Ultimately, most people chose to remain in Wuming City.
Some, who had tasted the benefits of the lawless life in the apocalypse and craved freedom, chose to leave.
Most of these individuals felt that with their own abilities, they could obtain more resources by killing zombies, rather than waiting for the average distribution from Wuming City.
They had also endured the first, most difficult winter, and were confident that they could go further in the apocalypse.
Lu Heng did not make things difficult for these people. Although they had "laid low" in Wuming City for a winter under its protection, consuming a considerable amount of resources, they had, to some extent, brought back a good amount of resources for Wuming City during the recent spring battle.
Allowing these disobedient individuals to leave was also a good opportunity for Wuming City to clear out unstable elements within its ranks.
After re-counting the remaining personnel in Wuming City, there were 150,000 combat personnel left, and nearly 20,000 people who could not become ability users, mostly family members of others.
Lu Heng created new identity files for those who remained in Wuming City and reorganized all those with combat capabilities, maintaining the team size of five hundred people per squad.
With the overall upgrade, everyone in the city was overjoyed, feeling that staying in Wuming City was the most correct choice.
Those ability users who brought their families felt even more that thanks to Wuming City, they could provide a better life for themselves and their families.
Considering that the zombie levels outside were generally between Level Four and Level Five, with many below Level Three, while they had all been upgraded to Level Six, a squad of five hundred people would find it much easier to conquer even a medium-sized city and kill zombies.
Moreover, the squad captains had been upgraded to Level Eight. Even if they encountered the mutated zombies that Lu Heng had mentioned before, they would hardly suffer any casualties.
In this apocalypse, surviving was an incredibly difficult feat. With absolute level suppression, survival would no longer be an unimaginable task.
"Brother Lu, everyone has been upgraded according to the plan. Of course, we have also assigned tasks to the elderly and children," Lin Yu said, looking at the report in his hand and speaking to Lu Heng, who was opposite him fiddling with a set of equipment.
"Mm, later, equip all combat personnel with a set of equipment and weapons."
"Equip over a hundred thousand people?" Lin Yu was once again astonished by Lu Heng's generosity.
"What's the big deal? I'll get the equipment this afternoon. You distribute it to them later, and remember to instruct them to wear it at all times except when sleeping."
"Alright. Brother Lu is generous. It's impossible for our Wuming City to remain unknown now."
"By the way, did you find the veterinarian you were looking for?" Lu Heng put away the equipment on the table into his spatial storage, picked up a cup of well water, and sat on the sofa.
"Found them. There are indeed five veterinarians. Two are veterinarians from zoos before the apocalypse, and three are doctors from pet hospitals."
"Mm, bring them all. The Siberian tiger is pregnant, and she's carrying quite a few, three cubs. I estimate she'll give birth in about a month."
"The Siberian tiger is pregnant? Whose cubs?" Lin Yu was shocked. He knew that Lu Heng had contracted a group of animals, but he was still young and didn't understand these things.
"Who else could it be? You don't think tigers and leopards can mate, do you?"
"Can't they? They're always together, so it's inevitable that something might happen?"
Lu Heng lightly tapped Lin Yu's head, saying with a hint of amusement, "Your thought process is truly peculiar. I checked the information, and it says the genetic differences between tigers and leopards are quite significant, so it's unlikely."
"Is that so? Aren't they all big cats? How could that happen?"
"Alright, don't worry about them. Remember to find those veterinarians and arrange for them to stay on the first floor."
Just as the two were lively discussing Wuming City's recent outbound combat plans, the supervisor guarding the outer city suddenly reported.
Pingcheng had just reported that Pingcheng was attacked by a zombie horde last night. They resisted until morning, but the zombie horde showed no signs of retreating, and they were on the verge of collapse, thus requesting support from Wuming City.
"Where are the people from Pingcheng?"
"They are still in the瓮城 (weng cheng - a secondary defensive wall or barbican). They came by helicopter."
"Alright, I'll go over now. You comfort them first." Lin Yu nodded to the messenger, then turned to Lu Heng and asked, "Brother Lu, what do you think we should do?"
"It's likely that we didn't clear out the zombies in that city and around Wuming City, and now Wuming City, like Pingcheng, is being attacked by zombies," Lu Heng said, putting down his water cup and standing up. "Let's go and inquire about the situation first. Support is definitely necessary. You make arrangements and have the squads in the city prepare to be on standby at any time."
After speaking, Lu Heng released the Golden Eagle and instructed it to maintain vigilance at high altitude. If it detected a large number of zombies moving towards Wuming City, it was to notify him immediately.
Soon, Lu Heng, Lin Yu, and a group of Wuming City's high-ranking personnel gathered on the second floor of the瓮城. The outer city guard saluted Lin Yu, "Reporting, City Lord Lin. Another helicopter, claiming to be from Longcheng, just landed in the瓮城, stating that they are also under a large-scale zombie siege."
"Alright, open the gate first, and we'll go inside to understand the situation. Also, raise Wuming City's alert level, and be constantly vigilant against surprise attacks from surrounding zombies. Assign long-range ability users to take shifts in three rotations."
When the gate connecting the outer city and the瓮城 was opened, Lu Heng and the management team entered the瓮城. Seeing the figures leaning against the two helicopters parked nearby, they couldn't help but feel the seriousness of the situation.
The people who came to seek aid were all wearing military uniforms, but they exuded exhaustion, and each of them had dried unknown liquids on their bodies to varying degrees, which caused a sense of nausea from a distance.
Seeing the gate connecting to the瓮城 opened, the two groups excitedly rushed to Lu Heng and his team, eagerly recounting the information they brought.
"Reporting, City Lord Lu, I am sent by Commander Zhao Kai of Pingcheng to seek aid. We have been resisting zombie attacks all night, we..."
"Which one is City Lord Lin Yu? I am sent by Lin Zhongshan..."
"One by one, please state the situation of your respective bases when you left, in order of arrival." Lu Heng glanced at the people from Longcheng. At this time, they were still trying to build connections. Although building connections would have some effect, Lu Heng could not show too much favoritism.