Zero slightly raised his chin and gestured in the direction where Bacchus was.
"Conductor, look at his expression. Does he look like he was bullied by us?"
Pom-pom was half convinced and half doubtful, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Akivili.
The Aeon spoke with complete confidence, "We didn't beat each other up..."
It was just that They and Their best friend had one sidedly beaten Aha.
Neither the human nor the god denied that there had been a fight.
Pom-pom did not notice the loophole in their words and stepped forward a few steps.
Bacchus was lying on the ground in an extremely twisted posture.
The conductor took one look at the expression on his face and instantly fell silent.
Smiling like that… he really didn't look like someone who had just been beaten up.
Some Nameless asked them about it, but no one answered. Even Bacchus, who seemed to be the victim, did not clearly explain what had happened to him.
When everyone brought it up, Bacchus immediately held his face with both hands, his tone sounding very delighted. "That was truly a special and unforgettable experience..."
From then on, the Astral Express had two unsolved mysteries.
Did Akivili, Aha, and Eric hold hands and resolve their conflict? What exactly happened inside the archive room? No one knew.
After this incident, Pom-pom noticed that Eric and Bacchus had finally quieted down.
They were no longer at each other's throats. Their relationship had become closer. It was just that, for some reason, Akivili did not look very happy.
Pom-pom thought about it and believed he had figured out the truth.
So Pom-pom took the initiative to find the Aeon and tried to comfort Them.
"Akivili, are you feeling sad? It's okay, you can be more honest, pam."
"As a Nameless, you're not very reliable… but as a friend, Pom-pom believes no one would reject you."
Akivili let out a few dry laughs.
Sad? They were not sad at all. They had clearly been messed with so badly They were half dead.
After taking a while to recover, the Aeon decided to change strategies.
Their best friend was on Their side. There was no need to compete with him.
But They were still an Aeon, right? At the very least, They had to outdo Aha!
Holding onto the idea of if you can't beat them, join them, Akivili teamed up with Their best friend to deal with Bacchus.
Bacchus, "..."
'Why are you two teaming up to bully a minor!'
In a fit of anger, he decided to find some fun.
When he was alone with Akivili, he persuaded Them to sneak into the a Zoo with him and buy two hundred and fifty baby Snout Beasts.
That single purchase directly used up half an Amber Era of the Astral Express's budget.
Akivili started to worry.
The babies were indeed very cute, but there were just too many… which carriage were They supposed to raise them in?
Bacchus persuaded from the side, "Don't worry. Forget half an Amber Era. As long as you say the word, Eric can cover all the Astral Express's expenses..."
Akivili shook Their head. "I'm not worried about the budget… Forget half an Amber Era. Even if there were a deficit of ten Amber Eras, I still wouldn't go to him."
Their best friend had already given more than enough.
Whenever the train docked at the Xianzhou or its affiliated planets, they could restock supplies for free.
Other Nameless who pioneered on their own would receive the same treatment.
Because of this, Akivili had quite a headache. Unless absolutely necessary, They would never let the train head to the Xianzhou.
Not to mention Their best friend's eight giant ships. Just the tax revenue from any random planet… They couldn't even count how many zeros there were, okay.
Even though Their best friend did not care about these things, Akivili did.
Having a good relationship was one thing, but that was not a reason to casually take someone else's supplies for nothing.
The baby Snout Beasts made faint sounds. If there were only one, Akivili might not even notice its existence.
But in front of Bacchus and Them were two hundred and fifty babies. Their squeaks overlapped and formed a scalp tingling noise.
Akivili said with distress, "Right now the most important thing is… how to settle these little guys."
Bacchus grinned.
"I have a great idea..."
Akivili accepted Bacchus's suggestion and raised the two hundred and fifty baby Snout Beasts in the restroom.
At last, these cute little guys finally had a home.
What the Aeon did not expect was that the Snout Beasts, whose lifespans were far shorter than Theirs, entered adulthood not long after.
They could reproduce.
First one, then more than a dozen… they reproduced at a terrifying speed.
By the time Akivili realized there was a problem, it was already too late.
Sewage flowed backward into the carriage, to the point that even Their best friend, who refused to leave his room, appeared in the observation car for the first time ever.
Zero stayed away from the crowd and stood alone in a corner.
He covered his nose with one hand and tapped on the jade device with the other.
Very soon, he put the device down and looked at Akivili expressionlessly, until Pom-pom ran over angrily. Only then did he say a coordinate.
Akivili immediately understood. They crouched down and gave Pom-pom a quiet instruction.
Pom-pom did not want to trust the Aeon with a long criminal record and looked up at Eric.
After seeing him nod, Pom-pom turned and told the other Nameless about changing course.
Akivili looked embarrassed.
"I really didn't expect this, best friend… By the way, the coordinate you just mentioned, is that one of your affiliated planets?"
Zero replied, "No. You could say I helped them before?"
Akivili understood.
The words you could say I helped meant either that the Galaxy Rangers had overthrown the old system when they saw injustice, or that his best friend had helped them build schools and roads.
Zero continued, "This is the closest planet I could find that can help us. Let's rest there for now."
"However, with this planet's level of technology, they probably can't provide the parts the train needs… Today we can probably only replace the facilities inside the carriage."
Akivili looked guilty.
"Sorry to trouble you, best friend…"
After spending this time together, Zero believed he had completely figured out Akivili's way of thinking.
They had an almost sick obsession with Trailblaze.
The Nameless who followed Them were the same.
They could endure the unknown, but they would never bow to the unknowable.
Even if the road ahead was rough and full of thorns, they would not stop.
Even if they fell and were covered in blood while moving forward, they would still hold their heads high and carve out a path for those who came later.
If the so called unchangeable fate mentioned by Fuli stood in their way, they would surely resist bravely, until they grabbed fate by the throat and forced it to retreat step by step and raise its hands in surrender.
Zero admired this persistence of the Nameless.
To be precise, he did not have much dislike toward humans or Aeons.
Compared to others, he simply preferred those with firm willpower.
But if it was Akivili… he needed to find a way to erase the possibility of Their death.
Zero looked at Akivili.
"It's not trouble. It was that guy again, right? By the way, what are you planning to do with those Snout Beasts? Find people to adopt them? Or send them back to the zoo?"
Akivili first let out a dry laugh, then nodded.
No matter what, they had to give those little lives a good home.
After talking about serious matters, the human and the god once again criticized Bacchus as usual.
Soon, the train arrived at the planet whose coordinate Zero had provided, and they found suitable people to help the Astral Express purchase and replace facilities and equipment.
The next day, Zero saw someone who should not have appeared here, along with Cloud Knights.
It was Chanzhen.
She led members of the Artisanship Commission and the Cloud Knight Army to this planet.
When she saw Zero, her eyes lit up, and she immediately gave an order for the crowd to disperse.
Akivili had met this Zhu Ming general before when They accompanied Their best friend for his birthday. They quickly brought Their best friend over, followed closely by Bacchus.
Zero could not help sighing.
"Why aren't you staying in Zhu Ming? What are you doing here?"
Chanzhen smiled guiltily.
Even though she knew the Marshal was on annual leave…
Even though she knew that approaching the Marshal on her own initiative might make him dislike her…
They still could not control their urge to search for his location.
Like a pet with separation anxiety. Once the owner left its sight, it could not help calling out.
Besides, if she solved problems for the Marshal, she was solving problems for the Xianzhou.
Thinking of this, Chanzhen became completely confident.
"I'm doing this for the Xianzhou!"
"Oh, right. My subordinates said that maintaining the equipment inside and outside the Astral Express will take half a month."
After all, with the Marshal here, they had to at least upgrade the Astral Express's weapons and defense systems, right?
Zero thought that if you randomly picked any artisan from the Zhu Ming Artisanship Commission, they would be top geniuses in the star sea.
Since when did the commission become so inefficient?
In the end, he did not expose his subordinate's little thoughts and simply raised his hand to flick Chanzhen's forehead.
"No next time."
Chanzhen's face turned red. She blankly raised her hand to cover her forehead and stopped talking.
Bacchus blinked and showed his teeth in a smile. "Who is this older sister?"
Zero had a blank expression.
'How old of a god are you? Can you have some shame?'
He glanced at Bacchus and said coldly, "My daughter."
Chanzhen's eyes lit up.
She actually got the same treatment as Her Highness the Crown Princess. They were both the Marshal's daughters.
Chanzhen opened her mouth, about to call out the title buried in her heart.
Zero closed his eyes briefly. "Stop. Don't use that title."
Chanzhen's eyes turned as she pretended not to understand. "Daddy, which title are you talking about?"
Zero fell silent.
Chanzhen knew when to stop. She looked at Akivili and gently asked about her Marshal's recent situation.
After hearing Akivili's words, Chanzhen's eyes filled with tears, her tone sincere.
"May I ask, do you plan to add more carriages?"
Zero said, "... It's really not that serious."
Chanzhen widened her eyes. "How is it not serious?"
'What kind of life was her Marshal living on the Astral Express!'
The room was only a few dozen square meters. It was not even as big as the Marshal's walk in closet.
Zero talked for a long time. Just as he was about to convince his subordinate, Bacchus started adding fuel to the fire again.
Suddenly, they heard a stranger's voice, with a bit of dissatisfaction. "The Xianzhou… truly the most irresponsible country I've ever seen."
The one god and three humans present all froze and instinctively turned to look toward the source of the voice.
Bacchus loved stirring up trouble. Relying on his youthful face, he immediately stepped forward to question the person.
Zero and Chanzhen frowned at the same time. They searched their memories, trying to recall any disputes between the Xianzhou and the locals.
Was a donation not properly delivered? Or was there a mistake when handling a disaster? That shouldn't be the case. Even if there had been a problem at the time, it would have been solved immediately.
They thought hard but found no clue. In the end, they stopped thinking and waited for the local to answer.
The local spoke indignantly. "If I remember correctly, the supervisors of the Interastral Council have always been Xianzhou people, right?"
"In the entire star sea, the Xianzhou ranks second, and no one dares rank first, right?"
"If that's the case, why don't they take charge? Why don't they rule the universe?"
Bacchus gave Zero a meaningful look and turned to fan the flames. "Yeah! Why don't they rule the universe?"
The local said resentfully, "Clearly the strongest nation in the star sea, so why don't they take responsibility? Why don't they station troops on our planet?"
Zero, "..."
He could not understand.
Is it wrong to respect the wishes of other planets? Why are there people rushing to be ruled?
The local beat his chest in pain. "Do you know what the treatment is after joining the Xianzhou? Not to mention the welfare system, just the land prices alone have multiplied who knows how many times!"
"Of course, we're grateful that the Xianzhou people donated money to us, but why can't they just directly rule us?"
"How is this any different from writing demolition on a house, only to end up not demolishing it and not giving compensation?"
Chanzhen was very excited. She lowered her voice.
"You see, if you rule the star sea, it's what the people want! How about… after the Cangcheng matter is settled, we send troops?"
Zero shook his head.
'Send troops? Send what troops?'
'Does she think the Xianzhou wants every single planet?'
Besides, he had no mood to send troops and fight wars right now.
Just four digit numbers of planets already took up eight hours of his time. If he expanded territory again… Forget Guanliang. Even if the Aeon Lan came personally, Hua would not be stopped.
By then, he really would be dragged back to the Xianzhou by his successor.
Zero asked, "How has Hua been lately?"
After hearing this, Chanzhen looked relieved. "As expected of your daughter. She's doing very well."
The subordinate paused, looking worried.
"The Chief Strategist said she hasn't had much energy recently and doesn't seem to be sleeping well."
Zero was silent for a moment. "I understand."
Soon, he came up with an idea. He chatted with Hua about Akivili flooding the train, then suddenly changed the topic.
[No money. Remember to calculate my overtime pay at triple salary.]
[Hua: ?]
[Hua has initiated a transfer to you.]
Zero looked. One billion patrol tokens.
He returned the transfer.
[Remember to calculate overtime pay.]
Zero also added four extra hours of work time for himself.
Half a month later, relying on his powerful social network, Akivili successfully found homes for several hundred Snout Beasts.
Zero took the opportunity to ask Hua for two as well.
Hua became even more skilled at handling documents.
Chanzhen really had no excuse to delay progress anymore, so she could only tell her subordinates slow work produces fine results and had them complete the modifications to the Astral Express after half a month.
When the deadline arrived, Chanzhen reluctantly said goodbye to Zero.
The Nameless set off on their journey once again.
Bacchus could not hold it in anymore.
He decided to find more fun.
'There was an idiom in the Xianzhou. What was it again?'
'Use your spear to attack your shield?'
'So in the end, which one is stronger?'