Paul's words made everyone in the room stand up. Zero also stood up and said in a deep voice, "Are you sure, Your Highness Paul?"

"100 percent sure. Paul nodded, "This is a message from Mendrissa that Sauron arrested Cinderella and returned to Rome first, as many people have seen. So Cinderella is not dead, that's absolutely. ”

"Great!"

"That way we have a chance to come to the rescue. ”

Hook and the others punched their fists one after another, and looked at Zero again. Zero let out a long breath and said, "As long as people don't die, there is still hope." ”

Looking at the excited expressions of these people in front of him, Paul smiled bitterly again: "It's not that I poured cold water on you, but I also said it just now, there is another bad news." ”

Suddenly, everyone fell silent. Zero looked at Paul and said, "What's the bad news?"

Paul sighed, "The man was not dead, but on the second day of his return to Rome, Cinderella was sent to the prison of Thebes." ”

"Iron Prison?"

Mr. X and Mamilo, the two people who were originally from the Papal Hall system, gasped, and when they heard their anger so surprised, they sighed in their hearts, knowing that this so-called big prison might not be simple, so they asked: "What's going on with this Thebes big prison?"

Paul replied: "It is located on the island of Kunavantow in the northern sea, and it is a place where some of the most wicked men are imprisoned. It's not so much a prison as a base under the sea. ”

The island of Kunafantow, in the northern waters of the Western Continent, is the location of the Thebes Prison, or Iron Prison for short. The Iron Prison was heavily guarded, and since its construction, none of the prisoners held in it have been able to escape. In addition, its most distinctive feature is that the real prison is located 300 meters below the sea of the island, connected to the surface by a lifting passage.

The lift passage has six gates, one of which closes when a prisoner is found to have escaped. But apart from the elevator passage, there was no other way out of Thebes Prison. Even if you were able to chisel through the walls made of armor plates, they would only be submerged by the radiant seawater. Therefore, the Great Prison is also known as the Iron Prison.

After briefly explaining the peculiarities of the Great Prison of Thebes, Paul added: "But this is not the worst news, the worst news is that Sauron has already made a public announcement that Cinderella will be executed in two months. I don't need to remind you, you should also know what time it will be in two months. It was early spring, the winter snow was melting, and it was time for Sauron to attack the City of Rock. Timing Cinderella's execution at this critical moment is clearly a trap!"

"Because only on the day of the execution will Cinderella appear on the surface, and that is the only chance to rescue her. ”

The crowd was silent, and Paul was right. Timing Cinderella's execution at this juncture would be detrimental to whether Zero went to rescue her or not. Go to the Iron Prison to rescue, but you can't care about Rock City. If he stays in the city, he will inevitably be affected by the execution, which will cause Zero to be unable to make correct judgments and even end up losing the war. Either option, zero is extremely disadvantageous. It can be said that Zoro threw him a dilemma.

An automatic door opened silently, allowing the light outside the door to slip in, making Cinderella, who had become accustomed to the dim environment, a little uncomfortable. The dilated pupils in the dim environment suddenly come into contact with the light, creating a dazzling sensation, blurring the things in the field of vision, so that only a general figure can be seen.

After a while, she finally got used to it, and it became clear that the figure in front of her was Zoro.

Zoro was also watching her, and Cinderella was now like a mummy lying in a coffin. It's just that this coffin is made of metal and has its own life support system, and it is actually a prison for Cinderella. This is a system of imprisonment called an "iron prison", which imprisons the prisoner in an immobile metal chamber. At the same time, it has the same life-sustaining system as the hibernation chamber, but the prisoner's body is in the chamber, but the head can be kept outside the chamber.

There are four arm-thick alloy metal bars that are connected to the gravity lock behind the iron prison, which also prevents the prisoner from escaping the terrible prison while holding him in an upright position.

The iron prison does not have a sleep system, which means that the prisoner can stay awake and see the automatic doors that are close at hand. This was undoubtedly a psychological torture for the prisoners, and it is said that since the system was used, no prisoner could stay for three days without going crazy.

However, Cinderella has been here for the fourth day.

"Looks pretty good. Zoro smiled.

"Thank you for taking care of me, I'm just curious, weishenme, you don't kill me directly. Cinderella said calmly.

Zoro stretched out his hand and swiped Cinderella's face and said, "Dear Miss Cinderella, you have ruined my plans, and by the way, you have destroyed my three warships and my pedestals, and countless soldiers have died in the tsunami you directed. You, who have committed such a crime, would have the luxury of expecting to die?"

"Oh, I can't think of anything else you can punish me for other than killing me?" said Cinderella, slightly mockingly, "With this ingenious system? If you were a normal person, you would go crazy in a few days. Unfortunately, I have a way to put myself to sleep. If I wanted to, I would have no problem sleeping for a decade or two. ”

"Indeed, I never intended to torture you with it. It's just that in this prison, this thing is the only thing that can completely block the activities of a high-ranking person at the moment. Zoro took two steps away and said, "Miss Cinderella, for me, you actually have some value other than keeping you here. For example, I have already passed the news of your public execution in two months through the mouths of the men in Mendrissa. I think Zero will find out soon, so let's guess if he'll be in danger to rescue you in two months' time?"

"Whether he comes or not, it's torture for him. This is my real punishment for you. Zoro Haha smiled and said, "Enjoy the next two months of vacation." ”

Cinderella was not angry, not surprised. When the automatic door closed, she whispered in the dimness, "Don't come, Zero, it's a trap......"

Walking briskly out of the aisle, Wessel and a bearded man followed. Zoro said to the man, "Warden Hiller, I want you to pay attention. Prisoner 98 means a lot, you have to take care of your subordinates and don't let them do those little things. Otherwise, you know what I'd do?"

The man named Shearer shuddered and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, my lord. For two months, no one touched a single hair of the prisoner. ”

Zoro said "um" and left with Wisel.

"Your Excellency, you are so merciful. The atmosphere in the Iron Prison is not good, and there are frequent incidents of playing with female prisoners. Unexpectedly, you would personally issue a talisman to that woman. Wither said respectfully.

"Mercy?" Zoro shook his head, "Withel, that woman destroyed three of my warships, causing great damage to my building and hundreds of dead and wounded soldiers. What's more, she let Zero and Paul escape right under my nose. I hate her to the core, but I have to admit that she is a strong person. That alone qualifies me to preserve my dignity for it!"

"It's her...... Deserved!"

That night, Sauron returned to Rome from the Great Prison of Thebes. As soon as he stepped into the Papal Chamber, his heart was pounding. The entire Papal Room was enveloped in a strange force field, it seemed to be everywhere, but when you wanted to touch it, it was like air. This force field is deep, subtle, and completely Gaia's style. So he knew that the silver-haired man had returned.

Leaving Wisel behind, Zoro came to the palace alone. The palace is being rebuilt, but the site is still in ruins, clearly recording the scene after the explosion that day. As soon as Sauron entered, he saw Gaia still sitting on the throne that had been miraculously damaged. As always, he held his chin in his hand, as if he was pretending to sleep. But the moment Sauron stepped in, he opened his eyes.

"Lord Gaia, you're back. Nasine...... "Sauron asked.

Gaia said lightly: "He's very interesting, but I'm tired of playing games with him for a few days, so I solved him easily." It's you, I heard you've just done something interesting recently. ”

"Yes, sir. Sauron said, "It's just a little bit before I can bring back the man named Zero to you." ”

Hearing Zero, Gaia's pupils dilated, and then asked, "Let's talk about it in detail." ”

So Sauron surrendered Rex, raided the city of St. Louis and chased Zero at sea with the power ship, only to be told a series of events in a pinch. Zuihou said, "But it doesn't matter, my lord. I have already announced that Cinderella will be publicly executed in two months' time. Judging from the information we have gathered so far, Zero cherishes his wings, and this Cinderella is his woman. The possibility of him coming to the Iron Prison to rescue him is very high, and as long as he dares to come, I will give him a huge surprise. ”

"Well done, Zoro. I want you to bring him to me, as long as he doesn't die, and you can arrange for the rest. ”

"Yes, sir. Sauron changed his tone and said, "But I fought Zero on the boat, although we didn't use all our strength. But to be honest, my lord, I don't think I can achieve an overwhelming advantage with my current strength. So after two months, I'm not sure if I'll be able to hand over the zero to you. ”

Gaia smiled faintly and said, "I understand, don't worry." After two months, you will face Zero with a tenth-order stance. But if this fails, the consequences don't need me to tell you. ”

"Of course, sir. Zoro was ecstatic, watching Adam and them break through their bottlenecks one by one, and Sauron was more anxious than anyone else to get Gaia's help.

Now, the door to the tenth order was in front of him, how could he suppress the excitement in his heart. At this time, Gaia said again: "It's not a problem to raise you to the tenth order, but the tenth order and the ninth order are different after all. I need some blood from you so that I can analyze your genetic sequence and work out the best boosting plan. ”

As soon as Zoro heard this, the excitement just now immediately dropped a lot. Blood is such a thing, as Gaia said, with a strong person of his level, it is enough to analyze a lot of things from blood. Including the limits and weaknesses of Zoro's abilities, it can be said that once the blood is provided to Gaia, it is equivalent to Sauron's life being sold to this man from now on. No matter how much he wanted to improve Liliang, he couldn't help but hesitate at this time.

Seeing Zoro's hesitation, Gaia sneered: "It's okay if you don't want to, then I won't be able to improve Liliang for you." ”

Zoro gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know how much the adults need?"

"One drop is enough. ”

Sauron didn't hesitate for a moment, cutting open the skin of his finger with his armor blade, and squeezing out a drop of blood from it. As soon as the blood was squeezed out, it was immediately enveloped in a force field. Gaia waved her hand at the drop of blood, and it flew to Gaia automatically. Gaia's mouth opened, and the blood flew in and swallowed into his body. Zuihou Gaia said, "You can go down and come back to me in three days." Don't let anyone bother me these days, I'm going to analyze your genes. ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Sauron retreated, knowing that he was on a path of no return. Now he has no way out. Only go forward desperately, once you retreat, there is a cliff behind you!

In the morning, Leah wakes up to find that Zero is no longer around. There was still residual heat on the bed, so I thought I should have woken up soon. She lifted the quilt and got out of bed, put on her clothes and walked out of the bedroom. The house was quiet, as if gone. She felt slightly silent, and since she learned that Cinderella would be executed in two months, Zero's mood had been low for the past two days. Leah knew very well that Weishenme would be like this.

After all, now Sauron is giving a dilemma.

Cinderella on one side and the City of Rock on the other. On the one hand, there is a personal relationship, and on the other hand, there is the overall situation. Sauron just wants to be unable to do both, so he makes mistakes and then leads to failure. Knowing this, Zero inevitably slipped in the direction Zoro wanted.

As a woman with zero, Leah is well aware. Although there were many people around him, he was lonely. In Beonlise's mouth, Leah already knew something about Zero. It is known that he is not an ordinary human, but a clone of some super-life. For Zero, this life was not a natural occurrence, but the result of a scientific experiment.

The reason why human beings have self-awareness is based on the uniqueness of themselves.

Who am I, where am I from, and how am I different from other people. All of these are self-defined labels, references that distinguish us from others. Without these, the self will become blurred, and the self without boundaries will be like a confused life. Luckily, before Zero awakens, all the other clones have died, making Zero unique.

So he didn't break down, and in this, there was the credit of Beonlise and Leah. It is precisely with their emotional dedication that Zero will be a self-defined beacon, so that he will not get lost in this shijie that does not belong to him.

Therefore, as Zero said, he is a man who cherishes his wings. Whether it is a lover or a comrade-in-arms, he cherishes these people who come with him. His indifference is more often a disguise. Only with an indifferent face can we face this cruel era. But in his heart, it is like a flame wrapped in solid ice. If the inside and outside were as cold as ever, Zero wouldn't be as distressed as it is now.

It's a pity he can't.

Because he is zero.

Leah found Zero in the office of the city hall, and Zero, who usually stays here, is either reviewing documents, or standing in front of the plasma tactics board silently looking at the map of the Western Continent to deploy the next work. But today, looking through the gap in the door, Zero did nothing. He just sat at the table, lifeless, like an empty puppet.

This image made Leah's heart ache, and she retreated. before retreating, like bumping into someone. When I turned around, I saw Su, who was smiling.

Su pointed inside, "The head is inside, right?"

"Hmm. Leah nodded.

"Sure enough, early in the morning, I felt a good oppressive but huge aura inside. I knew it must be the head, and he must be very confused now, so he let his breath leak out. Otherwise, it would be difficult to be spotted even if I was standing behind me. It seems that this time, he is really nerve-wracking. Su put his hands around his chest.

"How can it not be nerve-wracking, his heart, his heart is far less cold than it seems. Leah shook her head.

"In that case, let's go cheer him up. Su said suddenly.

"Cheer up?"

Before Leah could understand it, she had already pushed Su through the door. The moment the door opened, the heavy and huge pressure entrenched in the room suddenly disappeared cleanly, and then Zero raised his head and looked at the two of them: "You are here." ”

The sound is low, like a rusty machine.

Leah suddenly pushed Su forward, and then Su said, "Boss, Leah has something to tell you." ”

"Huh?" Zero looked at Leah and asked, "What's the matter?"

Leah was almost about to cry, she just let Su push her over, and she wasn't prepared to say anything at all. But when she saw that zero, Leah suddenly moved. When she came back to her senses, she found herself holding Zero tightly in her arms like a mother holding her child.

Zero's whole body tensed slightly, and then relaxed. Leah pressed against his face and whispered in Zero's ear, "Tired, aren't you?Ever since Base Z7 woke up, Zero has been fighting like this. Now, I have so many responsibilities on my shoulders. They are like shackles, tangible and invisible, on your body. So you can't move freely because you have too many things to think about, right, Zero?"

Zero was in her arms, nodding slightly.

"So now, I want you to take off your shackles. Leah said suddenly, unexpectedly.

Zero raised his head and said in surprise: "Unloaded?"

"That's right, take it off!" Leah said with one hand on her chest, "Now, Zero isn't alone." There's me, there's Su, and everybody. We're all around zero, aren't we? if the shackles of zero are too many, too heavy. So let's all share a little bit of it, can't we?"

"Zero responsibility and pain, let's take it together!"