Aha couldn't believe it.
So even sister-in-law couldn't talk him out of it?
The Aeon sat where He was, thought for a moment, then immediately decided to play dumb.
Aha pretended he didn't understand and deliberately put on an angry expression.
"That idiot Qlipoth, what did He even do?! How could He provoke you?! Your temper is obviously so good..."
Zero laughed softly and shook his head.
"No. I just thought of a perfect solution to solve our problem."
Aha scratched his head and let out a dry laugh.
This "our"… besides his best friend and himself, who else was included?
The Aeon asked stiffly, "So the only thing being sacrificed… is Qlipoth's wall?"
Zero's tone carried a smile. "And me."
Aha fell silent.
He looked up and met the eyes of the person in front of him.
Zero's expression didn't change. It was still that smile Aha had seen countless times, like someone watching children fooling around.
"I have to admit, humans and gods are different."
Aha thought, 'With that expression full of divinity, what are you even saying?!'
Zero continued, "If we go by what you said, that zero point one percent probability…"
Aha weakly raised a hand.
"Best friend, not zero point one percent. The probability isn't that high. It's between zero point zero one and zero point one percent…"
Zero point one percent meant it might happen once in a thousand times.
Zero point zero one percent meant once in ten thousand.
Zero paused, then quickly reached a conclusion.
'A thousand to ten thousand. That's just four digits, right?'
Though with his luck, this cycle was probably the one-thousand-and-first.
Thinking of this, the almost nonexistent guilt in Zero's heart completely disappeared.
"To you, what does time even count for?"
"Even if the cycle repeats a hundred thousand times, a million times, it probably doesn't feel like anything, right?"
Aha didn't know how many cycles He had personally experienced.
But He knew that for Fuli, who was also an Aeon and originally only focused on recording, to repeatedly intervene, it definitely wasn't just a thousand times.
"…Best friend, that's a bit too much. Fuli would cry if He heard that."
Even Aeons couldn't just accept the universe restarting thousands of times, okay? They would break down too.
Oh. Except Nanook, who had nearly a seventy percent chance of standing on his best friend's side.
Zero crouched down, closing the distance, looking at Aha at eye level.
"So, to keep my best friend Fuli from crying because of me, I came up with a solution."
Aha stayed silent for a long time.
With his best friend's personality… there definitely wasn't just one goal. It definitely wasn't just about freeing himself.
Aha couldn't figure it out and said hesitantly, "So the solution you came up with… is sacrificing yourself?"
Zero nodded with a smile. "Everyone wins. Isn't that nice?"
"Humans and gods are different after all."
"Even without my past memories… I'm already tired of all this."
"Here, my body doesn't decay, my soul doesn't perish…"
This wasn't just something Zero understood. Aha knew it too.
In a lower-dimensional world, even if Aeons fell one after another, even if the universe came to an end, higher-dimensional beings wouldn't die.
Zero guessed that in past cycles, he might have discovered the truth like this time.
But he had no choice.
To truly gain release, he could only keep pushing forward stubbornly.
Zero frowned slightly. One hand held the knife, the other the jade communicator. His tone was extremely sincere.
"If it's you, you can definitely understand me, right?"
Aha wanted to say, 'I don't understand at all!'
'I'm the Aeon of Elation! Even that blockhead Nous can't figure out the thoughts of higher-dimensional beings, how could I understand?!'
But under his best friend's extremely deceptive gaze, one that seemed to entrust him with complete trust, Aha still nodded.
Definitely not because of the knife in his best friend's hand.
Definitely not because Aha's true body was here.
Zero smiled in satisfaction.
He really seemed to be treating Aha like a best friend he could trust his back to. His tone sounded extremely close.
"In that case, let's set off later."
Hearing this, Aha's eyes lit up.
Not now. That meant there was still room to turn things around! He still had time to think of something.
For example, Marty, the subordinate his best friend loved most this cycle… as long as he could get his best friend's communicator…
Aha discreetly glanced at the communicator in Zero's hand.
Zero stood up first, casually stuffed the communicator into the pocket of his black dress pants, and proactively reached out a hand toward Aha.
"Before that… wait for me to change clothes."
Aha cautiously looked at the dagger in Zero's other hand.
The Aeon didn't take his hand and instead stood up with a dry laugh.
Zero looked completely natural. He withdrew his hand and turned into the walk-in closet.
He picked out a long black coat, first putting the dagger into the pocket, then taking out the communicator.
The screen lit up briefly.
It was a message from Zandar.
[Zandar: I've arrived at the Luofu]
[Zandar: The Xianzhou is really welcoming. They even sent a big shot from leadership to accompany me]
[Zandar Shared A Location With You]
Zero glanced at it and didn't reply.
'A big shot from leadership? Who would that be?'
The thought passed quickly through his mind and he didn't think further.
He put the communicator into another pocket and draped the coat over his arm.
Zero opened a drawer. His eyes scanned the neatly arranged brooches as he picked an accessory for himself.
Shuhu had come into contact with his blood. He couldn't confirm whether this enemy could be killed by Xianzhou weapons.
He had once told Hua there was no need to hold back against Shuhu…
After the battle, the logistics personnel would probably use miniature colossi to clean up the battlefield.
And during his call with Jingliu, his lover hadn't mentioned the battle situation, only saying everything was going smoothly and the Cloud Knights would return soon.
So Shuhu was probably already dead.
Tracing it back, the series of colossus weapons had come into this world through the hand of a higher dimension.
Then it made sense that neutron waves could kill Shuhu and cut off His life.
Zero's gaze fell on a pigeon-blood ruby brooch.
He fell into a rare daze.
If possible, he really wanted to continue being an ordinary person.
But Akivili, Marty, and others had died because of him…
How could he just pretend nothing happened and forget all of it?
Zero's proposal to go to the Imaginary Tree wasn't just to fulfill his own wish.
More importantly, it was for Tenseiga, for Akivili and the others who died because of him.
Seeing he couldn't get any information from Aha, he could only make another trip himself.
If he could find that item… he would use the system notes to judge whether it worked.
Zero had no compassion and couldn't use it. But what about Akivili?
If after exploring the nature of the world Akivili still couldn't revive Himself using the item… then what if the item was given to the Aeon of Abundance?
Zero put on the coat, fastened the brooch in front of the mirror, then left the walk-in closet.
Aha spoke excitedly, like a child who had found a toy, "Best friend, let's go. Let's kill Shuhu for fun first."
Zero's breathing stalled.
Shuhu had once come into contact with his blood. Even the miniature colossi couldn't erase Him.
Then what about Jingliu? Had she also become an almost immortal anomaly like himself?
He stood there without speaking for a long time.
After a long silence, he found his voice and asked uncertainly, "You mean… Shuhu?"
Aha didn't notice anything at first and nodded hard. "Yeah. Shuhu is on the Luofu."
The Aeon kept talking, but as He spoke, He gradually noticed something wrong. Still, He forced himself to continue.
Aha was trying to stall his best friend's steps.
Zero's face remained expressionless.
He took out his communicator and replied to Zandar.
[Zero: Arriving in one hour]
Under the Aeon's almost tangible gaze, Zero put the communicator back into his pocket and softly asked, "Where is He?"
Aha's eyes instantly lit up.
"I'll take you there right now..."