Zero had many things to deal with every day. Gathering with his subordinates was one of his few moments to relax.
They said "your mother, I'll take care of her," but in truth, he really didn't put much energy into looking after her.
Back then he had only gone once with the Strategist, paid a visit, and afterward instructed his subordinates to send large sums of stipends every month in Lan's name, plus gifts during festivals and such.
Occasionally, the Strategist would bring food she'd made by hand, things that couldn't be stored for long, and ask Zero to keep them for him.
Because of this, he didn't notice anything unusual.
The woman who had once been young enough to still be called middle-aged had, with the passing years, turned into a frail, elderly figure.
Fortunately, he discovered it early.
Zero frowned, picking up his communicator to contact the Cauldron Division's master, but the Strategist snatched it away, hesitating, trying to signal with his eyes for him to wait.
Zero ignored the strange sensation from his arm, paid no attention to the Strategist, and turned to the old woman, "Do you have plans to remarry? I know Lan, he wouldn't mind."
Even as a child, Lan would stand up to protect his mother. He surely wouldn't care about this.
"Or perhaps, do you want to travel to other planets?"
The Strategist held back his anger, "At least ask what she thinks first..."
'Don't speak with that tone of certainty. Don't just make decisions for others on your own.'
It was exactly because he knew his superior's domineering style, like that of a tyrant, that he'd hidden this matter from him.
The Strategist took a deep breath, trying to pull his superior back.
But he couldn't budge him.
A civil officer was no match for a player who had cut down countless mobs.
Zero easily snatched back the communicator, sending a message to the master while thinking.
It took him a long time to drag out from memory a planet suitable for vacations, and then he continued, "There's a planet in the Xianzhou Alliance, very good for vacation. Why don't you go there, take over, and have a proper rest?"
The Strategist tried again to pull him back, but was frozen in place by his superior's calm, unwavering gaze.
Zero looked at the Strategist, expressionless, his tone impossible to read, "Have I been too easygoing all this time?"
Then he turned to the Cauldron Division master and his doctors, who were hurrying over, and lifted his chin slightly to signal them to check the old woman.
"Only this once. Don't let it happen again."
Leaving those words behind, Zero ignored the Strategist's stiff body and turned to follow them into the Cauldron Division.
What he never expected was that Lan's mother refused the blessing of "Abundance."
Lying in the hospital bed, the old woman shook her head, solemnly rejecting it.
Zero didn't understand. He was sincerely confused, "Why did you refuse?"
Her temples were streaked with silver. She gazed at Zero, the deeply revered Marshal, and suddenly an eerie guess rose in her heart.
Perhaps, in his understanding, there was simply no one who would refuse him.
It made sense. Whether it was the war against the Golds or the eradication of insect plagues, he always seemed to push forward unstoppably with Yaoqing and the Xianzhou, breaking through obstacles to claim victory.
The old woman said seriously, "Please don't blame the Strategist. This was my request. He truly couldn't refuse me."
Zero nodded, then turned and left the ward, beginning to contact the research department.
'Don't want long life? Mechanical ascension works too. Otherwise, what happens when Lan comes back?'
As he was typing, the Strategist cut into his thoughts.
"Listen to me. She really doesn't want to become that kind of immortal. Stop forcing your ideas onto others."
"It's because I knew you wouldn't agree that I hid this from you. At the very least, Lan has earned merit for you, why can't you respect his mother's wishes?"
"Not everyone can make choices according to your will. Not everyone wants long life. She doesn't want to keep waiting anymore."
"Can't you try, just once, to put yourself in someone else's place?"
After hearing this, Zero kept typing, face unchanged.
'Mm. Time was tight. It had to be solved within three days.'
He backed down a little, lowering the requirement, so long as her consciousness could be preserved, that was enough. The rest could wait until Lan came back.
Seeing his superior still acting indifferent, the Strategist reached out and snatched away his device.
Zero had honestly thought that after being scolded, the Strategist would give up.
He hadn't guarded against him at all, so the device was actually taken.
The Strategist stared at him, voice tinged with helplessness, "You're always like this, always making decisions alone. What do you take them for? Pets to be ordered around?"
"Take one step off the path, and you'll force them back onto your so-called 'right track'? Can't you be human? Can't you treat them as independent individuals?"
Zero only felt that strange arm of his suddenly itch. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing ginkgo leaves slowly sprouting from his flesh.
Expressionless, he ripped them off along with skin and flesh. The wound healed visibly in moments.
"The fruit I gave you before, where is it?"
The Strategist stared blankly at his actions, answering instinctively, "Burned it."
Zero repeated, "Burned it? Heh..."
The Strategist screamed, rushing up, "Wait, was that a leaf just now? Why did it grow out of your body? What is that?!"
Zero didn't answer. He remembered the side effect of "Mara-struck Body", emotions easily lost control.
He didn't want to make decisions under its influence.
He knew well, when emotions are unstable, people make mistakes. He could only try his best to control himself, to think things through again and again.
Especially this decision, because it involved Lan, the most overpowered stat sheet he had ever seen.
The game couldn't be reloaded. Who knew how long it would take to spawn another NPC with such broken stats?
Lan had twice refused long life. Maybe his mother shared his views?
While the Strategist ran off to call people, Zero snatched the communicator back and kept messaging the research department.
'Mm. Let them study it first.'
When the time came, before her final moments, he'd ask again. If she truly didn't want it, then forget it.
When Zero finally snapped out of thought, he saw the Strategist leading the master and others rushing over.
The Strategist was babbling, "He, just now, on his arm, leaves suddenly grew..."
The master was shocked, quickly urging Zero to sit while he checked his pulse. He kept holding the wrist, not moving, brows deeply furrowed, "The pulse isn't showing anything major. Marshal, don't overwork yourself. I'll prescribe you some calming medicine, "
Zero nodded perfunctorily, not caring either way, and turned back to the Strategist to resume their earlier topic.
"So when Lan comes back, are you going to be the one to explain it to him?"
"…At a time like this, you're still talking about that? What just happened, what was that?!"
The Strategist first cursed him out, then realized Zero's attitude had softened, and quickly followed up,
"I'll explain. He's someone who never even cared for his mother in old age, what right does he have to meddle in her decisions?"
Zero glanced at the one remaining item of immortality and didn't keep pressing the matter.
Better to save it for Lan.
Zero turned and left. By the time he saw Lan's mother again, her lamp oil was spent, her flame extinguished.
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