In a perfect world, you start by relying on your own strength.

"What happened?"

Inside the lighthouse's navigation control room, Jingnan stared gravely at the flashing red warning on the control panel. It seemed that something had gone wrong with the lighthouse's control system, causing its navigation to deviate from its intended flight path.

The operators at the console were in a flurry of activity, their fingers flying across the screen, data swirling like a tidal wave, and lines of red error codes flashing wildly.

"The heading has deviated by 0.7 degrees, and it's still widening!"

"Attitude stabilization system response is delayed, power output is uncontrollable!"

"The main core commands are being interfered with by unknown privileges, we...we can't break the connection!"

Jing Nan strode forward, pulled aside an operator, and personally connected to the main control interface, his pupils slightly contracting.

The forced overriding of underlying permissions is not a malfunction, but more like the navigation logic being precisely hijacked from within.

She abruptly looked up: "Notify the city defense forces to immediately seal off all passages below the control level and maintain order at the lighthouse!" Jing Nan's voice was icy. "Also, contact Lord Morgan!"

The order had barely been given when the communication device in the control room crackled to life.

"Reporting to Lord Jingnan! The gates on the third and fourth floors are all malfunctioning and cannot be closed!"

"The energy zone inspection personnel are out of contact, and access to the power core compartment is locked; we can't get in!"

Jingnan frowned, pressed his fingertip heavily on the screen, and the control system was tampered with cleanly and neatly, precisely bypassing all the security protocols of the lighthouse, as if he were walking around in his own home—this kind of method is simply beyond human control.

"Lord Jingnan! The course deviation has exceeded three degrees. If this continues, the lighthouse will fly directly into a densely populated ecological area!" an operator shouted in dismay.

The light outside the window was noticeably slanted, the entire lighthouse was trembling slightly, and the metal structure was groaning in a way that made your teeth ache. Everyone could clearly feel that this refuge suspended in the sky was uncontrollably flying towards a dangerous area.

Panic began to spread inside the control room.

Jingnan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her chaotic thoughts.

Now is not the time to assign blame.

"Activate the backup navigation system!"

"It's no use, the backup system is locked too!"

"Power output continues to surge, and deceleration commands are completely ineffective!"

One bad news after another came crashing down, and despair filled the control room.

Beneath the clouds, at the edge of a desolate land, a huge, broken outline can be vaguely seen.

That's the ground.

That place is the ecological core area, regarded as a forbidden zone and a land of death by everyone in the Lighthouse, a more distant and unknown region beyond the ruined city.

The control room fell into dead silence.

The next second, hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Lord Morgan strode in with a grave expression, followed by Charles, whose face was so dark it was almost distorted.

"Jingnan! What on earth happened?!" Morgan demanded in a deep voice, "Why did the lighthouse go out of control?!"

Charles glanced around and immediately spoke sternly: "Commander-in-Chief Jingnan, what's going on? The Lighthouse has never experienced anything like this in decades. Shouldn't you take responsibility for this?"

He immediately turned to Morgan, his tone urgent, "Lord City Lord! I think Jing Nan's abilities are no longer sufficient to hold such an important position. It would be better if my Light and Shadow Society took over the control room and stabilized the situation!"

"That's enough!"

Morgan's face turned ashen, and he interrupted sharply.

He had long noticed that Charles had become increasingly extreme ever since he decided that Mark would be the next leader of the city.

He saw all of this: eliminating dissidents, installing cronies, and meddling in the affairs of various departments. However, he felt indebted to his son Charles, so he let Charles's behavior go unchecked.

But now that the beacon is out of control, the first thing Charles thinks of is still seizing power.

Charles's face darkened at the rebuke, but he remained defiant: "Lord City Lord, the lighthouse is out of control. The lives of everyone at the lighthouse are at stake. A reliable person must immediately take over command!"

"Who's reliable? You?" Morgan glanced at him coldly. "You don't even understand the underlying logic of the control system. Taking over the control room, do you want the lighthouse to crash into pieces?"

Charles felt a tightness in his chest and was momentarily speechless.

Jing Nan stepped forward, his voice calm and clear: "Lord, the lighthouse is not malfunctioning or out of control, but has been forcibly taken over at the lowest level. The other party has precisely bypassed all firewalls and protocols and controlled the entire propulsion, attitude, and navigation systems."

"Man-made?" Morgan's pupils contracted sharply. "Who has this...?"

He had only spoken halfway when the old man suddenly changed his expression as if he had been stabbed by something, and the rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat.

He didn't ask another question, nor did he even glance at Charles and Jingnan. He turned and strode towards the door of the control room, his steps so hurried that they were completely devoid of his usual composure.

Leaving aside the undercurrents within the control center, the lower levels of the lighthouse were already in complete chaos.

The sudden turn and forced descent brought enormous inertia, causing the entire Sky City to tremble and jolt violently. The metal pipes connecting the Dust People's containers emitted a piercing roar, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

"What happened? Why did the lighthouse suddenly change its flight path? What on earth happened?!"

"There was no prior thunderstorm warning, nor any notification to change course; this is completely abnormal!"

The hunters gritted their teeth and steadied themselves. Fortunately, they had been practicing horsemanship every day under Shi Geng's strict requirements, making their lower body much more solid than before. Otherwise, such a sudden and violent jolt would have already knocked them over.

The sudden, violent shaking instantly interrupted Shi Geng's thoughts. Looking at the chaotic and disorganized scene around him, he frowned slightly.

Before he could even figure out what was going on, a series of agonizing screams rang out.

The lighthouse’s sudden turn left some people working on its edge with no time to react, and they were violently thrown off by the force of the sudden change in momentum.

Shi Geng's eyes darkened, and he suddenly darted out.

Ignoring the panicked Dust People and Upper People around him, he stepped on the bumpy metal ground and shot towards the suspended passage outside the lighthouse like an arrow.

The wind howled in their ears, and the feeling of weightlessness from the tilting lighthouse grew stronger. People screamed as they fell, rolled, and some even slid to the outside.

Shi Geng's gaze was cold, and his mental power spread out silently. The workers who had been thrown out of the lighthouse felt an invisible force suddenly pull them back into the passage and crash heavily to the ground, still in shock.

He can save people temporarily, but he can't save everyone.

The lighthouse was too big, and the loss of control was too sudden. Several figures still disappeared from the edge, and even their cries for help were swallowed up by the gale.