The Vidyadhara also have lifespans far beyond short-lived species. When their life reaches the end, they transform into eggs, return to the Ancient Sea of Luna, forget everything from their previous life, and after a few hundred years, are born into the world again.
Because of this, they do not fall into mara.
It is called longevity… but in Zero's view, the Vidyadhara are closer to immortality.
Zero thought, 'What a pity.'
'The Aeon of Permanence died too early.'
Marty only hated that he was clumsy with words.
What the Marshal cared about most was the Xianzhou people.
But no matter how much patrol currency was poured in, it still could not completely solve mara.
And the Vidyadhara do not fall into mara.
As the Marshal said, they really are an almost perfect race.
Even death… will bring new life again.
Marty said stiffly, "Please rest assured, I will definitely find a way from the 'longevity plague traces' to solve mara."
Originally, Zero wanted to use this private time with Marty to make him give up the Cangcheng project.
He could not bear letting his subordinate face danger.
A project with certain risks like this, how could he let Marty join? Just let the Emanator of Erudition handle it.
He hesitated for a moment, then remembered what Akivili had said.
He could not keep spoiling them forever, right?
In the end, Zero made a concession and lightly patted Marty's shoulder.
"Alright, no rush, take it slowly."
"No need to give yourself too much pressure."
After comforting Marty, Zero could not help worrying again.
Marty was different from Hua. He was not good at socializing. Usually he stayed in the lab and was not close to the generals.
While Zero was around, he could still back Marty up.
But after he passed away?
If Marty ran into trouble, Hua could help solve it.
But research funding… Hua might not necessarily pay out of her own pocket to help.
After thinking for a while, Zero thought of the Vidyadhara.
Because of various concerns, he did not take out the Child-Mother River water.
When the time came, letting Marty solve the long-standing problem troubling the Vidyadhara would make them owe a favor.
This favor would never be repaid, not even in eternal lifetimes.
That way… Marty would have endless research funding.
"I have something that can help the Vidyadhara."
"After the Cangcheng matter is finished, you will take charge of this project."
Marty nodded very obediently.
He had no objections.
Compared with helping the Vidyadhara treat infertility, he was better at making weapons.
Marty had never studied medicine, but as long as Marshal sir needed it… he would start learning from scratch.
The two followed the flow of people, strolling casually along the street.
During this time, Marty brought up consciousness transfer again, along with the high-computing-power computer the Marshal had once mentioned.
These two projects were originally handled by him and were now entering the final stage.
Marty said proudly, "I believe in a few years, the computer will be able to handle documents from the affiliated planets for you."
After speaking, he could not help sighing.
"You really are amazing. There are nearly ten thousand affiliated planets…"
That number was only the planets openly belonging to the Xianzhou.
If the planets whose rulers had close relations with the Xianzhou Alliance were added…
Marty did not dare imagine how exhausted his Marshal must be.
Zero sighed along with him, "It's not that I'm amazing. My subordinates are amazing. If they hadn't filtered the documents… not just me, even the number one seat of the Genius Society might not handle it."
After hearing Zandar's name, Marty's tone became lighter.
"Marshal sir, Mr. Zandar invited me not long ago."
"He asked whether I wanted to explore the essence of this world."
Zero's expression changed sharply.
Someone as pure and simple as Marty… how could he accept the truth?
Marty, walking beside him without noticing anything, continued, "I'm very interested in the theories Mr. Zandar proposed..."
Zero directly interrupted him and refused immediately, "No."
Marty froze in place and cautiously turned his head to look at the Marshal.
Once again, the other's face had turned cold, and his tone was firmer than Marty had ever heard.
Marty almost got scared enough to cry.
He forced the tears back and said weakly, "But… don't you really like members of the Genius Society? Maybe after this cooperation, Mr. Zandar will come to the Xianzhou."
Zero took a deep breath and tried hard to control his tone, "Except for the essence of the world, whether Aeons or engines, you can research whatever you want."
"Marshal sir…" Marty opened his mouth, and after a long time squeezed out another sentence, "Aeons won't be necessary."
Zero instantly lost interest in strolling and led Marty back the same way.
After returning to the residence, Marty stammered about the neutron gun in the Marshal's possession.
After neutron guns were sealed away, only Zero still had one.
Without hesitation, he took Marty to his room and quickly found the gun among several suitcases.
Zero handed the gun to Marty. After watching him leave, he took out his jade communicator and contacted Zandar.
After the connection went through, he smiled and said, "Zandar, if you don't want to come to the Xianzhou, that's fine, but why are you trying to poach my people?"
Zandar spoke unhurriedly, "Marshal, you joke. I just can't bear seeing a pearl covered in dust. With Marty's ability, he can absolutely create achievements beyond your imagination."
"You don't understand scholars. Scholars would rather suffer for cruel truth than sink into false happiness."
"Just like a young eagle must learn to fly sooner or later, he must learn independence, right?"
Zero chuckled lightly, "Zandar, frustration education has long gone out of date."
Zandar was silent first, then sighed, "You spoil him a lot."
He said something without context, "Looks like this time, you didn't have much fun."
Zero lowered his eyes and did not speak.
'What… did that mean?'
For no reason, he thought of Zandar's words before they parted.
He had said, "May the eternal ruler of the star sea live easily and happily."
Wasn't that Zandar's blessing? Had he still not given up on making him a god?
Before Zero could figure anything out, Zandar suddenly changed the topic and said, "Speaking of which, there's a new technology in the star sea that can use human hair, blood, and such to create new life."
"Marshal sir, please be careful."
Zero's breathing stopped for a moment.
'Does Zandar… know something?'
'Could it be someone really used my blood to cause trouble?!'
Zero had no time to think deeply about that vague sentence from Zandar.
He said in disbelief, "Wait, Zandar..."
———
Somewhere unknown, unreachable even to Aeons, Zandar decisively hung up the communication.
His student would probably be sleepless tonight.
Most likely, after hanging up, he would contact subordinates to investigate and handle used medical supplies.
Only that way would Erik not easily get hurt.
And others would have no way of knowing the special nature of his flesh and blood.
Zandar looked at the silent gray-white-haired girl beside him and muttered, "Really hard to understand."
"Why the Xianzhou again?"
The girl replied hesitantly, "Maybe because Xianzhou food tastes really good? And the cafeteria doesn't serve raw mushrooms?"
Zandar frowned tightly, "Is that university cafeteria really that bad? Back then he even ate fruit dipped in soy sauce."
The girl could not help complaining, "I don't understand human taste… but he is definitely the pickiest human I've ever seen."
'Erik, having a teacher like this, really must be tough for you!'
'Wait, obviously the one suffering most is me, right?!'
[🎉 Shoutout to Yago for joining p@treon. Muuuuda! Muuda! Muuda! Muda! Thank you very much.🤗]