Half an hour later, Lin Yu's movements within Nameless City were thoroughly investigated.
After confirming that Lin Yu had indeed left with the group of soldiers, Lu Heng tied a letter to the leg of a golden eagle, along with photos of those people, and sent it to Zhao Kai.
Since they were military personnel, even if they weren't Zhao Kai's people, Zhao Kai could likely quickly determine their origin from details in their uniforms or vehicles.
Soon, the level twelve golden eagle, coupled with its innate wind-elemental abilities, manipulated the surrounding wind and airflow. The golden eagle brought back the news in just two hours.
"Master, quickly take a look."
After flying back, the golden eagle extended its claws towards Lu Heng, holding a small box.
Upon opening the small box, a map was found inside, with the route between Nameless City and another city marked in red.
Below the map, a line of text was also written in red ink: "These people are from Dragon City Base, formerly the Army Unit 07583 stationed near Dragon City. It's a medium-sized regimental unit, with over three thousand people. The highest-ranking officer there is named Chen Gang, who was relatively kind before the apocalypse. I've also marked their location for you.
Also, don't say I leaked this information, you understand."
Lu Heng looked closely at the location marked on the map again. He estimated it would take about a day to drive there, which explained why Lin Yu hadn't returned today.
But why didn't he inform the director and the others?
He replayed the footage of Lin Yu meeting those people. Lin Yu looked somewhat anxious, and it seemed those people had said something to him. After that, Lin Yu directly got into their car and left the city.
After putting away the map, Lu Heng glanced at the people in the monitoring room and warned them, "Don't leak any information about these matters, or you know what your fate will be."
"We know, we definitely won't speak carelessly. Deputy City Lord Lin chose us for the monitoring room because he knew we could keep our mouths shut."
"Alright, perform your duties well. Lin Yu is a tenth-level ability user, so he'll be fine even if he leaves the city alone at night."
The others nodded in agreement.
Leaving the monitoring room, Lu Heng hurried towards the inner city. The helicopter sent by Zhao Kai was parked in the inner city.
However, it was already nighttime, and making such a loud noise within the city would inevitably attract the attention of others.
After a moment of thought, Lu Heng vanished directly from the landing site and returned to Jinyang City.
The common flying mounts in this other world were those roc-like beasts. Lu Heng planned to obtain one from Wuchenzi. Once contracted, this creature could be brought into his spatial dimension and thus into the apocalyptic world.
It was also midnight in Jinyang City, and there was a curfew. However, Lu Heng possessed instantaneous movement and, combined with the agility he acquired from the director, Lu Heng was confident he could cross the ancient city walls without being discovered.
"Hey, did a shadow just flash past?"
"No way, are you seeing things? I didn't see anything."
Two soldiers on the city wall shone their torches outwards, but the range of the torchlight was limited, and they couldn't see very far.
Hurrying along, Lu Heng could now travel several zhang with a single breath, similar to Wuchenzi. Therefore, he quickly arrived at the branch of Danyang Gate located outside the city.
Without seeking out Wuchenzi, he first went to the beast pens where the roc-like beasts were kept. Fortunately, due to their large size, these roc-like beasts were usually kept outside the manor, so the beast pens of Danyang Gate were located on the outskirts of the entire branch.
Approaching the beast pens, the disciples guarding them had already gone into the nearby courtyard to rest. Thus, only a few roc-like beasts were lying on the haystacks in the courtyard.
As Lu Heng approached, one of the roc-like beasts became a little excited and immediately got up, about to pounce on Lu Heng.
However, they were all tethered by thick iron chains around their necks. As they moved, the chains clinked together, making a clear sound.
Lu Heng quickened his pace, walked up to the roc-like beast, and gestured for it to quiet down.
But the noise that had already been made still attracted the attention of the disciple guarding the roc-like beasts.
"Who's there? These are Danyang Gate's mounts."
Lu Heng turned to look at the disciple who had rushed out of the room wearing only inner clothing, "I am Lu Heng."
The name Lu Heng was now known to everyone in Danyang Gate. Upon hearing Lu Heng announce his name, the disciple politely bowed, "It's Mr. Lu. May I ask why you are here at the beast pens so late? Are you looking for a roc-like beast to go out?"
Although the young disciple was full of confusion and couldn't understand why Lu Heng would come here alone in the middle of the night, he still asked politely.
"Yes, I do need a roc-like beast. I think this one is good. I'll borrow it first, and I'll clear it up with Wuchenzi in person another day."
"Mr. Lu is welcome to come anytime he needs to use one. I'll help you lead this one out."
The disciple hurried forward, went to the roc-like beast pointed out by Lu Heng, and helped to untie the iron chain.
Lu Heng smiled, looked at the disciple still wearing inner clothing, and handed him two level-two magic crystals, "Take these to exchange for some wine to warm yourself up. Consider it compensation for tonight."
"Mr. Lu, please take it back. This is what we disciples should do. We get academy points for doing these things every day." The disciple quickly pushed away Lu Heng's hand offering the magic crystals.
Lu Heng placed the magic crystals into the disciple's hand and then took the reins from him, "Just take it. It's so cold, and you've been out here in your inner clothing for half the night. Go back to your room."
After speaking, without looking at the disciple again, Lu Heng led the roc-like beast by the reins tied to its neck and left the beast pens.
Walking to an open area, Lu Heng mounted the roc-like beast and then controlled it to fly into the air.
Gradually moving away from inhabited areas, Lu Heng signaled the roc-like beast to find an open space to land.
This roc-like beast was the one Lu Heng had fed meat to before, so it would get very excited whenever it saw Lu Heng and would proactively approach him.
After the roc-like beast landed, Lu Heng took out another piece of meat soaked in ancient well water from his怀. "I want to contract you. You probably don't understand yet, but after contracting with me, you'll understand what's going on. Do you want to eat this meat?"
The roc-like beast tilted its head, its eyes fixed on the piece of meat in Lu Heng's hand. Lu Heng took out a silver needle, pricked his finger, and dripped a drop of blood onto the meat.
Only then did he offer the piece of meat to the roc-like beast.
"Alas, I wonder how large the tattoo-like pattern on my body will be after contracting such a large creature."