Lu Heng returned to Nameless City with the contracted Roc.
This Roc possessed no special abilities. In the other world, it was merely favored for its ease of domestication, substantial size, and ability to fly, leading many to tame them as flying mounts for cargo and passengers.
Lu Heng had long intended to tame a flying creature capable of carrying him. However, even mutated flying beasts in the apocalypse were far from large enough to bear a human.
The first time he saw the human-carrying Roc in the other world, he had indeed considered forming a contract. But he later learned that this magical beast had no elemental attributes, classifying it as the lowest tier of magical beasts, which caused him to abandon the idea.
After all, there was a limit to the number of animals he could contract, and he was reluctant to casually contract a creature without any special abilities.
Patting the Roc's large head, Lu Heng communicated with it mentally, needing to explain a few things to the beast from another world beforehand to prevent it from panicking and throwing him from the sky.
"From now on, you are my exclusive flying mount. Every few days, I will feed you that delicious meat.
However, there are some things I need to tell you first. This world is quite different from where you lived before. Look at the one next to you; that thing can also fly. Don't worry, it's not as good as you. You are zero-fuel-consumption per hundred kilometers."
Seeing Lu Heng mention other flying objects, the Roc became agitated, eager to showcase its own advantages. Lu Heng quickly soothed it.
Although the Roc did not understand many of the words Lu Heng was speaking, nor did it comprehend what "zero-fuel-consumption" or "world" meant, it understood one thing: following its master meant delicious meat, and its master said it could eat it every few days.
"Many things in this world will make loud noises, so you need to be mentally prepared. Don't panic when you hear loud noises. As long as you fly high enough, nothing can harm you."
Afterward, Lu Heng summoned Lin Xue and had the Roc smell her scent.
While Lin Xue, with her body's recovery ability, did not emit the same rotten stench as the zombies outside, as a zombie, she still carried a faint odor.
This scent, though undetectable by humans after Lu Heng had her spray copious amounts of perfume, was still perceptible to animals like the Roc, whose sense of smell had not degenerated like humans. They could still detect the faint smell of decay.
Therefore, Lin Xue, standing before the Roc, had just bathed. After washing off the strong perfume, the Roc indeed caught the whiff of that rotten smell.
It recoiled a couple of steps in fear, its massive body pressing against a small building.
"Don't be afraid. This is Lin Xue. Like you, she is a creature I have contracted. She will not harm you. However, there are many creatures like her in the outside world. You must be wary and absolutely do not get injured by those creatures. Once you are injured by those animals that emit a rotten smell, you will also become as smelly as them."
Lin Xue tilted her head and looked at Lu Heng, "Master, Lin Xue is not smelly."
After speaking, Lin Xue fumbled in her pocket and sprayed the liquid inside onto herself. In an instant, the remaining half-bottle of liquid was used up, and Lin Xue began to emit a strong rose fragrance.
"Cough, cough, cough. Alright, you can return to the space now."
With a thought, Lu Heng recalled Lin Xue into his space. He had specifically created a separate area for Lin Xue within his space. It was a large room, but she had no contact with other contracted animals. Lin Xue could not leave the room Lu Heng had created, so he wasn't worried about other animals being accidentally harmed by her.
Lu Heng then looked back at the Roc. The Roc was once again overwhelmed by the strong perfume. Animals like them had sensitive olfactory senses, and suddenly encountering such an intense scent made it feel extremely uncomfortable.
However, there was nowhere else to retreat to, so it currently had its head tucked beneath its wings for cover.
Seeing this, Lu Heng waved his arms, using his wind ability to disperse the lingering perfume.
"I contracted you today because I want you to take me to a place. I will tell you the exact location. Also, do not make any noise here. If you make a sound, you will attract those smelly creatures."
After giving the Roc a brief explanation, Lu Heng hopped onto its back and accessed the offline navigation feature on his phone, entering the location of Dragon City.
As the Roc spread its wings, it suddenly ascended several dozen feet, hovering in mid-air, awaiting Lu Heng's instructions.
Lu Heng adjusted the direction and altitude of their flight. At this height, level-four ranged zombies could not attack them.
"Alright, let's go."
Controlling the Roc with his thoughts, Lu Heng directed it towards Dragon City.
The Roc was enormous, and its wingspan was even more astonishing when spread. Lu Heng manipulated the wind speed and airflow around the Roc, which also increased its flying speed.
Thus, a journey that would have taken a full day by car on the ground was completed in just over five hours.
It was just past three in the morning, and the sky had not yet brightened, the time when people were most fatigued.
Lu Heng observed the surroundings and had the Roc stop several thousand meters away from Dragon City.
He commanded the Roc to circle Dragon City from a distance, carefully surveying the entire layout outside the city.
Finding an open space nearby, Lu Heng cleared the area of any wandering zombies before urging the Roc to land.
"See? These are the smelly creatures I was talking about. You don't have the skill to kill them, so be careful. Try to stay in the air most of the time. However, you can return to the space to rest now. I will call you out again if needed."
After recalling the Roc into his space, Lu Heng collected the crystals from the zombies he had killed nearby and stored them. He had observed the city walls of Dragon City; their height was similar to other bases and his own Nameless City.
Therefore, with his current abilities, he could fly over them undetected if he were alone. At worst, he could hide in his space every time he crossed a certain height. Even if someone detected him using infrared, they would perceive it as an illusion.
Within a few breaths, Lu Heng had already reached the base of the Dragon City wall. Before the wandering zombies in the vicinity could sense Lu Heng, he had already moved from his original position.
This section of the wall had no gates, so the defense here was generally weaker for most bases.
Retrieving two daggers from his space, he inserted them into the city wall on both sides, moving rapidly up the wall like a gecko.