William glared at the old man and asked, "What’s wrong, Grandpa Kim?" He came between furious Kim and Jenny, who stood up and came forward, seemingly ready to fight back. She even held her hammer up, showing she wouldn’t hold back.
Uncle John pulled William aside and muttered, sighing, "Kim’s son-in-law died."
"What?" William exclaimed. He understood why the old man had reacted so violently. Kim hissed, "Old fool, who’s afraid of you?" He drew a dagger from the holder tied to his hip and rushed in.
"That’s enough." John held Kim from behind and pulled him back. Others held Jenny, who had not backed down. She barked, "You should have died. What happened to your courage when zombies arrived?" She tried to push away those restraining her tightly. A young man pulled away her hammer.
"I wanted to fight." Kim screamed, with tears in his eyes, "But my son-in-law... Brook had rejected." He twisted his hands as they were tightly locked by others. His weapon was taken away as well, forcefully by John.
"You..." His crimson eyes locked with William’s. "You had power and skill. If you had only taken care of every zombie." His voice turned bitter as he sobbed, "You old hag, if only you hadn’t pulled away this kid..."
William recalled Kim’s daughter, who had passed away two months ago due to cancer. ’It’s a pity. If only she had held on until now.’
He clenched his blade handle. Had she survived even with a small breath, he could have saved her. ’If only I had remembered faster.’ His eyes dimmed with sadness. ’Idiot. If only I had figured out how to find the portal beforehand.’
"Hmph." Grandma Jenny sneered. "If I hadn’t stopped him, your son-in-law would’ve survived?" She glared at the others, who were silent but internally agreeing with Kim’s words.
"Not just him..." A young woman roared. She pointed to a dead zombie man’s body on the ground, under a tree. "Even my husband would have survived." She pointed at Jenny’s face and screamed, "You killed my husband." She picked up a black metal rod and rushed forward, her face filled with madness. "Give my dear’s life back."
"That’s enough, Lily." William held her weapon and glared at her.
"Your loved ones lost their lives, but blame kid William and me." Jenny grinned, showing her toothless mouth. "If he wasn’t present. Heck..." She raised her voice. "For God’s sake, had he been elsewhere when his damn game started..." She tried to lock eyes with everyone, who pulled away, not daring to. "I bet many more would have died."
Neither Kim nor Lily tried to retort.
"They would’ve died later even if William helped." Jenny pulled away as they didn’t restrain her any longer. "Fine. Fine." She waved her hands, rubbing her forehead. She exhaled. "I feel William can take up the responsibility of saving us." She noticed many had their eyes brightened, but Kim and Lily remained silent. "We cannot bring back the dead." She closed her eyes. "But we can only move forward."
In the end, she had agreed to let William fight for all.
"Yes." Almost everyone nodded.
"Who said we cannot?" William asked, attracting everyone’s attention. He grinned. "I got a hint that by becoming stronger, we can even revive the dead."
"What?" Kim uttered. He recovered a bit. "That shouldn’t be possible, right?" Lily asked, raising her brow.
"How can this be?" A middle-aged woman who sat in the corner behind Chris stood up. Chris yelled, "Brother, is it possible?" His lips curved up. "Dad can be brought back?"
"Indeed. Just reach a higher level." William replied, "Once you start levelling up, you’ll understand the power gain."
’In my past life, I searched for many ways to revive Alissa.’ He mused, clenching his fists. ’That sadness was so heavy it almost made me give up living.’ His expression relaxed. ’But reaching a higher level was one of them and the easiest.’ Sadly, in his past life, he couldn’t reach the level required to bring her back before he’d died.
"Tch!" Grandma Jenny shook her head. "Now, like before, he is helping you all again." She pointed her finger at everyone. "Now, why don’t you all accept William as leader?"
"Leader?" They paused. Two middle aged man titled their heads slightly. "Did we follow his lead?" "Yes."
"Indeed."
Everyone was puzzled. "Hahah." Jenny laughed. "You all never officially recognised him as leader." She scowled. "You two, Leo and Henry, don’t think I couldn’t read you?" She snarled. "I lived almost twice as long as you... I can clearly see your greed and emotions on your faces."
Everyone’s eyes glinted with a wide variety of emotions. Jenny held William’s hand, getting closer. "Only if they agree to you as their leader, we’ll proceed."
"We agree." John didn’t wait for a moment before nodding. "William’s words are my commands." One by one, everyone began to agree. Even Leo and Henry had no choice under their lead.
"No need to be so formal." William waved his hand.
[ Ding! William Knights’ faction is established! ]
[ Ding! You are a member of William Knights’ faction! ]
Everyone got a notification as a luminous screen panel flashed in their vision.
[ Ding! The first faction has been created! ]
A notification appeared in everyone’s vision all around the world.
"Faction?"
"We can do that?"
"Let’s create it then."
It created a lot of hype and buzz.
Many began to form their own factions all over the world. It just needed a click, which William gave.
William opened his faction panel.
[ Ding! Opening faction status panel!
Faction Name: Unassigned
Faction Leader: William Knights
Faction Deputy Leader: Unassigned
Faction Money: 0
Faction Members: 70 {True faction members: 46} ]
’This...’ William’s mouth hung open. ’In my past life, I became a leader, but after a lot of convincing and much later.’ After all, who would agree to become underlings of a high school kid?
His eyes glowed with hope. ’This time, I’ll save as many as possible.’
William glanced at the people in front of him and patted his chest. "From now on, I’m responsible for your safety."
All smiled. "I can bet on William."
"He never lets us down."
"Now about my husband?" Lily asked, bringing everyone back to the topic.
"Yes, it’s my responsibility as the leader." William patted his chest. "Don’t worry if anyone in my faction dies." He took a deep breath. "I’ll make sure they will be revived."
His words caused many to nod, and it made them believe their decision to take him as their leader was not wrong. Kim and Chris took a relieved sigh.
"Act calm for now," Leo muttered, nudging his elbow at Henry. "We’ll strike or leave when we get a chance," Henry said, voice low.
"Now—" William was cut short as he just opened his mouth to give a new order as a leader.
"We found the portal!" Gray roared from the corner of the block while rushing in.
"Found it." William smiled widely. ’It’s indeed near Carter’s.’ His Spatial Ether Sense was still picking up rays of strong Spatial Ether, which were going in the direction of the store.
"We have to hurry," Gray yelled, his forehead covered in sweat. "Alissa is guarding the portal, but soon she’ll be surrounded by zombies."
"What... zombies?" William hissed, pulling his katana out. "Everyone, follow me." He dashed forward, commanding his new faction members.