Jing Yuan looked at the cat being fed by an attendant, took a sip of soup, swallowed, and said to the others, "Oh, that matter? I saw it mentioned in some documents. At that time, although the former Marshal was still in office, he had already handed over much of his work to the current Marshal."
Zero picked up a crab leg about two fingers wide with his chopsticks and took a bite.
He chewed the crab meat, sinking into thought.
'Hmm. Letting your successor get hands-on practice early, having them take over the workload… that made perfect sense.'
Then Jing Yuan continued, "They say the 'Empyreal Command' also appeared in Cangcheng back then, but for some reason, it didn't show itself publicly."
[T/N: 'Cangcheng' was one of the nine flagships that got destroyed later]
Following Jing Yuan's words, Zero kept thinking.
When Cangcheng faced its crisis, he must have deliberately handed the matter to his successor, using the opportunity to test their ability.
Once the successor resolved the crisis smoothly, he could then hand the Xianzhou Alliance over to Hua with peace of mind, and go off with Akivili to look for the Tree.
After all, at that time, he was desperate to go home.
No way he'd leave before cleaning up the mess for the next Marshal, right?
Before his "death," Zero would definitely max out his prestige, fill up the citizens' satisfaction levels, and then leave behind enough firepower.
Enough firepower to wipe out the other two great calamities once and for all.
That way, the "Propagation" Aeon wouldn't come storming back and start another swarm disaster…
And Hua's reaction in the present told him he had indeed left behind the Aether Resonance Engine.
So the Zero of that life must have passed away feeling very reassured.
As for Lan…
Even an ordinary employee has to do a handover before quitting, right?
Surely he'd let Lan meet the next Marshal.
He must have summoned the "Hunt" Aeon to have a face-to-face with his successor, letting Lan cover for them, just in case anything went wrong.
And why hadn't Zero handled the matter personally?
Simple. A proper leader has to delegate cleanly, never half-heartedly.
If he'd interfered afterward, it might've sent the wrong signal, made people think he didn't trust Hua. That wouldn't do.
The more he thought about it, the more it all made perfect sense.
Everyone at the table began talking at once, sharing every rumor they'd heard about Cangcheng.
Piecing their words together, Zero roughly got the idea.
In the end, it all traced back to the "Mara-struck Remnants."
On Luofu, the "remnant" was the Ambrosial Arbor. As for Cangcheng's… no one knew for sure.
In his past life, maybe he had wanted to use that crisis to push the Xianzhou people to handle the "Mara-struck Ancestor's" remnants on their own.
After all, he wouldn't be there to protect them anymore. The road ahead, they'd have to walk themselves.
Zero had no memories of this, so he could only guess wildly.
Maybe, after evacuating all of Cangcheng's residents, they'd used neutron-level cleansing bombs to wipe out the contamination, which made the area temporarily unfit for habitation?
So everyone had to relocate to other Xianzhou ships for the time being.
The plan must've been to wait until Cangcheng became livable again, and then send in the Alliance's top researchers to begin studying and neutralizing the "Longevity Remnant."
The whole process should've taken, at worst, a few hundred years.
Oh, and they probably wouldn't destroy it right away, too wasteful. They'd first try to find some new use for it, squeeze out every bit of value, then clear it away.
From what Jingliu and the others said, Cangcheng was now under lockdown.
Unless there was some special situation, for example, someone near the end of their life wanting to bring their ancestral tablet home for burial, in that case, Cangcheng natives had to file an application, and only once approved could they enter the city.
'But still… hadn't Cangcheng been sealed off way too long?'
'What is going on? How had it been dragged out like this?'
'Weren't they supposed to redevelop it? How had that turned into an unfinished project?'
Even before his death, Zero already suspected something was wrong with their "technology tree."
'Or maybe Hua had her own plans, maybe she was deliberately holding back some new technology?'
Then Jing Yuan's face turned uneasy; he sighed.
"No matter which Marshal it was, none of them expected it to drag on this long… As for the reason, well, let's just say nobody could've foreseen it."
Zero slowly put down his chopsticks and looked at Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan didn't reveal the truth, only said, "Anyway, the situation's… complicated. Not something that can be disclosed publicly. It's classified at the highest protection level."
Zero, "…"
'Jing Yuan, you too? Why are you talking in riddles now?!'
As a Cloud Knight Lieutenant, Jing Yuan was known for his professionalism.
Zero knew his character well, there was no way he'd leak classified information, so he could only silently finish the crab on his plate while an attendant replaced it with asparagus.
Jing Yuan sighed. "If I hadn't seen the files myself, I wouldn't have known the inside story either. The history textbooks don't mention any of this!"
The fox-man from Yaoting added, "Yeah, that's normal. I wouldn't have known if my friend hadn't told me… Any information related to the former Marshal is sealed. He used to be a general of Yaoting, but even there, few people know about him."
Dan Feng spoke quietly, "Some say the order to seal the records came from the former Marshal himself. Others say it's because the current Marshal had a falling out with him…"
Jingliu frowned slightly and shook her head.
"Perhaps it was his own order. I've met the current Marshal, she doesn't strike me as someone who would deliberately hide another's achievements."
Zero slowed down, waiting until the attendants replaced their dishes again, then leisurely finished his asparagus.
He strongly agreed with Jingliu's words.
He had spent countless years finding his successor, no way would he erase her credit for the sake of vanity.
It was almost certainly his own command.
As for the reason… maybe it was because of Lan?
He'd always wanted to draw more hatred toward Lan, but none of the other Aeons ever took the bait.
So before leaving, he must've decided to do one last thing for the Alliance, and for Lan.
He'd seal away every record related to himself.
Eventually, some clueless envoy or forgetful Aeon would show up to cause trouble for the Alliance, right?
That way, Lan would attract their hatred instead.
And once enough hatred gathered, Lan would be unstoppable.
The attendants served soup again.
Zero didn't know much about the dish; when he tasted it, all he could say was "good" or "not bad."
From the taste, he could tell the chef had used sea cucumber and millet.
He picked up the spoon and drank slowly, listening to the table conversation.
In the end, they all reached the same conclusion, the matter was far too complicated and wouldn't be resolved anytime soon.
It'd be a long wait before anyone could visit Cangcheng again.
Ying Xing sighed. "Looks like I won't get to go there in this lifetime."
Before Zero could respond, Dan Feng's expression suddenly went cold.
The Dragon Lord's eyes dimmed again.
Zero opened Dan Feng's status panel for a look, his mental state didn't look good at all.
When Jing Yuan raised his cup and urged a toast, Dan Feng's condition returned to normal on the panel.
Zero thought for a moment, then decided he really should tell Hua.
He joined the others in clinking glasses and took a sip of his drink.
Soon, the attendants brought out the final course, a fruit platter.
This time, instead of separate plates, all the fruit was arranged together on one large dish.
Dan Feng gave a small signal with his eyes, dismissing the attendants.
Zero exhaled in relief. This meal had been mentally exhausting.
Eating portions that only took a few bites each while listening to everyone gossip about himself…
He pulled out his jade communicator and opened his chat with Hua.
Right beside him, Jingliu used her fork to pick out a particularly nice piece of fruit and offered it to him.
Seeing this, Zero reached out, took it, and thanked her softly.
He bit into the fruit, the fork still between his teeth, as he typed...
[Zero: Check on the mental state of the Vidyadhara Dragon Lord, feels a lot like how I was before I died.]
Hua replied almost instantly.
[Hua: Okay.]
[Zero: What's the deal with Cangcheng?]
[Hua: …]
[Hua: Don't ask.]
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