Chapter 100

Aventurine: "Son of a biscuit!"

Aventurine: "If this damn Penacony wasn't so far away, I would've been there ages ago!"

March 7th: "Ha, Mr. Aventurine, keep trying!"

March 7th: "Otherwise, you might really miss Penacony's festival."

The video continues.

Some time later.

[Clock Studios Theme Park, Penacony's most popular film and entertainment center.]

Gallagher brought the three of them to the outskirts of Clock Studios Theme Park.

[Weren't we going to talk about the Watchmaker?]

[I thought we'd go to an archive or something, why here...]

March 7th looked at the bustling park,

scratching her head in confusion.

[A city's culture is the most authentic footnote to its history.]

[In your eyes, this is a place for fun, but in my eyes, it is a prison, used to imprison this planet's past.]

[You must know that Penacony used to be a prison planet for the IPC, right?]

[Prisoners were sent here to help the Garden of Recollection salvage the Memetic substance leaking from the Great Hole...]

[The prison was exposed to high concentrations of Memetic substance for a long time, creating a special phenomenon.]

[Countless individual dreams intertwined and overlapped; people began to meet in their dreams and live lives as if they were reality.]

[But everything has a price, and sweet dreams are no exception.]

[In the end, dreams could not dissolve the suffering of people in reality. Led by a prisoner, the Frontier Prison smashed the IPC's shackles and began to fight for freedom...]

[...He is Brother Hanu.]

[The big brother of the Dreamville, the founder of peace, and the eternal partner of the weak.]

Gallagher began to explain to the three of them.

[So "Clockie" is a documentary...]

Stelle was somewhat surprised.

[History is always written by the victors, but setting aside the artistic embellishments, "Clockie" is an animation created with Penacony's history as its background; that is an indisputable fact.]

[These characters not only lived in the Dreamville, but also in the distant past.]

[Once you understand this...]

[You will understand why we came here.]

As Gallagher spoke,

he began leading the three of them toward Clock Studios Theme Park.

[There are so many people from the Bloodhound Family around here...]

March 7th looked around and said in surprise.

[Just received a lockdown order, said it was issued by Sunday himself. Heaven knows what they're doing.]

[Whoa... that's quite the setup.]

[They weren't this diligent when chasing suspects.]

After reaching the entrance,

Gallagher looked at the situation at the gate,

and made a somewhat sarcastic remark.

[It's impressive even just looking from the outside.]

Although she couldn't enter Clock Studios Theme Park,

just by looking from the outside,

Stelle felt the grandeur of the place.

[It is the work of the Family, after all.]

[Except for those who believe in Preservation, they are the best at building wonders.]

[Let's find a quiet corner to continue.]

After explaining casually,

Gallagher led the three of them toward a secluded spot.

[Let's go here, the view is good.]

[We can just see him...]

[...Clockie.]

Gallagher gazed at the statue of Clockie,

his expression unreadable.

[If these animated characters all have traces to follow in reality, then the one Clockie corresponds to is undoubtedly the Watchmaker.]

[He was Brother Hanu's partner and one of the first members of the Dreamville...]

[Can this be understood as the Watchmaker in history also personally participating in that war and standing on Asdana's side?]

Himeko took the opportunity to ask.

[That was a massive war of independence. Masked Fools, Nameless, Fictional Historians, Mourning Actors, Annihilation Gang...]

[Hanunu pacified the war with the help of his companions and visitors from beyond the sky.]

[Naturally, the future Watchmaker was among them.]

Gallagher nodded,

and explained.

[But by that calculation... wouldn't the Watchmaker have lived for hundreds of years?]

March 7th asked, somewhat puzzled.

[I don't know.]

[When I met Mikhail, he was already the Watchmaker. It might also be an inherited title.]

Gallagher shook his head and said.

[...Mr. Security Officer, how old are you?]

March 7th couldn't help but ask.

[...]

[...Thirteen.]

Stelle: "You look so weathered, and you're telling me you're thirteen?!"

Stelle: "You can fool March, but don't fool yourself!"

Gallagher: "What? Is that so surprising?"

Gallagher: "It's still nothing compared to your one-year-plus, right?"

Stelle: "My situation is special!"

Stelle: "What? Is your situation special too?"

Herta: "You guessed right, he is indeed special."

Gallagher: "Sigh, big shots are troublesome; one can see the clues from just a little bit of evidence."

Herta: "Don't worry, I have no interest in you."

Furina: "So... Mr. Gallagher is really thirteen?!"

Gallagher: "It couldn't be truer."

Hu Tao: "Ridiculous, with your appearance, I could believe you're forty-three..."

Hu Tao: "Thirteen is just..."

Gallagher: "Sorry, I look a bit old for my age."

March 7th: "That's not just 'a bit'!"

Venti: "Tsk, all sorts of strange phenomena really do appear in the universe!"

Venti: "Someone looking like this is actually only thirteen."

Venti: "It's truly shocking!"

Zhongli: "It is indeed shocking!"

Paimon: "I say, you two, stop sighing over it, will you?"

Paimon: "Compared to him, you two aren't much better, hey!"

Lumine: "Old folks should stop pretending to be young."

Lumine: "It makes us young people very uncomfortable."

Paimon: "Uh..."

Paimon: "Lumine, saying that seems... not quite appropriate either?"

Lumine: "Ahem, well, about that..."

Nahida: "(Covering mouth and laughing.jpg)"

Himeko: "Masked Fools, Nameless, Fictional Historians, Mourning Actors, Annihilation Gang..."

Himeko: "Come to think of it, did that war really gather so many factions?"

Stelle: "People are fighting a war, what are the Masked Fools and Fictional Historians doing there?"

Sparkle: "What else could Fools do~"

Sparkle: "Of course, they're there to watch the bloodshed for fun."

March 7th: "Then what about the Fictional Historians?"

March 7th: "They wouldn't be there to spread rumors and disrupt morale, would they?"

Dan Heng: "Hmm... that's very likely."

Keqing: "I have to say, the factions in your universe are really strange."

Keqing: "Some are there just to watch the fun, others are there to fabricate rumors and stories..."

Venti: "Hehe, only a universe like this is interesting!"

Paimon: "I finally understand."

Paimon: "With so many complex factions, the only group suitable for me and Lumine is the Nameless."

Lumine: "Hmm... Trailblazing and traveling... they are indeed very similar."

Stelle: "That's right, we Nameless are the great heroes known to everyone in the universe!"

Stelle: "You can't go wrong hanging out with us!"

Pom-Pom: "I, the Conductor, welcome all passengers, Pom!"

Paimon: "Hehe, we will definitely have a day when we board the train!"

Paimon: "Don't you think, Lumine?"

Lumine: "Yes, when the journey in Teyvat ends, we will go into the sea of stars to find the tracks of the Astral Express!"

March 7th: "Ha, then I'll wait for the good news."

The video continues.

[Thirteen?!]

[There's no way that's possible!]

March 7th wore an expression of disbelief upon hearing this.

[Hanunu liberated the Frontier Prison, but left before he could see peace.]

[Scarce resources, hostile outsiders, and major prison districts at odds with each other...]

[Asdana's future remained precarious.]

[Until the Watchmaker in history extended an olive branch to the Family, attempting to turn this prison into a Star of Celebration filled with clinking glasses...]

[Penacony finally earned its current name and stepped onto the stage facing the stars.]

Gallagher skipped over the question of his age as if nothing happened,

and continued to introduce the past history to the three of them.

[So that's why he's called the Father of Penacony.]

Himeko was somewhat enlightened.

[But you said earlier that the Watchmaker was a traitor to the Family?]

[You also said you were his companion, so you also...]

March 7th asked hesitantly.

[I am not his companion, but one of his many children.]

[But I am indeed a traitor, not to the Family, but to... Mikhail.]

Gallagher said something shocking.

[...What did you do?]

Himeko asked, frowning.

[I did nothing... that is the greatest betrayal.]

[Just like you, I once had close companions.]

[We worked our hearts out for Penacony, but the "Oak Family"... betrayed us.]

[Mikhail was old and could no longer protect his children.]

[We left the Family to find our own way, and became traitors to Harmony...]

[Even though the real traitors were others.]

[They still praised the Watchmaker's name publicly, while secretly nailing him to the pillar of shame.]

[Even so, we still hoped to clear his name.]

[As long as we could expose the real traitors, the masterminds behind all this, Penacony's Harmony could get back on track...]

[...But we lost.]

[A long time has passed, and the Land of Dreams has been affected too deeply...]

[Under the endless pursuit, I gave up... like a stray dog.]

[The Family accepted me back and gave me the job of a Security Officer; it was forgiveness on the surface, but punishment in reality.]

[Since then, I have completely cut ties with my companions... and my past.]

[And Mikhail...]

[...I heard he died in a corner where no one cared, a place no one could find.]

[I understand that from this moment on, the Penacony of the past can never return.]

Gallagher's tone was despondent.

Hu Tao: "Uh... I didn't quite understand this story."

Hu Tao: "But it seems... that Mikhail was really wronged?"

Hu Tao: "And this matter seems to happen to be related to the Oak Family?"

March 7th: "Things wouldn't really be as Miss Furina guessed, would they?"

Stelle: "This feels like it's eight or nine out of ten."

Stelle: "The Father of Penacony is now dead in a corner where no one cares."

Stelle: "And the Oak Family has become the highest-ranking family in charge of Penacony on the surface?"

Furina: "So all of this is actually Mr. Sunday's scheme?"

Robin: "No, impossible!"

Robin: "My brother would absolutely never do such a thing!"

Sunday: "Everyone, please don't be led astray by Mr. Gallagher's words."

Sunday: "There aren't many truths in what he says."

Miss Qingque: "What? Mr. Gallagher isn't one of your Family?"

Sunday: "Of course not, the Family never accepted him!"

Seele: Then he's still one of the Watchmaker's people?

Seele: "No wonder he's speaking up for the Watchmaker."

Sangonomiya Kokomi: "Mr. Gallagher is also lying..."

Sangonomiya Kokomi: "If that's the case, the Watchmaker's faction also seems to be hiding ulterior motives."

Stelle: "One lie after another, not a single word of truth!"

Stelle: "He's really not even as good as Sparkle, the Masked Fool!"