77: Section 77

As the Court Council reached its end, Morgan suddenly stood up and said, "My body is no longer what it used to be..."

"The Lighthouse's course is still very long..."

"This person needs to have noble character and a resilient will..."

Hearing this, Charles unconsciously took a small step forward and puffed out his chest.

"I have decided! The position of City Lord will be succeeded by Marc!"

Once this decision was announced, no one was happy for Marc.

A heavy silence filled the entire hall.

"On what grounds!"

Charles immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.

But Morgan directly suppressed Charles's objection.

He announced directly that the Handover Ceremony would be held in seven days.

Morgan asked Marc to stay behind while the others were dismissed.

Jing Yuan walked up to Marc and whispered, "Marc, focus on the future and dwell less on the past!"

After he spoke, Marc did not understand his meaning.

After descending in the elevator, Jing Yuan went straight to find Jing Nan.

"Lady Jing Nan!"

Jing Nan looked back at Jing Yuan. "What is it?"

"Can we talk?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

Jing Yuan smiled and said, "Did you know all along that the City Lord intended to pass his position to Marc?"

Jing Nan asked in surprise, "How did you find out?"

"When you were chatting with Marc in the elevator earlier, it was practically written all over your face." Jing Yuan said, "If a Wilderness Hunter Commander transfers to a civilian post, which civilian post would be most suitable?"

"Your powers of observation are quite strong!"

"They're alright!" Jing Yuan pressed further. "City Lord Morgan made Charles the Leader of the Light and Shadow Society. This position has a massive base of followers and is closer to the position of City Lord. Plus, Charles is his biological son. I want to know, why didn't he choose Charles?"

"Why are you asking this?" Jing Nan did not answer directly.

Although she and Jing Yuan had interacted several times in the Hall of Dawn, it didn't mean they were close enough to discuss anything.

"I want to ask you, do you support Marc or Charles?"

"Now that the position of City Lord has been decided, talking about who to support is useless."

"Do you think it's truly settled? Will Charles be resigned to this?"

Jing Nan looked at Jing Yuan in surprise; his viewpoint was the same as hers.

Jing Nan still did not take a stance.

Jing Yuan said, "Charles will definitely make a move next. I want to know the reason City Lord Morgan didn't choose him so that I can try to persuade him!"

Jing Nan looked at Jing Yuan and shook her head, saying, "Charles isn't someone you can talk out of something."

"If we don't try, who knows!"

After hearing this, Jing Nan sighed and said, "The City Lord indeed intended to pass the position to Charles, but he failed to grasp the opportunity. The City Lord believes that if he passes the position to Charles, he will certainly kill Marc. But if he passes it to Marc, Marc will not make things difficult for Charles."

So that was it.

Jing Yuan could have guessed as much, but hearing it from Jing Nan made it feel more real and shocking.

Morgan was right; Marc indeed wouldn't make things hard for Charles, which would eventually lead to Marc being killed and turning into a Phage Beast.

"How do you plan to persuade Charles?" Jing Nan posed a question.

Jing Yuan scratched his head for a moment, indicating he hadn't thought of that yet.

"By the way, about the Hall of Dawn..."

Jing Nan glanced at him. "Since you and Marc returned in triumph this time, I'm afraid Charles won't be arranging for you to go to the Hall of Dawn."

"I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about you. What do you think?"

"I've already found some clues, but I still need evidence. However, at least I won't be going back to the Hall of Dawn for the time being."

"That's good."

Actually, whether Jing Nan went to the Hall of Dawn or not was none of Jing Yuan's business.

While Jing Yuan was still chatting with Jing Nan, the Light Bearer Fan Lü came looking for him.

"Lady Jing Nan." She first bowed to Jing Nan, then turned to Jing Yuan and said, "Vice-Captain Jing Yuan, the Leader requests your presence."

Jing Yuan gave an awkward smile. Instead of going back to vent his anger first before coming for him, Charles was probably planning to vent his anger directly on him.

Chapter 78: He's Not the Biological Son, You Are

Jing Yuan followed Fan Lü to the Law Enforcement Office.

Seeing things strewn all over the floor of the room, he knew Charles had thrown a massive tantrum.

What else?

Honestly, anyone would be furious about this.

Jing Yuan stepped forward and looked at the livid Charles.

"Why is the Leader so angry?"

Seeing Jing Yuan's indifferent attitude, Charles became even more incensed.

"Jing Yuan, don't you think you owe me an explanation for what happened this time?"

"What kind of explanation does the Leader want?"

Charles gritted his teeth and said, "Before setting out, you promised me you would intercept Marc's credit. But why, in the end, does Marc still get the top credit?"

Jing Yuan smiled slightly. He had just been fooling Charles at the time; after descending to The Surface, he hadn't given the matter a single thought.

Jing Yuan said with a laugh, "Marc led the team for this mission and brought back the supplies. Of course he gets the top credit!"

Charles walked up to Jing Yuan and pointed at him. "You clearly could have led the team to collect supplies yourself and let Marc deal with the Phage Beasts! Or you could have done nothing at all! You could have waited for the Phage Beasts to seriously injure Marc before making your move! But what did you do? You killed more Phage Beasts than anyone! Without you, Marc would have suffered heavy losses even if he wasn't seriously injured!"

Charles stared at Jing Yuan and asked, word by word, "Tell me, are you helping Marc, or are you helping me?"

Jing Yuan stared at Charles; the way this guy's emotions fluctuated was truly disappointing.

"You're right! Without me, if Marc hadn't been seriously injured this time, he would have suffered heavy losses! At least dozens of Upper Citizens would have died! But have you ever thought about it? Ever since you falsified the intelligence, how many people have the Wasteland Hunters lost because of you? Not to mention the Dust Citizens, how many Upper Citizens have died?"

Jing Yuan sighed and said, "I'll say it again: our enemy is not each other. You sent so many people to their deaths just to tarnish Marc's reputation a bit. Can you really gain anything from that?"

"The people who support Marc are the most capable ones among the Wasteland Hunters! If you get them killed, who will collect supplies for you in the future? Senge? Or are you... planning to promote a few people from among the Dust Citizens?"

Charles had intended to lecture Jing Yuan, but ended up being lectured by him instead. He roared, "I don't need you to teach me how to do things! What I want is for you to follow orders!"

Jing Yuan looked at Charles's face; it really was a face that invited a punch.

Although what Charles did was detestable, he did provide tangible benefits to his subordinates.

However, Jing Yuan's goals went beyond that.

Survival in the apocalypse required long-term survival, not seeking pleasure within this small circle.

Jing Yuan took a step back and said calmly, "Charles..."

"How dare you! You have no right to address the Leader by his name!" Fan Lü, standing nearby, immediately stepped forward to stop him.

Jing Yuan glanced at her and snapped, "Shut up! This is no place for you to speak!"

Even Charles was stunned.

Jing Yuan continued to look at Charles and said, "Let me tell you something! When you first recruited me, I spoke with Marc about it. Do you know what Marc said?"

"What do you mean?"

"Marc asked me to try and talk some sense into you! He even hoped I would work under you, so that you wouldn't only have a bunch of useless people and sycophants giving you advice!"

Fan Lü was right there, and hearing this naturally left a bad taste in her mouth. But since Charles hadn't spoken, it would be inappropriate for her to say anything more.

Jing Yuan shook his head and said, "Charles, do you think that if Marc's mission hadn't been successful, the City Lord wouldn't have passed his position to him? Have you ever thought about why it's Marc and not you? Did the City Lord elevate you to your current status just to make you a side dish for Marc? Did he really never think about passing the position to you? If he truly hadn't considered it, you wouldn't be sitting in such an important position as the Leader of the Light and Shadow Society today!"

This last sentence seemed to strike a nerve with Charles, but faced with Jing Yuan's questioning, he couldn't say a single word.

Indeed! Why? He couldn't figure it out either.

Charles remained silent. Given his posture as a superior, he couldn't exactly lower his head and ask Jing Yuan:

"Why won't my father pass the position to me?"

At this point, Fan Lü, acting as his follower, played her part. She walked toward Jing Yuan and asked politely, "Captain Jing Yuan, then why do you think the City Lord would pass the position to Marc instead of the Leader?"

Jing Yuan looked at Fan Lü. She had just been yelled at by him, yet she seemed to have forgotten it in the blink of an eye and was being very polite; he couldn't help but admire that.

Jing Yuan looked back at Charles. "Do you want to know?"