"Allow me to introduce Qin Ye. I found this young man in a small southern town where many survivors were in good condition. I lent them a hand.
This child is here to learn piloting skills. Find someone to teach him thoroughly and quickly, as he needs to return to his town... "
After giving his instructions, Lu Heng departed, leaving Lin Yu to arrange Qin Ye's stay as he saw fit.
He wanted to quickly test out some ideas he had while in the small town.
Watching Lu Heng leave, Lin Yu smiled warmly at Qin Ye. "Hello, I'm Lin Yu, the deputy city lord of this Nameless City. You were a high school student before the apocalypse, weren't you?"
"Yes, if it weren't for the zombies, I would have graduated this July. I'd probably be cramming for exams right now."
"Then we're in the same year. I'm also a senior."
"Your city is really well-built. I saw many weapons mounted at the city gate just now. Could I take a look if I have the chance?"
"Of course. Brother Lu just mentioned that he helped build the city walls for you. You can check out the defensive layout here later and see if there's anything you can learn from."
The two chatted more and more easily, finding common ground as peers.
...
Lu Heng left Nameless City again, this time seemingly in a hurry.
He sought out a city with a high concentration of zombies, a place where there were likely no human survivors. Few survivors dared to venture into such zombie-infested areas now.
From high in the air, Lu Heng demarcated the city into several concentric zones. He intended to cultivate zombies here, making them fight each other to breed a batch that met his requirements.
He needed high-grade crystals, and this seemed to be the only way. Relying on natural zombie evolution would be too slow.
However, the cultivated zombies could not escape his control, so he had to isolate and seal off the area. At the very least, any high-grade zombies that appeared within would be confined.
In the innermost area, he razed all buildings to the ground. The surface looked as if it had been freshly renovated, with a thick layer of hard soil seamlessly integrated with the surrounding walls.
After sealing off the zombie-infested city, Lu Heng released Lin Xue.
Following Lu Heng's instructions, Lin Xue began to screen the zombies within the city.
The very center was populated by Level 4 zombies, which would serve as the ultimate progenitors.
Then, the lower-level zombies started to kill each other in other parts of the city. Lin Xue directed the zombies to absorb the crystals from their fallen comrades, thus creating higher-level zombies.
As the zombies continuously fought and perished, the once dense population within the city thinned out. Soon, only Level 4 zombies remained, along with piles of dismembered zombie limbs.
Observing the reduced zombie population, now only a third of its original size, Lu Heng had Lin Xue drive the remaining zombies into the second isolation zone.
The zombies on the outer perimeter quickly gathered and began to slowly advance towards the innermost layer.
Upon receiving Lin Xue's command, the zombies within the inner zone launched relentless attacks on the incoming zombies.
The zombie hordes were directed with a plan, constantly devouring their own kind and evolving. Gradually, the zombies in the city were condensed into several dozen Level 8 zombies.
"Master, they're trying to persuade me to let them out."
Lin Xue stood outside the innermost perimeter wall, having been inside the city directing the surrounding zombies to fight each other.
The intelligence of Level 8 zombies was already quite high, and some had even regained human emotions.
Yet, even so, these Level 8 zombies were strongly suppressed by Lin Xue, unable to muster any resistance.
But a lack of resistance didn't mean they wouldn't try to persuade Lin Xue in other ways.
They could submit, but they always wanted to dominate lower-level zombies. With their newfound intelligence, they craved power even more.
—It seems these zombies cannot be further enhanced. The highest they can be condensed to is Level 8. Any higher might cause them to become uncontrollable by Lin Xue.
Still, several dozen Level 8 crystals were a significant amount. With these crystals, Lu Heng felt he could open another passage within his space.
"You can go back now."
With a thought, Lu Heng recalled Lin Xue into his space.
He flew back into the air, observing the zombies below, now without Lin Xue's control. They were attempting to break through the walls Lu Heng had created.
Some plant-type zombies were even manipulating plants, trying to create a soft ladder to climb over the high walls.
Lu Heng did not linger to observe the zombies below. After a brief icy rain, Lu Heng harvested the dozens of Level 8 zombies, collecting their crystals into his space.
The changes in the zombies today made him feel a slight apprehension towards Lin Xue.
Every time Lu Heng leveled up, Lin Xue inexplicably leveled up to the maximum level as well. Lu Heng was certain that the demon crystals he absorbed did not contain the energy for Lin Xue's recovery ability.
Logically, demon crystals were energy bodies with attributes. Absorbing a certain demon crystal would only enhance a corresponding psychic ability attribute. Yet, Lin Xue was unaffected by these attributes.
The Director had maintained a level of ten for a long time before Lu Heng absorbed the crystal from the mutated crocodile in the apocalypse, as it had not encountered any mental-attribute demon crystals.
Now, his communication with Lin Xue was completely unimpeded, and Lin Xue's intelligence was on par with an adult.
Fortunately, he still had the Director's mind-reading ability, which allowed him to perceive Lin Xue's inner thoughts.
He would have to absorb these Level 8 crystals quickly to increase the level of his mind-reading ability.
Over the next few days, Lu Heng continued this method, obtaining numerous Level 8 crystals and clearing out several cities of zombies.
However, zombies were highly mobile. Many zombies, lacking consciousness, would wander aimlessly, so it was possible for zombies to reappear in a city that had been cleared.
Seeing that he had collected enough, Lu Heng stopped killing zombies and returned to his space.
Back in his space, Lu Heng sat at several road exits and began to absorb the energy from the Level 8 crystals.
Based on the probability of crystal consumption during previous upgrades, Lu Heng made an estimation. However, without any prompt for another upgrade, he was unsure of his current psychic ability level when opening these passages.
Each time he absorbed what he estimated to be the required amount of crystals, he would use his vines to probe the remaining two exits.
After absorbing more than half of the Level 8 crystals, a vine finally pierced through one of the exits.
Gazing at the spatial exit on the other side, Lu Heng tidied his clothes. He then walked around to the front of the exit and stepped through.