Chapter Sixty-Six: The Peerless Saint

After seeing Liu Xue off, Ma Yi returned and signaled to those who had transformed and were now playfully scuffling together that they could change back. In his mind, a certain thought kept resurfacing: ever since he and Ruhua had decided to establish their own force, it had always existed, but now the sheer size of the group had broken through to new heights. Whether in terms of elite combatants or the number of lower-ranked fighters, while it could not compare to the hundreds of thousands that once stormed the southern base to challenge the Zombie Queen, there were still well over a hundred thousand now. Though the numbers had diminished, their strength was of an entirely different order; among the million-strong horde back then, there were only a handful of warriors at the amethyst-gold level apart from the Zombie Queen herself, but now, at a mere glance, Ma Yi could see seven or eight such elites before him. Even more impressive, there were over a dozen at the Reversion level and a superlative two-headed husky.

Should Ma Yi wish to enhance his subordinates’ strength, merely relying on his blood, he could elevate at least a thousand followers by a whole tier in a single night—such an advantage was almost like cheating.

It was time to give this army a formidable name, one that, when spoken, would make others inevitably think of Ma Yi himself. Stroking his smooth scalp, Ma Yi instructed his men to begin independent training, while he returned to the villa to discuss matters with his family.

At the dinner table, it was Liu Xue who spoke up most enthusiastically after hearing Ma Yi’s words.

“The Great Snow Legion! The Xuexue Corps!” she exclaimed so excitedly that a mouthful of rice sprayed onto Ma Yi’s face, making his expression darken. Whether it was the grains of rice or her tendency to name everything after herself, Ma Yi found himself increasingly disinclined to let her continue.

“What about Miracle of Life?” Liu Wen mused quietly. After all, for someone as fragile as herself to have survived so long in the apocalypse was nothing short of a miracle—though, of course, Ma Yi was truly her miracle. Without him, she might have become one of those zombies standing on the mountainside outside on the very first day the world ended.

“That’s quite good—Miracle of Life Legion.” Ma Yi nodded in agreement, drawing a dramatic eye-roll from Liu Xue.

“So fake, and it’s hardly catchy at all. Besides, isn’t it a bit long?” Liu Xue put down her chopsticks, clearly exasperated with her sister and brother-in-law.

“What do you know, child? Haven’t you heard? In the West, there were many such legions in the past—Swords and Roses, Crimson Lips, and so on. Now you see the cost of slacking off in school?” Ma Yi gave her a wry smile, then turned to Ruhua for her thoughts.

Noticing Ma Yi’s gaze, Ruhua frowned slightly, thought a moment, then said blandly, “I think Ma Yi Legion is just fine.” Her suggestion made Liu Xue melodramatically slide down from the table, while even Liu Wen stifled a laugh behind her hand.

“All right, you’re no good at naming either. Li Li, let’s hear yours.” Ma Yi rubbed his forehead with a helpless smile. Ever since his return, it seemed Ruhua’s intelligence had taken a dip—perhaps a sign of her growing dependence on him, even wanting to include his name in their new title.

“Ah, may I really?” Li Li sat at the far end of the long table. At first, she had planned to eat at a small table in the kitchen to distinguish herself from the other women, embracing her self-appointed role as a servant. But Ma Yi had insisted she sit beside Liu Xue instead.

“Go ahead.” Ma Yi nodded, commanding the head of the table with an air of authority.

“I watched a movie about a martial arts grandmaster yesterday. I haven’t watched TV in years—not since I started down the path of revenge,” Li Li began, seemingly digressing, but everyone knew she was building to something. Ma Yi and the others listened in respectful silence.

“I remembered a phrase from the film: ‘Peerless Hero of the Nation.’ I think it’s used to describe someone truly extraordinary. Maybe we could follow that idea for our name—something bold and impressive,” she suggested.

“That makes sense.” Liu Wen nodded. The stronger and more imposing her husband’s legion sounded, the better. She bowed her head, deep in thought.

“Imposing and fierce, huh? Ha! I’ve got it—the Supreme Demon Legion!” Liu Xue declared triumphantly, recalling how all of her brother-in-law’s subordinates looked like demon lords.

“It does sound good, but why does it make us seem like villains?” Ma Yi found the name appealing yet somehow felt like an arch-nemesis, which left him unsatisfied.

“True.” Liu Xue’s delicate brows furrowed, looking charming. Earlier, she had named the two-headed husky’s squad the Demon Brigade, typecasting it as a villain though it had since pledged loyalty to Ma Yi. Liu Xue hadn’t forgotten its attack on the base.

“In ancient times, the highest honor was to be called a Sage, a title reserved for those whose virtues—benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith—were supreme. Since your followers are all zombies, why not call it the Peerless Sage Legion?” Liu Wen looked up at Ma Yi, her eyes full of hope.

“That’s not bad, but the word ‘zombie’ doesn’t sound auspicious. Let’s use the homophone ‘warrior’ instead—Peerless Hero Legion, Peerless Sage Legion. Both sound smooth.” Ma Yi nodded. Liu Wen beamed; this was her idea, and it would be their banner for years to come.

Li Li was also delighted. Although Liu Wen had tweaked the phrase, it was she who had first proposed it, and that sense of pride was thrilling.

“Favoritism,” Liu Xue muttered, pouting. Her own ideas sounded good too, but her sister’s always took precedence.

“It’s settled then. From now on, we are the Peerless Sage Legion.”

Liu Guoliang and his wife sat quietly to one side, watching the younger generation discuss these matters around the dinner table. They let the youths sort things out for themselves, content to bask in the joy of renewed hope. The young people here were all remarkably powerful; their little antics of the previous night would never escape such keen senses, so they kept silent to avoid drawing attention.

Thus, after a simple family meeting, the name of Ma Yi’s zombie legion was joyfully decided. To appease the disgruntled Liu Xue, Ma Yi also granted her wish by dividing the force into two corps: the Celestial Demon Corps and the Celestial Valor Corps.

The Celestial Demon Corps, as Liu Xue suggested, was led by the two-headed husky, now titled Celestial Demon General, commanding a dozen formidable warriors, collectively known as the Celestial Demons.

The Celestial Valor Corps was placed under the command of the loyal and courageous Tie Zhu, with Fatty, Hammer, Whirlwind, and the Rat King all under his jurisdiction—they were known as the Celestial Valor Generals.

After establishing these commands, Ma Yi set forth their future tasks. Besides ongoing training, zombies below the third rank would no longer participate in combat, so to bolster their numbers, they needed to find ways to elevate their subordinates to the third rank or higher.

Both corps were assigned squads to seek out new recruits and food, while all other warriors were required to master the art of Shockwave. Ma Yi had tested this with Tie Zhu and the others—Shockwave could disrupt slashing attacks, which might prove vital in future battles between zombies and human evolvers or other beings. To learn this skill, a zombie needed to be at least fourth rank, equivalent to a gold-class warrior.

As for zombies of third rank and below, the corpse rats had been busy, tunneling a network of passages beneath the hills. The two rats who had long followed Ma Yi, now at the Reversion level thanks to his blood, along with the similarly ranked Rat King, had alone dug out half the tunnels, with hundreds of other rats handling the rest.

All zombies had been relocated underground, and with the Celestial Demon and Celestial Valor Corps continually gathering more, there was not a single zombie to be found near City P; every last one had been gathered into this vast palace-like complex beneath the earth.

All the evolved beasts herded back from searches were kept near the entrance to the underground palace. A thousand-pound wild boar, so long as it had enough fodder, could grow from piglet to adult in just a month—several times faster than before the apocalypse. Now, fodder was plentiful; outside the city, wild grasses two or three meters tall lined the roads, providing ample feed for livestock and mutated beasts.

All warriors above the fourth rank were stationed at the foot of the mountain, training daily. Those with sufficient intelligence easily learned the combat skills taught by Tie Zhu and the Shockwave technique passed on by the two-headed husky. Tie Zhu, being of a lower rank, had less mastery over Shockwave than the husky, who, with its two heads, always explained things twice, much to the warriors’ exasperation.

Ma Yi and Liu Wen had finally crossed the last barrier and were now inseparable, much to Liu Xue’s mock-disgust. Life was peaceful and comfortable.

Time flowed on; the land shifted from lush green to withered gold. In the blink of an eye, Ma Yi had been home for over twenty days. Ruhua had undergone her breakthrough, transforming from a towering two-meter giantess into a delicate little girl just seventy centimeters tall, her features more refined and strikingly adorable.

Liu Xue had all but claimed Ruhua as her own, refusing to sleep without her by her side like a child with a fascinating new toy. Ruhua had grown more docile, never refusing Liu Xue’s company—after all, now that she was so small, Ma Yi could do nothing with her, and the two women could at least keep each other company.

Liu Wen, on the other hand, was caught between sweetness and exhaustion, finding it hard to cope without Ruhua’s help.

Another ten days passed. Just before the first heavy snow, Tie Zhu finally achieved his evolution. Having studied Ruhua’s transformation, Ma Yi now turned his research to Tie Zhu. As expected, Tie Zhu’s evolution had notable differences from the two-headed husky and the others. Most strikingly, he now sported a pair of horns—not as imposing as Ma Yi’s when transformed, but real nonetheless. Perhaps due to his lower rank, Tie Zhu’s horns seemed slender and frail, unlike Ruhua’s, which were as sturdy as Ma Yi’s, thick as bull’s horns.