Zero froze for quite a while.
The cat in his arms tried hard to raise its head, rubbing against his arm, and stretched out its tongue to lick his hand.
Feeling the damp touch on the back of his hand, Zero finally came back to his senses.
He said to the children, "...How could I blame it? Thank you all for protecting it."
Zero spoke gently as he bid the children farewell.
He walked back the way he came. All along the road, he could clearly feel the cat's body gradually growing cold.
When Zero returned to the residence, he found a resting place for the cat under a tree in the courtyard.
With one hand, he stroked the cat's head; with the other, he drew his sword to dig the earth.
When he finished digging the hole, he stared at the mud on the blade.
This sword, which had been forged with countless rounds of refinement, surely it never expected it would be used for digging a grave.
His thoughts drifted endlessly, and suddenly, Zero remembered something he once heard,
From the day you choose to raise a pet, you plant a seed of sorrow in your heart.
Of course, whether it's raising a pet or forming bonds with others, there will always come a day of parting. There's always the risk of tears.
For simple, innocent creatures like pets, they don't remember death or pain, they only remember the happy times spent with you.
Would he regret raising this cat? Would he regret forming bonds with others?
Naturally, the answer was no.
Zero believed that through these thousands of years, every choice he made was always the best choice for the Xianzhou and for humanity, based on the situation at the time.
He didn't make mistakes, he couldn't afford to make them.
So, Zero rarely ever felt regret.
The only thing he regretted was that he led the Xianzhou people to freeload off the "Epidemic of Longevity."
If only they had chosen mechanical ascension instead... or found some other path to immortality...
Though Zero led the Xianzhou, following Lan's footsteps to cleanse abominations, he didn't actually harbor any hatred toward the "Epidemic of Longevity."
More accurately, he didn't hold much hatred toward any of the Aeons at all.
After fully establishing his deterrence, Zero obtained two Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons and an Aether Engine.
The former could be used at any time. The latter required decades of preparation.
He decided to place the Aether Phase Engine on Xu Ling, and once he found a successor, he would begin the groundwork.
A few decades of waiting, by then, the successor should be able to take over smoothly.
As for the Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons... one was on Zhuming, and the other on Yaoqing.
With enough firepower at hand, Zero divided Aeons into two categories in his mind, those that could be killed, and those that couldn't.
Obviously, the "Epidemic of Longevity" belonged to the latter.
If the Aeon of Abundance died, what about Lan?
Zero hadn't yet managed to redirect other Aeons' hatred toward Lan. How could he act recklessly now?
Oh, and then there were the Xianzhou people.
After Chaoyan's death, Daiyang comforted him, saying there was no need to grieve, that simply being able to travel with him was enough.
To his subordinates, dying for him or the Xianzhou, or suffering the endless torment of immortality, was no pain at all.
To be able to serve him, to walk beside him, that was the highest honor.
Once Zero realized this, he began making time, clearing his mind, and preparing to write farewell letters to his subordinates.
Of course, just farewell letters weren't enough.
A letter might stop his subordinates, but what about the rest of the Xianzhou people?
He would have to erase all traces of himself.
So, he deleted every mention of himself from the students' textbooks, cleanly, decisively.
When Zero did something, it was simply because he wanted to, because he could.
If it was something others couldn't do, but he could, then why shouldn't he?
It was a simple logic, as clear as one plus one equals two.
As for reward? Zero didn't need any.
He didn't care about what he gave to others, so naturally he wouldn't mind losses or gains, nor expect gratitude in return.
Take an example, say you pull some change from your pocket and give it to a blind or mute beggar.
Would you expect the blind man to remember your face?
Would you demand the mute to open his mouth and thank you?
Zero didn't care whether the Xianzhou people remembered his name or praised his achievements.
Since the past him had never expected repayment, now, surely he could claim his due, right?
He respected each subordinate's choice, letting them pursue their own desired endings.
But now, he'd changed his mind.
For Zero to demand that the Xianzhou people and Lan follow his will, surely that was only natural, wasn't it?
Then... they could just forget him.
Time could erase all traces. The Xianzhou people didn't need to remember everything about him; it would be enough to keep following Lan's footsteps.
Centuries or millennia later, the Xianzhou people would no longer remember the origin of Thanksgiving Day, or that it had been a festival the Xianzhou general created for them, with great care.
They would only know that on Thanksgiving Day, they could see the most dazzling fireworks and enjoy seven days of holiday.
Now, he needed to write farewell letters to each of his subordinates, one for every single one of them.
Zero pulled his thoughts back, gently buried the already-cold cat beneath the tree, and slowly covered it with soil.
Then he returned to his desk and removed the debuff of the Mara-struck Form.
Writing farewell letters, one shouldn't do that while mentally unstable, after all.
As Zero wrote, he tried recalling the memories lost during his bouts of mental instability.
Suddenly, he remembered, his subordinates once braided his hair.
They'd read in ancient texts about a custom called the "Longevity Braid," and while he was busy handling Yaoqing's affairs, they came to him, holding their breath in concentration, and each of them wove one braid into his hair.
To the Xianzhou people who hadn't yet known the torment of immortality, eternal life was the highest blessing.
Before leaving Yaoqing, when Chaoyan had decided to face death, she had said to him, ("May I braid your hair for you?")
What kind of feelings had she held when she said those words? Hatred? Malice?
'Was it... a curse?'
Zero recalled every detail of that day, remembering her stunned expression after his refusal, and the final words she left behind, ("This is fine too. Lord Marshal, you're fine just as you are.")
Chaoyan knew.
That brilliant, near-mara-struck subordinate of his knew that Zero had lost the memory of the Longevity Braid.
Did she think that, just as he had forgotten that moment, he would also forget her?
So it wasn't hatred. It wasn't malice. It wasn't a curse.
It was simply a farewell blessing, from a subordinate who could no longer walk beside him.
Zero thought, if he had known, he wouldn't have refused her.
It was just a braid, after all. He'd already let his other subordinates braid his hair over a dozen times, what was one more?
He paused his pen, placed the finished letter into an envelope.
This one, written for Chaoyan, should be entrusted to the Chief Strategist.
As for the strategist himself... there was no need to write a farewell letter.
Speaking of which, what was the Chief Strategist's name again?
Just as Zero was about to open the strategist's profile to check, the man appeared.
The strategist was silent at first, then said, "Her battleship encountered a starquake."
Zero understood the implication immediately.
Daiyang wasn't dead, just out of contact because of the starquake.
So not dead, just missing.
That meant her farewell letter didn't need to be burned, only delivered in person when she returned.
Staring at the dozen or so letters on the table, Zero suddenly asked, "Tell me, what would a normal person do if their child went missing?"
The strategist didn't know what to say at first.
After a moment, he answered his superior, who was never allowed human emotion and was always bound to logic, "They'd cry."
Zero shook his head and sighed.
"What a pity. Seems I can't be a normal person, let alone a qualified father."
He took out Daiyang's letter and handed it to the strategist.
"As for this one, give it to her when she returns."
The strategist silently nodded.
Zero looked up and smiled.
The strategist felt a chill crawl up his spine, something was wrong, but he dared not move, afraid that any sudden action might set his superior off.
Zero said softly, "Then next... Chief Strategist, let me kill you."
The strategist's eyes widened in disbelief. He sucked in a sharp breath and shouted, "...Are you insane?!"
Zero looked puzzled.
"You just realized? I told you before, I have a mental illness."
After speaking, he opened his system panel.
No buffs. No debuffs.
He was neither insane nor under Mara's influence, just acting on his own will, making the most rational decision possible.
Zero didn't bother correcting himself. He casually pulled a sword from his bag and began walking toward the strategist.
He spoke softly, trying to comfort him, "Don't worry, I won't let you feel too much pain."
The strategist stared in shock, instinctively stepping back.
"...You're actually serious?!"
Zero nodded.
"Look at Marty, he's doing fine now. You just have to abandon your body, and you can gain eternal life!"
The strategist's mouth twitched. He took several quick steps back, putting distance between them, and cursed, "Can you not jinx me? Listen to yourself, do you even hear how insane that sounds?"
Zero sighed, sword in hand, walking slowly toward him.
Since this man had accompanied him the longest, Zero didn't mind spending a little extra time chatting with him.
He patiently listed the many benefits of mechanical ascension.
The strategist was terrified, too slow and he'd be killed by his deranged superior; too fast and he might provoke him, so he backed away step by step toward the courtyard.
They kept at this strange standoff until they reached the open air.
Zero was still trying to persuade him when the strategist suddenly shouted sharply, "Stop! There's an assassin!"
Zero blinked in confusion, turning toward him... only to feel a blade pierce through his chest.
He looked down at the sword buried to its hilt, then pulled it out.
'So this... is what it feels like to be stabbed through the heart?'
"Chief Strategist, you're right. I'm insane."
Zero dropped the assassin's sword, raised his own, and cleanly dispatched the killer who had driven the blade into him.
He murmured, "...I can't even tell who the assassins are anymore."
The strategist's heart twisted with conflicting emotions, and he shouted irritably, "Are you just going to stand there and die?!"
"No..."
Zero shook his head slightly.
"No, not yet."
'It wasn't time, not yet. At least...'
He had to find his successor.
He had to let the Xianzhou people forget him completely.
He had to complete the Aether Engine.
He had to eliminate every potential threat.
He had to ensure the successor was strong enough to take his place.
Zero looked at the strategist and smiled reassuringly.
"Why that look? Don't worry, I won't let you die. Since I can't tell friend from foe, you'll be the one to point them out."
The strategist, "..."
He wanted to say, 'That's not reassurance, that's a curse.'
'This was your curse, on me, on yourself, on all the Xianzhou people.:
For some reason, the wound in the Marshal's chest refused to heal.
While the strategist pointed out the assassins and urged him to use the remaining power of the "Reignbow Arbiter," Zero ignored him, fighting alone, sword in hand.
After the last assassin fell, Zero summoned a creature.
He slowly crossed the pool of blood and sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard, quietly watching the late-arriving Yaoqing generals as they cleaned up the bodies.
Then came the Alchemy Division's head, Sideng.
Sideng approached cautiously, cutting away the clothing covering the wound and trying to treat it.
He changed out several blood-soaked bandages in disbelief.
"The bleeding... it won't stop..."
'But, but the Marshal is immortal! Why won't the bleeding stop?!'
The strategist glanced at Sideng's panicked face and said quietly, "This must not be known to anyone else. Understand?"
Sideng nodded rapidly, finishing the bandage and taking a cloak from a servant to carefully drape it over Zero's shoulders.
Zero waved a hand, signaling for them to leave.
But they wouldn't. They stood there stubbornly, refusing to go.
Zero closed his eyes and dropped his usual kind smile. His face went blank, his tone cold.
"Leave. Don't make me say it a third time."
The group looked worried, but no one moved.
The strategist broke the silence first, turning to go and barking, "Didn't you hear the Marshal's order? Move!"
When everyone was gone, Zero adjusted the cloak around himself and said to his summoned being, "Come to think of it, I think I've overlooked something important..."
His mind felt piercingly clear, every detail he had once ignored now magnified sharply.
He continued, "That is, what exactly did you see back then?"
And suddenly, a figure appeared at the stone table opposite him.
It was Lan.
Zero stared fixedly at Lan's face, missing no detail.
He spoke softly, "Lan, don't lie to me. You can't fool me."
"You said before that I would face many Aeons... but thinking about it now, that doesn't seem to matter much..."
Lan said nothing, his expression unreadable.
Zero deliberately slowed his speech.
"What matters is... am I able to..."
He asked, word by word, "... not only break the curse of 'immortality'?"
Lan's expression changed ever so slightly.
Zero caught it immediately.
Realization dawned on him. He couldn't hold back a laugh, the movement tore his wound open again, warm blood spilling out.
"From your face, I was right..."
Zero laughed freely, pressing a hand to his bleeding chest, feeling the stickiness seep through his palm.
He smiled brilliantly.
"I see... I see now..."
"I can not only break the curse of immortality..."
"I can kill Aeons too..."
Zero reached out his bloodstained hand, speaking with calm, sincere invitation, "In that case, Lan, come with me. Together, let's kill them all...."