The Nameless were dumbfounded.
They had traveled with Akivili and believed they had seen plenty of big scenes.
But this scene… they had truly never seen before.
Who could have imagined that the train's new companion would say such absurd unofficial history?
One person muttered, "Isn't your unofficial history a bit too wild?!"
Another was very interested in Bacchus's words and continued asking about the whereabouts of the child of the Aeon.
Akivili carefully turned his head and lowered his voice,
"My dear friend, you must stay calm!"
"Look, none of them believe it…"
Zero was expressionless. "I know."
Bacchus once again showed a look as if he were about to cry.
"What a pity, they won't admit it…"
Akivili slowly raised a hand and pressed it on the shoulder of the person beside him.
In Their heart, They cheered for Their dear friend.
'Dear friend! Stay calm!'
'With this kind of patience, you'll succeed at anything!'
The Nameless were especially tolerant toward the young-looking boy who had not even gone through voice change yet.
They did not know his nature, and for a moment, someone really believed part of what Bacchus said, speaking with deep emotion.
"Whether it's true or not, being able to spread such unbelievable unofficial history… already says something."
"It seems the Aeons really favor that Marshal of the Xianzhou..."
Bacchus held back a laugh and nodded repeatedly.
Zero's expression did not change. He lowered his eyes.
The Aeons favor him?
Just thinking about it made him feel sick.
To be honest, he really wanted to grab Aha by the collar and punch him hard.
But right now, his identity was a Nameless, Eric Feish.
A citizen from a planet affiliated with the Xianzhou Alliance.
Zero had started dealing with the records left outside long ago. Now only the Six Commissions of the various Xianzhou ships still kept files related to him.
Bacchus was talking about the Marshal of the Xianzhou. What did that have to do with you, Eric?
As Eric, he should not defend a Marshal whose deeds he did not even know.
That would not make sense.
Besides, he was just a Nameless who had boarded the Astral Express on the first day. He had not even recognized everyone yet, and to directly start fighting other Nameless…
Was that appropriate? No, it was not.
Zero did not want to make Akivili feel troubled, nor did he want Aha to disturb the journey ahead.
Aha's purpose could not be simpler.
He just wanted to mess with his mood and see him lose control.
Would Zero let him have his way?
Absolutely not.
Zero did not even need to think to know what kind of situation he would face if he threw a punch.
At most, Aha would go even further and continue making up rumors.
Today Aha could say Aeons gave birth to children for him. Tomorrow what would he say? That every Aeon gave him eighteen children?
If he fought Aha, the only one who would truly enjoy it would be Aha.
After thinking for a moment, he chose to keep his indifferent expression.
Since they were talking about unofficial history, then just make things up.
His cold face looked far more convincing than Aha's playful grin.
Zero stepped forward a few steps, and Akivili followed.
With a cold face, he nodded slightly to greet the Nameless.
Akivili smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Since we're talking about unofficial history of the Aeons, why not ask me?"
A Nameless could not help but complain, "If it comes from you, can it even count as unofficial history?"
Akivili smiled and took the initiative to talk about various things that happened while getting along with other Aeons.
For example, the Aeon of Erudition, admired by many geniuses, did not give the answer They wanted when They asked about psychology.
For example, the Aeon of Remembrance, who records the past, surprisingly had no record when They asked about a certain type of mental illness.
Zero frowned and softly asked, "Why are you looking into these things?"
Akivili's expression froze for a moment.
Could They say it was for Their dear friend? Of course not.
The Aeon laughed it off. "Just on a whim…"
They threw the topic to Zero, giving him a chance to fight back against Aha.
"Speaking of unofficial history… Eric, you must have heard quite a bit too, right?"
Zero nodded and, in an extremely cold voice, talked from the leader of Orion to the edge of the star sea, and finally turned to the Aeon of Elation, Aha.
The Nameless present were stunned.
Compared to the unserious Bacchus, they were more willing to believe the unsmiling stranger named Eric.
"Wait, those two people you mentioned are sworn enemies! How could one fake their death and then marry the other?!"
"Wait… that person in history really did have a lover with the same surname as their enemy…"
"I don't believe anything you said before, but this matter about Aeon Aha… I believe it."
As soon as those words were spoken, Bacchus almost could not keep his smile.
The other Nameless nodded one after another and echoed, "Yeah, although it sounds hard to accept at first… it does feel like something the Aeon of Elation would do."
Zero added, "Yes, what wouldn't the Aeon of Elation do? To test whether the child of god could join the Genius Society, being willing to give birth to children for the Swarm isn't strange at all..."
He turned his gaze to Bacchus and said slowly, "Bacchus, judging by your expression, you don't seem to believe what I said… Could it be that you're a Masked Fool who believes in Aha?"
Bacchus grinned.
"This uncle must be joking. How could I be one of those notorious Masked Fools who are reported to the Emanators of Erudition at the slightest move?"
Zero, "..."
That "uncle" made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Nameless, "..."
Eric's face looked just adult. How could he be old enough to be called uncle?
If he was uncle… then what were they? Grandpas? Ancestors?
What? Bacchus had not gone through voice change yet? Then never mind. Most likely just a clueless kid.
Zero looked at Aha's youthful face and estimated his height. At most it reached his shoulder.
He seriously suspected Aha did it on purpose.
Zero would not attack a child, so the other deliberately wore this face.
In the end, he did not say anything.
Uncle then uncle. At least he did not call him father.
Zero began his new journey.
Akivili had told him about the situation on the train long ago.
For example, there were many Nameless. When Akivili went to trailblaze, They did not take everyone. Quite a number often stayed behind on the train.
Over time, they arranged an order themselves and sometimes discussed exchanging chances to "trailblaze."
The newly arrived Bacchus and Zero were automatically placed at the end.
Before leaving the train, Akivili would always tell him, "If you get bored staying in your room, you can go to the observation car and chat with the Nameless. Of course, talking to the conductor is fine too. If you're hungry, you can ask Pom-Pom for a special meal..."
Zero did not refuse his dear friend's kind reminder.
He smiled, nodded in agreement, then turned and stayed in his room with the door closed.
As for Aha… better avoid him if possible.
Otherwise he was really afraid he might lose control and stab Bacchus.
One day, while Zero was reading a storybook, the other came uninvited.
Facing someone the crew saw as a minor, Zero should not make things difficult for him, so he let Aha in and returned to his desk to keep reading.
Bacchus openly looked around the room. Seeing he was being ignored, he did not care. Instead, he smiled and leaned behind Zero, staring at the book in his hand.
After watching for a while, he suddenly said, "A system? Interesting. If humans had such power, what would they do?"
Zero slowly turned the next page.
"Nothing more than chasing money, power, fame, and profit."
Bacchus smiled and shook his head. "Wrong, Eric. Humans also chase beauty."
Zero said calmly, "What? Not calling me uncle anymore? Such an impolite kid."
As soon as he said that, not only Bacchus but even Zero himself felt uncomfortable.
The god and the man fell silent. Then Bacchus chuckled and shamelessly added "uncle" again.
He snatched the storybook and left.
After some time, Bacchus knocked on Zero's door again.
He said excitedly, "I found that besides money, power, fame, and beauty, they also do many unbelievable things."
"For example, those who were bullied by money will in turn bully others."
"Those who were harmed by power become obsessed with power struggles."
Bacchus spoke confidently. As he talked, he suddenly sighed.
"Really… aren't there humans who can stick to their original heart?"
"The way they look after losing that power… is just too ugly, isn't it?"
Bacchus rolled his eyes and warmly leaned over, placing a hand on Zero's shoulder.
"Uncle Eric, if it were you, what would you do?"
Zero's expression was cold.
Aha had created a simple system based on the storybook and randomly gave it to several people as an experiment. After people gradually relied on the mysterious gift, the Aeon took the power back.
As for those who had relied on the system to escape hardship in one leap? Their ending must have been miserable.
Zero rarely told Aha the truth.
"Trust it, use it, and in the end, break free from its control."
It had to be said that when he first arrived in the low-dimensional world, he had some skill.
He chose the system as his cheat instead of "Little Gray."
Zero would not easily give trust to an unknown existence.
But having read so many web novels, no matter how suspicious he was, he would believe the system at first.
When time passed and he began to doubt it, he had already relied on the cheat to get through the hardest period and adapt to life in the low-dimensional world.
At first he trusted it, then used it to improve and keep learning, and finally left it and no longer relied on it.
Bacchus subconsciously repeated, "Trust, use, leave…"
He tilted his head, pretending not to understand.
"That gift that's almost a miracle, how can it be called control? Why leave it?"
The Aeon was just pretending to ask.
They both knew that relying on something was also being controlled by it.
Except for charity organizations, who would help without conditions?
Zero said calmly, "Alright, why waste time discussing something that doesn't exist?"
"Bacchus, when are you returning my book?"
His eyes no longer held any smile. He slowly curved his lips and deliberately used a tone to coax a child.
"You're a good kid. You wouldn't lose my book, right?"
Bacchus could no longer smile. He raised his hands in surrender.
"Alright, Uncle Eric, I admit defeat. Please stop calling me that."
It seemed that "good kid" hit Aha. A few days later, he sent over a brand-new unopened book and stopped trying to mess with his mood.
This Aeon immersed himself in role-playing and began approaching others to build good relationships.
People were especially tolerant toward the obviously underage Bacchus and carefully talked about their past.
Zero, however, did not bother dealing with them.
Without Aha's disturbance, he was happy to be at peace.
He usually stayed in his room, using the jade device to help Hua handle affairs of the Xianzhou.
He had polished four-digit planets down to three digits…
He had to secretly handle these planets' matters without letting Hua know.
If he just quit directly…
When things were exposed, Hua would definitely be angry.
Besides, he only worked eight hours a day now. Not a big problem.
Aside from work, he occasionally brought his potted plant into the room and trimmed its branches.
The green plant was strong. Even if he cut it down to just stems, it would sprout new buds the next day, which amazed him.
He even asked the conductor for a new flowerpot and planted the cut branches in it.
Pothos was strong. If you rounded it, it was basically the same thing.
So could the cut branches grow into a new green plant that could heal wounds?
After several attempts, he failed to grow a new plant and had to give up.
Soon, he got the chance to travel with Akivili.
During the route meeting, Zero did not hesitate and made the same choice as Akivili.
Before leaving, he looked at his clothes and said to the Nameless traveling with him, "Sorry, wait a moment. I'll change."
Zero returned to his room, took off his coat, strapped on his holster, and put on a tie pin, brooch, tie clip, gem cufflinks, and a series of accessories.
After changing, before Akivili could speak, Bacchus's eyes lit up and he said enthusiastically, "Wow... Uncle Eric, your clothes must be expensive, right?"
"If you hadn't become a Nameless, people like us with low status probably wouldn't even be qualified to see you, right?"
As soon as he said that, Akivili and the Nameless looked a little strange.
Zero, "..."
So this time Aha was playing a straightforward, brainless character who helped him draw hate.
It seemed Aha had said quite a few provocative words behind his back.
Zero pretended not to notice and calmly apologized again. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."
Bacchus laughed and followed closely, asking about the names and uses of the accessories.
Someone said in a strange tone, "I really don't know what the point of wearing those is…"
At that moment, Bacchus added fuel to the fire. "Oh, please understand Uncle Eric. He's not an ordinary person..."
After stirring things up, Bacchus pointed at something and wanted Zero to pay.
Zero ignored him. Every time, he would ask Akivili's opinion.
"Do you want these things?"
Akivili shook Their head.
Zero looked at Bacchus. "No."
The red-haired boy pretended to be wronged.
One of the Nameless could not stand it and stepped forward to put an arm around the boy's shoulder.
"It's okay, Bacchus. I'll buy it for you..."
Bacchus looked moved and shook his head. "Thank you for your kindness, but I still want Uncle Eric to buy it for me."
His expression carried a bit of longing.
"I believe Uncle will surely fulfill my small, insignificant wish."
Zero sneered inwardly but showed nothing on his face.
He stepped forward and gently patted the red-haired boy's head.
Bacchus's expression gradually froze.
Zero still felt it was not enough and softly coaxed, "You're a sensible good child. You wouldn't make your elder feel troubled, right?"
Bacchus, "..."
He stopped talking.
Soon, the Nameless split up.
Under Akivili's worried gaze, Zero volunteered and took Bacchus away.
They walked in silence. Finally, Bacchus could not hold it in. He stopped, shrugged, and said helplessly, "Alright, I surrender. May I apply for a truce?"