Zero subconsciously looked at the "Gnosis" on the table and instantly guessed the identity of the gray-haired girl.
Just as the fable said, he had asked Fuli to bring all the curios to a higher-dimensional world to select suitable candidates and have them go save other lower-dimensional worlds.
Were the items in the backpack gifts returned from other worlds? But why did Fuli say they would be very happy?
Zero didn't want to think too deeply about it and probed, "Aeon of Remembrance?"
The gray-haired girl nodded. "You can just call me 'Fuli.'"
Akivili was both angry and confused. "My friend, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Fuli looked at Akivili, who was about to break free of his restraints, then at Zero. "Do you want to do it, or should I?"
Zero's expression was complicated. "You should do it. Don't hurt Him, just knock Him out."
What if Akivili had used a clone like Lan did?
Otherwise, Zero wouldn't have been stuck in a stalemate with an Aeon.
Akivili was the main body! If he slipped up and made a mistake, that would mean a god's death.
The Aeon's face was full of disbelief. Zero looked away and stopped looking at Him.
Fuli moved quickly. After knocking Akivili unconscious, They came back in front of Zero.
"Should I say nice to meet you? Or long time no see?"
"Let me introduce myself again."
"I can split into a bunch of nano warships, but I can't preserve my current consciousness."
"I can also turn into a giant battleship, or become a bit smaller. Of course, if you need it, I can serve as a leader… oh, forget it, I don't want to accompany you ruling the universe over and over again... "
As Zero listened, he thought about why Fuli had appeared.
Before he could figure it out, Fuli said again, "Someone asked me to tie you up and bring you back. What do you think?"
Zero's expression went blank.
Fuli had witnessed who knew how many cycles of reincarnation. The only people They could be loyal to were Zero and Zandar.
The person the nanomachines mentioned was naturally Zandar.
Zero never expected that just after getting rid of Guanliang, Zandar would send Fuli right after him.
A long-absent sense of helplessness rose in his heart.
Were his demands really that excessive? He wasn't trying to kill the Aeons. He just wanted eternal peace.
Zero lowered his head and glanced at the knife in his hand, feeling a sudden urge to act.
'No. Not here.'
If Fuli hadn't lied to him, then there was still room to turn things around.
Zero regained his composure. After calming down, he said gently,
"Do you still remember the agreement between us? Sorry, I never thought it would drag on until today. I really am an untrustworthy partner…", Fuli looked at Zero without speaking.
They knew very well that earning the trust of the person in front of Them had never been easy.
The other party was determined to die, and his emotional state was unstable. Under these circumstances, even if Fuli told him the full truth, it would be useless.
So They stated Zandar's purpose to show Them stance.
Fuli had seen countless times what it looked like when the sea of stars burned, and They clearly knew the past between the person in front of Them and Zandar.
What a regrettable teacher and student.
The other party had been targeted by a high-dimensional lifeform called the "Worm of Time," and even the people around him were dragged into it. Several members of the Genius Society died because of it.
If it weren't for the "Worm of Time"… they wouldn't have been forced apart.
To put it in more common terms from this world, it was somewhat similar to a stellaron shock? A stellaron shock would cause different flows of time, but the people who encountered it didn't feel much personally.
The "Worm of Time" was the opposite. It trapped people in endless loops. They were isolated and helpless, time stretched infinitely, and they suffered pain a hundred or a thousand times over.
As for the Xianzhou people's "Mara-struck" state? Compared to this, Mara-struck wasn't even much of a problem.
By the time the outside world managed to contact them, all they could see were dust-covered, dilapidated ships and survivors whose faces were filled with exhaustion and confusion.
When they met again, the only survivor on the ship had a death wish and would only desperately try to get the opposing ship to open fire on them.
If it weren't for the "Worm of Time"…
Zandar wouldn't have said to his beloved student, "Is this the punishment It has given me? Fine. I've already sent the data. If it's you, I'm willing to die by your hand. Remember to erect a monument for me. Now, open fire, Eric."
After that, Eric would occasionally come to Zandar's creation and stare blankly at the Aeon.
Word by word he said, "I will kill It."
The Aeon of Erudition, "..."
Facts proved that Eric did it.
He killed the high-dimensional lifeform "Worm of Time" and gave up the plan with the higher success rate of starting the engine when it descended.
As for why such a bold plan even existed… it could only be said that this was their first attempt at dimensional ascension.
The geniuses had no data to reference and could only brainstorm, proposing all kinds of ideas. Among them, some placed their hopes on the high-dimensional lifeform "Worm of Time."
In the end, Eric chose to carry out the dimensional ascension plan beside the "Imaginary Tree."
The result was obvious. They failed.
But Fuli knew this was within his expectations.
As the universe was about to reach its end, Eric smiled and said to Fuli, "The me in the future might not understand my decision."
"But at least at this moment, I don't regret it."
Eric spoke patiently, "Following me around is boring, right? How about doing something more meaningful?"
"The world you've arrived in is false, destined to end. Every person and every planet has their own predetermined fate. Even if people try their hardest, they still can't change any of it."
Fuli replied, "That sounds… really terrible."
Eric sighed, "Yeah, I think so too. But I found that only higher-dimensional beings have the possibility to turn everything around."
Fuli widened Them eyes, "You mean…"
Eric nodded, "Yes. Here, only I can do that."
"Besides this world, there are many other worlds where people cannot escape so-called fate."
"For example, those vivid and lovable characters. Their deaths are nothing more than tools to push the story forward."
"I believe that one day, they'll personally smash the gears of fate and define what fate is with their own hands... "
"I can't leave here, but you can. Want to try taking these curios… and go save other worlds?"
His tone shifted, "By the way, if you find my home planet… bring a few more people back. A good thing like going to a lower-dimensional world shouldn't just happen to me, right?"
"As for the time limit we agreed on… how about waiting until I become an ordinary person?"
"That's the first thing. The second thing is to protect him for me. I owe him a life. As for the third thing… we'll talk about it later."
Fuli tilted Them head. "What about you?"
Eric smiled.
"I'll probably keep playing coloring games? After all, only those in power can make rules, end wars, and change the fate of all humanity. The Swarm Disaster and the mechanical intelligences aren't easy to deal with."
"Every time I start a new game, the previous data gets wiped. Random birthplace, self-selected attributes, built-in map hacks."
"Oh, almost forgot, my game isn't without flaws. If I stay AFK for too long and lose interest in continuing, then removing the debuff will let me get free soon enough."
"Of course, if you have enough ability or authority, even life and death can be changed."
Fuli roughly understood.
With every reincarnation and death, the system would automatically erase Eric's memories and make him repeatedly wage war across the stars to obtain the resources to build the "Aether Phase Engine," waiting for the high-dimensional lifeform "Worm of Time" to descend again and try the plan with the higher success rate for dimensional ascension.
But They didn't understand the latter half. What was "ability"? The ability Eric had to be forced by Zandar to study for a PhD and then actually graduate successfully?
And what was "authority"? Besides you, who else has a system? Who else has the authority to use cheats?
They didn't know if it was Them imagination, but he seemed to put extra emphasis on the words "life and death."
Eric paused, then sighed. "I have to leave myself some room. If one day I don't want to play anymore, or want to log out for a while, I should at least have the right to completely delete my account and return to the game, right?"
This time, Fuli understood.
Eric's physique was special. He was close to immortality. No one knew whether he would truly die.
Just like when Zandar had a death wish, Eric also needed to give himself the chance to die and come back to life.
And now, Fuli would witness this moment with Them own eyes.
'But this guy… could he really predict things after countless cycles of reincarnation?'
Fuli looked at the person in front of Them.
Suddenly he said, "Did the original me make up for my regrets?"
Fuli's eyes widened instinctively. 'Wait, how did this guy guess that?'
Zero smiled. "Looks like I succeeded."
"I can roughly guess why the dimensional ascension failed. I can understand my own choice."
"If it were me, I would've done the same."
As the saying goes, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude.
A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old child who couldn't speak the language and arrived in another world, meeting an elder who guided him into integrating into that world.
If it was Zandar, then everything made sense.
Zero thought that if he went back another thousand years, he would make the same decision for his subordinates.
He just didn't expect that half guessing and half speculating would actually get it right.
"After all, after so many reincarnations… am I really the only higher-dimensional one? Even if you let a monkey type on a typewriter, it wouldn't be unable to write a single story, right?"
Zero put the "Gnosis" on the table back into the system backpack and continued typing the last part of the code.
Soon, he shut down the system.
Zero looked at Fuli. "I'm guessing the terms of our deal were that you would do three things for me? But the third one, I haven't told you yet, right?"
Fuli couldn't help asking, "How did you figure that out?"
Zero smiled. "I'm used to leaving myself some room when I do things."
Fuli was silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you need me to do?"
Zero handed the knife in his hand to Fuli and said softly, "This blade is called 'Tenseiga.' It can reverse life and death."
"Come with me to a place where humans can't reach. Deal with my corpse. Then bring this blade to Akivili."
"Tell Him He must carry this blade with Him."
"If there's a chance, we'll meet again."
Fuli quietly looked at Zero.
'For you, what weapon is there that can reverse life and death? You're a "higher-dimensional intruder"!'
'Wait...'
At this moment, Fuli finally understood Zero's purpose.
'A star-sea tyrant who might come back to life at any moment would always be more intimidating than one who was already dead, right?'
Fuli felt disbelief.
'Wait, what?'
'Even when about to face death, he still wanted to do one last thing for the people he loved?'
Zero looked at the "Tenseiga" in Fuli's hands.
He no longer cared whether this cycle could be ended.
When his emotions collapsed, he had thought about many things.
For example, how someone like him, a "higher-dimensional intruder" close to immortality, could die.
How to prevent his future self, his next cycle self, from repeating the same mistakes.
Whether his existence in a lower-dimensional world was, in some way, beneficial to this world.
Whether his special constitution would become nourishment for the Tree and the Sea.
And finally, how to maximize benefits, do one more thing for the Xianzhou, and leave a way out for his future self.
'Did my more human self now possess a compassionate heart?'
'Let's gamble once.'
'Will I be dragged into reincarnation and start over? Or die completely?'
'Either way is fine.'
'So what i I lost the bet?'
'If my achievements aren't completely erased…'
'The Aeons, and even the entire star sea, will live in fear of me forever.', Zero thought this.
———
[Xianzhou, The Luofu]
The Xianzhou generals who were famous across the star sea stared eagerly at the entrance of the meeting hall.
When they saw Guanliang and the Crown Princess appear together but didn't see the Marshal, their expressions froze for a moment.
Then they stepped forward and asked expectantly, "Will the Marshal be coming this time?"
Guanliang didn't speak, only shook his head.
Unavoidable disappointment appeared on everyone's faces. Then, like flipping a switch, they changed expressions and came to Hua's side, asking about Them recent situation in warm tones as if They were their child.
Guanliang stood quietly to the side.
When he left Xuling, he erased all traces of himself and the guards, bringing dozens of tubes of blood and "Eric's" jade abacus device.
The jade abacus device was left behind? No problem, there was still the neutron gun.
Thinking of this, after he arrived at Yaoqing, he immediately sought out Mati. After much persuasion, and finally giving away a piece of his superior's clothing, he finally got the location of the neutron gun... the Astral Express.
Without thinking, Guanliang took out the jade abacus and prepared to dispatch people, but Mati said, "Oh my, the Marshal definitely isn't there."
"The neutron gun's location hasn't changed. When the Marshal went to Xuling, he only took the jade abacus."
Guanliang couldn't help asking, "Why?"
'Could it be… the Marshal had already discovered the secret of the neutron gun? Did he deliberately leave it on the train? But why didn't he punish Mati?'
Mati said, "Did you forget? Aside from special departments, the Xianzhou prohibits guns. It also bans a series of controlled items."
"The Marshal's current identity is 'Eric' from a subordinate planet. He wouldn't rely on his status to break the rules he set himself."
Guanliang, "..."
'Damn it...'
It was actually because of this reason. Because the Xianzhou banned guns, the Marshal didn't bring the neutron gun. Which meant they couldn't track his location.
No matter what, Hua had to cancel this rule.
Guanliang knew he shouldn't keep investigating.
Once the Marshal left, if the generals investigated, the first person they would hold responsible would be him.
Why hadn't Guanliang, as the Marshal's closest subordinate, noticed the problem? Why had he privately sent troops to search for the Marshal's whereabouts?
What could he say? That he was afraid the Marshal might die? Then why had he hidden the truth from the generals?
Guanliang had no way to explain it.
The Marshal had already anticipated this and had punished Guanliang in advance, ordering him to withdraw the personnel assigned to protect him.
The Marshal didn't want his death to implicate others.
Lan had once told Guanliang not to let the Marshal's efforts go to waste.
How could he not know that? So he could only secretly send people out.
Even now, there was still no news.
As Guanliang was thinking, the jade abacus device in his suit pocket suddenly vibrated.
That was the Marshal's device.
The friends list was filled with famous people one could see in the news.
Most were leaders of various countries. A small portion were reclusive, low-profile star-sea tycoons.
During holidays, the people on the list would send the Marshal their blessings and gifts.
After a long time, his superior got too lazy to deal with these messages. Whenever holidays came, he would toss the device to Guanliang.
And over the past two years, the Marshal had completely gone on strike, and the jade abacus filled with national leaders' contacts was officially handed over to Guanliang.
He found a remote, empty corner and, as usual, prepared what he would say in advance.
Guanliang casually glanced at it. It was an unfamiliar contact number.
When he saw the name clearly, his expression instantly froze.
[After a thousand years apart, I miss you deeply. Knowing I have failed your great kindness, I have no face to meet you… May everything go smoothly for you, and may you obtain all you wish for.]
[Daiyang]