He even began frequently absenting himself from Harbinger meetings, stating only the essential matters through written reports.
Dottore poured the bulk of his energy into the hidden laboratory deep beneath the surface lab, a place no one else knew existed.
There, he threw himself into the frenzied research of the spacetime pocket watch.
To avoid arousing suspicion, especially from the ever-curious Marionette, Sandrone, who had an abnormal obsession with new technology and machinery, he created a simple auxiliary unit.
It was a humanoid puppet about half a person’s height, constructed from basic mechanical parts.
It had no detailed facial features, only two blue crystals serving as eyes, which would flash red in rapid bursts when core directives were triggered.
Its movements were somewhat stiff, capable only of executing pre-programmed simple commands.
When no command was given, it would stand motionless, like an exquisite ornament.
Dottore programmed it with core directives, and as a precaution, he added a preset defense mechanism: a “velocity” force field.
If its radar detected anyone tracking it, it could immediately slow the pursuer’s speed and then flee at light speed.
The directives were as follows: absolute obedience to Dottore’s orders; prohibition against revealing the final entrance to the hidden laboratory; regular delivery of sealed “experiment samples,” blueprints, and brief reports to Pierro’s office; and a hidden, final passive safety protocol: [When the creator’s vital signs fall below a critical threshold or a comatose state is detected, immediately seek out Pierro and guide him to the surface laboratory entrance.] Dottore named this puppet “Xiaomu.” To be safe, beyond the necessary passages to the surface lab, he also set up numerous complex traps and labyrinthine corridors leading in all directions around the secret laboratory.
The slightest carelessness would lead to being lost or trapped, except for himself.
When Xiaomu first knocked on Pierro’s office door, clutching a metal cylinder containing reports, blueprints, and samples, the moment it pushed the door open, even the seasoned Director was momentarily taken aback.
“This is…” Pierro frowned at the silent puppet before him, which emitted no elemental fluctuations whatsoever.
Xiaomu raised its arm, offered the metal cylinder, and emitted a pre-recorded, emotionless synthetic voice from its chest cavity: “Lord Doctor, submitting experiment report, blueprints, and new Delusion prototype.” Pierro took the cylinder and found a simple note attached, written in Dottore’s own hand: Pierro, here are the recent results.
This delivery unit is “Xiaomu.” It only accepts basic commands; pay it no mind.
The experiment has entered a critical stage.
Do not disturb.
– D Looking at the note and then at Xiaomu, which stood motionless awaiting further instructions, a complex look flickered through Pierro’s single eye.
He could feel that something had changed in Dottore.
Since that so-called “experiment accident,” he had become even more withdrawn and…
urgent.
“Go back.
Tell Dottore I have received the items,” Pierro said in a deep voice.
The blue light in Xiaomu’s eyes flickered, it gave a slight bow, and then turned and left with its stiff gait.
Pierro watched Xiaomu disappear down the hallway, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk.
He summoned his intelligence personnel.
“Recently, has there been any unusual activity from Sandrone?” “Replying to the Director, the Marionette seems very interested in the Doctor’s recent experiments.
She has attempted multiple times to probe the specific location and research content of his laboratory, but our people have blocked her each time.” “Strengthen the vigilance.
Report immediately any attempts to tail or probe Dottore and his delivery unit.” “Yes, sir!” Pierro’s gaze returned to the heavy snow falling outside the window.
Dottore, what in the world are you researching…
he wondered silently, though he knew that at this moment, Dottore would give him no answer.
At the same time, in some unknown corner, Sandrone, the Marionette, had just finished a structural scan of Zapolyarny Palace.
Controlling her giant mechanical puppet, she stared at the recording device, which displayed the locations where that small white puppet had appeared and disappeared out of thin air.
Her delicate face revealed an expression of both excitement and frustration.
“Spatial masking?
Interesting…
far too interesting!
Dottore, you hide yourself deeply indeed.
But I will definitely find your secret base!” Inside the hidden laboratory, Dottore knew nothing of the external fuss—or rather, he could not care less.
His eyes were fixed solely on the spacetime pocket watch gradually taking shape before him, its structure so intricate and precise it defied belief, and on that single, glimmering possibility that occupied his mind.
Time within the hidden laboratory seemed isolated from the outside world.
Only the hum of running instruments and the hiss of flowing energy marked its passage.
Dottore worked like a wound-up automaton, tirelessly devoting himself to refining and testing the pocket watch and gaining preliminary mastery over the four abilities he had unexpectedly acquired.
“[Gravity Modulation], velocity force field, limited to a radius of three meters,” he murmured.
An invisible field of force expanded outward, centering on him.
The tools scattered on the workbench, the suspended dust, and even the free energy particles in the air, their movement suddenly slowed, as if caught in a thick, viscous gel.
Dottore himself moved normally.
He reached out and easily plucked a gear that had become suspended due to the force field’s influence.
“The effect is significant, but the inhibition of elemental flow requires further observation…” He lifted the velocity field, and everything returned to normal.
Immediately after, he condensed a point of profound darkness at his fingertips, a darkness from which not even light could escape, the embryonic form of the [Heart of the Black Hole].
Merely this tiny manifestation caused the surrounding air to shriek as it was pulled inward, and the metal edges of the workbench began to warp slightly.
Dottore dispersed the energy at once, fine beads of sweat forming on his temple.
“…The destructive power far exceeds imagination.
Control precision is the greatest challenge, but it also seems capable of traversing spacetime.” As for [Heart of Fear], he had only tested it once on a snow fox that had strayed into the laboratory’s ventilation duct.
The moment the poor creature made eye contact with him, its entire body stiffened, its pupils dilated, and it nearly went into cardiac arrest from sheer terror.
Dottore immediately averted his gaze and employed a thread of [Heart of Life] power.
A strange green light flickered, and as it merged into the snow fox’s body, the creature regained its vitality, even becoming more robust than before, and fled in panic.
“Amplification of negative emotions, and…
powerful life-restoring capabilities.” Dottore looked at his own fingertips, his expression complicated.
These powers were formidable and seductive, but every time he used them, especially when employing the pocket watch for short-duration, limited-range “temporal glimpses,” he could clearly feel a subtle depletion at the level of his very essence.
He knew this was not physical fatigue or mental weariness but something more fundamental slowly draining away.
Though [Heart of Life]’s restorative power could quickly repair physical damage, it could not fully stem the loss of his essence.
That day, Dottore attempted something bolder.
With the help of the improved spacetime pocket watch—which now no longer required materials inserted to operate—he sought to immerse a thread of his consciousness into the river of time.
Unlike before, he was not traveling to a parallel past or future, but rather conducting a horizontal “scan” of the current temporal node, searching across Teyvat for any “latent powers” or “variables” that might exist and could stand against the future invaders.
The pocket watch hovered in the air, its cover open.
Inside were not gears but a miniature hourglass, where a galaxy rotated and Sands of Time flowed.
Dottore’s mental power focused to the utmost, guiding the watch’s power.
Finally, he found the method and sank his conscious form into time, searching for that single thread of hope.
His consciousness drifted down for an unknown span, as though passing through a warm membrane of water.
When Dottore—or rather, his conscious form—”opened” his eyes again, what met his “gaze” was no longer the familiar hidden laboratory but a boundless, silent, deep-blue space.