Ling Cage: I am a spiritual master, devouring source matter to become a god.

Who doesn't know that you, Jingyuan, are strong enough to fight Mark to a draw? Why would you deliberately lose to me?

And then Charles will be in a difficult position to explain himself. Didn't you want to be the vice-captain? Why did you deliberately lose? Did you not want to offend the people around Mark?

They were hoping to negotiate with a tiger for its skin, but now they're stuck in a difficult situation.

What happens next? Like lambs to the slaughter?

"It's not that bad! It's not that bad." Jing Yuan shook his head.

In this apocalyptic world, the most important thing is to increase your strength. If you're strong enough, who will be the sheep and who will be the tiger?

Jingyuan left his residence, preparing to go for a run on the outer ring road of the lighthouse.

He ran to a secluded spot and saw a familiar figure standing there watching the clouds.

Her tall figure and golden hair reminded Jingyuan of that night in the Dawn Hall.

"Penny?" Jing Yuan walked over and called out softly.

The blonde woman turned around, and it was indeed Penny.

Jingyuan smiled and asked, "Are you watching the clouds here again?"

Penny smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"running."

Penny was a little puzzled; this wasn't a good time for running. She joked, "You're really going all out to run for vice-captain."

"You know about this too."

"Everyone in the entire lighthouse knows."

Jing Yuan complained, "They made it quite a grand affair."

“Who says otherwise!” Penny looked at Jing Yuan and asked with a smile, “This selection competition wasn’t specially arranged for you, was it?”

"Why do you think so?"

"With your abilities, who could possibly be your match in a one-on-one fight?"

Jing Yuan laughed and said, "You have so much confidence in me?"

Penny looked approving. "Everyone saw your performance on this ground mission. Actually, I don't quite understand. With your abilities, it would be perfectly reasonable for you to be appointed as a vice-captain after a year or two with the Hunters. Why hold a selection process at this particular time?"

Jing Yuan smiled helplessly: "There are many complicated things here, and there's no need to understand them all. For us, the most important task is to figure out how to survive in this apocalypse."

Penny nodded. "You're right!"

After saying these words, Jingyuan was suddenly enlightened by his own words.

Yes! In this world, survival is the most important thing.

Spending all day on the lighthouse, I get completely confused by all these winding and complicated things.

Compared to this apocalypse, compared to annihilating the Devouring Beasts and eradicating the Mana ecosystem, what do these power struggles on the Lighthouse amount to?

Jing Yuan couldn't help but chuckle twice.

Penny looked at her strangely and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing." Jing Yuan gave a sly smile. "Penny, I suddenly have something to take care of, so I'll have to go now. We can talk again another time."

"Ah."

After saying goodbye to Penny, Jingyuan went straight to Mark's residence.

"Captain, open the door!"

After resting for two days, Mark was clearly in a much better mood.

Jingyuan knocked on the door twice, and Mark opened it.

"It's you! Come in and have a seat!"

Jingyuan followed Mark into the house and asked directly, "Captain, do you know what's going on outside?"

"what's up?"

"The selection of a vice-captain?"

Mark hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I know."

Jingyuan followed Mark to sit on the sofa and pressed him for his opinion on the matter.

Mark glanced at Jing Yuan first, then said seriously, "The competition is a one-on-one arena battle, and no one can beat you in terms of individual strength. However, there are a few people you need to be careful of, such as Mo Cheng. Don't be fooled by his prosthetic leg; he's agile and clever, and he'll use some tricks that will catch you off guard. There's also Gao Ge and Kun Jie; they have rich fighting experience, but they're both getting older and will prefer to give opportunities to younger people."

When Jingyuan heard Mark reminding him in such a serious tone, he felt embarrassed and didn't say anything.

"Captain, haven't you thought about the issues behind this?"

Mark smiled slightly and said, "There are no outsiders here, so you can speak frankly with me."

Jingyuan knew Mark had this straightforward personality, so he didn't beat around the bush. "Captain, remember when I told you last time that Charles wanted to recruit me? This vice-captain selection was also arranged for me by him."

Mark hesitated slightly. He also had some questions about the selection process, but they weren't serious, so he didn't pursue them further.

After Jingyuan said that, he understood completely.

“Captain, look at the list of those arena matches. Everyone on it is more qualified, more experienced, and more capable of being the vice-captain than me, a newcomer. But according to our leader’s arrangement, I have to step over them to get to this position.”

Mark smiled; he was kind and innocent, but not stupid.

“Jingyuan, you underestimate their ambition and sense of responsibility. We Hunters are different from other departments on the Lighthouse. We need to go down to the ground to carry out missions, and we face life and death at any time. You think this position represents power, but it is more about responsibility. Do you think being a deputy captain is just about standing on a high place and giving orders? You brought these comrades to the ground, and you have to bring them back safely. That is the responsibility of this position. And I believe you can do that. This mission has shown everyone that you can do it.”

Mark said a lot, then paused and reassured them, "Now that the selection trials have started, just relax and compete. Fighting against these guys is a good opportunity to gain experience. As for the rest, you don't need to worry about it."

Jingyuan opened his mouth as if to say something, but then stopped.

Since Mark has said so, it would be inappropriate to say anything more.

Jingyuan's worries were no big deal to Mark.

The hunters are not petty people; as long as they win fairly and squarely through their own abilities, no one will complain.

As long as Jingyuan's strength convinces the public, he won't rise to power by stepping on veteran officials, but rather by being promoted by a group of senior figures.

Mark had just finished comforting Jingyuan when he received a message.

The higher-ups started arguing in the council hall about the selection of a vice-captain, and Mark was notified to come over immediately.

Chapter 41 Discussing the Selection Plan

When Mark arrived at the council chamber, the heads of several departments were already there.

When Charles, the leader of the Light and Shadow Society, saw Mark arrive, he said in a sarcastic tone, "Our Hunter Commander has arrived. Why don't we hear Captain Mark's thoughts on the selection of the Hunter Vice-Captain?"

Mark stepped forward, looked at Lord Morgan standing at the front, bowed, and asked, "Lord Lord, wasn't the selection of the vice-captain already announced? Why are we discussing it here again?"

Lord Morgan said, "The city defense forces have many questions about the selection of the deputy captain of the Wilderness Hunters. I suggest that the selection process be revised."

"The city defense forces?" Mark asked, somewhat puzzled, but didn't voice his doubts.

If Jing Yuan were here, he would definitely ask: "What does the selection of the Wilderness Hunters have to do with your city defense army?"

But Mark won't say it.

At this moment, Senger from the city defense army stepped forward and said, "Hunters are the most important positions on the Lighthouse, and command positions such as captain and vice-captain are of paramount importance. It would be too one-sided to determine the vice-captain based solely on individual combat skills."

Mark thought this made sense.

Instead, Charles asked with a smile, "Captain Senger, what does the matter of the Wilderness Hunters have to do with your city defense forces?"

"Ahem!" Dr. Carrie chimed in, "Wasn't it you, Charles, who proposed the selection of a vice-captain for the Hunters? What does the Hunters' affairs have to do with your Light and Shadow Society?"

Charles remained unperturbed by the rebuke, smiling calmly as he said, "The Hunters bear a heavy responsibility in collecting supplies for the Lighthouse. Given the current dire situation on the ground, we cannot place all the burden on Captain Mark's shoulders alone. Selecting a vice-captain to work alongside Captain Mark on multiple fronts will increase our efficiency in collecting supplies and is a strategic move for the long-term development of the Lighthouse. Any department with a good method can submit it to the Lighthouse."

“The leader is right!” Seng stepped forward and said, “I was once a member of the Wilderness Hunters and I am very familiar with their working methods. What Wilderness Hunters need is not the courage of a lone wolf, but wisdom, decisiveness and command. It is indeed necessary for the Wilderness Hunters to establish a vice-captain, but there is no need to do so in a contest.”

"Then what method do you suggest we use?" Charles asked, looking at Seng.

"The selection team leader for the Wilderness Hunters will naturally focus on collecting resources on the ground!"

"Oh?" Charles pretended to think for a moment, then said, "That makes sense! Captain Mark, what do you think?"

Charles posed the question to Mark, who also gave it serious thought.

Mark looked at Morgan and said, "Senger is right."

The captain of the hunters must be good at commanding and decisive.

Winning a duel only demonstrates individual combat prowess, but it cannot be used as a standard for commanding a team.

Morgan nodded and said, "In that case, let's send them down to the surface to carry out the collection mission!"

"So what specific mission will we be carrying out? Captain Seng, do you have any ideas?" Charles asked Seng.

Before Seng could speak, Dr. Carrie interjected, "I happen to be short of some Mana ecosystem samples. I think it would be better to have them collect samples. If they could capture a Devouring Beast alive, that would be even better. Their command ability and individual combat strength would be top-notch. If someone can do that, I wouldn't mind giving them the captaincy, let alone the vice-captainship."

Mark glanced at Carrie and said, "Dr. Carrie, you know how dangerous the Devouring Beasts are. Capturing one alive could cost many lives. It's not worth it for that kind of research."

Carrie retorted, "The Mana ecosystem is now widespread across the entire continent, yet our research has made no progress. If we don't speed things up, returning to the surface and eradicating the Mana will forever remain just a dream."

“Alright,” Lord Morgan said. “Carrie, studying the ecology of Mana is important. But every hunter is a valuable asset to the Lighthouse, and we must reduce unnecessary sacrifices.”

Charles stepped forward. “In my opinion, we should use the traditional method for assessment and selection. Select a few punctuation marks of moderate danger, let the candidates draw lots to choose, and whoever completes them best will be selected as the vice-captain.”