"Don't you introduce yourself first? It's inconvenient for us to call you anything," Lu Heng said, wanting to probe his true thoughts through conversation. With so many people present, their chatter could distract the other party, causing him to unconsciously reveal his inner thoughts.
"My name is Li Haotian. I'm an employee of a biopharmaceutical company. That company is quite strong; you can look it up."
"Heh, what time is it? You're asking us to look it up? Where would we even look?"
"Yeah, but if you tell us the company's name, maybe one of us actually knows it. We have many people here who knew the big shots in the pharmaceutical industry back then."
Li Haotian walked to the edge of the cage and grabbed the bars, pulling hard. "This metal cage has incredible hardness. How did you get it?"
"You can tell that?" They still hadn't seen any special abilities from Li Haotian. They hadn't expected this strange person to be able to discern the difference in the metal used to make the cage.
"Yes, it feels different when you touch it."
Feel? What did that mean? Everyone was confused, waiting for Li Haotian to explain. But Li Haotian seemed to have forgotten the previous topic and started a new one. "You still haven't said, do you know magic? Can you return my things to me?" From Lu Heng's ability to put away items and retrieve them from nowhere, he knew that Lu Heng had taken everything he had in the underground parking lot.
"Not yet. You have too many secrets, and we can't give you your things."
"But those are my things, and you have no right to take them." Li Haotian gripped the metal bars, appearing to be on the verge of losing control, his facial expression contorted. When a person cannot control their emotions, they are most likely to reveal information. Just then, Lu Heng heard Li Haotian's inner thoughts.
—These people want to trick me into talking. Heh, if I don't say anything, they'll never guess I'm a living dead person.
—Why are these people all powerful in this apocalypse? What kind of bullshit ability users, hmph, what's the difference between them and those zombies?
—They are all inferior to me. They fear zombies, fear being injured by zombies. They are all useless, utterly useless...
So, this monster was indeed no longer human, or rather, his physical body seemed to have died. This was also why the zombies didn't attack him. But how did he manage to have his body die while his brain remained alive? At this moment, Lu Heng wasn't the only one who could hear Li Haotian speaking with people. This indicated that the event was real and not someone hallucinating.
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow at Li Haotian, then clapped his hands and stood up, saying to Lin Yu and the others, "Alright, I'm leaving. If you want to talk to him longer, ask him here, but don't agree to anything he says, including him wanting food. The living dead don't need it!" The dead don't need to eat. Perhaps Li Haotian would need that brown liquid, but Lu Heng wanted to wear him down and see what would happen to him if he was deprived of it.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Heng added another layer of protective railing around Li Haotian's cage, further distancing Li Haotian from the humans outside, preventing any contact. "Don't go, return my things first, you..." Lu Heng left without looking back. Seeing Lu Heng leave, Lin Yu and Lin Xue also followed. Only Chen Dong and the researchers remained in the room, driven by their professional curiosity to understand how Li Haotian had become this way.
Following Lu Heng downstairs, Lin Yu asked, "Brother Lu, what does it mean that this Li Haotian is a living dead person?"
"His physical body has died, which is why he appears like a zombie. But he can still communicate normally with humans, retaining his human thoughts. This is his state of being alive."
"How can that be?"
"Perhaps it's related to this." Lu Heng took out a test tube from his space, containing a brown liquid. Lin Yu took the test tube and held it up to the sunlight, examining it. The liquid inside was clear, with a color like soy sauce. He returned the test tube to Lu Heng; Lin Yu wasn't involved in research and had no need to keep it. Besides, it was uncertain what this substance was, and keeping it with him wouldn't be safe.
"Brother Lu, why did you bring Sun Qiang back too?"
"It was Sun Qiang's accident that led me to discover Li Haotian." Afterward, Lu Heng drove back to their living quarters with Lin Yu, recounting everything that had happened while searching for Sun Qiang.
"So, Sun Qiang was captured by this Li Haotian? Does he have any other injuries?"
"It's unclear for now. Lin Xue treated him before, but at that time, he had only received a large dose of anesthetic and was unconscious."
"Is this Li Haotian researching zombies?"
"It looks like it. He has a lot of medical equipment." Lin Yu pondered, unable to understand why a living dead person like Li Haotian existed.
"Let's just wait and see." Time would tell. During this period, Lu Heng could also rest. Having been constantly on the move and busy, he hadn't had a good chance to relax in a long time.
Lu Heng had put Lin Xue back into his space while still in the car, so when they arrived downstairs at their residence, only Lu Heng and Lin Yu were in the car. "This storage bag is full of mobile phones. Distribute them as you see fit. I think it's enough for now." Lu Heng handed a storage bag to Lin Yu, then returned to his room. Of course, once back in his room, he immediately entered his space; it was only in his space that he could truly rest.
Back in his apartment within the space, Lu Heng didn't even have time to shower before collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep. In a state of mental relaxation, he quickly drifted into dreams. However, this time Lu Heng had another strange dream, still in that fantastical world, and his perspective was still that of the same person. However, the scene had changed.
On a grassland filled with various colorful plants, he saw many animals before him. These animals looked similar to animals before the apocalypse, running and playing freely on the vast grassland. Lu Heng could feel their joy. Some of these animals were carnivores, and some were herbivores, but at this moment, they were all harmonious, with none tearing at each other. Suddenly, Lu Heng felt something brush against his ankle. He instinctively looked down and saw a snow-white fox with a pair of small, blood-red eyes looking at him.
"Lu Bai?" The little fox lowered its head, rubbed against his ankle again, and then lifted a paw, stepping onto his foot.