"So that's how it is. Let me examine your eyes."
Chen Dong took a flashlight and shone it repeatedly into Lin Xue's eyes, observing the changes in her pupils.
"Zombie eyeballs are very different from human eyes. Human pupils are originally transparent. We also observed the low-level zombies before. Their pupils all turned white. Although they were removed separately, we found that some cells in the eyeballs still seemed to have activity..."
"Its eyeballs do react to light. When I shone the flashlight, the muscles around its eyes visibly contracted. However, specific details still require further research..."
"Get some blood drawn for examination. Since it can self-repair, perhaps its blood contains antibodies."
"Mm." Chen Dong nodded. He couldn't make definitive judgments on many things immediately and needed to discuss them with everyone.
Today, they would focus on sampling. Perhaps, as Lu Heng suggested, studying Lin Xue's blood could lead to antibodies against the zombies. After all, its ability to self-repair already made it a special existence.
Watching the black blood gradually fill seven or eight blood collection tubes, Chen Dong then smiled sheepishly at Lu Heng, "Haha, I couldn't help myself."
"Mm, this blood shouldn't be too much. It's rare to have a living zombie that you can draw so much blood from. Cherish these opportunities."
"I know, I know. But, can I take some tissue samples too?"
Lu Heng looked at Lin Xue, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, "Go ahead."
Chen Dong had Lin Xue place her arm behind a partition. This way, if the tissue was cut open directly, blood might splatter. It was better to take samples in a contained area.
Soon, Chen Dong cut a small piece of flesh and blood from Lin Xue's arm. The pale tissue was stained with black blood. Fortunately, Lin Xue's arm quickly healed, leaving no scar. Lin Xue, like ordinary zombies, felt no pain from bodily harm.
"Alright, you can keep these for research. However, Lin Xue's blood and tissue must be handled with care and not disclosed. Do not let unfamiliar, newly recruited researchers come into contact with them."
Lu Heng had already received many researchers for zombie virus studies. Many were recently recruited by Wuming City specifically for external recruitment.
However, the character of these individuals was sometimes difficult to ascertain. The Director had also made appropriate assessments of these people. Some were too fanatical about scientific research, but often these were the ones who could achieve breakthroughs. Therefore, everything had its pros and cons, and one needed to look at things long-term.
But Lin Xue's situation was still something new personnel should not be exposed to.
Returning to his resting place in the inner city, Lu Heng was very satisfied with Lin Xue's performance today. She had been quiet and cooperative.
"Do you have any desire to consume raw meat and blood now?"
"No, Master," Lin Xue communicated with Lu Heng via telepathy.
Ever since Lu Heng took Lin Xue into his space, he occasionally gave her some pork or pork blood, but these were always processed meat and congealed pork blood.
Lin Xue would eat them every time, but she never actively asked Lu Heng to provide them.
She would eat if Lu Heng fed her, but showed no craving if he didn't. Sometimes, when released, she would see animals all over the room but would quietly show no longing for them.
Lin Xue was currently still under control.
After locking Lin Xue back into her room, Lu Heng held a bag of blood plasma in his hand. This was human blood plasma, and there was plenty of it in the space hospital's blood bank, an inexhaustible supply.
Yet, even so, he had not tried to provide it to Lin Xue. He wanted to change Lin Xue's craving for blood and flesh. If he never provided these, she, as a living dead, would not die.
...
In the following days, Lu Heng began absorbing the crystals of level six and above from his space. Although there weren't many, Lu Heng had accumulated some from previous kills.
Lu Heng sat downstairs in the apartment building within his space, facing the other several entrances.
After absorbing the energy from the crystals of level six and above, Lu Heng could still sense the contained energy, but this energy only lasted for a moment. The energy within was like a single drop of water added to the vast ocean for Lu Heng at his current level.
Soon, all the high-level crystals were absorbed by Lu Heng. Lu Heng looked at the seemingly unchanged scenery before him and fell into deep thought.
Exploring other realms was too difficult for him at the moment.
Perhaps he should go out and kill zombies himself?
Just waiting for people in the city to help him find them seemed too arduous.
"Sigh."
After countless sighs, Lu Heng decided that he too would go out and kill zombies. He didn't have to do it himself; he had so many contracted beasts. Normally, he just needed the rock hyrax to take him to his destination, then release Lin Xue to gather the zombies, and then his beasts would encircle and kill them, eliminating the zombies in minutes.
"Mm, indeed, staying cooped up in the space every day isn't right. It's a complete waste."
Although he had wanted to lay low for a while, seeing the few inaccessible spaces before him reignited his motivation.
He pulled out a combat map from Lin Yu and his team, avoided their chosen routes, and planned to find more remote areas.
These remote areas didn't mean there were no zombies. As long as there were places where humans originally lived, there would be zombies. The zombie virus had erupted comprehensively back then.
When there were still internet and television broadcasts, Lu Heng could see many foreign programs. Foreign countries had also experienced outbreaks at the same time.
However, Lu Heng didn't have the goal of developing abroad right now. He wanted to first control the zombies in his own country, at least rescue the survivors.
After selecting a location, Lu Heng informed Lin Yu. Then, he left Director and a female rock hyrax to Lin Yu.
With a Director who could speak and a rock hyrax that was also a contracted beast, Lin Yu and his team would definitely have no problem communicating.
"Brother Lu, if you give me this rock hyrax, how will you go out?" Lin Yu looked at the noticeably smaller female rock hyrax and didn't realize it wasn't the one Lu Heng rode every day.
"This one is for you later, but you need to find a place for it to live." Lin Yu's storage accessories couldn't store these living creatures.
"No, I mean, you're leaving it to me, you, huh?"
Lu Heng summoned Da Lang. Seeing the two rock hyraxes of clearly different sizes, Lin Yu finally realized that Lu Heng possessed two giant flying birds.