Ling Cage: I come from Hisakawa

Chapter 144 Searching for Human Settlements!
"If you want to come to the Dawn Hall with me, the Light and Shadow Society will have to arrange it for me." Bai Yuetian smiled, but he didn't think much of it.

He definitely won't receive a breeding assignment.

According to the Lighthouse's criteria, his genes are more prone to some incurable diseases in the apocalypse, making him undoubtedly a pure Dustman, but he is given special consideration only because of his "identity".

Charles must have known this, so he wouldn't assign him breeding tasks.

“Yue Tian won’t receive any breeding missions; he’s an elite among elites,” Erica muttered to herself.

Another hunter interrupted: "It's precisely because he's the elite of the elite that he has to carry out breeding missions, to optimize the genes of the Lighthouse, since men can't get pregnant anyway."

Erica gave a soft snort and turned her head away.

Just then, Penny walked over, and Erica's eyes lit up. She took Penny's arm and led her to the corner.

"Penny, I've finished reading the training manual you lent me last time. Do you still have it?"

"You finished reading it so quickly?"

Fanti stood alone among the hunters, as if he were an outsider.

The Light and Shadow Society has always been unpopular among the hunters, and everyone keeps their distance from Vatican, the Lightbearer.

Mark looked around: "Everyone's here. Let's get ready to go. Let's head to the elevator first."

As soon as the words were spoken, the hunters' expressions turned solemn.

Every time they collect supplies on the ground, they walk a tightrope between life and death. If they are not careful, they will be sucked into dust by the Devouring Beast.

"White Moonlight"

4068 walked up to Bai Yuetian and awkwardly called out Bai Yuetian's name.

Bai Yuetian patted his arm: "How's the sparring job going? Are you getting used to it? The hunters have a good opinion of you."

“I’m used to it!” 4068 nodded immediately.

He said gratefully, "Being a sparring partner is safer than going to the fields to collect supplies. I can also train with the hunters and there are a lot of contribution points. My conditions are much better than before."

Bai Yuetian nodded slightly: "Do a good job."

This job was originally prepared for him by Mark. It was a new position that Mark specially asked Jingnan to create for him, with the same treatment as a hunter.

He thought 4068 was a good candidate, so he gave the job to 4068 instead of having Jingnan cancel it.

“Um—” 4068 hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

Bai Yuetian asked, "Is there anything else?"

“I’m not going down this time, but 4079 still wants to go. Could you please look after him?” 4068 said apologetically.

4079?

A shy face floated into Bai Yuetian's mind.

"Is 4079 really short of contribution points?" He paused for a moment. "You should help him. This job may have been given to you, but it doesn't actually belong to you alone."

4068 shook his head: "I understand."

"But 4079 went down to the ground not just to contribute points, he didn't like doing hard labor on the lighthouse, he wanted to see the scenery of the old world."

Bai Yuetian was slightly taken aback.

He thought of the prisoners held by the federal police department.

Inmates occasionally have the opportunity to go out of the prison, and even though it's tough and tiring, they all rush to take it.

The dust dwellers on the lighthouse were treated worse than prisoners during the Tartarus era; at least prisoners didn't have to eat insect cakes.

4079 really wanted to "get some fresh air," and he could understand 4079's feelings.

“He’s probably getting restless at the lighthouse. I’ll take care of him.” Bai Yuetian paused for a moment.

"But only this once."

He shared a dorm room with students 4068 and 4079; if they had gone to college together, they could have developed a father-son relationship.

Although the situation is different now, he is willing to take care of 4079 as a favor.

He just couldn't take care of her every time. He worried that if he failed to keep an eye on 40799, it would add to his regrets.

4068 nodded repeatedly.

He said gratefully, "Once is enough. Let him have one last time. If he wants to do it again next time, I will stop him no matter what!"

Bai Yuetian nodded slightly.

“I know you’re feeling cooped up in the lighthouse, but this won’t last forever. I’ll give you a surprise in a while,” he said with a smile.

Surprise? 4068 was stunned.

"You're sending us on a long journey?" he blurted out.

Bai Yuetian was stunned.

“You said you’d give 0609 a surprise last time, and the very next day the city lord arranged for him to go on a long journey.” 4068 said, his face full of fear.

0609
Bai Yuetian smiled.

At this time, 0609 is spending his twilight years peacefully with his beloved in a corner of the lighthouse.

“You’re still young, not old enough to travel far, that’s another surprise.” Bai Yuetian rested his chin on his hand.

"How about going to Dr. Carrie's lab?"

He had eaten with Erica for several days and now knew a bit about the people at the lighthouse.

Dr. Carrie is the Director of Medical and Ecological Affairs, holding a position similar to Mark's. She is responsible for studying the ground samples brought back by the hunters, controlling the allocation of medical resources across the entire Lighthouse, and conducting some secret experiments that can be described as Lighthouse legends.

"Laboratory?" 4068 was a little confused. "Isn't that a place only the upper class can go to? Besides, neither of us knows how to do experiments."

Bai Yuetian's tone was icy: "I'm not asking you to do experiments, I'm asking you to be experimental subjects."

"Huh?" 4068's eyes widened.

Real experimental materials?!
He looked at Bai Yuetian in disbelief.

How could someone with a 37-degree mouth utter such cold and heartless words!
Bai Yuetian laughed heartily.

"I'm teasing you!"

"It's a surprise that no one expected!"

"See you later!" He turned around, waved without looking back, and walked towards the elevator platform with the other hunters.

Just then, 4277 passed by carrying a box.

"What were you talking about just now?" she asked curiously.

4068 scratched his head and replied, "Bai Yuetian said he was going to give us a surprise that none of us would expect."

"A surprise that no one could have imagined?" 4277 stared at Bai Yuetian's retreating figure, his eyes filled with confusion, mixed with a faint sense of anticipation.

Bai Yuetian arrived at the elevator platform.

Most of the hunters had already arrived and were checking their weapons and equipment. The sounds of bolts being pulled and bullets being loaded and unloaded filled the air, and some were even making promises about what they would do after returning this time.

Bai Yuetian saw Mark standing at the front of the group, with a blessing officer from the Light and Shadow Society standing next to him.

He glanced into the crowd.

Ok?
He walked straight to a corner of the crowd.

Here, there was a person who stood out from the surrounding atmosphere of excitement and dejection.

"Ah Fu, haven't you gotten Rita's forgiveness yet?" Bai Yuetian asked.

This hunter is called Afu.

During the last ground operation, he encountered danger and abandoned the girl he loved, but she survived.

Bai Yuetian felt a little sentimental.

Before setting off that time, Afu wanted to ask him how to turn the knife.

At that time, he was still a commoner, and the Light and Shadow Society had not yet changed his identity. Afu was one of the few hunters who did not mind his commoner status at all.

What a sunny and cheerful young man! But after going to the fields, he came back completely depressed!
He hasn't seen Afu for the past few days.

"Thank you for saving Rita back then," Afu said dejectedly. "I'm not just a weakling, I'm a coward."

The moment he opened his mouth, a sense of despondency washed over you.

Bai Yuetian put his arm around Afu's shoulder and whispered, "There's an old saying that goes something like this!"

"People can not escape from doing wrong?"

He had a good first impression of Afu, and he didn't want Afu to go into battle with strong negative emotions, as these emotions could kill him.

"Faced with an insurmountable danger, the instinctive reaction of humans is to avoid and retreat. Your decision at the time was actually correct. Rita certainly wanted you to live, not to die with her."

Humans are very complex beings.

Some people are willing to sacrifice for others, but they may not be willing if others offer to do so.

Extending this further, some people don't want others to sacrifice for them, but if they are abandoned by someone they trust before they even ask, their psychology may undergo subtle changes.

Afu and Rita are the latter.

"Is that so?" Afu asked hesitantly.

“But Rita hasn’t spoken to me for days. She treats me like I’m invisible.”

Bai Yuetian nodded.

He replied, "It's normal for her to ignore you, after all, it's such a big deal. But you can write an apology letter and slip it into Rita's dorm room. She definitely won't be able to resist reading it."

"If you know your mistakes and can correct them, there is no greater good."

"A sincere apology in the letter might change her mind."

"If that doesn't work, then try your best to perform well during missions and protect her properly next time."

"People are all made of flesh and blood. As long as you do well enough, you will eventually win her over."

Bai Yuetian patiently offered his advice.

After listening to everything Bai Yuetian said, Afu nodded vigorously and said in a deep voice, "Next time, I want to die in front of Rita!"

Bai Yuetian: No, buddy!
"Do you want Rita to cry while holding your corpse?" Bai Yuetian felt a chill run down his spine.

"Live well, don't go to extremes!"

Afu nodded vigorously again.

He gave a simple, honest smile: "Thank you. After I come back this time, I'll ask you to teach me how to use a knife."

Bai Yuetian's lips twitched.

Planting a flag, huh?

He pulled a small knife from his waist and said with a helpless expression, "Start learning now. If you can't learn it, I feel like you might not be coming back this time."

"Huh?" Afu looked bewildered.

At this moment, Mark, who was at the front of the group, spoke up.

"cough!"

"Our destination this time is an ecologically dense area, which is safer than the last ground operation, but it is still very dangerous. Everyone must pay attention to safety."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"Didn't we just go to the core area? Now we're going to the densely populated area again. Isn't there anywhere else we can collect supplies?"

"Yes, we're going to be on tenterhooks again."

"This time I'm going to guard Bai Yuetian; his marksmanship is absolutely amazing!"

Mark took a deep breath.

He slowly began, "The reason I'm going to this dangerous, ecologically dense area is the same as last time."

"Find human settlements on the surface!"

"The navigation control room discovered that a building with obvious human features had suddenly appeared in the area we had passed through, which is suspected to be a signal station."

"Based on the intelligence from last time."

"There are likely still human settlements on the ground that we don't know about. Our mission is to enter the signal station and make contact with other human settlements!"

(End of this chapter)