Lu Heng nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the obedient Lin Yu. This child, like many others, might not have had the chance to kill zombies at first, or perhaps dared not. But once the zombies' levels increased, even if they wanted to kill them, they would no longer have the ability.
Naturally, without the ability to kill zombies, they wouldn't have the opportunity to obtain crystals for upgrades, which is why they were reduced to ordinary survivors.
Lu Heng looked again at the crowd being driven out of the city and said, "Now, this [Fallen City] is under my control. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to try and take it, but you must also be prepared to pay the price for your actions.
Of course, survivors will be welcomed here in the future, but I don't accept just anyone. The zombies outside have generally reached level four.
I am now only accepting ability users of level four and above. Those without the ability must find a way to upgrade themselves.
Ability users of level four are very welcome to join me.
My only requirement for those who join is loyalty. Don't blame me for not warning you; if you have ulterior motives, don't come here to throw your lives away.
The people below are your predecessors.
Of course, like other shelters, there are standards to join. For those who wish to reside here long-term, each person must provide me with four level-four ordinary crystals daily. I will grant points for the crystals you provide, which you can then exchange for food, meat, clothing, medicine, medical treatment, and other supplies and benefits within my shelter."
As soon as Lu Heng finished speaking, the crowd below began to murmur, "If you're talking about food and clothing, we can believe that. Meat, hehe, how long has it been since the apocalypse? Where can there be fresh meat? The meat you're talking about wouldn't be from your mutated animals, would it?"
The moment the person finished speaking, his head was immediately pierced by an ice needle.
The murmuring crowd fell silent again.
"I don't need you to question it. If you don't believe me, you don't have to come."
"Lin Yu, come here." Lu Heng called out to the boy who had finished collecting the crystals.
Lin Yu did not hesitate. Upon hearing Lu Heng's summons, he immediately returned to Lu Heng's side.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, my name is Lu Heng." With that, Lu Heng turned and, without looking back, led his pets and Lin Yu back into [Fallen City].
The crowd, who had been driven out of [Fallen City], watched the receding figures and exchanged glances.
Seeing that it was already afternoon and night would fall soon, they needed to find a place to shelter quickly. However, with so many people expelled at once, finding a safe place was not easy.
Some considered returning to [Fallen City], as it was the nearest shelter. But they now completely feared approaching Lu Heng. Lu Heng's repeated killings had terrified them with his iron-fisted methods, making them afraid to speak to him again.
Many others did not meet Lu Heng's recruitment standards. After abandoning the idea of entering the city, they dispersed to find places to spend the night.
...
Back inside the city, Lu Heng arranged for the mutated animals to guard the city, primarily to prevent any zombies from entering.
The little blood wolf directly erected a stone wall outside the main gate, sealing off the entire entrance and exit.
Golden eagles and the others were responsible for patrolling the perimeter of the city walls. Previously, there were several guards stationed at intervals along these walls. Now that Lu Heng had no one available, he had to rely on the golden eagles and the others for vigilance.
Lu Heng, with Lin Yu, did not go far. They found a house near the city gate to spend the night, to guard against zombie attacks or retaliation from the remaining three seventh-tier ability users.
The rooms within the city had all been emptied by Lu Heng, so these houses were quite bare. Lu Heng waved his hand again, and a European-style sofa appeared out of nowhere in the center of the living room.
Ignoring the astonished Lin Yu, Lu Heng, along with the Director and Kamesen, sat on the largest sofa.
These two were too slow to run and not suitable for patrolling, so Lu Heng kept them by his side.
"This is for you." Lu Heng waved his hand, and a small box appeared on the sofa on the other side, filled with level one and two ordinary crystals.
Then, as if remembering something, another piece of milky white stone materialized on the sofa.
"Lin Yu, come sit here. Place your hand on this stone first."
Lin Yu obediently walked over and sat down. He placed his hand on the milky white stone, and soon the stone emitted a dazzling purple light.
"Heh." It seemed he had found a treasure. Lu Heng's lips curved into a smile unconsciously.
"Take this." Lu Heng took out a level-one magic crystal from his embrace and handed it to Lin Yu.
He also wanted to test the differences between magic crystals and ordinary crystals.
Lin Yu obediently swallowed the magic crystal. Soon, he received information transmitted to his mind: enlightenment in fire, ice, and wood elements.
Lin Yu's eyes widened as he looked at Lu Heng, not understanding what the fleeting information in his mind meant.
"Don't worry about that for now. Take another twenty level-one crystals."
Twenty level-one crystals were enough to elevate Lin Yu to tier one.
After being rescued by Lu Heng, Lin Yu completely trusted all of Lu Heng's decisions. He carried out everything Lu Heng said without any hesitation.
Lu Heng was also very satisfied with having such an obedient subordinate. Moreover, through mind-reading, he could accurately determine whether others were truly devoted to him.
Lin Yu quickly absorbed the twenty level-one crystals. Then, just like other ability users when upgrading, a sharp pain surged through his mind. Unable to bear the piercing headache, Lin Yu clutched his head and trembled.
After the brief headache subsided, Lin Yu was surprised to feel a crystal appear in his mind, just like the ones he had extracted from the brains of the deceased ability users.
However, the crystal in his mind first flashed with a weak, faint blue light, followed by green light, and then ice-blue light.
He was somewhat confused. The prompt in his mind had just indicated fire, ice, and wood elements, yet the crystal's position flashed sequentially with two slightly different blue lights and a faint green glow.
However, he didn't rush to ask, believing Lu Heng would explain it to him.
"You are now a tier-one ability user, and you should have a prompt in your mind indicating enlightenment in fire, ice, and wood elements."
After consuming the magic crystal and receiving the enlightenment prompt, Lu Heng was able to see the level information of cultivators with lower levels than him.
However, Lin Yu, who was now a tier-one ability user, did not have an enlightenment level prompt. Only his elemental attributes after consuming a magic crystal were displayed.
This further validated that the levels in the apocalypse were lower than the levels in the other world.