Returning to Nameless City, Lu Heng stood in the room, clearly sensing the movements of people throughout the city.
While not yet at the point where he could hear people's thoughts from a great distance, within the inner city, Lu Heng could probe the inner thoughts of people in certain areas if he wished.
However, these inner voices were too chaotic. After all, the population of the inner city had increased, and hearing the thoughts of many people at once made Lu Heng feel somewhat unaccustomed.
He stood by the windowsill for a while, Lu Heng filtered out some useless information channels and sensed the emotional fluctuations of the people around him. He didn't hear any malicious thoughts.
It seemed that the personnel in the inner city had been carefully selected.
It made sense, considering that the people chosen back then were all personally vetted by the Director.
Thinking of the Director, Lu Heng couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. It had been so long since he'd left the space, why hadn't that guy, the Director, shown up yet?
Sensing the Director's location, Lu Heng found that the Director was actually in the outer city.
Summoning Lu Bai again and having him change into casual wear, Lu Heng took him to the outer city to find the Director.
Walking through the city, Lu Heng looked at the busy yet orderly people with deep satisfaction. It seemed Lin Yu had managed Nameless City very well during this time.
Lu Heng found the Director in a conference room within the mission hall.
The Director was sitting next to Lin Yu, grooming its paws.
Seeing Lu Heng enter, the Director didn't react much. It had sensed Lu Heng's presence from the moment he appeared in Nameless City. It knew Lu Heng would come looking soon, and who could blame it, for being so beautiful.
"Master." The Director's soft voice was heard, and Lin Yu and the other personnel present were also looking towards the door.
At this moment, everyone in the conference room was a key member of Nameless City. In front of the conference room was a projector displaying some images and text.
"You continue, I'll just listen from the side." Lu Heng pulled Lu Bai to a corner and sat down, also beginning to examine the content on the projector.
Lin Yu nodded to a person below, who immediately understood and continued the topic they had been discussing.
The Director jumped down from Lin Yu's side and waddled towards Lu Heng. Reaching Lu Heng, it gathered its strength and leaped into his arms.
Only then did it seem to notice Lu Bai, its large eyes glancing at him. It then began to rub itself against Lu Heng's chest.
With the meeting still in progress, the Director was perceptive enough not to make a sound. It communicated with Lu Heng telepathically, "Master, I missed you so much."
Lu Heng hadn't seen the Director for a while either. He stroked its fur a couple of times, noting that the texture was indeed a bit different from when Lu Bai transformed into a fox.
"Do you really miss me?"
"Mhm." The Director nodded affirmatively and extended its pink tongue to lick Lu Heng's hand.
"Master, I feel like you guys have gotten stronger again. Why haven't I changed at all?"
"Uh, I haven't found any crystals or other substances that can increase your level, so you can only remain at this level for now." Lu Heng picked up the Director's paw and looked at it. "You need a nail trim."
"No! These are my only life-saving weapons. They all have offensive power, but I can only wave my paws. If Master trims my nails too short, I'll be at a disadvantage in fights."
"Who were you fighting?" Lu Heng seized on the key point.
"Fat Tiger. I don't know what's gotten into that guy. Whenever I get close to the Siberian Tiger, it pushes me away. I don't know what it's jealous about, I'm a female cat, you know."
"Is that so? Then I'll teach it a lesson for you later. Little animals should play together."
"But the Siberian Tiger has really gotten quite plump lately. Its belly is so round, I feel like it's as round as two Fat Tigers combined..."
Inside the conference room, the image on the projector suddenly caught Lu Heng's attention. It appeared to be footage from a drone. The screen showed a vast horde of zombies standing densely packed, all facing the same direction.
"Stop. Where was this footage taken? And zoom in on the time." Lu Heng suddenly spoke.
Instinctively, the person controlling the projector paused the image and then adjusted the time display to a size that everyone could clearly see.
"This is footage from two days ago, taken in some distant areas. The location... is to the southeast. We still need to confirm the specific city," Lin Yu replied, looking at the image with some confusion.
He didn't see anything unusual in the footage. In cities where zombies weren't systematically cleared, the zombie population was often very large, so seeing a mass of zombies didn't strike them as particularly unusual.
Before the new year, they had cleared out the towns close to Nameless City, so there weren't many zombies in the surrounding areas.
As the weather gradually warmed, they planned to organize teams to venture further out to kill zombies. This would not only eliminate zombies but also yield more crystals for upgrades.
After all, besides those whose levels were forcibly increased by Lu Heng using magic crystals, many people still had relatively low ability levels, and killing zombies was a long-term task.
"Find out this location as soon as possible. Didn't you notice anything unusual? Restore the image to the previous frame." Lu Heng spoke again.
"You see, the direction these zombies are facing, they are all standing in one direction, and they are all very quiet, with no signs of agitation from seeing humans. This situation is very abnormal."
If they had seen prey and the zombies were moving in one direction, it would have made sense. But now, all the zombies were stationary, only occasionally swaying in place.
"Is there a high-level zombie attracting them?" Lin Yu reacted immediately upon seeing the footage.
"Yes, so pinpoint this location as quickly as possible. I'll go take a look."
Lin Yu nodded and immediately gave a few instructions to someone present. The person, having received the order, got up and left the conference room.
"Alright, you continue." Lin Yu glanced at Lu Heng, who nodded back at him.
The footage on the projector continued, but now everyone present had a solemn expression. It was clear that the previous image had made them realize the seriousness of the situation.
The meeting continued for about another hour before concluding. Lu Heng didn't see anything else particularly noteworthy.
The main content of their meeting this time was the plan for the city's teams to go out and kill zombies once the weather warmed up. After a winter of not going out to kill zombies, everyone had become a bit rusty.