Chapter 8: Charles

Chapter 8: Charles

Dust-dweller District.

"4048! You lucky dog, you're actually still alive!"

Not far away, the old man 0609 waved and laughed as he approached with a few other dust-dwellers.

"I knew it! I knew your luck hadn't run out yet; you're one of the fortunate ones!" 0609 said, his face beaming. He leaned in conspiratorially. "Come on! We’re about to watch something good. You’ve returned just in time."

Luo Ke did not refuse. He followed them into a relatively spacious room. Inside was a television, and beneath the bed sat a box filled with countless optical discs—relics of the Old World that were strictly prohibited on the Lighthouse.

"Impressive. *Fog Hill of Five Elements*, *Scissor Seven*... wait, why is there Japanese stuff in here?" Luo Ke flipped through the collection. Old man 0609 was truly the ringleader among the dust-dwellers.

It was a pity that this kind-hearted "Deputy City Lord" would later die in a hail of gunfire during the anime's events. Luo Ke hoped he would have the chance to avert this tragedy when the time came.

"Heh, I knew you were no ordinary guy. I didn't expect you to know so much. If you weren't so young, I’d have thought you were a survivor from the Old World yourself!" 0609 pulled out a disc of *Fog Hill of Five Elements* and gave the TV a few sharp smacks before the image finally flickered to life.

"Here, take this." Luo Ke tossed the pack of cigarettes he had swiped from Mark to 0609.

"Damn, this is the good stuff! Hey, 4048, aren't you going to watch?" 0609 turned back, only to find that Luo Ke had already closed the door.

"No, I’ve already seen it," Luo Ke smiled and headed toward the Hunter base.

Along the way, many dust-dwellers he didn't even recognize greeted him warmly, as if everyone was relieved to see this survivor back from the brink of death.

How should one describe these dust-dwellers? They were simple, honest folk, yet they were also easily incited and manipulated. Their words could warm the heart, but their eyes could also be cold enough to take a life.

"Hey! Dust-dwellers are not allowed in here," a Hunter said, reaching out to block his path.

Luo Ke shrugged and was about to call out for Mo Cheng, who was inside giving a lecture to the new recruits.

"Let him in," Mark’s voice came from behind. He and Ran Bing had just returned from a high-level meeting.

"Morgan is planning to appoint you as the next City Lord, right?" Luo Ke asked in a flat tone.

Ran Bing was startled, her eyes widening. "How did you know?"

"Information shouldn't travel that fast, so... how?" Mark stared intently at Luo Ke, trying to find a clue.

To his disappointment, he found that this dust-dweller—who didn't look like a dust-dweller at all—remained completely calm, his eyes as still and deep as a stagnant pool.

"Didn't I tell you? I know many things that you don't," Luo Ke smiled. "For instance, Elon is about to reveal the story of you and the 'feces' incident."

Mark’s eyelid twitched. Before he could retort, he heard the voice of the instructor, Elon, echoing from the training ring.

"Mark, get up here and spar with me!"

"Teacher, I don't have enough contribution points to pay for your hospitalization," Mark refused without hesitation.

In that moment, Luo Ke’s reputation as a "Great Prophet" was cemented in their minds.

Elon shouted provocatively, "Last time, I beat the crap out of you, then beat you into the crap, and then used your own crap to beat you again—have you forgotten?!"

Ran Bing looked at Luo Ke as if he were a monster, too shocked to speak. "You! You! Are you a prophet?!"

Mark’s mouth twitched. He looked at Luo Ke, then at Elon, his expression a mix of confusion and horror. He almost suspected that Luo Ke was some secret apprentice of his teacher, conspiring to set him up.

"Go on, but watch out for his sneak attacks. And by the way, Morgan isn't just wandering around aimlessly," Luo Ke patted Mark on the shoulder and chuckled.

Helpless, Mark took off his t-shirt and stepped into the ring.

Suddenly, Mo Cheng noticed that the way Luo Ke was watching Mark felt a bit off. Why would one grown man stare so intently and obsessively at another man’s muscular physique?

Thinking this, Mo Cheng instinctively took a few steps away from Luo Ke.

In reality, Luo Ke was carefully examining Mark’s wounds, observing the extent of his recovery. He concluded that his own regenerative abilities far surpassed Mark’s—at least, there wasn't a single scar on his own body.

"I'm done, I'm done. I'm too old for this, my back is aching," Elon eventually fled the ring.

With Luo Ke’s warning, Mark had anticipated Elon’s continuous sneak attacks, but now a greater doubt grew in his heart: How did 4048 know all of this in advance?

Could it be, as Ran Bing said, that he was a "Prophet"?

Ten minutes later, Mark’s room was packed with people. They all looked at Luo Ke in the center, filled with curiosity and awe.

"4048, were your ancestors fortune tellers in the Old World?" Erika pointed at him, guessing.

"Ahem, you should just call me Luo Ke from now on. The number 4048 isn't exactly auspicious."

"Luo Ke? Don't dust-dwellers lack names? Who gave you that one?" Ran Bing tilted her head.

"Where did you learn your fighting style?!" Mo Cheng interjected.

Luo Ke was blank. What fighting style? It was purely biological instinct.

Jeff slammed the table, his tone helpless. "Can you guys stop asking about irrelevant things?"

Luo Ke pondered. It wasn't that he hadn't considered telling them everything, but his reason told him he couldn't be the nanny for the main cast, nor could he change the fact that Mark would be parasitized by the spinal-parasite. After all, he had obtained a Heavens System and wouldn't stay in the *Ling Cage* world forever.

If Mark didn't walk the path he was meant to, and Luo Ke left this world, what hope would remain for humanity here?

He wasn't a saint, but he couldn't destroy their hope either. All he needed to do was use his abilities to alter certain tragedies and save those worth saving.

Besides, his true goal was to devour more and stronger Phage-type beasts! For instance, he had to visit that biological medical company; it was home to delicious thorn eels, Mana-life,息壤 (soil), and the Fork-waist Calyx beast.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Luo Ke asked Mark.

Mark was stunned. "What?"

"The woman on the shoulder of the Twin-jawed Beast," Luo Ke replied.

"Yes. The City Lord avoids discussing it. Do you know who she is?" Mark felt as if he were trapped in a vast net; a thick fog had risen, obscuring everything, while the man before him seemed to stand high above, calmly surveying it all.

"Strictly speaking, it wasn't just her, but 'them'," Luo Ke thought for a moment, deciding that this was information they could know in advance. "The number of survivors on the surface far exceeds your imagination. They possess unique technology that allows them to perfectly control their emotions and deceive the senses of the Phage-type beasts. When it comes to dealing with those beasts, they completely outclass you."

Everyone was dumbfounded, looking at each other in silence for a long time.

"Then... are you from the surface?" Ran Bing asked.

"Me? I suppose you could say I'm from the surface, but I don't belong to the group of survivors I mentioned," Luo Ke stroked his chin and mocked himself, "I am a traveler."

Mark’s eyes lit up. "Then where are they?!"

"I don't know. But you don't need to be in a rush. Within a few days, the Lighthouse will be turned upside down, and all secrets will be revealed to the public," Luo Ke stood up. Before leaving, he urged them repeatedly, "Keep every word I've said buried deep in your hearts. Do not mention it to anyone."

They nodded. The continuous influx of information was impacting the worldview they had built over decades, and it was hard to digest.

"Do you think... that 4... that Luo Ke's words can be trusted?" Jeff smacked his lips.

"Yes," Fei Xue said, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

"I also feel he has no reason to make up stories to deceive us," Ran Bing murmured.

Mark exhaled a breath of stale air. "Perhaps he really is a prophet? Heh, I can't believe I’m having such an absurd thought. Let's get to work! No matter what he says or does, we Hunters just need to do our jobs. We'll take it one step at a time. If that day he spoke of truly comes..."

His thoughts churned. Wasn't that day exactly what Hong Kou had hoped for? But the emotions she guarded were one of the roots of humanity's downfall. What on earth was he supposed to do?

Luo Ke, oh Luo Ke, what is the purpose of your arrival?

...

Dust-dweller District.

"You have some nerve, stealing food from the Upper-dwellers!"

"So this is what it tastes like! Hahahaha!"

A few aisles away, Luo Ke heard a clamor and instantly recalled this plot point.

As expected, the Light-shaper arrived with the Law Enforcement Department, and a male dust-dweller accidentally killed his teammate.

The braided girl, 4277, her face flushed with the stimulation of alcohol, took two steps forward, intending to throw her life away.

"Move, don't block the way." Luo Ke lunged forward, knocking the three of them back. He turned his face, a playful look in his eyes. "Do you want to die?"

4068 grabbed 4277, his heart pounding with lingering fear. "Are you crazy? You wanted to go up and stop them? That’s the Light-shaper herself!"

After saying this, he thanked Luo Ke repeatedly. "Thanks, thanks! Otherwise, it would have been a disaster."

"You reek of booze. Don't let it go to your heads," Luo Ke patted 4068’s head meaningfully. "You three, get back quickly. If the Law Enforcement Department finds out you've been drinking, you won't escape punishment!"

The trio's expressions changed, and they hurriedly fled.

"What's going on here?" With that voice, the scene fell into immediate silence.

Luo Ke looked toward the sound, and a head of yellow hair came into view.

Good grief, the more he looked at this hypocritical, selfish face, the more he wanted to punch it. The battle-worn Charles from the special episodes looked much more pleasing to the eye.

The Head of the Light and Shadow Church—Charles!

A piece of trash who fancied himself the protagonist; even at the end, he used the future of humanity as an excuse to satisfy his own selfish desires.

This blond man was a dictator. Perhaps he could manage a ruthless, emotionless institution, and perhaps he could lead emotionless humans to a higher level. He was good at everything, and his character was extremely well-defined, but the fact that he was still alive was his greatest flaw.

Luo Ke stood in the back, watching silently.

Charles seemed to sense something. He looked up and met Luo Ke’s gaze. He felt a sense of suspicion; there was something indescribable about this dust-dweller.

At that moment, someone whispered in his ear, "Head, he seems to be the dust-dweller who survived alongside the Hunter Fei Xue."

"Oh?" Charles was thoughtful. He walked toward Luo Ke and said with an air of righteous indignation, "A dust-dweller who dragged down the entire Hunter squad—you should thank Captain Mark for taking the punishment for you. You should be even more grateful to the Lord of Light and Shadow; it was the Lord of Light and Shadow who allowed you to survive on the dangerous surface!"