The remaining zombies seemed to sense something and all looked towards the strength-type zombie whose arm was broken.
Without Lin Xue's control, they began to slaughter each other.
When they were controlled by Lin Xue before, they already knew that the one controlling them was a zombie stronger than them.
There seemed to be something in these zombies' bloodlines pushing them, making them constantly grow and desire to become the strongest.
Thus, these zombies, specifically corralled by Lu Heng, launched an attack on the damaged combat-capable zombie.
The zombie with the broken arm knew it couldn't withstand the siege of these equally-ranked zombies. It had already identified an escape route when it retreated earlier.
Sensing something was wrong, it suddenly turned, using its hind legs to propel itself rapidly towards a building.
However, it was merely a strength-type zombie, and its escape speed couldn't match the attacks of the natural ability-wielding zombies.
A fireball exploded on the path ahead, and towering flames blocked its forward progress.
But how could a zombie that had evolved intelligence surrender so easily? It quickly lowered its body to slow its momentum, its uninjured arm grabbing forcefully at the ground, adjusting its direction and veering off elsewhere.
This time, it unleashed its full physical capabilities, its legs powerfully pushing off the ground, even piercing the original concrete surface and creating two craters.
With its legs exerting force, its body shot forward a considerable distance.
But it was ultimately too slow. Another ice-ability zombie swung an ice spear, striking the fleeing zombie.
It pierced the zombie's hind leg, pinning the still-running zombie in place.
"Roar roar roar..."
Unwilling roars echoed through the sky. Lu Heng was observing Lin Xue integrating zombies in other parts of the city, and his keen hearing picked up the disturbance.
However, these zombies were confined within special stone walls, making it impossible for them to break through and escape.
But after the initial high-pitched roars of the zombies, more followed in succession.
Lu Heng, not understanding what the zombies were doing, quickly asked Lin Xue.
Lin Xue, while controlling lower-level zombies to fight and upgrade, was also monitoring the situation of those higher-level zombies.
"Master, those few are fighting each other."
"You didn't give them any orders, did you?"
"No."
They hadn't migrated with so many high-level zombies before.
After merging the zombies within a city, the final strong ones were killed on the spot.
This was the first time Lu Heng was leading so many high-level zombies to another city.
The commotion in that area lasted for half an hour, and Lu Heng didn't interfere, as his ultimate goal was to have these zombies upgrade to provide him with high-level crystals.
However, Lin Xue soon reported the status of those high-level zombies.
"Master, there are two of those zombies left, but both are still level twelve."
Lu Heng acknowledged this, not expecting that seven or eight zombies could merge into a level thirteen through this process.
"Alright, let's ignore those two for now and focus on merging these."
Under Lin Xue's control, the zombies tore into each other ferociously. Although they lacked consciousness, they always fought by tearing each other apart.
Zombies were constantly merging, and nearby zombies were occasionally directed by Lin Xue to join the chaotic battle.
By the end of the day, the zombies around Lin Xue had merged up to level six.
However, there were still many zombies on the outskirts of the city that had not been gathered.
Zombies do not feel fatigue, and nighttime is when they are most active. Therefore, as night fell, Lu Heng did not recall Lin Xue, allowing her to continue organizing the zombie battles.
Dusk, the sun setting.
Lu Heng stood on the rooftop of a tall building, overlooking the city.
More than a year of the apocalypse had left the city dilapidated. Lu Heng had also visited several large supermarkets and department stores, finding much of the merchandise rotten and moldy.
There was no point in collecting them anymore. The entire city, apart from some steel and metal, had almost nothing of value.
Of course, the fuel stored in some gas stations was still usable, and Lu Heng had collected it into his spatial storage.
Standing on the rooftop, Lu Heng suddenly thought of the ability users he had encountered that day.
Those people had driven several vehicles and were heading out, seemingly in search of supplies.
However, in Lu Heng's view, there were truly no reusable resources left in the abandoned cities of this world.
He wondered what those people were searching for.
In the silent night, apart from the roars of zombies in the distance, the only sounds were the wails of the wind blowing through the damaged buildings.
It was as if they were crying out to humanity, lamenting the abandonment of this once-prosperous city.
In the middle of the night, Lu Heng returned to his spatial storage, while Lin Xue was left outside to continue controlling the zombies in their battles.
When Lu Heng woke up in his spatial storage and had breakfast, he returned outside. The sky had not yet brightened.
Feeling the cold wind blowing around him, Lu Heng looked at the leaves of the plants in the city that were already turning yellow.
"Winter is coming again."
Zombies were not afraid of the cold in winter; perhaps due to their inherently low body temperature, their vitality decreased further during the winter months.
Especially during heavy snowfall, zombies disliked being outdoors. They would almost instinctively seek indoor environments and remain motionless until spring.
This allowed humans a period of respite during winter, at least eliminating the constant worry of being attacked by wandering zombies when venturing out.
Of course, if one ventured into areas teeming with zombies and was discovered, danger would still ensue.
Lu Heng found Lin Xue. The zombies within the city had already undergone a comprehensive merging process.
Except for the newly attracted zombies from the city's periphery, all the city's zombies were now concentrated around Lin Xue.
Sensing Lu Heng's arrival, Lin Xue reported the situation to him.
"These zombies have all merged to level seven, and within another day, they should reach level ten."
Lu Heng nodded subconsciously. The speed of zombie merging had clearly increased significantly this time.
Before Lu Heng could reply, Lin Xue reported another piece of news.
"Master, of those two zombies, only one remains, but it still needs to merge with two more level twelve zombies to reach level thirteen."
"Hmm, is that one still within the perimeter wall?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll go and shrink its space."
Lu Heng thought about shrinking the space for the zombie first. Later, the remaining area could be used to confine the newly merged high-level zombies from here.
This was also to prevent any mutations among the high-level zombies that might lead to an uncontrolled zombie breaking free from Lin Xue's control.