Chapter 721: Mass record restoration
The Second Order zombie watched the silent Bai Zemin for almost a full minute before suddenly saying, "I told you everything I know. Now it's your time to fulfill the deal we agreed on earlier."
"Mm?" Bai Zemin raised his head, taking his eyes off the ground, and looked at the male zombie. He looked genuinely confused as he asked in a puzzled voice, "Fulfill my part of the deal we agreed on...?.... But what was the deal we agreed on?"
"You!" The Second Order zombie's eyes widened and his temper threatened to explode on the spot. However, he managed to take a deep breath and after several seconds calmed down enough to say with great difficulty, "You promised.... You promised that if I answered your questions you would let me go alive."
"Oh!" Bai Zemin clapped his hands once and his eyes sparkled as if he had just received enlightenment. He nodded and said in a serious voice, "Of course, I will keep my word. I won't kill you and I will let you decide whether you want to leave or not."
"... You will let me decide whether I want to leave or not...?" The Second Order zombie muttered.
Was the male human in front of him crazy? The Second Order zombie couldn't help but start to think that maybe Bai Zemin had several screws loose in his head.
Forget about deciding whether he wanted to leave this damn place or not, the Second Order zombie couldn't wait to get away from this damn hell he had fallen into as fast as possible!
"Of course, first I have to ask you if you want to leave or if you want to stay here with us and work for me." Bai Zemin nodded with a serious expression on his face.
His voice was very matter-of-fact, just like someone stating the obvious. However, in the ears of the Second Order zombie, Kang Lan, and Fu Xuefeng, Bai Zemin's words really made no sense at all.
Was he telling a zombie that he would give it a chance to work for him...? Kang Lan and Fu Xuefeng looked at each other a little dismayed.
In fact, were it not for the fact that all the other soul evolvers were still keeping a respectful distance from the area where the conversation was taking place, it was highly likely that Bai Zemin would secretly start being called a lunatic.
"I want to leave, I want to leave now!" the male zombie immediately made his decision.
In fact, there was no decision to make to begin with! The choice was more than obvious!
However, Bai Zemin smiled slightly and shook his head slightly as he said slowly, "There's no hurry.... I haven't asked you yet, have I?"
The Second Order zombie was not stupid and he immediately realized that the human man in front of him definitely had some scheme in his head. Warning bells started ringing in his head, but no matter when he thought about it, he simply couldn't find a way for the young human to keep his word while making him hesitate about staying or leaving.
"You... What do you want to do?"
"Give me a moment," Bai Zemin raised his hand to signal him to wait a minute. Without waiting for a reply, Bai Zemin turned around and saw that Kong Jun had thrown around 150-200,000 zombies into a giant hole.
At some point, the Third Order ant had surrounded the area with stones to prevent the zombies from passing through easily. The battle had come to an end, at least for now there didn't seem to be any more enemies arriving.
"Kong Jun!" Bai Zemin shouted, his voice broke the distance into pieces and the weaver ant responded immediately, appearing beside him in a matter of seconds.
Bai Zemin pointed at the Second Order zombie and ordered in a deep voice, "Grab and take him to a secluded place."
Kong Jun did not say a word and immediately moved to carry out the order given to him.
"You... What are you doing?! Are you breaking your word?! I knew that you humans are filthy creatures who don't know how to keep your promises! Are you still a man?!" The Second Order zombie became frantic as the six-foot giant caught him in a bear hug from which he could not escape no matter how hard he tried.
Kong Jun's Strength stat was simply too high in comparison, and because he didn't fear zombie infection, he didn't need to worry about things like scratches.
"Don't worry, I will definitely keep my word." Bai Zemin calmly muttered as he watched Kong Jun drag the Second Order zombie away. His eyes glittered peculiarly as he said in a voice that only he could hear, "It's just that while I will let you live, it will no longer be as a zombie but you will be human again. You can decide what to do then."
"Leader, what do we do now?" Kang Lan quickly approached Bai Zemin after the Second Order zombie was pushed away by Kong Jun.
She took her time to look at the face of the young man in front of her carefully. Even though the face of Bai Zemin had not aged at all and even though his age and hers were similar, Kang Lan couldn't help but feel that aside from having become much more handsome over the past month, the current Bai Zemin seemed to have matured greatly compared to his previous self.
In the past, she was just a girl who could be considered even slightly below average with her freckle-filled face, however, the current her not only had perfectly white and smooth skin like that of a newborn baby but her charming body was enough to take any man's breath away. However, the current Kang Lan had never paid attention to any man in the entire faction despite her popularity.
Now that she was looking at Bai Zemin, she couldn't help but think that perhaps she had been comparing all this time and for that reason no man could get more than a sidelong glance. At the end of the day, it was hard to look sideways when the back of the person you were following was simply too charming in every way.
Kang Lan knew that her talent for magic was superb, of the highest quality. Her mentality, like everyone else's, was no longer the same as the one that had accompanied her throughout her life. Why should she settle for little when she could strive for the best? While it was true that she was not in love with Bai Zemin by any means, Kang Lan believed that if she ever wanted to give herself to someone then that man would have to be worthy of her person.
"Kang Lan." Bai Zemin nodded with a slight smile on his face. His eyes sparkled with praise as he said in an honest voice, "You have grown a lot over the past month, not only in level and strength but also in character and leadership ability.... I was watching everything from the sky for a few minutes, do you blame me for not helping sooner?"
Bai Zemin expected her to take a moment to answer, however, to his little surprise, she immediately shook her head and while staring him straight in the eyes said in a clear voice:
"Not at all. All of us fight not only to obey orders but we also do so because we have our own goals and desires in our hearts.... Some desire strength, others long for peace, to protect their loved ones, to be reunited with their families, to play the hero in times of chaos... Whatever the reason, it is clear to all of us here that every time we go out to the battlefield it could be our last. No one has the right to complain to anyone but themselves for their own weakness."
Bai Zemin was a little astonished, but he soon chuckled and nodded: ".... Is that so?.... You've really grown up."
Kang Lan was as timid as a mouse at the beginning of the apocalypse, Bai Zemin could remember her old self from four months ago, but it was hard for him to compare her to the confident and assured beauty in front of him.
"You've grown over the past month too, Leader." Kang Lan smiled, which was incredibly rare as she always had a serious expression on her face.
Bai Zemin closed his eyes and smiled without saying anything.
Of course, not only Kang Lan had changed.... Everyone had changed, even Bai Zemin himself was no different in this regard.
The circumstances they were dragged into had molded them into new ones.
"Big brother!"
Fu Xuefeng approached at that moment. He was so excited that he directly called out to Bai Zemin intimately as he did when the group of people around was small and trustworthy.
"Yo, Xuefeng," Bai Zemin smiled gratefully as he looked at the slender young man that was looking at him with admiration that was impossible to hide. "Second Order, huh? Not bad, kid! Who would have thought that that skinny little college kid easily intimidated by everyone would become a brave and powerful assassin that his enemies should fear and beware of?"
"Hehehe..." Fu Xuefeng laughed sheepishly and scratched his head with his free hand while holding his dagger with the other.
In front of the others, Fu Xuefeng was a rather ruthless killer but in front of Bai Zemin he was like a little brother who enjoyed the praise of the big brother he idolized. If someone knew the history of Fu Xuefeng's past it would probably be hard for them to think that this young man who now did not hesitate to chop heads off actually did not dare to kill a person in college as he was too terrified to do so.
"All right, let's save the words for later." The expression on Bai Zemin's face turned serious. He surveyed the surroundings and realized that all the soul evolvers in the distance were helping the wounded with what they could while from inside the base modified vehicles were pouring out in numbers.
Little Luo Ning looked at Bai Zemin from a distance, giving him puppy eyes that made him smile. However, the little girl was very sensible and mature for someone her age because instead of running to him and hugging him as she urgently wanted and needed, she stayed behind to help the wounded and needy.
Several medics climbed down from dozens of vehicles and began to apply emergency treatment to those most in need before loading them onto stretchers made of wood covered in mana and mutant beast hide before taking them back for more treatment.
"Kang Lan, go heal Nangong Yi first. Then heal those you can so that you can at least save those who can be saved." Bai Zemin ordered.
Kang Lan nodded and after a last glance disappeared beyond the walls.
"Xuefeng, organize the troops. Have the able-bodied soldiers and soul evolvers rest as much as possible but be alert near the walls in case another attack occurs."
"Alright!"
After nodding earnestly, Fu Xuefeng left.
Bai Zemin sighed and after nodding to some people who greeted him or looked at him with respect he disappeared from his position without a trace and just like a ghost.
* * *
Approximately 40 kilometers distance away.
"W- What the hell is that thing...?"
The Second Order zombie muttered with wide eyes as he stared in shock at the wooden pagoda that rose ten stories from the ground just like a small building.
"This is where the magic happens." Bai Zemin replied calmly before silently gesturing to Kong Jun.
The Third Order weaver ant nodded silently and without a word began to drag the male zombie straight towards the wide open door.
"Hey, where the hell are you taking me?! What are you going to do?!"
Bai Zemin ignored the Second Order zombie's screams and shook his head.
Kong Jun threw the intelligent creature straight into the interior of the pagoda and then closed the double door with a loud bang, sealing the male zombie inside.
Bai Zemin took out three Second Order Soul Stones and powered up his Limitless Pagoda. The countless runes on the initial floor immediately lit up and the magic circle drawn on the door glowed.
The process of record restoration had begun successfully.
Actually, the reason why Bai Zemin had not done this before was because he was not sure if the male zombie would lose his memories of his time as a zombie once he returned to being human thanks to the power of the Limitless Pagoda.
After all, Bai Zemin had only tried with Unclassified zombies and First Order zombies before but all of them had lost their memories. While it was true that the zombie inside the pagoda at the moment was a Second Order intelligent existence, Bai Zemin could not take the risk of seeing if the creature lost his memories after returning to human since if that happened he would not be able to obtain any information regarding the merman and his plans.
"Well, something is better than nothing." Bai Zemin sighed. At least he had managed to get some information from the Second Order zombie's mouth.
Kong Jun remained standing silently. Although he was curious about what was going on inside the mysterious pagoda, no matter how hard he tried he could not feel the slightest energy leaking out from inside so he did not know about the magical process that was going on as he stood by the door.
"Now..." Bai Zemin turned and walked towards the edge of the artificial mountain that had been born as a product of Kong Jun's fierce attacks.
Below, approximately 150,000 to 200,000 zombies were grunting and trying to climb the huge pit they had been thrown into.
Bai Zemin's lips curved upwards and at the same time as hundreds of thousands of Soul Stones flew out of his special storage ring he said in a low voice:
"Time to create a small evolved force hehe...."