From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

"We should arrive in about ten minutes."

"Following Shadow's reply."

In the blink of an eye.

Ten minutes passed quietly.

The convoy stopped in the open desert.

"There aren't any towers here, are there?"

Looking around through the car window, Lu Jin didn't see any tower-shaped buildings. Just as he was wondering if the lighthouse was built underground, he noticed that the wind outside seemed to have picked up. He suddenly stuck his head out of the car window and looked up.

A giant, mushroom-shaped building slowly descended from the clouds above, stopping only a hundred meters from the ground. It then lowered a platform, which was secured by thick steel cables on all sides – the lighthouse's lifting platform.

"You guys really know how to have fun, doing it in the sky!"

Zhang Zhiwei, being a straightforward person, laughed heartily, "That's true! The original ecosystem on the ground has been almost completely replaced by a new ecosystem built on the Devouring Beasts, while flying Devouring Beasts don't seem to have emerged on a large scale yet. The sky is indeed a pure land!"

Lu Jin added, "Temporary!"

Red Girl also stuck her head out of the window, looked up and gazed at the view. She smiled faintly and commented, "Like a rootless duckweed, drifting with the waves. It may seem grand and magnificent, but it is actually a castle in the air. Once a problem arises, it may only be able to sit and eat its own wealth until it is all gone."

Sui Ying pursed her lips in response to the three men's sarcastic remarks, not daring to say anything more.

Once the platform was fully lowered, seven vehicles drove in one by one, and then the iron railings were erected. The entire platform then slowly rose, and soon it reached the sky.

"It's Captain 4068!"

"They should be called Captain Shadow!"

"That's so impressive! I wish I could be one of the upper class!"

"Keep dreaming!"

"Did you know? Even though 4068 became an upper-class citizen and the leader of the hunters, he's never even been to the Hall of Dawn!"

"He's only been a citizen for a short time. The Light and Shadow Society certainly can't arrange it immediately."

"Just you wait and see, the Light and Shadow Society definitely won't assign him any breeding tasks! Because his genes are still the same as ours, he's a Dustman!"

"Ha ha!"

"..."

"Tch, a bunch of damned dust people!"

"I wonder why the city lord would elevate a commoner to a superior citizen and make him the commander of the hunters?"

"It's probably the blessing of the Lord of Light and Shadow."

"..."

Once on the platform, the hunters circled the base of the lighthouse, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

During this time, Zhang Zhiwei, Lu Jin, and Hong Guniang also obtained more information about the lighthouse...

After the convoy circled the area once, it returned to the original lift platform. Everyone got out of the vehicles, where senior personnel from the Lighthouse were already waiting.

Charles, the trusted lord of the city with the lighthouse, is blond and quite handsome, but his face is slightly pale. He has lost his left arm and his right eye. His seemingly rosy complexion reveals a hint of paleness, as if he has contracted some serious illness, but he still chooses to come out to greet us.

Eun, the supervisor of the Lighthouse Supply Distribution Room, has a limp.

There was a Lighthouse City Defense Army Commander named Seng, who looked like an extremely resolute soldier.

There is a lighthouse navigation control room chief commander, Jingnan, who is outstanding in appearance, like a lady from a noble family, yet she also reveals a tenacious temperament.

Dr. Carrie, the director of the Lighthouse Ecological Research Institute, had a rather gloomy expression, as if she didn't want to come here at all.

There was a research department head named Jessica, dressed in a blue outfit, who looked somewhat alluring.

Of course, no matter how alluring she was, she couldn't compare to the two women beside Lord Charles. One was named Fanti, who wore a black tight-fitting cheongsam that revealed her alluring long legs and wore a helmet that covered her eyes; the other was named Fanlu, who wore a dark black tight-fitting cheongsam with red shoulder lines, and had a pure and innocent face, yet was shy and lovely.

Zhang Zhiwei transmitted his voice: [Confirmed, this city lord knows how to enjoy life!]

"Light gives birth to all beings, and all beings follow its shadow!"

With the support of Fan Lu and the protection of Fan Di, Charles stepped forward and said in a high-spirited tone, "Captain Shadow, congratulations on successfully completing your first mission."

The Shadow Follower and the Wilderness Hunter all knelt on one knee to show their respect.

As for the accompanying commoners...

They had already run away.

They are not qualified to hear the city lord's praise.

However, Zhang Zhiwei, Hong Guniang, and Lu Jin did not "do as the Romans do," but simply stood there, scanning Charles and the others.

"How dare you! You actually kneel before the city lord!"

Fanti pulled out the scanner, which resembled a pistol, from his waist to verify the identities of the three men, only to find that they were not wearing identification tags. He sneered, "Not kneeling before the city lord is punishable by fifty lashes and three days of confinement according to the law; discarding identification tags and obstructing the execution of the rules is punishable by thirty lashes and a month's contribution points deducted."

The two crimes will be punished together, with eighty lashes. Execute!

"and many more!"

Suiying tried to get up, but her legs bent down again as soon as she straightened them. She raised her head and called out to Charles, "Lord of the city, they are not hunters or dust people who accompanied us, but survivors from the ground. It was with their help that we were able to bring back so many supplies."

And they are capable of killing the Devouring Beasts!

"Can it kill the Devouring Beast?"

Dr. Carrie, dressed in a white coat, suddenly became interested. Seeing that Zhang Zhiwei was the tallest, she asked, "How was he killed?"

"Find its lower field and break its core."

Although the lighthouse has a significant problem, it is very likely the only human refuge in this world. Therefore, Zhang Zhiwei was generous in pointing out a direction, not to mention that the hunters had already learned this from them before, and Lu Jin had even given a demonstration.

"???"

Dr. Carrie had no idea what "Shimoda" was, but she roughly understood the key point: the Devouring Beasts had a core organ that maintained their life activities. If this organ was destroyed, the Devouring Beasts could be killed completely.

Suiying then ordered people to take out some of the corpses and core fragments of the Devouring Beasts that had been brought back.

The facts speak for themselves.

Everyone was convinced.

"Welcome to the Lighthouse, all three of you!"

While Dr. Carrie was busy ordering people to move the skeletons and core fragments of the Devouring Beast to the Ecological Research Institute, Charles smiled at the three of them, "Next, I will personally explain the rules here to you..."

“No need for formalities, we don’t plan to stay here forever,” Red Girl spoke first, interrupting Charles.

"How dare you!"

Brahma glared angrily.

But Charles raised his right arm to stop Brahma, and asked Red Girl, "Oh? You don't actually want to go down? Go back to the surface?"

“We rescued your people and provided you with directions for targeting the Devouring Beasts, but we didn’t tell you how to find the core. However, given your technological capabilities, once you find the right direction, your research will proceed much more quickly,” Lu Jin said calmly. “In return, we need your Lighthouse’s research data on the ecosystem built upon the Devouring Beasts.”

# Chapter 1134 "Courtesy first, then attack"

"Do you have research data on the ecology of manna?"

Charles narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled, "Of course! I think we have the same goal, which is to eliminate the Mana ecosystem."

Then, he changed the subject and said, "But the research data on Mana ecology is top secret, and you have just come from the surface. Even if I, the city lord, agree, no one else will."

"That's right!"

The city's garrison leader, Sengge, stood tall and asked the three men, "What if you are madmen who want to destroy the lighthouse?"

The lighthouse has already been destroyed once by a monster!

We can't take that risk!

Seeing the two men's red and white faces, the three of them knew exactly what was going on. However, many of the building structures on this floor of the lighthouse were indeed pitted and uneven, and there were even many scratch marks... It seemed that a flying Devouring Beast had come up here and caused a lot of damage to the lighthouse.

Seeing that the three did not answer, Charles said, "How about I explain the system and rules of the lighthouse?"

"No need. It's just a few special places we can't go to, but the rest—"

Zhang Zhiwei raised a finger and smiled confidently, "First, the residents of the lighthouse are divided into dust people and upper people."

The Dust People's clothes weren't exactly ragged, but they were quite worn out. They wore green identity tags and were covered in grime, clearly indicating that they did the dirtiest and most tiring work. They didn't have names, only code names.

The upper class, on the other hand, was quite proper, wearing blue tags with their own names on them.

Furthermore, judging from the envy and jealousy mixed in with the cheers of the common people for Suiying, the distinction between the common people and the upper class is most likely achieved through genetic monitoring…

At this point, Zhang Zhiwei raised a second finger, "This leads to the second point: it is highly likely that there is no family relationship in the Lighthouse."

This is something that both the upper class and the lower class should follow, as for the population issue—

From the words of the Dust People, I can confirm that they are defined as 'Dust People' because of their genes and are not qualified to have children.

And since the residents also follow the rule of not forming families, there's a chance the child might be a result of in-vitro fertilization, something I've read about in books…”

At this point, Zhang Zhiwei scoffed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "While I'm not entirely sure what level your technology has reached, considering the resource scarcity in this post-apocalyptic world, you probably don't have enough resources for in-vitro fertilization, especially with a religious organization like the Light and Shadow Society handling criminal law..."

It seems more likely that the offspring were conceived by humans, and that they were randomly paired based on genes, right?

Before Charles could respond, Lu Jin continued, "We don't need genetic testing; we just want your research data on the ecology of mana."

If you don't trust us, you can observe us for a period of time and arrange three rooms for us to stay, but you cannot restrict our freedom of movement.

And we will not go to areas where you prohibit unauthorized personnel from entering.

Charles: "..."

Are these people negotiating with me?

Do you want to agree?

After a second's thought, Charles agreed, smiling as he said, "The Lighthouse welcomes all survivors from the ground!"

"only--"

Charles added, "All supplies in the lighthouse need to be exchanged for contribution points."