And so, Zero chose to continue playing the part of an emotionally unstable madman.
His tone was gentle to the extreme, "What do you think, my dear friend?"
Aha instinctively rubbed his arm, feeling the fine hairs on his whole body stand on end.
"...Ahaha, my dear friend, after you told me something like that last time, those followers of that pile of scrap metal nearly pointed at my nose and cursed me out."
Zero knew perfectly well it was probably his fault, but he kept a straight face and feigned surprise.
"Oh? Really? They actually went that far."
Aha, "They really went that far! My friend! Hurry up! Kill them all!"
From that one line he'd said to Jingliu, Zero had already developed a new idea, one that could kill Aha and anyone else who knew too much.
He frowned deliberately, disapproving. "What are you, the King of Hell? Your bloodlust's a little too strong."
Aha went silent for a moment.
As expected of his dearest friend, truly, the master of making fun of others.
Only… that tone of voice...
He felt like even his ears couldn't survive it.
"My dear friend, could you please not use that tone again?"
Zero stayed calm. "Don't you think it's fun? Don't you want to try it out, in front of others, in front of other Aeons?"
Aha was instantly tempted.
Zero went on, "Oh, and while you're at it, could you pass a message to Fuli for me? After all, we're all old comrades who've been through life and death together."
Aha, intrigued, asked, "What message?"
Zero said casually, "Your heart beats with your dear friend's, and you still want to play mind games with him? Doesn't seem right, does it?"
Aha agreed instantly, and left just as quickly.
Zero opened the system map he hadn't checked in a long time, searched carefully for Aha's name, and only relaxed once he confirmed Aha had left.
He sent a message to Tengxiao.
[Zero: Aha's gone. Keep an eye out these next few days.]
After sending it, Zero carried the pet carrier back home and let the cat out inside the room.
He'd already prepared cat food and litter in advance. Once the cat had eaten its fill, he began to pet it.
To be honest, Zero had never expected Aha to actually keep his word.
It was impossible for him to ever go along with Zero's plans.
Without any weapon that could actually kill an Aeon, Zero felt that this whole journey… had really been quite something.
The fact that he'd managed to survive under Aha's watch, one, Aha couldn't kill him; and two, he was very, very good at finding amusement.
Aha would only ever backstab him relentlessly.
No doubt he'd twist Zero's words out of context, tell them to Fuli, and try to stir up trouble.
Zero didn't really care. After all, it was just a few words. If Fuli could've killed him, it'd probably have done it long ago.
If Aha happened to kill Fuli along the way, that'd be even better.
Couldn't kill it physically? Mental damage would work just fine.
For now, he didn't want to confront Fuli. It'd already managed to break through "Mirror Flower, Water Moon", who knew what else she might know?
That piece of paper in his system inventory said the Aether Resonance Engine had only been used twice. But… had it really only been used twice?
Zero suspected it was far more than that.
The Aeon of Erudition had once calculated that 0.01% probability, but that didn't just represent chance.
Maybe, without him knowing, the universe had already restarted countless times because of him, because of the Aether Resonance Engine, and this time was the one-in-ten-thousand miracle.
Zero's pyrophobia vanished instantly. He even started multitasking, thinking about what kind of persona to set up for himself next.
Since he couldn't reset the world at will anymore, he lacked a sense of security.
He was isolated and excluded by the Aeons, yet still managed, through sheer effort, to become their "lifelong companion."
Leave out some minor details, and to sum it up simply, an ordinary person who lacked security, was ostracized, yet bore no grudges.
Zero felt that this character concept could easily kill a few who knew too much.
Though… if Jingliu ever found out, she might honestly feel sorry for him.
She really seemed to like it when he called her "sister."
He'd only said it twice, and Jingliu had blushed and run away on the spot.
It felt like if he said it one more time, even her neck would turn red.
But if she ever found out the truth, she definitely wouldn't blush, she'd probably look just like Tengxiao did, like she wanted to drop dead right then and there.
His feelings were complicated.
As a five-thousand-year-old, born-single, solo dog, of course he wanted to fall in love.
That last faint trace of emotion left in him urged him, at some point, to imagine being in love.
Preferably the kind that developed slowly, step by step, every stage present, one that could eventually lead to marriage.
His ideas might sound absurd to the people of the Xianzhou.
For long-lived species, life was too long; love and marriage were no longer necessities. His mindset just didn't fit in.
Reason told him that going with the flow was the best choice.
After all, for a single dog, love was a real challenge.
Even after living five thousand years, it was still the same.
Zero thought back carefully and realized something about himself was… off.
He'd worked too long, gotten too used to thinking ten steps ahead, always planning for the Xianzhou in advance.
For the sake of resident satisfaction, his mind would wander from a single bowl of porridge to the ship's entire budget.
Even now, he still subconsciously prepared for things ahead of time.
Like when he'd walked Jingliu home and said those words.
Looking back, besides trying to persuade her to let go… there'd been another purpose.
Like a kind of preemptive vaccine, a disclaimer, of sorts.
And even his choice of pet, it was the kind of animal women tended to like.
Zero sighed, petting the cat while picking up his jade communicator.
Although it was still the ambiguous stage… whether it would turn into actual romance, who knew.
Still, he liked to see things through.
Since he'd started this… might as well think it through to the end.
He contacted Hua.
[Zero: Have I ever bought gems before?]
[Hua: ?]
[Zero: Just preparing in advance. If things progress to the confession stage, I'll give her 31 rings.]
[Hua: ???]
[Hua: No one gives 31 rings when confessing.]
[Zero: Then I'll be the first?]
[Hua: …Leaving aside whether that's a problem in itself, what about after you get together? How will you maintain the relationship? By throwing money at it?]
Zero was genuinely puzzled.
If you don't spend money on a relationship, then what do you spend?
He was completely stumped by Hua's question.
He didn't know, his subordinates had never taught him that.
Everything he knew about interacting with women came from his subordinates' lessons... things like paying the bill when eating out, grilling or hotpot etiquette, seeing her home afterwards.
But how to maintain a relationship…
Wasn't that supposed to happen naturally?
Surely there weren't any special rules, right?
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