Guanliang's expression was serious as he repeatedly went over things in his mind.
What was Zandar's goal? Like him, was he trying to stall for time? Was Zandar lifting the roof? Or… was this guy actually more extreme than Zero?
Zandar looked at his student with a face full of disappointment.
"Eric, you're too kind."
Then he changed his attitude, his tone sounding like he was coaxing an ignorant child.
"At the fastest, a few decades. At the slowest, a few hundred years. Who can say for sure?"
After saying that, Zandar suddenly shifted the topic.
"Of course, if you're willing to join us..."
Zero shook his head instinctively. "No need. As the saying goes, everyone has their own specialty. It's better to leave it to the members of the 'Genius Society.'"
Zandar frowned deeply.
"You're one of us too. I've said it before, you're the eighth seat. When the 'Genius Society' has eighty-seven members, you'll be the eighty-eighth seat."
Zero forced a smile. "No, Zandar."
Zandar looked like he hated to see iron fail to become steel.
"With your talent, wouldn't getting dozens of PhDs be easy?"
Zero couldn't keep up his expression anymore.
"No. I'm not doing a PhD."
Hearing that, Zandar felt relieved.
Good.
Good thing he changed the topic in time.
If his student felt the wait was too long and didn't want to wait another few hundred years… then there was nothing he could do.
After a while, Zero should calm down.
Every word Zandar said next had to be carefully considered.
In short, he had to be more extreme than Zero.
Zandar shrugged.
"Alright, everything is up to you. After all, you're my only student."
"Since you're unwilling to act against the 'Hunt,' then let's go deal with that stellar computer."
Just as Zandar expected, after thinking for a moment, Zero rejected the suggestion.
He used to be the Marshal of the Xianzhou, able to freely dispatch personnel and mobilize fleets. But now, he held no real power there.
His successor didn't want him to die. It wouldn't be long before the Cloud Knights found this place.
Zandar saw it clearly.
The student was isolated in the Xianzhou, with no one to rely on, no one to trust.
And when Zandar brushed aside Zero's hair earlier, the other party had already understood the reason for his resurrection.
It was Hui Feng and Zandar who had helped him.
Considering their past record, Zero was even less likely to leave with Zandar easily, and his mental state grew worse.
What Zandar needed to do was regain Zero's trust, support him, understand him, and give him the right to choose for himself.
Only then would he not collapse, would he hesitate, would he change his previous thinking.
Zandar took the initiative to switch topics. "Do you want to know about the things between you and the other Aeons?"
Before the two met, they had chatted on the Jade Abacus.
Thanks to the previous wildly imaginative, extremely jumpy conversation, Zero didn't suspect anything and just treated it as a common trait of geniuses.
"I heard that Nanook used to be my subordinate."
Guanliang thought to himself, 'How did this suddenly get tied to the 'Destruction' again?!'
No, he couldn't just sit and wait.
He had to find a way to stall for time.
Besides… when the company laid people off, the first to be dealt with were those who looked useless.
'If he kept acting like a decoration…'
'And if Zero pulled out another knife…'
'Wouldn't that mean certain death?'
Guanliang glanced at the dishes on the table, picked up the serving chopsticks, and started cooking meat for the person beside him.
Zandar nodded.
"You were once the emissary of many Aeons."
"And Nanook was the subordinate who stayed with you the longest."
"Only He could avoid the open and hidden attacks from the other subordinates."
Zero's eyes widened as he asked uncertainly, "…Huh? What did you say?"
'Avoid what? Open and hidden attacks from subordinates?'
Zandar sighed. "Eric, I don't even want to say this about you."
"The way you train subordinates… really has problems."
Zero frowned tightly and listened in silence.
Zandar continued, "Of course, it's not entirely your fault."
"What you possessed was the entire star sea."
"For example, the current Luofu has hundreds of billions of people. Even if you pick one talent out of a hundred million, that's still thousands of people."
"How could you possibly manage them all? The result is…"
Zandar sighed again, his tone faint.
"You raised a pack of mad dogs that tear at each other…"
"Fortunately, they all listened to you."
Guanliang's hand holding the serving chopsticks trembled slightly.
If the two people talking weren't the renowned Zandar, and his former superior…
He would have definitely treated them as mentally unstable patients.
Listening to everything, an absurd guess formed in his mind.
It seemed… the world had gone through many cycles?
No matter how fierce the competition among the generals was, they wouldn't attack their colleagues.
The group Zandar was talking about sounded even more extreme than the people of Xianzhou. Not a single one of them sounded normal.
'What kind of hell on earth was that?'
And what about him? Would he still be working under Zero?
While complaining in his head, Guanliang counted down, scooped up the food, and placed it into the bowl of the person beside him.
"The beef's ready."
Zero subconsciously picked up his chopsticks and took the meat roll.
Zandar kept talking endlessly, "To be honest, I preferred the empire you and Nanook created."
"At that time, the entire star sea used your currency. Oh, it had your face printed on it, and Nanook's too."
Zero tried to put himself in that position, but couldn't reach any conclusion.
At this moment, he finally understood a sentence from the star network.
After changing roles, a person can't even empathize with their past self.
No, what was he even thinking back then?
What era was that, still using physical currency?
Guanliang looked at Zero.
Good, his expression looked terrible.
Guanliang held back a laugh and asked, "How about the Xianzhou also..." issues physical currency?
Zero glanced at him.
Guanliang immediately shut up and turned to start cooking shrimp paste.
Zandar said with emotion, "Aside from currency, there were your statues everywhere."
Guanliang almost burst out laughing. "How about..." the Xianzhou also builds statues for you?
Zero looked at Guanliang again.
Guanliang didn't back down.
It was rare to mess with his superior's mentality. How could he miss such a once-in-a-lifetime... no, once-in-ten-thousand-years opportunity?
"If not on the Xianzhou, we can put them on hundreds of affiliated planets?"
Zero thought, where did those hundreds come from? It was clearly close to ten thousand!
He couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up."
Zandar smiled without saying a word.
The student didn't want to see his subordinates opposing each other.
This way, Zero wouldn't push the Xianzhou into another cycle.
Now, give the student the chance to choose.
Zandar patted the suitcase beside him.
"Eric, I prepared a gift for you."
Zero asked softly, "What gift?"
He looked at Zandar.
The scholar opened the suitcase and took out a silver box.
Zandar held it tightly with both hands, his expression extremely complicated.
He hesitated for a long time. In the end, as if making up his mind, he slowly handed the box over.
Zero took it and opened it.
Inside was a syringe.
Zandar let out a deep sigh, his tone extremely soft.
"This time, how about we use an easier method?"