usatvline Chapter 250 Lighthouse
Chapter 250 Lighthouse
After dealing with a group of Devouring Beasts, Bai Yuekui and Bai Yuetian walked away into the distance.
The apocalyptic sands quickly buried the traces of the battle, and above a desolate and lifeless ruin, a figure appeared silently.
"Roar!"
A snake-dog emerged from the ruins, its core intact.
Scanning his surroundings, he noticed the figure, but instead of attacking, he glanced at it, climbed out of the ruins, and returned the way he came.
Thump! Thump...
A colossal creature approached from afar, its massive form towering several stories high. Every step it took shook the ground. Upon reaching the ruins, it let out a roar.
The buried snakes and dogs emerged from the ruins and fled in all directions.
Some of the unfortunate snake-dogs, having their cores destroyed, turned into a pool of dark red substance.
Upon seeing this, the figure standing on the ruins suddenly raised his hand and aimed it at the huge two-jawed beast, making a grasping motion in the air.
"Roar!!"
Whoosh! Rumble!
Countless vines sprouted from the ground, tightly binding the two-jawed beast's feet, and then its body, gradually immobilizing it on the ground. A life essence was continuously drawn away by these vines, and the two-jawed beast gradually died, leaving only a pile of skeletons.
The figure that had been standing on the ruins had vanished.
……
The lighthouse, originally named Tartarus.
It was a special aerial prison from the old era.
Shortly after the Great Cataclysm, human civilization collapsed, and the survivors on the Lighthouse renamed it the Lighthouse, meaning the last lighthouse of human civilization.
They took in humans on the ground, attempted to restore order, and promulgated three laws.
The lighthouse has been floating in the sky for fifty years.
Humans thrived and multiplied there, and the city lord, the hunters, the Church of Light and Shadow, the Gene Optimization Act, and the Three Laws gradually took shape.
On the ground, yellow sand filled the sky.
As the manna ecosystem spreads, ordinary plants on Earth gradually disappear, leaving almost the entire area within a radius of tens of kilometers barren, with no signs of any living organisms.
Only in the sky, a huge floating structure is maintained by a special device.
Like an umbrella, besides the central main structure, there are a series of suspended structures around it.
Several transport vehicles drove up from a distance, and the huge industrial steel monster seemed to react.
"Deploy the ES01 lifting platform!"
"Deploy the ES01 lifting platform!"
The machine slowly turned, and the huge metal platform was released.
"Navigation control room, the Hunter has arrived at the designated location, and the elevator is in place."
The transport vehicle slowly stopped in front of the lifting platform, and several figures rolled off the vehicle.
"Dust people, hurry up!"
"Got home."
"Hehehe, I thought I'd never see you again, kid."
"If you stop cursing me one day, I might never come back."
Elon looked at his prized disciple, went up to him, patted Mark on the shoulder and said, "You've got quite the entourage now, making the whole Lighthouse wait for you."
"I'm sorry to have kept the teacher waiting."
"It's good that you're back. Come with me."
Elon beckoned Mark to follow him to the elevator platform, where the others began transferring supplies to the top.
News of Mark's successful return with the hunters after gathering supplies quickly spread throughout the lighthouse.
As the strongest hunter on the Lighthouse, Mark's every trip brings back supplies that determine the survival of everyone on the Lighthouse. Over time, Mark has gained a very high reputation on the Lighthouse.
Second only to Lord Morgan.
"Captain Mark! Welcome back!"
"Captain Mark is so handsome!"
Whether they were upper-class citizens or commoners, they all had an almost fanatical worship of Mark.
Cheers filled the air the whole way.
Mark responded to the cheers. Having grown up in the lighthouse, become a hunter, and then step by step become a hunter commander, he felt a sense of belonging here.
"Ha ha……"
He waved his hand, looking at the faces around him. He recognized all these people, even if he didn't know them personally.
Suddenly, a strange figure stood in the crowd. Mark was startled and his attention was drawn to the figure standing there, dressed in a way that was distinctly different from the people on the lighthouse and the dust people around him.
She was smiling at him, and when their eyes met, Mark felt a chill run down his spine, a sense of dread that his thoughts had been read!
When he came to his senses and looked again, he found that there was nothing there.
The convoy moved forward slowly. Mark's frequent back-turns caught Ran Bing's attention, who asked, "Captain, what's wrong?"
"Uh... no, nothing."
He didn't voice his doubts, but simply shook his head slightly, treating what had just happened as an illusion.
Qin Ming, meanwhile, walked through the crowd, seemingly unnoticed by those around him, and immediately noticed Mark's situation.
This unique genetic constitution, accidentally developed through genetic research, allows it to fuse with the special genes of other organisms, including mana creatures and even plant cells. It has also undergone genetic enhancement, but it cannot match the evolutionary humans who have unlocked the first stage of their genetic lock.
If this special constitution were to undergo several iterations and reproductions, altering all of humanity, it would indeed be possible for humans to completely coexist with the Mana ecosystem.
However, this gene does not possess the potential to destroy the mana ecosystem...
The gap is still significant.
The true nature of the mana ecosystem is far more terrifying than humans imagine.
Upper level of the lighthouse, inside the city lord's command center.
All of the Lighthouse's top executives were summoned here.
"Reporting to the city lord, the main resources collected by the hunters this time include controllable energy, compressed food, rare metals, and a number of Old World combat equipment."
Ran Bing is Mark's adjutant, responsible for reporting the hunters' harvest.
Jing Nan, who was standing to the side and was in charge of the research department, chimed in, "According to statistics, there is enough medicine for the lighthouse for at least three months, but some of the medicine reserves were lost when passing through the turbulent layer."
"Ah."
Morgan hesitated for a moment, then Victor continued, "Report on the battle losses."
"One gravity-body mech is damaged and is being repaired. Some Dust People have suffered losses, and a total of thirty-four Upper People have been killed."
Morgan asked, "Was the body brought back?"
Ran Bing, "Only a portion..."
"Let's recycle the equipment and shelter."
"Population supply situation".
"The supply chain of high-quality population is in normal circulation. During the joint education of children, combat personnel who have reached the age of sixteen and have received doomsday military training can be put into battle immediately. In the gene optimization process, suitable citizens have also been arranged to perform breeding tasks. Each batch of supply population undergoes strict training in the corresponding age group."
Elon, as the previous commander of the Wilderness Hunters, is now a veteran at the Lighthouse, mature and steady.
Morgan nodded at his report and said, "Hmm, very good."
“Lord of the City.” Charles stepped forward and said, “Under the protection of the Lord of Light and Shadow, the people of the Lighthouse are very safe and sound. The returning warriors are undergoing purification. However, there were many casualties this time. Did the Hunters become complacent during the operation…”
His gaze swept over Mark, the meaning of which was self-evident: Mark's reputation on the Lighthouse was now far too high, even surpassing that of the Light and Shadow Capital.
Those around him could see his intentions and were somewhat dissatisfied.
The Church of Light and Shadow is indeed key to maintaining stability on the Lighthouse, but the final interpretation of the methods used by the Church of Light and Shadow belongs to Charles, which makes it difficult for those who understand the key aspects to be convinced by him.
If it weren't for the apocalypse and the need for special measures during special times, the Church of Light and Shadow would never have existed.
Mark did not explain, but stepped forward and said, "Lord City Lord, the hunters have made a major discovery regarding the situation on the ground."
Everyone present changed their expressions, including Charles. To become a high-ranking member of the Beacon, each of them was an elite selected from the post-apocalyptic world. They each had their own duties and maintained the operation of the Beacon. None of them were stupid or dim-witted.
Charles's seemingly unreasonable nitpicking was nothing more than an attempt to annoy Mark; he was well aware that such words could not affect Mark's current reputation.
“This time, we were not only attacked by a herd of beasts, but also...we saw humans.”
"What?! This is impossible."
"Hehehe... Excellent, excellent. It is indeed heroic to break through the encirclement with supplies in the beast's nest. But you said there are people on the ground, Captain Mark, is it possible that the 'fishy red substance' interfered with your judgment?"
No one would immediately believe such a statement, but Morgan looked serious and remained silent.
He naturally knew that humans existed on the ground.