Zero stared blankly at the syringe inside the box.
He seemed unable to understand what the syringe did, just quietly focusing on it.
Guanliang was furious.
He suddenly reached out, trying to snatch it from Zero's hands.
Zero instinctively moved the syringe farther away.
Guanliang had no choice but to pull his hand back. He stood up and looked down at Zandar.
"Zandar, you madman! Are you trying to make an enemy of the entire Xianzhou Alliance?"
Zandar remained unmoved. "An enemy of the Xianzhou? No, it's you who are too arrogant."
Guanliang let out a cold laugh. "Arrogant? You're killing people!"
Zandar's tone turned impatient. "If you met a paralyzed patient, would you encourage them to get out of bed and walk?"
Guanliang felt the question came out of nowhere, completely illogical.
Zandar's gaze landed on Zero.
A rare look appeared on the student's face, a kind of confusion that very few people could notice.
Seeing this, Zandar became a bit more patient, even in his conversation with Guanliang.
He took the initiative to explain, "Having limited understanding isn't your fault."
"Your mistake is that you're too arrogant."
"You wouldn't tell a paralyzed patient to get up and walk, yet you tell someone with depression to 'think positively,' and someone with anxiety to 'stop overthinking.'"
"Aren't you being arrogant?"
"Why can't you respect his wishes and follow his way of thinking?"
Zero sat quietly where he was, not saying a word to stop their argument.
Zandar couldn't help but sigh.
"You might not know this, but he has a coagulation disorder."
Zero slowly raised his head and looked at Zandar.
He remembered.
Back then, he had been wondering, 'Don't Mara Struck not have blood?'
Fortunately, the system had given him the "mental illness" buff, so during post-battle examinations, no abnormalities were exposed.
But that buff couldn't compare to the "Mara-struck" state. It couldn't let him heal himself, which was why when he fought the Mara Struck, he had stayed in a near-death state the entire time.
Guanliang's breathing hitched.
He recalled Zero's first battle after becoming the General of Yaoqing.
The other party hadn't slept or rested, fighting the Mara Strucks for three days and three nights. During that time, he suffered multiple fatal injuries. His entire body, even his face, had been covered in blood.
When the head of the Artisanship Commission ran into Zero, he was so shocked he lost all composure and fainted on the spot.
The chief alchemist who had followed Guanliang to the battlefield, due to the limited medical conditions at the front lines, could only quickly check Zero's pulse, give a few instructions, and then rush off with the other healers to treat the Cloud Knights.
But… in the follow-up examinations, the Alchemy Commission hadn't found any problems at all.
He then thought of an assassination attempt Zero once encountered, where his chest had been pierced clean through. At that time, the cauldron master had said, "The blood… it won't stop…"
Zandar rarely spoke kindly for the people of Xianzhou.
"Of course, this isn't entirely your fault."
"This matter… even he himself forgot."
Zandar reached toward the cufflink at Zero's sleeve and sighed.
"Eric, if it weren't for your special constitution…"
"You would've died hundreds... thousands of times already."
When his eyes met his student's, his back began to tremble uncontrollably, and even the movement of his hand almost slipped out of control.
Zandar tightly gripped the still-fastened cufflink.
He realized he had been wrong.
He had overestimated Zero's mental state.
Looking at those lifeless eyes in front of him, completely devoid of emotion, Zandar fell silent for a moment, then softly asked, "Eric… back then, what were you thinking? Did it hurt?"
Zero blinked slowly and answered at a sluggish pace, "It was okay."
Zandar understood.
"Okay" meant it hurt a lot.
His student cared too much about face. Whatever he said always needed a bit of translation.
Zandar asked again, "Were you afraid?"
Zero lowered his gaze, staring at the syringe in the box, and spoke in fragments, "No."
"I just… regret it a little."
Zandar understood.
"Regret a little" meant he regretted it deeply.
Guanliang hurriedly cut in, "Since you regret it, then don't..."
Zero looked at him and interrupted, "No. What I regret is choosing the wrong method."
The two of them fell silent at the same time.
Zandar kept holding onto Zero's sleeve, staring at his student in a daze.
Zero's gaze remained fixed on the syringe he had brought.
Zandar closed his eyes.
It was as if all the strength had been drained from his body. He loosened his grip, letting go weakly.
Zandar lowered his head and glanced at the red, button-shaped marks left on his fingertips from gripping too hard.
He heard himself say, "Alright."
"I really can't do anything about you."
Zandar reached out again. With slow movements, he unfastened Zero's cufflink, then helped roll his sleeve up to the elbow.
He took a deep breath, picked up the syringe from the box with one hand, and held Zero's wrist with the other.
Like a nurse soothing a child afraid of injections, he gave Zero a gentle smile and said softly, "This time, you'll only feel a slight sting."
"Like… being bitten by an ant."
"It'll only leave a very small, very small mark on your arm."
Zandar's voice turned hoarse, "Go to sleep. When you wake up… you'll be able to go home."
'After you die, the world will reset once again.'
'You will walk alongside Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction.'
'You will always be a god with divinity.'
'You won't form attachments to anyone in a lower-dimensional world.'
'You will live easily and happily.'
'Next time, I'll take you home.'
'I'll take you, and your empire... home.'
Guanliang stayed silent for a long time, not daring to speak.
He was afraid that anything he said might provoke Zero.
But now, he couldn't stay silent any longer.
Guanliang looked at Zero. The other party cooperated fully, even extending his arm toward Zandar.
He could only turn his anger toward the one who started it all.
Guanliang warned sharply, "Zandar, are you sure you want to make an enemy of the Xianzhou?"
Zandar acted as if he hadn't heard anything, his attention fixed entirely on his student.
Guanliang clenched his teeth, staring at the two of them, thinking about how to stall for time.
Unexpectedly, Zero, who had been quiet and sitting there waiting, made a move.
He slowly pulled back, easily breaking free from Zandar's hold and withdrawing his wrist.
Zero murmured, "No."
"…This goes against my original intention."
His mind felt hazy, and thinking became difficult.
In the past, he could plan ten steps ahead with every move.
But at this moment, no matter how hard he tried to recall and piece things together, the crucial information he had once firmly remembered felt like it had been broken apart and thrown into a maze.
Zero couldn't connect the clues, yet he couldn't find a way out.
He could only arrive at one conclusion.
Zandar would die.
If his past self had given up ascending dimensions in order to save Zandar and make up for his regrets, throwing himself into this endless cycle…
Then wouldn't that go against his original intention?
Like a lost child seeking help from an elder, Zero reached out and grabbed Zandar's sleeve, speaking with difficulty, "Zandar, I don't want to stay here."
Zandar nodded and hurriedly took out his long-range remote sensor, tapping it a few times. Then he removed the round felt hat from his head and placed it on his student's head.
"Alright, let's go."
"Hui Feng will take us out of here."