Hearing this, Zero casually said, "You're the most annoying."
He wasn't surprised that Aha saw through his probing.
He had only used a clumsy little trick, thinking the other party was swept up in emotion, any amoeba could have sniffed it out.
But what he got from probing… could only be called hurting the enemy by eight hundred, while hurting himself by a thousand.
Zero, a single dog since birth, suddenly got his reputation ruined for no reason, joyfully promoted to "annoying big son" and "annoying mentor."
Zero, 'My fists are hard now.'
From what he remembered, because Xianzhou was broke and for other reasons, he hadn't been able to beat up Aha.
Now though, he only felt completely drained, with no energy left to take revenge.
Zero was scared of ending up playing dad again.
Besides, revenge wasn't even the most important thing right now, there was something else he had to confirm.
Zero quickly opened the Luofu Forum.
Had anyone in Luofu noticed the arrival of the "Elation" Aeon?
Aha did whatever he wanted, never caring about the string of butterfly effects he left behind.
Especially the effect it had on Zero, the victim.
The commoners and documents in his memories already gave him enough headaches.
Work? Not happening.
He could only look like some worker pretending to fish for a living.
Aha's head drifted over, blocking his view of the jade screen, "I'm serious, don't doubt me, dear friend."
Zero set the screen down and breathed a sigh of relief, nobody on the forum seemed to have noticed Aha's existence for now.
He thought, 'If I can't ask directly, I can always search online, right? Just check General Xianzhou's resume, sooner or later I'll find myself in there.'
Even if history was distant, the truth rewritten or twisted, he'd still be able to piece it together.
Zero didn't show his thoughts. For once he gave the other party a good face, and followed Aha's words, "Fine then, my dear friend."
Hearing this, the head split into an exaggerated grin, almost reaching his ears.
Smiling, Zero continued, "Since we're dear friends, then..... my request, will you agree? Let's set three rules, how about it?"
Aha immediately climbed along the pole, "Fine, but in exchange, you also have to promise me three things!"
Zero didn't agree right away, "You first, what are your three things?"
For once, Aha got serious, his tone unusually solemn, "First, do not defy destiny."
"Second, do not alter the destinies of others."
Then the Aeon's eyes rolled, and he grinned again.
"As for the third… I haven't thought of it yet. I'll tell you when I do."
Zero thought it over, then said, "I can do the first two. As for the third, when you think of it, then I'll answer you."
"Fine then, decide when the time comes." Aha agreed without hesitation. "What about you, dear friend? What do you want?"
Zero asked, "Will you really agree to whatever I say?"
Aha blurted out, "Of course."
"First, don't lie to me."
The moment Aha heard that, his tone became pitiful, "But I didn't lie to you this time…"
Zero laughed angrily, "Fine, I believe you. That one doesn't count."
Aha paused, then grinned, "Maybe we should count that one after all."
Zero ignored him, focusing instead on wording carefully, trying to trade one condition for as much as possible.
"Second, I just want to live a peaceful life like an ordinary person. No one is allowed to disturb me… Like, no Aeons or Messengers showing up in front of me or my friends."
Aha fell into an odd silence.
Zero frowned, "Is that condition really so hard to meet?"
"That's too harsh. I can only promise I'll do it myself," Aha looked troubled. "But as for the other Aeons… I can't say."
Zero's gut tightened, "Other Aeons? The Aeons I know, besides you and Akivili, who else is there?"
"For example, Fuli…"
Hearing that, Zero instantly remembered the giant iceman from his dreams.
After seeing him, he had recalled his past life memories.
'So that giant iceman was the "Remembrance" Aeon.'
"Oh, I remember now. That's all, right?"
Aha dryly said, "There's also Qlipoth…"
The "Preservation" Aeon, the Amber King. Aside from building walls, he didn't care about the outside world, unlike Aha who stirred up trouble everywhere.
"The Amber King? Then no problem."
Though Zero didn't know how he'd met him, the moment he heard it was Qlipoth, he instantly relaxed.
Probably met through Akivili.
Casually, he asked again, "That's all, right?"
Aha carefully studied Zero's face, then lowered his voice and slipped in another, "There's also Nanook…"
Zero, "…"
He couldn't believe it. 'What on earth did my past life do?! Why the hell did I even know the "Destruction" Aeon?!'
A vein bulged on his temple, and he glared at Aha, "So you're saying, besides watching out for your trouble, I also have to guard against Nanook tossing an Stellaron at Luofu?!"
"What do you mean I cause trouble, it's called having fun, it's serious business…" Aha muttered under Zero's death glare, then added, "Actually, Nanook isn't the real problem… the bigger one is still Qlipoth…"
Zero was numb from listening.
He didn't even want to know anymore what his past life had done to piss off the wall-obsessed "Preservation."
But Aha wasn't letting him off, continuing, "Because of you, a huge chunk of his wall got blown up..."
"Because of me? Ha..."
Zero didn't believe a word. Aha was half-covering, half-hinting, never saying directly what he did. Using vague phrasing like this was obviously fishy.
If he had truly offended Qlipoth, Aha would've dragged him right to Qlipoth's face, then "casually" said, "Dear friend, let's go blow up Qlipoth's wall again. Don't worry, it won't disturb your peaceful life!"
That's how the Aeon of mischief worked, always dropping shocking lines, tossing out sudden "fun" to scare him, not light little "because of you."
The highest form of lying was not lying at all, every word was true. But twist cause and effect, flip the order, and completely distort reality.
The only possibility Zero could think of was the system's tech tree. In his past life, he very likely had developed tech far beyond neutron annihilation.
That tech had probably been taken by Aha to stir up trouble. And of course, the blame got dumped right on his head.
If you followed Aha's logic all the way back, hunting for who "harmed" Qlipoth, probably even a single screw on the Xianzhou would get put on trial.
Slumping against the sofa back, Zero snapped, "Why don't you just say it straight, name which Aeon I don't have bad blood with."
"The 'Hunt' Aeon."
Zero pressed a hand to his forehead, exasperated, "Thanks a lot. Everyone knows 'Hunt' is the Xianzhou's Aeon, alright?"
As long as he accepted the divine power attached to them, he could instantly become the Messenger of "Hunt."
Zero could tell, "Hunt" meant no harm to him.
Unfortunately, it was goodwill he couldn't accept. Once he became a Messenger, he could no longer be an ordinary person.
If possible, Zero would've liked to tell "Hunt", 'Great gift, don't send another one next time…'
"As your dear friend, of course I want to fulfill your wish." Aha blinked sincerely. "But as for what the other Aeons think, I can't say."
Zero was already drowning in debts, but at least losing the biggest troublemaker Aha was a win.
"Alright then, as for the third condition, I'll tell you when I think of it."
Imitating Aha's way, he left himself a way out.
Whether the Aeons would flip the board in the end wasn't something he could decide anyway.
Aha readily agreed, then said he was going to leave Luofu to look for fun.
His whole head shot up into the air, yelling for Zero to open the door for him.
'You're an Aeon, why the hell do you have to go out through the door?!'
'If that head flew off into the sky, he'd be thrown into prison tomorrow!'
Zero grinned, grabbing the trash can next to the sofa.
"You want to be flushed down the toilet? Or tossed out with the garbage?"
Aha went silent. The head spun a few times, then vanished.
Zero opened the system map. After confirming Aha had left, he finally let out a breath, only to see someone else in his house.
To be precise, another Aeon.
Right in front of him, an ice-sculpted lotus faintly radiated cold, as if just approaching it would sweep him into freezing winds.
It was the "Remembrance" Aeon, Fuli.
Zero, "…"
'Did I poke a nest of Aeons?'
'Another one? Really? Never-ending?'
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