Inside the spatial apartment.
Lu Heng flipped through the various weapons he had brought back from the ancient city in space. Although these weapons had slightly different styles from those he knew, their general uses were similar; a saber was still a saber, and a sword was still a sword.
The differences lay in the forging methods and materials used, and most distinctively, the patterns on the weapons.
These patterns were carved with great antiquity and exquisiteness, fully comparable to ancient works of art.
However, these weapons were heavier than modern ones, likely designed for cultivators, which explained the difference in weight compared to ordinary weapons.
Lu Heng found an empty room adjacent to the apartment and converted it into an armory. Rows of shelves were filled with various weapons. Lu Heng found a separate room to store the weapons obtained from the new world, where he could admire them when he had free time. After all, what true man wouldn't appreciate cold weapons?
Leaving the apartment, Lu Heng went to the hospital within his space. He took out various pills and performed a drug analysis.
Unfortunately, many of the pills' components could not be analyzed. It was likely that the herbs used to make these pills were different from those in his world, hence the instruments could not identify them.
He estimated that he would have to personally investigate this matter back in the ancient city. Lu Heng had not found any furnaces or cauldrons for refining pills in the spatial ancient city. It was possible that the shop he visited did not have an alchemist on duty, which was why he hadn't found any alchemy equipment.
It was understandable, as alchemists were too rare based on the information he had, and not every town had one.
Lu Heng also had the wine brought back from the spatial ancient city tested by the Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau. Judging by its color, the wine resembled ancient Huangjiu (yellow wine). Lu Heng checked various indicators, and the wine was deemed acceptable. Indicators such as aflatoxin and coliform bacteria met the requirements for modern alcoholic beverages.
After confirming the wine's quality, Lu Heng eagerly took a sip. Indeed, the taste was similar to Shaoxing Huangjiu, but perhaps due to slightly different ingredients, the wine from the ancient city was more mellow.
There was also the matter of the ancient city's script. Originally, the characters looked mostly like traditional Chinese characters, and many of them were incomprehensible to him. However, for some reason, after the information about the ancient city appeared in his mind, he could understand the text on the shop signs.
Later, he also took many books from a bookstore in the ancient city, including travelogues and local gazetteers about that continent.
This was not urgent; he would read them slowly when he had time.
...
In a secluded wilderness in the real world.
Lu Heng's current ability level had reached Tier Nine. Tier Three crystals were no longer sufficient for his advancement. Lu Heng decided to stop killing zombies for now and wait until half a year into the apocalypse when most zombies had upgraded to Tier Four before continuing.
Also, it had been a long time since he had returned to the base. Lu Heng decided to go back and check. He was thinking of handing over the supplies he had scavenged from the small commodity production city to the base's military, which he expected would earn him a considerable amount of points and goodwill.
As for the ancient city in his space, it was connected to his spatial dimension, so he could go there anytime he wished.
Furthermore, he was not yet adept at wearing the ancient clothing he had acquired, and he needed to research that as well.
After all, appearing rashly in an unfamiliar environment would hinder his plans too much, and he couldn't afford to be too hasty.
Exiting his space, Lu Heng drove directly towards the base. On the way, he encountered survivors again. Lu Heng found a remote village and conjured a super-long heavy-duty truck from his space.
He then took out a pile of miscellaneous supplies from his space and placed them inside the truck. It was filled with various provisions such as food and clothing.
He couldn't transport too much. Upon returning, he would need to find a suitable excuse to explain away the situation, as it would be difficult to explain how he alone managed to load so many supplies onto the truck.
...
A few days later, on the base's wall.
"Hey, look, is that a heavy-duty truck coming from a distance? Is it going to crash into the base's outer wall by driving so fast? Should we use missiles to take it down?"
"It doesn't look like it's going to crash into the wall. Look, it's still flashing its lights."
"Yeah, could it be someone returning with spoils of war?"
"Hmm? Look, it seems like there's a small vehicle being towed behind the heavy-duty truck."
"Hiss! Quickly open the city gate and let it into the barbican. The vehicle behind it is the Tier Five ability user who went out a month ago."
As the vehicle gradually approached the base, the soldiers on duty used binoculars to get a clear view of the vehicle outside.
At this moment, Lu Heng was driving the heavy-duty truck at high speed towards the base's main gate, kicking up billowing dust along the way.
Behind the heavy-duty truck, Lu Heng had towed the off-road vehicle he had used when he left. Fortunately, the vehicle had good performance; otherwise, with such a high-speed chase, ordinary tires would have likely burst.
Lu Heng only began to accelerate as he approached the base. After all, driving this heavy-duty truck, he could crush any zombies as long as they weren't long-range attackers.
The zombies outside had not yet reached Tier Four. Lu Heng couldn't be bothered to collect the crystals from the zombies he ran over, as he had tens of thousands of them in his space. He was not lacking in supplies or crystals.
Speeding along, Lu Heng received a response from the wall as he neared the base's gate. Soldiers were waving colored flags, signaling to him that he could enter the barbican.
Soon, Lu Heng, continuously crashing through, crushing the zombies that were drawn by the noise and swarming towards him, entered the barbican.
Fortunately, the barbican was built wide enough, likely to prevent vehicles from entering at high speed and being unable to decelerate safely.
Lu Heng drove the vehicle, with a few zombies stuck to the front, and after circling the barbican for a large portion, he finally stopped the heavy-duty truck.
He then quickly opened the car window and manipulated his own energy. A torrent of ice cones instantly pierced through the bodies of the zombies in the barbican, killing them all.
The soldiers, who hadn't even reacted, were about to deal with the zombies that had followed the truck into the barbican when Lu Heng's single move had already eliminated them all.
"That's incredible! That's the power of a high-tier ability user. But our base's Leng Tian probably can't unleash such an area-of-effect skill."
"Yeah, Leng Tian is already a Tier Six ability user, and he can't unleash such an area-of-effect ability. So, this Mr. Lu must be of a higher tier than Leng Tian."
The thoughts and discussions of the surrounding soldiers on the city wall entered Lu Heng's mind word for word.
Lu Heng, sitting in the car, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Leng Tian's advancement speed was indeed faster than others. It was probably due to his dual attributes, being able to absorb special crystals of two attributes, which could indeed accelerate his advancement.