Chapter 40: Curses? If it’s just a matter of willpower, then that’s easy!

The three girls were momentarily stunned by what Takumi had just said. But in the next moment, their eyes lit up. Tina, in particular, seemed to find it hard to believe. "Onii-chan, is it really possible?" She was clearly nervous. The Gastrea Virus. For cursed children like them, it had always been a looming threat. If left unresolved, those with severe corrosion would eventually die. Many children had already reached the brink. And now Takumi was saying he could fix it? "Trust me, alright?" "Your onii-chan is all-powerful!" Takumi said this with full confidence. If he couldn't even handle a little thing like the Gastrea virus, then he might as well go be a farmer. Hearing this, the three girls immediately perked up. "That's amazing!!" "Takumi-oniichan, we'll do anything to help!" Yuju cheered excitedly. "Great~!" "Then let's start with a diagnostic scan." "After that, I'll need to draw a little blood." "Come with me!" With that, Takumi led the girls into another room. Inside were various machines—equipment Takumi had prepared earlier for Muroto Kin's use. He asked the girls to lie down on the scanners and began operating the machinery. He ran a full-body diagnostic on each of them. After a thorough check, he finally got the data he needed. All three had about a 30% corrosion rate. Bushi Cui's was the highest. If left untreated, they likely wouldn't survive more than a few years. Why didn't these children grow up? Because of the corrosion rate. There was no such thing as a cursed child reaching the age of eighteen. Once the scans were complete, Takumi drew a tube of blood from each girl. Even though they were afraid of needles, they obediently cooperated. After he finished, Takumi said to them: "Alright. You can go play now." "I'll get this done as fast as I can." "We'll finally fix the problems with your bodies." Now that he had their blood samples, it was time to get to work. The girls nodded and sensibly left without causing any disturbance. After a quick goodbye, they ran off. Takumi then began testing and analyzing the blood samples from the three girls. Muroto Kin assisted him. After hours of work, by midday, Takumi had finalized the plan. He would create a genetic remedy. The goal was to produce a serum that would complete their damaged genetic code. By nightfall, the drug was complete. After numerous simulation comparisons, Takumi was certain there were no issues. "Alright, let's make arrangements." "Tomorrow, bring in the children with the highest corrosion levels." "We'll test it on them first. Once we confirm it's safe, we'll start distribution." Takumi issued orders to the AI. He also had the factories begin mass production. There shouldn't be any problems. But preparations were still necessary. Upon receiving Takumi's order, the AI immediately filtered through the database. It identified all children close to the critical threshold and arranged for them to be brought in the next day. Robots would be dispatched to pick them up, since many were no longer mobile. Takumi knew this well. Back then, he had simply brought all of them over without even asking for their consent. Thankfully, these children had companions. So tomorrow, they would come together. After all that, Takumi finally called it a day. He informed Muroto Kin and tore through space, returning to his villa. By the time he got back, there were already people at home. Zhongli and a few immortals were in the courtyard, drinking tea. "You're back?" "How did things go?" Seeing Zhongli, Takumi greeted him right away. Zhongli smiled and replied: "Quite fruitful." "I must say, this world of yours has remarkably rich resources." "Here, these are some mineral deposits I found during my travels. They might be useful to you." Zhongli then handed over a map. Takumi blinked in surprise. When the world underwent spiritual revival, it was like a complete refresh of Earth. Humans lost control of many regions, but new mineral veins had emerged. Takumi hadn't paid them much attention though. The mines near the city were more than enough for his needs. Now Zhongli had mapped out all he'd encountered? Curious, Takumi took the map. A glance showed all the locations Zhongli had visited—he had even crossed to the other side of the planet. Takumi scanned the map and uploaded it to the server. He then used satellite data to compare and marked all the deposits on the master map. "Thanks." "Have you picked a place?" "For relocating Liyue, I mean." Putting the map away into imaginary space, Takumi asked. Zhongli paused for a moment, then answered: "Right here is fine." "No need to look further." "If we're truly relocating, I just hope you can reserve a spot where we can build a port." He didn't care where—it just needed to support a harbor. Takumi nodded. "No problem. I'll reserve it for you." It would basically mean building a new Liyue Harbor in Takumi's world. Naturally, he had no objections. If the people of Teyvat could cross over, it would be an enormous benefit. After some small talk, Takumi's gaze shifted to Xiao. "Should we fix his problem too?" Zhongli froze. So did Xiao. "You can fix it?" Zhongli's composure cracked instantly. "The karmic debt—the curses of the fallen Archons—it's basically a tangle of lingering will, right?" "Their thoughts and memories clung to Xiao's body." "It torments him, sometimes to the point of madness." "Like a hundred voices constantly nagging around you. Just hearing it is unbearable." "If it's a matter of will, then it's actually pretty easy for me." Ever heard of the Herrscher of Knowledge? From what Takumi sensed, that's exactly what was happening to Xiao. A mess of will fragments endlessly buzzing. To resolve Xiao's issues, he just needed to purge those remnants. Zhongli's eyes gleamed. "Then I'll leave it to you!" If Xiao could be freed from his burden, that would be the best outcome.