Hua kept smiling. Sometimes she nodded in agreement, sometimes she pretended to be surprised and asked questions.
Encouraged by the responses, Marty talked endlessly, telling all kinds of details about how he got along with his guardian.
When the starskiff stopped, Marty was still unsatisfied, but between Hua and his guardian, he didn't hesitate. He immediately ended the topic and picked up the white coat his guardian had asked him to bring.
Marty got off the starskiff and walked toward his guardian.
Hua followed unhurriedly. When she reached the two of them, the white coat was hanging over the guardian's forearm, and he asked Marty, "How did you get along with her?"
Marty said confidently, "We get along very well. If you don't believe me, ask Hua."
Hua, who was suddenly named by Marty for no reason, "..."
She and Marty really did not get along.
Hua met her guardian's gaze and nodded without changing her expression, confirming Marty's words.
"Yes, we had a very pleasant chat."
Zero chuckled softly, his tone carrying a bit of emotion, "Then I'm relieved."
He raised his hand to his collar and was just about to change out of the overly complicated ceremonial uniform coat when the jade communicator rang.
Hua casually took the coat hanging over her guardian's arm and waited quietly.
The guardian took out his jade communicator. He seemed to see some message worth being happy about, and his brows and eyes carried a smile he had never shown before.
He rarely showed hysterical or obviously emotional expressions.
Most of the time, he would either turn cold or show a gentle smile.
How should it be described? Most of the time, that face was smiling, and only his eyes revealed clues.
There was no emotion in his eyes.
Money, power, fame, and other things humans chased after were things he could obtain effortlessly.
Perhaps because of that, there was no desire in his eyes, no emotion. Many small expressions and many words were done deliberately.
It was like accommodating and cooperating with others, and also like a way to blend into the crowd.
Only in front of people close to him would there be a bit of warmth in his gaze.
Even though Hua had spent every day with him, she had never seen such a happy smile.
Zero showed an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, Marty. I can't go out with you this afternoon. I need to welcome a… special guest."
Marty hurriedly waved his hands. "Marshal, I'm fine..."
After reassuring Marty, Zero looked at the General of Cangcheng.
"I'm taking Shuhu with me."
The subordinate nodded repeatedly and quickly said, "I'll have someone bring him over right away."
Hua fell into thought.
Was her guardian going to take Shuhu back to Yaoqing?
He was directly dropping everything and making her take the position early.
But Shuhu… did she need to deal with him?
Hua asked uncertainly, "Do you need me to contact the Ten Lords Commission of Yaoqing?"
Zero shook his head and looked thoughtful.
"I'll teach you something interesting."
Hearing this, Lan and Hua instantly became alert.
Anything he found interesting… definitely had problems.
The group went to the reception room. After sitting down, the god and the human still felt uneasy.
They had prepared themselves mentally in advance, but when the General of Cangcheng appeared with Shuhu in front of them…
Their mental preparation still wasn't enough.
Lan and Hua kept straight faces, staring silently at the collar around Shuhu's neck that carried an extremely humiliating meaning.
Then the General of Cangcheng produced a leash as if by magic.
Zero frowned slightly, his tone hesitant. "There's no need for a rope, right?"
He never paid attention to the internal work processes of the Six Commissions and didn't know how they treated death row prisoners.
Zero didn't understand, but he quickly found a reason for his subordinate.
For most species, the vital point was at the neck.
It was probably to better control and restrain the death row prisoner.
Putting a collar on Shuhu was one thing. Adding a rope… just felt strange.
The subordinate dryly laughed and put the leash away, making an excuse for herself. "Isn't it to keep your hands clean?"
She definitely wasn't sneaking in personal preferences. She was doing this for the Marshal.
Hua looked at her guardian sitting in the main seat.
He met her gaze and sighed.
"To be honest, I rarely punish people who make mistakes."
"Why punish them? Punishing them only puts their minds at ease."
Zero looked away and turned to Shuhu.
"They were clearly the ones who did something wrong. Why should I fulfill their wishes?"
"For them, that's not punishment, it's a reward."
"Why should I reward them? Why should I give them peace of mind?"
Zero lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. He crossed his legs and beckoned to Shuhu, his tone extremely gentle.
"Come closer."
Before Shuhu could move, the General of Cangcheng grabbed the collar at the back of his neck with one hand and quickly dragged him in front of Zero.
Zero slowly removed the leather glove from his left hand.
A guess formed in Hua's mind, and she looked at her guardian in disbelief.
'Wait, you didn't actually believe your subordinate, did you?'
Since when was her guardian this easy to fool?
Interrogation by the Ten Lords Commission wasn't just slapping people.
Very quickly, the guess was confirmed.
Her guardian extended the hand holding the glove and slapped Shuhu across the face.
He didn't move his body and maintained his original seated posture. It seemed that in his understanding, no one, no, no living thing would dare to dodge.
Zero withdrew his hand, removed the other glove, and casually placed both on the table beside the chair.
Shuhu's head was turned to the side from the slap, and he didn't recover for quite a while.
Zero automatically ignored him and thought about the next step.
The next step… what was it again?
The general lowered her head, her eyes blank.
That was all nonsense she made up.
He wasn't actually going to lift the chin with his shoe tip next, was he?
No, why should he?
Zero knew nothing about what everyone present was thinking. After thinking for a moment, he said with some regret, "I almost forgot. I shouldn't have laid hands on you."
"You're a tree with a thousand faces and a thousand eyes."
"For humans, this is punishment and humiliation."
"But for a tree… that doesn't count as punishment."
Zero's expression was sincere. His tone didn't sound like he was asking the person himself how to torture him, but more like a student seeking answers from a teacher.
"I'm curious."
"Is it only by breaking branches and peeling bark that you feel pain?"
Shuhu, who had kept his head lowered, finally raised it.
He sneered coldly, his gaze full of hatred.
Zero raised his hand to stop the subordinate who wanted to attack Shuhu.
He smiled good-naturedly.
"I'm curious. Your pain..."
Zero said word by word, "can it please me?"
The subordinate looked deeply moved.
The Marshal was doing all this to stand up for her.
When she lowered her head, she saw Shuhu's knife-like gaze fixed on the Marshal, and immediately lifted her leg and stepped on the back of Shuhu's knee.
Zero automatically ignored Shuhu's pained breathing, took out the jade communicator and glanced at the message again, then started sending people away.
"Alright, Hua, you should go work. Marty, what comes next isn't for children to see."
Hua, "..."
She had no objections to calling Marty a child.
But why did she have to leave too?
Hua clearly understood more than her guardian.
She had even been to the Ten Lords Commission. What was there she couldn't see?
He only knew how to kill assassins and didn't understand how to interrogate prisoners at all…
Looking at it this way, clearly the guardian should be the one leaving.
While complaining inwardly, Hua stood up and pulled away Marty, who didn't want to leave.
Everyone watched the two leave. Zero stopped holding back his smile and asked, "Where's my suitcase?"
The subordinate replied, "Your luggage has already been brought down."
Zero was in a great mood.
"Soon a special guest will arrive in Cangcheng. I'll leave together with Them."
The subordinate quickly asked, "Should we send out a guard unit and receive this guest with the highest level of protocol?"
Zero shook his head.
"There's no need to make such a big fuss."
He moved quickly, taking off the ceremonial coat covered in accessories and changing into a white overcoat.
"I'll go with Shanfeng."
The subordinate stared in shock.
"What kind of guest needs you to personally receive them?"
Zero answered patiently, "It's the 'Wandering Cloud Lord', but I think 'Wandering Cloud Arbiter' sounds good too?"
The subordinate understood.
Not long ago, the Marshal had approved himself a two-year annual leave.
It seemed he would be traveling together with the Wandering Cloud Arbiter.
If she weren't afraid of angering the Marshal… she really wanted to send people to sneak onto the Astral Express to protect him.
Though disappointed inside, she still nodded in agreement.
"Understood, Marshal."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shuhu kneeling on the ground and showed a troubled expression.
"Marshal, are you sure you want to take Shuhu along?"
Zero didn't mind. "Yes. Find a flowerpot and put him in it."
Soon, only Zero and Lan remained in the reception room.
Zero was in a good mood and said a few more words to Shuhu.
"My Chief Strategist once told me that meeting me was his good fortune, that the sins of eight lifetimes were wiped away."
"But how can human lives be offset like that?"
"Akivili said the potted plants on Their train always die."
"But it doesn't matter. Starting today, you're the Astral Express's potted plant."
Lan suddenly stood up and placed a hand on Zero's shoulder. Just like when They first ascended to become a Aeon, They once again shared a portion of Their divine power with him.
The Aeon spoke solemnly, "If anything happens, remember to use this power."
Zero, "..."
He stared at the system notification floating in the void and remained silent for a long time.
[The Aeon of the Hunt generously shares one tenth of Their divine power]
The system he had painstakingly studied the code for and finally turned off had appeared once again.
Zero closed his eyes and turned off the system notification.
'What terrible timing...'
Forget it. He would just shut down the system again before dying.
Zero forced out a single word through clenched teeth.
"Alright."
He then took out the badge Akivili had given him earlier and pinned it to his collar.
When he looked up again, the gray haired, golden eyed youth was already standing beside Lan.
Akivili patted Their chest and assured Lan, "Relax. A god will protect every believer."
"Of course, sometimes gods are just a little biased." Akivili gestured a "little bit" sign and looked at Their dear friend with those warm eyes that seemed like the sun.
"If this believer is the most devout and the most outstanding believer, then besides protecting him, the god will also grant his wish."
The Aeon tilted Their head.
"I grant every request from my believers."
Akivili walked toward Zero and raised a hand, waiting for a high five.
"My believer, want to try making a wish to me?"
Zero smiled and stood up, high fiving Akivili, "Sure."
As if recalling something, he repeated the blessing the Aeon had given him during his birthday.
"Can you travel the sea of stars with me?"
"Of course," Akivili said with a grin. They lowered Their head and looked at Shuhu kneeling halfway on the ground and asked, "What's this?"
Zero smiled. "A potted plant."
Akivili was first surprised, then quickly accepted the fact that the human in front of Them was not a human but a potted plant.
They were very touched.
"My friend, you're such a good person. With a new potted plant, the conductor won't scold me anymore."
Lan, "..."
'Akivili, why do you believe everything the Marshal says?'
'Are you just careless, or are you pretending to be dumb?'
Right in front of Lan, the god and the human quickly started chatting, going from the potted plants Akivili had accidentally raised to death to the new Nameless passenger.
Akivili said mysteriously, "There's a special Nameless on the train. When the time comes, you'll definitely feel extremely surprised."
Zero felt puzzled.
Who would make him feel surprised?
Zero couldn't figure it out and immediately started fishing for information.
Akivili refused to say more.
They crossed Their hands in an X shape.
"Alright, my friend, let's keep some mystery."
"If you use your all knowing abilities from handling government affairs during the journey, wouldn't it be as boring as carbonated drinks without bubbles?"
Zero thought about it and decided to trust Akivili.
After a while, the subordinate came in holding the potted plant. She very smoothly dragged Shuhu away. Soon she returned, holding a green plant and eagerly came forward to show it.
Zero looked closely. The flowerpot still had the collar Shuhu had worn around his neck tied onto it, most likely used to restrict Shuhu's power.
The subordinate added, "Only you can remove this."
Speaking as if discussing a cat or dog, she said, "Right now he has no offensive ability and can only heal the wounded."
Zero was quite satisfied and took the potted plant from her hands.
The two gods and one human boarded a starskiff and went to the location where the Astral Express was temporarily docked.
After arriving, Zero began sending the gods away.
Before parting, Lan hesitated as if wanting to speak.
After thinking for a moment, for the first time They lied to the Marshal.
"We have a contract. When you use that power, I will be able to sense your location."
Zero waved dismissively. Together with Akivili, he pushed the suitcase and came before the conductor.
Facing the fluffy Pom Pom, Zero almost couldn't control his hands.
Without blinking, he stared at Pom Pom's soft fur and ears, exchanged a few polite words with the conductor, and handed over the potted plant.
After the conductor put the plant away, he followed Pom Pom to the room prepared for him in advance.
With the help of the Aeon and Pom Pom, Zero quickly finished organizing the room.
Akivili then suggested leaving at the right moment. They took Pom Pom with Them, giving Zero space to be alone.
Zero sat on the bed and thought it over from every angle, then thought of Hua.
He almost forgot. There was still one last gift.
He took out the jade communicator and called Hua.
———
Seeing the name displayed on the communicator, Hua felt a strong sense of foreboding.
Wait, wasn't her guardian just downstairs in the reception room? If there was something to say, he could just say it face to face. Why call?
She took a deep breath and answered the call, only to hear her guardian say, "Actually, I don't know how to get along with you."
"All these years, have I given you enough love?"
Hua, "..."
'Ah shit, here we go again.'