Immediately, not even a second after Kang Lan finished speaking, Cai Jingyi knelt on one knee just as knights did in the Middle Ages before the king, and solemnly swore:
"Cai Jingyi is willing to be your Loyal Follower. If you shine and are admired by countless, your radiance will enlighten me. If the darkness devours you and you are hated by the world, I will accompany you so that you will not feel lonely."
Bai Zemin looked at the two young women kneeling in front of him and his lips curved slightly upward.
After leaving the forest after checking that the effects of the fruit coming from the mutant plant were not evil and ending Yang Pei's life, Bai Zemin immediately returned and the first thing he did was to look for Kang Lan and Cai Jingyi.
While he could have gone to look for Fu Xuefeng and Zhong De, the reasons why Bai Zemin chose Cai Jingyi and Kang Lan was to ask them if they wished to be his Loyal Followers after explaining the effects of the skill were varied. However, he had two main reasons.
1) The first reason was that while Kang Lan could take the lives of numerous enemies after activating her Poisonous Cloud Skill, Cai Jingyi was fast enough to confuse the enemy and kill them quickly while protecting Kang Lan.
In addition, Cai Jingyi's speed was also perfect for leaving the range of Kang Lan's skill since it did not differentiate between allies and enemies.
2) The second reason was mainly based on Kang Lan. Although she was strong, her chosen path was pure magic, unlike Shangguan Bing Xue. Therefore, her physical stats, while more powerful than the average person, were also not outstanding or high enough. Therefore, Bai Zemin wanted to give her, who was his only healer, a means of preserving her life in times of need.
Aside from these two main reasons, there was a third. This third reason was that the two girls seemed more willing to kill in order to maintain their lives and dignity.
Because after consuming the fruit of the mutant plant he would go into a coma in order for his body to adapt to the changes his soul would undergo with the intervention of the Soul Record, Bai Zemin urgently needed people he could trust 100% without fear of being stabbed in his sleep to protect him.
While Bai Zemin trusted Kang Lan, Cai Jingyi, Fu Xuefeng, and Zhong De enough as he did not believe any of them were evil enough to bite the hand that saved their lives, made them grow, and even nurtured them, it was better to be forewarned.
Therefore, Bai Zemin wanted to put a seal, something similar to a leash that would prevent this kind of problem and at the same time improve their confidence in each other.
It was precisely because of this that he explained to the two girls the effects of the skill coming from his Lower Leader subclass.
Seeing them accept without hesitation, Bai Zemin nodded in satisfaction as this meant that neither of them had intended to betray him at any point in time.
From the beginning, none of them had even a distant thought of betraying him. After all, they were both grateful to Bai Zemin in many ways.
He thought he had only given them power, but he had done much more than this.
Bai Zemin had made the timid Cai Jingyi more confident, made the lonely Kang Lan gain friends she could trust.
He saved their lives on numerous occasions, pushed them to quickly get used to the changing world in order to survive. He gave them strength and still continued to help them relentlessly...
He had done so much for them.
Therefore, when he told them about the skill of his subclass, none of them hesitated and accepted immediately.
"Then let's finish this." He did not hesitate and immediately activated the skill attached to his subclass.
Bai Zemin felt a slight pain in his soul as if someone had pricked him with a needle, but soon that pain disappeared and the body of the two kneeling women lit up with a bright light of a faint reddish color.
"Due to the activation of your subclass skill, these two women will never be able to betray you." The voice of Lilith, who was invisible and undetectable by all except him, sounded beside him, "This is because a small fragment of your soul is linked to that of these people. It is also for this reason that those who become a Loyal Follower can use a small part of your overall power."
Bai Zemin nodded imperceptibly and the light illuminating the two girls disappeared completely at the same time as a message flashed in his retina.
[You have chosen the Unclassified existences Kang Lan and Cai Jingyi as your Loyal Followers. 2/2]
The two girls looked at each other blankly and slowly stood up.
"This... This is all...?" Cai Jingyi asked in confusion.
Neither she nor Kang Lan felt any kind of change in their bodies or thought processes. They had expected something different, but everything was seemingly the same as before.
"That's all." Bai Zemin stood up from the couch and said in a serious voice, "I will now begin to absorb a power coming from a mutant fruit so I will be out for 24 hours. During that time I will need you to protect me."
The two girls nodded with serious expressions as they clearly understood how grave the matter was. After all, with all the things he had done, it was only natural that some people were unhappy with Bai Zemin.
As he walked to his room on the top floor of the villa, Bai Zemin ordered, "During that time, if anyone is looking for me just tell them that I am busy with something important, no need to explain any further. If anyone tries to break in... Then just kill them."
""Yes!""
The two women looked at each other and nodded with determination.
* * *
Sitting on the edge of his bed inside his room, Bai Zemin took out a red fruit from the mutant plant very carefully.
Because he had used one on Yang Pei earlier to confirm whether the fruit was edible or not, now that he was going to eat another one he only left one remaining of the original three.
"Go and hurry back." Standing beside the bed, Lilith looked at him with a beautiful smile.
Bai Zemin looked at her and couldn't help but laugh, "Hahaha... Lilith, why do you make it sound like I'm going to another world?"
Without waiting for a reply, he leaned back on the bed and casually threw the mutant fruit into his mouth.
His face scrunched up and he couldn't help but curse inwardly. Unlike in fantasy novels or comic books where the divine fruits were incredibly sweet and tasty, the fruit he had just consumed was incredibly sour; so much so that eating lemon was only kid's stuff in comparison.
However, he had no time to complain as he immediately felt his body burning. It burned as if he had been thrown into a spring of boiling water! It was so bad that even before he could grunt in pain, his eyes rolled back in his head and passed out.
Seeing his breathing slightly uneven but calm and his chest heaving gently, Lilith leaned forward.
Her face rested only a couple of centimeters away from Bai Zemin's face. She could even feel his breath caressing her face softly as her black hair fell like a night veil down the sides covering both of their faces from the outside.
Her red eyes glittered like precious gems and she pursed her lips, millimeters from his. She whispered softly, "Hurry up and wake up, little Zemin. This big sister is curious to see what you get~"
Then, she took a step back and sat on the edge of the bed as she looked at him silently.
* * *
A day passed quickly and after the beginning of the second day since the fall of the previous four leaders, a great number of survivors had been given different jobs to do and the initial armed militia had finally formed properly.
After 24 hours of silent agony, Bai Zemin's eyelashes moved imperceptibly. However, this small movement could not escape the strong and sharp senses of the Higher Existence present.
"Finally awake?"
Hearing the most beautiful voice of the most charming and dangerous woman he had ever met in his entire life, Bai Zemin smiled and opened his eyes slowly.
[Congratulations! You have learned Second Order Active Skill Level 5 'Lightning Movement'!]
