Jingliu's ears turned red without her noticing. Her eyes stared straight ahead as she tried her best to ignore the Marshal sitting not far away at the desk handling official business.
She didn't want to think about whether the Marshal had heard their conversation.
It seemed her lover was in a very bad mood.
Only when they were alone would Zero say something as direct as "I miss you."
Usually, he liked to beat around the bush and guide her into saying embarrassing things.
For example, he would hint and ask, 'Do you only miss Jade?'
Then he would push further and deliberately ask, 'Then who else do you miss?'
In certain situations, he could be even more wicked.
Jingliu steadied herself and lowered her voice.
"Being able to hear you say something like that is really rare."
After saying that, she could already guess his response.
Probably something like, is it rare? Then I should say it more often.
Unexpectedly, Zero only gave a soft laugh and asked when he could see her.
Her lover never put her in a difficult position. He always kept a sense of boundaries and never crossed the line to ask about internal Cloud Knight secrets.
The small bit of anger in Jingliu's heart instantly disappeared.
She said softly, "Soon."
Hua sat upright at her desk.
Thanks to the teachings of her guardian and the many generals, her five senses were far beyond ordinary people.
Her mind froze for a moment. After calming herself, she carefully analyzed their conversation.
Hua quickly reached a conclusion.
Her gaze shifted to a photo frame on the desk.
In the photo, many figures whose faces appeared in history books showed either flattering or admiring expressions, all looking at the same person.
The person surrounded by them remained unmoved, looking straight ahead with a gentle smile.
Hua thought, 'Jingliu can't stop him.'
He always kept his promises.
But… why didn't he mention the future at all in this call with Jingliu?
And… he only expressed emotions to those close to him under certain circumstances.
'Do you really just miss Jingliu? You clearly want to leave us again.'
'With that kind of mental state… forget love and marriage! It would already be lucky if nothing happened!'
After some thought, Hua first ruled out Daiyang and Chanzhen.
The two now worked at the Ten Lords Commission on the Luofu, but Hua didn't dare take the risk.
If something happened… without her Feather Dust, they wouldn't be able to hold on.
Hua lowered her head and tapped her jade communicator, sending different orders to each of them.
[Guanliang, come to the Luofu]
[Tengxiao, from now on, no one is allowed to leave the Luofu]
Considering Jingliu was present, Hua didn't use the divine power granted by the Aeon.
Better to contact the Reignbow Arbiter after arriving at the Luofu.
Right now, she missed Marty more than ever.
Although Hua never got along well with that scholar… Marty was the subordinate he loved most.
With Marty's help, they could probably stall for some time.
Previously, Hua had received a mass birthday cake advertisement.
At the time she replied, when he was here, he would celebrate my birthday.
The number that shouldn't have responded had replied to her, sorry.
Hua guessed Marty might have left something behind.
He might also not truly be dead.
One of those guesses was confirmed after she sent people to investigate the communicator and the neutron gun, and learned the guardian's true cause of death.
The jade communicator could detect the life signs of Xianzhou people. Before they fell into mara, it would send a signal to the Ten Lords Commission where they were located.
For thousands of years, it had never failed.
This was Marty's proud creation, and also a device Xianzhou people couldn't live without from birth to death.
Someone like that… changing the communicator's data would be as easy as breathing, right?
Of course, for the guardian, it would also be simple.
The guardian might have wanted Hua to have a happy birthday, or maybe he didn't want to leave on the special holiday of Thanksgiving.
He altered the communicator's data and even specially found a ship to place his communicator on.
Then what about Marty, the developer? He would surely notice something quickly.
That way, it all made sense.
After Hua became the Marshal of the Xianzhou and took over his position, she had thoroughly investigated the guardian's death and the Cangcheng laboratory, but unfortunately found no clues.
Now it seemed those clues were probably backup plans left by Marty, or handled personally by Marty.
This time, Hua sent people again.
Perhaps Marty had been too focused on covering things up for the guardian and didn't notice Guanliang.
This investigation revealed Guanliang had secretly gone to Xuling one week before the incident, and from him Hua learned the guardian's real cause of death.
Now it seemed Marty might be the one who knew the most.
They had all been deceived by this scholar.
Was he alive or dead? Was that apology Hua received really from Marty himself, or from the consciousness of the Xianzhou geniuses?
Or was it just an artificial intelligence he left behind?
'Marty, if you still care about your bond with him… if you still care about him even a little… then you shouldn't be dead! How could you die?'
'He tried so hard to save you… you absolutely shouldn't merge your consciousness with others! You can't live as something neither human nor ghost!'
Soon, Jingliu and Zero's conversation came to an end.
Jingliu strictly upheld her Cloud Knight duties and didn't mention any internal secrets, only saying she would return to the Luofu soon.
Zero smiled and said softly, "Alright, let's stop here. Go back to your work."
He didn't say goodbye.
Zero hung up. His gaze left the gifts Jingliu had given him beside the bed.
He picked up the dagger and walked outside.
As soon as he opened the door, Aha, who had been sneaking around trying to eavesdrop, suddenly lost his balance and fell forward, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Aha propped himself up and sat on the floor.
Just as He was about to defend Himself, He heard Zero say, "Best friend, let's crash into Qlipoth's wall again."