After Zero finished speaking, he waited for quite a while, but no matter how long he waited, he didn't get a reply from Lan.
The blue-haired, black-eyed young man gazed at Zero with a calm expression, more precisely, he seemed to be examining him, as if unwilling to believe what he said.
Zero couldn't be bothered to waste more time on such trivial matters. He quickly searched his mind for things that needed Lan's personal approval and asked,
"How do you think your background should be written? A heavenly phenomenon at your birth? The beasts roaring in unison? Golden light shining across the sky? Or do you prefer dragons?"
Now that the Xianzhou had converted to the faith of "Reignbow Arbiter," it was necessary to raise the prestige of the god they believed in.
What Zero thought of first were the various omens said to appear when ancient emperors and sages were born.
Things like heaven and earth trembling, strange lights appearing in the sky, rays of golden and red light filling the family home, the more exaggerated versions would even make up stories about the mother's dreams, saying she dreamt a deity gifted her a child, or that a golden dragon entered her dream.
Some ancient people would go to any length to prove their uniqueness, fabricating rumors about their mother and a dragon... anyone reading that would be stunned by how absurd it was.
Zero was a materialist; he didn't believe in those old legends. But since Lan had actually ascended from human to Aeon, that in itself already defied materialism.
It was his first time witnessing someone inherit godhood, so he had no experience. He could only look through ancient texts, trying to find inspiration from what those before him had done.
After much thought, Zero came up with a plan, to follow the example of ancient emperors and create some grand mythos around Lan.
After all, Lan had only recently become a god, and the only ones closely connected to him were the Xianzhou Alliance. Meanwhile, the "Remnants of Abundance" left behind by the former Aeon of Abundance were still blatantly displayed across the Xianzhou. If mishandled, they could easily cause a serious drop in people's favor.
'I mean, who would keep their enemy's leftovers right in front of them? It's disgusting, isn't it?'
The Xianzhou had lost countless lives fighting the "Remnants of Abundance," yet their descendants still had to look at them every day. Give it a few generations, if a descendant started worshipping "Abundance," their ancestors would probably be so angry they'd vomit blood.
Compared to the "Abundance" Aeon, who had left behind beautiful relics for people to admire every day, Lan was clearly at a disadvantage.
Lan was destructive, he could blow up planets, but he couldn't make trinkets by hand, so he couldn't constantly refresh people's faith value.
Zero had thought about removing those remnants, but unfortunately, over time, they had changed in nature.
Like the Mara state, it was a disease rooted deep in the flesh and blood of the Xianzhou people. Similarly, the "Remnants of Abundance" had become part of the Xianzhou itself, touch one strand and the whole structure could collapse.
Of course, it wasn't impossible to fix, but the cost in resources and money was astronomical, so Zero had to drop the idea.
Take, for example, the "Remnant" in Luofu, the Arbor. Its branches reached the heavens, and its roots spread throughout the entire Luofu. To completely deal with the Arbor…
You'd first have to relocate every Xianzhou resident to another ship, then send research teams into Luofu to map out the Arbor's root system, and then figure out how to handle it.
Luofu was like a skyscraper hundreds of meters tall, and the Arbor was its supporting walls and foundation. Trying to replace them bit by bit…
The sheer workload was enough to make even Zero, who worked tirelessly without rest, feel a headache coming on.
Resources and money were the things the Xianzhou lacked most. Zero planned to wait until they'd stockpiled enough to suppress both the Mechanical Crisis and the Swarm before even considering handling the "Remnants of Abundance."
By that time, he figured, he'd have cleared the "game" and gone home anyway. The troublesome problem could be left to the next Marshal.
Without hesitation, Zero decided to dump the mess on his successor and use the simplest, most cost-effective method to solve the faith issue,
That was, to weaken the presence of the "Remnants of Abundance."
After a few generations, people would naturally forget what those things once meant.
Anyway, just worship "Reignbow Arbiter," and that's that. Emphasize the suffering of eternal life, the struggles of the Xianzhou people, tell stories of Lan's deeds, and boost their affection toward him.
Zero asked again, "What do you think?"
Lan, "..."
Zero had always considered himself introverted and not very talkative, but now he was stuck with someone even quieter than he was… oh right, he supposed "partner" was a more accurate term now.
Faced with such a silent and expressionless partner, Zero could only try his best to read Lan's face. Seeing nothing, he had to change the topic.
"Your mother prepared a lot of dishes for you back then. Why don't you have some more?"
Lan, "…No need."
No need? No need for food? Or no need to glorify his origins?
Before Zero could ask, Lan vanished on the spot.
Zero, "..."
Even divine beings couldn't withstand their mom's cooking trauma. Godhood or not, a bad meal still hurts the soul.
He sighed inwardly and, after some thought, decided to give up on the idea of glorifying Lan's background.
After all, attributing everything Lan had done to so-called omens or fate would be far too unfair, unfair to everyone who had sacrificed themselves for the Xianzhou.
If omens and destiny determined one's life, then we might as well build temples for fortune-tellers and have them stationed at maternity wards.
If a newborn's fate didn't look good, just… restart them on the spot.
Zero never believed in something as vague as fate.
It was as ridiculous as the so-called "talent theory." People loved to use those two light words to ignore the effort and sweat behind success.
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He decided to believe in his people's creativity, that they could write the best stories for "Reignbow Arbiter."
And as he thought, he remembered the brand-new SSR he'd just obtained and felt his mood brighten.
Surely this new SSR would be different from the others, right? Surely he wouldn't blindly worship him, right?
His subordinates always said, "The Marshal is always right."
Every time Zero heard that, he just felt utterly drained.
Rather than blind trust, he wished someone would challenge him, rather than believe he was omniscient and infallible.
He worried inwardly, though he still kept a smile on his face.
What would his subordinates do after he was gone? He couldn't imagine.
Oh, and as for his successor, given his own example, it might be hard for that person to win everyone's respect. He really needed to prepare ahead.
Zero was quite satisfied with this new SSR. Though all his skill points seemed to have gone into scientific research… it wasn't a big problem.
As long as he taught him how to lead people, left enough backup plans, and perfected the Six Divisions system, his successor could be Marshal while still doing what he wanted.
Ancient emperors skipped morning court for decades, so why couldn't his successor do the same?
Zero had high hopes for his SSR, though he didn't realize that his SSR had high expectations of him too.
———
Marty, a salesman for the Company, dreamed of becoming a researcher. Unfortunately, he was broke and couldn't afford the expensive tuition.
Forced to give up his dream, he joined the Interastral Peace Corporation as a worker, fantasizing that one day he'd become an executive, get into a research institute, and own a lab of his own.
He just never expected he'd be sent to the terrifying Xianzhou Alliance.
Marty had heard rumors inside the Company, employees sent to the Xianzhou would go missing, or worse, come back brainwashed, praising the Xianzhou like madmen.
…It sounded like some massive organ-harvesting cult.
But the biggest rumors centered around the Xianzhou Marshal himself, said to lead generals as ruthless as demons, who killed without blinking.
It was said that their performance reviews were based on how many planets they'd destroyed, and when the year-end evaluations came, they'd compete to blow up more.
How savage. How terrifying.
No one in the Company wanted to go to the Xianzhou, especially not to Yaoqing, where the Marshal resided.
The position was pushed around until it finally landed on Marty.
Upon learning this, he spent all his savings overnight buying millions worth of defensive gear and parts, heavily modifying his weapons, and leaving all his valuables behind in his dorm in case they got stolen once he arrived.
When he finally arrived in Yaoqing, trembling, his weapons were immediately confiscated, and he was nearly detained by the Heavenly Ship Division guards who received him.
After learning his worries, the staff cursed a thousand times in their hearts, barely keeping a straight face.
"You really overthink things. This is Yaoqing."
Marty thought for a moment, 'True enough.'
Could anything here really be scarier than the Xianzhou Marshal himself? No one in his territory would dare be scarier than him.
So, Marty cooperated obediently and handed over his weapons.
The staff glanced at his outdated gear, barely hiding a smirk, asked for his name, logged the items, and told him he could collect them from the Heavenly Ship Division when he left Yaoqing.
With perfect professional composure, the staff gave him a polite nod, "Welcome to Yaoqing."
And so, Marty officially began working at the Company's Yaoqing branch. He toiled away for his boss like a beast of burden, working overtime for over ten days straight, then suddenly ran into the one person you must never provoke in all of Xianzhou, no, in the entire universe, the Xianzhou Marshal.
At first, he didn't realize what was happening. He looked around and saw he'd accidentally walked into an empty, pre-cleared section of Sea.
No matter how terrifying the Xianzhou's reputation was within the Company, even they had to admit, the Xianzhou's economy was one of the largest in the galaxy. Even without planet-destroying weapons, the Company had to treat them nicely to secure trade deals.
Probably just one of the Yaoqing generals, he thought.
But when he saw that face, he froze, he thought it was just another officer until he heard them casually discussing some Company executive's wife being "still charming," and he went numb.
He looked at the man being flanked by two others, and his heart sank.
Who else but the Xianzhou Marshal himself could stop all of Sea and have it cleared out beforehand?
Yet his face wasn't at all what Marty had imagined, it radiated warmth and friendliness.
Marty hoped desperately that the man would stay that way and spare him, but then the dreaded Marshal personally called him out.
The things the Marshal said were so off-beat that Marty forgot to be afraid.
He followed them to a barbecue restaurant, half-convinced the man wanted him to have one last good meal before dying.
The two subordinates played along perfectly, and Marty's mental defenses collapsed, he suddenly understood all those rumors about the Xianzhou.
They weren't baseless exaggerations at all.
Turns out Company employees weren't tricked, they really had told the truth.
When the Marshal offered him an olive branch, Marty didn't hesitate. His hunger for money instantly overwhelmed his fear.
He waited eagerly for the appointed day with his superior and arrived early at the Marshal's residence.
At the door, his superior opened it, surprised, "So early? Come in and wait. The person bringing you hasn't arrived yet."
Marty was shocked. 'It was already work time, how could someone be late?'
It turned out that besides generous benefits, his boss was surprisingly lenient with his subordinates.
His superior added, "He usually shows up right on the dot. You can do the same, just leave when it's time."
Marty was indignant. 'Such a good boss, and you still don't appreciate it? Unbelievable. People like that should work a few months at the Company!'
He immediately decided, he was going to out-compete this Chief Strategist.
Before he could start, the Chief Strategist arrived.
Facing someone who might steal his job, the man was perfectly pleasant, sincerely sharing his work experience and even his slacking techniques.
For example, the Marshal didn't eat, but still had a full professional cooking team, with fresh ingredients delivered daily from different planets.
If no one ate the food, it'd be wasted, so they might as well eat it. Three free meals a day, no problem.
Or, the Marshal only overworked himself. They just had to stand around looking busy. If there was work, they did it; if not, they relaxed and went home on time.
Marty hesitated for a while, then couldn't resist asking, "Can we read books?"
The Chief Strategist nodded and said as long as there was no work, leaving early was fine.
Marty, '…What kind of divine job is this?!'
Seeing Marty dazzled by the generous benefits, the Chief Strategist felt pity.
'Another poor soul who hasn't seen the boss go mad yet…'
If he could, he'd wave a big sign screaming, 'Run. Now.'
'Don't get close to the Marshal. Misfortune will follow.'
'At best, you'll become a brainwashed fanatic. At worst, a persecuted corporate drone like me.'
He patted Marty's shoulder, sighed, and urged him to go meet the boss.
Marty cheerfully went off to find the Marshal, the black-haired, amber-eyed man was sitting at his desk reading.
From the title, it seemed to be about a fallen monarch.
When Marty entered, the Marshal set the book down and asked kindly about his impressions, then brought up the Company's internal situation.
Marty angrily began ranting about his idiotic Company boss.
"He's never done our job, yet he always thinks it's easy, setting impossible performance standards!"
Zero nodded.
"Exactly. If he's never worked in sales, then all his orders come from his limited understanding."
Then he shifted the topic to the Xianzhou,
"That's why in the Xianzhou, we rarely do cross-department transfers. Everyone rises step by step."
The SSR didn't notice Zero's true intention. Feeling validated, he nodded proudly and, without thinking, praised his boss, "As outsiders say, you're like a god, omniscient and omnipotent."
Zero, "..."
He suddenly found himself unable to smile.
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