“Haha, thought I was done back there. The gain is way more than I imagined for bearing that pain.” Zheng laughed loudly while he ate. Egyptian food was not tastier but it was exotic. He seemed to be enjoying it. Though the others were staring at him with weird looks.
Heng quietly said to Zero and ChengXiao, “Do you feel that he’s more cheerful than before? Something’s not right… he just died once.”
ChengXiao immediately replied, “Maybe the death damaged his nerves and turned him into a psychotic.”
“I think damaging the nerves only gets you neuropathy.” Heng said.
Zero suddenly spoke to Zheng, “Why did you think of killing yourself? Have you thought about the possibility of not being able to revive since you have used the Revival Cross?”
Zheng smiled bitterly as he always used to do and waved his hand. “I didn’t actually think that much. I just suddenly realized everything is so simple when I was about to be killed. Some things have become more important than living on, more important than what was supporting my will up to that point. I didn’t want to die. I won’t die peacefully without accomplishing them!”
“Like?” ChengXiao asked.
“Like… defeating my clone. Not defeat but free him.” Zheng smiled and grabbed another piece of barbequed meat.
Xuan asked, “What about your strength? How much has it grown after this opportunity?”
“Unfortunately,” Zheng looked at them. “I did overcome my heart’s devil and stepped into mid-fourth stage. But I think it’s still a little bit below my clone.”
Their hearts clenched when they heard unfortunately since if the heart’s devil did not completely go away, he might turn berserk again. No one actually believed Xuan could stop him despite Xuan had become much stronger. The power of the fourth stage was carved into their memories. Though the follow up words relieved their hearts.
Heng said with a laughter, “That’s good enough. The most important thing is you have overcome your heart’s devil so you can exert a hundred percent of your strength. You will catch up to your clone one day as long as you have the courage.”
YanWei sneered at his words. Zheng glanced at Heng with surprise and then at her. “To be frank, I thought you were the last to overcome yourself… It’s great that you did it.”
Heng laughed bitterly as he looked at YanWei then stopped talking.
Zheng said, “There are more people who made the break through than I thought. Are the rest of them still asleep in God’s dimension?”
The team all turned to Xuan who was eating an apple leisurely until Zheng followed their gazes to Xuan. He nodded, “It’s my suggestion to place them in the ruined inn. I installed alarms on their bodies that will alert us when anyone gets near. We can quickly return to Cairo using the Sky Stick. More importantly, it’s difficult to carry them on the Sky Sticks. They will become a burden if an air battle breaks out.”
“Then why did you bring them here?” Zheng couldn’t help but asked. He then said to Ardeth, “Can you take care of my comrades? They fell into a deep sleep due to some circumstances. We might have to go to China at this time so I can only ask you to take care of them.”
Ardeth seemed hesitated but he stood up and said respectfully, “The Medjais will not hesitate to return the debts we owe to you. However, I have report of Rommel’s army battling the British army at the moment. Rommel is likely to lead his army into the desert. This camp is close to Cairo… Hamunaptra is at risk of being located by Rommel.”
The whole team was shocked. Hamunaptra was a vital spot for the team because of the revival altar. They wouldn’t be able to revive members without the altar unless those members were newbies. Yet, the newbies weren’t of much use to the team. The significance of this city to the players was greater than the religious significance to the Medjais.
Everyone looked to Xuan simultaneously after a few seconds. The team had returned to its original state after Zheng was revived. Not everyone was laughing but they could interact with each other with a peaceful mind, especially when the person was Xuan. It felt like as long as Zheng here, the team would not fall apart.
Xuan turned to Ardeth and said, “What are your plans?”
Ardeth paused for a second. “This military base is one of our most important stations. Furthermore, our investment in the United States are receiving results. The United States helped us get in contact with the British government. We are in the process of considering joining the war as foreign nationals. If we win the war, Egypt will…”
Xuan interrupted him. “My question was what is your goal? Establish a nation? Independence? Or a dictatorship?”
Ardeth thought over it seriously for a while before replying. “Can I say… our dream is to restore Egypt? Once a magnificent civilization has declined to a colony of another country. Our people became second class citizens that gets treated unfairly…. Our dream is to restore Egypt to the days of its glory! Can we have such a dream?”
“Of course you can!” Zheng patted him on the shoulder. “What can’t a man dream? Go ahead and give your best to achieve it! Don’t forget we are comrades that have fought together. If the time comes for a need, we will help you with the advanced weapons we have. Oh, and my country…”
“That’s enough, you nationalist youth. This isn’t our world. We are no more than guests to this world. Watch and observe with the mindset of an audience. Anything we do to this world is like a flap of a butterfly and will stir up a storm that sweeps over the whole world already. There is no need to alter history intentionally. Furthermore, does the altar still have such significance to us?” Xuan smiled coldly at Zheng.
Zheng and Ardeth laughed awkwardly in return. Zheng said, “But we should at least do something. I can’t just sit here and watch… One thing I came to understand is just do what I want to do. If you can’t come up with a plan, then let me intervene this war. I will destroy Germany’s African army.” Zheng gradually calmed down. His eyes looked like the depth of a lake, deep and dark.
Xuan was surprised for a second when he look at Zheng’s eyes. “There are two methods. One, you can use your familiarity of the desert to track Rommel then ambush his army. It shouldn’t be difficult to stay even with your modernized army. You can contact the main forces of the British army to chase them until you annihilate his army. This victory under the identity of foreign nationals will become an important part in establishing a nation. However…”
Ardeth was excited and asked, “However what? What else is there?”
“Is that really a restoration of Egypt?” Xuan shook his head. “A country’s restoration isn’t simply establishing the country. There are problems as how will the country survive, establishing its military, culture, economy, and the people’s self-esteem. Egypt has fallen for too long. The people of Egypt during World War II have already considered themselves as second class citizens.”