Did he stumble into the set of some palace drama?
"Yes, Marshal. If you don't mind, I too could…"
The "Neptune" female subordinate deliberately put on a coy act, winking at Zero.
The big man added, "I've already picked out a thousand beauties, smart and pretty. When would you like to summon them?"
Zero, "..."
His expression instantly collapsed.
'What exactly have you people been wasting precious funding on?!'
The Neptune subordinate took one look at Zero's face and immediately knew what he was thinking.
'What kind of mindset was this? Single for hundreds of years, never dating, and still all he thought about was the Xianzhou's budget…'
She sighed inwardly, then stood up, "It hasn't been an official selection yet. But as soon as the Xianzhou's girls heard it was to choose someone for the Marshal, they all rushed to sign up."
"We carefully selected, and from tens of thousands of files, filtered it down to just these thousand."
Zero didn't understand, but he was deeply shaken.
"Even though I personally don't really care much about my reputation, you guys… what on earth are you doing?!"
If this gets out, wouldn't he, someone single since birth, look like some lust-crazed starving ghost to outsiders?
When it came to love, his ideas were still very traditional… right?
At the very least, he'd wait until after finishing the game before even talking about it, wouldn't he?
And even then, everything should progress step by step, without skipping any parts.
The subordinates instantly fell silent. Then, the Neptune subordinate, like she had just spotted some rare animal, exclaimed, "Our Marshal is angry!"
The others finally snapped back too. They all gasped in wonder, then started chattering noisily.
"Whoa, this must be the first time the Marshal has ever gotten mad at us, right?"
"To witness this moment, I'd give up my mansion and my star-destroyer battleship without regret!"
"Anyone got a camera? Take a shot! I'd pay eight figures for this photocard!"
Zero, 'Hard. My fists are hard.'
How could his subordinates be this good at causing trouble?
Knocking over cups, tugging at curtains, that was bad enough. But now they wanted to flip the heavens too?
He scanned the room, looking for something suitable to smack them with. The big man, catching his intent, proactively pulled out his sword and handed it over.
Zero took the sword, still sheathed, and gave the big man a not-smiling smile.
How should he swing? He'd have to control his strength, right? Otherwise, what if he broke bones…
He momentarily forgot his subordinates all had that "immortal, can't-die" debuff. Holding the sheathed sword, he swung with a controlled, not-too-hard, not-too-soft strike.
…And the result was, they went even crazier.
Being chased around by his subordinates, utterly without a shred of superior's dignity, Zero roared, "You people really need to go to the Alchemy Division to get your heads checked!"
After a round of chaos, they finally calmed down, and as usual, started comparing themselves and tossing backhanded remarks.
The Neptune subordinate sidled up, speaking softly, "Marshal, do you feel a little better now?"
She didn't wait for him to answer and continued on her own, "It just feels like your mood hasn't been great. Compared to all that you've given to the Xianzhou and to us, what we've been able to do is far too little…"
She paused for a moment, then said quietly, "It's like… a god who unconditionally grants the prayers of his believers. But even gods must get tired, right?"
"I'm foolish, I could never be like you, all-knowing and almighty. But if it were me, if I already knew the ending of the story ahead of time, I'd find it boring."
She raised her head, staring straight at him, "Will you, one day, grow tired of it all?"
'Will you abandon the people of the Xianzhou? Will you abandon us?'
"No."
Zero smiled. 'What game gets deleted halfway through?'
With a solemn tone, he made a promise to his subordinates, "I won't grow tired. I won't leave. I'll stay in this position until the universe is destroyed."
The female subordinate breathed out in relief. Then, slipping her hands behind her back, out of her superior's sight, she flashed a "mission accomplished" gesture at the colleagues secretly watching the two of them.
The whole group let out a collective sigh of relief and thought to themselves, 'Awesome! High EQ! Truly worthy of being Neptune!'
Having gotten the Marshal's promise, they all felt reassured, and turned back to continue expanding territory for their superior, diligently clearing out enemies.
For a while, the entire universe lived on edge, terrified of outbreaks of insect plagues or troublemaking machines, lest they draw the attention of this band of lunatics.
Zero, seeing the rising deterrence value of the "Xianzhou Alliance," was immensely satisfied. Like a farmer gazing at plump wheat after hard labor, his heart brimmed with joy.
He was one step closer to clearing the game.
His UR was about to finally reunite with family.
Zero waited, full of hope. But one day, while passing by the Alchemy Division, he happened to see the Strategist with an old woman.
He was puzzled. By now, every Xianzhou citizen had received the blessing of "Abundance." By logic, no one should still look so aged. Could she be an outsider?
The moment the Strategist saw his superior, his face went slightly stiff.
Zero immediately noticed something was wrong. He opened the old woman's panel, and froze on the spot after seeing her identity.
It was Lan's mother.
Zero, "..."
It felt exactly like charging solo to steal the crystal, only for teammates to sit back at base, stubbornly refusing to clear the enemy minion wave.
Seriously? He'd been grinding deterrence with his subordinates like crazy, all to rescue Lan faster, and this guy goes and drags them down, practically teaming up with the enemy?
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