24: Section 24

Jing Nan explained to Jing Yuan, "According to your requirements, I've pushed the unit's performance to the absolute limit. Since the firearms systems couldn't be used, I simply didn't equip them. The results are even better than I previously imagined; performance has increased by about 24%."

"Thank you, Sister Jing Nan!"

"You're welcome. Hurry up and give it a try!" Jing Nan said with a gentle smile.

"Alright!" Jing Yuan opened the gravity body's hatch and jumped inside with ease.

Jing Yuan raised the gravity body's arm and moved it around; it was indeed much more flexible than before.

He then began to pilot the gravity body forward, performing a series of movements.

First, he controlled the gravity body to throw a set of punches, then he even performed a dance, and finally, he drew the Greatsword and began to swing it.

Seeing this scene, an expression of disbelief appeared on Jing Nan's face. She had modified this gravity body with her own hands, so she knew its condition better than anyone.

For machinery, it wasn't enough for one aspect to be particularly good for the whole thing to be exceptionally strong.

Machinery required synergy for the whole unit to achieve the best results.

According to Jing Yuan's modification method, blindly increasing performance was simply overcorrecting.

Jing Nan had originally wanted to see Jing Yuan make a fool of himself, but she was shocked that he could control it so easily.

Whoosh!

Jing Yuan piloted the gravity body in front of Jing Nan, opened the visor, and said with a smile, "Sister Jing Nan, this gravity body is fantastic! It's much more flexible than before!"

Jing Nan hadn't yet recovered from her shock and asked, "Are you sure you want to keep the modifications like this?"

"I'm sure!"

Only then did Jing Nan realize why Jing Yuan dared to defend himself in front of the City Lord and offend Charles; it turned out he truly had the skills to back up his boldness!

With the test drive complete, Jing Yuan climbed out of the gravity body.

He looked at Jing Nan; once this woman put on her uniform, she possessed a hint of condescending nobility—she was indeed the City Lord's daughter.

Compared to those two Light Bearers, Jing Yuan was more willing to go to the Hall of Dawn with Jing Nan.

"I wonder why Charles would be willing to let Jing Nan go to the Hall of Dawn?" Jing Yuan wondered to himself. "Could it be that the two of them don't get along?"

Originally, Jing Yuan was just teasing Charles by intentionally naming three women close to him, and Charles had immediately chosen Jing Nan.

Jing Nan turned around and saw Jing Yuan staring at her, so she asked, "What are you looking at me for?"

Jing Yuan snapped out of it and gave an awkward smile; he couldn't exactly say he was speculating about her relationship with Charles.

So, Jing Yuan changed the subject randomly. "Sister Jing Nan, aren't you the Chief of Navigation Control? Why are you in the Research Department repairing gravity bodies?"

"On the Lighthouse, many people hold multiple roles," Jing Nan answered casually. She then walked toward another gravity body, stroking its outer shell as she said, "Repairing gravity bodies only requires dealing with machinery, which is actually quite a bit easier."

"I can agree with that," Jing Yuan chimed in with a smile. "I'd rather go hack at Phage Beasts than deal with people."

Jing Nan smiled gently. "Your perspective is very similar to Mark's!"

Jing Yuan smiled slightly. It was hard to imagine that someone like Jing Nan was actually siblings with Charles.

Speaking of the Navigation Control Room, Jing Yuan suddenly thought of some questions and took this opportunity to ask Jing Nan.

"Sister Jing Nan, every time the Wasteland Hunters head to a waypoint, the route is set by the Navigation Control Room. Does that mean the Navigation Control Room has waypoint information for all resources on the ground?"

"Yes!" Jing Nan was puzzled. "Why are you asking this?"

"Can I see the map of the resource waypoints on the ground?"

Jing Nan's brow furrowed slightly, and then she said, "You are just an ordinary Wasteland Hunter; you don't have sufficient clearance."

Jing Yuan gave a silly grin and said, "I just wanted to see if I could scavenge a gravity body with better performance among the resource waypoints on the ground."

Hearing this, Jing Nan thought Jing Yuan was still unsatisfied with the performance of the gravity body mecha, so she said, "There are better gravity bodies on the ground, but you must understand that if they were so easy to get, we would have brought them up long ago."

"Sounds dangerous!" Jing Yuan agreed. In reality, his goal was to deduce the location of Dragon Bone Village through the map.

"Yes, they are in very dangerous Dense Ecological Zones," Jing Nan added. "Currently, the main task of the Wasteland Hunters is to collect medicine, energy, and other supplies. There is no need to enter a dangerous Dense Ecological Zone for a gravity body."

"It was just a random thought," Jing Yuan said with a smile to cover his tracks. Then he realized something else and quickly asked, "Sister Jing Nan, in previous Wasteland Hunter missions, have they never entered a Dense Ecological Zone?"

"Of course not. Dense Ecological Zones are extremely dangerous. There is no need to risk lives to enter them just to collect supplies."

After hearing Jing Nan's answer, Jing Yuan became lost in thought.

Bai Yuekui on the ground knew the situation on the Lighthouse perfectly, yet those on the Lighthouse knew nothing about the ground.

There was certainly intentional concealment by City Lord Morgan, but the fact that Mark, who frequently went to the ground for missions, also knew nothing meant he had perfectly avoided the areas where the Ground People were active.

So, did these Dense Ecological Zones overlap with the activity range of the Ground People?

Jing Yuan only had some conjectures; he wasn't in a hurry to find the Ground People led by Bai Yuekui right now.

With the Lighthouse as a sanctuary, he could slay Phage Beasts to increase his strength while following the Wasteland Hunter teams on ground missions.

If he couldn't win, he could always flee back to the Lighthouse.

Leaving the Research Department, Jing Yuan returned to the Lighthouse's outer ring area.

It couldn't be helped; if he wanted to find a place with few people and plenty of space, this was the only spot.

Jing Yuan controlled the flying daggers to fly through the air. The flying daggers were extremely fast; if viewed from a certain angle, one couldn't even detect their afterimages.

"Why are you here again?"

A female voice came from behind, startling Jing Yuan into immediately hiding the flying daggers beneath the platform.

Chapter 25: The Prayer Meeting

Jing Yuan turned around and saw a blonde beauty. Although she was dressed simply, it still couldn't hide her mature temperament and charm.

"Penny, why did you come again?"

Jing Yuan couldn't help but smile when he saw the newcomer was Penny. "Aren't you afraid of being seen by the City Defense Force?"

"So what if they see me? They wouldn't dare arrest you," Penny said jokingly. It seemed she was in a good mood this time.

"You can't say that. I have a clear conscience; on what grounds would they arrest me?"

"Fair point!" Penny looked ahead and asked, "Do you also like watching the clouds here?"

"Watching the clouds?" Jing Yuan was taken aback; he didn't actually like watching clouds. "Um, yeah! On this cramped Lighthouse, only by watching the clouds drift by can I feel a bit of peace."

"True."

"You seem to be in a good mood this time!"

Penny looked at Jing Yuan and said, "What you said last time was right. There's no need to be sad over someone who isn't worth it."

Hearing this, Jing Yuan wondered: did he actually succeed in driving a wedge between them?

That easily?

Thinking carefully, it wasn't actually strange. On the Lighthouse, even if you had someone you liked, you couldn't date openly. If there was even a slight misunderstanding, that faint, nebulous affection would vanish.

Feelings need to be nurtured.

"That's good then!" Jing Yuan laughed. "From now on, just focus on fighting Phage Beasts!"

"Mm! Focus on fighting Phage Beasts!"

After chatting for a bit, Jing Yuan made an excuse to leave.

It seemed he would have to find a different place to practice with his flying daggers next time.

Jing Yuan went to the canteen to exchange contribution points for some food, packed it up, and brought it back to his residence.

Having just moved into his new place, Jing Yuan invited his three roommates over for a drink.

Consider it an old world housewarming ceremony.

After Mo Dong, Chu Feng, and Neil arrived, they first toured Jing Yuan's room and then sat on the sofa together to drink.

This room was simply a bit more spacious; after all, these were the conditions on the Lighthouse.

But even these conditions were enough to make his three roommates incredibly envious.

"Jing Yuan, you've got high-level housing and a designated gravity body—it's really enviable!"

"Yeah! How did you manage to get assigned high-level housing?"

"Charles arranged it," Jing Yuan answered directly.

"The Leader? Aren't you at odds with him? Why would he arrange high-level housing for you?"

The matter of Jing Yuan offending Charles in the canteen had already spread; everyone knew about it.

"Naturally, he saw that I have courage and wants to win me over!"

Chu Feng gave a thumbs up and said, "You're still the impressive one!"

"Then by accepting Charles's housing arrangement, haven't you accepted his recruitment?"

"It's not exactly accepting, just playing along for now." Facing his roommates, Jing Yuan spoke frankly, "Given Charles's character, if I refused him, he would start working against me. Since he's giving me these things, why shouldn't I accept them and enjoy them for a while?"

"But what about later?" Mo Dong asked with some concern.

Did they not understand Charles? Did they not understand the Light and Shadow Society?

"Don't worry, I have my own plan."