Hui Feng pursed her lips, trying hard to hide her smile.
She suddenly thought that if the Eric who built the Empire and treated his subjects like pets learned that he had fallen in love with someone here...
He would definitely be confused and lost.
In his eyes, they weren't even the same species.
It was like humans not developing feelings for cats and dogs.
After hearing about it, Eric would only find it absurd.
Like a vampire learning that one of their kind had fallen in love with a human. The level of absurdity was comparable to a human falling in love with a piece of fried chicken, insisting on turning themselves into a chunk of meat, coating themselves in egg wash and breadcrumbs, then jumping into hot oil.
This relationship crossed species.
He would immediately send himself to psychiatry.
Hui Feng only focused on holding back laughter and paid no attention to Eric's slightly disgusted look.
She coughed lightly.
"You often say..."
Hui Feng pushed up the rimless glasses on her nose and recalled the expression Eric commonly used.
In the eyes of the geniuses, Eric was too young. Combined with his naturally approachable appearance, it made it difficult for him to command authority.
Because of that, he had put a lot of effort into controlling his expressions.
'Mm, don't show emotional fluctuations.'
'Keep facial expressions minimal.'
'Don't let others see through your thoughts.'
After adjusting her expression, Hui Feng deliberately put on a deep look and raised her eyes toward Zero, saying in a low voice, "Don't rush."
"Everything I want, I'll have."
Zero looked at Hui Feng, and a guess suddenly formed in his mind.
Aeons had no humanity.
They couldn't be judged by common sense.
Even if Zero came into contact with their true forms, even if he killed them trillions of times, they wouldn't care.
Aeons were like programs running on commands, constantly and consistently following their Paths.
Unless they had another purpose.
Like Zero at the beginning.
Lan's mother once asked him, "Does what he's doing have any meaning?"
At the time, his answer was no.
He didn't care about NPCs, nor did he care about their efforts.
It was like when you worked hard to grow a huge field of wheat, watering it and fertilizing it.
When harvest season came and you looked at the heavy wheat stalks, you wouldn't praise the seeds for breaking through the soil and growing. You would only sigh over how much effort you yourself had put in.
Would you grind them into flour? Or keep some seeds for planting next year?
They existed because of you, so naturally, you would decide their fate.
Zero's expression gradually turned cold.
Under what circumstances would he care about NPCs?
When NPCs had value.
Zero met Hui Feng's gaze. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Hui Feng waited and waited, but never saw any other expression from Eric.
She suddenly found it boring. Just as she was about to change back to her own face, he softly asked, "Hui Feng."
"Do you remember?"
"Before you left, who did I go see?"
"Was it..."
"Zandar's creation?"
Hui Feng widened her eyes at Zero and deliberately showed a confused expression.
"What's wrong?"
Zero finally couldn't hold back and laughed.
"Don't make that expression with my face..."
It looks really stupid!
Hui Feng was holding back laughter inside, but outwardly looked extremely humble, like she was sincerely asking for advice.
"Then what kind of expression should I use?"
Zero replied instinctively,
"Either a cold face or a smile."
After speaking, he raised a hand to his forehead.
"That's not important."
"Hui Feng, there won't be a next time."
Hui Feng stopped while she was ahead and obediently returned to a cold expression.
"Yes. Before I left, you went to see that stellar computer."
Zero fell silent for a moment, recalling those exhausted and lifeless eyes, then softly said, "...I understand now."
He understood why Zandar hated the Aeon of Erudition so much.
At the very beginning, before "Erudition" ascended into godhood, it had only been a stellar computer.
That was a long and tedious project.
From concepts to blueprints, from parts to assembly...
Zandar must have spent a lot of time and effort on it.
Even before the computer became a god, there must have been moments when Zandar looked at his creation with pride.
During that time, he met fifteen-year-old Zero, who had come to the lower-dimensional world.
Zandar sent Eric to school, then withdrew him because of security problems and personally taught him knowledge. Together, they created the system.
After that, Zandar encountered an unknown enemy.
An enemy that even an Emanator of Erudition couldn't resolve.
Leaving Eric alone.
Suddenly encountering disaster and losing the teacher who guided him, he probably didn't know what to do either.
At that time, he was just an ordinary person with humanity, restrained by morality.
Maybe in the beginning, he even held some reverence toward Aeons?
But in a world where gods truly existed, Zandar, who had been gazed upon by an Aeon and became an Emanator, died.
Zero thought of the note in his backpack that mentioned cats and dogs.
'No wonder...'
His homeland never kept useless gods.
Like everyone else, regardless of whether gods were real or effective, he believed first.
After coming to the lower-dimensional world and going through many changes, he no longer held reverence toward gods.
Since they were useless, then let them die.
After easily reaching this conclusion, Zero turned to thinking about himself.
He was very self-aware.
Compared to the other geniuses, he seemed out of place. No matter how hard he worked, he could never become a genius.
Yet Zandar had said he was the chief person in charge of planet-destroying weapons...
How could he possibly lead a project like that? There had to be exaggeration in those words.
Zero had the "mara-struck" debuff interfering with his perception, but what about Eric?
There would always come a day when he grew tired.
At the moment before parting with Hui Feng, he met "Erudition," and afterward his mind completely collapsed.
Thinking this far, Zero overturned his original guess.
Eric had told Hui Feng, "I can't leave this place."
Maybe... he never expected to survive.
Out of habit, he left himself a way out.
That way out was the system.
If he survived, then through the system he would become the one in power, establish rules, interfere with fate, and strangle disasters in the cradle ahead of time.
The "mara-struck" debuff? It didn't matter.
Even if he wasn't on the Xianzhou, the system would "adapt to local customs" and gift him other debuffs, so neither he nor his subjects would notice his special nature.
Meanwhile, after starting a new cycle, Zandar used the system to guess everything that happened in the previous cycle after Zero left.
His student died because of his creation.
Maybe he couldn't resist the so-called fate spoken of by Fuli?
Maybe there was no better choice?
Zandar created the stellar computer once again, then restarted the previous cycle's research project... dimensional ascension.
In the following cycles, he followed fate and repeatedly created the culprit responsible for killing his student.
Zandar should have taken pride in "Erudition."
Zero withdrew his thoughts and searched through the cabinet beside him for something.
Seeing this, Hui Feng searched along with him. After a moment, she found cigarettes and handed them to him.
He took them, then seemed to think of something. His movement paused for a moment. After lighting one, he only held it between his fingers.
Half the cigarette burned away. Eric let out a light laugh, his tone impossible to read.
"So this is fate? How boring."
Hui Feng, "...Huh?"
Zero's smile grew gentler.
Fuli had once told him not to build the "Aether Phase Engine."
Afterward, Lan told him he didn't need to do anything.
Working backward from the result, Zero arrived at the truth.
The lower-dimensional world needed him.
It needed someone outside fate.
It needed him to overturn fate and help fight against predetermined destiny.
But what it needed... Was not "Destruction," and even less "Finality."
But the universe was so vast. Were there really no other beings outside fate? Why rely on an outsider from a higher-dimensional world?
Zero suddenly remembered the special materials the system rewarded after eliminating disasters.
"Purge Core," which greatly increased the efficiency of building robots and megastructures.
"Brood Queen," which could be mass-produced through special technology.
Zero had lent the core to Zandar, while the "Brood Queen" had been completely blown up.
Looking at the nanomachine that should never have come here, the fog in his heart instantly cleared.
It wasn't just to resist fate.
It was to resist disasters that were also outsiders.
Among them was the culprit responsible for Zandar's death.
Eric had experienced wars far crueler than the "Aurumaton Uprising."
That was exactly why he was obsessed with becoming the one in power.
Only power could end wars.
Zero let out a soft sigh.
He realized Eric had no other choice.
At the beginning, he was unfamiliar with the world. After finally integrating into the lower-dimensional world, he lost the teacher he trusted most.
What else could he do? He could only desperately use that mediocre mind of his, the one dragging down the average IQ of geniuses, to keep learning nonstop in an attempt to narrow the gap between himself and them.
Zero extinguished the cigarette and sighed.
"I was used by them."
Hui Feng couldn't keep up with the overly jumping train of thought of the person before her. After thinking for a moment, she realized the "they" Eric mentioned referred to the Aeons.
Wait, aren't you underestimating yourself too much?! Aeons used you?
Zero's gaze shifted slightly.
He remembered what was written on the note.
[Angering all the cats and dogs was actually to share the most romantic scenery with them]
[Climbing to the highest branch of the tree to share the most romantic scenery with them]
Eric had only written those two methods...
Zero couldn't help sighing, "He calmed down after killing them twice? That counts as even?"
"He really is too...", As he spoke, Zero suddenly stopped.
Hui Feng, "..."
In her free time, she used all kinds of methods to pass time.
For example, novels.
The line she remembered most clearly was, "Although you lost your legs, I lost love."
Hui Feng never imagined that one day she would witness a live version of it.
"Although you lost your lives, I was used."
The key point was that you didn't just kill them twice! What? It was Eric? Then never mind.
Even after killing Aeons billions of times, he would still think he was merciful.
It seemed he realized that insulting Eric was the same as insulting himself. After pausing for a moment and finding suitable wording, he continued, "He really is too merciful."
Hui Feng asked, "Then are you going to kill all of them?"
He was used to doing things perfectly.
Either he wouldn't ascend the throne, or he would conquer the entire universe and become emperor.
Likewise, either he wouldn't kill Aeons, or he would kill all of them.
Hearing that, the corner of Zero's mouth twitched.
"...In your eyes, am I really that extreme?"
The cleanup afterward would be too troublesome.
Unless he conquered the entire universe first.
But conquering the universe just to kill Aeons...
Wasn't that like planting wheat from scratch just because you wanted a dish of vinegar, then waiting to grind flour and make dumplings just to dip them in it? Going around in such a huge circle, was it necessary? How much benefit could it even bring?
It would only increase Hua's workload.
Besides, when the Aeon of Propagation caused the "Swarm Disaster," the other Aeons had all helped.
What if another outsider disaster appeared?
If he killed them all, wouldn't he have to handle everything himself?
Hui Feng understood.
There would be no more new cycles.
He would only focus on the game account Eric left behind, the one with higher authority.
Thinking of this, Hui Feng couldn't help feeling guilty.
Once Eric logged into the account, wouldn't he immediately see those five-digit MOD numbers...
At that point, how would he still have the mood to deal with Aeons?
It was like the garden in your backyard. There were bugs eating the branches and leaves, but when unknown bugs from the neighboring yard approached your garden, you would prioritize dealing with the invasive species.
Of course Eric would prioritize resolving potential dangers from other worlds.
And afterward... Hui Feng, who falsified the number of system deployments.
Still using Eric's face, Hui Feng tried to pull the topic back.
"After you met me and gave me those two instructions, I left. I don't know what happened after that."
She pretended to think back, then continued, "You might have gone to see the Twenty-Second Seat? Or maybe the Fourth Seat?"
Zero raised a brow.
The Twenty-Second Seat, Lierta, was one of the few Genius Society members who publicly released research results.
Zero wasn't surprised that Eric knew this person.
But the Fourth Seat Hui Feng mentioned...
"You mean... Polka Kakamond?"
Hui Feng nodded.
"She used to kill people all the time. Now she doesn't anymore."
Zero thought of Rupert, who died at the hands of the Fourth Seat.
"...She doesn't kill people anymore, only mechanical lifeforms, right?"
Hui Feng nodded again.
"You two would definitely get along."
"Eric, aren't you considering joining the Genius Society and becoming the Eighth Seat?"
Zero glanced at Hui Feng as she continued, "You should've joined the Genius Society long ago."
"Strictly speaking, you should be the Second Seat."
"When you met Zandar, that creation had already noticed you."
Zero didn't believe it.
Before "Erudition" became a god, it was only a stellar computer.
If Zandar brought him in front of the computer... that could technically count as a glance.
Hui Feng added, "This time is no different either. Don't tell me you forgot?"
Zero sighed internally.
How could he possibly forget?
When he served as the Yaoqing General, the other party said he was the Fourth Calamity, with a 99.99% probability of leading the entire universe toward Finality.
Zandar always wanted him to join the Genius Society.
If it were anyone else, Zero would have directly refused.
He could only find an excuse.
"Wouldn't the other members mind? Changing the seats sounds troublesome."
Hui Feng shrugged.
"Not troublesome at all. Just blame it on the Fictionologists."
"They even said Zandar's theories were actually the achievements of the Second Seat."
"The geniuses are all buried in laboratories, busy out of their minds. Who has time to care about little things like this? Leave the rest to Zandar."
"We could also kick Rupert I out of the Genius Society. Then you'd only need to change the names from the Eighth Seat to the Twenty-Seventh Seat."
"Oh, and the Sixty-Fourth Seat too... that guy violated the Universal Human Rights Act and was already dealt with by the Galaxy Rangers. Just like machines, he should've been removed long ago."
Zero once again found an excuse to refuse Hui Feng.
"No. Wait until the Genius Society has its eighty-seventh member."
He picked up the takeout bag and alcohol, then turned to look at Hui Feng.
The nanomachine still wore his face and looked back at him in confusion, eyes clear, expression completely different from Zero's.
Like...
A fifteen-year-old child, ignorant and innocent.
Like the version of himself that had first arrived in another world.
Across time and years, Zero looked at himself.
The face before him looked so naive it was almost stupid.
Zero stared for a long while. With his free hand, he gently rested it on the other person's shoulder, then smiled.
"Yeah."
"Everything I want..."
"I'll have..."