53: Section 53

"Gao Ge, Kun Jie, so you two can take the lead now?"

The speaker was Rock, and his smile made people very uncomfortable.

"Lord Leader!" Jing Yuan stepped forward. "We agreed before: bringing them down is fine, but they cannot interfere with my mission. Otherwise..."

"Little brat, when we were Wasteland Hunters, you were still breastfeeding! How dare you talk to us like that!" Rock said with utter disdain.

Charles raised his hand to stop him. "Enough. Jing Yuan is right; when going down to The Surface, the mission comes first. Even if you are Supervisors, you must listen to the Deputy Captain."

"Yes."

On The Surface, Charles gave Jing Yuan plenty of face. As for what happened after they reached The Surface, that would depend on their own performance.

Jing Yuan looked at the three people behind Charles. They were wearing light power armor; although its power couldn't compare to heavy armor, it was enough to give them abilities far beyond ordinary people.

Wearing this gear to go down—was it really just for supervision?

Jing Yuan noticed the male Upper Citizen named Loriv. He was tall, as tall as the big dog Sharif.

The two of them stood behind Charles like a wall.

A physique like Loriv's was rare on the Lighthouse.

The tall man he had seen at the Wasteland Hunters selection last time must have been him as well.

He was selected for the Wasteland Hunters but didn't show up; it turned out he had joined Charles.

Jing Yuan and the other Wasteland Hunters stepped onto the elevator platform.

As the platform slowly descended, they arrived in the desert of The Surface.

The team brought three armored vehicles this time. Jing Yuan, Kun Jie, and Gao Ge rode in the front vehicle to lead the way, while the people from the Light and Shadow Society rode in the vehicle behind them.

Jing Yuan leaned into the driver's cabin and asked Gao Ge, "Brother Gao Ge, what do those people from the Light and Shadow Society do? Do you know?"

Gao Ge glanced at Jing Yuan and smiled. "Everyone says you're Charles's man; he didn't even tell you this?"

Gao Ge spoke in a joking tone, and Jing Yuan didn't mind, replying jokingly, "Clearly, I haven't earned his trust yet."

“Haha!” Gao Ge laughed and explained, “You can think of these people as Charles's private Wasteland Hunters.”

“Private Wasteland Hunters?”

“The resources we Wasteland Hunters collect on the ground must enter the Lighthouse resource bank for unified distribution. But our Lord Leader isn't satisfied with that allocation, so he organized a private search team to collect supplies for him under the guise of Light and Shadow Society supervision.”

“That's allowed?”

“In principle, no. But who can stop him? He's the Leader of the Light and Shadow Society! In the name of the lord of light and shadow, he *is* the principle.”

Kun Jie added from the side, “Only us older Wasteland Hunters know about this. Back then, everyone figured that since the supplies were going to the Lighthouse anyway, we'd turn a blind eye. But then they got more and more out of hand. After Marc became Captain, he stopped letting the Light and Shadow Society follow us down.”

“So that's how it is!”

Given this history, it wasn't hard for Jing Yuan to guess that Charles had sent these three down to find something specific.

What could it be?

In the desert, the three armored vehicles were speeding forward, and they soon reached their destination.

Kun Jie said from the driver's cabin, “Jing Yuan, we're approaching the destination. Get ready.”

“Copy that!”

The armored vehicles arrived at a cluster of building ruins in the desert.

Before the cataclysm, this was a food production and processing factory.

If the equipment here was still preserved, they should be able to find some old machinery and parts.

The convoy drove through the ruins while scanning the surrounding buildings with instruments.

After the cataclysm, many factories were destroyed and buried under the yellow sand; only through instrument scanning could the locations of the workshops be determined.

The convoy stopped, and Gao Ge pulled out a tablet, bringing up the latest scanning information.

“Based on drone reconnaissance and on-site scans, there are three hollow spaces beneath this area. In my opinion, we should split up to maximize search efficiency.”

“I think that's feasible.”

Seeing that Kun Jie agreed, Jing Yuan naturally didn't refuse, but he still said, “Splitting up is fine, but if you encounter a Phage Beast, do not act rashly. Notify me to come and handle it.”

Kun Jie and Gao Ge both knew Jing Yuan's combat strength and agreed.

While the three were discussing the plan, Fann, one of the Light and Shadow Society trio, was off to the side using an instrument to look for something.

He then walked toward Jing Yuan, ignoring their discussion entirely, and said directly, “Vice-Captain Jing Yuan, I need you to come with me in this direction to collect supplies.”

Jing Yuan was stunned, and Gao Ge and Kun Jie also looked at Fann's group.

“I made it very clear before we came down: you are not to interfere with our mission! Wherever you want to go can wait until after we find the maintenance equipment. Of course, if you're not afraid of Phage Beasts, you can go by yourselves.”

Rock, standing nearby, gave a slight smile and said, “Vice-Captain Jing Yuan, if you don't cooperate, you know what you'll face!” After saying that, he stretched and looked at Penny, who was nearby, smiling. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the Hall of Dawn to perform a Breeding Mission!”

Jing Yuan's face instantly went cold, his gaze stabbing into Rock's face like a dagger.

Rock also sensed that something was wrong.

Smack!

Jing Yuan suddenly rushed in front of Rock and knocked him to the ground with a slap.

No one had time to react.

Seeing their companion hit, Fann and Loriv almost simultaneously raised their guns at Jing Yuan.

Penny, Mo Dong, Chu Feng, and the others nearby also raised their guns at the trio.

Rock also drew his gun immediately, but before he could even flip the safety, Jing Yuan kicked it away.

Jing Yuan took a step forward, grabbed Rock by the neck, and lifted him up like a dog.

Rock struggled, but Jing Yuan's hand was like a steel clamp, choking him so tightly he couldn't move.

Jing Yuan looked at Fann and Loriv and said coldly, “If you don't dare to fire, put the guns down. Do you think a gun can scare me?”

Fann and Loriv were stunned; they indeed didn't dare to fire, but they hadn't expected Jing Yuan to actually dare to do this.

Fann was somewhat smooth-tongued and said to Jing Yuan, “Vice-Captain Jing Yuan, we came down on the orders of the Lord Leader. What is the meaning of this?”

Jing Yuan felt that Rock was about to pass out, so he threw him directly in front of Fann.

Jing Yuan said, “I said, you are not to interfere with our mission! You can have your own mission, but it has to wait until after we find the maintenance equipment.”

Jing Yuan glanced at Mo Dong and said, “Confiscate their weapons!”

“You dare!”

Confiscating weapons was something no one would agree to.

Jing Yuan smiled slightly and said, “Think about it yourselves. Is it better to cooperate with us to complete the mission and return happily to the Lighthouse to report to the Leader? Or is it better to stay here and feed the Phage Beasts?”

“What? You want to kill us here?”

“Hmph!” Jing Yuan mocked, “Cooperation benefits both; conflict harms both. Not understanding such a simple truth—you truly are Charles's subordinates.”

Seeing Jing Yuan mocking the Lord Leader, Loriv was about to step forward but was stopped by Fann.

“Fine!” Fann lowered his gun and said, “We will follow your requirements! But regardless of the mission's success or failure, I will report everything truthfully to the Lord Leader!”

“Whatever.”

Chapter 55: Finding Supplies, Encountering Phage Beasts

Under Jing Yuan's forceful suppression, the trio from the Light and Shadow Society finally behaved.

Jing Yuan confiscated their weapons, placed them in the team, and instructed Mo Dong to keep an eye on them.

Kun Jie and Gao Ge were also stunned by this scene.

Gao Ge whispered, “This kid acts decisively and ruthlessly; he really doesn't seem like a newcomer.”

Kun Jie seemed to see through it, “It's not that he's ruthless, it's that they threatened him. If they used Fang Ning to threaten you, would you take them on?”

“I would!” Gao Ge looked at Jing Yuan, then at the Light and Shadow Society trio, and thinking of the things they had done in the past, he couldn't help but say, “Their methods are still just as despicable!”

Kun Jie, however, showed a hint of worry, “I don't know how Jing Yuan is going to settle this matter.”

Jing Yuan finished dealing with the Light and Shadow Society trio and walked toward Kun Jie and Gao Ge as if nothing had happened.

“Where were we?”

“Splitting up!” Gao Ge reminded him.

Jing Yuan was silent for a moment, then said, “Let's stick together.” He looked back. “I'm afraid these three guys will cause trouble.”

Then, a Team Member operated a drone to conduct another exploration.

After analyzing the data brought back by the drone, Jing Yuan chose one of the ruins to enter.

Beneath the ruins was a massive space, about ten meters high.

Jing Yuan and the others descended to the ground and soon found a pile of mechanical equipment below.

However, after inspection, this equipment was already damaged beyond use and wasn't even worth repairing.

The team could only continue forward.