The Director had come in an hour early to clock in at the Alchemy Commission, holding on to the thought that he might run into the Marshal.
What if? What if that lord hadn't left yet?
Maybe… he could see him one more time?
Both excited and nervous, the Director quickened his pace toward the ward where the child from yesterday was staying.
Most of the wards in the Alchemy Commission were double rooms, fully equipped, with private bathrooms. To protect patients' privacy, several folding screens were set up as partitions.
Even after you opened the door, the first thing you could see was only the screens.
The Director vaguely made out a figure and guessed it was the Marshal.
He walked a few steps forward and saw the Marshal with his back to him, bent over slightly, seemingly talking to the child.
Taking a closer look, he realized the Marshal was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.
It looked like this child was quite important to the Marshal.
Important enough that the Marshal had set aside official business and stayed all night, not even having time to change his clothes.
The Director's face lit up with a smile, just as he was about to speak, but the smile slowly faded.
Their reliable Marshal had stains all over his light-colored clothes, and he was facing off with the child in cold silence.
A child who could be valued by the Marshal, could that really be an ordinary kid?
The child was just as unyielding, one hand gripping a lock of the Marshal's long hair, refusing to let go.
The Director had never seen his superior with a cold face before and froze on the spot.
It took him a long moment to find his voice. Stammering, he said, "Marshal… what's going on?"
Zero was internally falling apart.
The instant Hua threw up on him, he'd forced himself again and again not to fling the little menace off his shoulder.
He was so angry he almost laughed. With trembling hands and the last shred of self-control he had, he slowed down and carefully set the kid back onto the bed.
Who would have thought this little brat was so vindictive? While throwing up, she used that filthy hand of hers to grab Zero's hair hard, determined to get back at him in her own way.
And it worked. Very well.
If not for his outer robe being thick enough that the vomit hadn't soaked through to his inner clothes…
if not for the fact that he didn't want to scare this brat…
Zero would have taken out a knife, cut off his hair, and then rushed into the ward's bathroom to scrub himself for a full hour.
Faced with the Director's question, Zero took a deep breath.
'The brat's fault shouldn't be taken out on other people.'
He did his best to suppress the anger in his heart and said in an even, calm tone, "She just threw up. Take a look at her."
As he spoke, he kept the same posture and didn't turn around.
'Don't ask. If you ask, it's because this little menace has a grip of steel and filthy hands!'
He just wanted to pick up a successor. He didn't want to lose his hair.
Oh… and this outer robe wasn't even from his subordinates. Now the clothes and this lock of hair were dirty… all of it had to go.
Luckily the accessories his subordinate gave him earlier were fine… and even if they weren't, he couldn't throw those away. He'd just have to grit his teeth and clean them.
As for the hair, it was better to let this little brat keep holding it, so she wouldn't dirty any more clean hair.
Zero stared hard at the kid. When she saw the Director had arrived, she relaxed instantly and subconsciously started to loosen her grip on that lock of hair.
Zero was startled and nearly lost control of his tone.
"Wait. Don't move. Keep holding it like that."
Fortunately, brat though she was, she could be obedient at times. She didn't let go and tightened her grip again.
Zero's scalp hurt.
He felt that ever since meeting this little menace, his tolerance had shot way up.
At a moment when his emotions were about to collapse, he was still thinking about the kid's feelings, afraid that pulling a knife out of his system backpack would scare her.
So he calmly asked the Director, "Do you have a knife?"
The Director nodded repeatedly and somehow produced a surgical scalpel.
Zero took it, and under the gaze of both of them, lightly drew the blade across and cut off the dirty lock of hair.
The Director and the kid both stared blankly at the severed hair.
Zero thought, thankfully his hair was long enough, after cutting it, it was still about chest length.
If it were any shorter… he would've just gone straight for a buzz cut.
With the hair problem solved, Zero finally let out a breath.
He glanced toward the bathroom and couldn't help asking, "Do you have any clothes?"
The Director opened his mouth to speak, but Zero, holding the knife in one hand and his jade communicator in the other, was already messaging his guards to bring clothes from his residence.
He said to the Director, "Never mind. You go treat the child first."
Zero stood up, surgical scalpel in hand, and went into the ward's bathroom.
Facing the mirror, he carefully undid his hair tie, avoiding the stains on his outer robe as cautiously as possible. Using the length of the hair he'd just cut as a reference, he raised the blade again and trimmed the rest.
After tidying it up and tying it into a low ponytail, he set the scalpel down, removed his leather bracers, belt, and jade pendant, and took off his outer robe. After confirming again and again that his inner clothes were clean, he finally relaxed.
No big problem. After talking to the brat, he could head home and take a proper bath.
Then he'd look over some documents and go to the Strategist's residence.
Zero quickly set his schedule for the morning.
He folded the outer robe a few times and tossed it into the trash. His gaze uncontrollably fell on the surgical scalpel.
That knife was incredibly sharp, like some deadly divine weapon that sealed fate with a single cut.
Zero turned on the tap, rinsed it, then put it into his system backpack.
If the Strategist wanted release… he would use this blade to grant him death.
The Strategist had accompanied him for thousands of years. He should at least let him go peacefully.
Then he would hold a grand funeral for this subordinate, bury him in the Forest of Utmost Loyalty, and let future generations revere him.
Zero had no experience with this. He would try his best to make it a one-cut kill, so his subordinate wouldn't suffer too much pain.
Thinking this, he pushed open the door and met the uneasy faces of the Director and several doctors who had arrived uninvited.
Zero didn't understand what was going on.
"Is this child's condition that serious?"
'Did it really take this many people?'
The Director shook his head hard.
"Marshal, you don't need to worry. One more day of medicine and she'll be completely fine."
Zero nodded, but he was still uneasy and looked at the Director with some hesitation.
The Director understood at once and added, "If you're still worried, you can let the child stay in the Alchemy Commission for a few more days."
Zero didn't ask Hua for her opinion and quickly made the decision for her.
"Then let her stay two more days."
Seeing that Zero was done with official business, the other doctors hurriedly took out all kinds of coats and offered them to him.
Zero froze for a moment, then smiled.
"That's enough, thank you, but there's no need. Someone will be bringing me clothes soon."
The doctors were first excited, then quickly showed looks of regret.
The Director couldn't stand it anymore. Not wanting a bunch of subordinates to bother the Marshal, he cleared his throat a few times to signal them. When they came to their senses, he immediately led them out of the ward.
Before long, the subordinate Zero had sent to fetch clothes arrived.
The subordinate handed him a bag with a round-collared robe. One look, and he was stunned.
Staring at Zero's low ponytail that had been cut to half its former length, he stammered, "Y-your hair..."
Zero took the bag, pulled out the robe, and said casually, "I felt like changing my hairstyle on a whim."
The subordinate said no more. They knew their superior. If there was nothing urgent, he preferred to be alone. So they left, glancing back with every step.
Zero stood up, went back into the bathroom, and quickly changed into the round-collared robe. After straightening his belt and jade pendant, he adjusted his bracers and walked out.
He sat beside Hua's bed. Ignoring the child's silence, he calmly lowered his head and tied the straps on his bracers.
Zero decided to reason with the little menace and appeal to her emotions. If that didn't work… he'd have to think of something else.
Then he looked up and said softly, "This is the Xianzhou. This is Yaoqing."
"You might not know what that means."
"This is the safest place in the entire star sea. If something could go wrong in Yaoqing, then the fall of the gods wouldn't be far off."
"I can only tell you this, the last person who snuck into Yaoqing without going through the Sky-Ferry Commission's review is now already…"
Zero stopped mid-sentence.
The person he was talking about was naturally the assassin who had tried to kill him, the fish he'd deliberately let slip through.
Zero raised a hand and gently patted Hua's head, giving her a harmless smile.
His tone was warm, but his words were merciless.
"The grass on their grave is taller than you."
Hua, "..."
Zero was already used to her ignoring him, so he kept rubbing her head and said, "Luckily, you're pretty lucky. You ran into me. I don't care about your real identity, and I won't investigate where you came from, so the Xianzhou won't keep digging either…"
Hua stayed silent for a long time.
Even though she couldn't control the direction of this conversation, she still refused to fall behind.
In a cold voice, Hua asked, "What do you actually want?"
Zero replied, "Do one thing for me."
Hua pressed on, and Zero answered patiently, "Use something to erase people's memories."
Hua paused, then asked again, "There are lots of people in the Xianzhou, but you came to me. Is it because I'm special?"
"Because only I can use the thing you're talking about to erase people's memories?"
Zero's expression didn't change. He kept that friendly, approachable smile, looking back at her like she was just some ignorant child.
With just that look, Hua hesitated.
Zero knew very well that exposing your true needs too early in a negotiation only put you at a disadvantage.
He never underestimated anyone because of their age or gender, and he never made concessions for anyone.
Of course, if it were just some random kid on the street, he didn't mind giving in.
But the person in front of him was someone who could use "Feather-Crossing Dust" to ease the symptoms of mara-struck, and also the successor he had chosen.
So before Hua completely let down her guard and grew closer to him, he absolutely could not let her know how special she was.
Zero never rashly judged whether something would succeed. He always thought about what to do if it failed.
If Hua knew… and was willing to help, that would be perfect.
But what if she stubbornly refused to cooperate? Then what about the Strategist, his subordinate? Wouldn't he really be beyond saving?
Even if the chance was tiny, he wouldn't gamble.
He would never use his subordinate's life as a bargaining chip, and he would never gamble on the goodwill of a strange child whose character he didn't understand.
Zero withdrew his hand from Hua's head and said gently, "I just thought you and I had a bit of fate, that's all. And it happens that I'm short one successor."
Hua stopped talking again, just staring at him, trying to find a crack in that flawless face.
Zero was always patient.
Keeping his gentle, harmless smile, he said to Hua, "You are my successor."
Zero recalled how the Xianzhou had well over a thousand affiliated planets listed on his system panel.
If Hua found out… she'd probably quit on the spot. That was way too much work.
Zero quickly came up with an idea and polished the wording a bit.
"You will have eight massive ships and over a hundred planets."
Four digits rounded off is three digits, and three digits is over a hundred planets. No problem with that.
Zero continued, "As long as you want, the entire star sea will be yours."
"The hardest thing you'll have to endure in this life is probably drinking bitter herbal medicine."
"For the rest of your life, you won't need to work hard, and you won't have to struggle with goals that require you to give everything you have."
After hearing this, Hua's expression became hard to read. Zero just smiled and stood up briskly.
"Alright. Get some good rest. I'll come pick you up tomorrow."
Zero left the ward and immediately quickened his pace back to his residence.
He didn't have time to worry about anything else and headed straight for the bathroom.
No matter what, he needed to take a bath right away.
Zero took a long time washing up. Afterward, he went back to handling documents according to plan.
When he finished the last file on his desk, he stood up and went to find the Strategist.
When the servants in the residence saw his face, they didn't stop him and let him enter the Strategist's room.
Zero thought of the surgical scalpel he'd put in his backpack earlier and didn't take it out rashly.
He walked slowly to the Strategist's bedside and asked, "What's your name?"
Veins throbbed at the Strategist's temple.
If he weren't lying in bed… he would really have liked to punch his boss.
He held back again and again before finally forcing out, "…Guanliang."
Zero repeated the Strategist's name, "Guanliang… that reminds me of another saying."
"Those who observe many tools become skilled craftsmen; those who observe many illnesses become good doctors."
Seeing many tools makes one a great artisan; seeing many diseases makes one a great physician.
Zero was deeply moved.
"Guanliang, staying by my side fits the latter half of that perfectly, you've become a fine doctor."
Guanliang, "..."
The corner of his mouth twitched.
'Marshal, so you know you're sick, huh?!'
Zero decided to start gently.
Last time must have been too sudden, which was why Guanliang resisted so strongly.
He said softly, "Honestly, I rarely regret the things I do."
Guanliang was stuck lying in bed and could only patiently listen.
After hearing him ramble for a while, it just felt pointless. He cut his boss off.
"Marshal, get to the point."
Zero sighed and pulled out the surgical scalpel from his system backpack.
Guanliang, "..."
He watched as his boss produced a scalpel out of thin air.
Guanliang lay on the bed. His boss sat at the head of it. The distance between them was extremely close.
That life-taking weapon gleamed with cold light.
Guanliang stared at the scalpel right in front of him, speechless for a long time.
'This damn idiot boss still hasn't given up!'