Raiden Ei hesitated. Her missing memories likely tied to the erased data in Thunderous Yougou Divine Machine. Even with her highest clearance, deletions left hardware traces, and her tech expertise could restore them. Sensing Reisen Riou's return to Inazuma City, she relaxed slightly. The data came from him, no doubt. Why wasn't he affected? She held off, wary. Raiden Makoto seemed to know something but stayed silent, unusual for sisters who shared everything. This secrecy fueled Ei's unease.
Reisen Riou, oblivious, slept soundly, viewing Thunderous Yougou Divine Machine as a trusty external brain. Teyvat's honest folk—especially a figure like Ei—wouldn't snoop, right? Wrong. Thunderous Yougou was an evolved version of his One System, Ten Thousand Minds, complete with a mind-reading feature tied to Ei's brain, a flaw of his own design. Luckily, he remained unaware. To avoid the memory-altering data, Ei stopped reading his thoughts unless critical.
For Reisen Riou, armed with 'future' knowledge, life didn't change outwardly, but he planned in secret. His awkward position—knowing Teyvat's doom via Khaenri'ah's war—made warning Inazuma's leaders tricky. Raiden Makoto, per his game memories, planned her death, heading to Khaenri'ah alone, leaving Ei to guard Inazuma. But Ei, sensing Makoto's fall, followed, arriving too late. Makoto died, and Inazuma was ravaged—Yae Miko consumed by dark calamity, the Sacred Sakura barely containing it, and Torachiyo, polluted, went mad. Ei, as Raiden Shogun, quelled the disaster, but Torachiyo shattered her blade, fled, and was later slain by her kin.
"It's a mess," Reisen Riou muttered. "But I can influence things indirectly."
Plan A: Bolster Makoto's martial prowess. She excelled in spellcraft but lacked in combat, unlike Ei. Strengthening her to Ei's satisfaction would keep Ei in Inazuma, preventing her pursuit to Khaenri'ah. He'd nudge her via Thunderous Yougou Divine Machine.
Plan B: Boost Inazuma's high-tier forces. Hundreds of Hatamoto samurai, not dozens, were needed, alongside more Gokenin and Konshin. Doubling numbers was infeasible—Inazuma's militarized economy relied on foreign aid. Instead, he'd raise quality. A LV30+ Hatamoto consumed 1.2 times the food of a LV20+ samurai but could defeat a squad of Ashigaru and three LV20+ samurai, thanks to LV4 combat skills honed through rigorous battles. Shrine maidens followed suit.
Plan B's hurdles were steep: scaling One System, Ten Thousand Minds and Thunderous Yougou Divine Machine systems for mass use and funding the resources to elevate samurai and maiden Life Levels. Small numbers were manageable, but scaling up was ruinous. Inazuma's economy couldn't sustain it without richer local resources.
His solution: a Shogunate-Akademiya partnership to transform Inazuma's ecosystem, a prime research topic for Sumeru's Amurta School. Spanning a century or two, it promised ample funding, sites, and resources, enhancing Inazuma's self-sufficiency.
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