Bai Qi had Derek stand by the wall, while he assumed a mysterious demeanor, closing his eyes slightly and reciting incantations.
A beam of light then shot out from Bai Qi's body and, before Derek could react, penetrated him.
The next moment, Derek's body regenerated at a visible speed. His decaying flesh sloughed off as new skin, flesh, and bones grew. Although the process was painful, Derek could feel his senses of taste, smell, and others gradually returning.
As the light dissipated, Derek had transformed back from a zombie into a human.
Before Derek could revel in his joy for long, he saw Bai Qi staggering nearby, on the verge of falling. Without hesitation, Derek rushed forward and supported him. Looking at Bai Qi, who had become so "weak" for his sake, Derek wept profusely.
"It's fine, I'll be alright after a rest."
Despite Bai Qi's current frailty, making him appear as though he could collapse at any moment, it was all an act.
Did they truly believe that turning Derek back into a human required such a great expenditure of energy?
Don't be ridiculous. Bai Qi had merely used a small amount of the healing magic from the Horse Talisman to easily restore Derek to humanity.
The reason for feigning such a state of exhaustion was twofold: first, to make Derek feel indebted to him, making him believe how much effort Bai Qi had exerted to save him; second, to test Derek's loyalty. If Derek harbored any ill intentions, Bai Qi in his weakened state would be the perfect target.
By directly attacking and killing Bai Qi, Derek would not only regain his humanity but also be free from his five-year term of service.
Of course, if Derek were to make a move against Bai Qi, the latter would not hesitate to let him complete the "triple transformation of water."
Fortunately, Derek displayed the loyalty he was expected to show.
After a brief rest, Bai Qi, with the now-human Derek, continued their journey, though their destination had changed.
Since Spider-Man and the others had made all the arrangements, and there would be a long journey to their destination, Bai Qi had ample time to do something else midway. For instance, he could revert some of the X-Men who had turned into zombies back into humans, thereby cultivating a group of tools to work for him in this world.
Bai Qi's initial purpose for arriving in this world was solely to plunder the six Infinity Stones and claim their power to rapidly enhance his own strength. As for the world's origin, considering the widespread zombies and the terrifying quantum virus, Bai Qi, for the sake of caution, did not want his subordinates to risk high dangers to plunder the origin of this world.
After all, the origin of a world, no matter how much there was, was finite. Once depleted, it was gone. However, worlds were numerous, and each could be mined for its origin. Even sufficiently large world fragments could yield a bit of origin with enough effort.
Yet, there were few subordinates Bai Qi could truly trust and work with. If any were infected and turned into zombies while mining the world's origin, Bai Qi might be able to save them as he did Derek. But if they were pulverized, even Bai Qi would be powerless. Moreover, this world was infested with a terrifying quantum virus. A moment of carelessness and bringing it back to the main world would be a catastrophic disaster.
However, after encountering Derek, Bai Qi had an idea. He didn't need to bring people from the main world; he could simply convert some zombies with good potential back into humans.
And Bai Qi's talent pool for conversion was, naturally, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, headed by Professor X.
Soon, the two arrived at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but even from a distance, Bai Qi sensed something was amiss.
The power of the Mind Stone allowed Bai Qi's mental power to cover a vast area. Although his abilities were limited in this universe and he couldn't cover the entire Earth, covering one or two cities was more than enough.
As Bai Qi arrived in this city, his mental power spread to cover the entire metropolis. To his surprise, while the entire city should have been under his surveillance, there was one place he couldn't monitor. It was a blank spot, as if something was resisting his mental power.
Not only Bai Qi, but Derek, following beside him, looking down from a height, also noticed the abnormality of the empty streets.
"Zombies, where did those zombies go?"
The two had been in the city for quite some time, but they hadn't seen a single zombie on the streets. Even Bai Qi, with his full-range vision, couldn't spot any.
However, the answer was soon revealed.
When they reached Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Derek couldn't believe his eyes at the sight before him.
The school, which had suffered extensive damage while fending off the zombie horde, was now restored, appearing as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that the school, which should have been filled with laughter, was now eerily quiet.
They exchanged glances. Derek said with some worry, "My lord, I know you are powerful, but Professor X has extremely strong mind-control abilities. Even as a zombie, he remains so. If it comes to a fight, I... I might not be able to..."
Bai Qi patted Derek's shoulder and said, "I know. You're definitely no match for Professor X. If a fight breaks out, you just cheer from the sidelines."
Saying this, before Derek could respond, Bai Qi strode towards the school's main gate.
Seeing this, Derek hesitated for a moment before following closely behind.
But the moment Derek passed through the gate, the scene before him changed drastically.
From the outside, the school appeared normal, but upon entering, the true scene was one of greater dilapidation. A nauseating stench of decay permeated the air. What was even more unacceptable was the sight of a large number of zombies wandering aimlessly within the school. Their sheer numbers suggested that all the zombies in the city had gathered here, which explained why Bai Qi hadn't seen any in other parts of the city.
These zombies had vacant eyes and showed no aggression towards Bai Qi and Derek, moving like puppets following a pre-scripted plan.
Just as Derek was stunned by the scene, a familiar voice reached him.
Following the direction of the voice, they saw a woman clad in a black, form-fitting leather suit, her figure curvaceous. As their gaze moved upwards, they were met with a severely decaying face that was utterly incongruous with her physique.
"Ororo? Is that really you?"
Looking at the face that was both familiar and strange, Derek couldn't believe his eyes. It was Ororo.