Zero lowered his head and met Bacchus's eyes.
If it were someone else who did not know his identity, they would probably be fooled by the extremely innocent expression on the person in front of them.
No wonder, no wonder the other party did not interrupt when he and Akivili were talking.
Aha was quiet, so He must be up to something.
It seems this Aeon prepared a big gift for him.
Zero smiled. "Alright."
He turned around and made a move to leave.
Bacchus could no longer suppress the upward curve of his mouth.
He fell for it.
'Hopefully my best friend will like this "surprise" I prepared for him.'
Bacchus stared at Zero's back, but after the other walked only a few steps, he suddenly turned around and caught the clues he had revealed in his eyes.
His smile stiffened slightly.
"Almost forgot…" Zero smiled faintly. He stepped forward a few steps and raised his hand to wrap an arm around Bacchus's shoulder.
"This is the surprise you prepared for me. Of course I have to thank you face to face."
Bacchus reacted very quickly. He raised his head and pulled out a bright smile again, following Zero closely into his room.
At the same time, the sightseeing carriage.
Akivili frowned tightly. While calculating the credit points he had left, he searched the star network for a suitable gift.
Suddenly, a short muffled sound came from a corner of the carriage.
The Nameless looked at each other.
This sound… did not sound like an explosion, not like firecrackers, and even less like something heavy falling.
For a moment, no one reacted.
Akivili's heart tightened and he suddenly stood up.
He almost forgot Aha.
That guy had just taken advantage of Him not paying attention to rummage through the carriage…
What exactly did Aha do?
Seeing this, the Nameless also stood up.
They walked toward the direction where the sound had come from and faintly smelled something like a burnt object.
Some people went to find the conductor themselves, while others quickly took out toolboxes and fire extinguishing equipment.
Following the smell, everyone came to a storage cabinet in the corner that the Nameless did not use often.
Akivili grabbed the handle and immediately felt the scalding heat.
He did not rashly open the cabinet door. He quickly had an answer in his heart.
"It's a bomb."
A Nameless hurried over holding Pom Pom and came in front of the Aeon.
Pom Pom did not bother with the Nameless's rudeness and quickly said, "Akivili, many carriages have triggered the smoke alarm devices!"
Akivili took a deep breath and looked at the Nameless gathered around Him with anxious expressions.
"Everyone stick to the previous groups. Don't stay alone."
At this moment, this approachable god finally showed a bit of what an Aeon should be like.
The Aeon changed His usual lively manner. His expression was calm and his eyes firm as He made a promise to the Nameless, "Now, I'm going to deal with the culprit."
The culprit Akivili spoke of was also not having an easy time right now.
The smoke produced by the explosion in the room automatically triggered the smoke alarm device.
The sparks that had just ignited on flammable items such as curtains, bedding, and carpets were instantly extinguished by water.
Bacchus lay on his back on the floor, facing the streams of water spraying from the ceiling.
The water hit him so hard he could not open his eyes. He could only try his best to ignore the pain coming from his body as he fumbled along the ground and struggled to push himself up.
After several attempts, Bacchus finally sat up.
He sat on the ground and slowly opened his eyes, his gaze meeting Zero's directly.
The other sat on a chair with a straight back, not known how long he had been watching from the side.
Unlike Bacchus, who was soaked all over and extremely miserable, Zero looked no different from usual except for his wet hair.
He still wore a white shirt, black shoulder holster straps, and a long black coat. Water droplets rolled off his coat and trousers onto the carpet.
Bacchus carefully raised his head.
There was no expression on Zero's face.
His appearance made people instinctively feel close to him, but in the end it was only a deliberate illusion.
Once that gentle mask was stripped away, an inorganic coldness was revealed in his eyes. Anyone, no, to be precise even an Aeon would feel uncomfortable.
Bacchus did not like this expression at all.
It reminded him of when he had first met his best friend.
At that time, there was nothing in his best friend's eyes.
He was different from other humans. He stayed outside everything, looking down coldly on all things in the world. He had no desires and no emotions.
During these nearly two years together, Bacchus rarely saw him show this expression.
He gave a dry laugh. "Best friend, you're not angry, right?"
Zero looked down at Bacchus from above. He seemed to be examining him, and also seemed to be evaluating the Aeon's value.
He stared for a while, then curved his lips into a smile again.
Bacchus looked at his smiling best friend, then at the knife placed beside the chair. He estimated the knife's length in his mind and silently moved back a few steps.
After pulling to a safe distance, Bacchus said sincerely, "Best friend, stop smiling. I'm scared. Don't be angry, alright?"
Zero smiled and shook his head. "I'm not angry."
Bacchus did not believe it in his heart, but he still followed the other's words on the surface and continued, "As long as you're not angry… This time it was my problem. I apologize to you."
Zero suddenly stretched out his hand and picked up the knife placed beside the chair.
He asked, "Do you know this knife's name?"
Bacchus opened his mouth, but Zero continued on his own, "It's called 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon.'"
"A long time ago, I already thought about bringing it to show you."
Bacchus gave a thumbs-up. "It looks really good. As expected of best friend's knife!"
Zero smiled and talked about various details from the nearly two years he and Bacchus had spent together.
Bacchus listened quietly, his eyes moving slightly.
Zero changed the subject and said in a sigh-like tone, "You are an Aeon, a higher-dimensional existence far beyond all races, but you do not seem to be respected…"
"Only I know that you keep a secret."
"A secret that absolutely cannot be known by the outside world."
"In these nearly two years, I discovered that although you are an Aeon, like Akivili you still have emotions and humanity. You are drawn to humans and are attracted to the good side they show in extreme hardship."
Bacchus's expression was blank and his eyes unfocused.
Zero thought maybe "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" had taken effect.
Lan said it was suggestion, but now it seemed… for a severely injured Aeon's avatar, it was not suggestion but hypnosis.
Originally he had not planned to use this knife on Aha, but who would have thought the Aeon would suddenly try to blow him up? Then he could only retaliate by harming Aha.
Once the Aeon came back to his senses, he probably would not be able to eat for a hundred Amber Eras.
Aha seemed to know something.
No matter what the truth was, it would not affect his decision, but since he was free anyway, he might as well try to get some information.
He would treat it as understanding the situation of the graveyard in advance.
Zero showed a compassionate expression and leaned slightly forward, shortening the distance between himself and Bacchus.
"Actually, you've always been very lonely, right?"
"But it doesn't matter. You have me, and you have Akivili."
"And anyway, what Amber Era is it now? The tragic hero who sacrifices himself alone to protect everyone is already outdated."
"Of course, you don't care, but as a person, as your best friend, I care."
"Aha, you can relax a bit."
"In this false world, I am real."
Maintaining a gentle and harmless smile, he extended his hand toward Bacchus, who was squatting on the ground.
"Only I am real. I am different from them. I can do things that other Aeons cannot. You can completely confide in me."
Zero maintained the motion of extending his hand. The wound hidden under his sleeve was still bleeding. The blood wound downward along with his movement, flowing past his wrist and into his palm.
As if seeing a child who did not understand things, there was a trace of concern in his tone as he urged, "Alright, my best friend. Don't sit on the ground. You'll catch a cold."
Bacchus blinked slowly and subconsciously reached out his hand.
Zero smiled with satisfaction and said softly, "Now… can you tell me the secret of that tree?"
Bacchus held Zero's hand in return, but his originally dull eyes instantly changed.
His pupils trembled. He suddenly pulled his hand back and distanced himself from Zero.
Zero did not understand. He lowered his head and saw his palm covered with sticky blood.
It was his blood.
Could touch also affect the effectiveness of hypnosis?
Bacchus stared at the bright red color on his fingertips as if he had encountered some difficult problem, his expression extremely confused.
At this moment, Akivili kicked the door open.
The Aeon expressionless, He strode forward, grabbed Bacchus by the collar, and pulled the instigator up from the ground.
Seeing this, Zero finally relaxed. He slowly placed the knife beside the chair, then leaned back against the chair.
With his eyes half closed, he lightened his breathing while skillfully raising his hand to press on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Akivili was furious, "If it weren't for best friend's subordinates helping..."
"If the train hadn't been modified..."
"The bombs you detonated would have been enough to blow the planet near the train into dust!"
The Aeon closest to humanity felt sincere confusion.
He did not mention the Nameless who had almost been hurt by Aha, only asked,
"To you, are the billions of people and tens of billions of living beings on that planet just like insects?"
Hearing this, Zero subconsciously raised his eyes and looked toward Akivili.
He thought of the item that had never been used in the system backpack, "Tenseiga."
This ownerless sword had finally found its place.
This way, he would no longer need to worry about Akivili's safety.
Zero lowered his eyes, controlling his breathing and enduring the pain in his body.
Akivili scolded Bacchus harshly. As he listened, Zero suddenly heard Akivili call his name.
The Aeon was frustrated that he failed to live up to expectations. Even in great anger He kept rationality and called out his fake name.
"And you too, Eric. When you saw the bombs you should have run!"
"You don't have to tell me. I already know! You must have been tripping each other up with Aha, so you didn't run out!"
"When you saw you couldn't get out, did you think you'd rather get hurt yourself than let Aha have an easy time? So you dragged and pulled and stayed beside the bombs with him?"
Zero, "..."
As expected of Akivili, the guess was very accurate.
"You're already grown up. How are you still as childish as a kid?" Akivili released Bacchus's collar.
His hand clenched into a fist as he glared at Zero. "If there's a next time, I really will punch your face!"
Zero, "..."
He chose to lean back against the chair and rest with his eyes closed.
After confronting Zero, Akivili turned to Bacchus.
"I said before, if there's a next time, you leave the train."
"Alright."
Bacchus agreed very straightforwardly. He walked out together with Akivili. Before separating, he said to Zero in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, "…Best friend, your goal is destined to fail."
Zero watched them leave.
What did the Aeon know? Right now he only had one goal. Could anyone really stop him?
After waiting a while and confirming they had gone far away, he no longer controlled his expression and no longer endured. He frowned tightly and his breathing suddenly became heavy.
'Damn Aha!'
Zero cursed in his heart, then leaned back against the chair at ease, waiting for Akivili or Pom Pom to come.
He waited and waited. Only when he felt dizzy from excessive blood loss did Akivili and Pom Pom finally appear.
The Aeon rushed in holding the potted plant, while Pom Pom came a bit slower, holding a medical kit in both hands.
Akivili carefully placed the potted plant at the doorway.
If the wounds were visible and exposed, He could directly carry the potted plant over.
But if other parts were injured, the clothes had to be removed before touching the potted plant.
Otherwise, the healed flesh might stick to the clothes.
Akivili looked angry. "Aha went too far! He almost killed this potted plant! I think He did it on purpose!"
Zero felt no reaction inside.
It was Aha. Nothing he did was strange.
The first time they met, He wanted to blow him, Yaoking, and the entire star system into dust. This time, Aha repeating the same trick and trying to blow him up was perfectly normal.
Akivili thought, luckily He had previously met the Aeon of Abundance…
When Aha almost killed the potted plant, He tried treating a dead horse as if it were alive and fed a fruit He had received to the potted plant, and only then managed to save it.
After finishing scolding Aha, Akivili urged, "Best friend, take off your coat."
Zero stayed silent for a while before speaking with difficulty, "I can't raise my arms."
Akivili roared in his heart.
How did He not notice before that best friend was injured so badly?
'Already injured, yet still sitting upright?'
'Forget it. He is just like this.'
Making him personally admit he could not raise his arms… was undoubtedly extremely embarrassing.
The Aeon wanted to scold him but stopped. In the end He said nothing. Taking a deep breath, He asked, "Then Pom Pom and I will cut the clothes open with scissors?"
Zero kept his eyes closed and nodded lightly.
Akivili was afraid he would lose consciousness, so He spoke to him from time to time.
"Eric, next time don't be like today. Your whole body is covered in blood…"
As he spoke, Akivili fell silent, and his movements slowed.
Pom Pom asked in confusion, "Akivili?"
The Aeon said, "I almost forgot. Pom Pom, did the other Nameless get injured? After treating Eric, who's next?"
Pom Pom looked blank.
The other injured people were clearly already healed.
Before Pom Pom could ask, Akivili said again, "Hurry and go. Eric only needs me."
Pom Pom did not understand, but still cooperatively put down the scissors.
"…Alright."