Carrying the bound strange person, who looked like a zongzi, along with Sun Qiang and Lin Xue, Lu Heng could only choose the Roc for his return trip to Nameless City.
If they had chosen the Fire Phoenix, it would have been too crowded for four people.
On the way back, Lu Heng called Lin Yu. With their communication restored, contacting people outside became much easier.
"I've found a strange new creature. Get Chen Dong and the others ready and find a suitable room."
"Brother Lu, is it a mutated beast?"
Lu Heng had previously sent back mutated rats and zombie infants to Nameless City for virus research.
Lin Yu couldn't imagine what special creature Lu Heng was bringing back this time, or what other special creature Lu Heng would discover and bring back.
"I'll be back soon. You come over and see for yourself, it's hard to explain in a few words."
Lu Heng himself wasn't sure if this individual could still be considered human.
Fearing that the strange person might disturb him, Lu Heng had directly gagged the person's mouth as well.
So, the journey was quiet.
Before long, the Roc brought Lu Heng and the others back to Nameless City.
Lu Heng and his group went directly to the research center. They had received prior notification, and Chen Dong and the others, who had been prepared, quickly came out to greet Lu Heng.
"City Lord Lu, you're back."
"Mm, are you ready?"
"Yes, we've prepared a room next to Sun Qiang's room, and it's also equipped with a special metal cage, just like Sun Qiang's."
"This one is a bit different from Sun Qiang. Come, let's put him in first, and then I'll explain in detail."
There were quite a few people in the open space at the moment, with many security personnel present. It wasn't convenient for Lu Heng to speak openly.
Several researchers working on the zombie virus followed Lu Heng and the others into the small building where Sun Qiang was being held.
Lu Heng, along with the strangely bound individual who was indistinguishable, and Sun Qiang, went upstairs.
Chen Dong and the others kept glancing at the thing being dragged by the vines. Through some gaps in the vines, they could vaguely see human clothing inside.
"Could there be a person locked up in there?"
"I don't know. City Lord Lu will tell us when we get upstairs. Don't guess."
Upon reaching the top floor, they first put Sun Qiang back into his original room. Sun Qiang had also been affected this time, and Lu Heng felt it was best to keep Sun Qiang confined for further observation, and then see if he could be taken out again.
As for Lin Xue, who had been accompanying Lu Heng all along, she had also toured Nameless City with Lu Heng before.
Everyone assumed Lin Xue was Lu Heng's sister or something, so no one paid much attention to her.
"This room, you see, should we put him in now?"
"Mm."
Lu Heng inspected the room and then dragged the strange person from the vines into the metal cage and secured it.
He then retracted the vines that were attached to the strange person, revealing the individual to everyone.
"Brother Lu, this, is it a zombie or a human?"
Lin Yu looked at the pale-faced "person" and couldn't tell.
"I'm not sure either. He has complete human thought, but I can confirm he's not a zombie for now."
"What do you mean, not a zombie for now?"
Chen Dong, not understanding, observed from outside the cage.
"That's for you to research."
While Lu Heng and the others were still discussing, the strange person, who had just regained consciousness, got up from the ground and sat half-reclining, looking at the people outside the cage.
"Who are you? Why have you locked me up? You can't treat your own kind like this."
"You don't need to keep emphasizing that you're human. Whether you are or not, we'll have to research to confirm."
"Research what? I'm human. Can a zombie talk to you normally like I can?"
"Yes, the one you saw earlier can chat with humans normally."
"That's not the same. That one is an evolved monster."
Lu Heng stopped talking to the strange person and took a syringe from his space, containing some reddish-brown liquid.
"This is the blood from that strange person. Go and research it."
Lu Heng had drawn this blood from the strange person after he was knocked unconscious.
However, when Lu Heng saw the reddish-brown blood, he felt it was somewhat similar to some liquids he had collected in the underground garage.
"Right, go and get an empty room next door. I have some other things to put in there."
"Okay, there's nothing in this floor. There's an empty room right next door."
Lu Heng nodded and asked Chen Dong to lead him to the adjacent room. Then, he placed all the equipment he had found in the underground garage into the room, exactly as they were.
"What is all this? It looks like test tubes and things for research."
"Indeed, these are the strange person's belongings. Find someone to guard it specifically. Don't let anyone come in casually until we figure it out."
"Yes, yes, I understand." Chen Dong nodded in agreement.
"Let's go. We should go to the room next door and question him. I'm quite curious about how this strange person ended up like this."
The group followed Lu Heng back to the room where the person was being held.
At this moment, the strange person was already standing inside the cage, looking around, seemingly searching for a way to escape.
Such actions were entirely human-like; even Lin Xue wouldn't do these things.
So, was he a zombie who retained human consciousness?
How did he become like this?
"You claim to be human, but why is the color of your blood different from that of humans, and you have no body temperature, and your skin feels exactly like a zombie's.
If you honestly confess, I might be able to let you out."
"I am indeed human. I can't explain the coldness of my body or the issue with my blood, but I've been like this since the zombie apocalypse broke out."
"Heh, is that so?" Lu Heng didn't believe him.
"Look, my skin is only slightly pale. Isn't that because I haven't seen sunlight for a long time?"
The person even extended his arm out of the cage, trying to convince Lu Heng and the others.
"Your hand is also like a zombie's. Look at your fingernails, they're all purplish-blue under the nail bed."
That was a characteristic only zombies possessed.
"I, this is just a sickness. I'm not a zombie."
"What's your name?"
Lu Heng conjured several chairs from his space, intending to start a more in-depth conversation with the strange person from outside the cage.
"Everyone, please sit."
Chen Dong and the others sat down with a sense of relief upon seeing the chairs suddenly appear.
However, the strange person locked in the cage became uneasy.
When he was captured by Lu Heng earlier, he had already seen Lu Heng make many items disappear. Now, he saw Lu Heng conjure furniture out of thin air.
He pointed at Lu Heng and asked the person next to Lu Heng, "Is he a magician? Someone who can do magic tricks."
Hearing the strange person's question, Lu Heng and the others were very sure that this was definitely not a zombie, otherwise, he wouldn't be so knowledgeable about things before the apocalypse.
Zombies, after losing their consciousness and their human form completely dying, had all their memories from before their human lives erased.
Even if they regained intelligence and had the intellect of an adult, they had no memory of human culture before the apocalypse.