The area near the base gate was also swarming with scattered zombies. From their appearance, they hadn't been there long. Soldiers on the city wall had already begun to fire upon the zombies outside the gate. After the zombies were eliminated, the base gate was quickly opened.
Lu Heng pressed the accelerator hard, heading towards the gate. Fortunately, the zombies following him were not very fast. At this time, the zombies were at most level three, and their movement speed could not keep up with a speeding vehicle.
Lu Heng floored the accelerator, driving his trailer RV into the barbican. After circling around inside, he slammed on the brakes.
As Lu Heng's vehicle had just passed through the city gate, it quickly descended again. A few zombies that had been chasing closely were suppressed by the firepower from the city wall. By the time they arrived, they could only crash against the heavy gate.
The barbican was divided into two areas. The first area was relatively large, serving as a buffer for the initial entrants.
This was because vehicles often rushed in at high speeds, and without sufficient space, it was easy for cars to crash if they couldn't brake in time.
Furthermore, if any zombies followed vehicles into the gate, soldiers on the city wall could conveniently eliminate them on this level.
The second level was the observation area. After the first level was cleared, they would be allowed into the second area and wait for ten minutes to observe for any infected humans.
After a final confirmation that there were no issues, military personnel would come down to inspect the vehicle's interior and verify personnel information to prevent zombies from being smuggled into the base.
Only after all checks were completed would the vehicles be allowed to proceed.
Lu Heng's vehicle entered the second layer of the barbican. After the waiting period ended, several people in military uniforms immediately came over to inspect.
The base soldiers asked him to get out of the car for inspection and to open all the doors, as they needed to check the interior.
Lu Heng complied with their instructions.
The soldiers conducted a very thorough inspection. They entered the trailer RV and looked around carefully, meticulously checking every possible hiding spot for zombies.
However, they were surprised to find the RV extremely neat and clean. The luxurious interior looked like a new car, and it was also filled with many supplies.
In the rearmost seating area, there were several large black boxes. However, these boxes were locked. Judging by their size, zombies couldn't possibly be hidden inside, so they didn't ask for them to be opened.
Looking at Lu Heng's attire, he appeared neat and clean, and he himself was energetic, much like many elite individuals before the apocalypse. He showed no signs of having been ravaged by the end of the world.
At this moment, Lu Heng was holding a rather large orange tabby cat. It appeared to be a mutated cat.
Later, the person inspecting the SUV found a turtle under the passenger seat. That person dared not touch the turtle, as it also looked like a mutated species.
In the apocalypse, very few people kept animals. After all, humans themselves struggled to get enough to eat and had to face terrifying zombies and many mutated animals daily. People had no inclination to raise pets.
Moreover, Lu Heng was raising mutated species. It was unclear whether these mutated animals would attack humans.
They also noticed the intelligence of the mutated animals had increased after their mutation. Many mutated animals attacked human survivors, so humans generally killed mutated animals on sight.
The leading officer walked up to Lu Heng and asked, "Hello, do you have any base identification documents?"
It wasn't that he was being nosy. Lu Heng and his vehicle were unfamiliar to them, and they hadn't seen them before. This was also part of the routine inspection.
Lu Heng shook his head and replied, "Hello, this is my first time here. I heard there was a base nearby and have been searching for a few days to reach this place."
The man nodded, took out a booklet, and handed it to him. "Please register your information in this booklet. Also, I see that both your animals appear to be mutated species. They might attack humans, so it's best to keep them leashed."
Lu Heng stroked the cat's head and communicated with it telepathically, "Don't be angry, they don't know how cute you are."
Earlier, when the cat, referred to as "Director," heard the soldier's words, it felt a bit wronged. "How can I attack humans when I'm so cute?"
After comforting the Director, Lu Heng quickly explained to the leader, "My cat and turtle have been with me for many years and have always been well-behaved. They won't attack people."
"Alright, please register your information first."
Lu Heng glanced at the information in the booklet. It required filling in details like name, age, and origin. One item differed from pre-apocalypse surveys: an additional column asking if one was an ability user.
A slight smile curved Lu Heng's lips. As he filled in the basic information, he asked, "The ability users I encountered outside were all second-tier. I wonder what the strongest ability user is now."
The soldier chuckled and looked at Lu Heng checking the box for ability user. He said, "Haha, I didn't expect you to be an ability user too. From what we know, the strongest ability user is already fifth-tier, and this ability user is right here in our base."
After collecting the booklet, the soldier arranged for someone to create a proof document for him and then casually asked, "Forgive my presumption, but what is your current ability level?"
Lu Heng also smiled at the man. After all, he would be living here from now on, so there was no need to always wear a scowl. As the saying goes, a smile greets a friendly face.
"Haha, fifth-tier as well. I thought I had mutated too quickly. So there's someone else like me. Hahaha..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Heng heard a gasp. Several soldiers who had finished their inspections gathered around. They had been looking at the cat in Lu Heng's arms just moments ago, and now, upon hearing Lu Heng's words, they looked at him with utter shock.
It made sense. Lu Heng could drive such a luxurious car to the base alone and didn't seem like someone who had suffered in the apocalypse.
As far as they knew, there was only one highest-tier ability user among the nearby bases, and that was the fifth-tier ability user in their own base. They hadn't expected another fifth-tier ability user to appear today.
After all, the zombies outside had evolved to third-tier. Ordinary ability users, even those who evolved quickly, could at most reach fourth-tier, and there weren't many fourth-tier ability users.
Fifth-tier ones were even rarer, with only one. This newly emerged fifth-tier was a crucial force against the zombies.
"Haha, Mr. Lu, welcome to our base. You must not have a place to stay yet. We can have someone show you around the base and help you choose a satisfactory residence."
There were not many residents in the inner city because high-tier ability users were too scarce, leaving many houses in the inner city vacant.