Zane stared without blinking at the person in front of him, a faint sense of confusion spreading in his heart.
At this moment, the one standing before Zane was none other than another him, dressed in the Black Shores Executor uniform.
The guy who should have completely disappeared had actually come back to life and appeared in front of him again.
The two Zanes stood facing each other once more, looking at one another in silence.
No one knew how much time had passed. As the tangible data spilling around the Black Shores gradually dissipated, in the lake at the center of the Black Shores, a passage leading downward appeared from beneath the water, opening its crimson maw.
Through that stargate was the underground of the Black Shores.
But Zane paid no attention to it at all and slowly spoke to the guy in front of him, "…As expected of me, I look good no matter what I wear."
Hearing Zane say that, the Executor Zane across from him frowned expressionlessly. As a machine that observes the Lament, this was the first time it had felt the urge to kick this guy hard.
Doesn't even have any self-awareness.
But in the end, it said nothing, only gave a mysterious smile, turned around, and transformed into a streak of light, heading straight toward the stargate on the lake.
According to its calculations, Zane would definitely not just let it escape like this.
He would surely chase after it…
And indeed, that was exactly the case. Zane wouldn't just let it escape like that.
Then Zane silently took out the Pangu Terminal and sent three messages to Rover, Star, and the Doctor, "Rover pulls always hit hard pity, Rover echoes all roll bad stats."
"Stellaron gremlin, your cat died again hahaha…"
"Doctor..."
After sending those three messages, Zane calmly put away the Pangu Terminal, brushed off his sleeves, and left, hiding his achievements and fame.
Next, he only needed to prepare a coffin for that guy pretending to be him.
Having done all that, Zane turned around and continued walking up the long staircase. A faint floral scent drifted down along the steps, drawing him upward.
All of these were bright, shiny Astrites.
Soon, as Zane turned a corner, a glass greenhouse appeared before his eyes.
"Who are you?"
A mechanical voice suddenly came from among the flowers. Zane followed the direction of the sound and saw two black cube-shaped figures wearing straw hats.
Mechanical arms extended from beneath the cubes, currently holding watering cans.
Looking at the two little robots, Zane raised his hand and rubbed his chin, already calculating how many Astrites he could get by dismantling them.
Of course, that idea was still only at the imagination stage. After all, he wasn't some kind of demon.
Instead of dismantling them for Astrites, it would be better to let them grow flowers for him, and then exchange those flowers for Astrites.
And without needing to pay wages.
"Are you watering the flowers?"
The display screen on Ku-Plant's face turned into three dots. For a moment, Zane actually saw contempt on a robot's face.
"Of course! As a robot inheriting the name of gardener, I must ensure these flowers receive the best care."
The other small robot, called Ku-Water, had a smiling face on its screen and added, "Watering, planting, pruning, ventilation, sunlight."
As Ku-Water spoke, it suddenly paused, the parts inside its mechanical body clicking noisily.
The next second, a smile appeared on its screen again, and the synthesized voice sounded once more, "Welcome back, gardener."
"Gardener?" Zane froze for a moment. He had heard Cameliya mention this title before…
He originally thought the "gardener" Cameliya mentioned was just a nickname like "Seed of Fate," but he hadn't expected that he really was a gardener.
Who would've thought, someone whose job was picking flowers would turn around and become someone who grows them.
It felt a bit like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven suddenly becoming a stable keeper.
"How do you know I'm the gardener you're talking about?"
Ku-Plant and Ku-Water looked at each other, then turned together to face him, their screen-eyes fixed on him.
"We detected that your authority level is the second highest in the Black Shores. And we also remember you. Before you left, you instructed us to take good care of the greenhouse."
Hearing that from the two little robots, Zane finally felt a bit better.
At least as a gardener, he had somehow become the vice president of the Black Shores. Not bad.
Of course, since Zane didn't ask, the two robots didn't tell him that his authority level had actually been granted posthumously after he made a huge contribution to the Black Shores.
As for who held the highest authority, Zane already had an answer in mind.
"So, were all these flowers planted by you?"
"No. Every member of the Black Shores is invited to plant flowers in the greenhouse. Most people choose flowers from their hometown."
"Then what if someone doesn't know where their hometown is? What do they plant?"
Ku-Plant tilted its black cube head and instantly searched its database for the answer.
"Hmm… travelers wandering far from home… of course plant black flowers."
Ku-Water, still smiling, floated in front of Zane and added, "You once said you hoped the Black Shores would become everyone's second hometown. And for travelers wandering outside, black flowers are proof of home."
After a brief conversation, the two little robots slowly flew away.
After all, they were robots. They didn't need rest and wouldn't slack off. Growing and caring for flowers was their mission.
Watching the two diligent workers leave, Zane sincerely offered them his respect.
The harder they worked, the more Astrites the boss would earn.
Just as Zane was about to look around, a dark red black hole suddenly appeared beside him.
The next second, a huge suction force pulled at Zane, carrying overwhelming pressure, trying to swallow him whole.
"I **** Tethys System, if I don't take the bait you just grab me by force, huh!"
Coming after him again and again, did it really think Zane had no temper?
Zane gritted his teeth, and the Nexus Armament appeared on his wrist.
But in the next moment, his movement stopped.
He saw the flowers withering under the black hole's pull. Petals drifted past him weakly, torn apart, then merging into the soil.
These were all Astrites.
A surge of anger rose from Zane's heart. He didn't even bother using the Meta Field, and directly leaped toward the black hole.
He wanted to see just why the Tethys System, a tool used to calculate the Lament, was so fixated on him.
And besides that, why it had acted so strangely in Guixu Port City. Why it chose the greenhouse as the place to attack him instead of somewhere else.
As Zane was sucked into the black hole, both he and it disappeared from this space in an instant. The entire greenhouse returned to silence.
Only the scattered flowers on the ground proved that this place had once been on the brink of destruction.
[🎉 Shoutout to Paulius and CJ for joining p@treon. Thank you for keeping me motivated.🤗]