"Respected human lord, I have accidentally become separated from my guard. I wonder if I could borrow your precious time to help me find my guard."

The traveling merchant looked at Su Bai, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Su Bai nodded and said, "No problem!"

Help someone to the very end, and see them through to the end.

It's not a big deal if it takes a little time.

Just consider it for the sake of the Gem of True Knowledge.

“Head east.” The traveling merchant paused, then continued, “That’s the direction I came from. Perhaps my guards are looking for me in that direction.”

"Um!"

Su Bai commanded the insect swarm to head east.

As they walked, the two of them started chatting casually.

"There are many wandering merchants like me in the Land of Redemption, but not everyone is as lucky as I am today. It is common for them to die in the mouths of beasts and monsters."

"By the way, what kinds of goods do you sell?"

"Food, animal hides, weapons, machinery materials, and some local specialties." The wandering merchant looked around at the swarm of insects. "Your troops don't need weapons at all, otherwise, I could have given you some spears and lances."

For Su Bai, spears and lances were of no use.

Even if it is broken down, only a very small amount of resources can be obtained.

"Where are you from?" Su Bai continued to ask.

"I come from the desolate desert to the east of the wilderness," the wandering merchant said. "In the desolate desert, there is an extremely powerful being, four meters tall, with a dog's head and a human body, named Nasus, but the desert people call him—the Desert Death!"

"Desert Reaper? Just hearing that name sounds pretty imposing," Su Bai said.

"You are my savior, and I have something to tell you."

As he spoke, a hint of worry appeared on the wandering merchant's face: "A few days ago, I passed through some human villages, as well as a few orc and goblin tribes."

"It seems that some kind of deadly infectious virus has appeared, and all the humans, orcs, and goblins in these villages and tribes have been infected."

"They lose their minds and become vicious. Some have vacant eyes, but they bar their teeth and claws and will devour the flesh and blood of living people or other animals."

"What's even more deadly is that it's like a visible plague that spreads continuously. Once bitten, whether it's a person or an animal, they will become infected and turn into the same kind of creature as them."

Upon hearing this, Su Bai was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself.

This situation is completely different from the kobolds and goblins who were previously corrupted by dark forces and lost their minds.

Because its mutation originated from the evil power of the Lord of Darkness.

Furthermore, attacking living creatures will not result in infection or mutation.

The situation described by the traveling merchant is remarkably similar to the zombie infection in the movies.

"And now? Are those infected humans, orcs, and goblins still alive?"

"They are still alive!"

The wandering merchant's gaze turned solemn, his face filled with gravity. "While I was away, a powerful elven army launched an attack on these infected creatures."

"But a few days later, news came that the entire elven army had been wiped out, and all of them had been infected and turned into terrifying monsters that devoured flesh and blood."

"The situation is now out of control and the outlook is very pessimistic."

"I estimate that the virus will break out on a large scale in three or four days at most, and these infected terrifying monsters will definitely sweep across the entire Land of Redemption."

"You must be very careful! If you find any infected creatures, it's best to stay within the territory and not come out!"

"Otherwise, if the troops we send out get infected, that would be a very bad situation."

Su Bai nodded slowly, a hint of seriousness in his eyes. "Thank you for informing me! This news is very important to me!"

It transmits viruses and infects living things.

Three or four days later, it will sweep across the entire Land of Redemption.

If the wandering merchant's judgment is accurate, then it will perfectly coincide with the time when the special disaster will occur.

In other words, could the special disaster four days later be related to the infectious virus and these infected organisms?

If that's the case, will a swarm with maxed-out loyalty be infected?

For a moment, Su Bai felt somewhat uneasy.

After all, the unknown is the most terrifying thing.

Neither the school nor the military region's curriculum has ever mentioned infection incidents like this.

There is no record of the Land of Redemption in the archives.

This is arguably the first time in history.

He couldn't help but feel a little emotional, having only been a lord for a little over ten days, he was already facing such a serious global crisis.

It has to be said that this year's batch of lords has had incredibly bad luck.

If the special disaster four days from now is indeed a viral infection like a zombie mutation, it will be extremely difficult to deal with.

For some weak lords, this was a devastating blow, and they had almost no ability to resist it.

Unless the troops under the command of a human lord possess strong viral resistance and are not easily infected, they will not have the resources to resist and fight against it.

Just as Su Bai was lost in thought, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the road ahead.

A cavalry force of about one hundred men advanced rapidly.

"Great! It's my guards, we've finally found them!"

The traveling merchant's eyes lit up, and a hint of joy appeared on his face.

“In that case, we should part ways,” Su Bai said.

"This time, I really owe you a lot of help! I'll compensate you for taking up your time with this large resource supply box."

The wandering merchant waved his hand, and a glittering box appeared on the ground.

Then, under the protection of the cavalry, they quickly left and disappeared on the horizon.

Su Bai stored the large resource supply box in his storage space and led the swarm of insects toward his territory.

...

...

Half an hour later.

Within the territory.

"To date, no infected organisms have been found in the vicinity of the territory."

"I wonder if these monsters have been spotted near the territories of other lords?"

"Oh, right, take a look at the chat channel."

"If there really were something like a zombie, someone would definitely be unable to contain themselves and would talk about it in the chat channel."

Su Bai sat at the door of the small stone house and entered the world chat channel.

The place was as lively as ever.

Chat messages kept coming in one after another.

In three or four days, a special disaster will strike. What will it be?

[Fuck! Speaking of which, this particular disaster was brought about by Su Bai, the lord of the Dragon Kingdom!]

【What? Why?】

[Upstairs, do you have amnesia? The system announcement a few days ago made it very clear that Su Bai was the one who brought about this disaster!]