Zero frowned, quickly telling the Chief Strategist, "Lan's in trouble."
The Chief Strategist's face froze, then he went to ask the subordinates.
Zero kept opening and closing Lan's panel again and again. He couldn't believe his own UR, fine just a blink ago, was suddenly in trouble.
Just yesterday he'd checked Lan's panel. There hadn't been any problems at all.
How come overnight it changed to "Slumber"?
Zero urgently contacted the Luofu General. The other acted as if he couldn't be bothered, so Zero had to hold back his temper and trade formal pleasantries for quite a while before prying something out.
Turns out, Luofu had received a gift from the "Abundance" Aeon, called the Arbor.
Lan, meanwhile, seemed to have seen something from "Erudition." After failing to persuade the crowd, he fired an arrow at the Arbor.
The result was obvious, what the Luofu people cherished as a divine miracle, barely even warmed in their hands, was destroyed right in front of them.
The masses were stirred into a frenzy. But considering Lan's past merits, Luofu did not punish him severely, only cast him into Slumber.
Zero, "..."
'UR, what the hell are you doing?'
'If you wanted to shoot the Arbor, you could've just told me! Forget the Arbor, even if you wanted, Luofu could let you pilot a Colossus and smash it for fun…'
'As for the Aeon matter, wait for later, at least until I make the War Machine that can destroy a whole galaxy.'
That Luofu General was baffled. He said they'd already informed Yaoqing of this, added that there was no room for reversal, and even advised Zero to give up struggling and seek another successor.
Zero chatted with him a few more lines, then bade farewell.
This kind of trick to deliberately drag out his game progress… 'Fuli, it's you again!'
Oh, and also that "Erudition," pestering his UR non-stop.
'Could it be these two high-level NPCs are the "monsters" I need to clear in the early game?'
He opened the system map, unwilling to let a single corner slip, combing through carefully for suspicious figures.
The system's power was limited, it couldn't identify Aeons or powerful Envoys. Just like earlier with Aha, only after meeting them could their identities be confirmed.
Soon, he found his suspicious target, someone from the "Court of Fading Echoes," who happened to be in the same area as the Chief Strategist.
Zero instantly relaxed. As long as it wasn't an Aeon, that was fine. Who knew why he kept triggering the memory-loss side effect with only a 0.01% probability…
It had to be Fuli's doing. No way it was his own bad luck.
He thought for a moment, then opened his backpack to choose a tool.
'What if? What if an Aeon's real body showed up?'
His eyes swept quickly over the page, then were caught by a piece of paper full of writing.
Just an ordinary sheet of paper, yet somehow left in his backpack.
'Maybe it had something special about it?'
Carefully, very carefully, he didn't take it out, he used the system to read its contents.
The writing was divided into two parts. The first part was a childish little fable, immature in style and handwriting.
The second part was two lines, with writing completely different from the fable, more like his own hand,
[Angering every cat and dog was actually to share with them the most romantic scenery]
[Climbing to the highest branch of a tree, to share with them the most romantic scenery]
At the end of each line, there was a check mark.
Zero knew himself. His literary skills barely stretched as far as compulsory education. He wasn't the type to leisurely write things, nor was he a man with much childlike innocence.
Cats and dogs, trees, romantic scenery, these must mean something else.
Some kind of code he left behind for himself?
He had no clue. So he put the paper at the very front of his backpack, set it aside for now, and went back to choosing tools.
He picked a tool that could cause hypnosis, called Mirror Flower: Water Moon.
The only way to resist being hypnotized was to touch the item before it was used.
Thinking about it, from an Aeon's perspective, looking at him was the same as him looking at a low-level NPC. Surely they wouldn't care about what was in his hands.
Zero placed Mirror Flower, Water Moon on the desk, calmly waiting for his subordinates to return.
Sure enough, the reliable Chief Strategist and the others brought back the shady NPC.
Someone fumed with righteous indignation, "The moment I looked, I knew something was off with this guy! I made him praise General-sama, and in just three minutes he ran out of words!"
Zero, '...So that's how you tested him? Amazing.'
Another burned with rage, "To think His Highness suffered such misfortune! Why don't we just rebel? I already set up an undercover network in Luofu long ago!"
Zero sucked in a deep breath and fired a soul-piercing question, "Why exactly do you have undercover agents in Luofu?"
The subordinate, eyes bright with emotion, stepped out and saluted, "All for General! Not just Luofu, many other Xianzhou have our people. Just give the order, and we can take the whole Alliance of Xianzhou!"
The crowd answered in unison, their looks saying they'd die for Zero at any time.
The Chief Strategist glanced at Zero. Seeing him seemingly considering this absurd proposal, he felt deeply uneasy, so he carefully laid out the drawbacks of the Colossus and the possible troubles they'd face if they opposed the Xianzhou.
The two sides argued back and forth, then, in unspoken agreement, turned to the General.
Zero stared at the system map, where an unknown NPC suddenly appeared inside the General's residence. He raised a hand to silence the crowd.
The subordinates, understanding, held their breath and waited for the General's decision.
"This matter is of great importance. For now, leave the traitor here. The rest of you, out. Without my command, no one comes back in."
He put on leather gloves, picked up Mirror Flower: Water Moon, and watched his subordinates leave.
The traitor knelt, trembling, not daring to raise his head to meet Zero's gaze.
But Zero had no mind to interrogate him yet. Instead, he looked toward the direction of the unknown NPC.
Suddenly, an ice sculpture formed of illusion appeared, hanging in the air. That mysterious, unfathomable voice rang out, "Those who seek to disturb destiny will always regret it, only..."
The voice was rapid, as if recited countless times.
At that moment, the panel of the unknown NPC changed.
It was the Aeon of "Remembrance", Fuli.
Zero drew in a deep breath, impatience dripping from his voice as he cut off the speech, "Riddle-speaker, get out of the universe!"
The phantom was silent for a moment, then spoke again, in a tone as if they'd long known each other well, "I told you before, do not attempt to meddle with others' destinies."
Zero was certain he'd never met Fuli.
Otherwise, the moment Fuli had entered Yaoqing, the system map would have displayed his name.
He only felt puzzled, while also learning a lesson from the NPC.
A bunch of data, and it could still act familiar? He had to see what story this one could spin.
Zero studied the shadow, gripping Mirror Flower: Water Moon, pretending confusion as he asked, "We know each other?"
The phantom affirmed, then lifted its hand. Just a second before he could use the tool, it touched the body of Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
Fuli spoke again, "No matter what you do, the destined fate cannot be changed."
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