Morning in Takumi's world came softly — artificial sunrise, synchronized HVAC systems, and a city that now pulsed not with chaos, but with routine. Robots cleaned the streets in wave patterns; holographic traffic signs flickered to life; drone deliveries buzzed overhead like quiet, polite bees.
After weeks of nonstop building, Takumi finally leaned back in his villa's balcony chair and exhaled.
It was done.
Not finished — nothing of this scale ever finished — but stabilized.
Schools were teaching.
Homes were occupied.
The Holy Empress had stopped looking like she would faint every ten minutes.
Ganyu had finally eaten three meals a day without collapsing into paperwork.
And Cloud Retainer had yelled at Takumi only twice (a miracle).
But the world was now real.
Alive.
Sustainable.
And now, Zhongli was preparing to leave.
Zhongli's Return & Farewell Ritual
Zhongli appeared in the distance with his usual serene gait, a sack of materials slung over his shoulder and a teapot floating behind him like a well-trained duck. Cloud Retainer followed in human form, humming irritably at a device she was analyzing — a cube that Takumi suspected she had stolen from one of his R&D labs.
Ganyu and the Holy Empress both came out to greet them.
"Mr. Zhongli, shall we open a portal now?" Takumi asked, waving.
Zhongli nodded respectfully.
"Indeed. My explorations have concluded."
Cloud Retainer added, annoyed: "I have catalogued over 74 foreign mechanisms. Your world is an excellent nuisance for technical study."
"Thank… you?" Takumi blinked.
Madame Ping emerged from the teapot in a youthful form, smiling warmly. "Do not mind her. She is simply in a good mood."
"That's her good mood?" Kisara whispered. Miori slapped a hand over her mouth.
Ganyu stepped forward, a little tired but finally at ease.
"Lord Zhongli, everything here is now efficient and stable. You don't have to worry. Takumi-san and the team have things under control."
Takumi coughed at the word "efficient."
He had been slacking a little.
Zhongli placed a hand on Ganyu's shoulder.
"You have done well. Truly."
Then he turned to Takumi.
"You have built a foundation that may outlive empires. Treat it with care."
Takumi smirked.
"That's the plan. Eventually, I'll drag Mondstadt and Liyue over here. Maybe even Inazuma if I'm bored."
Zhongli's eye twitched.
The others froze.
Madame Ping sighed.
Cloud Retainer muttered: "This boy will cause calamity on a cosmic scale."
Takumi grinned.
"Already have."
Chat Group Interlude: Zhongli's Departure
As Zhongli activated his World Travel Talisman, the group chat lit up.
Takumi:
[@Zhongli Old man is heading home!]
[Give him your blessings before he leaves.]
Fujiwara Chika:
[BYEEEE HANDSOME UNCLE!!!]
Sagiri:
[Bring snacks next time!!!]
Bronya:
[Zhongli, please ensure Cloud Retainer doesn't steal world-ending technology.]
Himeko:
[Thanks for keeping the goat alive.]
Ganyu:
[…Himeko-san…]
Akeno:
[Do visit again ~ Ara ara ~]
A small pause.
Even Jean, who rarely spoke, typed:
Jean:
[Mr. Zhongli, I look forward to seeing the new world when I have the points.]
Zhongli closed the chat with a quiet smile.
Then stepped through the portal.
And the Adepti vanished back to Teyvat.
Takumi's World: A Shift in Air
The city felt different the moment Zhongli left — quieter, less mythic, more grounded. A world without gods felt lighter in some ways, heavier in others.
The Holy Empress exhaled.
"I never thought I would say this," she said quietly, "but… I learned a lot from Lord Zhongli. He was stricter than he looked."
Ganyu bowed slightly.
"Thank you for hosting us."
"You're not leaving," Takumi said.
Ganyu blinked. "Eh?"
"You're staying until the whole administrative system stabilizes. Zhongli approved it."
"…He approved WHAT?!"
Takumi grinned.
"You heard me."
Ganyu looked like she might faint but then sighed in resignation.
"Well… at least the cafeterias here have very good vegetarian sections…"
Emergent Crisis: The Ghost Signals
Takumi stretched and prepared to finally go offline for a day.
Then his HUD flickered.
AI WARNING:
Unknown anomalous signals detected in the western ruins.
Energy signature resembles… planetary-scale computational pulses.
Takumi froze.
"What?"
The Holy Empress and Ganyu looked up immediately.
"What's wrong?" Kisara asked, hand on her sword.
Takumi's eyes narrowed.
"Something's waking up."
The room tensed.
Ganyu stood straighter, ears twitching.
Miori approached the hologram.
The scan clarified.
Ancient ruins.
Deep underground.
A dormant superstructure that had been silent since humanity died on this Earth.
Now activating.
Miori Shiba whispered, "What… is that?"
Takumi exhaled slowly.
"It's a network. Not AI. Not human. Something else."
His Herrscher core pulsed.
"Looks like I didn't clear as much of this world as I thought."
Takumi's Internal Monologue: The Godhood Fracture
Something in his chest twisted — not fear, but a ripple of excitement and dread mixed into one.
Another threat? Another system? Another world-scale mystery?
Part of him wanted it.
Part of him ached for new complexity — new puzzles to break, new structures to absorb, new powers to dismantle.
Dark undertones flickered.
Maybe this is what being a god feels like.
He shook the thought off.
Now wasn't the time.
"Alright," he said finally. "We'll treat this carefully. No panicking. No premature exploration."
The Holy Empress asked quietly: "Takumi… do we need to evacuate?"
"No."
He stood and looked toward the distant horizon.
"Just tighten the borders. I'll go check it out alone later."
Ganyu frowned.
"Alone?!"
Takumi grinned.
"I'm the Herrscher of Reason. Structure is my plaything."
But privately—
He could feel an itch in his brain.
A whisper.
Something old was calling.
Group Chat Reacts to the Threat
Takumi:
[@Everyone small update — found a weird underground system waking up. Probably nothing big.]
[Don't worry.]
Fujiwara Chika:
[SAYING "PROBABLY NOTHING BIG" MEANS IT'S HUGE.]
Bronya:
[Takumi. Do not poke energy anomalies alone.]
Sagiri:
[Take Zhongli back! I don't trust you!!]
Himeko:
[If you die, I will resurrect you just to kill you again.]
Ganyu:
[Please listen to Himeko-san.]
Jean:
[Seconded.]
Takumi:
[Relax!! I've got infinite dimensional storage and a cosmic reality-engineering core.]
[Worst case, I'll rebuild myself.]
The chat exploded in NO!!! messages.
Takumi pretended not to see them.
Birth of a Government: The Voting Proposal
Meanwhile, the city's administration team gathered.
Ganyu, the Holy Empress, Miori's father, Muroto Sumire, and the newly appointed heads of logistics and education assembled for a late meeting.
"Takumi-san will be investigating the anomaly," Ganyu summarized. "We must not rely on him to micromanage. We need formal policy."
The Holy Empress nodded.
"With one million new citizens, we must build a system of checks. Not dictatorship. Not chaos."
"And definitely not a Takumi-worshiping cult," Muroto Sumire added, side-eyeing a group of kids who were drawing Takumi's hair spikes on the whiteboard.
So the team began to draft:
A Council of Five (temporary)
A judicial committee
A labor and economic ministry
A standardized ID + citizenship test
A public communication broadcast
And a vote-based citywide feedback system
Ganyu wrote all of it out in perfect calligraphy.
The Holy Empress added clauses.
Miori's father ran simulations.
By midnight, it was done.
A functioning government framework.
Takumi returned home just as they finished. His eyes widened.
"Wow. You guys really built all that while I was gone."
The Holy Empress sighed.
"You left us no choice."
Miori smiled smugly.
"That's what happens when a 'hands-off king' disappears."
Takumi shrugged.
"I was handling a world-ending anomaly."
Ganyu coughed.
"And next time, take at least ONE of us with you."
Takumi raised both hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine."
But he was smiling.
The world was stabilizing.
The government was forming.
The people were adapting.
And something mysterious was waking beneath the western ruins.
Ending Scene: The Whisper
Late that night, Takumi stood alone on the balcony.
The underground signal pulsed again.
A low hum vibrated through his bones — the same resonance he felt from Imaginary Trees and Honkai Seeds.
A voice — digital yet ancient — whispered faintly in his mind.
"REASON…?
…OR REWRITE?"
Takumi exhaled a white fog into the cold air.
"Looks like this world still has secrets," he murmured.
And his eyes glowed faintly with the Herrscher of Reason's blue light.
"Alright then.
Let's dig."