Chapter 249 - Zeros Answer (1/2)

”What are you going to do if you have to face Solo who has become your enemy?”

Zero blinked. Buddha wasn't joking and the boy found himself smiling for some reason. It would mean that he would be able to meet Solo again wouldn't it?

”I will save him,” he told Buddha who wasn't expecting such an answer.

The Enlightened One smiled a genuine smile when he heard that. His heart felt lighter and the Sage God knew what he should do. Even if he was breaking his promise to his old friend, Buddha would put all his hopes onto the teenager before him. While Solo was a powerful being, he was extremely fragile on the inside. His distrust for his creations made him lonelier than when he was alone at the beginning. It was why Solo made the Mind's Eye system as insurance to protect his future self.

Seeing Zero now, Buddha didn't think that Solo's insurance was needed. Zero was strong even if he didn't know everything. That resolution and courage to face the unknown were what made the teenager different from his past self. Zero didn't only rely on his capabilities to get out of sticky situations. He counted on the people around him to watch his back while he forged the path ahead for them even when everyone despaired.

Buddha recalled how Zero was always able to find a solution that nobody else was able to come up with. Back in the abyss, Zero didn't kill Rhinestone. Instead, he broke the man-made dimension by flooding it. Nobody else would have been able to do what Zero did. If it were Solo, Buddha knew that his old friend wouldn't be as merciful. The creator would have reconstructed that dimension and erased the spider demon's existence for eternity.

It was ironic how Solo destroyed his creations easily as the original creator while Zero tried to preserve the creations and nurture them even though he was the destroyer. Buddha thought that no matter what his old friend had become, there would always be light to darkness and darkness to light. Like two sides of a coin, Solo and Zero might never meet but the Enlightened One knew better. If time ran in a circle as all cycles did, Solo and Zero would eventually meet where the end is the beginning.

Zero watched as Buddha got closer to the ominous box. He couldn't help but feel nervous. Was this Solo's tomb? Was Buddha going to release the zombie called Solo residing within? Zero wasn't prepared for it. He met Solo once in the time crossing but he didn't know much about Solo's life. Buddha wouldn't ask him random questions about his past self without reason. The box definitely had something to do with Solo even if it wasn't Solo himself.

Buddha chanted something in a language that made Zero's head feel fuzzy. It was familiar but he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before. The system didn't translate it for him either and started malfunctioning much to Zero's alarm.

[System re-registering rights.]

[External interference detected, eliminating the threat...]

[System failed to eliminate the threat, emergency sleep-mode activated.]

When the system fell asleep, Buddha caught the box in his arms. The box no longer glowed and didn't float. Zero blinked as he put two and two together.

”That's Mind's Eye?”

Buddha nodded. ”I took a gamble,” he told the teen who gaped at him.

It felt unreal to Zero. All along, he thought that Mind's Eye belonged in his head just like how the Blessings the Great Gods gave. It should be something akin to mana and not some mysterious box floating in his inner dimension. Now that Mind's Eye had gone to sleep, Zero worried about Mii who was technically a by-product of the system. What was going to happen now?

Buddha took a while to tinker with the settings of the box and Zero watched without understanding what was going on. He had many questions. Why would Buddha know about Mind's Eye? If this was the system made by Solo, did it mean that he could no longer see Solo in person unless there was another time crack? What's going to happen now that the system isn't working?

The Enlightened One tapped the box and rebooted the core functions. The box came back to life and floated with a white glow this time. As it spun and gave off quite the light show, Zero stared at Buddha who studied it intently.

Then, the Enlightened One turned to him. ”Go on, identify yourself and register your name.”

Zero didn't know what he was meant to be doing but a friendly introduction shouldn't hurt.

”Hi there, I'm Zero.”

The box didn't seem to register it and Zero gave Buddha a helpless look. The stupid thing continued to spin slowly and Zero wondered if it was broken. Maybe they should take it out and get someone else to look at it.

Just as Zero was about to suggest it, the box stopped spinning and settled on a low golden glow that felt warm.

[Registering new owner: Zero.]

[System restarting...]

Zero waited with wide eyes when the box slowly opened up. The teen could barely hold onto his excitement as what was inside started to reveal itself. If this wasn't Solo's body, perhaps it was an afterimage of Solo himself? Was he going to receive a message from his past self or a gift?

Buddha monitored Mind's Eye closely as it registered Zero as the new rightful owner. Solo did tell him to pass the system on to his future self after all. He just didn't specify who should be the administrator of it. Back then, Solo's will controlled Mind's Eye and Buddha didn't think it was a problem seeing how Zero was new to everything. However, over the past few months in Earth's time, Zero had matured considerably. He was no longer alone and ignorant about the world. While Zero was growing, Solo's will remained frozen in time and stuck to the conventional thoughts, restricting Zero's potential. Now, Buddha was going to correct it.

Instead of a face similar to his, Zero saw someone else familiar emerging from the box.

”Mii?”

Indeed, it was the strawcherry fairy. Zero wasn't exceptionally thrilled to see her. He thought that something grander was going to appear from the box and that disappointment was clearly reflected on his face. Mii woke up after being forcefully powered down earlier. She was slightly disoriented but it didn't take long for all the information to catch up with her.

One thing that shocked her greatly was the change of ownership. Zero was now the administrator of the Mind's Eye system and as a by-product of the new system, Mii was worried. Solo's will didn't allow her to express her opinions about what was good for Zero. With Zero as the new owner, would he bind her as a puppet simply to do his bidding instead of treating her as a friend who often played the devil's advocate?

”Mii? What's wrong?” Zero asked when the strawcherry fairy simply stood still, not completely coming out of the box.

Buddha decided to give the assistant a literal hand out of there. With Mii sitting on his palm, Buddha explained. ”She's still processing the new information. A system update after the change of owners must be a rather big thing.”

Zero bought it and started working on the system configurations when it prompted him for some setting requirements.

”How should I fill this in, Buddha? I don't know anything about Mind's Eye!”

Buddha allowed Mii to collect her thoughts and observe her new system owner as he made some configurations. The Enlightened One helped Zero navigate his way through the complicated system administrator panel and explained some of its functions.

”You can also add anything to it that you feel is insufficient,” the Sage God told him and Zero thought about it.

”Can I add something that I'm bad at?”

Buddha blinked. ”For example?”

”A calculator function!”