18: Section 18

"Leader!" Fan Lü stood up and whispered a few words into Charles's ear.

Charles waved his hand and said, "It's fine!"

Then, Charles looked at Jing Yuan and said with a faint smile, "Jing Yuan, you will stay with the Wasteland Hunters from now on. I will secretly help you get promoted until you replace Mark and take control of the Wasteland Hunters. Of course, if you can eliminate Mark for me, I will also prepare a huge surprise for you!"

"What surprise? Sending Fan Lü to me?"

"If you can really eliminate Mark, that's not impossible."

"Leader, I don't like empty promises! If you want me to work for you, please show some sincerity."

"You will soon see my sincerity!"

Jing Yuan drank the last sip of red wine, then said, "Leader, I've eaten and we've talked. I'll take my leave now!"

With that, Jing Yuan left.

In the empty living room, only Charles and Fan Lü remained.

Fan Lü asked with some concern, "Leader, do you think this person is trustworthy?"

"Untrustworthy. However, I only need him to do things; I don't need to trust him!"

...Jing Yuan left the Light and Shadow Society church and went straight to the Wasteland Hunters' Armament Preparation Depot.

Jing Yuan came to train as usual.

Ran Bing and Flying Snow instructed in shooting.

Erica and Jessica instructed in gravity body piloting.

Jeff and Corey instructed in physical training.

With their help, Jing Yuan and his three roommates made great progress.

After the training, Jing Yuan received a message: a large amount of contribution points had been credited to his account.

He didn't need to guess; it was Charles's doing.

After receiving the contribution points, Jing Yuan had a plan in mind.

Later that day, Jing Yuan arrived at the black market in the Upper Citizen District.

Where there are people, there are transactions, and where there are transactions, there is naturally a black market.

The Lighthouse was only so big, with limited population and limited goods for trade.

Most of the items in the black market were daily necessities or food.

The flow of these goods was also from the Upper Citizen District to the Lower Citizen District.

Dust Citizens sometimes used contribution points to exchange for food or items from Upper Citizens.

Jing Yuan came to an old man's display window and saw some small knives inside.

He picked up a delicate knife and asked the old man, "Did you make these knives?"

The old man looked up and casually said, "No, a Dust Citizen brought them to exchange."

"A Dust Citizen?" Jing Yuan was surprised. "Dust Citizens have such craftsmanship?"

The old man replied, "You'd be surprised, some Dust Citizens have excellent craftsmanship, but as Dust Citizens, the manufacturing department doesn't need them."

Jing Yuan put away the knife and said, "I'll take this knife. By the way, could you tell me who the Dust Citizen is who made this knife?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "It was a little girl, her number starts with 4... I think it was 4277."

"4277?" Jing Yuan found it a bit familiar but didn't pay much attention, turning and walking towards the Lower Citizen District.

Chapter 18: Wasteland Hunter Assessment

Upon arriving in the Lower Citizen District, Jing Yuan easily found 4277's residence just by asking around.

Hearing that an Upper Citizen was looking for her, 4277 was also surprised.

Jing Yuan looked at the girl in front of him, with a long ponytail, big eyes, and a good figure.

The girl had good natural features, but as a Dust Citizen, she usually did physical labor and lacked proper nutrition, so she wasn't as radiant as Upper Citizen girls.

Seeing Jing Yuan, 4277 immediately recognized him as the Upper Citizen she had met in the ventilation shaft that day.

Jing Yuan also suddenly realized that this girl was the one with 4068.

No wonder the number seemed a bit familiar.

In the original work, there was no mention of 4277 having the ability to forge knives!

Jing Yuan couldn't worry about that much right now. He needed to forge a batch of knives to use as psychic weapons, and having Dust Citizens do it would help him maintain secrecy to the greatest extent.

"Did you make this knife?" Jing Yuan took out the black knife and handed it to 4277.

4277 glanced at it and nodded, saying, "Yes."

Jing Yuan smiled, but 4277 nervously asked, "Is there a problem?"

"This knife must have been forged from discarded materials, combining two alloys to increase its toughness several times over. The concept is very clever!"

4277 was somewhat surprised that the person in front of her could discern the knife's manufacturing method with a single glance.

"If I provide you with raw materials, can you help me make some knives?"

4277 hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can, but my conditions here are limited. If you give me good materials, I won't be able to process them."

Jing Yuan looked at the pigeon coop behind 4277 and asked, "You forged the knife right here?"

"Yes. Do we Dust Citizens even have workshops?"

Jing Yuan looked at the environment of the pigeon coop again and couldn't help but sigh.

In fact, what great difference was there between Upper Citizens and Dust Citizens?

What Upper Citizens could do, Dust Citizens could also do.

"What if I provide you with a workshop?"

"A workshop?" 4277's eyes lit up; it seemed that just giving her a place to work was enough.

"If it's a fully equipped workshop, then there's no problem."

"Good, I won't let you work for free. I will pay you contribution points based on your working hours!"

4277 cautiously asked, "Besides helping you make knives, can I use the workshop to make other things?"

"Of course." Jing Yuan smiled, "I'll go rent a workshop first. Once it's rented, you can use it however you like. You just need to help me complete the knife production."

"Mhm!" 4277 nodded happily; she seemed very interested in making these things.

"4277!"

Two Dust Citizen youths waved at them from a distance.

Jing Yuan looked up and saw that it was 4068 and the yellow-haired youth.

Jing Yuan looked at 4277 and said, "I'll come find you after I rent the workshop. By the way, can our transaction be kept secret, even from your two friends?"

4277 smiled and said, "I understand the rules! If you weren't trying to keep it secret, you probably wouldn't have come to us Dust Citizens, right?"

"That's right!"

4068 and the yellow-haired youth approached. Jing Yuan glanced at the yellow-haired youth's ID tag; the number on it was 4079.

Jing Yuan secretly noted it down. Before this, he only remembered the famous 4068 among the Dust Citizen numbers!

"Alright, goodbye!"

"Goodbye!"

4079 watched Jing Yuan's departing back and said, "Isn't that the Upper Citizen from the ventilation shaft?"

4068 eagerly asked, "4277, what did he come to you for?"

4277 said, "He just came to the Lower Citizen District to find someone and happened to run into me."

4079 worriedly said, "He's not here to investigate us for secretly eating Upper Citizen food, is he?"

"No! Don't think nonsense!" 4277 quickly changed the subject and asked, "By the way, where did you two go just now, being so secretive?"

"No..."

The three laughed and joked, and the matter passed... The Lighthouse passed another peaceful day, then welcomed a lively one.

The Wasteland Hunters' assessment began.

Perhaps to demonstrate the superiority of Upper Citizens, the Wasteland Hunters' assessment was not only public but also allowed Dust Citizens to watch.

The assessment took place on the platform outside the Armament Preparation Depot, and many Upper Citizens and Dust Citizens came to watch.

There were five assessment items: endurance, explosiveness, agility and coordination, gravity body simulated piloting, and psychological stress resistance.

Among these five items, only the last one, psychological stress resistance, needed to be completed on The Surface.