120: Section 120

"Why is Sharif so much stronger than Loriv? Also, why is Sharif's face festering?"

"The festering of Sharif's skin is a side effect of the medicine. The enhancement effects of the gene potion are random, and so are the side effects."

Jing Yuan had sensed earlier that there must be something wrong with this gene potion.

"That's why Charles didn't use it himself."

"Yes. Sharif's skin festering and Loriv's mental confusion are both side effects."

Jing Yuan sneered, "Your real purpose was to have Sharif kill Mark in front of everyone. So you were lying to me before; Charles wouldn't use the potion at all."

"The Leader is a god-chosen person; why would he need such things?"

Jing Yuan smiled and said, "It's already come to this, and you're still talking to me about being a god-chosen person."

Fan Lü said proudly, "The Leader is the one personally selected by the lord of light and shadow. Back when the Leader was still a child, he went down to The Surface with the Wasteland Hunters and was surrounded by Phage Beasts; it was the lord of light and shadow who saved him. All of this is in the Wasteland Hunters' records of The Surface. Do you not know?"

Jing Yuan still smiled and said, "You think I'll believe any of that?"

"Believe it or not, it's up to you." Fan Lü stared at Jing Yuan. "You promised me just now that if I told you about the gene potion, you would help us strive for the chance of a Far-Away Journey."

Jing Yuan stared at Fan Lü, "You should know that a Far-Away Journey also means death."

"No! The Leader will not die!"

Jing Yuan smiled slightly and left the cell.

Coming outside, some distant memories suddenly surfaced in Jing Yuan's mind.

In his previous life, when he was watching 'pest control', there seemed to have been a scene where Charles met the lord of light and shadow.

However, because it had been so long, he couldn't remember it clearly.

"Fan Lü said there's a record of this; I'll go to the Data Room to check it first."

To go to the Data Room, Jing Yuan could only ask Jing Nan for help again.

But going to the Data Room with Jing Nan now didn't require sneaking in like Mark and Ran Bing.

After Jing Yuan explained the reason to Jing Nan, she was also very curious, so she accompanied Jing Yuan to the Data Room.

Jing Nan opened the door and led Jing Yuan into the Data Room. Looking at the rows of shelves, Jing Yuan didn't know where to start looking.

Fortunately, Jing Nan was by his side. She said, "According to your description, this happened when Charles was a child. Charles became the Leader of the Light and Shadow Society after the three great laws were promulgated; since then, he has never gone down to The Surface. Based on the timing, it should be between Lighthouse Year 30 and Lighthouse Year 35."

"Aren't you and Charles siblings? Don't you have any memory of when he went down to The Surface?"

"No. Unless it's a special circumstance, one doesn't have very deep memories of things from early childhood."

Jing Yuan nodded.

Even though he was reincarnated with memories of his previous life, he didn't remember much about his childhood memories of this life.

After all, a child's brain is not fully developed and cannot carry too many memories; selective deletion is also a form of protection for the brain.

Based on the time, Jing Nan took several data hard drives off the shelves.

"These are all records of the Wasteland Hunters' missions to the ground between Lighthouse Years 30 and 35. Let's split up and look through them!"

Saying this, Jing Nan handed Jing Yuan a few hard drives.

Jing Yuan took the hard drives and checked them on a nearby machine.

In the past, the Wasteland Hunters' missions to the ground were always recorded, but not every recording could be brought back.

If the personnel recording happened to die, the relevant data would be lost.

Since there was no technology to manufacture cameras on the Lighthouse, machines became fewer and fewer, and later Wasteland Hunter missions had very few recordings.

Jing Yuan didn't know most of the people in these recordings, but he could still see some familiar faces.

"This Senge was once a Wasteland Hunter too," Jing Yuan said while looking at the recording.

While looking through the data, Jing Nan said to Jing Yuan, "Most of the combat personnel on the Lighthouse have been Wasteland Hunters."

Jing Yuan also saw others, such as Elon, Snow Peak, Red Calyx, and so on.

"The Phage Beasts back then were still a bit different from the Phage Beasts now," Jing Yuan remarked as he looked at the Phage Beasts inside.

"Phage Beasts evolve very quickly; in twenty years, many Phage Beasts have changed." Jing Nan also sighed, "Our research on the mana ecology has been stagnant for a long time; I wonder if new Phage Beasts will be born on The Surface."

"Once we find the Ground People, you can communicate with them; maybe there will be new discoveries."

Jing Nan glanced at him, "Is this also something you saw from the future you foresaw?"

"Yeah."

Looking at the images on the monitor, Jing Nan suddenly said, "I found Charles."

Jing Yuan quickly walked to Jing Nan's side and looked at the images on the monitor.

In the footage, a team of Wasteland Hunters was advancing on the ground.

Morgan was with Charles on a transport vehicle. Charles was very happy, looking left and right.

Charles was born on the Lighthouse, so he was very curious about The Surface.

Seeing this scene, Jing Yuan found it very hard to understand.

Is a Wasteland Hunter trip to The Surface a picnic? Why did Morgan bring Charles down?

Before long, the Wasteland Hunter team encountered Phage Beasts and was surrounded by them.

Morgan arranged for a group of people to take Charles and break out, but unfortunately, there were too many Phage Beasts, and Charles couldn't escape.

Among the attacking Phage Beasts, there was even a giant Twin-Jawed Beast.

With the combat power of Morgan's team, encountering a Twin-Jawed Beast was almost a certain death sentence.

But just then, a figure appeared in front of the team.

He was tall and slender, his whole body wrapped in clothes, his features indistinguishable.

He didn't look human; his height far exceeded that of a normal human, so he could only be described as a humanoid creature.

With a wave of his hand, he made the Phage Beasts surrounding the Wasteland Hunter team retreat.

Then with another wave, Charles was lifted up by an invisible force and brought before that strange humanoid creature.

Subsequently, the entire screen filled with static and garbled code.

The entire recording ended there.

Jing Nan repeatedly confirmed the video data and found that it wasn't file corruption, but rather that it hadn't been successfully recorded at the time.

"Go back and look!"

Jing Yuan asked Jing Nan to rewind the footage to the last frame.

In the frame was the humanoid creature suspected to be the "lord of light and shadow" and Charles, who had been lifted into the air.

This was also the first time Jing Nan had seen this footage, and her face still held a look of surprise.

"Is this the lord of light and shadow?"

Chapter 124: The Core of the Lighthouse (Six Updates)

Jing Yuan looked at Jing Nan and asked, "Do you think a god really exists? If he really were a deity, why wouldn't he just help us kill all the Phage Beasts directly?"

"I always thought the lord of light and shadow was just something City Lord Morgan made up."

"I thought so too."

"However..." Jing Yuan pointed at the humanoid creature in the image and said, "I think this guy looks more like a Phage Beast?"

Jing Nan said in surprise, "There are humanoid Phage Beasts?"

"If it's not a Phage Beast, could it really be a god?"

Jing Yuan didn't believe in gods; even if he were a god, he probably wouldn't be on the side of humanity.

Jing Nan looked at Jing Yuan, "What purpose do you think the lord of light and shadow has in choosing Charles?"

Jing Yuan shook his head; he couldn't guess.

Jing Yuan looked at Jing Nan and asked, "Has Charles seen this recording?"

"I don't know."

"Then over the years, did he learn he was the 'chosen one' from others, or does he truly believe in his heart that he is the 'chosen one'?"

Jing Nan shook her head and still said, "I don't know. Charles and I only spent some time together when we were children. Later, after he became the Leader, we didn't have much communication."

"So that's how it is, no wonder..."

"No wonder what..." Jing Nan suddenly understood and said indifferently, "No wonder he would use me as a bargaining chip, right?"

"No, no!"

Jing Yuan quickly denied it.

Suddenly, Jing Yuan froze. Seeing his dazed expression, Jing Nan quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Jing Yuan said, "I just met Fan Lü and wanted to trick her into talking, so I deliberately told her I could let Charles go on a Far-Away Journey. The ground is full of Phage Beasts, yet they aren't worried about the Far-Away Journey at all."

Jing Nan also looked thoughtful.