The queue to enter the city moved slowly. Although the scent and sounds of zombies were also attracted by the people around, those who came here to make a living were almost never ordinary survivors, unless they were women being bought and sold as goods. Therefore, the small waves of zombies that approached were almost always killed by the villains.
After the villains gained control, they were not all mindless brutes. They flattened the entire area outside the base and, within the range of heavy machine guns, dug deep pits and set up electric fences, forming a basic layer of protection.
This was also one of the reasons why many bases couldn't do anything about this place later.
Of course, one could also bomb this place, but there were still some human survivors here who were treated as goods. As soldiers protecting humans, they could not ignore these innocent lives and could only watch as this place gradually took shape.
Finally, it was Lu Heng's turn to be inspected. Being inspected upon entering the city to see if any humans had been injured by zombies was already a common practice in every human shelter.
"Luòluòchéng" was no exception.
"Get out of the car for inspection. Why do you look so unfamiliar? Show me your proof of 'Luòluòchéng'," said a scarred man with a rough demeanor, looking at Lu Heng.
At this moment, Lu Heng was wearing brand new clothes, and his hair, which had grown longer, was tied back simply. The scent of having just bathed emanated from him, making him look nothing like someone surviving in the apocalypse.
"What proof? This is my first time in 'Luòluòchéng'."
"Oh? I knew it, you look very unfamiliar. Here, you definitely don't have this mark."
After speaking, the scarred man rolled up his sleeve, revealing a skull pattern on his forearm. The mark looked like it had been burned by a hot iron.
Lu Heng's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. How ruthless! Other bases used paper documents, but here they actually used a hot iron to brand people.
And such proof could only be faked by a truly hardened individual.
"Do I have to get this branded?"
"Of course. If you want to enter the city, go over there and obediently get branded, or get lost!" The scarred man pointed to a place with a brazier next to the checkpoint.
Lu Heng merely glanced. There were also people who were entering the city for the first time, and they were all obediently going to get branded.
"Can there be an exception? Look at me, such a spirited young man. It's not easy to maintain such a clean and tidy appearance in the apocalypse."
"What nonsense are you spouting? If you don't get branded, hurry up and get lost! What's the use of being clean? Unless you can climb into the beds of our six guild leaders in 'Luòluòchéng', hahahaha..."
"Hahahaha..."
Laughter erupted from the surrounding crowd. Lu Heng ignored their laughter, a slight smile playing on his lips as he looked at the scarred man and said, "Perhaps, I can enter the city in a different way."
The scarred man sneered, "Hahahaha, you can only if..."
His words were cut short. The smile on his face turned to terror, and then he suddenly fell backward.
The onlookers scattered, and no one saw how Lu Heng killed him.
After a brief silence, the city gate exploded into chaos. Some people roared and rushed out from inside, while others screamed and fled in all directions.
Those who rushed out from the city were the guards. Seeing that someone had been killed here, except for one who went back to report the news, all the others ran over.
"Damn it, who the hell are you, get out of my way..."
"Too noisy."
The loudest of the curses abruptly stopped, and then a burly man also fell backward.
Two people had died, and they still hadn't seen how Lu Heng made his move.
However, gradually, some people noticed that blood began to seep from the foreheads of the two fallen men.
"You actually shot needles into their heads?" someone exclaimed in fear, looking at Lu Heng.
Lu Heng remained silent. He wished he could, but he didn't yet have the ability to control metal. This reminded him that he should find a metal-element ability user animal or a magical beast to contract with later.
"No, there's no metal in these two people's brains." At this moment, a metal-element ability user stepped forward to examine the two men. He controlled his ability but found no metal in their heads.
"Such a small hole, what else could it be if not a needle?" someone muttered to themselves.
Too lazy to listen further, he looked at the guards and asked, "Can I enter the city now?"
*Swish!*
The crowd scattered, and no one at the city gate blocked Lu Heng's path anymore.
Lu Heng got back into the car and stepped on the accelerator. The dust kicked up behind the car blinded everyone, forcing them to cover their faces.
Watching the car drive away, those who had wanted to rob Lu Heng earlier secretly rejoiced that they hadn't made a move. It seemed one shouldn't be too eager to show oneself when encountering trouble.
Lu Heng drove into the city. However, the planned roads were too complex, and ordinary vehicles couldn't pass through smoothly. Lu Heng parked the car by the roadside and no longer concealed his actions from the crowd. He took a few steps forward and waved his hand slightly behind his back. The off-road vehicle, which many people had been eyeing, disappeared in front of everyone.
"Damn it, is this a ghost in broad daylight? Where did the car go?"
"How would I know? But everyone saw that the car disappeared after that person got out and walked only a few steps. Huh? Where did that person go? Why has he disappeared too?"
Everyone looked down the road from the city gate. The person who had been the subject of much discussion moments ago had also vanished.
"Damn it, is it really a ghost?"
...
In fact, Lu Heng was just testing. He was trying the movement technique that Wuchenzi had taught him. Although he couldn't yet achieve Wuchenzi's state of covering several zhang in a single step, he could cover one zhang per step.
It was strange, though. While both were speed-based cultivation methods, people in the apocalypse had only improved their running or walking speed.
But people in other worlds had also researched various so-called cultivation skills or techniques, including this instantaneous movement. It looked very elegant, completely lacking the awkwardness of running with legs flailing.
Lu Heng was not in a hurry to find the organizations here. If those people were interested, they would come to him. For now, he wanted to visit their trading places.
He strolled leisurely through "Luòluòchéng." In fact, every place in this city could be a trading venue. They traded their respective goods in their own territories, and the six organizations in the city had to submit a certain amount of goods or equivalent items each year to maintain the operation of the entire city.