Chapter 11: The Long Road Ahead

It didn’t take long for Captain Alice Comstock to hurry over, now changed into a simple dress. Seeing that her subordinate guards had also come back from the dead, the female Captain of the Guard naturally shed tears of excitement. Then, Lord Eliot Igor once again accepted the collective gratitude of the guards. In her excitement, Captain Alice even gave the Lord a passionate... well, an ice-cold kiss.

Only Chief Mage Victor Laurie stood to the side, staring blankly at the scene with a stiff expression. However, some people become more tolerant and open-minded as they age. The junior Mage Victor Laurie was clearly among them. The Master had made up his mind never to delve into how exactly the Lord cast the Resurrection Technique. The Master believed that racking his brains over such an unsolved mystery would undoubtedly shorten his remaining lifespan. Sometimes, as long as a person didn’t overthink things, they would find the world exceptionally beautiful. The Master felt he had achieved enlightenment.

However, once the joy of successfully resurrecting several guards faded, everyone present had to face the same problem.

"Lord Eliot..." Alice Comstock looked at her Lord, a look of worry finally surfacing in her azure eyes. "Our convoy is now... still trapped in the center of the infected zone, right?"

Master Laurie cast a meaningful glance at the Lord, while Xiahou Yan pursed his lips and nodded. He realized he couldn’t escape this topic after all.

Alice exchanged a glance with the five newly resurrected guards. The expressions of the six martial artists were complex. Although they had returned from the dead, the memory of facing the zombies right before their deaths was still deeply etched in their minds. If given a choice, none of them wanted to face those terrifying and frenzied Undead Creatures again. Yet, their convoy was exactly what was surrounded by countless zombies in the infected zone.

Xiahou Yan remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Hypothetically speaking—just a hypothesis—if I could resurrect you an infinite number of times, could you protect everyone and leave the infected zone?"

When he said this, Xiahou Yan felt a bit guilty. After all, his Resurrection Technique had only succeeded twice so far, and there was no telling when it might fail. The so-called "infinite resurrections" was just the most optimistic assumption. Upon hearing the Lord’s words, the guards’ faces turned a little pale. They understood that the Lord wanted to use the Resurrection Technique to repeatedly revive them, creating an "immortal" Guard Team to escort the convoy out of the infected zone. But wouldn’t infinite resurrections mean they had to die over and over again in the zombie horde?

The guards were ordinary people, too. None of them were fearless warriors unbothered by pain, nor were they self-sacrificing saints. Loyalty to the Lord did not mean they were willing to repeatedly endure the agony of death just to escort a group of other subjects!

For a moment, the tent was dead silent. Biting her red lips tightly, Alice Comstock spoke softly, "Lord Eliot, the brothers of the Guard Team have already sacrificed enough. Please don’t make them face the terror of death again. If you need it, I can fight alone. I am willing to die countless times for you."

Xiahou Yan shook his head. If he only repeatedly resurrected Alice, not only would he not have the heart to do it, but with the female swordsman as the sole combatant, it would be absolutely impossible to comprehensively protect the convoy.

"I’d like to remind everyone of something," Master Laurie, who had remained silent all this while, suddenly spoke coldly. "The six of you who were resurrected today were fortunate enough to have your corpses left intact in the zombie horde. I assume that if you were chewed into minced meat by the zombies, even Lord Eliot’s Resurrection Technique would be useless, right?"

Only then did everyone realize a critical issue! The limb restoration capability provided by the Resurrection Technique was limited. This meant that only a relatively intact corpse could be successfully resurrected! If only scattered bits of flesh and a skeleton remained, then neither the original Resurrection Technique nor the Lord’s special version would work!

Earlier, at Master Laurie’s suggestion, Xiahou Yan had tried to cast the Resurrection Technique on the severed corpse of a mouse, but unfortunately failed, thereby confirming this conclusion. Now, everyone suddenly realized what the Master’s intention was in proposing that experiment.

Master Laurie’s meaning was clear: once someone unfortunately died in the zombie horde and their body was overly mutilated, it meant they were truly and thoroughly dead, with no chance of resurrection. In other words, even if the Lord really could resurrect corpses infinitely, as the battle progressed, there would always be people chewed to pieces by zombies and rendered incapable of being revived, thus causing a permanent loss of combat power.

The seven guards still alive, plus the five resurrected ones, and the Captain of the Guard, Alice. How many resurrections could these remaining thirteen martial artists in the convoy endure while still luckily keeping their corpses intact? The answer was not optimistic.

Xiahou Yan felt a massive wave of frustration wash over him. To protect this group of five hundred people, he had even been willing to break taboos and use Undead Magic to resurrect the guards. Yet, after going around in such a big circle, the hope for everyone to escape alive was still so slim!

"Lord Eliot..." Alice looked at the Lord sympathetically and said softly.

"Lord Eliot," Master Laurie said decisively, interrupting the comforting words Alice was about to speak. "Your efforts have not been in vain. In fact, our situation has massively improved."

Massively improved? Xiahou Yan stared up at the Master in a daze.

"Yes," Master Laurie said firmly. "Originally, we only had seven guards left, and now we have thirteen, including the powerful combatant, Captain Alice. Now, I have full confidence that the thirteen of them, plus myself, can absolutely escort you safely out of the infected zone!"

Xiahou Yan felt as if something was stuck in his throat. "So, you’re still urging me to escape on my own?"

"Not just you alone." Master Laurie shook his head. "Among these thirteen guards, there should be a few lucky ones who will ultimately survive to walk out of the infected zone with you."

"What about yourself?" Xiahou Yan asked.

"My old life is nothing worth mentioning," Master Laurie said with a hearty laugh.

Xiahou Yan felt a hollow emptiness in his chest. Originally, it was only possible for him to survive alone. Now, because of the Resurrection Technique, he might be able to save a few more lives. But why did he still feel so unwilling...?

"Is there really no way to save those subjects?" he asked, looking at Master Laurie as if pleading for help.

"There is no way," Master Laurie gave a cruel answer. "With only a dozen or so guards, it is impossible under any circumstances to escort a convoy of five hundred people. Lord Eliot, even if you lose these five hundred people, once we arrive at the new territory assigned by the Empire, everything can start anew."

Xiahou Yan bit his lip and then looked at the guards.

"Master Laurie makes sense," Alice said softly. The guards behind her also nodded silently.

Xiahou Yan stood up in silence and looked outside the tent. The bright moon hung high, and the galaxy of stars was dazzling. Yes, since transmigrating, he had only caught a glimpse of a tiny corner of this beautiful new world. After leaving the infected zone and arriving at his new territory, an even better tomorrow would be waiting for him to experience... Countless past events on Earth and the various memories of Eliot Igor flooded his mind all at once.

After a long time, Xiahou Yan turned around, looking at Master Laurie, Alice, and the guards. Everyone was waiting for his final decision.

"My life is no more precious than anyone else’s." Xiahou Yan closed his eyes for a moment, then announced faintly, "Tomorrow, the Guard Team can set off with Master Laurie. I believe that thirteen martial artists and a Mage, without needing to divert attention to protect me, should be able to safely escape the infected zone. But as for me, I will die here with my people."