Chapter 6: The Cage of the Soul, the Shackles of Life

"There are some spinal parasites inside. I've already taken care of them," Luo Ke said, emerging from the darkness to explain to Feixue.

Feixue looked at him with confusion. For some reason, the sense of oppression she felt from 4048 was much stronger now, yet she couldn't pinpoint what exactly had changed.

"I just saw lights flickering in the distance. It might be the Captain and the others," Feixue said, deciding not to dwell on it.

"Let's go. We should regroup with them," Luo Ke replied calmly. He couldn't stay on the ground forever; being on the Lighthouse would allow him to respond to various contingencies much faster.

Night fell. The sky was like a dark blue curtain, with countless brilliant stars and moonlight reflecting off one another. This tranquility was soon shattered by the sound of stampeding, roaring, and the clatter of gunfire and engines.

Sure enough, on a distant hillside, dozens of snake-dogs were pursuing Mark and his team.

*Whoosh!*

After Feixue fired a flare, the off-road vehicle quickly shifted its route and sped toward them.

"Save your ammunition!" Jeff roared.

"Got it!" Erika had barely agreed before the Gatling gun in her hands began to spin, its red-hot barrels spitting out a frenzy of bullets.

In the rear, Mark held his serrated blade, precisely dispatching the larger snake-dogs.

"It's Feixue and the others!" Ran Bing exclaimed, beaming as she looked through her binoculars.

"Yay! I knew Sister Feixue was still alive!" Erika was overjoyed, and her Gatling gun roared even more violently.

"Contact the Lighthouse. Prepare for extraction," Mark said in a steady tone, though Ran Bing could hear the relief in his voice.

With Mo Cheng at the wheel, the off-road vehicle performed a sharp drift, pulling up horizontally in front of them.

"Get in!"

"Roar—"

Two snake-dogs lunged from the flank. Ran Bing adjusted her posture, leaned back, and raised her rifle. A specially made sniper round left the barrel, blowing the head off one of the creatures.

The other charged toward the driver's side. Protected by the thick, hardened skin of its neck, it withstood Jeff's continuous fire and opened its massive maw toward Mo Cheng.

Mo Cheng was no rookie. He slammed the vehicle door open, catching the snake-dog and sending it sprawling. Immediately after, two figures—one large and one small—seized the opportunity to attack.

Seeing the snake-dog land at his feet, Luo Ke instinctively delivered a side kick.

On the other side stood Mark in his power loader suit, grabbing the snake-dog by its tail. Caught in a pincer attack, the creature first had its head crushed, then was swung high and slammed down, its entire body suffering compound fractures on the spot.

With that, the pursuing pack of snake-dogs was temporarily neutralized.

Mark looked at Luo Ke in astonishment, unable to speak for a long time. He had clearly witnessed this Dust-Dweller kick apart the skull of a sturdy snake-dog.

Not only him, but everyone except Feixue stared in shock at the unfazed Luo Ke.

"These monsters have a core. The only way to kill them for good is to crush that core," Luo Ke said, raising an eyebrow as he walked up to a snake-dog lying motionless on the ground.

"Hey, what if it's not dead? Don't get so close!" Erika warned.

"Don't worry," Luo Ke said, not stopping.

"You?" Jeff frowned, reaching out to pull him back.

Mark gestured for him to wait, whispering, "Don't rush. Let's see."

*Plop!*

Luo Ke used his foot to flip the snake-dog over, exposing its belly. His fingertips quietly mutated into two-centimeter bone blades, and he plunged his hand into the thinner skin, rummaging through the creature's abdominal cavity.

Upon touching a hollow, spherical object, he pulled it out—a glowing blue orb of significant size.

He now acted as a knowledgeable mentor. "See this? This is the life core of these monsters. Without it, they cease to exist entirely."

As he spoke, he exerted pressure with his five fingers. The sphere shattered with a pop, and the blue light vanished. At the same time, everyone watched as the snake-dog's corpse rapidly dissolved, its flesh turning into a puddle of sludge, leaving only white bones behind.

The sequence of actions left the group stunned. Even Feixue, who thought she understood Luo Ke to some extent, realized in a flash that she hadn't truly seen through this Dust-Dweller, who was filled with secrets.

"So these ugly things have a weakness?" Erika, like a curious child, immediately began to experiment. When she also extracted a core, Ran Bing and Mo Cheng couldn't stay seated any longer. They all climbed out of the vehicle, discussing the discovery in disbelief.

"This finding could change the future combat strategies of the Hunter teams. Tactics based on this could significantly reduce mortality rates!" Ran Bing said excitedly.

Mark looked at Feixue. "Down there, what happened?"

"We fell into the canyon and barely escaped with our lives. He saved me," Feixue told her teammates, hesitating for a moment before adding, "He is... different. He doesn't act like a Dust-Dweller."

"Even a Lighthouse-Dweller wouldn't have his physical capabilities. No, wait—I suspect he doesn't belong to the human category at all." Mo Cheng, having witnessed Luo Ke's inhuman feats multiple times, couldn't help but complain.

Mark stepped forward, eyeing him with a frown. "First, thank you for saving my team. But how did you know about the life core? And your words and actions... they really aren't like a Dust-Dweller's. There isn't the look in your eyes that someone living in the apocalypse should have."

He was a veteran of countless battles and had seen the eyes of countless people facing monsters—the repression, the sorrow, and the despair that were deeply rooted in everyone.

Luo Ke didn't care about their lingering wariness, continuing on his own. "What I know far exceeds your imagination, but I can guarantee that I am not a 'bad person' in the traditional sense. I have no hostility toward you."

"You don't have to believe me now, but I am about to tell you things that will shatter your worldview."

"It's your choice: continue living as Lighthouse-Dwellers until tragedy strikes, or listen to what I have to say and start anew."

Luo Ke didn't intend to tell them about the original plot, because with his arrival, the so-called original plot was no longer reliable. Besides, those bizarre stories served no purpose other than to increase their stress.

The group fell silent.

"I... believe him," Feixue said, breaking the deadlock.

"There are more monsters coming. Let's get to the Lighthouse first," Luo Ke said, glancing at the vast, endless Gobi desert.

"Where? ...Huh?" Mo Cheng's eyes widened. "Holy crap!"

The next second, a pack of snake-dogs appeared, stampeding in a massive, overwhelming wave. The group was stunned again. How did 4048 know?

Fortunately, the distance between them was great, and they soon outpaced the pack, heading toward the descending lift platform.

"A cage for the soul, a shackle for life," Luo Ke murmured, looking up at the massive prison floating in the sky.

"What?"

"What shackle?"

"Did you know that the Lighthouse was once an aerial prison?" Luo Ke said calmly, dropping a bombshell before adding, "Believe it or not, that's up to you."

The expressions of those present shifted. This meant that the 'hope of humanity' was simply a continuation of a group of prisoners.

"Do you not understand why Morgan established the Three Great Laws?" Luo Ke continued, his tone indifferent, raising the stakes even further.

At these words, Mark's expression became the most severe. He immediately recalled the sight of Hong Kou and Po Xiao turning to ash on the execution platform.

"Morgan had his own difficulties. But alas, he ultimately underestimated human emotion. Blindly covering things up and avoiding the truth cannot solve the root of the problem. After all, the seven emotions and six desires are exactly what make a human, human." Luo Ke peeled back the truth, layer by layer.

At this, Mark and Ran Bing exchanged glances, then immediately looked away.

Time was short, and rather than concealing everything, it was better to be open and honest from the start. This might even prevent tragedies caused by "acting on emotion."

His voice seemed to possess a magical quality; before they knew it, they were completely enthralled.

"These monsters feed on human life source, and emotions cause our life source to emit a much richer, more pungent scent. Whether it's love, kinship, or immense sorrow and joy, overly intense emotional fluctuations stimulate them and make them bloodthirsty and crazed."

"That is why Morgan was cold-hearted enough to set down these dehumanizing laws, using only rules and data to define human relationships. One can only say he stood too high and saw too broadly, which made him appear cold and ruthless."

As these words landed, the six of them felt an involuntary chill creep up their spines.

"As I said earlier, some things cannot be hidden. You don't need to be heartless or devoid of justice. Even without you, the conflicts on the Lighthouse would eventually erupt. Its fall is fated, and the hope of humanity should not be a group of emotionless machines."

Having finished, Luo Ke pulled a pack of cigarettes from Mark's pocket, lit one, and leaned against the window to look out.

The despair and helplessness of the Lighthouse were things he had deeply felt while watching the anime, and being in the middle of it now, Luo Ke felt it even more profoundly.

He exhaled a cloud of smoke, and his eyes suddenly brightened, his melancholy swept away.

The lift platform came to a steady stop, and the seductive, statuesque Light Envoy was walking straight toward them.

"The real thing... she's truly something else!"