Jingliu added, "No need to feel pressured, just three meals. The Cloud Knights' cafeteria doesn't charge Inspectors."
When spending time with Jingliu in private, Zero had already experienced deeply how she was the kind of person whose words were final.
This Swordmaster, decisive and ruthless on the battlefield, if she set her mind on something, she would absolutely put in all her effort to achieve it.
He didn't notice that, whenever it came to Jingliu, he always kept yielding, always stepping back.
Zero nodded helplessly. Only after watching Jingliu leave did he finally turn back home.
Inside, the setup of his house hadn't changed much from before he lost consciousness.
Zero swept a quick glance, then opened his jade signal and began going over all the various pieces of information he hadn't had time to analyze in his dream.
First of all, one thing he could be certain of, this time, Fuli had lied to him from start to finish.
All that so-called "unchangeable fate", for him, as a "high-dimensional invader," it really wasn't any sort of problem at all.
This whole life, he had never once stepped onto any destiny path. That alone was enough proof that even after reincarnating, he was still a "high-dimensional invader."
For him, fate was nothing more than clay that could be kneaded at will.
That's probably why Fuli and Aha kept emphasizing it, maybe they thought his past self had left behind some kind of back-up plan?
Surely they weren't afraid of him starting up the Engine and ascending dimensions, right…
It's not like Zero was some kind of living hell-king.
But if they wanted him to repent for what he had done in the past…
Impossible.
If he'd had too strong a sense of morality, he would've killed himself the moment his subordinates got in trouble. Then all the Aeons would've swarmed in revenge, and the entire Xianzhou Alliance would've been dragged down with him.
Zero felt that he had already done his utmost for the Alliance. The Mara-struck kept rebelling, the Swarm eyed them greedily, and on top of that, there were the Abundance followers…
All the hard-earned foundations he had painstakingly built up for the Xianzhou, were not meant to be wasted on paying reparations and fixing buildings.
It was to strangle potential crises in the cradle.
As for the outsiders' negative opinions back then, he hadn't cared one bit.
As long as he had no morality, no one could use morality to shackle him.
Besides, Zero had even helped clean up Swarm disasters and rebellious automatons, preventing the war from escalating further.
Those self-proclaimed righteous people, only knew how to flap their lips.
But the moment he asked them to put in money or manpower, they immediately went silent.
And they still wanted us Xianzhou folk to risk our lives saving irrelevant outsiders? Laughable.
If they had that much ability, why not go curse at those Aeons instead? Go morally blackmail them, why don't you?
The Aeons weren't even willing to lift a finger for their own believers, to save them.
Yet they only came to target him.
Back then, once Zero realized the problem, once he understood what was written on that sheet of paper, he trusted neither Aeons nor anyone else.
He had already offended so many Aeons. There was no road back anymore.
Other than keeping up deterrence and waiting for the Flamedisaster Godsoldiers to be deployed, there was no other path.
He could only walk this road into the dark.
What else could he do if not bluff? If he didn't leave behind enough firepower, then the moment he was gone, what if the Aeons all teamed up to wipe out the Xianzhou Alliance?
Only after he found a suitable successor could he finally attempt his own method for leaving the "game" and returning to reality.
But judging from the result, Zero had failed.
The fact that he reincarnated into Luofu at all, didn't that already prove he couldn't break away from this world through the "Tree"?
He searched his backpack for a long time, but didn't find the Heavenpiercer Fang.
Maybe Akivili had been able to use it? By some fluke, revived him? Maybe that one had already succeeded in reincarnating too?
As for why Fuli was so proactive in helping him, restoring his past life's memories, most likely it was to make him give up causing trouble.
…Anyway, since there was no going back, living in Luofu wasn't so bad.
After sorting out his reincarnation business, Zero began looking for information about the Aeon of Hunt.
He searched for quite a while, and in the end found that the Hunt was just… chasing Abundance's spawn everywhere.
Zero, '???'
That didn't make sense. The Hunt should've been going to provoke Aeons, right?
Then, under the premise of zero Xianzhou casualties, he could have designed it so the Aeons would counterattack, then smoothly let Lan get some practice. If that didn't work, then bring out the Flamedisaster Godsoldiers.
'I mean, out of so many Aeons, not even one was willing to acknowledge him?'
Zero felt strange, almost like he was being ostracized by the whole Aeon circle.
Getting bullied at school in this life was already enough, but in the past life he was even being ostracized by Aeons?
'What's wrong with you Aeons? Why are you ignoring me? What's with this cold violence?'
Zero was at a loss for words, throat tight. He opened his social app and asked Jingliu if she'd gotten home safely.
After receiving a confirmation, he turned to check Hua's messages.
[Hua: Your pension amount is quite large, it should arrive by Monday]
[Hua: The remaining items will be gradually shipped to Luofu]
[Zero: What pension, what items?]
Immediately, Hua sent over a spreadsheet. It detailed the pension Zero had been allotted back when he was Marshal, and explained that if it were paid monthly according to contribution years, the Xianzhou would go bankrupt. So they had calculated the total of what he was owed before, and decided to give it to him as a lump sum.
Zero, "…"
Well, makes sense. Understandable, given he'd worked for thousands of years.
And in this life, having reincarnated, he could live a few hundred more years. If they actually paid him according to the set standard, it wouldn't be realistic.
Strictly speaking, Hua really didn't need to go out of the way like this.
After all, what did a former Marshal have to do with some ordinary nobody like him now?
[Hua: Before you left, you left behind a lot of things, like round-neck robes, ear cuffs, and so on]
Zero paused, then replied, "Okay."
[Hua: Lastly, without violating Xianzhou Alliance law or public morals, I, in my personal capacity, promise to do one thing for you]
Mm, very meticulous, said in personal capacity, not easily in the Alliance's name.
Definitely looked like a very qualified superior.
But why was Hua helping him?
Was it because he had taught them before? Or was it that they, too, didn't know what back-up plans he had left, and wanted to get closer first to fish for information?
Zero had no clue for now. He told Hua they'd talk later.
He tossed all of this out of his mind, focusing on lying flat at home waiting for Monday to go to the archives.
Once he got to the archives, if he pieced together the fragments of his past life, he could probably fill in most of the blanks.
Slacking off while reading books, that sounded nice.
Zero waited happily for Monday to come.
But the moment he stepped into the archives, he was caught red-handed by the archivist.
The other shoved a box of files into his hands, explaining, "Lately the General has ordered all files related to the former Marshal to be retrieved. It's been nonstop busy these days, good thing you came, , "
Zero, "…"
Couldn't slack, and instead got stuck with overtime.
With a complicated mood, he followed the archivist and carried files, five full boxes of them.
Finally done with all that work, just as Zero was about to grab a cup to get some water, he ran right into Diviner Xiao Lin and Tengxiao.
Xiao Lin greeted him, "Hey, Zero, go pour a cup of tea for the General."
Tengxiao, "…"
Zero agreed crisply and neatly, brushing past Tengxiao, who wanted to stop him.
Tengxiao, "..."
He instinctively touched his own neck, feeling a chill.
Would he even live to drink this cup of tea today?
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