In Lan's eyes, the Marshal's movements were full of openings.
Perhaps because the other party had been seriously injured before and had lost too much blood? His movements had become slow, and he could only talk about their past to lower the Aeon's guard.
After praising Him, he used the chance to press on the carotid artery of this avatar.
Just like when the Marshal had been on the verge of collapse before, and Lan had done the same thing, the Marshal used his hand quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly to press on the vital point of His neck.
At best, unconsciousness. At worst, death.
Lan had not felt His own emotions for a long time. His thoughts were messy, and He thought about many things.
For example, the contract He had deliberately confused when mentioning it to the Marshal.
He did not expect that even now, the other party still clearly remembered the contents of the contract.
For example, the divine power He had voluntarily given away, yet the other party asked Him to take it back.
Even now, even as that emotion He could not sort out or understand filled His entire chest, He still could not figure it out.
Lan looked at the pale face in front of Him, showing some tiredness, and suddenly remembered what the Marshal had said.
He had said he found everything boring and felt that everything in the world had no meaning.
Lan did not resist, did not break free. He maintained the same position as before, allowing the other party to press on His fatal weakness.
As His consciousness became blurry, He vaguely heard the other party sigh deeply and say, "What I just said to you was all true."
Soon, the sound of footsteps gradually moved away.
The Marshal seemed to have called a waiter. He said to that person, "Sorry, could you help me call a doctor?"
Then Lan completely lost consciousness.
When He woke again, He was awakened by loud noises.
Lan sat up and looked around, only then realizing that at some unknown time, by some unknown person, He had been brought into a bedroom.
He lifted the blanket and walked out the door.
There were more than ten people in the suite now. They gathered in small groups, searching for something.
Lan walked a few steps forward toward the living room area. The floor was a complete mess, full of broken porcelain pieces and shattered glass.
He stepped around the debris on the floor and met the gaze of Guanliang, who was sitting upright on the sofa.
Guanliang had a cold face. When he saw Lan, his face twitched slightly, then he forced out a twisted smile and said through gritted teeth,
"So you're here too..."
Before he could continue, several guards quickly ran up to him. One of them respectfully handed over an item with both hands.
Guanliang took it. Seeing that it was his superior's jade communicator, he immediately let out a cold laugh.
He looked at Lan and asked irritably, "Where is he? When did he leave? Forget it..."
Guanliang turned to look at the waiter.
"Where is the butler responsible for this suite?"
Cold sweat ran down the waiter's forehead. He had been badly frightened by the sudden events and could not care about protecting guest privacy anymore.
He stammered, "The two guests just left not long ago… the butler will be here soon, please wait a moment."
Guanliang nodded slightly, then glanced at Lan with an extremely casual tone.
"Sit. Or if you want to stand, that's fine too."
Lan, "..."
Putting aside the teasing title of "Crown Prince" from former colleagues, Guanliang was technically also His superior.
Besides that, when He had been forced into slumber, this man had taken care of His mother for Him.
Facing a former superior who had shown him kindness, Lan could not say much and could only reveal part of the truth.
"He called a doctor at that time."
Hearing this, Guanliang's expression changed instantly. He suddenly turned toward the waiter.
"Call all the doctors in your hotel here."
The waiter responded weakly and immediately lowered his head to send messages on his jade communicator.
Guanliang also lowered his head and opened his superior's jade communicator.
No one could take the jade communicator from the Marshal's hands, so there was no password set.
The most noticeable thing was a message from Zandar.
Guanliang had no intention of secretly reading his superior's messages. He only glanced briefly and saw the words "Xianzhou people," "Vidyadhara," and "Immortality."
He thought, surely it couldn't be that the Marshal wanted Xianzhou people to turn into Vidyadhara?
Speaking of which, Zandar had submitted an entry application to the Luofu this time. If possible, it would be better to deal with him sooner rather than later.
Guanliang scoffed internally. Just as he was about to turn off the screen, Akivili sent a message.
[Akivili: Check the photo album]
Guanliang quickly guessed who actually sent this message.
Not the Aeon. The Marshal.
He fell silent for a moment and opened the album as instructed. There was only one video inside, titled "Coming of Age Ceremony." From the thumbnail, it was a birthday message the Marshal recorded for Hua.
Guanliang took a deep breath. When he looked up again, the butler, dressed in a formal suit, had arrived with more than ten doctors behind him.
The butler smiled kindly, as if he had not seen the broken dishes and wine glasses on the floor. He gently apologized for the waiter, then changed his tone and said they could not reveal guest privacy.
Under normal circumstances, Guanliang would understand this explanation.
This was Xuling, one of the most expensive places in the star sea. This was its most prosperous district. One night here cost the income of an ordinary family for a whole year.
Their guests were either rich or powerful. If they casually revealed information, would that not ruin their own reputation?
But this time, Guanliang had no patience.
"My patience is limited. Please cooperate."
He made a gesture. The guards understood. One of them drew his sword and placed it against the butler's throat.
The expression on the butler's face immediately collapsed.
Guanliang stood up and said coldly to everyone, "Now, I want to know what the guest who stayed in this suite said and did..."
"From beginning to end, in full detail, tell me everything..."
Guanliang paused and smiled, "Of course, if you insist on protecting so called… guest privacy, then I don't mind sending you all to the Ten Lords Commission."
"At that time, the Ten Lords can interrogate you personally."
Lan could not stand it anymore.
He said in a deep voice, "He would not involve unrelated people like you are doing."
Guanliang nodded seriously, "Yes, he doesn't want unrelated people involved."
Guanliang had spent a long time with Lan's mother and had heard many embarrassing stories about the Aeon's childhood.
He had no sense of reverence toward the Reignbow Arbiter, so he directly aimed his words at Lan.
"Then may I ask, as someone who knows the situation, what can you tell me?"
Guanliang did not even look at the Aeon. Instead he looked at the trembling group of people.
"One minute. I'm only giving you one minute."
"After one minute, you might not still be standing."
Several waiters rushed forward to speak first, telling everything, big or small.
Guanliang turned and sat on the sofa, organizing what they said.
He had been suspended for twenty one days. After returning to duty, he immediately went to Marty to ask where the Marshal was.
Marty still seemed bothered about him secretly taking the Marshal's clothes and did not tell him right away.
After much persuasion, Marty finally gave a rough location. Xuling.
He continued investigating and found the Marshal's bank account.
Guanliang had no authority to investigate the Xianzhou Marshal's transactions, but if it was Eric from an affiliated planet, that was easy.
Following the location shown by the most recent transaction, he brought guards to this realm and this street.
But Guanliang did not expect that the Reignbow Arbiter was also in Xuling. And that the Aeon had still let the Marshal escape.
He roughly sorted out what happened.
Akivili accompanied the Marshal to Xuling.
The Marshal went to that realm with the highest secrecy level.
Aside from the Marshal, the Aeon, and Hua, no one else knew the details.
The Marshal, determined to die, must have already left the Feather Crossing Dust in that realm.
A nearby waiter was stammering about the wine the Marshal personally chose.
"That guest chose a bottle of Chardonnay..."
Guanliang sorted his thoughts and turned to Lan.
"Take me to that realm."
The waiter was suddenly interrupted and froze, saying nothing more.
Lan slowly shook His head.
"I don't have the authority."
Guanliang sneered internally, 'That realm had been specially created by the Marshal asking the Aeon.'
'No authority? Who are you fooling?'
He looked at the trembling waiter and asked impatiently, "Where are the doctors?"
The doctors' legs shook as one of them nervously stepped forward.
"That guest… that guest came to me and asked a few questions."
"He asked how much blood was needed to maintain basic human functions."
Guanliang felt his blood rush to his head.
"What else? What else did he ask?"
The doctor stammered, "He… he asked, without affecting physical condition, how many milliliters of blood could be drawn at most?"
Seeing the veins bulging on Guanliang's forehead, the doctor quickly continued, "I said any blood draw would affect physical condition."
"For example dizziness, heart palpitations, temporary fainting… these side effects are unavoidable. If he exercised intensely it would be even worse."
"After that, he asked how long it would take to recover after drawing blood…"
The doctor paused and continued, "Normally, Xianzhou people recover the next day. But I saw that guest looked unwell, so I… lied and said it would take a month."
"He said that was too long."
Guanliang could not listen anymore.
The Marshal thought he could not wait that long.
Guanliang closed his eyes, trying to control his tone.
"Then what? How many milliliters did you draw?"
The doctor carefully glanced at Guanliang and lowered his voice.
"Several dozen tubes. About one hundred milliliters."
Guanliang took a deep breath.
The doctor tried hard to defend himself, "It sounds like a lot but it really isn't! Hospital tests usually take over a dozen tubes. Ordinary people can lose two hundred milliliters without problems!"
As if remembering something, his eyes lit up.
"Oh, that guest also told me to keep it safe. He said someone would come get it later..."
Guanliang thought, 'Marshal, you even planned this far ahead?'
When someone is extremely angry, their emotions sometimes become calm instead.
He asked calmly, "Where is it?"
The doctor quickly replied, "In the medical room refrigerator. I'll get it right now..."
Guanliang rubbed his forehead and made a gesture, signaling all guards to follow the doctor, then gave an order.
"Handle it carefully..."
As soon as he said this, Lan could no longer stay silent.
'Handle it carefully? These people probably would not survive.'
After everyone else left, He could not help saying, "You clearly know he doesn't want unrelated people involved."
Guanliang let out a cold laugh, "I want to ask instead. A person who just recovered from serious injuries and heavy blood loss, who followed a Nameless around for twenty days and then lost another hundred milliliters of blood, could still slip away right under your nose?"
Guanliang's tone was sarcastic and he even deliberately used honorific speech.
After criticizing the Aeon, he calculated the time and muttered, "Good thing there's still time. If we lock down the Starskiff Haven now, we can still catch up…"
Lan said calmly, "You don't have the authority to lock down the Starskiff Haven."
Guanliang chuckled, "Starskiff Haven? Yes, I don't have that authority. But so what? Not just the Starskiff Haven, even if Xuling shuts down for a whole day, I can afford the losses!"
Lan looked steadily at the stubborn Guanliang and sighed.
"Do you really not know why he punished you?"
"He specifically had the Galaxy Rangers withdraw from the Xianzhou because he didn't want them to be implicated after he left or be held responsible."
"You are his Chief Strategist, the person most closely connected to him. He didn't want you to be questioned by the generals."
Lan spoke seriously, "What you should do now is erase all information that you came to Xuling, to avoid suspicion later."
"Guanliang, don't let his efforts be wasted."
Guanliang fell silent.
Did he not understand his superior's intentions?
Guanliang looked back at Lan and felt like they were talking past each other.
But he had no one else to talk to about this.
For example Hua. On the surface she showed nothing, but when he left Yaoqing she was still worrying about what the Marshal should wear to the annual meeting, asking whether to choose a bolo tie or a self tied tie.
For example his colleagues. They were all busy preparing birthday surprises for the Marshal and Hua.
Guanliang had no one to talk to, so he spoke to the Aeon who did not understand human hearts.
"You don't understand human nature."
"Public anger is the hardest thing to calm."
"Do you think he's still that Marshal praised by all Xianzhou people?"
"Each giant ship has hundreds of billions of people. Even if only one in ten thousand is a heartless madman, the number is still shocking."
"If even a little of this leaks out, forget the generals, even if the Reignbow Arbiter personally came it wouldn't be solvable! You clearly have a way to solve Mara struck. Why hide it?", He sneered.
"It's just sacrificing one person. Just sacrificing someone willing to sacrifice himself to save their parents, children, family, and friends."
"How do you think they would choose? Would you dare bet, Reignbow Arbiter?", Guanliang said this, but he knew the biggest problem was not the Xianzhou people, but the Marshal himself.
He recalled the words the Marshal once said while holding a scalpel and felt how unpredictable life was.
Who would have thought he would be the one left at the end?
Facing Lan, Guanliang said half joking, half serious, "Do you think I want to stop him? No."
"I just want my superior to at least leave behind a complete body. Then I can hold a grand funeral for him, have him buried in the Forest of Loyalty, be worshipped by future generations, and finally burn incense for him."
Guanliang stood up.
"I won't deal with those people, and I won't let his efforts be wasted."
He smiled at the Aeon, "To be honest, I always thought my superior was like a god. No humanity, no emotions."
"Now that I think about it, I was wrong."
"My superior who worked so hard to attribute his achievements to the Reignbow Arbiter is actually a human with humanity and emotions."
'And what about the respected Reignbow Arbiter?'
Guanliang's expression remained calm, without any guilt for indirectly mocking Lan. He no longer looked at the Aeon's expression.
As he turned around, he left one last sentence, "Just think of it as me venting my anger."
———
[On Some Planet]
When Zero deliberately left behind the jade communicator and forcibly dragged Akivili away, avoiding Guanliang and the Cloud Knights searching for him, the Aeon vaguely guessed his decision.
He tested the waters and asked. His friend was silent at first, then said, "Akivili, you're my only friend left. You're the only one I can trust."
The Aeon instantly understood. He widened His eyes and said with difficulty, "Friend, you're… too cruel."
Zero did not know what to say and could only apologize, "…Sorry."
Akivili shrugged as if trying to seem relaxed, "Well, nothing I can do. You're my best friend after all."
He took off His hat and without asking placed it over Zero's face.
Zero did not dodge. Like how he comforted Hua, he skillfully comforted the Aeon.
"Akivili, you're not secretly crying behind my back, are you?"