickers.
In the blink of an eye, the three stood before a massive pyramid-like structure buried in golden sands.
Along the way, aside from acquiring the schematics of the giant Ruin Automaton, Su Xuan had also obtained:
The Perpetual Mechanical Array, capable of firing elemental laser beams
And the Everlasting Dragon-Beast, a flying variant resembling a Ruin Drake
By now, nearly every large-scale war machine left behind by Khaenri'ah was in Su Xuan's possession.
"See that?" Su Xuan pointed toward the inverted triangular platform above the structure.
"That's our target—
The Obliteration Matrix left behind by the Scarlet King.
It's located at the very top."
Paimon bounced in midair excitedly.
"So that thing has everything packed into it—optical camouflage, laser arrays, plasma shields—ALL of it!?"
Su Xuan nodded.
Ying lifted her gaze.
The pyramid structure towered beneath a massive inverted triangular platform embedded with a glowing blue energy core.
Sand streamed upward like a waterfall in reverse—endlessly feeding the platform as if gravity itself had been rewritten.
The sight was surreal—beautiful enough to steal breath.
"How… does it manipulate the sand like that?" Ying murmured.
Su Xuan thought for a moment before answering:
"It isn't pulling sand into the tomb.
The energy core is drawing the surrounding sand upward to maintain and reinforce the platform's structure."
"If the internal mechanisms are disabled, the energy core will stop functioning, causing the sand construct to collapse and eventually vanish beneath the desert winds."
"So the sand is acting like a structural lattice…" Ying whispered, eyes gleaming.
Electricity crackled across her palm—tiny arcs dancing in response to her thought.
"It's similar to electromagnetic force—just like the one you gave me.
Electromagnetic power can pull iron filings… this draws sand."
Su Xuan lightly nodded.
"Almost the same principle."
Ying smiled, impressed.
"As expected of technology made from knowledge beyond this world—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Because Su Xuan was staring at her.
Not with admiration.
But with that annoying I-know-what-you-did smirk.
Ying's eye twitched.
"…Don't tell me—"
"Oh yes." Su Xuan folded his arms.
"One fine day, a certain over-enthusiastic yellow-haired traveler marched into the desert with her floating sidekick."
"She accepted a commission in Aaru Village, and in order to 'prove her power,' she bulldozed straight into the Scarlet King's mausoleum."
"She solved every mechanism, climbed to the highest platform—
Saw the Obliteration Matrix…"
"And then dismantled it."
Ying: "…"
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!"
"You said I came with the title of 'Savior from Beyond the Stars'—yet somehow I'm acting like a desert bandit destroying historical relics!"
Technically, she had a point.
A tomb was where someone rested after death.
Marching inside, causing chaos, then dismantling the guardian automaton sounded… questionable.
Su Xuan shrugged.
"Well, this time I'm not dismantling the mechanisms."
"As a construct, the Authority of Reason still works on it."
"I'll copy the full engineering data and leave a teleportation gate here.
If the research team wants it dismantled, they can come and tear it apart themselves."
Ying and Paimon stared.
"You're not just dismantling the guardian construct…" Ying said slowly.
"You're dismantling the entire ancient tomb."
"If the Scarlet King still had a body," Paimon muttered, "he'd probably crawl out and fight you."
With Su Xuan leading, the group bypassed every trap with ease.
And of course—he looted every last Mora hidden inside.
The Scarlet King's elevator was exactly as recorded:
A flawless anti-gravity platform rising and falling at a single switch, requiring no mechanical support.
After touring the tomb and installing a spatial anchor, Su Xuan grabbed Ying's hand and hooked Paimon with the other—
And the trio vanished.
When they reappeared, they stood atop the highest platform.
"...Huh?"
Paimon looked around.
"There's nothing here that can move.
So how did you teleport us—"
"Paimon," Ying sighed, "the Obliteration Matrix can turn invisible."
"It's standing right there."
She pointed.
And as if responding, ripples of light peeled away—revealing the massive floating construct.
Paimon gasped.
"It really WAS hiding!"
The machine resembled a Perpetual Mechanical Array—but larger, sleeker, deadlier.
Before admiration even settled—
Its floating cannon modules swiveled and locked onto them.
Paimon: "???"
"HEY—HEY—WHAT IS IT DOING?!"
A protective telekinetic barrier instantly enveloped Ying and Paimon.
Then—
Beams of white laser shot forward in a grid of death.
The stone beneath Ying's feet melted, punctured into dozens of smoking holes.
"An ambush!?" Paimon shrieked.
"Not exactly." Su Xuan laughed.
"Laser-based attacks are nearly instantaneous."
"They don't rely on explosive power—
They rely on heat so intense it melts matter in an instant."
Ying stared at the weapon, expression dazed.
"…I dismantled THAT?"
The lasers continued sweeping—cold, precise, merciless.
And occasionally, a shimmering diamond-patterned barrier flickered around the construct.
Paimon pointed frantically.
"That shield—!"
Ying's eyes narrowed.
"That's the plasma-like barrier you mentioned before, right?"
Su Xuan nodded.
"Yes."
Ying rubbed her temples.
"How did I even defeat something like this…?"
Su Xuan clapped her shoulder.
"You're you.
Breaking things is practically one of your core talents."
Ying puffed her chest.
"True.
So—should I crush it with telekinesis?"
"No need." Su Xuan lifted one hand.
White lightning crackled—sharp, controlled, clinical.
The entire construct trembled.
The floating cannons fell like dead birds.
And the main core dropped to the floor with a heavy metallic thud.
Su Xuan dusted his hands.
"Electromagnetism."
"For machines relying on metallic structures, it's absolute."
"It can rewrite their programs—or dismantle them instantly."
The diary updated.
[Sumeru's recovered technology ends here.]
[At this point, I've acquired nearly every major Khaenri'ahn war machine blueprint and the Scarlet King's key technological systems.]
[Why gather and distribute these technologies to the nations?]
[Simple—]
[One day, if beings from other worlds arrive and find Teyvat undeveloped, they may treat this land like a primitive relic.]
[Even if we kill them, the humiliation remains.]
[I don't particularly care—but the leaders behind me would.]
Those reading the diary felt warmth bloom in their chests.
He didn't need any of this.
But he did it—for them.
Ying elbowed him, smiling softly.
"You really do care."
Su Xuan flicked her nose.
"I care about you too."
Ying flushed.
Home.
Teyvat—because he was here—felt like home.
Paimon narrowed her eyes.
"Boss, do you already know something about outsiders?"
Su Xuan shook his head, updating the diary again.
[Paimon asked whether I knew for certain that outsiders would arrive.]
[Not necessarily. Unless someone uses advanced dimensional transmission, it's unlikely.]
[But—being prepared is never wrong.]
[After all— someone already fell from beyond the universe.]
[And she arrived later than Ying and Aether.]
[The one known as: Mirror-Sword of Teyvat.]
[Or rather—Skirk.]
Skirk, currently reading—froze.
"...What?"
The diary continued mercilessly.
[Her existence is strange—not a true Descender, but close.]
[She was smuggled into Teyvat by one of the Five Sinners—Su'ltroche—whom Dainsleif hates deeply.]
[To train her, he killed her repeatedly.]
[Honestly, I suspect he's the one who cut off her limbs.]
Everyone: "WHAT?!"
Some mentors raised eyebrows.
Shenhe and Ganyu exchanged looks.
Compared to that?
Their masters were practically motherly saints.
[We'll likely meet her in Fontaine.]
[If she behaves, I may even teach her a sword technique.]
[The one I used when I beheaded Osial—it would suit her.]
Skirk shot upright.
"That technique…
'Illuminate All Currents'...?!"
Her heart raced.
"Fontaine…?
Must it really be Fontaine?!"
[Enough sidetracking.]
[My five-hundred-year-old daughter is waiting for me in the Sanctuary.]
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