Chapter 355

When Takumi received what Albedo sent, he began testing it.

Positioning, navigation, maps—everything seemed to be working perfectly. There were no issues.

At that moment, Albedo spoke up.

"Earlier, you had those alchemy apprentices learn programming. They've made some progress. A lot of the data in my software was written by them. Although their work is still somewhat immature, it's functional. If you have any tasks, you can assign them now."

Hearing this, Takumi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, I see. I'll make arrangements later. I wonder if anyone bought the programming books Keqing sold before."

As he pondered this, Albedo thought for a moment before explaining, "I saw a programming discussion group on the internet. It looks like a lot of people are learning programming, but they're not very advanced yet. They mostly exchange basic information, and many struggle with even the fundamentals. Some don't even understand alchemy runes and keep asking others about them."

Hearing this, Takumi was speechless. "Still, at least some people are learning. These things are new, so it's good if people are picking them up. You can't expect everyone to succeed. Albedo, if you have time, you should go online and help answer their questions."

Then, Takumi added, "Next, I'm planning to create an online payment system that connects banks to the internet. That way, people can make purchases directly online. Maybe we could even sell classes and earn some extra money. Wouldn't that be more profitable than drawing illustrations?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Albedo, the former artist.

Hearing Takumi's words, Albedo remained unfazed. "I don't draw illustrations anymore," he stated plainly.

He had moved on. Albedo was no longer the struggling, money-poor alchemist. Now, he had financial stability. When Xingqiu recently asked him to draw illustrations again, he had refused—there simply wasn't time.

Illustrations? Who needed them when there was real work to do?

His thoughts soon shifted to what Takumi had just said—an online payment system. Buying things directly over the internet? That did seem useful. If there was something one needed, they could simply order it online.

"Are you developing it yourself?" Albedo asked, looking at Takumi curiously.

"Of course. I'll generate it using my abilities. That way, it will be completely secure. If a system is created manually, there will always be vulnerabilities. In the future, someone with programming knowledge could potentially hack into it. That can't happen."

Systems like banking and payment processing were too important. Takumi would build them himself to ensure they were impenetrable.

Hearing this, Albedo nodded. He was well aware of how secure Takumi's constructs were. He had tried hacking into Takumi's banking system before—without success. There wasn't a single loophole to exploit.

If this had been a system developed by Snezhnaya, Albedo could have hacked into it within minutes. The imitation banking system they created was riddled with flaws. To an alchemist of Albedo's caliber, it was nothing more than a leaking warehouse. If he ever needed money, he could probably take it at any time.

Honestly, if Takumi ever wanted to attack Snezhnaya's financial system, he could probably shut it down in minutes and tamper with its data. However, doing so would likely provoke the Tsaritsa, as the Northland Bank was a key institution that fueled Snezhnaya's economy. Messing with it would be like declaring war.

Takumi continued testing the software.

"Alright. Everything seems to be working fine. I'll embed it into other applications later. I'll either create a separate window for it or implement a third-party system."

He then added, "Once that's done, I'll introduce real-name authentication. That way, we can hold people accountable for their actions online."

Oh, wait—Takumi could already track people offline.

Imagine trying to insult him online. Within minutes, you'd be banned, tracked down, and possibly punished in real life.

The power of administrative control.

"Real-name authentication?" Albedo was curious.

Takumi didn't hide anything. He began explaining his next plan.

"I won't just create a universal system. I also plan to implement a household registration system. Every Liyue resident will have their identity registered online. Their phone numbers and internet accounts will be tied to their real identities."

He continued, "Shen He told me there have been a lot of troublemakers on the internet lately. With real-name authentication, we can crack down on them. If someone causes problems online, we can have the Millelith arrest them. It doesn't matter if they're just trolling—we'll catch them first, then let them explain themselves later."

Takumi was serious about maintaining order.

Real-world consequences for online behavior.

It reminded him of certain leaders who banned players for beating them in games. The sheer power of administrative privilege.

Hearing this, Albedo finally understood. "I see. That sounds like a solid plan."

With the increasing number of internet users, anonymity had given some people the false sense of freedom to behave recklessly. Albedo had encountered this problem before while handling online issues. He fully supported Takumi's idea.

"Alright, let's do it."

Other people wouldn't be able to interfere with something like this anyway. Whether it was identity records or banking systems, these would be entirely under Takumi's control. No one would be able to breach them.

Well, maybe Takumi should implement the same system in Mondstadt too?

To be honest, Albedo was enjoying his time in Liyue. He wasn't in a hurry to return to Mondstadt just yet.