I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Hondayama smiled ingratiatingly and said, "I wonder what business you have, sir? I will do my best to help if I can."

Ivan said, "The General's Mansion wants to use that coastal hilly area on the east side of the island. I heard that the land has been requisitioned by your Surveying and Mapping Bureau for planting experiments?"

Upon hearing this, Hondayama's face instantly darkened.

Noticing this, Ivan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Lord Honda, is there a problem?"

"Ah...no, no, I understand what you mean, sir, but I can't make the decision on this matter myself, and I need to report to my superiors."

Ivan said, "The General's Mansion is issuing orders, and you, the investigating and executing officials, dare to obstruct it?"

Hondayama bowed his head and said, "Of course we wouldn't dare to stop it. However, this land was originally approved by the Magistrate's Office for investment and construction by the International Chamber of Commerce. Later, due to some reasons, it was temporarily converted into a planting experiment site. After the planting experiment is completed, it will be returned to the International Chamber of Commerce. This involves land and financial issues, which require utmost care. The Magistrate's Office needs to conduct multiple rounds of verification to avoid any errors that could cause financial losses to the country. We are doing this to protect the interests of the country. We hope you can understand. Rest assured, we will give you a satisfactory answer about this matter as soon as possible."

Ivan glanced at Hondayama again and said, "In that case, I will wait for your news of the magistrate's office's assessment at the general's residence."

After saying this, Ivan, along with Nagahiro Kizawa, turned and left the Kansei Magistrate's Office.

"Please take care, sir."

Watching Ivan's disappearing figure, Hondayama's smiling face instantly turned ashen.

"Prepare the carriage and proceed immediately to Lord Hiiragi's residence."

After leaving the Kanseibu (military headquarters for the investigation of the capital), Ivan remained deep in thought.

Muze Nagahiro asked, "Lord Ivan, where are we going now? Back to the General's Mansion?"

Ivan shook his head: "No, go to the World Chamber of Commerce."

The headquarters of the International Chamber of Commerce is located in the central area of ​​the outlying islands, near the island's pier. It was formed by foreign merchants who came to Inazuma and has been in Inazuma for quite some time.

The president of the World Merchants Association was none other than Kurishu, who had previously helped Ivan out of a predicament. Therefore, upon hearing that Ivan had arrived, Kurishu immediately invited Ivan and Kizawa Nagaaki in and personally served them tea.

Kuri sighed and said, "To be honest, I am ashamed to say that I am grateful for your help last time, but we foreign merchants are unable to leave the island and therefore cannot go to the General's Mansion to thank you in person."

Ivan laughed and said, "It's nothing, Mr. Kyurisu, you don't need to worry about it. By the way, I came here today because I have something I want to ask you."

"Please speak, sir, I will tell you everything I know."

Ivan explained in detail: "This matter concerns the hilly area on the east side of the island. I heard that the land was originally approved by the Commissioner for Surveying and Determination for investment and construction by the International Chamber of Commerce, but it was later converted into a planting experiment field for some reason?"

Kuri sighed heavily again and said, "Sir, you don't know this. We foreign merchants are always targeted by the Kansei-bu. I get furious whenever this is mentioned. This whole thing is a trap set by the Kansei-bu."

Ivan frowned and said, "Oh? Could you elaborate, Mr. Kyurisu?"

Kuri nodded and said, "This story goes back to more than a month ago. At that time, the Kansei Magistrate's Office said that it was going to hold a tender for an investment project to build a commercial street in the hills on the east side of the island. Our Wanguo Chamber of Commerce had been suffering from poor business due to Inazuma's isolationist policy. We thought that if this commercial street were built, it would be a great benefit to us, and the returns after completion would be very high. It might be able to get rid of our current half-dead state in one fell swoop. So, after internal discussions, the Chamber of Commerce put up 100 million Mora for investment bidding, and we won the bid."

"But at this time, the magistrate suddenly told us that because the environment has become too humid in recent years, the harvest of food crops on the other islands has been greatly reduced. The shogun's office has discovered a new crop that can adapt to this humid environment. Therefore, the hilly area on the east side of the outlying islands has been temporarily requisitioned as a planting test field."

Ivan said, "But I see that land has been abandoned for a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

Kuri sighed and continued, "We've sent people to inquire several times about when the land requisition will end and construction of the commercial street will begin, but each time the officials in charge of land surveying and assessment have given us various excuses. This matter has been dragged on and on, and now we don't even know where our 100 million Mora investment has ended up..."

At this moment, even the usually dull-witted Muzawa Nagahiro reacted and exclaimed in shock, "That's a hundred million Mora! Aren't the people from the Kansei Magistrate's Office afraid that the General's Mansion will find out?"

Ivan chuckled and looked at Mu Ze Changhui, asking, "You've been in the General's Mansion for so long, have you heard that anyone there has discovered a new type of crop that can adapt to humid environments?"

Muzawa Nagahiro shook his head.

Ivan said, “That’s right. Some people in the Kanchobu are deceiving their superiors and subordinates. Because of the Inazuma policy, the islands are under the full control of the Kanchobu. In addition, without the Kanchobu’s permission, people on the islands cannot enter or leave. This has resulted in the islands being completely isolated, forming a small kingdom of their own. The Kanchobu is the absolute controller of this small kingdom. No wonder the Kanchobu’s people dare to act so domineeringly on the islands.”

Of course, the film also bears some responsibility.

Ying spends long periods of time in his meditation space, ignoring the outside world, and the puppets he creates only follow predetermined procedures. This makes it easy for lower-level government agencies to deceive their superiors and cover up their misdeeds.

Ivan decided to have a serious talk with Ying when he got back, to make her realize her mistake.

After listening to Kyurisu's explanation, Ivan nodded and said, "I understand. Thank you for informing me of this, Mr. Kyurisu. I will definitely seek justice for the World Merchants Association."

"Really? We received your help last time, and we are indebted to you again this time. The World Merchants Association has no way to repay you. If you ever need our help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask, Lord Ivan."

Ivan smiled and said, "Mr. Kyurisu, please rest assured, there may indeed be some things that will trouble the members of the World Merchants Association later."

Ivan and Muzawa Nagahiro declined Juli's offer to see them off at a distance and left the headquarters of the World Merchants Association.

Muzawa Nagahiro said angrily, "Lord Ivan, we will return to the General's Mansion immediately to report this matter to the General and ask him to rectify and pacify the Fengxing Prefecture."

Ivan didn't respond, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes as if he was thinking about something.

"Lord Ivan, what are you thinking about now?"

Ivan said, “I always felt that this matter was more than just embezzlement... When we went to the Kansei Magistrate’s Office today, we directly stated our identities and intentions. The people at the Kansei Magistrate’s Office are not stupid. If they did not want to be investigated for corruption, they should have agreed to hand over the land to us directly. Instead, they kept stalling us for a long time. Weren’t they forcing us to investigate? Unless they did this to buy time.”

What are they trying to buy time for?

Chapter 151: The Start of Technological Advancement

Although Ivan sensed something was amiss, he wasn't part of the Inazuma government system, so the investigation and assessment was not his concern. He simply needed to inform Kage of what he had discovered, and let the Inazuma government handle it themselves. He could offer his opinions at most.

Ivan's most important task was to find a way to contact the Chinese rear area.

Although the hilly area that Ivan had his eye on for building the signal transmitter was temporarily unavailable, this did not prevent the selection of materials and construction of the transmitter itself. Even if the foundation could not be used in the end, they could choose another site as a second choice.

That day, after Ivan returned to the general's mansion from the island, he told Shadow in detail what had happened on the island.

"What? You're telling the truth?"

Ying showed a surprised expression.

Ivan nodded and said, "Of course."

Ying remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I never imagined so many things would happen to Inazuma while I was in seclusion..."

Seeing Ying deep in thought, Ivan didn't disturb her. Ivan hoped that Ying could get out of that dead end on her own.

"I will send someone to investigate and determine the implementation... You should get some rest."

After saying that, Ying's body turned into an arc of electricity and disappeared from the spot.

Ivan was somewhat surprised. He knew that Ying had returned to the Pure Land of One Heart meditation space. Usually, Ying would have already pestered him to tell stories or play chess by this time. It seemed that the events that happened on the island had indeed made her start to rethink the pursuit of eternity.

Ivan smiled. This was a good start. It would be even better if Shadow could break free from his narrow-mindedness and end the policy of isolation before he built the signal transmitter.

Of course, Ivan knew that the probability of such a thing happening was low.

It was already close to midnight, but Ivan didn't rush to sleep. Instead, he manually copied down all the useful drawings from his phone and kept working on them until the early hours of the morning.

The next day, Ying still didn't come out of the Pure Land meditation space. Ivan didn't mind, as he needed to give Ying some time to think. Besides, Ivan was going to start preparing for the construction of the signal transmitter today.

Now that Ivan is going out, no one except Shadow dares to stop him, and Muze Nagahiro can only helplessly follow Ivan out of the General's Mansion once again.

"Sir, where are you going today?"

Ivan said, "Let's just stroll around Inazuma City today..."

Kizawa Nagahiro breathed a sigh of relief.

It's alright, not too far.

But at that moment, Ivan added, "Temporary."

Muze Changhui's face immediately froze.

As Ivan walked down the main street of Inazuma City after leaving the General's Mansion, he subconsciously stretched and loosened his muscles.

To be honest, since Ivan arrived in Inazuma, he has never really explored Inazuma City properly. The last few times he went out on his own, he went straight out of Inazuma City to check the cell phone signal in the wilderness. He also made a trip to the outlying island in the last two days. The rest of the time he basically stays in the General's Mansion.

From its architecture and culture to the clothing of its residents, Inazuma City is very similar to the culture of a certain island nation on Earth, making it quite unique.

Compared to the streets of the outlying islands, the streets and buildings in Inazuma Castle are wider and there are more large buildings. Simply put, it's the difference between a city and a town, but there isn't a significant sense of stylistically disparate differences.

When Ivan first arrived at the Inazuma Hotel, his clothes were already quite worn out, so during this time he wore clothes provided by the General's Office.

The clothes from the General's Mansion were naturally of the highest quality. Ivan was wearing a long robe and kimono, the style and material of which were only affordable for the wealthy and noble in Inazuma. Coupled with his handsome face, Ivan attracted the attention of many passersby as he walked down the street.

"Look, whose young master is this? He's so handsome!"

"Nizi, why don't you go up and try to chat her up? Get her contact address, maybe we can keep in touch by letter later."

Hearing several girls whispering about Ivan, Kizawa Nagahiro immediately stepped forward, drew his sword, and revealed a fierce-looking face, scaring the girls into running away.

Ivan said speechlessly, "Muze, why are you scaring him?"

Mu Ze Changhui snorted, "These little girls are so ignorant and arrogant. How dare they lay their hands on the General's man?"

Upon hearing Muze Nagahiro's explanation, Ivan was both amused and exasperated, momentarily at a loss for words. In the end, all his thoughts boiled down to one sentence: "Muze, you are truly loyal to the General."

Mu Ze chuckled and said, "That's natural."

The minor incident did not affect Ivan's plans. With his familiarity with the game map, Ivan quickly found the most famous blacksmith shop in Inazuma City, Tenmoku Blacksmith Shop.

The current owner of the Tianmu Forging Shop is Tianmu Shiwu, a successor of the Tianmu forging school.

Upon seeing Tenmu Fifteen, Ivan took out a blueprint from his pocket and asked, "Shopkeeper, can you make this?"

The over-sixty-year-old Tianmu Fifteenth Division only glanced at the blueprints before revealing a surprised expression.

At this moment, Tianmu Shiwu's apprentice, A Chuang, patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, sir. No matter what you entrust to me, A Chuang, I can make a perfect product for you within two days."

Upon hearing this, Tianmu Fifteen immediately glared at Achuang and said, "You're not very capable, but you're quite good at bragging. Even I'm not very confident about this thing, so what are you doing here taking the blame for? Go do your work!"

Ah Chuang listlessly went to pull the bellows of the forging furnace, but his ears were still perked up.

Even Master wasn't sure what this thing was.

After dismissing his apprentice, Tianmu Fifteen frowned as he held the blueprints.

Ivan asked, "Shopkeeper Tianmu, can you make this?"

Tianmu Fifteen said, "If we make this, I'm afraid it won't be cheap, and it will be extremely difficult."

Ivan said, "Money is not the issue; the main thing is to ensure absolute accuracy."

The blueprints that Ivan gave to Tianmu XV were for the parabolic antenna part of the signal transmitter, or to put it simply, the dish on the radar device.

But this "pot" is no ordinary pot. It requires extremely precise curvature and angles, and Ivan's "pot" is also quite large. Manufacturing such a thing might not be difficult for an industrially advanced planet like Earth, but it is a huge challenge for humans to manufacture it.

Looking at the detailed values ​​marked on the diagram, Tenmoku XV suddenly ignited a fighting spirit in his slightly aged eyes and said, "I'll give it a try. If we, Tenmoku XV, can't make it, then I'm afraid there won't be a second person in Inazuma who can."

Seeing the burning fighting spirit of Tianmu Fifteen, Ivan clasped his hands and said, "Then I will wait for the shopkeeper's perfect finished product."

After leaving the Tenmoku blacksmith shop, Kizawa Nagahiro's stomach suddenly growled. He scratched his head and said, "Excuse me, Lord Ivan, I haven't had breakfast..."

Ivan said, "Speaking of which, I haven't eaten yet either. There's a restaurant right across from the blacksmith's shop. Let me treat you to a meal there."