Chapter 149 Watching the Show

People always enjoy watching a spectacle, and Zhou Shu was naturally no exception.

The only difference was that ordinary people could only watch ordinary spectacles, whereas Zhou Shu could watch iconic scenes from cinematic works—and even witness them live.

This quirk of his had manifested the moment he entered his very first virtual battlefield. He always watched famous movie scenes with great enthusiasm, and once he became a "genuine live-spectacle freak," this tendency only intensified.

Just like right now.

Watching two law enforcers wield whips to lash 4068, making him wail at the top of his lungs.

If he were anywhere else and saw two people beating someone with whips, he would have definitely stepped in to stop it. Given his current physical conditioning and combat prowess, he could easily pull apart two Tyrannosauruses fighting a Gallimimus.

If he later found out that the person being beaten was actually a bad guy, he would simply offer an apology and then join in on the beating.

However, before figuring out the cause and effect, he could not just stand by and watch a man be beaten to death.

As for this 4068 being whipped, he was a rather complex individual—or rather, a character written by the script to be quite complicated.

People in the real world had already argued back and forth countless times over whether they liked or hated him.

Zhou Shu’s feelings toward him were also rather mixed. He appreciated the boy’s rebellious drive—that defiant spirit encapsulated by the notion that leaders and nobles are not born of superior stock. When all the other dust-dwellers tacitly accepted or resigned themselves to the theory that genetics dictate destiny, he was the only one who still possessed a spirit of resistance.

However, because the writers made his personality overly unruly, arrogant, and hot-headed—traits that clashed somewhat with his rebellious ethos—general audiences tended to form a very poor first impression of him in the early stages.

One had to admit, first impressions truly matter.

Moreover, he possessed only "petty cleverness" without "great power" for the time being, leaving him powerless to effectively resist the lighthouse's established system. Ultimately, because of a mechanical watch he had smuggled up from below, a cascading series of events dragged him entirely into the abyss.

Wanting to climb the social ladder was not wrong, and caring so much for friends that he got threatened and exploited was also pitiable. But to kill someone crucial to the lighthouse simply because of that made Zhou Shu feel like... cursing.

Taking another person's life merely for the sake of a single individual was a perspective shared by only a tiny minority, and it fundamentally violated all codes of morality and propriety.

Not to mention Mark's importance to the lighthouse.

If the lighthouse wanted to float safely in the sky and ensure the survival of humanity, it needed a continuous supply of resources, and Mark was the anchor of stability in the resource-gathering operations.

People knew that going on missions with him was the safest route, and they knew he could bring back the most supplies. The moment they saw him return, they knew the lighthouse could continue to function.

That level of popular support made it easy to deduce just how vital he was to the lighthouse.

Yet a man like that had his throat slit and was "killed" so easily by a "nobody." This indeed caught many people by surprise.

And this "nobody" happened to be such a controversial character.

In fact, the reason Zhou Shu could watch the drama unfold without any psychological burden was precisely because he knew 4068 wouldn't be beaten to death. At most, he would endure a few lashes before Mark stepped in to rescue him.

You have to hand it to the screenwriters—they really knew how to craft such plots.

Speak of the devil, and the good show began.

4068 was being whipped by the two disciplinary enforcers with chastisement lashes. Not daring to resist, he could only raise his arms to block, while shouting in protest, "What did I do wrong? What did I do wrong?"

Hearing this, Sharif, the bulky armor-clad Light and Shadow Church enforcer standing over two meters tall like an iron tower, spoke up: "Stop."

The two executing enforcers immediately halted. The Lotus-Bearer, her thighs exposed, gracefully stepped forward and said with a stern expression, "According to the laws of the lighthouse, dust-dwellers have no right to touch a upper-dweller's weapon in any form. Violators shall be punished with twelve lashes."

By this time, Mark and his companions had already noticed the commotion and hurried over, while Zhou Shu continued to stand on the steps to the side, folding his arms to watch the show.

Sure enough, because of this individual, the Light and Shadow Church and the Dust-Dwellers' Hunter-Gatherers were at loggerheads once again.

Mark argued that 4068 was one of the hunter-gatherers; if he were injured or killed, the lighthouse would lose yet another person tasked with gathering supplies.

Meanwhile, that supreme example of filial piety—who had just beaten his own father half to death—went on and on about the protection of the Lord of Light and Shadow, attributing the lighthouse's resources entirely to divine blessing and the High Priest's prayers.

As soon as those words left his mouth, aside from Mark, who managed to maintain his composure, Ran Bing, Mo Cheng, and Jeff all wore ugly expressions. Mo Cheng and Jeff, in particular, looked ready to unleash a stream of curses.

Mark stopped them, however, and went on to claim that 4068 had already memorized the teachings of the Lord of Light and Shadow.

Of course, though Mark spoke of the Lord of Light and Shadow's protection on the surface, in his heart he didn't take it seriously at all.

His hunter-gatherers fought monsters on the surface every single day for supplies, and not a mission went by without casualties. If there truly were any protection from the Lord of Light and Shadow, it must have been shielding the monsters instead.

With people serving themselves up as meals day after day, it would be baffling if they weren't protected.

Upon hearing this, the Lotus-Bearer of the Light and Shadow Church let out a disdainful chuckle, then swept her gaze across the scene.

She glanced briefly at Mark and his group, then turned her eyes to 4068 lying on the ground. 4068 lowered his gaze slightly, avoiding her line of sight.

Seeing this, her disdain grew even deeper. She then scanned all the upper-dwellers and dust-dweller laborers present.

Aside from Mark and his companions, no one else dared meet her gaze. Even though her face was concealed behind a mask, the mere moment her masked head turned toward them was enough to make everyone lower their heads in submission.

Her mask was far from a mere ornament. Whenever she looked at someone, their identity, ID number, contribution points, shadow value, and other data would be displayed. However, when her gaze landed on a certain person, something unexpected happened.

Judging by his appearance, the man looked like an upper-dweller with exceptionally fine genetic traits. His attire was also proper, free of tears or stains, bearing only a light dusting of ash—clear evidence that he had just returned from the surface.

Strangely enough, he wore no identity badge, and the mask's facial recognition system failed entirely to identify who he was.

Moreover, his shadow value reading was exceptionally high, teetering close to the dangerous threshold.

More importantly, the expression on his face made her deeply uncomfortable, evoking a term she had coincidentally learned of not long ago: "spectating."

This kind of person...

Just as the Lotus-Bearer was about to take action, Mark spoke up once again.

"Lady Lotus-Bearer, this kid already knows he was wrong, and you've administered the punishment you deemed necessary. Us rough folks just got back from the surface, and we might be carrying unclean things on us. We wouldn't want to contaminate you and risk getting you expelled from the Light and Shadow Church."

Hearing this, the two enforcers who had just carried out the whipping and the filial son took half a step backward. But seeing the Lotus-Bearer and the enforcer captain standing firm and motionless, they awkwardly shuffled back to their original spots.

Naturally, the Lotus-Bearer heard these words as well. The implied threat was already quite heavy, and she had no desire to burn bridges with Mark and the hunter-gatherers just yet, nor was she in a position to make decisions on behalf of the High Priest.

Therefore, she shifted her gaze back to Mark's face and let out a cold hum. "You people spend far too much time on the surface. I suspect some of you are no longer as devout toward the Lord of Light and Shadow. Once you've undergone purification, you must report to the Tribunal for testing. If your level of devotion is found wanting, don't blame me. Let's go."

With that, the Lotus-Bearer turned and left with her enforcers, while Mark and the others continued to fixate cold stares upon their departing backs.

The hunter-gatherers and the Light and Shadow Church had never gotten along, and their current relationship was utterly irreconcilable.

Realizing the show was over, Zhou Shu went off to undergo "purification."

Dust-dwellers, being citizens of the lighthouse, underwent periodic "purification," whereas Zhou Shu was essentially a "wild man." Who knew what fatal pathogens he might be carrying? Without purification, he wouldn't even be allowed to move around inside the lighthouse.

For Zhou Shu, although it was technically a decontamination shower, it at least felt like a proper bath.

Having spent seven days trapped in a dust storm, he felt as though his entire body was caked in sand; he was practically turning into a sand sculpture.

Mo Cheng and Jeff, being upper-dwellers, technically didn't need to go, as the purification protocols were targeted at dust-dwellers.

In truth, the lighthouse's genetic sorting wasn't arbitrary; it was thoroughly adapted to the unique crises the sanctuary faced.

Because the surface was the territory of the Mana ecosystem—teeming not only with visible Demonic Abyss-Suckers but also with countless imperceptible hazardous gases and substances—dust-dwellers with relatively weaker genetic defects were prone to infection by these elements, necessitating immediate "purification" upon their return.

Upper-dwellers with superior genetics possessed a much higher resistance to these threats, and those who managed to join the hunter-gatherers enjoyed additional resistance bonuses, meaning they were spared mandatory mass purification after every mission.

The dormitories of the hunter-gatherer team were located in the outer ring, away from the interior depths of the lighthouse. Coupled with the fact that special "purification liquids" were added to their shower water, ordinary bathing sufficed as purification for them.

However, to keep Zhou Shu company this time, they decided to accompany him to the dust-dwellers' purification chamber.