Chapter 15: The Delusion Factory

Chapter 15: The Delusion Factory

That war…

Every corner of it reeked of something off.

Something deliberate.

Take Orobashi, for instance.

The death of Sasayuri, the tengu general, felt less like collateral damage and more like a calculated move to provoke the Raiden Shogun.

And even in his final moment—when Raiden raised her blade—Orobashi didn’t resist.

He doesn’t make a single move to defend himself.

To her eyes, it was as if the serpent god had lowered his guard on purpose, as if he threw himself onto her blade.

Maybe she sensed something that day.

Something that stopped her from wiping out the Watatsumi people entirely.

She let them linger—scattered across the land their god once shielded.

Which brings us to what really matters now:

Orobashi’s remains.

As a being on the level of an Archon, even in death, Orobashi was no ordinary corpse.

His body gave birth to a strange substance—known as archon residue and Crystallized Marrow.

And these—

These are key ingredients in the creation of Delusions.

When Bai Luo had first arrived in Inazuma, Ah Qi had brought up the existence of the Delusion Factory.

But the facility had been overseen by the Doctor himself.

Even though the Doctor wasn’t currently stationed in Inazuma, Bai Luo had never once tried to meddle.

It wasn’t just out of gratitude—though yes, the Doctor had helped him once.

More than anything, Bai Luo simply didn’t want to get involved with Delusions.

That stuff was way too unnatural for his taste.

“You’ve only just become an executive. The Delusion Factory’s operations aren’t something you’re qualified to manage yet.”

Scaramouche didn’t bother hiding anything.

It wasn’t so much a matter of trust, but rather protocol.

Bai Luo had never been trained for it—he didn’t even know how the facility worked.

So putting him in charge?

Not realistic.

“Then… what about the matter of the Gnosis?”

Bai Luo asked, probing a little further.

If he remembered the plot right, Scaramouche was supposed to secretly trade for the Electro Gnosis from Yae Miko, betray La Signora, and then go rogue.

After that, Tartaglia would chase him all the way back to Inazuma.

Scaramouche would defeat him and deliver him to the World Government as tribute.

Tartaglia’s brother, Teucer, would break into the underwater prison with a team of rogue inmates to rescue him.

In the climactic moment, Tartaglia would take a fatal blow from one of the Three Admirals to protect his little brother.

And in the aftermath, as the battlefield burned, the Tsaritsa herself would cry out:

"The One Piece... it's real!"

Wait…

Something about that last part didn’t feel right.

“I already told you,” Scaramouche said flatly,  “I won’t interfere with your assignments.”

He was still patient—but that was probably only because he was in a good mood.

After all, he was finally back in his homeland.

Back where he could annoy his ‘dear mother’ to his heart’s content.

Let the newbie take the heat for now.

Let him draw the attention away.

“Then, as a senior… would you care to offer this junior a few pointers?”

Bai Luo said it without an ounce of shame.

He had no problem calling Scaramouche “senpai.”

Because titles aside, Scaramouche was his senior—in age, in experience, in ruthlessness.

Scaramouche looked like he wanted to brush him off.

But something flickered in his eyes. A memory, perhaps.

And in the end, he changed his mind.

“Fine. Just one thing.”

“The one in Tenshukaku... may not be the real Raiden Shogun.”

The brim of his wide kasa hat tilted up just enough to reveal a glimpse of his face.

Soft. Youthful. Almost delicate.

But that gentleness was shattered by the glint in his eyes—Eyes that gleamed with cruelty and cunning.

The eyes of a lone wolf.

And wolves are dangerous.

But a lone wolf—That’s when things get truly savage.

Once a wolf breaks away from the pack, courage alone won’t cut it.

It takes cunning—and plenty of it—to survive the brutal laws of nature.

“……”

Bai Luo’s blank, slightly confused expression seemed to satisfy Scaramouche.

With a self-satisfied nod, the latter downed the last of his warm tea, leaving Bai Luo in a quiet crisis of existential thought and strode off toward the Delusion Factory on Inazuma’s mainland.

Unbeknownst to him, Bai Luo had one thought in his mind.

“No shit, Sherlock!”

Sure, to some, that bombshell he dropped about the Raiden Shogun might’ve been huge.

But for Bai Luo?

That news still didn’t compare to knowing her cup size.

Now that the cards were on the table, there was no reason to linger on Ritou.

Following the original plan, he had a brief meeting with the head of the Kanjou Commission, covering some superficial talks about “cooperation.”

A few days later, after wrapping things up, he prepared to leave the port town.

At Ah Qi’s arrangement, he boarded a carriage bound for Inazuma City.

Now, Bai Luo might be one of the most indulgent of all the Fatui Harbingers.

While his peers preferred moving alone, stealthy and swift, he had no problem with doing things they considered beneath them.

Take, for example, riding a carriage.

Only, the thing pulling it wasn’t a horse—but one of Teyvat’s most common elemental creatures: an Anemo Slime.

It bobbed up and down under the reins’ guidance, wings fluttering like tiny fans.

The initial ride had been a bit jerky, sure. But after a while, Bai Luo actually found it… kind of charming.

He glanced outside at the shifting landscape, letting out a soft chuckle as he watched the little slime work itself to exhaustion.

Compared to the frost-bitten greys of Snezhnaya, Inazuma’s colors were downright extravagant.

He hadn’t really noticed during the nighttime, but now—under the daylight—he couldn’t help but admire it all.

Those crimson maple leaves, vibrant in the sunlight…

They brought to mind that ancient line of poetry:

“I stop the carriage, loving the maple wood in the evening.”

Of course, if that line had said “I stopped to do someone under the maple trees,” maybe the image would be even more… aesthetically compelling.

Sadly, as the cart moved away from Ritou and into Narukami Island, the scarlet foliage gave way to lush greens.

Here and there, strange flowers shimmered even under the daylight—faint glows of power clinging to their petals.

Rustle... rustle...

From time to time, the sound of shifting branches echoed from the forests nearby.

Each time, it was accompanied by something ordinary: the flap of a bird’s wings, or the rustle of a tanuki tail.

To the average onlooker, nothing seemed out of place.

But Bai Luo knew better.

Those were Shuumatsuban agents, no doubt sent by the Yashiro Commission.

That Kitsune girl…

She had her eyes everywhere.

“Guess I should set up a meeting with her soon.”

He let the carriage’s curtain fall, blocking out the world.

Then leaned back, eyes closing slowly.

Thinking.

Scheming.

Planning.

The ride went without major incident.

Once inside Narukami Island, the kind of exploitation found in Ritou was no longer so blatant.

Plus, the guards at the checkpoints were mostly from the Kujou Clan, under the Tenryou Commission.

The Tenryou were no pushover like the Kanjou, but even they couldn’t entirely resist Fatui influence.

So when the guards saw the distinctive Fatui emblem on the carriage, they didn’t say much.

A few turned a blind eye.

A few looked away altogether.

Either way, the path opened without resistance.

And so, Bai Luo smoothly passed through the gates, leaving Ritou behind.

Before him now stood the grand beating heart of the Electro Nation—Inazuma City, capital of the land of eternity.