Chapter Summaries

Kang De searched Zhuerban City for survivors and evidence about the locust swarm, finding the city stripped of humans, animals, and food. After the locusts carried away a pork carcass without reducing its volume, he discovered a hidden opening beneath the ground and suspected the swarm’s secrets lay below.

• Kang De entered Zhuerban City in protective gear and asked Qin Mengjin what experts knew about the unknown locusts.
• Qin Mengjin explained that ordinary locusts could turn aggressive and eat meat when crowded and hungry, and asked Kang De to provide evidence.
• Kang De surveyed the city and the Chinese embassy, finding no people or animals and seeing that the locusts had consumed food, buildings, vehicles, and technology.
• Kang De dropped a pork carcass among the locusts and watched them divide it into pieces and carry it into a building.
• Kang De followed the locusts, found no sign of the pork inside, and noticed a dark opening in the ground beneath his feet.

Kang De captured live locusts and arranged to hand samples over to China and France while escaping by sea. He threatened France against betraying him, and Qin Mengjin reassured the task force that Kang De was not the only one with power.

• Kang De found that the underground palace was too deep to reach without alerting Big Bob and withdrew to collect locust specimens instead.
• Kang De trapped locusts in plastic bags, filmed them as the swarm pursued him, and called Qin Mengjin for help transporting the samples.
• Qin Mengjin arranged for Kang De to rendezvous with a French frigate and travel toward Cape Verde, while Kang De agreed to give one bag of locusts to France and keep the other for China.
• Kang De warned Qin Mengjin to tell France that any hostile move would bring devastating retaliation, and he refused to ride aboard the French ship.
• Qin Mengjin explained to the task force that Kang De was showing both goodwill and independence, then said that he was not the only one.

A French frigate crew flew to a rendezvous near Gambia to receive a Chinese VIP and cargo, only to discover that the VIP was Kang De, who arrived riding a magical eagle. After handing over cases full of dangerous locusts, Kang De returned to the White Mist World, where the bugs faced an array of weapons at the western airport.

• The Knight Astolfo received orders to pick up a VIP and important cargo near Gambia, and Major briefed the helicopter crew on secrecy and non-hostility.
• Sergeant Luo argued with his fellow sailors about whether Kang De was real and resented being selected for the mission because he spoke Chinese.
• The helicopter reached the designated coordinates and spotted Kang De flying toward it on Himo's Eagle, prompting Major to open the cabin door.
• Kang De stepped into the helicopter, placed two bags of thrashing locusts into metal cases, and warned the crew to deliver them quickly and carefully.
• Kang De leaped from the helicopter onto Himo's Eagle, and Sergeant Luo did not object when a sailor asked what else the Chinese could do.
• After notifying China that the delivery had arrived, Kang De returned to the White Mist World, where combat vehicles and munitions surrounded a bag of locusts at the western airport.

Kang De discovered that the Zhuerban locusts survived in the White Mist World and sent a sample to Chinese authorities for study. After spending the night with Xiaoman, he learned that people near Zhuerban had disappeared even though the swarm had not moved, suggesting the locusts had emerged from underground.

• Kang De and Horus examined the locusts and found they survived the crossing, contained strange metallic fluids, and ignored food and building materials in the White Mist World.
• Kang De divided the locusts, sent one sample to China through Qin Mengjin, and kept the rest secured as a precaution.
• Kang De returned home, handed the sample to two agents, and stopped them from drawing their guns when Xiaoman appeared.
• Kang De and Xiaoman stayed up playing games and watching television before she fell asleep beside him.
• Qin Mengjin told Kang De that many people near Zhuerban had disappeared overnight, while satellite images showed the locust swarm had not migrated.
• Kang De and Qin Mengjin concluded that the locusts might have come up from underground.

Kang De learned that political disputes were delaying action against the locusts, while Qin Mengjin asked him to investigate what lay beneath Zhuerban in exchange for support and equipment. He traveled to a deserted town to trace the insects underground and considered using Iron Son to dig.

• Kang De spoke with Qin Mengjin about the towns emptied by the locusts and the slow response from world powers.
• Qin Mengjin offered to protect Kang De's family and help rescue his father, but asked him to investigate what lay beneath Zhuerban and provide more information.
• Kang De confirmed that his requested weapons and equipment were ready and arranged for the aerospace group to manufacture his custom parts quickly.
• Kang De traveled to a deserted town near Zhuerban, found signs of underground insect tunnels, and considered turning Iron Son into a drill.

Kang De and Horus dug beneath the abandoned town and found its missing residents alive underground, surrounded by a swarm of locusts. They returned to set an explosive trap that destroyed the attacking locusts, then learned that the French had mobilized.

• Kang De used Iron Son to test the locusts’ detection range, then had Horus build a boring machine and dig toward Zhuerban.
• Kang De and Horus heard an approaching underground rumble and drilled toward it, discovering a group of living humans below the earth.
• Kang De and Horus escaped to the White Mist World as silver locusts surged toward them, then planned an ambush using the Eight Stone Sentinel Formation.
• Kang De and Horus planted eight enchanted explosive steel pipes around the town and used Horus’s Tacitus aura to draw the locust swarm to them.
• Kang De detonated the formation, destroying the silver locust pythons and devastating the town.
• Qin Mengjin called Kang De and told him that the French had mobilized.

Kang De watched the French pesticide operation fail when the locusts destroyed their aerial tanker, then warned that the displaced swarm threatened neighboring countries. After confronting the despairing Chakat II and preparing to strike Big Bob’s nest, Kang De learned that Big Bob had demanded revenge negotiations with the five permanent members of the Security Council.

• Kang De saw the French spray pesticide over Zhuerban from a converted Boeing 747, but the locusts swarmed into its engines and caused it to crash and explode.
• Kang De watched the locusts retreat underground after the pesticide spread, then warned Qin Mengjin that the swarm would seek food elsewhere and asked her to gather weapons, supplies, and the French pesticide formula.
• Kang De returned to Moyani and told Chakat I that the disaster had worsened, while Chakat II argued that the great powers had proved pesticide could control the locusts and had little reason to care about African lives.
• Kang De urged Chakat II to arrange the evacuation of his people and vowed to attack Big Bob’s nest, using a location he had marked near signs of kidnapped people.
• Qin Mengjin told Kang De that Big Bob had contacted the French government and sought negotiations with the five permanent members of the Security Council, demanding revenge.

Kang De learned that Big Bob had offered the Western powers his secrets in exchange for Kang De’s life and threatened his family, so he rejected negotiations and prepared to act on his own. He stormed the French embassy and confronted the ambassador, ordering Kirov to translate.

• Qin Mengjin told Kang De that Big Bob had demanded his surrender, threatened Zhuerban with the locust swarm, and offered secrets about longevity in exchange for the deal.
• Qin Mengjin explained that France and the United States were tempted by Big Bob’s offer and had begun secret efforts to secure it, while China refused to hand Kang De over.
• After learning Big Bob had threatened his family with a bounty, Kang De asked Qin Mengjin to protect his mother and said he would kill Big Bob and protect Comora.
• Kang De secured his father in an underground shelter, gave Chakat II a signal generator, and left the embassy despite the ambassador’s attempts to stop him.
• Kang De broke into the French embassy, overpowered its guards and soldiers with his powers, and confronted the French ambassador.
• Kang De held a lightsaber to the ambassador’s neck, called Kirov, and ordered him to translate.

Kang De intimidated France to buy time to pursue Big Bob, then returned to Goth and asked its people to help him deal with the locusts. The chapter ended with Goth’s mages and priests gathering their power to restrain the insects.

• Kang De forced the French ambassador to arrange a call with France’s presidential office and demanded that France hand Big Bob over.
• Kang De threatened France with retaliation if Big Bob harmed the people of Comora, then demonstrated his power by making the embassy disintegrate around him.
• France’s president placed the country on maximum alert and angrily warned Big Bob to stop creating further problems.
• Kang De returned to the White Mist World and explained to Horus that he had bought at least ten to twelve hours to hunt Big Bob.
• Kang De crossed back to Goth and asked Tina to lend him Goth’s strength, and she agreed.
• Kang De addressed Goth’s gathered leaders and spellcasters, who used their combined powers to seize the locusts.

Kang De organized Goth’s scholars to devise defenses against the locust swarm and asked Agrell to create a food-disguised alchemical spy to investigate its nest. A professor then revealed that an ancient text described a similar menace, the Grewind Swarm, and suggested that dragons and elves might hold records of it.

• Stella assigned Goth’s arcane forces, priests, druids and scholars to develop defenses, countermeasures and ways to find the will controlling the swarm.
• Kang De told Stella he needed to spy on the nest without alerting the locusts, and she directed him to Agrell for forbidden alchemical knowledge.
• Kang De asked Agrell to make a piece of pork that would share its vision after the locusts carried it into their nest.
• Tina explained that she and Stella would tell Goth’s leaders the locusts came from Cathay’s fallen territory, while A Xing affirmed her support for Kang De.
• Stella brought Kang De a professor who said an ancient text described the Grewind Swarm, and the professor suggested that the Tower of All-Seeing, the empire’s royal library, dragons and elves might preserve further records.

Kang De sought the Phoenix King Dairila’s knowledge of the Grewind Swarm, and she found a book describing the insect plague and how to eradicate it. Dairila left after giving him the book and more treats, while Horus suspected she was acting shy because someone had been encouraging her to favor Kang De.

• Kang De decided to ask the elves about the Grewind Swarm and met Dairila outside Danfeng Lucerne after Horus teased him about their relationship.
• Dairila examined the pinned locust and said she had never heard of it, but offered to ask the scholars in her camp for information.
• Dairila returned with a book about the insect plague and gave it to Kang De, while declining to provide spells or supplies for destroying the swarm.
• Kang De gave Dairila another stack of treats, and she left after telling him to take care of himself and grow stronger.
• Horus scanned the book and noted that its ink was fresh, then called Dairila a tsundere.

Kang De and Tina translated Dairila’s book of methods for defeating the Grewind Swarm, while the Phoenix King Malegith revealed her secret plans and her connection to Kang De. The book’s only apparently feasible solution for stopping the swarm’s controller was Dragon Might.

• Kang De realized Dairila had written the freshly prepared book, then brought it to Tina, who began translating its ancient Elvish text.
• Tina translated the book while sitting with Kang De, and they found detailed countermeasures against the Grewind Swarm, including several ways to attack its controlling entity.
• Dairila returned to her tent and found her ancestor Malegith waiting there, eating her snacks and teasing her about Kang De and the Divine Ring of Stellar Authority.
• Malegith told Dairila that the ring was a bridge transmitting power to break through barriers, and privately resolved to act before others could discover her plans.
• Tina explained that most of the book’s proposed methods relied on lost elven techniques or devices, but its final option was Dragon Might.

Kang De and Tina found that an elven book proposed using Dragon Might to destroy Big Bob’s hive consciousness, a method that might work through Kang De’s Fire Thief ability. Kang De sought Lily’s help and confirmed that dragons possessed Dragon Might, then challenged her by asking whether she was brave enough to let him use it.

• Tina read that dragons had once used Dragon Might and Dragon Language Magic to destroy a swarm’s hive consciousness, and she and Kang De suspected the book’s account was deliberately aimed at him.
• Kang De decided to try the book’s method, reasoning that he could verify it with a dragon while the Goth mages prepared to fight the locust plague.
• Tina joked with Kang De as they cuddled, then said she wished she could help him on Earth.
• Kang De met Lily and asked about dragon combat abilities, disguising his request as a way to prepare for their coming battle.
• Lily agreed to share information for payment and confirmed that she had Dragon Might, prompting Kang De to ask whether she was brave enough.

Kang De studied Lily’s Dragon Might and unexpectedly extracted it into a pale golden crystal. The result left Lily in tears as she recognized Kang De as a possible Fire Thief.

• Lily asked Kang De to recreate his earlier expression and tone, then wrote in her notebook as he repeated the line for her.
• After their transaction, Lily released controlled Dragon Might while Kang De used his mental power to sense and study it.
• Kang De offered to help Lily find a missing dragon, but she angrily rejected his offer and warned that the enemy behind the disappearance was beyond him.
• Lily’s turbulent Dragon Might surged toward Kang De, whose soul confronted her through the mark of Akatum.
• Kang De transformed Lily’s Dragon Might into a pale golden crystal, and Lily wept before asking whether he was a Fire Thief.

Kang De learned that Lily recognized him as the Fire Thief and needed his help uncovering what happened to the previous Fire Thief and his companions. Lily gave him the essence of a dragon through a covenant, then asked him to invent a story about her falling in love with him to explain their bond to the Dragon Emperor.

• Lily identified Kang De as the Fire Thief, explained how Dragon Language could help him fight the Grewind Swarm, and asked him to find answers about the previous Fire Thief's final battle.
• Kang De agreed to help Lily and keep their secrets, but concealed his suspicions about the creatures on the Holy Seal Archipelago.
• Lily asked Kang De to invent a story and joined their foreheads, using Dragon Language to grant him the ability to cast dragon spells.
• Lily and Kang De received Proof of the Covenant rings, and the covenant's power alerted Malegith and Dairila.
• Lily told Kang De that Dragon Island's Dragon Emperor knew about their covenant and asked him to claim that she had fallen desperately in love with him.
• A story spread through Danfeng Lucerne about Kang De winning the heart of a young female dragon in his fiancée's home.

After making a Dragon’s Covenant with Lily, Kang De prepared to learn Dragon Language Magic and reassured A Xing and Tina, who accepted the arrangement without jealousy. The chapter ended with the president of Fr*nce urging Chakat II to cooperate for Kang De’s sake.

• Santos warned Kang De that Lily’s status made the covenant a serious matter, and Kang De argued that it could benefit Dragon Island Defense.
• Kang De and Lily agreed to proceed with their bargain, and Lily told him to reassure Tina and the Crimson Queen before they began practicing Dragon Language Magic.
• A Xing told Kang De she had witnessed the covenant and promised to keep it secret, then asked Lily to pretend to be close to Kang De to provoke Tina; Lily refused.
• Tina explained that she understood the Dragon’s Covenant and believed Kang De had made a practical deal with Lily, then encouraged him to stay cautious and confident.
• Tina sent Kang De back to learn Dragon Language Magic, while Stella admitted she was overwhelmed by Tina’s calm response.
• In Moyani, the president of Fr*nce appealed to Chakat II to cooperate and invoked Kang De as a reason to prevent the crisis from worsening.

After Kang De threatened Frnce, its president tried to persuade Chakat II to hand over Kang De’s father as leverage, but the king refused and pledged Comora’s support for Kang De. The president turned toward a plan to kidnap Kang Jinzhu and deploy Frnce’s trained superpowered forces.

• Fr*nce mobilized its defenses and the president urged Chakat II to help stop Kang De by handing Kang Jinzhu over to them.
• Chakat II rejected the president’s offer, saying Comora would stand by Kang De because he trusted him and would keep his promise.
• The president threatened Comora with Fr*nce’s retaliation, but Chakat II declared that his people would fight alongside their friend, even if they had to die.
• After the negotiations failed, Fr*nce prepared to kidnap Kang Jinzhu and send its elite superpowered forces after Kang De.
• Chakat II told the president that he would take pride in Comora refusing to submit, and mocked him as a politician who served votes and interest groups.

After the French president threatened Kang De’s father, Chakat II left the Chinese embassy to face the approaching crisis with his people, while international teams raced toward Comora. A French strike team planned to seize Kang Jinzhu and kill Kang De, leaving the coming confrontation imminent.

• Ambassador He urged Chakat II to stay in the Chinese embassy, but the king chose to return to his people and warned that France might target Kang Jinzhu to pressure Kang De.
• Ambassador He said China had sent specialists to protect the embassy and Kang Jinzhu, while Chakat II left without using Kang De’s signaling device.
• A Chinese team flew toward Comora to protect the embassy and its citizens, though its members criticized Kang De’s recklessness.
• Extraordinary teams from several countries headed for Comora, while France’s six-person team planned to capture Kang Jinzhu and kill Kang De.
• The French team’s leader inspected their armor and axe and demanded that Kang De be left to him for the final blow.

As a locust swarm approached Moyani, Chakat II tried to keep Comora’s panicking people united while French special forces plotted to seize Kang Jinzhu and turn the crowd against the king. When Oulus captured Chakat II, Bulahan stood up for him and was killed, just as Kang De appeared to seize Oulus’s arm.

• Chakat II toured Moyani and urged the people to trust him and Kang De while rumors and fear spread.
• Oulus and his French team prepared to exploit the swarm’s arrival, attack the Chinese embassy, and capture Kang Jinzhu.
• As the locust swarm reached Comora, the crowd turned against Chakat II, and Oulus’s team overturned the king’s vehicle and captured him.
• Oulus denounced Chakat II before the crowd and urged them to kill him, while the king hesitated over his signal device.
• Bulahan called for Oulus to let the king go, and Oulus killed him with his battle-axe.
• Oulus noticed the signal device and began attacking Chakat II, but Kang De appeared in flames and seized Oulus’s arm.

Kang De rescued the king and fled to the Chinese embassy, where he turned to face the French team pursuing him. He left Oulus broken, killed the archer and another French fighter, and the chapter ended with the other extraordinary observers too afraid to intervene.

• Oulus attacked Kang De while trying to kill the king, but Kang De rescued the king and carried him toward the embassy as the French team and foreign observers pursued them.
• Kang De left the king with the ambassador and asked the Chinese comrades to protect him, then sent Horus underground to carry out a separate task.
• Kang De rejected the instructor's request to stay inside the embassy and teleported out to confront Oulus.
• Kang De blocked Oulus's axe, disarmed him, broke his limbs and jaw, and left him alive as the stunned onlookers watched.
• Kang De fashioned a bow from the battle-axe shaft and concrete, then shot the archer dead despite his explosive, poison, and incendiary arrows.
• Kang De pursued a French swordsman and cut through his weapon, hand, armor, and body, while the other extraordinary beings watched without helping.