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Panacea is a translucent, whitish fluid, composed of medical nanomachines that perform reconstructive surgery on wounds.

Under supervision, the product may be used in larger surgeries of this nature.

—-from a quick usage guide on medical nanomachines

A tale of lovebirds torn apart forever, would be how I would politely describe that now twice-dead man and the underwear-clad blonde on the ground. Their night of passion rudely interrupted, the man opened the door to his room to confront the disruption, only to be taught a lesson instead, permanently.

Tragic.

As I looked at the blonde girl sobbing, I tried to think of how to comfort her in her time of loss. But before I could even utter a word, Bitong cut in front of me and said, “You there. How about putting on your clothes first. If you don’t mind then, you could come to our room.”

“N–no… He just said he got bitten, didn’t he? I heard it all… there’s no way I’m going to your room…” The blonde pointed my way and yelled hysterically as if I was the plague.

While those zombies might have scared the living daylights out of her, the living were an entirely different story.

Faced with such strong opposition, I found myself at a loss for words again.

The corpse of that man had proved that those bitten would soon rise to become zombies themselves. It was transmitted orally, and I so happened to have a wound on my shoulder.

Yet if that man was anything to go by, the time it took in my case seemed to be much longer. I was still alive, and the wound had even healed up on its own…

Taken in that light, my case and that man’s were completely different.

“Ke is not just a normal person, he’s a superhuman. Look!” Bitong practically yelled over the girl. “The wound is all gone now, so Ke must be immune to the zombie virus. It’s just a virus, so it cannot affect a high level superhuman like Ke!” She angrily explained then grabbed me and stormed off.

Before the girl could even react, she had already dragged me to our room. At which point she wordlessly dove into my arms and tightly hugged me…

She said nothing throughout, but I could tell from her faint quivering that she was worried for me. Or perhaps even she herself had difficulty fully trusting that explanation she had given. Hugging me was the only way she could drown out the voice of reason in her head.

In nearly every zombie horror film, a person bitten by a zombie would eventually turn into a zombie themselves, unless they were the main character, of course.

But there were no main characters in real life -everyone knew that. But knowing and accepting were two different matters entirely. Sometimes, that little lie was all that was keeping a person sane and alive.

“Sis… maybe we shouldn’t stay so close…” I gently separated us, smiling as best as I could, though my best efforts only yielded a crooked smile.

The thought of turning into that zombie I summarily finished off was just too horrific…

“No… don’t say that…” She immediately hugged me even harder. “If anything were to happen to Ke… what should I even live for…”

I guess my disappearance must have really traumatised her… if something were to really happen to me now, that would really be game over.

“Let go of His Highness! Insolent mortal!”

“What’s happening to big brother?”

Bitong abruptly hugging me after we stepped into the room had garnered the ire of the two girls, though the two of them expressed it differently.

“I…” I tried to explain the situation. But Bitong was even faster…

“That crazed service lady just now had turned into a zombie and killed another guest. Then that guest turned into a zombie as well… Ke was bitten… even before that guest…”

Hearing that, Qiao Jiaojiao was shocked. You Qin Lixiang, on the other hand, merely raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“Aren’t you afraid of Ke suddenly turning into a zombie to bite you?” Bitong acted out a lunge at that point.

However, Lixiang was hardly affected at all. In fact, she seemed almost dismissive of Bitong. “A mere virus thinks it can taint His Highness’s noble blood? Laughable. How foolish can this mortal get? I guess lacking in common sense would be more accurate here.”

Hearing the words ‘common sense’ come out of Lixiang’s mouth, Bitong practically exploded. “You’re the one that is lacking in common sense, blasted middle schooler!”

She’s got a point there, all that talk about noble bloodlines don’t really mash well with science…

As the two started to bicker, Qiao Jiaojiao ran up to me and hugged me from the side. “Well Jiaojiao doesn’t care… she’s staying by big brother’s side! After all, big brother has promised to marry Jiaojiao!”

“Ahh!!” What do you mean marry?! Ke, come clean here, what have you done to Jiao while I wasn’t looking?”

“Why is it my fault? Couldn’t it have been Aunty Qiao and Jiao who ganged up on me instead?”

“Hmm…” She seemed to have remembered how devious these two actually were. Her face softened as she asked, “So what did the two of them do?”

“…” I just realised how I had dug an even deeper hole for myself…

Do I tell her how I unwittingly signed an engagement with Jiaojiao? But if I do that, she will instantly go yandere on me and chop me into pieces before that zombie virus can even harm me….

I frantically winked at Jiaojiao for help, but she actually turned away to avoid my gaze.

I immediately felt a sinister aura radiating at me. It was at that point that I knew I was done for…

“Let go of His Highness, right this instant.” Yet just when I thought I was finished, Lixiang came flying to my aid like an angel from the heavens. “How dare you two be the only ones to hug His Highness?!”

Hearing Lixiang yell like that, Bitong and Jiaojiao shifted their feet a little, uneasy due to the guilt they felt towards her. However, when they heard the latter half, they immediately rolled their eyes -a blackhole. There’s a blackhole where this girl’s brain should be.

After all that arguing, Lixiang still seemed to be oblivious as to what the two of them were arguing about… a blackhole was what she had for a mind: you can see it, but did you really?

It was at that moment that I felt a strange energy wash over me. My eyes blackened for an instant and my legs nearly gave way.

“Ke… What happened to you, Ke?”

“Big brother, are you okay?”

“Your Highness?”

“I… I’m fine… I think… I think I need to go out for a second…”

Even though I still had no idea what just happened to me, the fact that I was bitten hadn’t slipped my mind yet. In all likelihood, that was the virus invading my head. If I were to turn into a zombie right now…

No… I need to get out of here quick… before I can harm the girls…

Even the three of them combined wouldn’t be a match for me, that was why I had to leave right now. As for what I would do then -suicide or try to find a cure- that was for me to decide later.

However, the girls clearly had a different idea…

“No! I will be the one to take care of Ke… I won’t let you leave!”

“Your Highness, there’s no need to be so apprehensive. There’s nothing in the lower realms that could possibly be a problem for the successor of the Devil King of Pride.”

“Big brother, don’t go… there’s monsters out there… Jiaojiao is afraid…”

Well. Soon there will be one inside too, if I don’t leave right away.

At that point, none of them would get out of this alive.

Ashen-faced, I pushed aside the two girls then turned around to leave. “Don’t worry, I’m just going out to check out the situation, I’ll be back in an instant.”

Naturally, that was just an excuse. One which I doubt they would accept. Even so, I planned on leaving, even if I had to force my way out…

“Ding! The system has detected an unauthorised undead energy… activating defense mechanisms… energy purged… Host status: healthy…”

Ah… how did I forget about the system in me…

I quickly opened up my status menu and checked to see if there was any kind of sickness or curse in there.

Upon confirming that there was none, I breathed a sigh of relief. Yet just when I was about to have a quick chat with system lady about this undead energy she detected, the three girls anxiously cut in.

“Ke? Ke, what’s wrong?” Seeing me stand there in a daze, Bitong anxiously grabbed my hand and ran her AI assistant over me. It was only after her AI returned a ‘healthy’ reply that she finally calmed down.

“Big brother, don’t scare me like that…”

“Your Highness, was there perhaps some deeper meaning to your brief moment of rumination?”

“It’s nothing.” I turned around and smiled gently at Bitong. “The virus is gone now.”

Following that, I briefly explained that I had a magic-like system in my body. It was that very same system that helped me purge the virus.

Bitong and Jiaojiao were understandably befuddled by that fantasy-esque explanation. Lixiang, however, merely paused for a second before she turned towards me in wonder. “Your Highness actually possesses such a miraculous gift… Your Highness truly is the chosen one!”

“Cough… ahem… Chosen one is going a little far there…”

I immediately turned red at the ears.

“Perhaps that is the true reason why you were sent down to the lower realms.”

Her eyes couldn’t be any clearer at this point. In her head, she had already labelled me with the ‘Saviour of the World’ tag…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE