80: Section 80

Mark seemed a little unconvinced that Charles would do anything to him.

Jing Yuan shrugged, “I just said, the king's eldest son originally wanted to strike first and kill the second son, but the second son found out in advance and killed the eldest instead. What if he hadn't known? Wouldn't the eldest son have killed him?”

“Does one of them really have to die?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Mark's shocked expression, Jing Yuan quickly said, “That's how it was historically. The king made his decision too late, allowing his two sons' forces to become equally matched. So in the end, one had to die. But the situation on the Lighthouse is different.”

“How is it different?”

“This brings us to why Morgan passed the position to you. If he passed it to Charles, Charles would surely kill you. But if he passed it to you, you wouldn't kill Charles. However...”

Mark fell silent; he hadn't expected this.

He truly wouldn't kill Charles, because he hadn't considered this layer of conflict before.

“However what...” Mark pressed.

“Morgan thought that once he announced the successor, Charles would comply. But he underestimated the ambition of his own son. For Charles, this isn't the end, but the beginning. If you don't kill him, he will come to kill you. If you don't die, he can't become the City Lord.”

“You want me to kill Charles?” Mark stared at Jing Yuan, his gaze sharp as a knife.

These thoughts were too terrifying.

“It won't come to that.” Jing Yuan said calmly, “If you kill him, wouldn't you become just like him? What you need to do now is avoid making mistakes, stay alive, and in seven days, when you become City Lord, confine Charles, take control of the Light and Shadow Society, and then manage the Lighthouse according to your own ideas...”

Jing Yuan hadn't actually thought too much about it, but upon saying this, he realized the problem was exactly the same as in history.

If you show misplaced kindness and spare his life by confining him, won't he cause trouble? Won't his subordinates try every means to rescue him and stage a rebellion?

At that point, the entire Lighthouse would descend into chaos—a stew to be fed to the Phage Beasts?

Therefore... killing him is the simplest method.

But, not only would Mark disagree, Jing Yuan himself couldn't do it.

“Don't worry, it won't be that easy to kill me!”

Jing Yuan looked at Mark incredulously. His confidence was through the roof right now. If you had watched the animation, you wouldn't believe how easy it is to kill you!

Mark looked at Jing Yuan, “After all that talk, you just want to tell me that everything should wait until I become City Lord.”

“Exactly!”

“I understand.” Mark patted Jing Yuan's shoulder and added, “No need to say anything more about the rest.”

Jing Yuan was stunned. What did that sentence mean?

This made Jing Yuan feel that all his talking had been pointless?

He couldn't persuade Charles to put aside his grudges and cooperate!

Nor could he persuade Mark to be ruthless and act decisively?

At this moment, a sense of powerlessness—of respecting others' destiny—suddenly arose in Jing Yuan's heart.

“No! Even Morgan believes Mark is the key to solving the ecology issue, so protecting Mark is absolutely necessary.”

Jing Yuan immediately made a decision: even if Mark disagreed, he must survive and become the City Lord.

After Jing Yuan and Mark descended from the Lighthouse shell, they went their separate ways.

After returning to his residence, Jing Yuan was planning to rest when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Jing Yuan's first thought was 4277. He opened the door, only to find Penny.

“Why are you here?” Jing Yuan was surprised, as this was the first time Penny had come to see him.

“I came to check on your injuries!”

“I'm fine!”

Saying this, Jing Yuan let Penny into the room.

Jing Yuan had already changed into a T-shirt. Penny immediately lifted Jing Yuan's shirt to check his back.

Sure enough, aside from four wounds that were already scabbing over, Jing Yuan was unharmed.

“How is that possible!” Penny was incredulous. How could a human be shot and be fine?

That was the standard rifle issued to Wasteland Hunters, not a toy gun.

“I was wearing outer armor, which absorbed some of the kinetic energy.”

Even with Jing Yuan's explanation, it didn't make sense.

Penny said, looking confused, “I heard Ran Bing say that Captain Mark's injuries heal extremely fast; ordinary wounds are better by the next day. But yours seems even faster than Captain Mark's!”

As soon as Jing Yuan heard Ran Bing's name, he turned and asked, “When Ran Bing ran into us last time, did she ask you anything afterward?”

Penny looked embarrassed, “It's all your fault. If you hadn't opened the door then, Ran Bing wouldn't have seen anything.”

“What's there to worry about? Ran Bing likes Mark too.”

“Ran Bing likes Mark?”

Jing Yuan's casual remark greatly astonished Penny.

“Didn't you notice?”

At Jing Yuan's counter-question, Penny thought carefully and realized there were indeed some clues.

“I always thought Ran Bing was still a child.” Penny smiled. How could she not understand a girl's feelings? But on this Lighthouse, normal emotions were considered a sin. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Ran Bing.

Seeing Penny's mood, Jing Yuan suddenly remembered something.

In the original work, it was Penny's death that allowed Ran Bing to see Penny's diary, which made Ran Bing finally confront her feelings for Mark.

Ran Bing confessed first, which led to Mark's epiphany in the Hall of Dawn.

Without these experiences, Mark would not have firmly chosen to stand against the three great laws.

But now that Jing Yuan had saved Penny, how should he inspire Ran Bing's feelings for Mark?

Chapter 82: 3d printer

Jing Yuan looked at Penny beside him and suddenly had some new ideas.

“Penny, did you know? During today's Court Council, City Lord Morgan announced that Mark would succeed him as City Lord.”

Penny was shocked, “Mark is succeeding as City Lord?”

For the Wasteland Hunters, they were naturally happy that their leader was becoming the City Lord.

However, Jing Yuan's grave expression made her feel that things weren't that simple.

“If Mark becomes City Lord, will you be promoted to Wilderness Hunter Commander?”

Jing Yuan smiled faintly, “That's not the main point. The main point is that the Lighthouse is about to experience another round of turmoil.”

“How could that be...”

Seeing Penny's naive expression, Jing Yuan simply recounted the entire conflict between Mark and Charles, even using the historical analogy from before.

After listening to Jing Yuan, Penny was even more shocked.

As a soldier, she had never imagined that the relationships among the people on the Lighthouse were so complex.

There were many layers to the problems that she had never even considered.

Of course, this wasn't Penny's fault.

If Jing Yuan hadn't had the foreknowledge of 'God's perspective,' he might not have been able to see the full picture under the cover of so much information.

For Penny, she simply lacked information; once the information was complete, she could understand the stakes involved.

“What are your thoughts?”

Jing Yuan sighed and said, “Charles is obsessed with power, and Mark is too naive. But choosing the lesser of two evils, I still choose to support Mark. However, he needs to understand some things.”

“Didn't you already talk to Mark?”

“That was useless. To make Mark change, we have to rely on Ran Bing!”

“Ran Bing?”

Jing Yuan nodded and said, “We need Mark to deeply feel the injustice of the three great laws, and let him spark the desire for change from within. Only then will he ascend to the position of City Lord and lead us all to make a difference.”

“Alright! So what do you plan to do?”

Jing Yuan looked at Penny and smiled, saying, “You go find Ran Bing first, make her understand what love is, and make her confront her feelings for Mark.”

“You want Mark to change because of his relationship with Ran Bing?”

“I want the story to return to its proper track!”

Penny didn't understand Jing Yuan's words, but she still did as he instructed.

The next day, Penny went to the Armament Preparation Depot as usual, while Jing Yuan went to the Lower Citizen District to find 4277.

4277 was very happy to see Jing Yuan coming to find her.

“Why are you here?”

“I wouldn't come unless I needed something important. Of course, I'm here to ask for your help!” Jing Yuan smiled.