Returning to Lighthouse

Could Xu Le falsify accounts? Of course not. He and crime were sworn enemies.

Besides, cooking the books was highly technical work, a skill reserved almost exclusively for the masters of the trade.

He had only said that to Bai Jing because he wanted to stay alive.

Bai Jing looked at Xu Le with satisfaction.

"Good, very good. I could tell at a glance that you had plenty of room to rise."

Bai Jing repeated her praise several times, but Xu Le was puzzled.

The ability he had demonstrated should have been obvious: he could see Guyinduo residue directly.

Even a captain like Bai Jing needed an item to accomplish what he could do with ease.

But why hadn't she mentioned it again?

Xu Le's original plan had been to demonstrate this ability and earn some of Bai Jing's regard.

With the Night Watchers' backing, he could shed the dreadful status of a lone Night Dweller and get back to Lighthouse safely before worrying about anything else.

But now, Bai Jing didn't seem to have that in mind.

She hadn't even brought up the ability Xu Le had just demonstrated again. That surprised him most of all.

As though she had seen through Xu Le's thoughts, Bai Jing patted his shoulder.

Then she turned around with a smile and waved to the others.

"Let's go. And while we're at it... bring him along."

"Boss? Are we really taking him? That'll be a huge hassle. Bringing a Night Dweller back just isn't worth it. The screening alone will eat up a ton of resources, and even if he passes, he'll still need a monitoring period. We're already short-handed. Who has time to watch him? If anything happens, we'll definitely take the blame."

Monitoring period? Xu Le committed the term to memory.

The moment Bai Jing spoke, other team members raised objections.

Although Xu Le had demonstrated some ability, these team members didn't care much about it.

Even if that ability was useful, so what?

Xu Le wasn't one of them, after all. There was no need.

Another person chimed in.

"Exactly, boss. Even if something happens after the monitoring period, the higher-ups will still make us take the blame. Someone who spent the night like that is at far too much risk of mutation..."

He wanted to keep talking, but under Bai Jing's direct stare, his voice grew quieter and quieter.

Bai Jing abruptly dropped the bandit-like demeanor she had shown Xu Le and spoke with a touch of formality.

"Didn't you hear what he said earlier? As Lighthouse Night Watchers, we should abide by Lighthouse's laws. Understood?"

Pfft!

As soon as Bai Jing finished, one of the older team members burst out laughing.

Bai Jing didn't stand on ceremony. She snatched a brick from the ground and hurled it at him.

Fortunately, he was quick enough to dodge it.

But Bai Jing wasn't about to let him off.

"Old Niu, you actually dared to dodge?"

"Oh." The team member named Old Niu didn't dare move again and obediently stood where he was.

Then Bai Jing threw a second brick, striking him in the forehead.

Bang!

The brick shattered. He was fine.

As a Pioneer, Old Niu was most likely a supernatural being. It was perfectly normal for his head to be harder than a brick.

Xu Le watched all of this, but aside from inwardly remarking on their over-the-top acting, he had nothing to say.

Nor did a few nice words from Bai Jing make him weep with gratitude.

He didn't know these people, didn't understand Lighthouse's system, and knew too little about supernatural beings.

He couldn't jump to conclusions over a few words.

Bai Jing wagged a finger at Old Niu, looking as though she were speaking from the bottom of her heart.

"Old Niu, do you know why you're still an ordinary team member after more than twenty years, while I became a captain in just ten?

"Vision, understand? It's already the Fourth Era. Do you know what matters most?

"Talent. Nothing matters more than talent.

"Which of you can identify Guyinduo contaminants with the naked eye alone?

"And after a brush with death, still think clearly enough to argue Night Watcher regulations with me?

"None of you, right?"

Old Niu looked at Bai Jing with an aggrieved expression and muttered,

"Wang Yueqin from the team next door became a captain in two years."

"Shut up."

"Oh."

The team members seemed long accustomed to exchanges between Bai Jing and Old Niu. They stayed silent, waiting for Bai Jing's orders.

"Everyone, prepare to head back. All right, Mr. Xu Le, you can come with us. But before we leave, those things of yours need to be destroyed."

Hearing Bai Jing confirm that she would take him along, Xu Le finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With the protection of the Night Watchers' Pioneers, he should be able to return safely to the human city-state of Lighthouse.

As for what the strictest, most thorough screening Bai Jing had mentioned would actually entail...

Xu Le didn't know, and he didn't dare ask.

Surviving such a terrible situation was already an enormous stroke of luck.

Everything he had experienced since last night had happened far too urgently.

Now he needed some space and time to process things and think.

To process the memories and items he had acquired.

To consider how he should live in this other world from now on.

Xu Le stood and watched the Pioneers pile the corpse, clothes, backpack, and other things together, pour kerosene over them, and set them ablaze.

Watching the roaring flames, Xu Le felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

Xu Le knew that none of these things had actually been contaminated by Guyinduo.

But he wouldn't stop them from being destroyed. Old Zhou's death still weighed on his mind.

If anyone investigated the matter, he had no good explanation to offer.

The fact that he had transmigrated was even more outlandish than Old Zhou's death.

In Lighthouse's current climate, claiming he had transmigrated would almost certainly get him burned to death as an Oddity.

But as Xu Le watched the flames and silently breathed a sigh of relief, he failed to notice something.

A pair of eyes had been watching him the entire time.

Only after stepping out of the cabin did Xu Le get a clear look at the world outside.

It was a stretch of countryside with patches of green vegetation, though he couldn't describe it more precisely.

There was some grass, some trees, and a few abandoned houses.

It was probably something like the outskirts of a rural settlement in his previous life, and an abandoned one at that.

But the surroundings were lovely.

The azure sky was bright and almost cloudless.

The warm sunlight falling over him felt wonderfully comfortable, making him drowsy and lazy.

Xu Le closed his eyes, stretched, and took a deep breath of the air.

Perhaps... this was what it meant to be reborn!

Xu Le clenched his fists. Since he had been given a new life, he ought to make the most of it.

The Pioneers had already started walking, leaving Xu Le trailing behind.

Xu Le knew that, in most of their eyes, he was a burden, perhaps even an unexploded bomb that posed a certain risk.

Complaining or arguing might well get him abandoned.

So he hurried after them.

But before he reached them, Bai Jing suddenly stressed in an ice-cold, stern voice,

"As far as any of you are concerned, nothing happened today. And you will take everything about Xu Le's ability to your graves. Understood?"

"Yes," everyone answered quietly.

When they reached the junction, Xu Le saw an eight-wheeled steam warcar with a distinctly post-apocalyptic look.

Heavy armor plating, a conspicuous cannon barrel, and a steam whistle and Lighthouse flag mounted high above it.

Xu Le found it hard to tear his eyes away from the vehicle.

"An R6 Steam Warcar, made in Zion. What do you think? Not bad, right? These things are expensive, though. If you can't cook the books, you probably can't afford to keep one running."

"Uh."

Xu Le didn't know how to respond. Was Bai Jing extending an invitation?

Bai Jing gave no clear answer. She jumped onto the vehicle and held out a hand to Xu Le.

"Climb aboard."

"All right."

The other team members also boarded the steam warcar one after another.

Rumble!

The steam engine started, and with a piercing blast of its whistle, the steam warcar set off down the road back to Lighthouse.

Xu Le gazed at the wilderness ahead. "Lighthouse, here I come!"