Everyone agreed with Nolan's idea—especially with the added benefit of a skill that could enhance everyone's thinking ability.
However, building such a massive academy wasn't something that could be decided on a whim.
Concrete execution plans, funding, site selection, design, and many other details all needed discussion and arrangement. Once those were settled, the actual construction would proceed very quickly.
After all, with the aid of elemental power, construction speed far surpassed that of modern building tools.
"Alright, hurry up and let me go."
After struggling repeatedly to no avail, Faruzan could only bury her flushed face against his chest and speak in a soft, gentle voice—almost like she was acting coquettish.
"Then let's head back and meet up with Dehya and the others."
Nolan smiled. The affection skill had been given, and her body had also been slightly enhanced, raising her level to seventy.
Any more than that and she wouldn't be able to digest it—better to continue another time.
With a single thought, the two vanished from where they stood. When they reappeared, they were already back in Aaru Village.
After a period of development, Aaru Village had changed quite a bit.
For example, there was now a hardened road directly connecting to Caravan Ribat, as well as rows upon rows of windbreak walls encircling the entire village.
Trees had also been planted between the walls.
As a result, Aaru Village was now largely unaffected by sandstorms. However, most of the villagers were busy planting trees, so the village's overall development was still somewhat lacking.
The main issue was the limitations imposed by the desert environment—there simply weren't many industries that could be developed.
Fortunately, those two guys, the "Doctor" and the "Balladeer," had been collecting the residual authority of the King Deshret at the Mausoleum of King Deshret.
Once the influence of the King Deshret's lingering power was completely removed, Nahida would be able to use authority to change the environment here. At that point, turning the desert into an oasis would no longer be just a dream.
Of course, while the desert looked barren, it was actually an important part of the world's ecological system.
Just as rainforests had flora and fauna adapted to rainforests, deserts naturally had their own as well.
Deserts also contained dust rich in nutrients such as phosphorus. Winds could carry these into the rainforests—without them, the rainforests wouldn't be able to thrive.
Scholars had also discovered through research that arid desert conditions were beneficial for the formation and accumulation of certain minerals.
Such as gypsum and potassium.
Therefore, turning the desert into an oasis didn't mean erasing the desert entirely.
It simply meant planting trees and greenery in inhabited areas, so the people living there wouldn't have to worry about sandstorms.
This was already being done now—Aaru Village was a prime example.
However, because the influence of the King Deshret's power hadn't been fully eliminated yet, plant survival rates were still relatively low, even with the aid of Dendro elemental energy.
That was why Aaru Village's sand-control projects had progressed rather slowly. Still, after several months, the results were quite encouraging.
As Nolan and Faruzan walked toward Candace's home, these thoughts passed through his mind.
Judging by the village's current state, the guardian of Aaru Village was clearly very concerned about its future development.
Nolan felt that if he could help her in this area, he might be able to gain a substantial amount of affection.
With that in mind, the two soon arrived at the Guardian's Residence, where they saw Dehya, Dunyarzad, and Candace standing at the entrance.
"You're back! How was the trip to the secret realm? Did everything go smoothly?"
Dunyarzad asked with a smile.
"It went very smoothly. We achieved all the main objectives,"
Nolan nodded.
Faruzan obtained the "Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network," and Nolan successfully maxed out her affection and gained an affection skill.
They had indeed accomplished everything they set out to do.
"That's good to hear. Dehya and I walked around the village for a bit and got a little tired, so we came to visit the guardian of Aaru Village."
Dunyarzad continued.
"It's been a while, Mr. Nolan."
At this moment, Candace also stepped forward to greet him.
"It has been a while, Candace," Nolan replied, then smoothly shifted the topic. "Aaru Village has changed quite a lot recently. There should be many merchant caravans coming here to do business, right?"
"Yes. Thanks to the Lesser Lord Kusanali's benevolence, the living conditions in Aaru Village are indeed much better than before."
Candace nodded.
Back when the Akademiya was controlled by the Grand Sage, Aaru Village had been treated as a place of exile for mad scholars.
No one cared about it at all—whatever they wanted to do, they had to rely entirely on themselves.
That wasn't necessarily terrible. Despite being in a desert environment, they were still within a peaceful nation, so basic survival wasn't an issue.
But improving everyone's quality of life was another matter entirely.
The desert lacked water resources, making agriculture impossible. Animal husbandry couldn't develop either. No one came to sightsee, so tourism was out of the question.
Only the village's land was barely passable—not all sand. With limited water resources, they could still grow some crops, just enough to keep the village fed.
On top of that, some villagers would venture into the desert to collect specialties and trade with passing caravans. That was how the village managed to survive.
After the Lesser Lord Kusanali removed the Grand Sage from power and learned of Aaru Village's difficulties, she initiated sand-control projects and provided funding and material support.
This greatly improved the village's conditions.
However, Candace knew very well that Aaru Village's productivity was still quite low—nowhere near enough to sustain its current standard of living on its own.
That meant the Akademiya would have to keep supporting it indefinitely.
While it was normal for a nation to subsidize less-developed regions, relying on such support forever made them seem… useless.
Candace felt a trace of unwillingness because of this.
Nolan could see it too—behind her joy at the villagers' improved lives, there was a complex, unspoken emotion.
Just as he had guessed.
Thinking this, he smiled and spoke up:
"Candace, do you have any ideas for Aaru Village's future development? If it involves heavy labor like leveling mountains or diverting seas, I might be able to help."
Nolan only had a rudimentary understanding of politics and commerce.
Take the Sweet Flower Merchant Association, for example. Everyone knew that joint management by several nations, with shared benefits, was a good idea.
But only Nolan could actually make it happen—because the rulers of multiple nations trusted him completely.
That level of trust made such close cooperation possible, as if they were all one nation—treating each other as themselves, with no conflicts of interest, everyone willing to take a step back.
From a purely commercial cooperation standpoint, no matter how much time was spent, such depth would never be reached.
The so-called "Sweet Flower Merchant Association" would remain nothing more than a fantasy.
All Nolan had to do was maintain good relationships with leaders like Jean, Ningguang, and Ei.
Once they became his wives, they truly would be family—and when family benefited, no matter which nation it was, the final beneficiary was still himself.
Of course, he wasn't particularly strong in business matters. But when it came to construction or environmental transformation—
Nolan dared to say that in this regard, he was the top master in all of Teyvat, without equal.
"Mr. Nolan, you jest. What mountains or seas does the desert even have… mm?"
Candace initially thought he was joking, but then she recalled the countless feats of Nolan she had heard about on the "Akasha Internet Network"…
For him, splitting mountains and diverting seas really did seem like a trivial matter. If she were to ask him to draw a river from that massive lake to the north, near Fontaine, then Aaru Village would never lack water again.
Even using it to grow crops would pose no concern about water shortages.
The only question was whether doing so would affect the surrounding environment. After all, this was desert terrain—what kind of consequences might arise if large volumes of water surged in and mixed with sand was hard to predict.
But if it were possible, this would be a chance to completely change the village's fate.
For a moment, Candace hesitated, unsure whether she should speak up.
"Is there some difficulty? You can tell me about it," Nolan said, seeing that she seemed tempted but still harbored concerns.
"…Yes."
Candace voiced her worries.
"Uh…" Nolan rubbed his cheek. He honestly didn't know what would happen if a river connected to a lake were dug through the desert.
If he used Geo element hardening, it definitely wouldn't be a problem—but that would take quite a bit of time.
Still, it wasn't as if there weren't better options—ones that would have minimal, almost negligible, environmental impact.
Smiling, Nolan said to Candace:
"That's simple. I can set up a teleportation array in the lake, and another one in the village. Then the lake water can just flow directly through space to here, right?"
The adeptal formations Ganyu knew included spatial types, and through affection-skill sharing, Nolan naturally knew them as well.
This way, it would only require setting up two small formations, with virtually no impact on the environment.
"Can… can that really be done?"
Candace's eyes lit up with joy. If it could be done this way, there would be no need to worry about causing any additional damage.
"Of course it can. And it's not troublesome at all. I can take care of it right now."
Nolan said enthusiastically.
"Oh, in that case, take me and Miss along too. Miss has never seen a lake before," Dehya said.
In truth, she had only seen small lakes in oases. That huge lake to the north near Fontaine—she really had never seen it.
She had also seen Aaru Village's conditions for herself. As a fellow desert dweller, and as Candace's friend, she would be genuinely happy if the village could resolve its water problem.
"If that's the case, then let's all go together. We can pick a suitable spot to set up the teleportation array."
Nolan said readily.
"Yes, please, Mr. Nolan," Candace nodded softly.
The teleportation array would connect directly to Aaru Village, so naturally she needed to go and see where it would be placed.
"Whatever. I don't really care," Faruzan said, crossing her arms.
Since everyone agreed, Nolan didn't hesitate. The Void Star Sea expanded, enveloping them all, and carried everyone northward through space.
The ladies had barely finished blinking when, upon opening their eyes again, they found themselves before a massive lake. Looking across its surface, they could faintly make out Fontaine's enormous landmass in the distance.
"We're… already here," Candace murmured. She knew Nolan was powerful, but experiencing this ability firsthand still felt unreal.
"Let's pick a spot quickly, or it'll be nightfall," Nolan reminded them.
"Mm." The ladies had no objections.
After looking around the area, they found a location with good depth and water quality, and everyone agreed on it.
Nolan nodded, dug a cavity beneath the water, then took out some formation materials from his storage.
Inside the cavity, he set up a teleportation array roughly three meters in diameter.
This size was more than sufficient for Aaru Village's needs.
He also imposed special restrictions on the array—only water could be transported; living beings could not.
That way, there was no risk of accidentally teleporting aquatic monsters into Aaru Village. If that caused casualties, it would go against his original intention.
For long-term stability, Nolan used ley line energy to sustain the array. As long as no one deliberately sabotaged it, it would require virtually no maintenance.
Finally, he layered a concealment formation over it, ensuring that neither people nor monsters could detect it, further guaranteeing safety.
Once everything was basically done, Nolan explained the setup to everyone. After confirming that nothing had been overlooked, he took them back to Aaru Village.
All that remained was to set up the corresponding teleportation array there, and the matter would be fully resolved.
For convenient access to water, the array in Aaru Village didn't need to be hidden. It could simply be placed in the village's central plaza.
Nolan first dug a reservoir at the center of the plaza, then set the array at the bottom. Once activated, a steady stream of water would flow out.
After the pool was filled, it needed to be turned off—otherwise, the water would overflow.
Nolan taught Candace how to control it. It only required elemental energy to activate, making it extremely convenient.
Seeing the water problem that had plagued Aaru Village for so long solved so easily left Candace feeling somewhat unreal.
But when she touched the water in the pool, the overwhelming emotion that surged in her heart transformed into a massive amount of affection toward Nolan:
[Candace Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 850 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (100/500)]
Seeing the notification pop up on the character panel, Nolan was pleasantly surprised.
Gaining 850 affection points in one go raised Candace's affection toward him straight from a little over level two to level five!
That was remarkably fast.
But it was understandable—after all, he had resolved Aaru Village's long-standing water problem.
Previously, they had only a single underground river, barely enough for daily cooking. It was completely insufficient for any kind of development.
Now, with a continuous supply of fresh water, there were no longer any limits on what they could do next. How could Candace not be moved?
At that moment, another affection notification popped up on the character panel:
[Dehya Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 620 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (670/700)]
This one was Dehya's. Over six hundred points—about what he expected with all his various buffs in play.
Her affection toward him was already close to level eight. She wasn't far from max, and Nolan felt it was time to press the advantage and gain even more affection.
He looked at Candace and said with a smile:
"Solving the water problem definitely isn't enough. Interested in hearing about my desert development plan?"
(End of Chapter)
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