Zero kept his eyes closed, trying to ignore Jingliu, who was standing beside him. Just as he was about to drift off, she spoke, and pressed her hand against his face.
When drowsiness hits, it's hard to respond to anyone or anything around you.
More precisely, it's like when you have a cold or a fever and lose your sense of taste, but your hearing stays sharp.
Even in that hazy state, Zero heard clearly what Jingliu said.
He couldn't react right away; all he could do was use what little strength he had left to fight off sleep.
Jingliu waited for a while, seemingly to confirm his condition, before finally turning to leave.
Listening to the sound of her footsteps, Zero made sure she was gone, then struggled to turn over, forcing his eyes open and reaching out to grab the jade transmitter.
He had to make a decision, while he was still somewhat human.
When he turned on the jade transmitter, the blinding light made him squint.
He shut his eyes again, waited for a long while, then opened them and looked at the messages.
As he expected, Tengxiao and Hua had both sent quite a few.
He opened Tengxiao's chat first. The man's tone was nervous, as if he might commit ritual suicide in the next second to apologize.
Zero didn't understand. Why apologize for telling the truth?
As an ordinary subordinate, was he supposed to thank Tengxiao for that?
Or maybe send a meme to lighten the mood?
He hesitated between those two options, then decided on a third one.
Better to let Hua handle it herself.
Zero opened Hua's chat. He thought about it for a while, realizing this wasn't something he could explain clearly just by typing.
He decided to call her.
Soon, the voice call connected.
Zero asked, "Are you asleep?"
On the other end, there was the sound of a deep breath, then a calm reply, "No. What's the matter?"
Hearing her voice, he blinked several times, trying to stay awake.
He lay on the bed for a moment to gather his thoughts, then said, "Oh, nothing major. I was just thinking, only you can stop me, so I came to you."
There was silence.
Hua's voice grew more serious. "What are you planning to do?"
Zero could clearly sense the change in her tone. He was speechless, then said irritably, "I just want to make a promise with you. If the future me ever tries to go against Jingliu's wishes, make sure you stop me."
In this life, Zero still had hundreds of years ahead of him, but Jingliu didn't.
He knew well the pain of immortality. If one of his subordinates chose death, he'd be sad, maybe even heartbroken, but he'd still respect their decision.
But if it were Jingliu…?
Sure, the Featherdust Elixir could resolve the Mara in her body, but would she even accept it?
If she refused, would he go against her will and force her to keep living?
Zero had never been in love before, but his usually reliable instincts were warning him.
He couldn't accept the thought of her "dying peacefully."
And the only person who could possibly stop him, was Hua.
On the other side, Hua clearly let out a quiet breath, then agreed decisively.
Zero couldn't help but complain, "Come on, it's not that serious. You don't really think I'd do something extreme, do you?"
Hua sighed.
"You really have no self-awareness. Tengxiao was scared half to death by you. He just came to me, saying he's not fit for command and insisting on handing over the general's post to a sub-20-year-old lieutenant."
Zero, "..."
'A lieutenant under twenty… that must be Jing Yuan, right?'
Hua continued, "What happened in Cangcheng caught everyone off guard. Before you left, you even left a letter for the head of the research lab…"
To be exact, a personal will addressed to that head.
In his past life, before leaving, Zero did everything he could.
He left a will for every close subordinate.
He and that lab head had once had a fierce argument before parting ways.
Hua didn't know what their conflict was about. From bits and pieces she'd heard, it seemed to have started over a research topic.
The lab head had wanted to explore the essence of the universe itself.
Zero had firmly opposed it and ordered him to abandon the project.
In the end, it seemed the man hadn't given up.
What kind of reality-shattering truth had he uncovered?
What could have led him, and hundreds of the Xianzhou's top minds, to their deaths?
Hua didn't know.
She only knew that the will never made it into that man's hands.
She tried to comfort Zero.
"You were just the last straw that broke the camel's back."
Zero, "...What a great comfort. Next time, don't."
It was bad enough that people misunderstood his words all the time, why did his successor have to be equally bad at expressing herself?
'Who was her language teacher? Don't tell me she learned from me!'
After chatting with her for a while, Zero no longer felt sleepy.
"Since I left, Aha hasn't caused any trouble, right?"
"No," Hua said, pausing for a moment before adding, in a strange tone, "I think… you could try trusting Him."
Zero blinked in disbelief.
Aha not causing trouble was surprising enough, but now Hua was telling him to trust Aha?
If Aha could be trusted, the heavens might as well rain red.
He asked in disbelief, "Why? Why would you trust Aha?"
She replied, "You'll understand later."
Zero, "..."
He hated riddlers more than anything.
"You've gotten worse. You're starting to sound like Aha, and Fuli too."
His tone turned dry and cold.
"You know what happens to people who play riddles with me?"
"The last one who tried got forced to redo their work countless times."
"To put it in school terms, it's like making them rewrite hundreds of exam papers, all completely different."
He used Fuli as an example, rambling for quite a while, but Hua still wouldn't tell him anything.
Just as he was about to hang up, her tone shifted, and she mentioned a name, Shuhu, the Abundance's envoy.
Zero froze. "Huh? What about him?"
Hua said, "Let's just say… he's your enemy now."
"You're a marshal, after all."
Zero wasn't impressed.
So what if he had another enemy? He had plenty of those. One more divine envoy didn't make a difference.
Besides, hadn't he left behind enough weapons and troops for Hua to clean them up herself?
And he was retired. Why was Hua talking to him about official duties again?
'Don't tell me she is trying to drag me back to work?'
Hua explained, "Cangcheng's disaster, it happened because of Shuhu."
[T/N: 'Shuhu' is an Emanator of Abundance]
"Oh." Zero immediately understood.
That creature should've been dealt with long ago. Somehow, it had survived until now.
"So you want me to help, right?"
"If it were any other abomination, I wouldn't bother you," Hua said after a pause.
"But Shuhu is special. After Cangcheng's crisis was resolved, you and Akivili left the Xianzhou, and before you departed, you took it with you."
Zero, "???"
"Wait, what? Why would I take Shuhu with me?"
If he didn't make it work for the Xianzhou for eternity, fine, but why didn't he kill it?
He was a high-dimensional invader, and Akivili was a Trailblaze Aeon.
How did Shuhu survive being in their hands?
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