And so, this round-collar robe, carrying everyone's little hidden thoughts, was delivered to the marshal.
A jade hairpin to fasten the hair, it was much simpler than other kinds of crowns.
The marshal didn't have pierced ears, so they had to find a craftsman to custom-make a pair of dragon-shaped ear cuffs.
Originally, they wanted to use gold or jade, but the marshal wasn't fond of flashy colors. If jade was used, it would clash with the jade pendant and the hairpin.
They could only settle for second best, spending countless faith points at the auction house to buy a material close in color to silver.
Zero didn't understand the thought the craftsmen put into this clothing, nor could he see the private little messages everyone smuggled into it.
He put on the round-collar robe, tied the belt and wrist guards, and a thousand words shrank into three, 'Oh ho, badass.'
'So detailed, too detailed, what kind of game does detail like this?!'
The strategist's sharp review, badass, even someone like the marshal, once dressed in this, suddenly looked like a decent human being.
Zero, at that moment fighting with the hairpin and his own hair, already yanking out several strands, "…?"
A female subordinate couldn't bear to watch anymore and volunteered to take over the marshal's hairstyle. Within seconds, she held up a mirror and asked proudly, "Lord Marshal, how is it?"
"Huh? So fast? How did you do that?"
Zero stared at the hair pinned neatly in the mirror, utterly shaken.
The female subordinate patiently demonstrated several more times.
Zero tried to copy her step by step, using his newly tamed hands, but still ended up yanking out over a dozen more hairs.
The subordinate slowed her movements, showing him again and again.
His eyes understood, but his hands didn't.
After many tries, he finally got it. With great interest, he then hung the dragon-shaped jade pendant on his belt, and with his subordinate's reminder, clipped on the ear cuffs, officially stepping out of the novice village.
Who gets this feeling? Grinding in a game for years, finally leaving the novice village at last.
The strategist repeatedly reminded him, terrified his superior would stir up trouble.
He kept imagining Zero standing in front of the Swarm delegation, pulling out a piece of ore blown into fragments by a Colossus on some planet, and saying,
"Look, your planet's turned into ore."
They were here for peace talks, not to stir up trouble.
So he warned his superior again and again, speak less, just stand there as a figurehead to hold the ground, that was enough.
Zero nodded, like a primary schooler on his first field trip, curiously looking around at everything.
Suddenly, the player's gaze stopped on a trash can.
Strategist, "You're staring at the trash can… just looking, right?"
Zero smiled.
Strategist, "…Right?"
Zero kept smiling.
The strategist felt his back molars about to crack from clenching. He wanted to grab his superior's clothes, but the fabric those lunatics had chosen was too expensive, conservatively, at least nine figures…
He didn't dare tear it, so he could only settle for grabbing hard onto the wrist wrapped in a guard, forcefully dragging Zero away.
Fortunately, after meeting the company's people, the marshal didn't keep going crazy.
The subordinate being held hostage saw Zero, and his tough face, the kind that looked like he could wipe out nine generations of someone's family, instantly crumbled. He looked so aggrieved, gazing longingly at his superior, only short of hugging his leg and crying.
Zero only said, "Don't overthink. We'll talk after we get back."
The strategist's heart was in his throat, but luckily, the peace talks went very smoothly. His superior even acted like a normal person, it was truly comforting.
When the Swarm released the hostage, and the three sides were about to move on to mutual flattery and then the final parting, a sudden accident occurred.
The strategist looked up at the colossal object drifting closer and closer to the neighboring planet. His smile slowly disappeared.
'That's a Colossus?!'
He whipped his head toward his superior.
His superior, dressed in the round-collar robe, looking like some aristocratic young master, was holding a goblet of red wine.
This combination, it had the absurd vibe of strawberry-flavored mapo tofu.
Zero leaned toward the company representative. He ignored all etiquette at the table, sitting casually, clinking glasses entirely on his own terms.
"To the Amber Lord!"
Meeting the company representative's confused eyes, he raised a hand, pointed to the Colossus looming over the neighboring planet, and smiled as he introduced his research department's new technology, Peaceful Angel.
Zero casually bullshitted, "After learning about the Amber Lord, I was deeply moved. I never imagined there could be such a selfless, magnanimous deity in the world."
"I truly wish to follow in the footsteps of the Interstellar Peace Corporation, to offer a gift to the Amber Lord."
"Alas, as marshal of the Xianzhou, I'm too busy with public duty. I can only have my researchers carry out the will of 'Preservation' in my place."
He pointed at the fully charged, primed Colossus, wearing an incomparably friendly smile, while his words chilled the spines of both humans and Swarm present.
"Peaceful Angel is the result of our research. When used on a planet that needs protection, it will form a barrier on the planet's surface. No matter if it's organic or inorganic, nothing can pass through it."
Company representative, "…"
'You dare call this weapon "Peaceful Angel"? And claim it's to carry out "Preservation"?'
'Stop insulting the Amber Lord, will you?!'
Zero, in a good mood, smiled as he enjoyed everyone's faces, whether angry or terrified.
Why "everyone"? Because, honestly, the Swarm were too ugly, he couldn't be bothered to look.
Besides, who could read emotions off the mug of a little monster?
Zero clinked glasses again with the company representative, and softly said, "Long live the Amber Lord."
The other man was drenched in sweat, dryly echoing the phrase.
Zero tilted his chin slightly toward the Colossus, and continued, "Care to admire it? Our 'Preservation'?"
Everyone, "…No need."
Zero pretended to regret it, "But you're already here, why not take a look?"
Everyone, in perfect unison, wiped at their sweating foreheads, and laughed stiffly as they declined.
After thoroughly messing with the NPCs' minds, Zero felt refreshed. Saying farewell, he treated the strategist's endless scolding like background noise, until finally, just before the man exploded, he said, "Just say, is this enough Preservation or not?"
Strategist, "…"
Members of the Astral Express Bureau rushed over to stop their furious strategist, trying to talk him down.
Suddenly, an NPC appeared in front of Zero.
The NPC opened his mouth with accusations against the Immortal Boat Alliance's many deeds, as if they were some kind of universe-dominating villains.
Before the Astral Express Bureau and the strategist could rush over to smooth things out, Zero spoke up.
"Do you know how humans on ancient Earth evolved?"
Before the NPC could say a word, he continued, "They were apes, creatures that, when they felt the cold, would hunt other species, strip off their skins and furs, and wear them for warmth."
"We eliminate Swarm, deal with rogue machines, all just to stop wars. So why accuse us?"
"If there is guilt, then every human carries original sin from the moment they are born."
The NPC's face flushed red, and after a long struggle, he finally spat out, "You're twisting the argument!"
Zero chuckled softly.
"Twisting the argument? Heh. Then tell me, if your heart is so pure, why don't you repent for the original sin you carried at birth?"
He stepped closer, gazing into the NPC's eyes, and said with casual contempt, "Why not kill yourself right now, to atone?"
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