Lu Heng did not dismount the Roc at this moment. The soldiers on the city gate saw a bizarre scene. The giant bird carrying a person was gradually shrinking until it was the size of an off-road vehicle. It stopped changing, but the person on its back did not shrink and remained at a normal human size.
Lu Heng controlled his abilities to kill the few zombies around. Like other places, the zombies here had also hibernated after winter, so the number of zombies outside various bases or shelters was not large.
Even though the soldiers on the city wall had made some noise earlier, there were not many zombies surrounding Lu Heng.
Lu Heng controlled his abilities and directed the Roc to move forward a bit more, stopping again when it reached the furthest range of the weapons on the city wall.
He took out two colored flags from his pocket and waved them in front of him. The soldiers on the city wall were once again shocked.
What Lu Heng was waving were the base's exclusive flag signals, which were secrets within the military. The person and the bird outside looked very unfamiliar.
However, since the other party had already displayed their flag signals, and they understood the meaning of those signals.
"I am Lu Heng, here to see Zhao Kai."
With the name of their Commander Zhao stated so clearly, what else could these people do? They had to let the person into the barbican first.
At this time, someone also went to notify the management above. It was estimated that someone would be sent to convey instructions from above soon.
Seeing the gate outside the city open, Lu Heng put away his flags. It seemed that the communication issues between various bases also needed to be resolved. If he hadn't known the flag signals here, it would have been troublesome to enter the city smoothly today.
After entering the inner city, soon more than a dozen soldiers with weapons surrounded Lu Heng. Lu Heng glanced at them; they were all unfamiliar faces, indicating that these people had been replaced.
A soldier walked to Lu Heng's side, looking at the strange bird Lu Heng was sitting on with some vigilance. Even though the bird's size had shrunk a bit, its appearance was monstrous. In any case, they, as soldiers, had never seen a bird like this.
"Could this bird have mutated into an evolved animal and then become a variant?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen it either."
"I heard from the seniors that our base used to have a powerful figure who could also control evolved animals."
"I've heard that too, but that person moved away later. We newcomers didn't have the chance to admire him."
"We'll know when the news from above arrives. Stop your idle talk and just keep an eye on that strange bird."
The soldiers surrounding them discussed for a while before falling silent. At this moment, more than ten guns were aimed at the Roc.
After a brief standoff, the gate connecting to the outer city was quickly opened.
A military off-road vehicle rushed out from inside and braked sharply less than two meters away from Lu Heng and his group.
A soldier holding a gun quickly put down his weapon and jogged towards the off-road vehicle. They all recognized this car; it was Commander Zhao's exclusive vehicle.
Could it be that Commander Zhao sent his secretary personally?
Before the person could reach the car, the rear door was opened from the inside. Zhao Kai, dressed in a military uniform, quickly got out of the car and walked towards Lu Heng.
What's going on? Why did Commander Zhao himself come?
The soldiers surrounding Lu Heng looked at each other, all stunned in place. However, as soldiers, their basic training ensured their guns remained aimed at the Roc.
"What are you all doing? Put your guns away and clear the way!" Zhao Kai shouted, seeing the scene at the entrance.
Upon hearing the order, the soldiers immediately snapped back to attention, put away their guns, and cleared the path, standing to the side.
"Hahaha, this is truly a case of mistaken identity, like the Dragon King Temple being flooded by the sea. Mr. Lu, it's been a while. Get in my car, and we can chat."
Zhao Kai said excitedly to Lu Heng. He was aware of Lu Heng's development and strength in Nameless City, as the soldiers in the city often went to Nameless City to trade for supplies.
It was because the daily necessities in Lu Heng's place were too abundant. Take fuel, for instance; his reserves were also decreasing. Every time they went out to find supplies, they could only bring back a limited amount, and they weren't always lucky enough to find diesel or gasoline.
"No, I'll follow your car on this bird. Or would you like to come up and sit on my mount?" Lu Heng said, pointing to the Roc beneath him.
"Is this also an evolved animal you've contracted?" Zhao Kai actually wanted to try it. There were too few living creatures to be seen in the apocalypse. Occasionally, they would encounter evolved animals in the wild, but they were not as obedient as the one beside Lu Heng. Every time they encountered them outside, those evolved animals would actively attack humans.
This resulted in the evolved animals either being killed by them or injuring the soldiers, leading to a lose-lose situation with mutual attrition.
"Yes, this is a Roc, a special evolved animal. However, it's large enough, so I use it as a mount. Commander Zhao, come up and try it; it's very gentle." Lu Heng raised an eyebrow at Zhao Kai, and after hearing his thoughts, he took out a small piece of monster meat and threw it into the Roc's mouth.
The fed Roc looked pleased. It slightly shook its body, slowly crouched on the ground, and waited for Zhao Kai to get on.
Lu Heng controlled the vines on the rattan chair, extending a ladder, and then gestured for Zhao Kai to come up.
Zhao Kai hesitated for a moment, then finally, with excitement, walked to the Roc's side and quickly sat on it.
"Hahaha, thanks to Mr. Lu, I can also ride on the back of an evolved animal once." Zhao Kai stroked the armrest of the rattan chair and said to Lu Heng with a smile.
"Then next time my Roc comes, please let us in directly. If I didn't know the flag signals today, it would have taken a lot of effort."
"Mr. Lu, don't worry. When I go back later, I'll have Old Wang make arrangements. You won't have any obstacles when you come again; this big bird is also easy to recognize."
Zhao Kai thought the Roc's current size was its largest, as it was quite spacious with both of them sitting on it.
Lu Heng smiled, then directed the Roc to the open space in the barbican. It was better to show Zhao Kai now, to avoid any misunderstandings later if the description of its appearance was different.
"I'll have the Roc do a magic trick for you." Lu Heng tapped the Roc.
The Roc then understood and immediately controlled its body to become the size of a small airplane. Lu Heng also adjusted the vines on the Roc to change accordingly.
"This, this bird's ability is to shrink its body size?" It wasn't that Zhao Kai couldn't imagine it. The abilities that humans had evolved now were incredibly diverse, so seeing the Roc freely adjust its size didn't surprise him too much.
"Something like that. Alright, return to the previous size." He then turned to Zhao Kai and said, "Shall we go back and chat now?"
"Okay."