A level nine zombie walked a few steps towards Lin Xue, stood beside her, and slightly lowered its head, sniffing continuously. Finally, it actually knelt down, prostrating itself at Lin Xue's feet, raising its head to look at her.
"You controlled him again?"
"No, Master."
"So he's acknowledging you?"
"Mm." Lin Xue and zombies had a special way of communicating, so she understood the level nine zombie's intentions at this moment.
"What's your name?"
"Sun Qiang." The level nine zombie tilted its head and looked towards Lu Heng.
"Do you still want to die now?"
"Yes."
"But your father already sacrificed his life to save yours."
"I don't... want to be a zombie."
"Just for that reason?"
"I, personally, killed, my, mother."
"That wasn't your fault. After you became a zombie, your sanity was gone."
"I don't want to live."
"If you wish to atone, then choose to continue living. Since your father has cultivated you into such a high-level zombie, and you are somewhat different from other zombies in terms of your body, why don't I use you as an experimental subject? You can help humans conquer the zombie virus."
Sun Qiang lay on the ground, stunned for a long time. Lu Heng thought he could kill this zombie, but then Sun Qiang suddenly turned around and nodded towards Lu Heng as he prostrated himself.
"However, your appearance is still too conspicuous. Change your clothes, and I'll take you to the laboratory. As long as you behave, perhaps on the day the virus is conquered, you will find redemption."
Zombies with intelligence and emotions are a double-edged sword. Used well, they can contribute to the research of the zombie virus.
However, if a zombie loses control, it could infect everyone in the base, rendering humanity's efforts futile.
After changing into tightly wrapped clothing for Sun Qiang, Lu Heng took Lin Xue and Sun Qiang to the research center.
When Chen Dong saw Sun Qiang in the laboratory, he was filled with disbelief.
"Lu, City Lord Lu, what is this? How did you bring this zombie into the base? Did City Lord Lu catch it within the base? Are there any infected people in our city? No way, why isn't this zombie tied up yet..."
"It's temporarily under control and currently in a state without consciousness."
"Oh, that's good." He seemed to remember something else, "Who is controlling it? Could it be?"
Chen Dong's eyes darted between Lu Heng and Lin Xue, finally settling on Lu Heng.
In everyone's eyes, Lin Xue was just a weak child, and moreover, an ordinary person without any special abilities.
As Lin Xue's skin gained warmth, and her skin remained smooth without any scars, she wouldn't be associated with zombies by anyone who saw her.
Lu Heng was sometimes very fortunate that he had contracted Lin Xue. Otherwise, once Lin Xue truly developed and grew stronger, it would be difficult for humans to deal with her in the future.
She could completely blend into the human world and silently infect all the survivors in the base.
"Find a place, I'll make a metal cage and lock this zombie up first. Oh, it has a name, Sun Qiang."
"You named it?"
"No, its father named it."
"Oh, its father... What? This zombie has a father? Is he also a zombie? A higher-level zombie? Did you capture him too? Where is he?"
"Don't be so agitated. Its father was human, but he's already dead. This zombie has consciousness and emotions."
They were aware that zombies with consciousness existed. All zombies above level five had evolved intelligence.
It was precisely those high-level zombies that commanded the zombie hordes during the attacks on Dragon City and Peace City.
Chen Dong led Lu Heng and the others to the top floor of a building. Zombies disliked sunlight, so keeping them in sunny places could somewhat reduce their vitality.
Lu Heng looked at the simple room. It was previously empty, so there were no extra furniture or items.
Lu Heng manipulated his metal ability and set up several layers of metal railings in the room.
However, to facilitate research by the research center, a small single-layer gap was left.
"Sun Qiang is a strength-type zombie, so don't get too close to him when you interact with him."
"Mm-hmm, I know. This beast is unpredictable, I understand."
Lu Heng had already informed him on the way that bringing the zombie Sun Qiang was for the research center to use as a live subject.
This zombie had intelligence and emotions, so collecting samples to research the zombie virus might lead to greater breakthroughs.
"Will he not cooperate with us? What if he hides in the corner over there, and we can't collect samples conveniently?"
Chen Dong looked at the cage where the zombie was confined, showing some concern.
"No."
"Mm, that's good..."
Chen Dong suddenly looked up and at the zombie confined in the cage. He tremblingly extended his hand towards the zombie: "He... he he he, he can..."
"He can speak," Lu Heng said, finishing for the person who was so shocked that he could only stammer and couldn't utter a complete sentence.
"Zombies can speak? What level of zombie can speak?"
"I'm not sure."
They had seen high-level zombies before, and indeed, besides Lin Xue, this was the second one to regain the ability of speech.
"This way, you don't have to worry anymore. However, I need to emphasize to you that you can research this zombie, but don't kill it.
Also, the people who can come into contact with it should preferably be you yourself collecting the samples."
"Understood, I promise only I will collect the samples. But since this zombie has intelligence and can speak, it should be able to distinguish who is coming, right?"
Lu Heng looked at Sun Qiang.
"I can see, it's a black and white world."
"Oh."
It seemed keeping it for now was not a problem.
"What does he eat on a daily basis?"
Chen Dong followed Lu Heng out of the room as Lu Heng planned to leave.
Lu Heng thought for a moment, then took out a large jar of ancient well water from his spatial storage and returned to the room, placing it inside. "This."
"He only drinks water?"
"Mm. His father previously sent him live people, but he didn't eat them. He just killed them."
"Oh."
"By the way, you'd never guess what experiments his father initially conducted on him."
"What experiments?" Chen Dong thought that researching zombies would be about viruses or antibodies.
"His father's condition was failing, and he planned to have this son continue his lineage."
"Whoa! I want to know who his father is? How did he come up with such a bizarre idea?"
"Heh, I don't know. Perhaps you should go down and ask him?"
"Uh, forget it. However, we really hadn't thought in this direction before. We just did pathological research on the zombie's blood and flesh.
His father's peculiar move has given me inspiration. Since zombies have regained intelligence and emotions, perhaps their brains and other body parts have also recovered, or they might have developed new mutated organs..."
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and looked at Chen Dong. Chen Dong's mind was indeed quick. He directly made these connections, and it was likely he would research in this direction in the future.
"Other zombies cannot be captured for research. Those are not guaranteed. If the virus spreads, all the efforts of Wuming City will be in vain."
"I understand."