Ball of Nothing

While Dorgon and Thomas worked on fixing and improving the Crafter's Suit, Zero spent his time alternating between the guild master and helping the exotic trader clear out all his items in preparation for leaving Rocket Mountain permanently.

By clear out, Zero salvaged what he wanted and told Schaf to bring them back to Half Moon or New Moon Village. As for the things that he didn't want or need, Zero simply held an auction after using Princess Dorothy's name to host it in the city. Needless to say, many people attended the auction event wanting to get something the great doctor had touched before. It didn't matter if it was junk as long as they received it from Zero personally and the event was a huge success. Axel could hardly believe his ears when Zero told him that not a single item remained.

Thankfully, the spriggan thought ahead of time and prepared the soul tracing spell beforehand. Everything happened so quickly that Axel didn't have enough time to breathe. He had been waiting for this very day but now that it was here, there was some reluctance to leave.

"Thank you so much for helping me accomplish my dream," Axel teared up and shook hands with Dorgon before hugging Zero. Truen wasn't around and the spriggan originally wanted to thank the archer but Zero told him that they would see him soon.

Initially, Axel didn't know what Zero meant. He brushed it aside as some kind of pleasantry but Zero reassured Axel once again that they would meet and more soon than the time he spent searching for the desert poppy seeds.

The sending off party was simple and humble in Zero's opinion. He didn't tell Dorgon about the Tree of Life that he planted in the abyss but if everything went according to plan, Axel would be able to invite the dwarves over for tea whenever he wanted. Then again, Axel might not feel lonely once he was reunited with his tree. Lovina and the Tree of Life will be able to keep him company, not to mention the many thousands of demons and gardeners who came to tend to the sacred tree daily.

Axel sniffed as they said farewell. The spell was activated and there was no time to waste. The royal family came to see the spriggan off too and waved their embroidered handkerchiefs but Zero was the only one without tears.

"Goodbye Axel, see you in Hell!" he smiled and waved cheerfully, thrilled for the spriggan's reunion with the new Tree of Life.

Nobody was expecting for Zero to scold and condemn someone with such a cheery tone and the farewell party froze. Zero didn't realise it until Bob cleared his throat and tapped Zero on the shoulder. The frozen expression and half terrified ones from the royal family made Zero backtrack.

"Oh."

Dorgon wasn't amused and Bob facepalmed to his master's reaction.

"I meant the abyss because technically, Hell is a reclaimed domain and the abyss plane is much wider than just the domains of Hell ruled by the Demon Lords. Whichever the case, I have a feeling Axel's Tree is going to be the next main attraction in the abyss so it doesn't really matter. We'll be seeing him again real soon after the Freya statue is created."

"Not that," Bob sighed. "It's not common to send someone off with 'see you in Hell' at all. You might want to explain a little more about why Axle's going to Hell?"

Thinking over it, Zero thought that Bob made sense and explained that the Tree of Life was currently in Hell.

"Long story short, Axel's returned to his tree in Hell but don't worry, this isn't the last time we'll see him. I think Zenobia and Schaf have been discussing some treaties and trade agreements with Rocket Mountain. In the contract, they should have mentioned travelling and additional expertise. Ruth owns the Ten-Path Crossway portal that allows anyone to travel from Earth to Heaven or Hell as long as they have the required visa. We're still working on creating work visas for demons interested in furthering their soul cultivation by gaining insights on Earth by working but for now, Axel's probably going to be very surprised at the changes in the new environment."

Princess Dorothy and Motley looked slightly stunned and confused but they didn't question it any further after Zero assured them that Axel was safe. On the other hand, King Vivian looked thoughtful. He was still trying to figure out what kind of person the chosen one was. Zero was kind but also odd. He had tendencies to fall to the other side and as a guardian of the Whiskeria portal, King Vivian didn't know if he was going to be a protector or destroyer.

It took a lot of effort trying to convince the royal family to leave after the farewell party was over. Axel was truly gone and not a single trace was left. Zero had to use King Vivian's soul stone to contact Axel and ask if he was doing alright. The spriggan responded full of vigour and amazement at the partially terraformed abyss, giving everyone a peace of mind.

Still, Dorgon wasn't going to let Zero escape so easily. He wanted details and waited until nobody else except Bob was left to ambush Zero.

"What do you mean by work visa?" the guild master asked. Bob quickly excused himself and escaped the interrogation, not willing to be part of Zero's crazy schemes.

Truen and Zero argued over this before but Zero was still not willing to give it up. Ever since the Sin Redemption Event, Zero has been trying to think of new ways to help demons who wish to attain enlightenment to move from the lower plane to a higher plane. Qin Yun was a huge supporter of the doctor's efforts and Hua Tuo was all for it with Buddha backing them. However, the ones opposing this change were the angels and Gods from Heaven who claimed that artificially inducing souls and adjusting their sin counts will throw the balance they maintained off the charts. Enma, in particular, wasn't very happy with the accounting work on the administration end. In the end, they decided on a trial but the details weren't finalised.

When Dorgon heard about Zero's lofty aspirations, he became immediately supportive of the idea. "The princess looked a lot healthier doing the qi gong and cultivation that you taught her. Most dwarves who practice it see a huge improvement in less than half a year. If this really happens, please let us be the first country to welcome the demons. We wish to learn from them."

Pleased that he had more reasons to fight for the demon work visas, Zero shook on it and told Dorgon that he was going to hold the guild master responsible for his words.