The Labrador in Zero's arms wagged its tail wildly.
The puppy was only a few months old, so its strength was small. Its tail hitting his arm brought a ticklish feeling.
Zero had no choice but to adjust his angle to avoid the puppy's tail.
He continued, "That's the reason."
Zero very naturally skipped over this topic and said, "What I can do… is let Xianzhou people personally go see famous sights across the universe."
"As for my successor…" Zero paused.
How many years had he been working 007 already? If Hua still had to work herself half dead, wouldn't all his effort be pointless?
So he didn't have many demands for his successor.
Hua was an independent individual and didn't need to meet anyone's expectations.
Zero stroked the puppy's head.
"Whether you want to include those famous sights into Xianzhou's territory or keep things as they are, it's up to you."
He didn't wait for Hua's reply and continued on his own, using a joking tone, "Really sorry, once someone falls into mara struck, they can't help saying random nonsense."
Just as Zero expected, Hua fell silent.
The successor's expression became a bit strange. Soon, she controlled it again.
Hua pressed her lips together and asked, "Next week's parent meeting, are you coming?"
Without thinking, Zero shook his head and refused. "Let Guanliang go."
Hua stared at him steadily, said "oh," and nothing more.
Zero brought up the long holiday after the parent meeting.
"This long break, go to the Sky-Ferry Commission."
He raised his head, and their eyes met.
Zero's hand stroking the puppy slowed down.
He recalled the conversation just now, then looked at the expression Hua hadn't fully hidden yet, and quickly guessed what she really thought.
Zero acted like he didn't notice. After careful thought, he took the initiative to explain to Hua, "It's like a top scholar and a student with average aptitude."
"No matter how talented or smart the scholar is, if they don't understand the real situation, they will only teach based on their own understanding."
"For example, assigning you dozens of test papers in one day?"
"If you don't understand the real situation of the Six Commissions members, you might make wrong decisions like that scholar."
He paused, and in the end changed his wording, softening his tone.
"How about you try going to the Sky-Ferry Commission?"
Hua nodded. She seemed thoughtful and looked up to ask, "Before… did you also go to the Six Commissions and Cloud Knights?"
Zero shook his head.
When he was a general, he didn't have time to experience life in the Six Commissions.
Most of his time was spent handling official duties and satisfaction ratings.
Whenever someone in Yaoguang lowered the satisfaction score, Zero would find them and ask why.
The reasons were all kinds of strange.
Some complained the rules of the Six Commissions or Xianzhou were unreasonable. After hearing this, Zero would adjust them when appropriate.
Others ran into problems in life or relationships. Zero had to brace himself and act as an emotional trash can, quietly listening, then giving dry comfort.
Fortunately, Yaoguang people were easy to talk to. After chatting with him, satisfaction scores would fill up again.
Zero said to Hua, "No, I never went. I just…"
For a moment he didn't know how to put it. After a short pause, he added, "I just, like a teacher, often did home visits."
Hua didn't say anything more. She reached out to pat the puppy resting on Zero's lap, then used homework as an excuse to turn and leave.
She went to find Guanliang and passed along the parent meeting time and her guardian's words.
Guanliang smiled and agreed. He rubbed Hua's head and gently asked about things to note for the parent meeting.
They chatted for quite a while. He escorted Hua back to the courtyard, then turned and left.
Returning to his post, Guanliang cursed the Marshal in his heart.
'What are you, some noble lady staying indoors all day?!'
'You won't even attend Hua's parent meeting?!'
He cursed in his heart for a while, then quickly remembered his superior's plan and immediately stopped.
With the Marshal's experience, could he not see Hua's thoughts?
That was impossible.
Hua clearly wanted her guardian to attend the parent meeting, but could she say it? Would she say it? Of course not.
The superior clearly already treated Hua like a daughter, but he didn't want her to be too sad after his death, so he kept a not too close, not too distant relationship.
Getting these two to speak their true feelings… that was really too hard.
Guanliang sighed deeply, picked up the jade communicator, and happened to see messages from the generals.
They mentioned the death row prisoner captured earlier who tried to assassinate his superior and asked how to deal with it.
Guanliang replied.
[Same old rules]
[During interrogation, make sure not to cause death]
Guanliang stared at the communicator, still uneasy.
He and the generals contacted each other through the communicator and dealt with all potential dangers together. Incidents broke out on several planets one after another, even alerting the company. For several days straight, headlines were full of discussion about the turmoil.
Luckily they handled it very cleanly. No one would trace it back to Xianzhou. Outsiders would only think it was the work of a "Destruction" Emanator or the "Masked Fools."
The Marshal wouldn't investigate his subordinates, but what if? What if he suddenly got curious and looked into it?
Guanliang thought of Marty.
As the inventor of the jade communicator, Marty should always be able to clean traces thoroughly, right?
But how could he make Marty willingly help cover things up?
If Marty investigated and saw Guanliang and the generals acting together without the Marshal involved, would he turn around and tell the Marshal?
Guanliang thought briefly and quickly got an idea.
Just sell out the Marshal.
Didn't his superior always transfer money to Marty? Then expose that.
As for Guanliang doing things behind the Marshal's back… with Marty's filter toward the Marshal, it could be solved.
Guanliang immediately contacted Marty and against his conscience said the Marshal was kindhearted.
Sure enough, Marty followed his lead and praised the Marshal.
Then Guanliang changed the topic, talked about the recent widely discussed turmoil, took the initiative to admit it was done by him and the generals, and again stressed the Marshal's kindness.
The hidden meaning was that if they hadn't concealed it, those assassins might have stirred trouble again and hurt their kind Marshal.
This time, Marty didn't reply.
Guanliang understood.
Marty didn't know whether to inform on it or hide it.
Scholars were naturally loyal, but he really couldn't bear to see the Marshal hurt.
Guanliang deliberately used the sour tone of other generals, saying Marty was the Marshal's most favored subordinate.
As soon as he said this, Marty stopped hesitating.
[The Marshal… has he ever mentioned me in front of you?]
Guanliang knew immediately things were settled.
He didn't think he was lying.
Whether money or attention, the Marshal spent the most on Marty.
Either transferring money or personally selecting colleagues for him behind his back, afraid Marty might be bullied.
How could that not count as most favored?
Guanliang decisively sold out his superior.
Marty on the other side stayed silent for a long time.
Looking at the message screen, he couldn't hold it back and silently started crying.
Marty agreed to Guanliang's request, then opened his chat with the Marshal.
He wanted to meet the Marshal.
Marty typed and deleted for a long time before finally sending the message.
When Zero received Marty's message, he was using an education topic to draw information from Zandar.
Without thinking, he agreed.
Just meeting, what was the big deal.
After agreeing to Marty, Zero continued reading messages.
Zandar's tone was very emotional.
[He's too young. He shouldn't go to school alone]
[Robbed on the street three times in one month]
[The last time, the robber kindly let him hand in homework first before taking his stuff]
Zero, "..."
'Three robberies in one month, what kind of luck is that?!'
And letting him submit homework first before robbing him counts as great kindness?
'Zandar, what exactly are you talking about?!'
[He didn't want me to spend money, specially found a school without tuition]
[He didn't expect nearly seventy percent of students there delay graduation every year. Fail three times and you're expelled]
[How to put it? That school's undergraduate program is three years, but those three years will become the most unforgettable seven years of your five year life]
[He can treat gunshots from gang fights like someone setting off firecrackers]
[In the end he withdrew from school]
Zero, "..."
Was he advised to leave because he failed three times?
Zandar slowly added one more line.
[I took him away]
[🎉 Shoutout to Salo for joining p@treon. Gotta do it harder now. Thank you very much.🤗]