"The second point is about myself. Being in this apocalypse, you never know what will come first, tomorrow or an unforeseen event. This apocalypse is incredibly dangerous and it's not as simple as it appears on the surface. Mutated zombies could easily take my life at any moment. I feel like a scholar without any power in this apocalyptic world. Ensuring my own safety has become incredibly important. The residential building I've been crossing over to doesn't have any protection. Even a single mutated zombie could break in and potentially leave me in a dire situation."

Lin Long paused to collect his thoughts. The residential building was located on the edge of the city where some survivors occasionally appeared. He didn't fear the survivors, he could just keep his distance and mind his own business. But with survivors around, it could potentially make it difficult for Lin Long to mobilize.

The zombies he created, now, were at the bottom of the zombie hierarchy, too ordinary to participate in the brutal fights against other survivors. Killing one would be a loss for Lin Long at this stage. Moreover, the fact that he was able to create zombies was a secret that had to be kept. "So, I need a safe living space that is far away from the survivor's active zones," Lin Long concluded to himself.

To Lin Long, having a secure base seemed even more important than arming the zombies. The apocalypse was a world of genetic evolution. Not only could the zombies become potent adversaries, but the survivors themselves could also evolve to transcend boundaries with boosted attributes.

A safe shelter was one part of the equation. Equally important was figuring out how to strengthen his own self. "The zombie manufacturing system can generate different classes of zombies who can protect me. That might be a good solution."

However, no amount of external power could replace the strength derived from within. The saying, 'the smith needs to be as tough as his craft' remained forever true.

As for how to increase his own strength, Lin Long really had no idea. The Zombie Manufacturing System was, to Lin Long, still unexplored territory; and he’d only just begun to understand some of its functionality. More aspects of the system often revealed themselves as hints or guiding points.

Aside from the post-apocalyptic world, what remained was the modern era.

Being able to cross between two worlds represented something that Lin Long understood very well - an incredible conversion of wealth was within his grasp. It was easy to conjure up wealth that could rival a nation. Converting gold, like what he did today, seemed like the most basic method.

"All technology is the primary productive force." The core of this idea lay in "technology". Consider Apple Inc with its trillion-dollar valuation and nearly 300 billion dollars in reserved funds. Who in the world could compete? The big tech company perfectly encapsulated the concept of technology as the money-maker. Following this line of thought, Lin Long's eyes gradually lit up with anticipation.

Post-apocalypse technology advanced ahead of the current Earth by more than thirty years, with some aspects even further ahead. Bringing such technology to contemporary Earth, what kind of a scene would that create? Maybe Apple's dominance in the tech industry would become threatened. The reason was simple, while Apple was a singular entity, Lin Long had the entire gamut of apocalyptic world's technology backing him up.

Even a country couldn't compete with Lin Long in terms of the height of technology. As he mulled over the possibilities, he couldn't help but get excited. However, just as quickly as the thrill arrived, it vanished. "All of this is just in imagination."

Quickly, Lin Long calmed down. Technological transference was a complex and difficult process, involving curating all sorts of apocalyptic technology, and then, in the modern world, figuring out how to assimilate and commercialize those technologies.

No matter how promising the future looked, Lin Long in his current state, was far too weak to make these dreams a reality.

The next morning, Lin Long sent a message first thing to his supervisor, resigning from his position. As he expected, his resignation was accepted almost immediately. Lin Long didn't insist on getting his salary for the month, after all, why would anyone try to retain an average employee?

Following a breakfast, he hailed a taxi and headed for a small metal processing factory he had discovered the previous night.

"Am I wealthy enough to buy a car?" Lin Long thought to himself. But he shot down the idea quickly realizing although his 2 million yuan may seem plentiful at the moment, it was far from enough for the tasks at hand. His money needed to be put to better use.

Upon arrival at the "Powerful Processing Factory", Lin Long entered their premises. They didn't even have a gatekeeper, indicating that the small factory was quite downtrodden. The place even lacked a proper road leading to its main entrance. Any other person probably wouldn't have made it inside the factory lot, but Lin Long was different. He was searching for these exact sequestered factories. After all, the items he wanted to manufacture were rather unconventional.

Before long, he stood before a blocky man with rugged skin who claimed himself to be the owner of the factory and inquired about what Lin Long was interested in manufacturing.

After discussing a few details, including the cost of creating a specific armor set and settling on aluminum alloy as the material of choice due to its relatively low cost and high durability, Lin Long presented his ideas, taken straight from a game, which included a type of plate armor worn by ancient soldiers.

Seeing the armor drew a puzzled look from Zhang Fuqiang, the factory owner. He studied the image on Lin Long's phone for a moment and asked about his material requirements: "Lightweight yet considerably sturdy," Lin Long answered.

Zhang proposed using aluminum alloy, which was easily processable and boasted decent hardness. With these specs, Lin Long was aiming to equip ordinary zombies. He surmised it should be enough to confront regular zombies or first-stage mutated zombies, whose attacks were not strong enough to destroy the aluminum alloy.

"Agreed!" Lin Long didn't haggle over the price Zhang quoted and promptly paid a thirty-thousand-yuan advance. The delivery of twenty armor sets was scheduled for a week later. Leaving the factory, Lin Long couldn't wait to see the performance of zombies equipped with aluminum alloy armor.

The next day, Lin Long, intrigued by the idea of creating a Nordic axe and a shield, visited the 'Powerful Processing Factory' again. He had a simple picture of an axe and wanted it to be made in aluminum as well.

Stolen novel; please report.

Upon seeing the axe picture, Zhang's eyebrow twitched slightly. It took him only a second to realize what Lin Long had intended to manufacture - a complete set of old-fashioned armor.

Young people these days love figurines, and they even show up to role-play parties dressed in game-inspired outfits. It seemed to Zhang that Lin Long was gearing up for one such party.

Zhang didn't hold these pursuits in high regard, seeing them as unnecessary distractions, but he wouldn't show it. After all, he needed the business.

After scrutinizing the projects proposed by Lin Long, Zhang confidently assured that they shouldn't be a problem. Upon hearing that, Lin Long asked him to create an initial batch of twenty sets.

Hours later, Zhang estimated that each set would end up costing around five thousand yuan, giving him a modest 20% profit margin. Lin Long readily agreed and immediately placed the order, paying forward a 30,000 yuan advance.

A week later, Lin Long couldn't contain his anticipation as the time to pick up the armor sets drew closer. The following evening, with the armor sets now in his possession, he carefully inspected a sample helmet, admiring the fine workmanship. An image formed in his mind - a zombie clad in the shiny aluminum armor, an almost theatrical sight.

Through it all, he couldn't help but feel a streak of excitement. He planned on creating an army of zombies clad in armors, carrying shields and axes, doing his bidding in the post-apocalyptic world.

Although the process seemed exhaustive, culminating with a newly armored zombie felt totally worth the effort. His vision to combine technology from the two worlds he lived in, somehow felt a bit closer now. Time would eventually prove just how powerful the results could be. He just needed to keep stepping steadily towards that vision.

Three fleeting days passed by.

At this moment, Lin Long was busy checking his supplies in his rented room, realizing that the amount he could bring to the apocalypse was quite limited. The apocalypse was a place where everything was scarce and yet, nothing was, depending on the person. Survivors treasured water and food far more than gold. Yet through Lin Long's eyes, these essential necessities were abundant in the modern world.

What Lin Long lacked were firearms and ammo - restricted items he couldn't acquire. All Lin Long could bring with him was food and water. Additionally, this time Lin Long brought along twenty cleavers. Until armors and battle axes were delivered, these readily available cleavers would do. In skilled hands, the damage a cleaver could do was remarkable. The main appeal was the ease of obtaining one - no one questioned him when he bought them at the old market.

"Rome wasn't built in a day."Lin Long didn't agonize over the lack of firearms. He placed the water, food, and cleavers into his storage space, then looked at the countdown clock. Five minutes left. Lin Long moved to the window. It was midday outside.

Taking a deep breath of fresh modern-world air, Lin stood, arms crossed, looking out. The five minutes passed all too quickly. A text appeared, "Forced teleportation countdown!" "10, 9, 8..." Listening to the countdown, Lin Long felt a mix of anxiety and anticipation, and as the countdown concluded, he vanished from the room.

The apocalypse.The room was still familiar. As Lin Long materialized and opened his eyes, his senses immediately went into high alert. The door was locked from the inside and hadn't budged.

"Safe!"Lin Long relaxed his tense nerves. The zombie uncle and the female white-collar zombie had spent the past three days lying in the room, as instructed. He then issued a command for them to get up. The two zombies sprang to life and stood up. Despite having seen zombies before, Lin Long still found it hard to adjust.

Rather than rushing to open the door, he went to the window. Looking out, he saw that in the past days, more wandering zombies had gathered around the residential building. After confirming that there were no mutant zombies, Lin Long finally let his guard down.

In his mind, the prompt from the zombie manufacturing system echoed, "You need to create more zombies to unlock higher level zombies." Lin Long started. The zombie manufacturing system always managed to surprise him. Without any prior indication, it would just shock him with their prompts. Not at all scared for the user. In the deathly silence, a sudden voice could startle anyone.

Even if the system didn't prompt, Lin Long planned to do just that. Clutching nearly two million without squandering, he planned on creating more zombies. With the system's prompt, Lin Long realized another clue had surfaced. Making enough zombies would unlock the next level of zombies. No specifics were given on the quantity needed. There was no choice but to grope in the dark.

"System, create ten zombies."Without hesitation, Lin Long immediately issued the command.

Suddenly, the room lit up. Ten shimmering orbs appeared, composed of countless particles of light gathering together to form ten zombies. In just a minute, ten zombies appeared in the room. The room, not very spacious to begin with, was now filled with zombies. Any survivor in this sea of zombies would surely be terrified. To leave this filled room alive would be near impossible.

Encircled by the zombies, Lin Long, despite the imminent danger, still felt somewhat tense.

"I need a little more time to get used to this fully."With a bitter smile, Lin Long began to check the ten newly created zombies. The zombies created by the zombie manufacturing system were completely random. With bad luck, the created zombies could be incomplete and limited in use.

The closest zombie to Lin Long was a little girl, presumably a middle schooler, missing an arm. This severely reduced her combat ability.

"Well, at least she can be put to use elsewhere."Lin long comforted himself as he eyed the white haired old man who was luckily full-bodied. A muscular zombie, standing about 188cm tall, came into view making Lin Long couldn't help but smile. Despite being zombified, this muscular man still retained his bulging muscles, presenting an impressive sight. His brawny arms were oozing with formidable power. This muscular zombie was largely intact, save for a decaying chest with black fluid seeping out. A fatal wound in a human, trivial for a zombie.

Out of the ten zombies created this time, six were males and four females, consisting of three children, two elderly, and five adults. Overall, Lin Long was reasonably satisfied with the result.

Lin Long took out the cleavers he brought, tossing them around the room indifferently, instructing the zombies to each pick up one. In no time, all twelve zombies, including the zombie uncle and the female white-collar zombie, were holding black and white cleavers. This scene, though hilarious amidst the horror, sparked an urge to laugh in Lin Long. These ten zombies ate into Lin Long's pockets by a hundred thousand, and cost a hundred manufacturing points. Currently, Lin Long only had 27 manufacturing points left.

After arming the twelve zombies, Lin Long mentally opened up the zombie manufacturing system. The interface of the zombie manufacturing system appeared in his mind. It felt like an imagined concept, yet there was a certain physical quality to it. After creating ten more zombies, the manufacturing interface finally had some changes.

Previously, only the 'Ordinary Zombie' was illuminated. Now, two more cells lit up beside it. Lin Long focused on these newly illuminated cells. A large, explosive zombie appeared, emanating a vibe of power. There were less decaying spots on its body compared to an ordinary zombie. A few wounds exposed the crimson muscle fibers beneath. The first thing that struck anyone upon seeing it was its power, its aggression.

First-order mutated zombie: Mammoth.A very simple introduction.

'Mammoth', large and aggressive, was quite fitting for a zombie that prided itself on its power. The second illuminated cell featured a petite yet agile zombie. It wasn't very tall, but its extended arms and legs were particularly striking. Its legs gave off a frog-like impression, though not entirely, with a slight bend present. Its appealing feature was its claws - not humanoid fingers, but sharp, menacing claws. Based on its external appearance, you could deduce that it has terrifying speed and formidable attack power.

First-order mutated zombie: Swift.Compared to the ordinary zombies, these two mutated zombies were leagues ahead in both appearance and power.

"So, are the twelve ordinary zombies I created just leftovers?"Lin Long eyed the two first-order mutated zombies, nearly drooling.The system prompted, "Unlocking of first-order mutated zombies completed!" The zombie manufacturing system sounded off another prompt.