Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 161 Rebellion against Tiangang
Inside the city lord's hall.

Morgan sat upright in his chair, holding the metal beacon that Elon had brought back.

On the screen next to him, clear photos taken by Jeff were being displayed.

Those footprints, and tire marks that clearly did not belong to the specifications of the Lighthouse vehicle.

“So…” Morgan’s voice was low.

"Based on this, you've concluded that Mark... might not have been mistaken? That there really is activity of surface survivors in that area?"

Elon stood ramrod straight, his expression serious: "Lord, although we cannot be 100% certain that it is Red Bloom, the footprints, the wheel tracks, and this..." His gaze fell on the beacon in Morgan's hand.

“This is definitely not something left over from the old world. All things considered, the most reasonable explanation is that there are surviving forces on the ground active in this area. What Mark saw was very likely one of them.” He paused, then added, “As for whether what Mark saw was Red Hair… I dare not make a judgment.”

"But the possibility... does exist."

Morgan remained silent, his gaze returning to the photographs.

Could the ground, that ruin shrouded in death, truly harbor the seeds of a continuing civilization?
“Another beacon.” Morgan looked up at Elon. “Has it been handed over to Dr. Carrie for analysis?”

Elon nodded immediately: "Yes, Lord. As soon as I returned to the Lighthouse, I had Jeff send it directly to Dr. Carrie's lab. She should have already started her research."

He then reported another crucial piece of information observed by the hunter team: "Furthermore, judging from the direction of the wheel tracks, those unknown vehicles or personnel were heading north."

“North…” Morgan murmured.

"I understand." Morgan nodded, suppressing the turmoil in his mind.

“You did a great job on this reconnaissance mission. Go and rest now, and be ready to respond at any time. Regarding this matter, keep the ground information strictly confidential until we receive Dr. Carrie's preliminary analysis results, and limit it to only the few people involved in the mission.”

"Yes, Lord!" Elon saluted, turned and strode away.

Morgan was the only one left in the empty hall.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Dr. Carrie held the metal beacon from the ground in her hand, her fingertips tracing its cold, smooth exterior and its oddly shaped interface.

Her lab was filled with all sorts of connectors, but she couldn't find a single one that matched this non-standard design interface.

She curled her lip: "Tsk, it's a specially made thing..."

A hint of impatience flashed across Carrie's face, but her eyes were filled with curiosity that had been piqued.

If conventional methods fail to read it, then we'll have to go find that person.

She picked up the beacon, left her laboratory, and headed towards a relatively secluded area on the upper level of the lighthouse. The passageways here were narrower, and the lighting was dimmer than in other places.

At the end was a heavy metal door, with a heavily armed city guard standing at the entrance.

It's less about protection and more about surveillance.

Carrie ignored this and directly swiped her access card.

The door slid open, and she stepped inside.

The laboratory inside the door was filled with all sorts of strange instruments and parts, making it more like a workshop.

A man with half-gray hair was lying on a chair with his back to the door, holding a bottle of red wine in his hand.

Hearing the door open, the man paused in his drinking, turning his head with some confusion.

When he realized that the person who came was Carrie, his face showed obvious surprise.

“Carrie?” Flynn asked incredulously.

"What a rare guest... I never expected you to come here. What new instructions does our city lord have this time? Is he going to let me out?"

His words carried a self-deprecating tone.

He has been under house arrest in this laboratory for many years, and apart from occasionally completing some prosthetic limb research and development tasks required by the Lighthouse and monitoring the Kroto system, he has been almost completely isolated from the outside world.

Carrie ignored the sarcasm in his words and didn't bother with pleasantries.

She walked straight to Flynn's workbench, slammed the beacon down among a pile of parts, and asked succinctly.

"Stop talking nonsense. Look at this beacon, can you tell what it is?"

Flynn's attention was immediately drawn to the beacon.

He put down the bottle, picked up the beacon, and examined its appearance carefully. He ran his fingers along the metal contacts at the interface, then brought it up to the light to examine the almost invisible seams on the casing.

“This thing…” Flynn frowned slightly.

"Where did this come from? This isn't something from the lighthouse, is it?"

Seeing Flynn's reaction, Carrie understood: "It was brought back from the ground by Elon. It looks like something the Old World used to detect the environment or as a road sign."

Flynn looked up at Carrie: "So? What are you trying to say?"

"There are survivors on the ground. This should belong to them. Can you decipher the data inside?"

Upon hearing Carrie's words, Flynn chuckled: "Survivors? Ha... What, does Morgan think the number of Dust People in the Lighthouse isn't enough for him to maintain his strict genetic optimization rules? Or is it that the casualty rate of the Hunters has reached a new high, and they need to replenish their ranks with fresh blood from the ground?"

Carrie clicked her tongue impatiently: "Can you even figure this out?"

"What's the rush?" Flynn was sharp-tongued, but his hands moved faster.

He fixed the beacon to the workbench and picked up a set of precision disassembly tools.

"Since there's no readily available interface, I'll have to take it apart to check the internal structure. I hope this thing isn't too delicate, or don't blame me if the data gets corrupted."

With a very slight "click," the beacon's outer casing was pried open, revealing the compact circuit board and core components inside.

Flynn gently parted the cables with tweezers, his eyes immediately drawn to a small chip embedded in the center of the motherboard.

He moved closer and carefully examined the surface of the chip.

“AFU…”

Flynn read out the tiny letters etched on the chip, his brow furrowing again, but this time his expression was completely different from his previous disdain; instead, it was one of unbelievable solemnity.

Carrie also came over, looking at the three letters, and muttered to herself, "AFU... what does it mean? Is it an abbreviation for a large corporation or research institution in the old world? I've never heard of this combination."

Flynn did not answer immediately. He put down the tools in his hand, leaned back slightly in his chair, and looked somewhat unfocused.

A few seconds later, he slowly spoke: "ASH... FOR YOU..."

Carrie turned to look at him and asked, "ASH FOR YOU? You recognize this abbreviation? What does it mean?"

Flynn turned to Carrie, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Do you remember... many years ago, that white-haired woman who stormed the lighthouse, her skills were unbelievably formidable? Besides Lord Grey's body, her target back then was someone else..."

Carrie's pupils contracted slightly.

Flynn didn't keep them in suspense and gave the answer directly: "What she stole back then wasn't just Lord Grey's body, but also the super artificial intelligence from the old world named 'ASH'."

The laboratory fell into a deathly silence.

Carrie looked down at the tiny chip again.

ASH FOR YOU……

AFU……

If Flynn is telling the truth, then this beacon, and the ground survivor faction it represents, may be directly connected to the mysterious white-haired woman and the stolen AI ASH.

This means that the survivors on the ground not only exist, but may have been developing for decades.

Even... the technology they possess may partly originate from the "legacy" they stole from the lighthouse!
"This...this is impossible...that artificial intelligence is just a shell."

Flynn smiled when he saw Carrie's shocked expression.

“Perhaps they can find something out of it? After all, we haven’t made much progress in understanding that artificial intelligence before it was stolen.” He turned and quickly made a few moves on the console, the keyboard clicking.

A large screen lit up, displaying some data charts and a model with female features.

“It’s normal that you don’t believe it, after all, that body has been taken away for too long.” He pointed to the cross-sectional diagram of ASH’s body structure on the screen, “But the data doesn’t lie, look at this.”

"This is the data that was preserved after the scan back then."

"As you know, all of Lighthouse's current prosthetic technology and neural connection solutions are based on research on that body."

His tone grew increasingly agitated, and he turned around, staring intently at Carrie.

“Carrie, do you understand? That body, it’s practically a work of art, the culmination of old-world cybernetic technology! That white-haired woman didn’t just want an empty shell when she tried to take her away!”

Carrie frowned at Flynn: "If what you're saying is true, then that white-haired woman is related to the survivor faction here."

"I don't know," Flynn shook his head.

"You could tell Morgan to go to the surface now and see if that woman happens to show up and rescues him."

Flynn chuckled at this point: "But he's the city lord now, so he can leave things like going to the surface to his servants."

Flynn glanced at Carrie's impatient look and said no more nonsense.

He put down the chip, connected it to the laboratory's analytical instruments, and plugged the chip in.

The data on the screen began to scroll, and the decoding program started running.

Carrie crossed her arms, stared at the screen, and kept muttering to herself.

"Environmental monitoring beacons...their function is very clear: to collect atmospheric and soil composition data..."

The more Carrie analyzed, the deeper her doubts became.

"They specially manufactured such sophisticated equipment just to monitor the environment? In this godforsaken place where there are only Devouring Beasts and fleshy soil, what's the point of monitoring the environment?"

Flynn picked at his ear, got up and took a big gulp of red wine, then asked Carrie.

"So how are you going to tell Morgan? If he knew the white-haired woman was here, he'd probably wet his pants, wouldn't he?"

Carrie remained silent for a long time before saying, "So many years have passed. Even if that woman is still alive, her physical functions should be much worse than before. It's impossible for her to still have the same fighting power as she did back then."

Inside the city lord's hall, the heavy metal windows blocked out the rising thunder outside, but the pale light of lightning that ripped through the sky still intermittently cast Morgan's shadow on the cold walls, flickering uncertainly.

Dr. Carrie's report was still ringing in my ears.

The survivors' faction may be connected to the mysterious white-haired woman from back then...

He originally thought that even if there were survivors on the ground, they would only be a few scattered humans struggling to survive in the ruins, under the shadow of the Devouring Beasts.

But Carrie and Flynn's analysis points to a completely different possibility.

No. Impossible.

Even if the number of Devouring Beasts on this continent decreases for a period of time, it is still impossible for a large number of humans to survive on the ground.

However, if they do possess technology inherited from the old world, then cooperation could be considered.

If the number of people is small, it's acceptable to take them in at the lighthouse.

The lighthouse is far safer than the Devouring Beasts and other ecosystems than it is on the ground, so they probably wouldn't have any reason to refuse.

“Northwards…” Morgan recalled the direction of the tire tracks Elon had reported.

"These conclusions are just speculations right now. It seems we should send a hunter team to investigate first."

Early morning, after the rain had cleared.

An elderly enlightened practitioner was squatting at the base of a half-collapsed wall, his brow furrowed.

"Are you sure this is the place?" He dug at the wet soil with his hands, his tone filled with doubt.

“That’s right, this is the place,” Jiu Ge, who was squatting next to him, affirmed.

"After Sister Hongkou and her team retrieved the data yesterday, they re-installed the backup beacon here. The location won't change; it should still be right here."

The two searched carefully for a while longer, even expanding the search area, but found nothing except for traces washed away by the rain.

The place where the beacon should have been buried is now just a shallow pit.

“How strange…” The older Awakener stood up and patted the mud off his hands.

"Who went on the field mission yesterday? Was it really Hongkou and her team?"

“That’s right, it’s clearly written in the handover record.” Jiu Ge also stood up.

"It's a task that anyone can do, like burying a beacon. There's no way that Sister Hongkou and the others could make a mistake."

"What about the beacon? It couldn't have grown legs and run away, could it?" the elder enlightened practitioner said half-jokingly. "Or was it washed away by yesterday's heavy rain? But that's impossible given the depth it was buried at."

Jiu Ge shrugged indifferently and turned to walk towards the car parked not far away: "Whatever, maybe it was carried away by some mutated rat. If it's lost, it's lost. There are plenty in the warehouse anyway."

She opened the back door of the carriage, took out two brand-new beacons from a box inside, and casually tossed one to the older awakened traveler.

"Okay, hurry up and bury the new one, then we'll call it a day and head home."

He hurriedly caught the beacon, and looking at Jiu Ge's nonchalant attitude, he couldn't help but frown.

"I'm your senior, show me some respect! Why are you in such a hurry? Are you hungry? There seem to be some snacks in the car."

Jiuge had already buried the new beacon in the pit in no time and was patting the soil down with his hands. He didn't even look up when he heard this.

"I'm not hungry, I'm busy going back to play games."

"A game?" The Awakener paused for a moment, then asked in confusion as he buried the beacon.

"What game? King of Fighters? Hey, I'm not bragging, but I'm unbeatable in the whole village! Want to go back to the arcade and have a match?"

After burying the beacon, Jiu Ge stood up and looked Juexing Zhe up and down with the same eye one would give an antique.

A mocking smile tugged at the corner of her lips: "We're not playing the same game...."

As he spoke, Jiu Ge had already opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

The Awakened One got into the car and started the engine: "What game is it?"

"First-person shooter game."

"Oh~~"

About an hour or two after Jiu Ge and the others left.

The roar of engines could be heard from the edge of the ruins, which had just returned to silence.

An armored reconnaissance vehicle rolled across the ground and stopped in almost the same spot where Jiu Ge and his group had been standing before.

The car door opened, and several fully armed and wary hunters filed out.

"Instructor, there's something going on here!" Xuefeng suddenly raised his hand to signal, and Elon immediately strode over.

At the base of the half-collapsed wall, it looked as if it had just been disturbed.

What made Elon's pupils shrink even more was that right next to that patch of fresh soil, there were several clear tire tracks.

“They just left not long ago…” Elon’s heart skipped a beat. He squatted down and carefully examined the newly turned soil.

He gently parted the soft topsoil with his hands, and his fingertips soon touched a hard object.

A brand new one, exactly the same as the beacon they brought back to the lighthouse.

(End of this chapter)