Zero had heard the universe's opinions about him, that he was vicious, bloodthirsty, and cruel, and that his subordinates were also ruthless villains without humanity, as if wherever they went, slaughter followed.
In reality, apart from the planets destroyed by automatons and the insect plague, Xianzhou still used normal diplomatic means to establish relations with other star systems.
Using Colossi also consumed resources, it wasn't as if he summoned one every time he saw an enemy.
Zero wasn't the type to do a losing business.
If you wanted him to deploy a Colossus, you had to bring him enough benefit.
Previously, he and his subordinates had fought passionately "for love," giving their all to fight monsters, containing the disasters within only a few star systems in the universe.
Later, for various reasons, Zero stopped, and the automatons and insects once again began stirring up trouble everywhere.
Could Xianzhou not handle it now? Of course it could, but it would cost quite a lot of resources.
This time, Zero didn't plan to fight alone. He had to pull in more NPCs.
To face two great calamities, the entire universe had to get involved.
Previously, the other forces in the universe had watched from the sidelines, while only Zero and his subordinates were wholeheartedly fighting monsters and saving other planets from fire and water, that was practically great merit.
With such a merit-boosting opportunity, how could he not bring others along?
As for those who stood by coldly and watched… Zero didn't mind. He was broad-minded, held no grudges, and planned to pull in more NPCs to team up and farm merit together, while in the process of fighting, also maxing out Xianzhou's deterrence power.
Once it was maxed, he could leave behind for Xianzhou a heaven-scorching divine weapon capable of destroying star systems, and the final trump card, the Aether Resonance Engine.
By then, all that would remain was to wait for a suitable successor, and he could finally rest.
In high spirits, after presenting the proposal of the Interstellar Council to the company shareholder, Zero decisively filled the man's teacup to the brim, signaling it was time for him to leave.
The shareholder, who was familiar with Xianzhou etiquette, glanced at the cup and immediately understood. He gave an awkward laugh, drank the scalding tea in one gulp, and promised to keep his word.
The out-of-control automatons had already caused the company countless losses in credit points. For that reason, they had specially come to Xianzhou, showing enough sincerity to ask Xianzhou to help them resolve the automaton crisis.
And this time, the Marshal's proposal fit their desires perfectly.
Xianzhou's methods were efficient, but the company wanted a permanent solution, to eliminate the problem from the root.
As for the insect plague… they could treat it as a favor to the Marshal; after all, the ones paying the price weren't their company.
Anyone else from the company in his place would have agreed without hesitation.
Both for public and private reasons, the shareholder had no reason to refuse.
Originally, he had come to Yaoqing prepared to give up his family business and all his shares, just to apologize to the Marshal on behalf of his daughter.
Centuries ago, his family had already begun cooperating with Xianzhou, and their holdings had multiplied several times over.
To them, the Marshal was a benefactor.
At first, when he came into contact with the Marshal, he had been full of fear, terrified of saying the wrong thing and angering him.
They had met many times. After witnessing the Marshal protecting his daughter, and even after she had offended him, seeing that he wasn't angry but instead gifted her practice workbooks…
The shareholder gradually came to understand the Marshal's temperament.
The Marshal could give a command to destroy a planet without batting an eye, yet he could also cover a child's eyes to protect them from harm.
So no matter how many planets Xianzhou conquered, no matter how others feared them as if they were vipers or scorpions, the shareholder's heart was calm.
As a capitalist, he understood the Marshal's reasoning.
It was a simple trolley problem.
If destroying a few star systems could save the majority, anyone would make the same decision as the Marshal.
The present universe was like a diseased tree, seemingly fine on the surface, but in fact infested with worms inside. If they weren't dealt with early, the only choice would be to cut down the entire tree.
Planets corrupted by those worms could no longer bring in any credit points for the company. If Xianzhou didn't intervene and things continued unchecked… those planets would only drag more worlds and more star systems down into the abyss.
The shareholder had even begun thinking of matchmaking the Marshal and his daughter.
So, when his daughter decided to go to Yaoqing, he didn't stop her, in fact, he risked offending the Marshal and the whole of Xianzhou to make a call and test the Marshal's attitude.
He and his wife had only this one daughter. Naturally, the entire family fortune would someday go to her.
But she had been spoiled by them. He feared that after he was gone, she wouldn't be able to protect such a massive inheritance, so he pinned his hopes on his future son-in-law.
The man wasn't married, and neither was the woman. If things could work out… he would laugh himself awake in his dreams.
Unfortunately, the Marshal had no interest in their family's assets, nor did he wish to marry his daughter.
The shareholder had to temporarily give up the idea. At the same time, he finally understood the meaning behind the Marshal gifting his daughter those workbooks.
Why would a Marshal whose gifts usually started at eight-digit credit points give a child workbooks?
Naturally, it was to cut off and extinguish her budding feelings before they could grow.
The shareholder returned to the Interstellar Peace Corporation and relayed the Marshal's decision to the others.
They also had no objections. The entire company began running at full speed, cooperating with Tianboshi, Xianzhou's diplomatic department, to frequently contact other powers across the universe, attempting to draw them into the campaign to eradicate the automatons and the insect plague.
Meanwhile, Zero, who had merely spoken a few words to make the company and Tianboshi work themselves to exhaustion, wasn't idle either.
He received news from Yubie and once again headed to Luofu for their meeting.
After much thought, before setting out, Zero chose a painting from his private collection to bring as a gift.
When man and dragon met at Yubie's residence, Zero handed over the painting. Yubie softly thanked him, took it, and passed it to the attendant behind him.
After taking a seat, Zero looked at Yubie's attire, completely different from their first meeting, and asked in confusion, "Why aren't you wearing that outfit with the hole in the chest?"
Yubie went silent for a moment after hearing Zero's description.
It was clearly just a normal outfit, why did it sound so strange when the Marshal said it?
He began explaining the clothing that had been designed with such an open chest.
The Dragon Lord said that outfit had very special meaning. It was worn only during ceremonies or important occasions by each generation's Dragon Lord of the Vidyadhara.
Zero thought to himself, 'So an open chest is part of Vidyadhara custom.'
Adhering to his principle of "not understanding but respecting," he gave a dry "oh," then urged Yubie to serve the wine.
Yubie raised a hand, and eight attendants stepped out in perfect order. Their movements were so precise they seemed measured.
They placed the wine flasks, cups, and other items neatly on the stone table.
As Zero watched, he even noticed in the courtyard a human-sized incense burner, white smoke curling up from it.
Soon after, another eight attendants appeared, some carrying or holding various musical instruments, others bringing stools, and they sat a little distance away from Zero and Yubie to play music for them.
Zero, "..."
He was deeply shaken.
It seemed the ten or so commercial streets he'd given away before were still too conservative.
'This guy is living better than a domineering male lead!'
He really pitied Yubie now, but still, he couldn't just hand over a resort planet or a planet-destroying battleship.
Yubie poured Zero a cup of wine. Seeing the Marshal's hesitant expression, he frowned and thought carefully, but couldn't figure it out, so he blamed it on the expensive incense he had burned, named "Tuberose."
Everyone had different tastes; perhaps the Marshal didn't like this fragrance?
Yubie asked, "You're not used to the incense scent?"
Zero, feeling complicated, lifted his cup and shook his head.
Listening to the attendants' music, he asked the Dragon Lord, "Don't you feel uncomfortable, having attendants following you every day?"
Yubie took a sip of wine, shook his head, and asked in return, "You dote so much on the Xianzhou people, don't you find it exhausting?"
As the saying goes, one shouldn't speak too deeply with those they don't know well.
To outsiders, Yubie's question might have seemed intrusive, but Zero didn't mind, he answered crisply, "Not really."
To him, the question was nothing much.
"Most of them are just ordinary people. What they seek is simply a safe environment, to have enough to eat and wear…"
Though some citizens were troublesome, most were easily satisfied, just throw resources at the problem.
"As for spiritual needs… things like self-worth, dignity, dreams, those they have to handle themselves."
Zero's energy was limited. Back when he served as the General of Yaoqing, he still had time to handle the people's issues.
For example, widows and orphans left behind after soldiers died in battle, that's how he and Lan had first met.
Or the children whose parents had fallen and who needed comfort and arrangements for their upbringing.
He had also encountered young people eager to join the Cloud Knights but eliminated during physical exams.
He usually handled these things personally to ensure their satisfaction.
Zero had met all kinds of people, and found that most of their problems came down to food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
A little more complex, and it was about needing stable relationships, needing respect, needing to realize personal worth.
As for the picky and demanding citizens…
Zero was already used to them.
He was literally a "Mara-struck" man now, he had to keep his emotions under control, didn't he?
Whenever he felt anger rising, he would take a deep breath and force himself to calm down.
After all, not everyone had conditions as good as his.
Forget that, and you'd easily make bad judgments and decisions.
Expression calm, Zero continued pouring wine.
Yubie's feelings were complicated.
He had thought he'd considered his own people thoroughly enough, but unexpectedly, the Marshal thought even further ahead, even reaching the level of concern for the people's self-worth.
It was like an open-book test where someone had memorized the entire subject textbook.
Yubie recalled the rumors of the Marshal's sleepless, tireless work habits and felt convinced, the rumors must be true.
To think with such detail, it had to be.
He decided to gift the Marshal some rare incense from his private collection, perhaps it would help calm his mind and aid his sleep.
The Dragon Lord truly worried about the Marshal, afraid that one day this long-lived friend might burn himself out.
The Vidyadhara could reincarnate, but once a Xianzhou person died, they were gone for good.
As they chatted, Zero suddenly had a thought and asked, "You're the Dragon Lord, rounding up, that's basically Dragon King, right? When you bring rain and clouds, do fish and shrimp seafood fall down?"
"What does your true form look like?"
"Since you have dragon horns, you must have a tail too, right? Why don't you let it out?"
Yubie, "..."
Why does rounding up 'Dragon Lord' make it a 'Dragon King'? And why would a Dragon King drop seafood?
Yubie couldn't follow Zero's logic. Smiling stiffly, he denied, "No seafood falls, my true form needn't be mentioned, and as for the tail… I'm not used to it."
Zero wasn't satisfied.
Fine, no free seafood, understandable, since Vidyadhara were basically close relatives of seafood anyway.
As for the dragon form… it was probably just too large to be convenient.
He could let the first two go, but the tail? That he really couldn't accept.
After all, who could say no to a dragon? If you can't transform fully, at least show him a dragon tail, that's not too much to ask, right?
Besides, cat tails were basically separate organisms. By that logic, dragon tails should be too.
On impulse, Zero grabbed the wine flask and kept pouring for Yubie, getting the Dragon Lord half-drunk, but even then, Yubie refused to reveal his tail.
Helpless, Zero put down the flask, gestured for the attendants to look after Yubie, and left the residence to go find Daiyang.
His subordinate had already gotten word.
Upon learning that her superior had ditched his personal attendants and gone alone to Luofu, Daiyang had been both shocked and furious.
When she finally saw him, she could only abandon the lecture she had prepared, sigh softly, and forgive him with a smile.
What else could she do? Of course she could only forgive him.
They had barely spoken when Daiyang's jade talisman buzzed.
Zero urged, "Might be something urgent. Go ahead, check it."
Daiyang obeyed, opened it, and when she set it down again, her expression was extremely complicated.
"It's the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili. They and the Nameless have just arrived at Luofu."
Zero immediately said, "Let's go, I want to meet this Aeon."
It was said that Akivili was the Aeon closest to humanity.
Zero guessed they had human nature, but not much of it.
Thinking carefully, Akivili must be even more human than he was.
Before the appearance of Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze, star systems had been isolated by imaginary energy, making it impossible for humanity to explore.
It wasn't until they appeared, Akivili and the Nameless, traveling from planet to planet, that communication between the systems began.
So, surely Akivili could help him clear the final stage.
Without hesitation, Zero pulled from his backpack the Mirror Flower Water Moon.
Then his jade talisman buzzed again.
Looking down, he saw a message from the company shareholder.
The shareholder said he had already found teammates for Zero, and asked which resort planet he wanted to meet on.
Zero had never been to a resort planet, so he turned to Daiyang and asked, "Which resort planet do you want to go to?"
The sea-loving "King of Flirts," who enjoyed vacationing with fishfolk, instantly understood what her superior meant.
Daiyang didn't want to miss the chance to help the Marshal relax, but considering his busy schedule, she suggested a cruise ship instead.
Zero didn't hesitate and replied to the shareholder, [Cruise ship. My subordinates haven't had the chance to go yet.]
The shareholder who received the message, "..."
The Marshal's choice was beyond his expectations.
He had thought the Marshal would choose the most famous restaurant on a resort planet, or perhaps book a fully equipped private club.
But when he saw the two words "cruise ship," he was struck with sudden enlightenment.
This wasn't for his subordinates at all, it was clearly for the peace of the entire universe.
'As expected of the Marshal! Even when arranging cooperation meetings, he thought everything through so thoroughly!'
'Who would refuse? Who would dare refuse!'
'Anyone who refused, toss them into the open sea right then and there! Wipe out the evidence completely!'