The puppet had a childish face and a small frame, only reaching Zero's waist.
He couldn't cry, only letting out broken, stuttering sobs.
The moment Marty heard his name, he nodded repeatedly without pause.
Zero's body stiffened. He slowly bent down and picked up the puppet in front of him.
The puppet was too fragile.
Zero didn't even know how much force he should use to hold Marty.
He could only be extremely careful, wrapping one arm around the puppet's delicate shoulders, while the other hand gently supported his back.
Like soothing a crying child, he lightly patted his back.
Marty took the chance to bury his head into Zero's shoulder.
Since uploading his consciousness, this was the first time he had walked among people in the form of a puppet.
Marty couldn't fully control this puppet body.
As he trembled uncontrollably, he choked out, "I didn't learn from you…"
Zero's hand froze.
'Didn't learn from me?'
'What does that mean?'
His thoughts slowed, his mind grinding to a halt, as if he couldn't understand what Marty was saying.
He turned that sentence over and over in his head.
Before Zero could figure it out, Marty continued, "I know… if it were you…"
"If it were you, you definitely wouldn't want… wouldn't bear to let us leave…"
This time, Zero understood.
He slowly lowered his head, staring at the top of the puppet's hair.
'So that's how it is.'
So…
The subordinate he valued the most… The child he worried about the most… Had seen everything... Had witnessed his death.
Marty had seen the cruelest scene of all.
The strength in Zero's arms gradually slipped out of control.
Like a drowning man trying to clutch onto a piece of driftwood, he held Marty tightly.
The other seemed to still be saying something, but Zero couldn't hear clearly anymore.
A buzzing filled his ears. A sharp pain spread from his chest for no clear reason, like a short dagger stabbing into him and twisting over and over inside, even making his limbs go numb from the phantom pain.
Zandar watched the two quietly.
He didn't know whether his student would shed tears for the Xianzhou people, so he deliberately stayed a step behind.
Zandar was the closest person to Zero besides Marty.
So he was the first to notice something was wrong.
His student was trembling.
Zandar didn't approach rashly. He remained on the step behind Zero, reaching out to gently rest an arm over his shoulder.
The shoulder under his palm trembled even more.
From the corner of his eye, Zandar saw that Zero was crying.
There was no expression on Zero's face. His gaze was empty as he stared ahead, tears pooling in his eyes and slowly sliding down his cheeks.
He didn't seem to realize he was crying. He just stayed silent, holding the puppet in his arms tighter, one hand rubbing the head buried at his shoulder, the other lightly patting his back.
Zandar couldn't help letting out a sigh in his heart.
The scene in front of him overlapped with something in his notes.
Back then, Eric had gotten drunk. In front of a group of "Genius Society" members, he cried while clearly complaining about Zandar's eating habits, "How can anyone like eating raw meat without seasoning?!"
Ignoring table manners entirely, Eric grabbed the dessert fruit from the person next to him, picked up a piece of bread, and smashed it down with quick, precise force.
He showed everyone the fruit flesh that had been crushed into pulp.
"Bread this hard could be used to smash cucumbers. Who even eats this?!"
Everyone looked at each other, holding back laughter, softly coaxing him, "Yeah, who would eat something like that?"
Even now, Zandar still felt regret.
It was his fault.
Eric came from a wealthy family, loved by his parents. Even when they tried to toughen him up, it was only by cutting his monthly allowance down to five digits when he was fifteen or sixteen.
He lacked neither money nor love. And that was exactly why he was so determined to go home. He should have had what most would call a perfect life.
If he hadn't been forced into a lower-dimensional world…
His student would have followed the path his parents laid out, studied abroad step by step, returned after completing his education, and then, through introductions, fallen in love with and married a woman of equal background who knew him well.
Unfortunately, the lower-dimensional world needed him.
Zandar had realized that very early on.
Did it need "high-dimensional descendents" to change its predetermined fate? Or… flesh and blood? What was the purpose of the Aeons? To use high-dimensional beings as flesh to nourish the Imaginary Tree?
He didn't want to know the answer.
Zandar tried hard to make it up to his student. He deliberately added another zero, giving him a six-figure allowance every month, providing the best material conditions he could.
Some things should be handled by adults.
"High-dimensional descendents" didn't need to make any sacrifices for a lower-dimensional world.
While Zandar was alive, aside from food, the only thing that might have troubled Eric was probably the geniuses occasionally transferring him money.
Then what about after Zandar's death?
Would the proud geniuses who had gathered because of him fall apart because of it?
Zandar knew very well that he had left Eric with a complete mess.
He couldn't imagine how his student had endured it.
Fortunately, Eric created the system.
Fortunately, Zandar had prepared for the restart of the universe, leaving behind contingencies, setting secret codes with the other geniuses, and leaving items that could earn their trust.
Fortunately, his student possessed a power beyond what ordinary people could ever reach... no, more precisely, beyond even the Aeons.
Eric shouldn't have developed feelings for the lower-dimensional world.
He should have been a "god."
Only then could he have lived easily and happily.
Of course, a "god" could have compassion.
He could shed tears for suffering masses, but never for a single individual.
And now, that "god" was no longer a "god."
He had gone from "god" to human.
The resentment and anger Zandar felt toward the Xianzhou people completely dissipated at this moment.
In its place was a deep sense of helplessness.
He held his student's shoulder and thought, it's fine.
'You can cry.'
'Here, only I can see your tears.'
Zandar quietly looked away and waited in silence.
Soon, his student regained control of his emotions, with no trace of having cried on his face.
He continued down the steps.
Zandar followed closely behind.
Guanliang grabbed Daiyang and Chanzhen, who were still kneeling, pulling them up with one hand each.
Zero slowly walked down.
As expected, he saw Lan and Hua.
And… Jingliu.
There was no expression on Zero's face as he looked at Hua.
Hua met his gaze. She saw that Zero was holding the puppet Marty had deliberately chosen, one that looked no different from a child.
The smile on her face instantly faded.
Hua thought, 'Have you ever held me like that?'
Then she reconsidered. 'Of course not.'
Was Marty the same as her? Could he knock his father down in one blow? Did he have Feather Dust?
This was only natural.
Would humans guard themselves against cats and dogs? Of course not.
As she was thinking this, Hua saw Zero gently rubbing Marty's head in a soothing way and speaking in a calm tone, "Next time there's a meeting, don't reject applications from the mechanical race anymore."
Hua instantly understood his intention and couldn't help letting out a cold laugh in her heart.
'Right, no one is more rational than you. No one is better at weighing pros and cons.'
'At this point, you can't leave the Luofu without hurting anyone.'
'After weighing everything, you gave up.'
'Of course, just for now.'
'Why did you give up?'
'Because of Marty.'
'You can't let him go.'
'You're paving the way for him.'
'What I didn't expect… Is that for Marty's sake, you'd make such a huge concession…'
'You're actually willing to let the mechanical race join the interstellar community!'
Hua burned with anger inside, but her face still held a smile.
She stared straight at Zero and said, "Impossible."