199: Section 199

The Lighthouse has undergone a complete power reshuffle; those days of the past will never return.

But the road to fighting the mana ecology has only just begun.

Chapter 201: Three Stories

Jing Yuan returned to his residence to rest.

The continuous battles had taken a heavy toll on his spirit, especially the act of lifting the Lighthouse at the end, which had completely exhausted his Mental Force.

Furthermore, he had broken through two ranks in succession by absorbing life source essence in a short period, and he didn't know if this would affect his body.

Jing Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed and entered a state of Introspection, beginning to carefully examine his body for fear that the rapid advancement might have caused any issues.

However, after a thorough examination, he found no problems at all.

It seemed the abilities granted by the system were indeed powerful.

Not only that, he discovered that after entering the Fifth Rank, his body had stepped into a new stage.

Previously, absorbing source energy could only be described as absorption, but now it was almost in the form of plundering.

Once Jing Yuan began his source energy cultivation, all the source energy within a radius of several kilometers would be absorbed by him.

However, the source energy in this world was sparse; even so, the efficiency of his cultivation remained very low.

"It seems that if I want to advance, I still have to rely on killing Phage Beasts!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Jing Yuan went to open the door and found Jing Nan standing outside.

"Have you come to hold me accountable?"

Jing Yuan didn't pay much mind to Jing Nan and walked straight back into the room to sit down.

"No," Jing Nan followed him inside. "I'm here to ask you, what path should the Lighthouse take next?"

"Mark is the City Lord; you should ask Mark!"

Jing Nan looked at Jing Yuan and said, "You now hold the power of life and death over the Lighthouse, yet you still want to throw the responsibility of leading it to Mark?"

Jing Yuan gave a helpless smile?

He thought for a moment and said, "Just hover at the periphery of the Ecology Zone for now."

Jing Nan asked in confusion, "Do you still want to return to Dragon Bone Village?"

Jing Yuan nodded. "I definitely have to go back. But before that, I need to conduct an experiment."

"Alright then!" Jing Nan said, turning to leave.

"Jing Nan!" Jing Yuan called out to her.

Jing Nan looked back. "What is it?"

"I killed Morgan and Charles. Do you hate me?"

Jing Nan was silent for a moment before saying, "Do you know why I didn't try to stop you just now?"

Jing Yuan was taken aback, then it dawned on him.

When Jing Yuan went to Morgan's residence, anyone with eyes knew what he was going to do!

Logically, as Morgan's adoptive daughter, Jing Nan should have been the first person to stand up and stop Jing Yuan, but she didn't go.

Once she understood the reason behind this rebellion, Jing Nan also realized a truth: sparing their lives was a small matter compared to the instability of the Lighthouse.

Jing Nan also knew in her heart that no one could persuade Jing Yuan.

"You are actually more insightful than Mark."

Jing Nan turned back to look at Jing Yuan.

Insightful? It was merely a sense of powerlessness.

"Jing Nan, let me tell you a few stories. Are you interested in listening?"

"Go ahead."

"The first story is about a dream I once had. In the dream, I was an employee of a company in the old world. The industry the company was in was already a sunset industry, yet internal bureaucracy was rampant, filled with intrigue and infighting. Mid-level managers rose to power by sucking up to the higher-ups, while those who worked diligently were instead marginalized.

Once, there was a major industry trend right in front of the company, but the executives were obsessed with their internal struggles. They even suppressed the trending industry for the sake of their infighting, completely disregarding the company's future. In the end, one faction won.

Later, the company died. The winning executives simply packed up and left, transferring to other positions with their 'advanced experience,' leaving behind a total mess.

And the employees of that company..."

Jing Yuan smiled and didn't continue. His so-called dream was actually his experience from his previous life.

"That's why I loathe internal strife. Back when I was just a lowly Wasteland Hunter, even though Charles tried to recruit me in every possible way, I remained unmoved. Because I knew that a fellow obsessed with internal fighting could never achieve great things!"

"I chose to help Mark. Back then, I also told Mark a historical anecdote.

A king and his two sons.

The Eldest Prince and the Second Prince fought each other. After the Second Prince won the coup, he wasn't soft-hearted and killed the Eldest Prince on the spot.

Once the Eldest Prince was dead, the Second Prince even pardoned some of his old officials and was able to lead them to create a golden age together.

When I told Mark this story, I had already made the decision to kill Charles.

Of course, Mark can't be blamed; I was also too conceited. I thought Charles wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble..."

"The third story is also a historical anecdote.

King Jia was captured after a defeat in battle. His younger brother was appointed in a time of crisis and succeeded him as King Yi.

After King Jia was released by the enemy and returned...

A group of generals led King Jia to launch a coup, reclaiming the throne.

Many people died.

In fact, that coup didn't need to happen. Because King Yi was bedridden with illness and had no sons.

If King Jia had done nothing, the throne would have automatically returned to him.

All of this was instigated by a group of generals who, for the sake of their own merit in supporting a restoration, egged King Jia on to launch the coup.

It didn't change the outcome; it just caused many people to die for no reason."

After listening to these three stories, whether they were true or not, Jing Nan realized they all alluded to the power struggles on the Lighthouse without exception.

Jing Yuan looked at Jing Nan and said, "Sometimes I wonder, was Morgan really grooming Mark as a successor?

In the old world, when a politician grooms a successor, that successor might be incompetent in many areas, but they must learn politics. To learn politics, they must learn history!

Clearly, Mark's knowledge of history is deficient."

Jing Yuan smiled and lamented, "Never mind Mark; I know these histories, yet I couldn't avoid it either. Sometimes, knowing doesn't necessarily mean being able to do. I know the principle of the unity of knowledge and action, but I can't achieve it myself."

Jing Nan then said, "I finally understand now why Morgan used to always tell Charles some inexplicable stories."

Jing Yuan looked at Jing Nan. "So you overheard some of them too, didn't you?"

Jing Nan nodded.

Jing Yuan remarked with emotion, "It seems Morgan only viewed Mark as a tool to end the apocalypse, a blade prepared for Charles. It's just that Charles was too useless, so Morgan had no choice but to use Mark!"

"Then how do you view Mark?"

Jing Yuan stared at Jing Nan, not catching the underlying meaning in her words.

"All along, I believed Mark was the key to solving the apocalypse, which is why I put all my effort into pushing him into power.

However, Mark is only suited to be a warrior, not a leader. I shouldn't have pinned all my hopes on him."

"Do you also treat him as a tool?"

"No, he is a person. A person just like you; he shouldn't be treated as a tool."

Jing Nan looked confused. What did he mean by "a person just like me"?

Jing Yuan suddenly turned to look at Jing Nan. "Do you want to know the truth about your origin?"

"My origin?"

"Yes!" Jing Yuan nodded. "I met Mevy in the Clotho Realm! She was the previous volunteer for the brain-linking experiment! She was consumed by clotho and has existed within it in the form of life source essence.

It wasn't until I entered clotho that she was completely consumed in order to help us."

"Mevy..." Jing Nan certainly remembered who Mevy was.

In Charles's words, Jing Nan was only adopted because she looked like Mevy.

But as Jing Nan grew up, she also understood how low the probability was for two people with no blood relation to look so similar within a small population base like the Lighthouse.

Jing Nan had always felt that Mevy should be her biological mother.

"Mevy told me..." Jing Yuan said, "You... are just her Clone!"

Jing Nan's face turned pale; she couldn't believe this was the truth.

Jing Nan was no novice when it came to technology; she knew a thing or two about cloning.

"Impossible! A Clone might have a simple consciousness, but it wouldn't possess life source essence!"