A burst of startled screams echoed through the clouds.
Liu Guodong, already past his prime, couldn't control himself, letting out screams along with Zhang Ting from time to time.
"You two, your voices are hoarse. Would you like some water?" Lu Heng took out two bottles of mineral water and handed them over.
"You, how did you do that?" Finally suppressing his shock, Liu Guodong regained a sliver of rationality, feeling the cold air of high-altitude flight disappear around him.
"By controlling the surrounding wind, that's how," Lu Heng opened a bottle of water and took a sip for himself.
"How many more skills do you have?" Zhang Ting looked at Lu Heng, her eyes filled with admiration.
"You can admire the scenery below. This kind of flying experience isn't common," Lu Heng didn't answer them, pointing to the city below.
"What scenery is there now besides zombies?" Liu Guodong looked down at the passing city with a long sigh.
"Besides zombies, don't you see anything else that might attract you?"
"What else? Looking down now, it's all zombies. Sigh, I don't want to look."
"Haven't you noticed the considerable amount of usable resources in the city? In a few more years, these things might completely decay, especially some metal substances. Without human maintenance, they are easily eroded by nature."
"So what..." Liu Guodong stopped mid-sentence, as if remembering something, and turned to look at Lu Heng.
"You mean, these resources need to be collected quickly? But how easy is it to collect them, with our current abilities..."
"You'll have a new understanding of these things when you reach Wuming City. Mining and smelting those resources are not easy to begin with. With all production processes currently halted, we should accelerate the collection of these existing resources."
"Hmm, perhaps things will truly be different in Wuming City." Liu Guodong held the mineral water in his hand without opening it. These seemingly insignificant supplies from before the apocalypse had now become incredibly precious.
Soon, Lu Heng and his companions returned to Wuming City on the Roc, flying directly over the outer city into the inner city.
The moment they saw Wuming City, Liu Guodong and Zhang Ting felt immense relief, realizing how correct their previous decision had been. Being incorporated into a city like Wuming City was more beneficial than detrimental to them.
The area outside Wuming City was very open, not only because there were no buildings that could provide hiding places for zombies, but also because the visible traps surrounding the city gave the two a new understanding of Lu Heng.
As the Roc flew towards Wuming City, after crossing the high city walls, they saw the orderly personnel and city management within. Wisps of smoke occasionally rose from the rooftops of some buildings, likely from people cooking. This was rare in the apocalypse where food and supplies were scarce. Having flown over many cities during their journey, even those that seemed to have human activity showed no signs of the leisurely atmosphere of cooking smoke.
"Aren't you worried about attracting zombies when you cook here?"
"Why would you think that? Zombies don't eat. If there are many people in the city, the smell of human flesh alone can attract them. What does cooking have to do with it?" Lu Heng dismounted the Roc, and a vine ladder extended from its back.
"We saw many places with human activity along the way, but they hardly ever cooked."
"That's probably because they don't have enough food."
"This?"
"Alright, let's meet the others here. If anything comes up in the future, you'll need to coordinate with them. I usually don't handle the city's day-to-day affairs." Lu Heng waved towards Lin Yu and others who were approaching from not far away.
"This is Lin Yu, he's also the city lord. Oh, I forgot to mention, this Wuming City is my private property, so they all call me City Lord Lu."
"Hello, I'm Lin Yu." Lin Yu smiled at Lu Heng, then extended his hand towards Liu Guodong and Zhang Ting, who were wearing military uniforms.
"Hello, I'm Liu Guodong."
"Hello, I'm Zhang Ting."
Then, the two also introduced themselves to each other with Lin Yu and the others.
"Alright, the people from the space base should be arriving soon. Please make arrangements. I had one transport plane here before, so that makes a total of nine planes, carrying over twenty thousand people. Please arrange for them." 138 Reading Network
"Oh, and I also promised to upgrade their abilities." Some of the scientists were quite old, but letting them age indefinitely until death would be a considerable loss for the surviving humans. After all, it was difficult to cultivate a person capable of scientific research in any field, especially in this era where everyone was on edge. Cultivating such talent would be even more challenging.
"Use magic crystals for those older scientists," Lu Heng quietly instructed Lin Yu. As long as they had enhanced abilities or could cultivate in this new world, their physical condition would far surpass that of ordinary people. He couldn't say how many years it would extend their lives, but at least it would make them healthier and reduce the pain of age-related illnesses.
"Okay, but Brother Lu, we've also finished incorporating Pingcheng. We've screened the personnel there, and there are no issues." After arranging the reception of the new arrivals, Lin Yu left with Lu Heng. He knew that Lu Heng wouldn't inquire about these details.
"Hmm, this batch is also from the original direct military personnel. Reorganize those with combat capabilities. As for those involved in research, arrange a separate courtyard for them at the research center. I have some new things for them to study." As they spoke and walked, Lu Heng and the others returned to the small courtyard where they lived.
"What new things? Aren't they aerospace researchers?" Lin Yu had a general understanding of their original work from the letter Lu Heng gave him.
"Let's go back to the room to talk."
Back in the room, Lu Heng sat on the sofa, taking out the sphere that recorded influences. Then, he summoned Xiao Liu. Xiao Liu had been sleeping and resting, but was suddenly pulled out by Lu Heng, looking a bit confused. It opened its already small eyes and looked at Lu Heng.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Go and operate that sphere."
Upon hearing about the sphere, Xiao Liu immediately perked up. This sphere, which only it and another giant rat could operate, was said to be a product of high technology, although it didn't understand what high technology was yet. Xiao Liu looked at the sphere in Lu Heng's hand, took it, and before it could activate it, Lu Heng grabbed it by the neck and placed it on the coffee table in front of them.
"Activate it there, so we can see it better."
Xiao Liu nodded. Although its movements were not large, Lin Yu still noticed its clumsy actions.
"This Xiao Liu must eat a lot usually, it's so plump it barely has a neck."
"Yeah, when we first contracted, it wasn't this fat. I guess it's been exercising less." Since being contracted by Lu Heng, Xiao Liu, residing in the spatial dimension, no longer dug holes. It couldn't budge the earth in the space.