Guanliang knew his time was running out, so he stopped holding back and let all his emotions show on his face.
Joking aside, he was practically about to die. Did he really still need to worry about that dumbass boss's feelings?
Guanliang wanted to curse someone out.
But he knew cursing was useless.
Especially when you were cursing a boss who had been working at high intensity for several thousand years.
The other party didn't care at all about other people's opinions.
Whether people praised him to the skies, or cursed his entire family tree to the skies, oh right, the boss didn't have a family tree, just himself.
With death approaching, Guanliang had no more restraints. In fact, ideas about "losing merit points" even flashed through his mind.
After spending thousands of years with his boss, he understood his personality well, he knew the man spoke hurtful words without realizing it, and occasionally cracked tasteless hell jokes about himself.
Of course, jokes aside, the boss did sometimes have emotions of his own.
He could feel sad and upset, just like an ordinary person.
Guanliang knew exactly what kind of words could break through his boss's emotional defenses.
Unfortunately, he was human. No matter how many merit-deducting, tasteless hell jokes he had in his heart, he wouldn't say them out loud.
After all, there was still a difference between Guanliang and his inhuman boss.
He wouldn't poke at other people's wounds for no reason.
Thinking this, Guanliang quickly calmed down. In what could be called a fairly even-toned voice, he asked his boss, "Are you sick or something? I'm not allowed to live?"
Zero instinctively nodded, then, under Guanliang's furious glare, shook his head again.
One hand held a knife, the other loosely circled his subordinate's neck. He wore the same smile as always, no different from usual.
"This time, you have three choices."
"The first choice is being killed by me."
"I'm giving you the chance to choose. Do you want to be strangled, or stabbed?"
Zero smiled helplessly.
"You know, I don't have much experience. I've only fought assassins before, but I'll end your pain as quickly as possible."
"For example, this knife, if you think it's not sharp enough, I can sharpen it more."
Guanliang, "..."
'You grabbed my neck right away, aren't you just trying to kill me?!'
'And what is this speech of yours? There are way too many things to complain about!'
'Wait, this time there are three choices…'
'What, is there going to be a next time?!'
Guanliang knew that if he asked that out loud, it would only alert the enemy.
With a serious expression, he asked, "What about the other two options?"
Zero gently comforted his subordinate. "Don't rush."
Guanliang thought to himself, this boss really doesn't feel it when standing tall and talking big.
If he were the one trying to kill the boss, oh, the boss would probably say, "Don't rush. I'll be liberated, just not now."
All the words in Guanliang's heart condensed into a single sentence, "…Let go of my neck first."
Zero was best at taking other people's advice. Hearing this, he immediately withdrew his hand from Guanliang's neck and said earnestly, "If you choose this one, you'll get a grand funeral."
The corner of Guanliang's mouth twitched.
"Do I need to thank you too?"
'Kill someone and then help arrange the funeral, wow, you're such a good person.'
Zero ignored him and continued, "At your age, it counts as a joyous funeral, dying of old age. Isn't that nice?"
"After that, you'll be buried in the Forest of Ultimate Loyalty and worshipped by later generations."
Guanliang stared at his boss. After confirming he wasn't having an episode, he gradually wiped the expression off his face.
He finally understood what his boss meant by "this time."
Besides being killed personally by the boss, the colossus and the neutron gun could also break the "immortality curse."
But the boss no longer wanted his subordinates to repeat that fate.
The boss himself also wanted liberation. Unfortunately, the Xianzhou still needed him.
So he could only keep waiting, waiting for the right moment.
Before that, he would choose less painful ways for his subordinates to die, letting them be freed from their long lives.
In short, before dying, the boss would deal with Guanliang and the other subordinates who had the "immortal" trait, to spare them future suffering.
Guanliang believed he had more humanity than his boss. He couldn't bring himself to let the boss kill subordinates he'd worked with for thousands of years.
So he rejected the proposal without hesitation and repeated, "What about the other two options?"
Zero hesitated. Just as he was about to persuade him again, Guanliang added, "Don't bother persuading me. Either way, I'm not choosing the first one."
Zero sighed helplessly and put away the scalpel, then told him the remaining two options.
The second was to try mechanical ascension, like Marty.
The third was to have the newly picked successor delete Guanliang's memories.
Guanliang interrupted him expressionlessly. "What successor?"
He was just on the brink of death, how had he missed this much plot?
If he lay down for a few more days, would his immediate superior get replaced too?
Zero summarized his encounter with Hua at lightning speed.
Guanliang, "…You know that's illegal, right?"
'Who kidnaps kids off the street?!'
If his boss weren't the Marshal of the Xianzhou, he'd definitely be dragged to the Ten Lords Commission.
Zero automatically ignored Guanliang's accusation and instead talked about what happened at the barbecue restaurant.
Guanliang was screaming internally.
'Going out without patrol beacons was bad enough, you didn't even bring your jade communicator. Even bratty kids are more reliable than you!'
Soon, his anger turned into joy.
The boss had been mistaken for a human trafficker by a kid, and was almost reported to the Cloud Knights.
Guanliang nearly laughed out loud. He struggled hard to keep his expression under control.
Zero didn't notice and continued talking about his interactions with Hua.
He felt he couldn't get along with her.
To put it bluntly, that brat had an extremely strong sense of revenge.
Hua's grip strength was seriously no joke.
This kind of character, written into a story, would absolutely be a villain.
If Zero ran into someone like that, he'd at least say, "This child cannot be allowed to live."
But if Hua became his successor, then it was a different story.
Those annoying traits that gave Zero a headache instantly transformed into qualities shared by everyone in the Xianzhou Alliance and the Galaxy Rangers, perfect material for someone walking the Path of "Hunt."
An eye for an eye, clearly the next Emanator of "Hunt".
Zero skipped over the parts where he got vomited on and had his hair pulled by the brat, and went into great detail about his conversation with Hua.
Guanliang couldn't help but interrupt, "Wait, did you never ask the kid? Did you never ask what she herself wanted?"
Zero replied confidently, "Don't worry. She'll definitely agree."
Guanliang felt something was very wrong and quickly asked, "Why?"
Zero showed a gentle smile.
"That kid will definitely agree, because I told her that the last person who snuck into Yaoguang has grass growing taller than her on their grave."
Guanliang, "..."
'Deleting people's memories, my ass…'
'Those who know think you want the kid to help the Xianzhou solve mara-struck issues. Those who don't would think you're some scheming villain.'
'And telling a ten-year-old about grass on graves?!'
'Those lines are straight-up ultimate villain dialogue, threatening and luring someone into joining you!'
'If it were any normal person, they'd immediately be on guard!'
Guanliang couldn't help but question his boss, "You forgot your patrol beacons one moment, then talk about how the entire galaxy belongs to her the next… wouldn't she just think you're insane?"
"I won't even comment on the eight massive ships, but our Xianzhou planets… we barely even have numbers in the hundreds, right?!"
Zero sighed.
"I was worried she'd quit halfway… so I rounded up a bit. Just trick her into coming first, okay?"
Zero had once chosen two successors, Lan and Marty.
One became a Aeon.
The other spent every day buried in a lab.
The former had family and needed no guidance from Zero.
The latter was an adult, now all Zero needed to do was help choose colleagues and occasionally transfer some patrol funds.
Zero didn't understand children's inner worlds, but he understood workers' needs.
Work was about good pay, low effort, and staying close to home.
If he told Hua the truth… would he still be able to retire smoothly?
Better to trick her over first.
Guanliang was dumbfounded.
He muttered, "You're truly a mathematical genius."
'How do you round thousands of planets down to a few hundred?!'
'You just round however it benefits you, huh?!'
Zero warned his subordinate uneasily, "When the time comes, don't let it slip."
Guanliang couldn't help but shed a silent tear of sympathy for the child he'd never met.
'Getting stuck with a guardian like the Marshal… what terrible luck!'
He couldn't help but speak up for the kid.
"At least ask what she thinks, right? She should agree voluntarily."
Zero stared at him steadily and said abruptly, "I'll only wait ten years."
Guanliang felt something was off. Then he heard Zero say, "The rest will be up to you."
Guanliang fell silent.
Ten years later, his boss would head toward death.
He opened his mouth, but it took a long time before he could speak, "You say you'll only wait ten years, then what about that kid?"
Zero didn't understand the question.
He patiently reminded his subordinate, "We're long-lived species. What does ten years even count for?"
"She'll have many tens of years ahead of her."
Guanliang took a deep breath and asked, "What if she doesn't want to be Marshal?"
Zero was unconcerned.
"I'm her guardian. Whether she becomes Marshal or not, I'll fulfill my duty as a guardian and leave her enough assets to live on."
He was busy, he didn't have spare time to look after a child's growth.
If the person was a successor, he'd squeeze out time to teach them.
If not… he'd just leave them a small portion of patrol funds.
The rest he'd give to Marty.
Zero came back to himself and looked at the subordinate trying to stop him.
"I already broke the rules for you once before."
"Back then, you disobeyed my orders. I told you, only once, no exceptions next time."
"This time, I won't make an exception."
"If she doesn't want to take my place, then Lan will. If Lan doesn't want to be Marshal, then you will."
Guanliang closed his eyes.
With things said to this extent, did he even have a choice left?
Either die, or live and help his boss raise a kid.
As for the Aeon of "Hunt"… how could he possibly come back to the Xianzhou to work?
If he couldn't teach the kid, then Guanliang would have to get promoted to Marshal.
He had a perfectly good one-day-on, one-day-off job, and now he was supposed to be Marshal?
Not to mention thousands of planets, just the workload of those eight massive ships alone wasn't something a human could handle.
Guanliang sighed gloomily, "Meeting a boss like you… really is my good fortune."
Zero instinctively widened his eyes. Hesitant, he frowned and studied Guanliang.
The Chief Strategist… was really running out of time?
Guanliang snorted and continued, "Meeting you wiped away eight lifetimes' worth of bad karma in one go..."
Zero smiled and said, "In any case, I'll wait at most another ten years."
Guanliang fell silent, then said, "You said that for long-lived species, ten years is nothing."
"At least wait until she's two hundred."
Zero was unconcerned.
"No problem. Didn't I leave letters? With the other generals around, that kid will get the hang of it quickly."
Guanliang said nothing for a long time.
He truly couldn't understand his boss…
'Did the Marshal really think that just leaving behind a will could stop his subordinates?'
'Couldn't you open your eyes and look at the kind of people your subordinates are?!'
'Other forces in the universe all curse them behind their backs as mad dogs you raised!'
In a world where he was the only normal person, he couldn't stand it for even a second.
The two fell into silence. At this moment, Zero finally understood why Guanliang had tried to stop him.
Why he insisted on waiting until Hua turned two hundred.
Before dying, he would definitely grant liberation to others.
If it was only ten years… that really was too short.
Guanliang wanted to live a few more years, so he tried his best to stop him.
Zero deliberately softened his tone.
"Don't worry. When the time comes, you won't feel any pain."
Guanliang nearly burst out with a Xianzhou curse.
'Can you not bring that up?!'
'Taking ten thousand steps back, if we have to die, can we die separately? Can we not die together?!'
If there really is an underworld, wouldn't that mean still having to see the boss after death?
He wracked his brain, thinking of ways to persuade his boss.
Zero watched his subordinate's face gradually twist and let out a deep sigh.
"If it really doesn't work… I'll think of another way."
Guanliang seemed thoughtful. It was as if he'd thought of something, his eyes flickered slightly.
He sighed.
"This is the third time. The third time you've said that."
"The first time, you were still the General of Yaoguang. Yaoguang couldn't even pay death benefits to fallen soldiers, and not long after, wealthy merchants voluntarily donated money."
"The second time was…"
He paused, then continued, "The time we discovered you could end the immortality curse."
The boss never took Aeons seriously. After that incident, people from the Garden of Recollection appeared on every Xianzhou.
Others wouldn't dig into the reasons. They only focused on praising the Marshal.
Only a very small number of people, and gods, guessed the truth.
Their boss, for the sake of the Xianzhou people, had proactively sought cooperation with a Aeon.
More precisely, he had lowered his head to a Aeon.
For someone as proud as their boss, cooperating with a Aeon was equivalent to bowing his head.
Guanliang showed a look completely different from his usual one, a face filled with trust.
"I believe this time won't be an exception either."
Zero had wanted to say he couldn't find any other way.
But the moment he met his subordinate's gaze, he couldn't say it.
The Chief Strategist was actually showing this kind of expression… he probably wasn't far from insanity.
Why should Zero argue with a mentally ill person?
He fell silent.
Seeing this, Guanliang finally let out a breath of relief.
He'd managed to steady his boss.
'All that effort thinking up countermeasures wasn't wasted!'
In any case, stop thinking about taking him along ten years from now.
Zero had no idea what Guanliang was thinking. After a moment of silence, his jade communicator rang.
It was a subordinate calling.
After answering, the subordinate said, "Marshal, the child ran away."
Zero, "..."
The subordinate added, "Don't worry. We've already found her."
Zero raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, then said calmly, "I'm at the Chief Strategist's residence. Bring her here."