Finally, Li Tong and Zhang San were the first to absorb and upgrade to the eighth order.
Feeling the enhanced energy within their bodies, the two excitedly ran out of the factory to test their abilities.
"Hahaha, I can conquer the world this time," Zhang San's wild laughter echoed.
"Congratulations, boss, on your breakthrough. Boss, are you really eighth order?"
"Yes, I'll show you the power of the eighth order, everyone move aside."
"Boss, you've also upgraded to the eighth order, right?"
"Yes, both are eighth order."
"Congratulations, Big Brother!"
"Congratulations, Big Brother!"
The area outside the factory was lively, with congratulations and Zhang San's laughter constantly heard.
Because the amount of magic crystals to absorb was twice as much as the other two outside, Sister Li, who was still absorbing and circulating energy in her body, remained calm and unhurried.
After these few people broke through to the eighth order, Sister Li still had an edge over the two outside. However, if the two outside joined forces, they could fight her to a draw, which was a form of restraint.
After all, Sister Li was a woman, and her dual-element abilities were her reliance for being on par with the men outside.
She actually yearned to become stronger. After the apocalypse, women had become mere appendages to men. In the beginning, women lacked courage. Many women were afraid to confront zombies and could only rely on men.
If their men could still protect them, they were considered lucky. But most women had lost their family support and could only rely on different men.
Watching Sister Li finally absorb the last magic crystal, she finally looked at Lu Heng with a smile.
"Thank you."
Unlike Zhang San and the others, who were in a hurry to test their high-level abilities, Sister Li's gaze towards Lu Heng held something more.
"You're welcome. My objective has also been achieved. Your future development will depend on yourselves. For the people below to break through to the sixth order is completely sufficient at this stage."
"You're leaving?"
"Yes, there are still many people waiting for me to awaken them," Lu Heng said to Sister Li.
"Call those two in, and I'll give you another gift."
Sister Li nodded, got up, and walked towards the outside of the factory. Soon, she returned with Zhang San and Li Tong.
"Great kindness is beyond words!" The two had calmed down by now and bowed to Lu Heng.
"No need. My goal is to eliminate zombies and restore human life to its former state. This is for you, storage rings. They can store supplies, so you won't have to exert yourselves when encountering large items. This item requires a blood-binding ritual. If any of you die, only then can someone else pick it up and use it."
Lu Heng took out three ancient-looking rings from his spatial storage and handed them to the three of them.
"Heh heh, meeting Mr. Lu today has opened our eyes many times. It was our ignorance before. Our self-imposed isolation, alas."
"It's not too late to realize it now. Lead the survivors in this area to live well."
Sister Li and the other two exchanged glances, then bowed to Lu Heng again.
"My city is called Wuming City. If we meet again by fate, remember to mention my name – Lu Heng."
In the apocalypse, communication was cut off, and it would be difficult to contact each other again. But there would be a day when zombies were eliminated, and production resumed, making contact easier.
"Here are some food seeds. You can distribute them. However, we are not sure if they are still suitable for planting in the apocalypse. You can find some plant-type ability users to improve them."
With a wave of his hand, several piles of food crops appeared in the empty factory. There weren't many varieties, but most were high-yield crops from before the apocalypse.
"You're leaving?" Li Tong asked belatedly.
"The matter here is settled. I should go and explore other places."
"Then your sister is still in the room, right? I'll find someone to call her." Sister Li said, intending to find someone outside to call Lu Heng's sister.
"No need, she has already left."
"Ah? When did she leave?" Sister Li looked at Lu Heng incredulously. She had previously asked people to keep an eye on Lu Heng and his group.
"Alright, we'll meet again if fate allows."
Lu Heng smiled and said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, the two tigers beside him disappeared. He walked towards the outside of the factory, and under everyone's gaze, he released the tall, strangely shaped raptor.
"My goodness, what is this monster? Has the mutation changed its appearance too?"
"So tall!"
"Damn, he, he just jumped on it?"
"..."
Amidst the shouts of the crowd, Lu Heng jumped onto the raptor's back. After Lu Heng got on, the raptor spread its wings, let out a sharp cry, and rapidly ascended into the sky, disappearing from view.
"Savior – Lu Heng," Li Tong murmured.
"Our reborn parents," Zhang San said loudly, looking in the direction Lu Heng had left.
"Huh? He upgraded us for free and didn't ask for anything, and even gave us a pile of food," Zhang San nudged Sister Li beside him, as if just remembering something.
"Your things, he doesn't care about them. This person truly wants to help humanity. Such great love," Sister Li gave Zhang San a look. "Let's go, distribute the seeds, and plan for the future. Brother Lu said he wants to connect our shelters and consolidate them as our development base. Oh, and we need to rename it something catchy..."
...
Leaving Wucheng, Lu Heng embarked on his journey to find more survivor teams.
Occasionally, when he saw too many zombies below, Lu Heng would launch a surprise attack. Ordinary survivor teams dared not provoke cities densely populated with zombies, but Lu Heng had no such worries. He preferred denser zombie populations, as it meant he didn't have to gather them; he could simply release his mutated animals to annihilate them all.
Thus, killing zombies and searching for human survivors, he once again discovered signs of human activity from high in the sky as he passed by a certain area.
Smoke from burning objects drifted into the air in the distance. The smoke was black, so it was unlikely to be from human cooking fires.
Controlling the raptor towards the direction, Lu Heng soon saw the situation below clearly from high in the sky.
Outside a small town, many zombie corpses were piled up and were currently burning. From high in the sky, Lu Heng and his group could smell the strong odor of burnt flesh.
Lu Heng and his group were flying very high. Unless someone deliberately looked up at the sky, it was rare for anyone to notice them.
Moreover, during the period of fighting zombies on the ground, people paid little attention to the sky, as zombies could suddenly appear from the ground at any moment. Therefore, everyone's attention was focused on the surrounding ground environment.