15: Section 15

Jing Yuan spoke with a look of confusion on his face, "How is it impossible? Lord Leader, if you don't believe me, then please tell me, was the Phage Beast killed by us? Even if you don't believe Captain Marc, there were dozens of Wasteland Hunters Team Members who went down to The Surface with us; you can ask them one by one! Ask them if the Phage Beast turned into Mana and died completely! Without the divine decree of the lord of light and shadow, who else could have achieved this?"

"Impossible! The lord of light and shadow doesn't even..." Charles was exasperated, almost blurting out that the lord of light and shadow didn't exist.

The Lighthouse high-level officials all knew the lord of light and shadow didn't exist, but they couldn't say it out loud!

"Charles!" Morgan spoke up to stop Charles, then looked at Jing Yuan and said, "We are all subjects of the lord of light and shadow. The lord of light and shadow favors every one of his subjects. His transmission of the divine decree to Jing Yuan is also the result of Jing Yuan's devout prayers. Jing Yuan, did the lord of light and shadow convey any other information, such as finding the Phage Beast's weakness through scientific means?"

Jing Yuan looked at Morgan. He sat high above, his expression unreadable, but Jing Yuan knew that this man was the biggest charlatan on the Lighthouse!

"Responding to the City Lord, yes, there was," Jing Yuan continued to make things up. "The divine decree the lord of light and shadow gave me wasn't just a single sentence. He had me repeatedly study past cases of Wasteland Hunters dealing with Phage Beasts. In those cases, when Wasteland Hunters killed Phage Beasts, it was either by decapitation or a headshot, but neither could completely kill the Phage Beast!"

"Under the guidance of the lord of light and shadow, I boldly speculated that if the Phage Beast's weakness isn't in the head, then it must be in the chest or abdomen. Phage Beasts are also biological creatures; their weakness wouldn't likely be in the limbs or tail!"

"I told Captain Marc my thoughts. Upon learning it was the guidance of the lord of light and shadow, Captain Marc immediately decided to take me to The Surface for a test. As a result, after we killed a few more Phage Beasts, we discovered this weakness."

Faced with Jing Yuan's answer, Carrie was still somewhat skeptical.

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple!" Jing Yuan nodded, appearing very composed.

Hypothesizing, deducing, and proposing a plan—none of these were difficult. The hard part was how to verify them.

In the past, when Wasteland Hunters faced Phage Beasts, they were usually running for their lives; they had no time for research.

Jing Yuan relied on his overwhelming strength and then deduced the cause from the result, specifically to fool people. Without bringing up the lord of light and shadow, it really would have been hard to keep the charade going.

Carrie didn't believe in the lord of light and shadow, but the reasoning method Jing Yuan proposed was indeed feasible. The only drawback was that it required great strength to verify.

Others couldn't do it, but as it happened, Jing Yuan could.

Carrie looked at Jing Yuan and said meaningfully, "I heard you took down over a dozen people by yourself, including several armed City Defense Force soldiers. Although they're all useless trash, it still proves your strength. I want to know, if you and Marc teamed up, could you catch a Phage Beast for me to study?"

When Carrie called the Law Enforcement Office and the City Defense Force "trash," the expressions on Charles' and Victor's faces turned sour.

"Catch a Phage Beast?" Jing Yuan smiled. "With all due respect, if you want to study Phage Beasts, we can accompany you to The Surface. But bringing a Phage Beast onto the Lighthouse is too risky. No matter the research, we shouldn't gamble with the lives of everyone on the Lighthouse."

"What do you know..."

"Enough!" Morgan stopped Carrie. "Jing Yuan has already answered the questions you wanted to know. As for bringing a Phage Beast onto the Lighthouse, the risk is too great."

"City Lord..."

Morgan raised his hand, stopping Carrie again.

"Jing Yuan." Morgan looked at Jing Yuan and said calmly, "You have impressive strength and a good head on your shoulders. You are the kind of talent the Wasteland Hunters need. How about this? You don't need to take the assessment; just report directly to the Wasteland Hunters!"

Jing Yuan, however, bowed and said, "City Lord, I would still like to take the assessment! Lest someone tries to make an issue out of this again to slander Captain Marc."

Morgan's expression changed, and he said seriously, "Jing Yuan, everyone is working for the Lighthouse! In this apocalypse, everyone must be united! Do you understand?"

Jing Yuan quickly lowered his head; this old geezer was warning him. "Understood!"

"Alright, you may leave!"

Chapter 15: A Battle with Marc

After Jing Yuan and Carrie left, Victor also departed.

Only Morgan and Charles remained.

The two walked one after the other. Although Charles was behind, his respectful demeanor didn't waver in the slightest.

"I told you long ago," Morgan suddenly said. "To manage the Lighthouse, you must be able to manage people. Whether it's Marc or Jing Yuan, they are both people who can be used by me. Why do you insist on making things difficult for them?"

"Father, I didn't..."

Morgan raised his hand to stop him, not wanting to hear his excuses.

"I know what you're thinking. You want to suppress him first and then offer him some benefits so he'll serve you. For people without ability, that approach is correct. But Jing Yuan is clearly a man of ability. If you keep doing this, it will backfire."

Charles bowed behind Morgan, listening to the lecture.

"Marc has a generous character, while Jing Yuan is impulsive and stubborn. To win them over for your own use, you need to use your head more and put in more effort." Morgan turned to look at Charles. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Understood!"

...When Jing Yuan came down from the Council Hall, he happened to run into Marc walking toward him.

Marc saw Jing Yuan and asked, "Jing Yuan, did the City Lord summon you?"

Jing Yuan nodded and said, "I knew Charles wouldn't give up easily. He wanted to verify if we really found the Phage Beast's weakness, so he had Dr. Carrie come and ask me how I deduced it."

"How did you answer?"

"By giving him a taste of his own medicine. I said the lord of light and shadow told me."

Marc was stunned for a moment, then he laughed.

"I was worried something might happen to you, so I came over specifically to check."

"Oh? Then thank you, Captain Marc!"

"After all, Instructor Elon told me to look out for you."

"Thank Instructor Elon for me as well."

Marc changed the subject and said, "The supplies we brought back yesterday were sent to the Medical Area to help the sick staff recover. The recruitment assessment that was postponed before is also scheduled for three days from now. If you need to these next few days, you can come to our Armament Preparation Depot to train."

Training at the Armament Preparation Depot—wouldn't that be like using the exam hall in advance?

Jing Yuan nodded happily and then asked, "Captain Marc, I have three roommates. We agreed to take the Wasteland Hunters exam together. Can I bring them along to train?"

"Roommates?" Marc smiled; Jing Yuan really was a "don't forget your friends when you get rich" kind of guy.

Using the Armament Preparation Depot for training wasn't a big deal. As a commander, Marc had that level of authority.

Marc nodded and agreed.

Jing Yuan returned to the dormitory and told his three roommates the news.

Being able to train on the Wasteland Hunters' turf would certainly be of great benefit to them.

Afterward, the four of them finished dinner at the cafeteria and headed straight for the Armament Preparation Depot.

The Wasteland Hunters usually trained here.

As soon as they entered the gate, Jing Yuan saw a crowd of people gathered around a ring, cheering.

Drawing closer, he saw that it was Marc fighting a gauntlet match against other Team Members.

Marc's strength, endurance, and ability to take a hit were all monstrous. He could fight a gauntlet like this all day.

Marc defeated a group of opponents, walked to the edge of the ring, and asked, "Anyone else want to come up?"

Jing Yuan walked up and greeted Marc: "Captain Marc!"

"Do you want to come up?"

Jing Yuan was taken aback; he had just come over to say hello, since Marc was the one who invited him to train.

He wanted him in the ring?

Marc couldn't be getting a "combat high," could he?

"No! Captain Marc, I just came to let you know that I'm here with my three roommates."

"Oh!" Marc remembered what they had discussed that morning. He turned and shouted, "Jeff!"

A bearded man stepped out from the crowd.

"There are a few trainees here preparing for the assessment. Help them with some special training."

"No problem!" Jeff agreed readily. "Which ones?"

Jing Yuan stepped forward. "Instructor Jeff, it's us!"

Jeff looked at Jing Yuan. "So it's you, kid!"

Marc said from the side, "Leave Jing Yuan to me. You take the others for special training."

Jeff laughed, "Captain, you're even bullying the newcomers now?"

Marc also laughed, "Jing Yuan isn't as weak as you guys! Jing Yuan, come up and have a match with me!"

"Huh?" Jing Yuan hesitated for a moment, then thought this was also a good choice. Marc was the strongest combatant on the Lighthouse; it was a perfect chance to test how strong his own current power was.

"Alright!" Jing Yuan jumped onto the ring.

Compared to Marc, Jing Yuan didn't have exaggerated muscles, but his overall build was very lean and strong.

Jing Yuan put on boxing gloves and got ready.

Marc stood opposite him. He didn't even take a fighting stance, just casually rotating his wrists.

He knew Jing Yuan's record—he had only knocked down a dozen or so trash from the Law Enforcement Office.

As for killing Phage Beasts on The Surface, that only meant his control over the gravity body was very impressive.

But as for hand-to-hand combat?

Ever since Marc grew up, no one on the Lighthouse had been able to beat him.

Of course, Instructor Elon, who liked to play dirty during fights, was an exception.