Hui Feng said irritably, "You told me that only higher-dimensional beings have the possibility to overturn everything, such as the direction of lower-dimensional worlds, or people's destinies."
"You said you couldn't leave this place, but I could."
Zero softly repeated, "Couldn't leave this place…"
He looked at Hui Feng, his tone turning cold, "Do the members of the Genius Society know about that?"
Do they know about his special nature?
Hui Feng shook her head. "I don't know."
Zero patiently said, "Hui Feng, think carefully again."
Hui Feng looked at him deeply.
"I never had contact with members of the Genius Society."
"You and Zandar only had me save lower-dimensional worlds. You… rarely gave me orders."
Zero's expression grew serious.
He thought, 'Strange.'
For some reason, Eric abandoned Hui Feng, erased traces of her existence, leaving behind only a few words in fables.
But why did Zandar make the same choice as Eric?
Hui Feng was confused, "Is this question important?"
"They went through many cycles of reincarnation."
Hui Feng blinked.
Following Zandar's instructions, she raised her eyes toward the person beside her and closely watched his facial expression.
Hui Feng gently guided him, "Right now, only the people closest to you know about this, right?"
Zero did not speak.
He already had a vague guess in his heart.
At that time, besides himself and Zandar, no one knew about it.
Or rather, the vast majority of Genius Society members did not know.
Otherwise, how could he still be sitting in a starskiff, casually chatting with Hui Feng?
Zero did not remember his hometown, but he could still infer what his original personality was like.
He grew up surrounded by love, without worries about food or clothing, even considered well-off.
The country he lived in had no war.
He was a fifteen-year-old child raised in a greenhouse.
A person like that would definitely have a very strong sense of morality and proper values in the universal sense.
And also possess… the humanity all normal people had.
He had stayed in his hometown for fifteen years.
What about after he met Zandar?
What about after the wise man who guided him into this place died before him?
Would he lean more toward lower-dimensional worlds?
Here, people could only continue along predetermined destinies.
The Swarm Disaster ravaged everything, mechanical lifeforms ran out of control, war never stopped.
A self with humanity, a self who had never known the cruelty of war, upon seeing battlefields scattered with broken limbs and corpses, might even be frightened? Might feel sad and cry?
What if he could end all of this?
He would probably be very willing to sacrifice himself.
Even if he was unwilling to sacrifice himself, with those geniuses of extraordinary intelligence surrounding him… they would probably still make him willingly choose what benefited lower-dimensional worlds.
Other than Zandar, Zero did not trust the other members of the Genius Society.
This was a very simple trolley problem.
From the results, his flesh and blood could not reverse the fate of lower-dimensional worlds.
He protected the secret and created the system.
If the members of the Genius Society learned about it…
He would probably have long since been torn into pieces and scattered across the universe.
Or already broken apart and buried in the Imaginary Tree?
Hui Feng watched Zero.
The person beside her looked indifferent as he thought about something.
Hui Feng knew very well that she could not read anything from his expression.
Most likely, it had something to do with that "Imbibitor Lunae."
That person definitely knew about Eric's special nature.
But their relationship was very good… Killing him was impossible.
Fortunately, he was Vidyadhara. After rebirth, he would forget everything from his previous life.
Wait, didn't High Elders seem able to remember their previous lives?
Then he could no longer be High Elder.
While thinking, Hui Feng changed the subject, "Yes, at that time, you said you couldn't leave this place."
"So? Is there something wrong with that sentence?"
Zero stared at Hui Feng.
That's right.
His original self had humanity, had emotions.
How could he use the way he thought now to guess what he used to think?
Very quickly, Zero found the answer in his heart.
Only he understood himself best.
Once Zero learned of Hui Feng's existence, he definitely would not abandon her.
Hui Feng would become the best tool to help him conquer the universe.
However, Hui Feng was a nanomachine swarm that retained memories from previous cycles.
No matter how precise a machine was, it could still lose control.
If she became immersed in slaughter… it would only increase the chance of losing control.
At that point, Zero would absolutely not hesitate.
Hui Feng would definitely die.
Eric did this to protect Hui Feng.
Zero shook his head. "There's too little information. Continue."
Hui Feng continued, "You asked me whether I wanted to take the Curios and save other worlds."
"You also said I should go to your hometown and kidnap more people."
Zero fell silent for a moment, then could not help asking, "…How many people is 'more people'?"
Hui Feng showed an awkward expression.
"I don't remember."
Zero widened his eyes.
Seeing that, Hui Feng could only slash down the number she had estimated in her heart again and again.
"Maybe only around a hundred people?"
Zero held his forehead with one hand.
"…Only around a hundred people?"
"It was a three-digit number close to four digits, right?"
Hui Feng rubbed the tip of her nose and stiffly continued polishing her words, "When the universe is close to destruction, I'll leave this place. The number of people might match the number of reincarnation cycles?"
Zero, "…"
After Hui Feng finally managed to go to a higher-dimensional world, how could she possibly only kidnap one person each time?
Zero did not believe the number Hui Feng gave.
But he no longer wanted to dig deeper into it.
Seeing this, Hui Feng temporarily forgot that he was the one who encouraged her to kidnap people in the first place, focusing only on defending herself, "No, it wasn't kidnapping. They all willingly stayed there."
"They didn't live very well in the higher-dimensional world."
"Eric, they didn't have conditions as privileged as yours."
Zero lowered his hand and lightly tapped the armrest with his fingertip.
"You can go to other worlds. Likewise, they may also come here."
Hui Feng, "..."
'Huh? How is that possible?! Eric, you're overthinking things!'
Zero lowered his eyes.
He would definitely think of this possibility.
'Then… what countermeasures were there?'
Zero suddenly asked, "Hui Feng, why was I revived?"
Hui Feng did not speak and simply looked at him.
Zero closed his eyes briefly.
"…With that expression, don't tell me you think I'd make a move against Zandar?"
Zero would never hand over the right to decide his life and death to someone else.
But Eric was different.
How mature could a fifteen-year-old child who suddenly arrived in another world really be?
Zero would not criticize or deny the choices made by a child.
Even if that child was himself.
Zero sighed, "I said it before. I won't go against my original intentions."
Hui Feng thought, 'Yes, you won't make a move against your teacher.'
'You would only patch every loophole and cut off every retreat for yourself.'
'Then when you die again, even Zandar won't be able to save you.'
Hui Feng pressed her lips together and softly said, "It was Zandar. It was the system."
"He modified your system panel."
Zero thought for a moment and said, "I understand. If other people come here and try to start conflict, I can use the system panel to deal with them."
Hui Feng, "..."
'Huh?! What are you talking about?'