The planet-destroying weapon "Neutron Annihilation" can wipe out all intelligent life on a planet, and the neutron gun was a weapon developed based on that same technology.
At first, the neutron gun was only a concept imagined by the Xianzhou researchers. No one knew if it would actually succeed.
When Daiyang heard how many credits were spent developing this gun, she couldn't help but gasp for breath.
Even though she was among the highest-paid people in the universe, she still winced at such astronomical research costs.
It wasn't until she personally used that gun that Daiyang finally gave up on the idea of beating up the researchers.
Soon, this extremely expensive firearm was distributed to the Cloud Knights.
In that long war, the Cloud Knights turned the muzzles of their neutron guns toward the Swarm and the automatons, instantly stripping the enemy of life.
When they fired, it was as if they had splashed some corpse-dissolving potion from a crime novel, efficiently erasing every trace of the bodies.
Even if the Aeon of Abundance itself appeared, not a single insect leg would be left, let alone any part of those automatons, not even a screw.
Thanks to this gun, the Cloud Knights could help the natives easily handle the Swarm contamination.
The neutron gun saved countless humans.
And it also indirectly saved all the Cloud Knights, because of this weapon, they were able to return safely from the battlefield to the Xianzhou, reuniting with friends and family.
Every Cloud Knight who went to war, every general who fought in person, all clearly understood the role this gun played in the war.
And of course, their all-knowing, all-powerful Marshal knew it too.
Daiyang and her colleagues were deeply puzzled, and the Cloud Knights under them were even more confused.
Why would the Marshal decide to permanently ban the neutron gun?
They thought and thought, but couldn't figure it out, so they simply concluded that their intelligence and ability were not enough to comprehend the Marshal's true intentions.
Daiyang and her peers thought of the credits spent on that gun.
Without hesitation, they passed down the Marshal's order to the Cloud Knights.
Come on, this was the same Xianzhou Marshal who refused to spend even a single credit on his own birthday.
If he made such a decision, there must be a deep reason behind it, surely he was planning something big.
As for them? All they needed to do was obediently follow his command and not interfere with his grand plan.
Thanks to the Six Commissions' efficiency, they completed the task in a very short time.
The Cloud Knights handed in their neutron guns. They selected the most skilled diviner at sealing in the whole Xianzhou, loaning him out in turns so he could travel from ship to ship in one day, completely sealing away all the weapons.
After finishing this job, Daiyang, in high spirits, turned down invitations from seven or eight men, piloted her planet-destroyer ship to Yaoqing, and went to the Marshal's residence to claim credit.
What she didn't expect was that, besides herself, a stranger had arrived there earlier.
Daiyang had met countless men and only remembered the most strikingly handsome ones. She had long forgotten that she had once met this man before, even shared a meal of grilled meat with him.
She cursed in her heart, 'That guy was a man, yet he was bawling like a baby in front of the Marshal.'
The Marshal looked helpless, holding a cat in his arms.
He cradled the cat with one hand and looked around, seemingly trying to find tissues for the crying man. When he saw Daiyang, he finally relaxed and beckoned her over.
Daiyang thought, 'Where did this manipulative little thing come from?!'
Her expression froze as her mind raced to guess the man's identity. She pulled out a pack of tissues and handed them to the man who was crying.
As she got closer, Daiyang saw that his face was flushed red, tears and snot all over. When he noticed her, he tried hard to stop sobbing.
Daiyang looked toward the Marshal.
He said, "Marty is the smartest, most capable talent I've ever met. He's excellent..."
The Marshal paused, then added, "The jade amulet that can detect the Mara-struck form was his creation."
For some reason, the man named Marty cried even harder after hearing those words.
Daiyang pondered the name "Marty" and instantly thought of a word, martyr.
The men she'd dated came from different star systems, all educated in various ways.
Through them, Daiyang had learned much about other planets' cultures, and "Marty" was a name that came from a word in some language meaning "martyr."
Daiyang found it unbelievable. 'What kind of parents would give their child such an unlucky name?'
She looked at Marty and sincerely offered advice, "How about changing your name?"
Marty gradually stopped sobbing, looked at her blankly, and shook his head, refusing.
Then he looked back at the Marshal. As he looked, the tears started welling up in his eyes again.
Seeing this, the Marshal sighed deeply, put away his gentle smile, and said solemnly, "This isn't your fault. I promise you, none of the weapons you create will ever harm anyone again."
"If we follow your line of thought, then not just you and I, every living being in the universe would be guilty."
Marty said nothing.
The Marshal closed his eyes briefly and continued in a calm, unreadable tone, "A sword that can take a life, how can you blame the one who forged it? If you must trace it back, blame the one who ordered the sword to be made."
Hearing this, Marty immediately understood the Marshal's underlying meaning.
He meant that if blame had to be placed, it should fall on him, the one who ordered the creation of the Colossus, not on Marty.
None of this was Marty's fault.
Marty shook his head violently. "How could I possibly blame you..."
Daiyang didn't speak, but she roughly pieced together what had happened.
She'd always known the Marshal spoiled them, but she hadn't realized how much.
The Marshal had recalled and banned the neutron gun not for any other reason, but to protect Marty.
Marty, devoted entirely to his research, hadn't realized the true power of the weapon he'd made, until the moment it was turned on their own people. Only then did he realize the horror of it.
A scientist with such a strong moral sense couldn't bear that impact. He couldn't understand, the gun was meant to protect humanity, so why did it also take human lives?
The Marshal was willing to discard a weapon that had cost unimaginable credits, just to protect that pure heart.
That was their Marshal.
Outwardly calm, Daiyang was deeply moved. She echoed the Marshal's words, helping comfort Marty.
But unexpectedly, Marty, ungrateful as he was, looked at the Marshal, then at her, and started wailing again.
Daiyang, "…"
'Seriously? The Marshal himself is comforting you, why are you still crying?'
The noise gave Daiyang a headache; she wanted to throw him over her shoulder and punch him a few times.
Sensing her murderous glare, Marty clutched his tissue and choked out, "Wait until you know who it was before you hit me…"
Puzzled, Daiyang looked toward the only person who could answer her, the Marshal.
The Marshal gazed quietly at her and said, "It was Chaoyan."
Daiyang froze at the name of her colleague.
She wasn't surprised, she accepted it quickly.
For generals like them, who held high rank and fought on the frontlines, such things were common.
They had heard the dying screams of their enemies, seen countless severed limbs.
On the battlefield, death was nothing unusual.
Fortunately, their Marshal, with wisdom surpassing even the gods, always kept the Cloud Knights' casualties to a minimum.
Now, they only ever witnessed the deaths of their enemies.
Besides, for someone her age, let alone the older Marshal, it was normal to face such things calmly.
Daiyang quickly steadied her emotions and began analyzing her colleague's cause of death.
General Chaoyan of Yaoqing loved to look good, always well-dressed, soft-spoken and gentle in tone, seemingly easy to bully, but in truth immensely strong, able to throw Daiyang and other colleagues to the ground effortlessly.
Aside from that overwhelming combat power, Chaoyan also had persuasive eloquence and a brilliant mind that could have anyone dancing in the palm of his hand.
Someone like that wouldn't easily die by another's hand.
If it were murder, the Marshal would've immediately handled the killer himself and informed everyone, not calmly console Marty like this.
Unless Chaoyan's cause of death was so special that it couldn't be made public.
It couldn't be murder.
Then the only possibility was… that it was Chaoyan's own choice.
Daiyang thought of the neutron gun's properties and again ruled out homicide.
The neutron gun automatically records video during use, and all data, including time and usage details, syncs directly to the Xianzhou.
After quickly deducing the cause of death, Daiyang began to consider another matter.
Now that Chaoyan was dead, who would become the next General of Yaoqing?
Thinking that, she asked aloud.
"Who have you chosen as the new General of Yaoqing?"
Marty seemed shocked by her calmness. He stared at her, clutching his tissue, speechless.
The Marshal was silent for a moment, then answered, giving a name.
When Daiyang heard it, she felt reassured.
It was one of Chaoyan's frequently-mentioned subordinates, not as capable as him, but good enough to carry the title of general.
After addressing official business, Daiyang asked a personal question.
She spoke softly, "Has he come back? Do you want me to bring him back for you?"
The Marshal nodded. "Bring him home."
Daiyang accepted the order.
After learning where Chaoyan was, she couldn't help sighing internally.
'You sure know how to run, kid!'
He'd gone all the way to the edge of the universe, what a problem he'd left her.
Before leaving Yaoqing, Daiyang comforted the Marshal, "You don't have to grieve. For us, being able to walk this path with you, that's already enough…"
They died for the Marshal, for the Xianzhou, like believers dying for their faith.
To them, it was glory, an honor.
So he didn't need to be sad for them.
The Marshal looked at her, then smiled gently, the same warm smile as always.
The Marshal said, "All right."
Daiyang set out again, taking her subordinates to the edge of the universe, where she found Chaoyan's planet-destroyer ship.
As she'd expected, there was no body, no trace left behind, only the neutron gun that had ended her colleague's life.
She took out her jade amulet, accessed her clearance, and tried to retrieve Chaoyan's final recording.
Daiyang had assumed that Chaoyan was already outside the data transmission range, but to her surprise, even at the edge of the universe, all data could still sync to the Xianzhou.
She was impressed, even a little frightened, by Marty's ability.
She had thought Marty was frail, the kind of man she could kill a hundred times of with one punch, but wow… no wonder he worked under the Marshal. You really can't judge a person by their looks.
She put on gloves and stored the neutron gun.
Then Daiyang had her subordinates pilot her own planet-destroyer back to Luofu.
She alone piloted Chaoyan's ship back to Yaoqing.
The next time Daiyang saw the Marshal was at Chaoyan's funeral.
She saw many faces, some familiar, some not.
There were fewer and fewer old comrades from Yaoqing now.
While chatting with them, Daiyang learned the details of the funeral.
The new General of Yaoqing had been tasked with arranging it. Newly appointed, he found himself caught between two issues, his predecessor had left no body behind, only a gun, and there was also the Marshal's ban on neutron guns. He didn't know what to do.
Uneasy, he bit the bullet and asked the Marshal directly.
The Marshal was silent for a while, then sighed softly and said to the new general, "Don't worry about the ban. And, he loved to dress up. Remember to prepare the things he liked."
Zhenzhen mimicked the Marshal's tone as he retold it, and everyone fell silent.
Silent for the fallen comrade, and for the Marshal who remembered even their personal preferences.
Daiyang felt a sudden unease. She looked repeatedly at the Marshal's face, confirming his expression again and again.
After checking several times and finding nothing unusual, she finally exhaled in relief.
After the funeral, Daiyang and her colleagues returned to their respective ships to continue carrying out the Marshal's orders.
As they had always believed, the Marshal was never wrong. The few "mistakes" he made were always for the sake of his subordinates and the Xianzhou.
Sometimes, though, they wondered, 'Why did the Marshal change the length of education?'
'Why did he delete the textbook sections about himself?'
'Why did he insist on emphasizing the achievements of the "Archer of Life and Death"?'
To these questions, the Marshal just smiled.
"If it takes two hundred years for a Xianzhou person just to finish studying, wouldn't that be far too boring?"
The generals suddenly understood.
'So that's why, as expected of the Marshal!'
The journey of the Xianzhou people is the stars and the sea, how could they waste precious time on schooling?
After business was done, they chatted about personal matters.
The Marshal, with those gentle, calm eyes like still lake water, looked at them, occasionally responding to their teasing remarks.
When it was Daiyang's turn, she brought up Lord Imbibitor Lunae, asking if he had plans to visit Luofu.
Zero froze for a moment, then nodded.
Daiyang was overjoyed and proudly showed off to her other, now-annoyed colleagues.
Ignoring their curses, she slyly set the date for Thanksgiving, the Marshal's birthday.
Overjoyed, Daiyang carefully prepared fireworks for the Marshal.
She knew her colleagues would crash the event anyway, so she only invited Lord Imbibitor Lunae.
On that day, Zero met Lord Imbibitor Lunae. The Dragon Lord presented a wooden chest as tall as a man.
Just from the material alone, it was clear the gift was extraordinary.
It was an antique bought at a famous auction, for which Lord Imbibitor Lunae had spent tens of billions of credits.
Inside the chest, the antique rested on soft, luxurious silk.
Zero glanced at it and joked, "This thing is worth thousands of gold?"
'You and I once made a promise, to drink together.'
'You said that even if someone offered you thousands of gold in exchange, you would never break that promise.'
'So then, does that promise still count now?'
Lord Imbibitor Lunae didn't understand at first, thought for a moment, and explained how many credits it had cost him to win that auction.
Zero smiled faintly and said nothing.
He thought to himself, 'So, it doesn't count anymore.'