Chapter 151: I am an atheist, and you are telling me this?

Zhou Shu felt it was really nice, living on the Lighthouse was really nice.

Although the disinfection spray used was actually disinfectant, for him, that bit of sterilizing effect was about the same as water, and he could even drink it directly.

However, due to psychological factors, he still didn't drink it, but instead took a satisfying and thorough shower.

Much like the resource allocation room, the place where dust-dwellers underwent sterilization and "purification" was located on the outermost periphery of the main structure. It possessed some attributes of a public facility, though it was highly functional.

The main body of the Lighthouse was a steel structure; iron and steel were everywhere. Areas that did not belong to the upper-dwellers were basically undecorated, let alone possessing any sense of aesthetic appeal. Fortunately, since this was considered an outer public area, it was relatively clean.

Right next to it was a dust-dweller residential area suspended outside the main structure—what the dust-dwellers themselves called the pigeon coops.

Zhou Shu had very sharp eyesight. Those "pigeon coops" were not only far from clean and sanitary, but their very structural integrity was also hard to guarantee. They were simply cobbled together at random from various pieces of metal junk.

The most common sights were shipping containers salvaged from the ground and ready-made metal frames. Jamming them together and nailing a few boards on constituted a room.

Putting a bunk bed inside a room with just a narrow aisle left over made it a dormitory that could house two people.

Looking at these suspended, dilapidated buildings, then looking at the practical building he had just walked out of, and finally thinking of the gorgeous buildings on the upper levels, Zhou Shu gained a tangible, visceral feel of the Lighthouse's rigid class stratification.

For instance, right now, because he was not carrying an identity badge, and the two people accompanying him were upper-dwellers, the contribution points for his "purification" were directly deducted from one of the upper-dwellers. Consequently, the dust-dwellers present naturally assumed that he was also an upper-dweller.

Yes, "purification" required the deduction of contribution points, even though the filth they might have contracted came from ground scavenging missions meant to gather supplies for the Lighthouse.

On the Lighthouse, everything required the calculation of contribution points.

The dust-dwellers here had no idea why these three upper-dwellers had come to this place, but the "Three Major Laws" that had been implemented on the Lighthouse for over twenty years were deeply ingrained in everyone's hearts. Therefore, wherever the three of them walked, dust-dwellers made way, to the extent that the three of them stood out like cranes flocking among chickens.

It wasn't until Zhou Shu and the others received their simultaneously cleaned and sterilized clothes, put them on, and left the area that the dust-dwellers resumed their normal states.

Just as Zhou Shu and his companions stepped out of the bathhouse responsible for washing clothes, Mochen and Jeff simultaneously received a message instructing them and Zhou Shu to report to the Central Command Hall.

They knew that Captain Mark must have spoken about Zhou Shu, and this was going to be an official verification.

Zhou Shu was very eager to meet the "protagonists" of this world, especially the voluptuous engineer sister and the medical and ecological director. One specialized in mechanical technology and the other in biotechnology; both were people Zhou Shu wanted to have a chat with.

Therefore, upon seeing this message, he was even happier than Mochen and Jeff.

"Let's go. Don't keep them waiting."

Because their clearance levels were not high enough, they could not take the central elevator, but walking from other routes was also quite fast. Within a short while, they arrived at the entrance of the Central Command Hall.

However, the internal council meeting was still ongoing, so they had to wait outside for a little while and could only enter once they received word from inside.

Mochen and Jeff stood obediently outside, while Zhou Shu twitched his ears, a smile appearing on his face.

The Central Command Hall had zero soundproofing—well, at least to him.

After all, the Central Command Hall lacked specialized sound-absorbing decoration; it was simply very large, and coupled with the obstruction of walls, ordinary people outside wouldn't hear a thing unless the people inside were shouting at the top of their lungs.

But who was Zhou Shu? His physical attributes were infinitely close to 9. As long as he focused on listening to certain sounds, even the most subtle ones, he could hear them.

For instance, right now, the voices of the people inside the Central Command Hall traveled through air vibrations, then through metal vibrations, and once again through air vibrations, straight into his ears.

If that wasn't clear enough, sounds were also traveling directly along the metal floor all the way over, finally passing through bone conduction to corroborate the information brought by the air vibrations. Zhou Shu knew clearly what the people inside were discussing.

"Captain Mark, you're telling us that this ground survivor eliminated more than twenty surging beasts without any weapons. Did you... miscalculate?"

A middle-aged man wearing a blue uniform asked.

By now, no one doubted that Mark had encountered a human on the ground, since Mark had already brought the person up and even sent his subordinates to escort him over, meaning they would see him shortly.

It was just Mark's claim regarding the combat capability that the people present simply could not believe.

Hearing this question, before Mark and Ran Bing could speak, Carrie, the director of medical and ecology, chimed in.

"Not necessarily," she snapped her fingers. "Perhaps there really are people who can do that."

As she spoke, she even glanced at the City Lord, noticing that the City Lord was deep in thought and didn't seem to be paying attention to what she was saying. Thus, she reorganized her thoughts and continued, "According to the data scavenged from the ground by the dust-hunters, there were mutated humans in the Old World. Their strength, speed, neurological reaction times, and physical constitutions all far exceeded those of ordinary people. If it's a person of that kind, they should be able to reach the level of combat capability Captain Mark described."

Hearing Carrie mention this, the others also began to ponder deeply, because they seemed to vaguely know about the matter Carrie was talking about.

Unlike the dust-dwellers who had never received any education, and the upper-dwellers who had only received vocational education, the people present were basically the upper echelons of the Lighthouse, and they knew slightly more.

Especially Mark and Ran Bing, the two dust-hunters. They frequently traveled back and forth to the ground. If anyone present was closer to the Old World, it was them.

Even if they hadn't looked through the relevant scavenged materials, they had seen the words "Mutated Human" on large posters and massive billboards.

In the Old World, mutated humans were already numerous enough to hold dedicated world-class tennis tournaments.

Just like the real world dividing competitions into regular human categories and disabled human categories.

As long as a school had a high enough proportion of sports students, its sports meet would also divide athletes into professional groups and amateur groups.

It was just strange that they had been drifting in the sky for so long, and in the early days they had taken in quite a few ground survivors, yet no mutated humans had ever boarded the Lighthouse.

Even when dust-hunters scavenged for supplies on the ground, they had never encountered a mutated human.

Logically speaking, these mutated humans should have been much easier to survive than ordinary humans, yet they had simply never run into them.

However, there was another theory: in the Old World, not just anyone could become a mutated human. Either you had money, or you had power, or you... possessed significant research value.

And when these people faced the great cataclysm, they were all able to secure boat tickets in advance—spaceship tickets, even more formidable than Noah's Ark. They could leave Earth directly and go to the Moon to start a new life.

The people on the Lighthouse often gazed up at the starry sky at night. They didn't do it for romance, but to look at the moon—especially during the crescent moon phase, when they could see the lights shining on the dark side of the moon.

That was the symbol of civilization.

When all was said and done, the people left behind on Earth were all the poor wretches who couldn't afford spaceship tickets back then.

This explained why the technology tree on the Lighthouse was so distorted, why many things simply couldn't be manufactured and could only undergo simple modifications, and why spare parts still relied on ground scavenging by the dust-hunters: because there weren't many high-level engineers and scientists left on the Lighthouse; those with the capability had long since gone to the moon.

Just as they were pondering these things, Charles suddenly thought of some critical issues and immediately felt that his point of view was validated once again.

"I believe that if that ground survivor is truly a mutated human, we should sentence him to death by fire!"

Charles said with absolute finality.

As soon as these words fell, everyone was shocked.

"Charles, do you know what you're saying?" Mark stared at him sternly.

As the commander of the dust-hunters, he was acutely aware of Zhou Shu's value. Putting aside recruitment for a moment, just the fact that Zhou Shu had saved their lives on the ground meant he would absolutely not allow Charles to burn Zhou Shu to death!

"Of course, my Captain Mark," Charles glanced sideways at Mark, then turned around to address everyone present: "Do you know why the Old World perished? It was because of these mutated humans!"

"These mutated humans attempted to meddle in the domain of the gods. They were monsters manufactured by humanity, and therefore the gods cast down their punishment, turning the entire human world into what it is today. Thus, those mutated humans are the ultimate source of sin for the destruction of the world!"

"Then the great Lord of Light and Shadow descended, saving us, allowing us to board the Lighthouse, and bestowing food upon us. We should give thanks to the Lord of Light and Shadow."

"Yet a sinful mutated human has boarded the Lighthouse. This is a blasphemy against the Lord of Light and Shadow, so we must burn him to death!"

"And you!"

Charles suddenly pointed a finger straight at Mark. "You brought a sinful mutated human onto the sacred Lighthouse. You are guilty as well!"

Charles fully exercised his abilities as a religious leader. Normally, he read plenty of similar books, and uttering these words made them sound both logical and effortless.

And coincidentally, just like knowing about the existence of mutated humans, the people present also vaguely knew about the conflict between mutated humans and "primitive humans." They had seen accusations leveled against mutated humans.

Even the things Charles was saying weren't inventions of his own; they were retellings.

Because these arguments had already existed in the Old World.

People had accused these mutated humans of inviting the end of the world long ago, and then... the end of the world truly came.

Therefore, by speaking these words aloud, Charles could easily steer people's thinking in this direction.

Especially the stationed City Defense guards; they had only received vocational education and didn't know much. Thus, upon hearing this logically rigorous chain of information presented by the leader of the Light and Shadow Church, the way they looked at Mark changed somewhat.

Mark and Ran Bing were unperturbed; as for being guilty or whatever, the Lighthouse wasn't run by Charles alone, and they trusted the City Lord's wisdom.

Part of the reason they stood by Zhou Shu was that they didn't believe Charles's demagoguery, and another part was that Zhou Shu had saved their lives.

Another person who sneered at this stubborn narrative was Carrie.

As the medical and ecological director, judging by how she started yawning the moment Charles brought up the Lord of Light and Shadow, she had even less reverence for the Lord of Light and Shadow than Mark and the others.

Hearing about the existence of Zhou Shu, she was already pondering whether there would be a chance to study him. Good grief, and here you are, Charles, starting right off by saying you want to burn Zhou Shu to ashes.

If I'm left holding a pile of carbon, what the hell am I supposed to study?

She had just wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but before she could speak, the City Lord finally spoke.

"Enough."

He struggled to stand up, and Victor, who was standing beside him, hurriedly went to support him. Once he stood tall on the Lighthouse, the City Lord said, "Let's drop the talk about Mark being guilty. The reason the Lighthouse has made it to today, the reason we are able to hold a meeting here, is because Mark has walked the surface year after year, fighting desperately to secure resources for us."

Everyone felt that what the City Lord said made a lot of sense, but the blond-haired man stepped forward proudly once more and said, "City Lord, it is only natural for Mark to give his all for the Lighthouse; all of this is the arrangement of the Lord of Light and Shadow."

Hearing this, the City Lord shook his head slightly, though he replied verbally, "Indeed, every time Mark returns in triumph, it is truly receiving a blessing."

Upon hearing this, the corners of the blond man's mouth immediately curled upward, but before he could finish rejoicing, the City Lord continued: "Then it follows that this time, Mark's triumphant return—along with bringing along a ground survivor—is likewise receiving the blessing of the Lord of Light and Shadow."

"Since it is the arrangement of the Lord of Light and Shadow, no matter what, we must meet this ground survivor. After all, this is the first time in twenty years that the Lighthouse has seen a ground survivor; this perhaps portends something significant."

The arrangement of the Lord of Light and Shadow...

This was clearly the phrase Charles loved using most, but this time, his face darkened, and anger brewed within his heart.

"Invite our guest in. He must have suffered a great deal on the ground," the City Lord sat back down and said.

Victor, standing beside him, nodded and said with a stern face once more, "Let them in."

Outside the door, the City Defense soldiers on guard received the order and immediately allowed the three-person group of Zhou Shu to enter.

As Zhou Shu walked in, everyone laid eyes upon this youth of extraordinary temperament.

The directors were all looking at him with curiosity, while the stationed City Defense guards dared not lower their guard.

If what the Head Leader said was true, then this person was an extremely dangerous individual. Therefore, the hands of the stationed guards had already drifted close to the holster on their thighs, and the heavy-duty mecha warriors of the City Defense force on both sides of the gate had adjusted their stances, ready to capture or eliminate Zhou Shu at a moment's notice.

These actions naturally could not escape Zhou Shu's notice. Everything in the command hall was under his control, so his demeanor remained utterly composed.

Seeing that his bearing was unusual, out of politeness, the crowd cleared a path for him. He walked through them, nodded to Mark and Ran Bing, and went to stand beside Mark.

He looked up at the wrinkled, aged City Lord sitting in his seat and offered a polite greeting: "First time meeting you. My name is Zhou Shu. I wish you good health and well-being."

"Heh heh, what a polite and handsome young man," City Lord Morgan said with a benevolent smile.

Confirming Zhou Shu's gender, confirming Zhou Shu's temperament, and confirming that Zhou Shu was not the "non-human" he had envisioned, he was indeed very happy.

However, right after the two sides exchanged friendly greetings, the mood-ruiner arrived.

Charles turned his head and said proudly to Zhou Shu, "Ground survivor, but do you know that you~ are guilty!"

Zhou Shu looked at the familiar blond man and deliberately asked, "Oh, and who might this be?"

"This is the Head Leader of the Light and Shadow Church, the proxy of the Lord of Light and Shadow in the mortal realm!"

Lotus stood forth to inform Zhou Shu, her gaze fixed tightly upon him.

"Oh~"

Hearing this, Zhou Shu came to a sudden realization. "So it's Head Leader—pardon me, Lord Leader. My profound respects. What did you just call me?"

"Hmph," Charles said with dissatisfaction, "The Lord of Light and Shadow tells me that you~ are guilty!"

"So that's how it is~"

Zhou Shu continued with his sudden realization, then changed his tone and said with a beaming smile, "Unfortunately, I am an atheist and do not believe in gods. So saying these things to me is quite useless, Lord Leader."