"Hey, let go!" The stall owner kicked out, but the hand didn't loosen, instead gripping tighter.
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and followed the hand to its owner.
A small face, not very large, was filled with stubbornness. His eyes were fixed on Lu Heng, and Lu Heng saw a yearning for freedom and a hint of defiance in them.
"What's your name?" Lu Heng took a few more steps closer to the cage.
"Lin Yu," the boy spat out a name.
"What do you want?" Lu Heng gazed into Lin Yu's eyes and lowered himself again to ask.
"I don't want to be an ordinary person," Lin Yu replied, looking back firmly.
"Haha, you're just a kid. If you can't kill zombies yourself, what do you want to be if not ordinary? A dog?" The stall owner grabbed a bamboo strip from the side and hit Lin Yu's arm, trying to make him release his grip on the customer.
However, the anticipated pain didn't fall. Lu Heng's hand clasped the stall owner's wrist and said, "What's the price?"
The stall owner was stunned at first, then a smile gradually spread across his face. Business was finally starting today; this kind of trade wasn't common.
In the apocalypse, who had surplus food to feed these useless ordinary people? Only those with considerable strength and peculiar hobbies would patronize him.
"One hundred Level 3 ordinary crystals."
"Heh, how much food can that buy? I'd have to buy him and then provide him with food." Lu Heng said, shaking off the arm that had been clinging to his pant leg, and turned to leave the stall.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps. Hah, he really had patience.
Seeing that Lu Heng was about to leave the market, the stall owner finally called out loudly, "Ninety Level 3 ordinary crystals, not a single one less. I need a lot of food to feed them every day..."
Lu Heng didn't stop. Not only did he not have Level 3 crystals on him, but even if he did, he wouldn't give them. He had only asked the price to see how much these ordinary people were worth in their eyes.
And it wasn't convenient for him to have an ordinary person with him at the moment, as it was only a matter of time before the city's administrators found him.
At this moment, the figure who had retreated back into the cage did not show any disappointment. He looked around at the people nearby, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
He didn't have a chance to see what was written on the paper yet. He would wait for a moment when the stall owner and the people around him relaxed.
The stall owner cursed as he walked back, spitting fiercely at the people in the cage, "Damn it, they look so imposing, but they can't even produce a few crystals."
Then, he took the bamboo strip and kept hitting outside the cage to vent his frustration.
However, those locked in the cage were his merchandise. He didn't dare to injure them, as damaged goods would fetch a much lower price. Moreover, medicine was extremely scarce in the apocalypse, and he was incapable of treating any of his merchandise.
After venting for a while, the stall owner gradually returned to his seat to rest. Lin Yu finally had the chance to unfold the paper in his hand.
On the paper, two beautiful characters were simply written: "Wait for me."
Lin Yu tightly clenched the paper in his hand again, then quickly swallowed it.
...
Bang!
A wine glass was smashed onto the ground.
"All of you are useless! A living person can disappear in [Luòtuō Chéng], what good are you to me?" an angry voice boomed.
A refined man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was sitting on a large sofa, roaring at the people who entered.
At this moment, a middle-aged woman sitting opposite him slowly stood up and waved to the people at the door, "Go quickly and search."
Turning back to the refined man, she said, "Why are you so hot-tempered, young man? Haven't they reported? There's no record of that person leaving through the city gates, so he must be hiding."
"Heh, I don't think it's that simple. Those who have seen that person have spread rumors about him, saying that the car he drove also disappeared into thin air. I find it a bit strange!" another man in the room said.
"You're overthinking it. What era is this? You still believe in such things?" The middle-aged woman walked to the wine cabinet and poured another glass of wine for the young man.
"You too. Does getting angry help? It's just a matter of time. Since that person entered in this manner, he must be here to cause trouble for us. Everyone just be careful."
"I just examined the state of the two guards at the gate. They both had needle-sized wounds on their foreheads, but they weren't caused by metal. The only possibility is an ice needle," the man with gold-rimmed glasses said, rubbing his temples, feeling a headache.
"Ice needle? What level of ice ability can condense ice into the shape of a needle and use it to pierce a person's skull?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard of it, but the person from the military base is said to be an ice-element ability user, and he was already at ninth tier long ago."
"Didn't that person say he always stayed in his room and never came out? Our people went there before, wanting to buy a weapon, but that person never showed himself."
"Let everyone be careful these days."
"How many days has Gui Tou and the others been out?" the young man asked, getting up and walking to the window to look outside.
"About a week. They should be back soon."
"Well, after they return, we shouldn't go out either. That kid is in the city, a hidden danger."
The two people inside the room nodded in agreement.
Of their six organizations, only three teams went out to collect supplies each time. Of course, it wasn't all members of the three organizations who went out, but rather the leaders of the three organizations, each leading a portion of their own people out of the city. Meanwhile, the leaders of the remaining three organizations would always stay in the city to oversee things.
This was also to prevent high-level ability users or the military from trying to attack [Luòtuō Chéng].
The ability levels of the leaders of these organizations had already reached seventh tier. Therefore, having three seventh-tier individuals guarding the city each time was enough to fend off those who wanted to challenge them.
Just as the young man was about to leave the window, a gust of wind suddenly blew outside. The wind carried various light objects high into the air, and some less securely fastened iron roofs creaked and groaned under the force of the wind.
"What's going on?" The middle-aged woman heard the noise and quickly walked to the window to look outside.
"We've never had such strong winds here..."
"Bang!"
"Crash!"
An iron sheet from a roof was finally lifted and smashed violently outside the window where they were, interrupting the middle-aged woman's words. The fragile glass window shattered.
The young man and the woman instinctively took a step back. Then, the woman activated her ability, and a high wall woven from vines immediately formed in front of them, blocking the scattered glass fragments.
"It's not natural wind, it's a wind-element ability user..."
Just as the young man finished speaking, they clearly heard a sharp bird cry from the sky above.
"Could it be an ability animal attacking us?"