Aha directly reached out and groped Zeig up and down, curiously touching here and there.
"Huh, what's going on? This is impossible!"
In the past, he had forcibly given power to others, but something like this had never happened.
Now, he couldn't even take the power back.
"Kid, what trick did you pull? Hurry up and give me my stuff back, you hear me!" Aha pointed at Zeig and cursed loudly.
"Give back? Give what back?" Zeig looked completely bewildered, shaking his black trench coat in confusion.
"I, Zeig, have always been a pure and upright flower—there's no way I'd take your things."
"Bullshit, you still dare to pull a fast one on me?"
"Though I don't know what Your Excellency is talking about," Zeig shook his collar and said seriously,
"it must mean that I am now the new Aeon of Elation, right?"
Aha: "…"
No matter how hard the Aeon of Elation thought, he couldn't understand why his foolproof method had completely failed on this guy.
Even the power he had buried inside had lost all connection—gone without a trace, like a stone dropped into the sea.
"Why are you staring at me?" Zeig frowned. "Could it be that you intend to show disrespect to me, the Aeon of Elation?"
"Go to hell!" Aha flew into a rage and kicked Zeig off the stage with one foot.
"What the hell is this."
He looked left and right, trying to find if any other Aeon was lurking around to cause trouble, but the result only left him deeply disappointed.
Suddenly, he remembered Nanook's dying words and abruptly looked up.
"…"
Nanook had once said that this kid was suspicious.
He never expected it to be suspicious to this degree.
"You're really fucking impressive," Aha said word by word, looking down at Zeig, who was picking his feet below the stage.
At this moment, our Zeig continued picking his feet as if nothing had happened, casually flicking a piece of dead skin away—it landed right beside March 7th's mouth.
March 7th: "…"
She had originally come to check on Zeig's condition, but clearly, there was now something far more important to deal with.
Zeig sat on the ground and suddenly noticed a shadow looming over him.
He looked up blankly.
"What's up?"
…
In the familiar infirmary.
One person and one dog lay side by side on two hospital beds.
Peppy, seeing Zeig sent in again, couldn't help but comfort him:
"Woof Woof~ (Little brother Zeig, how did you end up here again?)"
The mummy was utterly speechless. Trembling, he raised his hand and pointed at his two legs, which were suspended in casts and plaster:
"General Peppy, look—I've come to keep you company again. These two legs are my medal for caring for my subordinates."
Peppy: "Woof~ (Little brother Zeig is thoughtful)"
Peppy: "Woof~ Woof Woof (Just say it—who beat you this time?)"
Zeig: "…"
The mummy shifted his shoulders, trying to turn over, but remembered both legs were in casts and suspended—he couldn't move at all, so he gave up.
He said helplessly:
"Tell me, is dead foot skin really that toxic?"
Peppy: "?"
…
Outside the infirmary, the sound of footsteps approached.
"March, he already knows he was wrong—don't hold it against him," Dan Heng persuaded.
"No way, no way! How many times has this happened? Before it was grape seeds, now it's foot skin—what's next? Who knows what else he'll throw at me."
"Aiya," Himeko coaxed, "there definitely won't be a next time, don't worry, don't worry."
March 7th stormed into the infirmary, cheeks puffed in anger. Dan Heng and Himeko followed behind, afraid that if she got mad again, the casts would need to be redone.
"Yo, a mummy again?" March 7th crossed her arms, still fuming.
"March, you're here—come, come, sit, sit."
On the bed.
The mummy struggled to wave his arm, beckoning to March 7th.
"Hmph."
Seeing Zeig looking so pitiful, March 7th's anger instantly dissipated by more than half. She plopped down on the edge of the bed.
But she still tilted her chin up and huffed:
"Let's see if you dare throw weird stuff again in the future."
"Third Sis, you're really wronging me here," the mummy said innocently.
March 7th: "How so?"
The mummy: "Actually, it's all the work of fate. Think about it—I just casually flicked it, and you happened to show up right then. See how perfectly it timed out!"
March 7th: "So this cast isn't unjust at all."
The mummy: "…"
At this point, Dan Heng also sat on the edge of the bed and said seriously, "Zeig, the Aeon of Elation has already left."
The mummy nodded:
"Damn, finally sent that big Buddha on his way."
Dan Heng: "But he said the method to summon him is still valid—anytime you miss him, feel free to call him."
The mummy: "…"
To be honest, when the Aeon of Destruction came, he had no choice but to summon the Aeon of Elation and let the two of them duke it out head-on.
As the saying goes, fight poison with poison.
But in truth, he didn't want to have any deep contact with Aeons at this stage.
Because he couldn't beat them.
Not being able to win meant falling into a passive position.
"I think I'll never call him in this lifetime," the mummy complained.
Dan Heng nodded: "I think that's for the best too. If the one willing to intervene had been the Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth, it would be much safer. But with the Aeon of Elation, there are simply too many unpredictable factors."
Himeko also sat on the edge of the bed.
She said gently:
"Yes, trusting the Aeon of Elation is inherently an extremely dangerous thing."
The mummy was silent for a moment before speaking:
"So, me nervously picking my feet should be socially acceptable, right?"
"Acceptable my ass!" March 7th grabbed a pillow and smacked it into the mummy's face.
Himeko comforted him:
"Zeig, promise us—you won't pick your feet in public anymore, okay?"
Dan Heng echoed:
"Yes, that kind of behavior isn't right."
The mummy frowned:
"What, is picking my feet a crime against heaven?"
…
Dozens of days later.
Heavy snow fell as Dan Heng and March 7th trudged across the endless snowy plain.
Suddenly, they realized someone was missing.
March 7th turned back and yelled:
"Zeig, what are you doing? It's so cold here, and you're taking off your shoes?"
At that moment, Zeig was sitting on a rock.
His eyebrows were covered in frost, his hands trembling as they rested on his ankles. Holding nail clippers, he frowned and said:
"You guys go ahead. I can't even trim my toenails? They wouldn't let me pick my feet on the Space Station, nor on the Express—now we're on an unfamiliar planet, so trimming my nails shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"…" Dan Heng and March 7th were speechless.
Because picking feet had been strictly forbidden for Zeig, he hadn't touched them once since leaving the infirmary.
It had been driving him crazy.
March 7th said in disgust:
"Hurry up, hurry up—we'll wait for you here."
Zeig waved the clippers to shoo them away:
"You guys go first. After trimming, I still need to file them a bit."
"Why do you have to do it in the middle of a blizzard!" March 7th's eyes nearly popped out in fury.
"Don't you think this has a certain romantic charm?" Zeig raised an eyebrow.
The frigid wind howled. March 7th instinctively huddled tighter—just from talking, a layer of snowflakes had already accumulated on her head.
"Aaaaah, it's freezing… Dan Heng, let's go ahead—I can't take it anymore!" March 7th quickly ran off into the distance.
Dan Heng exchanged a glance with Zeig. "Then I'll go scout ahead with March. Remember to catch up soon."
"Got it, got it—how long can trimming nails possibly take, really," Zeig said impatiently.
One hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Three hours passed.
Four hours…
In the biting wind, a snowman finally tossed aside the nail clippers, blew on his freshly polished nails, and said gravely:
"Finally done. See, I told you it'd be quick."
"Huh, where'd my shoes go? Buried under the snow somewhere?"
While the snowman rummaged around for his shoes, he suddenly heard a long-familiar electronic chime.
[Obtained Phase-based Slacking Reward: Divine Key - Cosmic Juggernaut (Incomplete Version)]
[Obtained Phase-based Slacking Reward: Divine Key - Abyss Flower]
"Hm?"
…