Chapter 142. Can't Outrun This Position
In the end, Futsu Mitama still couldn't escape his fate as the Acting Dendro Archon.
The reason was simple: the Irminsul materials were being used up too quickly. In less than two days, the Irminsul materials in the hands of Zhongli, Raiden Ei, Albedo, and others were all gone.
They collaborated on research and trial-and-error, achieving some results, but it wasn't enough.
More Irminsul materials were needed.
So Maha Rukkhadevata and Nahida directly resided within the Irminsul. They could use their abilities to both restore the Irminsul and extract materials from it.
Simply put, they were simultaneously restoring the Irminsul and taking Irminsul materials, which kept them incredibly busy.
Futsu Mitama, on the other hand, was completely bewildered.
He temporarily moved into the Akademiya and, following Maha Rukkhadevata's instructions, summoned all current high-ranking officials of the Akademiya.
For example, the other two imprisoned Sages, and respected seniors from other schools.
And also outstanding talents from the Akademiya such as Cyno, Alhaitham, Faruzan, Layla, and so on.
Even Tighnari, who had run back to Gandharva Ville, was forcibly brought back by Futsu Mitama.
Sumeru is currently in dire need of talent, and you must return for the meeting!!
The current high-ranking officials of the Akademiya were all bewildered, and some were even afraid. They wondered if Futsu Mitama was planning a post-mortem reckoning.
Because in all previous actions, if Lesser Lord Kusanali hadn't appeared and only Futsu Mitama had, it would mean he was about to wield his sword to punish others.
Some Scholars who hadn't participated in the God Creation Project but had assisted Azar and other Sages thought that their misdeeds had come to light and that he was here to settle accounts.
After everyone had arrived, Futsu Mitama directly announced the news.
He stated that he would temporarily manage Sumeru on behalf of Lesser Lord Kusanali.
Upon hearing this, the two Sages and other Scholars were stunned. In that moment, a terrifying thought even arose in their minds.
Was Futsu Mitama finally dropping the pretense and preparing to forcefully occupy Sumeru?
But before their misunderstanding could deepen, Futsu Mitama took out two Irminsul leaves, which transformed into the likenesses of Maha Rukkhadevata and Nahida.
Of course, Maha Rukkhadevata here was in her youthful form. Otherwise her current appearance, identical to Nahida, would easily cause misunderstandings among the Akademiya Scholars.
To avoid such unnecessary misunderstandings, Maha Rukkhadevata's image naturally had to be altered.
What was the purpose of the meeting?
Naturally, it was to clean up the mess and formulate Sumeru's future plans.
The relationship between the Rainforest and the Desert needed to be restored. They were once allies; 500 years ago, when facing disaster, they united to fight against it.
But 500 years later, the relationship between the Rainforest and the Desert had deteriorated significantly, even forming a hierarchy of contempt.
For example, the Rainforest Scholars believed that the people of the Desert were all barbarians, knowing nothing but fighting and killing.
But they truly had no choice. There was nothing in the Desert, so to develop, they had to go to the Rainforest.
However, the Akademiya in the Rainforest was powerful, and its Scholars discriminated against the Desert citizens, making it difficult for them to acquire knowledge, not to mention other resources.
This also led to most of the Eremites in the Desert choosing a life of danger.
Some ambitious individuals left Sumeru to develop in other nations, but most of them faced considerable hardship, with only a few managing to succeed.
Besides the situation in the Desert, the overall research atmosphere in Sumeru City was too singular.
It was rigid for the sake of rigidity, completely inflexible, which was also the reason for the stagnation of Sumeru's wisdom for 500 years.
In Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma, festivals could be varied, and people had many daily entertainments.
For example, in Mondstadt, there were specialty drunkards, the idol Barbara, and Bards.
There were also Liyue storytellers, unique teahouses, singing, novels, and so on.
Inazuma, not to mention, had Yae Publishing House's famous light novels, and even recently started serializing manga and so on.
Sumeru? Nothing! Only Akademiya Scholars! Everything was extremely, extremely serious!
This seemed overly serious. Coupled with the ease of acquiring knowledge through the Akasha, the overall standard of the Akademiya rose significantly, but fewer and fewer things were invented.
Currently, the Akademiya has many assembly-line elites, but only a few true geniuses worth mentioning.
Maha Rukkhadevata immediately saw that this was related to the overall atmosphere of the Akademiya.
To change the current Akademiya, a change in its ethos was crucial.
Therefore, entertainment projects were indispensable.
Besides these two projects, there was another important project: the funding issue!
Yes, the funding issue was quite significant. Yesterday, after Nahida took over a myriad of Akademiya affairs, she discovered that the most severe problem was funding.
Due to the God Creation Project, the Akademiya was currently facing a deficit crisis.
Scholars' research needed mora, promoting the two aforementioned plans also needed mora; in short, every aspect required mora.
The fact that the Akademiya could create Shouki No Kami, in just half a year shows where so much funding went.
Creating something that could rival a 'Archon' certainly required unimaginable resources, and after Azar and other Scholars died, this mess naturally fell to Nahida.
And Nahida was currently busy with Maha Rukkhadevata concerning the Irminsul, so now it was Futsu Mitama's turn to temporarily deal with this headache.
Fortunately, after the phantoms of Maha Rukkhadevata and Nahida appeared and had a brief conversation with the Akademiya Scholars, the situation improved.
The general content was that Maha Rukkhadevata was teaching Lesser Lord Kusanali various knowledge, and they were simultaneously addressing the Irminsul's crisis.
Therefore, Sumeru and the Akademiya would temporarily be managed by Futsu Mitama, and the Akademiya would be responsible for assisting him.
If there were any suspicions of deception, using public office for private revenge, or acting superior due to seniority, the minimum punishment would be the deprivation of their Scholar status.
But compared to the threat, these Akademiya Scholars were incredibly excited at the moment.
Most of them bowed deeply to Maha Rukkhadevata and Lesser Lord Kusanali to express their excitement.
Maha Rukkhadevata!! This was Maha Rukkhadevata!!!!
Although Lesser Lord Kusanali had established her authority not long ago, the appearance of Maha Rukkhadevata brought tears to the eyes of these Scholars, as if their lives had found meaning.
Because they knew everything Maha Rukkhadevata had done through the Akasha and various Akademiya records.
Compared to Lesser Lord Kusanali, Maha Rukkhadevata was the God of Wisdom in their hearts.
The original intention of the God Creation Project was also to create an omniscient and omnipotent deity almost identical to Maha Rukkhadevata.
Now, the phantom of Maha Rukkhadevata appeared, stating that she was teaching Lesser Lord Kusanali and also helping to resolve the Irminsul crisis.
Doesn't this indicate that Maha Rukkhadevata will return in the future?!
Upon learning this news, the Akademiya Scholars, who were already unable to resist Futsu Mitama, now raised both hands and feet to agree to the plan.
Because they themselves knew in their hearts that the current Akademiya and Sumeru were truly too lacking.
They couldn't compare to 500 years ago. Before Maha Rukkhadevata and Lesser Lord Kusanali returned from the Irminsul, they had to deal with these messes.
And so, all high-ranking officials of the Akademiya worked together wholeheartedly. Even Alhaitham, who wanted to slack off, quietly closed his book, revealing a helpless expression.
Because now he couldn't slack off. His current efforts were for better slacking off tomorrow.
Tighnari, seeing the Akademiya Scholars united in their intention to change Sumeru, seemed to be somewhat moved. If the academic atmosphere had been like this back then, he wouldn't have gone to Gandharva Ville to be a Forest Ranger so early.
But now, his heart was already rooted in Gandharva Ville, and coming to Sumeru City was merely because of a shortage of manpower and the need for his help.
Thus, personnel from all factions of the Akademiya were mobilized. Even Matra cadres and Thirty core members were summoned to begin various operations.
Kuki Shinobu and Sangonomiya Kokomi also voluntarily offered to help.
Shenhe—she knew she wasn't cut out for this kind of work, so she chose to remain silent. She stated that if anything required force to resolve, she could handle it.
—
"Sigh~~ I remember I was only here to handle problems."
In the Great Sage's office at the Akademiya, Futsu Mitama sighed. He looked at one document after another, appearing particularly helpless.
But his work didn't slow down. He quickly read through document after document, then distributed them to different people based on the size and severity of the matter.
In the Great Sage's office, besides Futsu Mitama, there were Aila, Black Aila, Kuki Shinobu, and Sangonomiya Kokomi.
And also... Layla and Faruzan, these two Sumeru Scholars.
When handling affairs in Sumeru, without the help of local Scholars, progress would slow down significantly.
Moreover, Layla and Faruzan knew a great deal, so having them work together greatly reduced his own pressure.
Aila, Black Aila, Kuki Shinobu, and Sangonomiya Kokomi, the four of them were highly capable.
Aila was Yae Miko's favored successor for the next Grand Narukami Shrine Chief Priestess, so her competence was naturally not weak.
Furthermore, Futsu Mitama usually went out without his brain, relying entirely on Aila and Kuki Shinobu as his external brains.
Black Aila goes without saying. She is Aila, possessing all of Aila's memories, and moreover, in Snezhnaya, she almost became a Fatui Harbinger.
It should be known that Fatui Harbingers are not weak. Besides absolute strength, a certain level of wisdom is also necessary.
Tartaglia might seem naive, but in reality, his work ability is also very strong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been favored by Zhongli and the Tsaritsa.
Kuki Shinobu and Sangonomiya Kokomi need no further explanation.
One is known in the Chat Group as the "mini omnipotent" existence, second only to Mr. Zhongli.
The other is the supreme leader of Watatsumi Island, and she was jointly trained by Raiden Makoto and Yae Miko, making her extremely capable.
"No choice, you promised Maha Rukkhadevata after all,"
Shinobu said calmly. She took one document after another and began to review them.
Kokomi also processed the documents in her hand, then chuckled.
"This is quite a long time coming. It seems I haven't been this passionate since the Resistance disbanded."
Saying this, Kokomi handed a document to Layla beside her, smiling.
"Are you very sleepy? Would you like a piece of candy from me? It has a refreshing effect~"
At this moment, Layla looked as if she hadn't woken up, appearing drowsy, but in this state, she processed things very, very quickly.
It was as if there was another highly efficient entity within her.
But upon hearing Kokomi's words, Layla's expression was a bit hesitant. But she seemed to have thought of something and quickly shook her head, saying it wasn't necessary and that she didn't eat candy during work!
Seeing Layla say this, Kokomi didn't insist, but revealed a smile of unknown meaning.
Looking at Layla, who wanted to sleep so badly but couldn't and had to keep working, she seemed to see her past self.
At that time, she was working day and night, dealing with all aspects of the Resistance.
Now she could slack off a bit. After all, everyone else was working, so a little laziness wouldn't be a huge problem.
At the same time, Kokomi also knew very well that if Layla didn't eat the "candy," she would probably fall into a deep sleep before long.
Hmm~ Kokomi had plenty of experience with this!!!
At that time, she was so sleepy that she even typed "ZZZZZZZ~~~" in the Chat Group.
—
"For entertainment, are we only temporarily supporting Nilou's Zubayr Theater?"
At this moment, Faruzan looked up and asked Futsu Mitama.
She understood Sumeru City very well, knowing that the common people's entertainment methods, besides daily chatting, mostly consisted of going to the Zubayr Theater to watch Nilou dance.
Nilou held an unimaginable status in the hearts of Sumeru's common people.
Because not only was she beautiful, but her dancing was also excellent. If it weren't for the Akademiya's strict suppression of entertainment, then many Akademiya Scholars would surely go to the Zubayr Theater to watch Nilou's dance.
"What else?"
Futsu Mitama picked up a document, glanced at it briefly—it was about matters concerning the Desert—and then handed it to Aila and Black Aila.
Matters concerning the Desert were naturally handed over to Aila and Black Aila to handle.
Faruzan stood up and took a look. It was about the Desert knowledge promotion plan, and also the feasibility of turning the Eremites into Sumeru's armed forces.
Of course, this plan had a major problem: a lack of mora and Scholars willing to go to the Desert.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in,"
Futsu Mitama called out, then put down his work and looked towards the door.
An older Sage walked in. He was the Sage of the Amurta school, also Tighnari's mentor, Naphis.
He was a Scholar who disagreed with the God Creation Project and was also the Sage whose emotions were most agitated after seeing the phantom of Maha Rukkhadevata.
"Lord Futsu Mitama,"
Naphis bowed slightly to Futsu Mitama, then looked at Futsu Mitama and said,
"Regarding a plan to acquire mora in a short time, we already have an idea."
"We just don't know if it's feasible. I hope you'll take a look."
Saying this, Naphis took out a freshly written document and handed it to Futsu Mitama.
Futsu Mitama glanced at it, then hesitated.
"Is this perhaps not quite appropriate?"
But Naphis shook his head slightly, his expression remarkably calm, as if to say, "This is nothing at all."