Chapter Forty-Five: The Cleansing Plan

“I told you not to play the hero, not to show off, not to disobey me, didn’t I?” That evening, in a room within the lighthouse, the ace assassin who had earlier cut down the boss amidst a thousand enemies, was now being treated like a common child. Guo Lang had her on his lap, spanking her hard.

In this moment, Alice was just like any ordinary child being disciplined—face full of pitiful tears, pleading for mercy. From time to time, she would glance back at Laura behind Guo Lang, her eyes silently begging for rescue. Laura, seeing this, felt both distressed and indignant.

She had heard the entire story of what happened today. The child had indeed been too reckless, but this man was so angry only because he cared for her. She herself was angry as well, but seeing her daughter’s pitiful expression, her heart softened. After a moment’s hesitation, she gently urged, “That’s enough, she only wanted to help you.”

“Exactly!” The little girl quickly echoed, glad her mother was speaking up for her. “I thought that thing was really important to you—that’s why I did it!”

Smack! Guo Lang landed another firm blow, making Alice yelp even louder. While swinging his hand, he scolded, “You think that gives you the right? Do you know how worried I was out there? I nearly grew wings and flew after you!”

“I’m sorry! I won’t dare do it again, never again!” the little girl sobbed, begging for mercy.

“Alright, that’s enough. Are all you Westerners in the habit of teaching children with violence?” Unable to bear it any longer, Laura rushed forward, scooped Alice into her arms, and began gently wiping away her tears, her heart aching.

A loving mother spoils her child, Guo Lang thought, shooting Laura a look. He wanted to say it, but it felt too out of place, so he only sighed and addressed Alice, “Listen to me—there’s nothing in this world more important than you. I never want to see you take such reckless risks again. Understand?”

Both mother and daughter shivered at his words, falling silent. For the first time, Laura looked at Guo Lang with a certain tenderness in her gaze. Though his ways were often sly and unseemly, his care for Alice was clearly heartfelt.

“Alright, Alice, activate your bloodline for me now,” Guo Lang said sternly.

“Okay.” Alice obediently did as she was told, her eyes turning a pale violet.

“That’s not it.” Guo Lang frowned. “The power you showed this afternoon was far greater than this. Think carefully—try to recall that state.”

“Did I?” Alice tilted her head, looking troubled.

There was no way the analysis could be wrong. Alice had awakened her second-tier bloodline this afternoon, and her basic attributes now placed her among the elite bronze professionals. If she completed her class quest and underwent a bit of training, Guo Lang was sure she could leap straight to the silver rank.

Among the first wave of returnees, that would make her one of the very best. There was a huge disparity among the first batch: some, like Guo Lang, hadn’t yet completed their class quests, while others with more refined bloodlines were already at the top of the bronze rank. According to legend, the strongest among them—four individuals—had already reached the silver level upon their return.

This gap had its reasons. On their first transmission to a new world, not everyone started from the same point. For instance, Guo Lang’s world was of middling technology but low-magic power, so the invaders’ growth was limited. And even within the same world, the starting line wasn’t even—this time, the necromancers’ group had arrived a full six months before Guo Lang.

If one started in a low-tier world with a cold weapons era, growth would be much faster. Someone might ask: in that case, could the first batch return as legends or even epic figures? That was impossible. First, there was the time gap: even when players transmitted from the same world, the difference in arrival times was at most a year. Secondly, no one was sent to a high-end world for their first transmission—the gods wouldn’t waste their resources. If you landed in such a place with only a basic bloodline, the pressure alone might crush you before you could even attempt a quest.

So there was a ceiling. Among those who reached the very peak, there were six in the previous life: two humans, one dark night blood elf, one beastman, and a frost mage. All of them later became world-class elites, and each had returned at the silver level on their first trip.

Alice, as a native of another world, possessed astonishing kingly potential. Shouldn’t he invest in cultivating her?

“Xiao Tao, analyze the situation,” Guo Lang asked his AI assistant in his mind. Xiao Tao, however, was naturally wary of Alice and flatly refused to reveal itself in her presence.

“It looks like she’s set one foot through the door, but still can’t fully control that domain,” Xiao Tao replied internally. “I suggest you redeem a royal bloodline potion for her, purify her bloodline. After she completes her class transfer at the Hall of Professions, she’ll have a much better starting point—she might even gain a powerful inheritance.”

Guo Lang fell silent. He knew about the Hall of Professions—it wasn’t merely a place to change classes. This was why he hadn’t rushed to complete his own class quest but wanted to return first: the better your foundation and the purer your bloodline, the higher your starting point at class transfer, and you might even receive a legendary class.

Alice’s talent was extraordinary; such a seedling should indeed be carefully nurtured. But resources were scarce. If he invested in her, his own progress would slow down. And a royal bloodline potion? The AI sure had big ideas—was it just trying to get him into debt? He was already up to his neck in loans; taking out another for such a high-grade item made him worry he’d never pay it off.

He sighed. In the end, it all came down to poverty. Standing up, he put on a stern face and growled at Alice, “Stay in here and reflect on your actions. Don’t wander off. I have a meeting to attend.”

After saying this, he glanced at Alice’s little head poking out timidly from Laura’s embrace, his heart aching, but he steeled himself, gave a cold snort, and strode out.

“He’s gone, so why are you still acting pitiful?” Laura chided, unable to hide her exasperation.

“Mama!” Alice snuggled into Laura’s arms, whining, “When are you and Daddy going to make up?”

“That’s none of your business!” Laura blushed, giving Alice a gentle tap on the head. “You little rascal!”

-----------------------

In the lighthouse office, Thomas, Abel, Kelly, and the rest were already waiting for him.

“You’re so slow!” Kelly was first to complain, and the others shot him reproachful looks. He’d said he had personal matters to attend to, but he’d been gone almost two hours.

“Haha, sorry, sorry—just a little unexpected trouble,” Guo Lang laughed it off, then asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Thomas replied, “Abel suggests a direct firepower sweep!”

“Oh?”

Abel picked up the explanation. “We have five missile boats. The anti-ship missiles are useless here, but I suggest we use a high-explosive round to attract the zombies. Once they’re gathered, we use drones to drop incendiary bombs. Zombies won’t enter the water unless forced, and if they do, we have torpedoes and heavy machine guns to mop up the stragglers.”

“Incendiaries? How many?”

“We have plenty—napalm bombs. They’re powerful and cover a wide area. But there are so many zombies on the island that we’ll need to hit a quarter of the terrain, maybe more. There’s a risk of the fire spreading.”

“No problem,” Guo Lang waved it off. As long as the land remained, with the attributes of the Tree of Life, the ecosystem would recover in no time. Clearing the zombies was far more important.

“Then that’s the plan. We set out tomorrow!” Guo Lang nodded decisively.

Abel grinned broadly. He liked this leader’s straightforward, no-nonsense style.