Marty entered the venue with a group of colleagues. The first thing he saw was the central figure surrounded by many generals.
The other party wore a gemstone crown adorned with laurel and olive branches and was talking with others.
It was the Marshal's adopted daughter, Hua.
Logically speaking, based on his relationship with Hua, he should have offered birthday wishes the moment he saw her.
But… there were so many people.
Marty hesitated for a moment and decided to wait until the crowd dispersed before greeting Hua.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Guanliang walking toward a remote, empty corner with his head lowered.
Marty felt puzzled and took a step in Guanliang's direction.
Then, a force tugged at his sleeve.
Marty turned around. It was his student.
The student tightly clutched his sleeve and said weakly, "Teacher…"
Marty understood immediately.
The lab's personnel structure was extremely simple. Most were locals from the Xianzhou, while a small portion came from some unknown planet, studied in schools built with Xianzhou assistance, and later stood out thanks to exceptional talent.
His student belonged to the latter group. She had never seen such a grand occasion before.
Being able to follow Marty to the Luofu this time had required several rounds of screening to confirm her identity was completely clean before she qualified to attend.
Marty patted his student on the shoulder and encouraged her, "Relax, it's very simple…"
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped.
He himself was also someone who buried his head in research. What kind of social experience could he possibly share?
Marty could only rummage through his memory and copy the Marshal's words, "Why not try changing your expression? That way people won't be able to tell what you're thinking."
The student made a bitter face. "What kind of expression? A blank face?"
Marty shook his head. "Smile a little. As long as you show a smile, it'll be hard for others to guess what you're really thinking."
The student forced out a stiff, twisted smile.
Marty thought, how fake.
He couldn't help but sigh. "Forget it. You're still young. You'll attend many events like this in the future. No need to rush. Go grab something from the dessert table first."
Marty suddenly cut himself off, his tone turning teasing. "As the Marshal would say, if you want to eat the Xianzhou into bankruptcy, this is a good opportunity..."
The student's face instantly turned red, her expression extremely embarrassed.
This was something from a long time ago.
The Marshal valued scientific talent very highly. Whenever they recruited people from outside, he would take time to personally check them.
The student Marty had taken in was a genius who had stood out from the star sea, but she had lived in poverty before.
Even after arriving at the Xianzhou and learning the cafeteria provided free meals, she still refused to eat much.
This gave Marty quite a headache. He mentioned it casually in front of the Marshal and then forgot about it.
What he didn't expect was that when the Marshal came to the institute again, he still remembered it.
The Marshal happened to run into Marty's student, personally got her a meal, and said to her, "The cafeteria providing you with three meals a day isn't charity, and it's not an act of kindness."
"Your contributions can't be measured with something as vulgar as credits. Aside from material conditions… I really can't think of better compensation."
"Marty, do you have any better ideas?"
Marty was stunned and subconsciously replied, "No…"
The student's face turned red as she mumbled, not knowing what to say.
Seeing this, the Marshal smiled and ended the topic with a joke, "Don't worry, you won't eat that many credits. If you want to eat the Xianzhou into bankruptcy, you'll have to keep working at it."
Afterward, Marty asked about his student's true thoughts.
He was deeply shocked for a moment. She had really been afraid of eating up too many credits.
The Marshal loved doing charity and often made donations.
And from outsiders' perspective, the Xianzhou was just throwing money at planets that couldn't produce any returns.
The student had been very worried about this, so she decided to save as much money for the Xianzhou as possible, even donating a large portion of her own salary.
Thinking about it now, those few words the Marshal said had both protected the student's dignity and praised all the researchers.
'As expected of the Marshal!'
Marty had no choice but to pull up the Xianzhou's publicly released financial annual report and tell his student to eat freely. After the institute staff learned about it, they would tease her about it from time to time.
By now, she was no longer the young person who couldn't bear to eat meat.
She really wanted to meet the Marshal again.
She knew very well that the Marshal had helped many planets and countless people.
Even if he might not remember this small incident… even if he might have long forgotten her…
She still wanted to thank him in person.
When she had first arrived at the Xianzhou, lost and uneasy, that high-ranking ruler had taken the initiative to show her kindness.
He had considered her dignity and gently told her it wasn't charity. After noticing her embarrassment, he had used a joke to end the conversation.
Compared to the elders at her own institute? All they did was roast people.
The student held back her frustration. "Teacher, that was all in the past…"
Marty smiled and nodded, then waved her off toward the dessert table.
Then he walked toward Guanliang.
Guanliang was holding his jade abacus device, looking at something with an extremely unpleasant expression. When he heard someone approaching, he quickly put it away.
Marty had no intention of prying into his privacy and only asked the most important question in his mind.
"When will we probably see the Marshal?"
Guanliang slowly shook his head, his tone strange. "He won't be coming."
Marty was very disappointed. "Huh? How could that be?"
"He and 'Youyun'..." Guanliang closed his eyes. Mid-sentence he suddenly stopped, then with difficulty added the second half, "'Youyun Siming' is on another planet."
Marty said regretfully, "What a pity. My student has been thinking about seeing the Marshal again…"
Facing Guanliang, who had given him such a generous gift, Marty didn't hesitate to repeat the words the Marshal had once said in the institute cafeteria.
Guanliang's voice was very soft. "…That's just the kind of person he is."
After saying that with a sigh, he changed the subject, picked up the jade abacus, and asked, "I was just worrying about how to reply to a message."
"Tell me, if it were the Marshal, what would he say when meeting someone after a long separation?"
Without hesitation, Marty pulled out his own jade abacus and sent Guanliang a link.
"Use my AI simulation. It can handle the government affairs of thousands of planets at most..."
"But it can't have emotions, so it still needs some adjustments."
"If it were the Marshal, I think he would meet that person immediately."
Guanliang lowered his head and typed on the jade abacus, not speaking for a long time.
After replying, he looked up and said to Marty, "The Marshal recorded a birthday message for Hua. Even if he didn't attend, you shouldn't leave early."
If Marty, the Xianzhou's most outstanding researcher, showed any dislike toward Hua, then what about the other researchers?
The attitudes of every one of the Marshal's subordinates could affect Hua's situation after the Marshal left.
Guanliang had to prepare in advance.
Even if it meant pretending, he had to make Marty pretend.
Marty, "???"
Although the Marshal would transfer nine- or ten-digit credits to him from time to time, and prepare gifts for his birthday, sometimes even writing him handwritten letters.
But that was a video message... He had never received one...
Marty really did envy Hua.
But… why did that sound a bit off?
Full of doubt, Marty said goodbye to Guanliang and thought it over carefully.
The way Guanliang said it… it sounded like he had something against Hua.
He was the Marshal's most favored subordinate, Hua was the Marshal's most favored child. There was absolutely no conflict of interest between them.
He thought about it, then took out his jade abacus and switched it to silent mode.
No matter what, he had to give his friend face.
Just as he was thinking, people began walking in a certain direction on their own.
Marty followed them. Looking up, he saw the projection equipment in the venue.
Soon, the surroundings suddenly darkened, leaving only the dim yellow lights near the crowd.
A virtual figure formed in the air, one that felt extremely familiar to him.
It was the Marshal.
Everyone present fell silent.
The Marshal looked at the camera with great focus and raised his hand, seeming to adjust the position of the jade abacus.
Then he stepped back, smiled at the camera, and said gently, "Sorry I couldn't attend your coming-of-age ceremony. I can only send you my blessings this way."
"Before I knew it, you're already twenty."
The Marshal paused. Like a father pleased yet wistful at his child growing up, he showed a trace of melancholy.
"To be honest, I'm not a qualified father. I don't know how to get along with you. Sometimes I wondered, Hua, when will you grow up?"
"But when that day actually came… I found I didn't want you to grow up after all."
Everyone looked at Hua.
Hua looked surprised, as if she had never expected the Marshal to say such things.
In the projection, the Marshal's expression was gentle as he said softly, "May you love many people and be loved by many."
"May you live safely and smoothly, and never encounter anything in this life that you must exhaust yourself chasing."
He suddenly paused, then said teasingly, "Hm? Wait? You're not crying, are you? Hm, probably not."
Hua's expression froze.
The others let out kind laughter.
Marty instinctively felt something was off. He looked around and spotted a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.
It was Shanfeng, someone he had met once before.
This person was Hua's teacher.
Well, if it were Marty, seeing his own teacher at his birthday, he'd probably react the same way.
Guanliang, who stood beside Hua, moved and quickly walked to Shanfeng, saying something unknown.
Marty withdrew his gaze, soon forgot about the person, and continued looking up at the projection.
The Marshal spoke with emotion, "Even if you shed tears… I hope in this life you'll only cry because you feel happiness."
He suddenly sped up his speech, as if wanting to end the topic.
"Alright, that's enough. The birthday gift I prepared for you is in the usual place."
"Next should be the raffle, right? I won't take up too much time."
At the end of the video, the Marshal looked at the camera with gentle eyes and softly said, "To my dear daughter, I wish you more than just a happy birthday."
The video ended. The curtains by the venue's floor-to-ceiling windows slowly opened.
Hua, standing at the center of everyone's attention, seemed to be stimulated by the strong light. There was a faint shimmer of moisture in her eyes.
Her body swayed slightly, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the blessings.
Hua slowly raised her hand to cover the lower half of her face. Soon she lowered it and forced a smile toward everyone.
"He's never said anything like that to me before."
Everyone first offered Hua their congratulations.
Then someone asked with concern, "Is it too cold?"
Someone else called over an attendant. "Turn up the temperature."
Without a word, Guanliang took off his suit jacket and draped it over Hua's shoulders, then suggested, "Go change into another dress."
Everyone was confused.
If she was cold enough to shiver, wasn't raising the temperature and putting on a coat enough?
But since the Chief Strategist said so… could they refuse to give face?
Besides, this was the Crown Princess's twentieth coming-of-age ceremony. She should be dressed beautifully no matter what.
Everyone echoed Guanliang's suggestion. Hua smiled politely and said goodbye to them.
They watched as the Chief Strategist and the Crown Princess left the venue, then turned to discuss among themselves.
"Doesn't the Marshal's complexion look paler?"
"The Marshal truly has an immortal bearing!"
"Even traveling with 'Akivili,' he's still just as handsome!"
The moment the conversation turned to the Marshal, Marty immediately went from socially anxious to socially confident and joined in.
Just through a single door, in the hallway, Hua stopped walking and looked up at Guanliang and Lan.
The moment she saw the Aeon, she noticed something was wrong.
Only one person could command the Reignbow Arbiter.
But that person hadn't come. So why was the Aeon attending her coming-of-age ceremony?
Hua asked coldly, "Where is he?"
Guanliang was silent for a moment. He raised his hand, holding her shoulder through the suit jacket, and said in a low voice, "Hua, you should go change your dress."
Hua stood still, refusing to move. "Where is he?"
Guanliang closed his eyes and fell silent.
He didn't know how to begin.
Lan spoke in a deep voice to persuade her, "There are too many people here. Let's talk somewhere else."
Hua froze for a moment.
The man and the god in front of her didn't look surprised, as if they had expected this.
She subconsciously took a few steps back, breaking free from Guanliang's hand on her shoulder. Instead of anger, she laughed. "So… you already knew about this?"
Guanliang said nothing and looked at the Aeon.
The Aeon didn't deny it, only asked, "Are you sure you want to talk about it here?"
After saying that, Lan turned and walked ahead on his own.
Hua took a deep breath and followed.
One god and two people entered a room.
Those who had come to the Luofu to attend the annual meeting were all extremely important figures of the Xianzhou.
Because of this, the Luofu had entered a state of combat readiness in advance. Surveillance throughout the venue had long been shut off.
Every corner of the rooms had been carefully inspected by specialists. Even the unremarkable attendants were battle-hardened Cloud Knights.
So they only needed to avoid the crowd. There was no need to worry about listening devices.
Hua closed the door and pulled her coat tighter.
Lan paused, then said, "Not long ago, I received… the power I had previously given him."
The blessings received by the generals would be passed on to the next successor upon stepping down.
There were only two exceptions.
The Luofu general Daiyang, who had disappeared while in office and whose exact location was only sensed today.
And the Xianzhou Marshal, Zero.
Ever since Lan gave one-tenth of his divine power to the Marshal, the other party had never used it.
Until just now, that divine power, along with the portion given when He became a god, had all returned to His body.
Hua lowered her head, her expression unreadable.
Lan continued, "He previously said for me to take you to Xuling."
Guanliang, "..."
'Are you sick or something?!'
'Lan, do you even watch the situation when you speak?!'