Recaps

Sing Sing discovered Edith Constance Sawyer, a blue-skinned Mutant who could teleport, hiding in a barrel aboard the freighter. After Edith explained her ability, she fell asleep from exhaustion in Sing Sing’s arms, leaving him trying to defend himself from Lorna’s accusation.

• Black Shark and his underlings left after Sing Sing threatened them, and Sing Sing explained why he was keeping Black Shark alive to steer the freighter.
• Sing Sing heard a noise in a barrel, opened it, and found a frightened blue-skinned woman hiding inside.
• Edith Constance Sawyer told Sing Sing, Lorna, and Amy that she had teleported aboard while fleeing the police and could transport people and things to places she had visited or could imagine.
• Edith grew exhausted after teleporting twice and fell asleep against Sing Sing, who protested when Lorna called him a pervert.

Sing Sing learned that Black Shark planned to kill the men and traffic the women, so he devised a plan to sabotage the ship while Edith ate enough to teleport them to China. The group prepared to escape, with Sing Sing focused on making Black Shark pay for breaking their contract.

• Sing Sing overheard Black Shark ordering his men to kill him and Riptide, throw Anton overboard, and sell Lorna and Amy to traffickers.
• Sing Sing stole food from the ship’s kitchen and brought it to the cargo hold, where Edith woke and explained her past and teleportation power.
• Edith agreed she could teleport all six of them to a construction site in China after she finished eating and had something sweet.
• Edith called Sing Sing a good person because he had protected Lorna and Amy, prompting Sing Sing to protest the label.
• Sing Sing told the group about Black Shark’s plans and stopped Lorna and Riptide from attacking before Edith was ready to teleport.
• Sing Sing instructed Lorna to sabotage the ship’s engine so Black Shark’s crew would be stranded at sea.

Sing Sing raided Black Shark’s cabin and crew lounge for money and valuables, while Lorna sabotaged the ship’s engine without sinking it. Edith teleported the group to China, leaving Black Shark to discover the damage, losses, and Sing Sing’s mocking note.

• Sing Sing broke into Black Shark’s cabin and took cash, gold, ammunition, and a gold lighter.
• Sing Sing knocked out four men gambling in the crew lounge and took their money and the blond man’s Rolex.
• Lorna welded the ship’s drive shaft and propeller together, disabling the vessel without sinking it.
• Edith teleported Sing Sing and the others to China while holding him, and the group vanished in a flash of purple light.
• Black Shark found his ship disabled, his valuables missing, and a sarcastic thank-you note on the cargo hold wall.

Edith’s drunken teleportation sent Sing Sing and the others crashing into an abandoned oil-field mud pit in the Taklamakan Desert, thousands of kilometers from their intended destination. As they tried to regroup, armed oil-field guards surrounded them and accused them of stealing oil.

• Edith’s drunken driving knocked out the teleportation system, dropping everyone into a mud pit and ruining Sing Sing’s knockoff Armani.
• Lorna attacked Sing Sing after he made a crude remark, while Sing Sing pulled the unconscious Anton out of the mud and tossed him to Riptide.
• Sing Sing realized they had landed at an abandoned drilling site in the Taklamakan Desert, far from their intended destination.
• Two camouflage pickups arrived with barking dogs and armed men, whose loudspeaker ordered the group to surrender as suspected oil thieves.

Sing Sing and the Mutants clashed with Zhao Hongqi and the oil workers before a high-pressure gas blowout sent poisonous hydrogen sulfide across the drilling site. Sing Sing called on Riptide and Lorna to contain the disaster, and Lorna prepared to use her powers on the failing drilling tower.

• Sing Sing claimed the team were 749 Bureau officials and argued with Zhao Hongqi after mud splashed onto his face.
• Zhao Hongqi ordered the workers to seize Sing Sing and the Mutants, but Sing Sing accused him of violating workplace safety rules.
• The drilling tower suffered a blowout, spraying drilling mud and hydrogen sulfide as workers and dogs collapsed.
• Sing Sing urged the Mutants to save the site, and Riptide agreed to clear the poisonous gas while Lorna said she could reshape the steel tower.

Sing Sing, Riptide, and Lorna stopped a dangerous blowout at a drilling site in the Taklamakan Desert, and Amy helped the workers recover. Sing Sing then called Director Wang to report the emergency landing and claim compensation for their work.

• Riptide drew the hydrogen sulfide gas into the air with a tornado while Lorna straightened and repaired the drilling tower and crushed the jammed blowout valve.
• Amy gave the workers conjured mung bean and mint ice creams, which eased their symptoms and won their gratitude.
• Zhao Hongqi apologized to Sing Sing for mistaking the team for spies and agreed to arrange a commendation banner and reimbursement.
• Edith woke up muddy and disoriented, while Sing Sing called Director Wang and explained that the team had landed in the Taklamakan Desert.
• After Sing Sing reported that they had stopped a major blowout, Director Wang praised him, and Sing Sing asked to discuss his compensation.

Sing Sing secured arrangements for the returning Mutants and introduced them as valuable talents to the workers at the deep-well project site. After military helicopters arrived, Ma Weiguo took Sing Sing and the Mutants aboard, while Zhao Hongqi promised to claim the workers’ expenses and order a commendation banner.

• Sing Sing pleaded with Director Wang to arrange positions, benefits, housing, and reimbursement for the Mutants, and Director Wang sent the Northwest Military Region to collect them.
• Sing Sing reassured Lorna and Amy that they were safe as long as they obeyed the law, then treated the workers to ice cream and described the Mutants as talents rescued from hardship abroad.
• Military-green Z-8 helicopters arrived, and Major Ma Weiguo met Sing Sing and the Mutants at the project site.
• Sing Sing introduced the Mutants to Ma Weiguo, and Amy gave him an ice cream that she produced with her cold-generating power.
• The Mutants boarded the helicopters, and Zhao Hongqi saluted Sing Sing and promised to seek reimbursement and order a commendation banner.

After arriving at the Northwest Military Region, Sing Sing and his companions washed up and ate, but Lorna nearly attacked Major Ma when she heard that the group would be isolated and tested. Sing Sing calmed her by disguising the procedures as employee benefits, leaving Ma impressed and Sing Sing asking for better meals and reimbursement for his ruined suit.

• Sing Sing and his companions discarded their mud-covered clothes, changed into training uniforms, and washed at the military region bathhouse.
• Edith eagerly ate meat buns and millet porridge in the mess hall, praising the food as China's McDonald's.
• Ma Weiguo told Ling Ling Qi that the foreign nationals needed isolated reviews and blood tests before being transferred.
• Lorna began distorting nearby metal objects as memories of American experiments made her believe she was being sent to another laboratory.
• Sing Sing held Lorna back and reframed the isolation and blood tests as paid leave and a pre-employment physical, persuading her to follow procedure.
• After Ma praised Sing Sing's handling of the situation, Sing Sing asked him to arrange red-braised pork and reimburse his ruined Armani suit.

Lao Li found that Lorna and the other returning Mutants had suffered severe physical and psychological harm, while Anton’s dangerous genetic condition made examination risky. Sing Sing brought the group to Beijing and introduced them to the 749 Bureau, where Director Wang welcomed them.

• Lao Li reported Lorna’s malnutrition, anemia, injuries, and trauma, and Sing Sing arranged recuperation, supplements, and psychological care.
• Lao Li warned Sing Sing that examining Anton could trigger a dangerous genetic reaction.
• Ma Weiguo arranged a flight to Beijing, and the group boarded after a logistics soldier gave Lorna food.
• On the plane, Sing Sing worked out the trip’s accounts while Riptide thanked him for treating the group well.
• Sing Sing brought the group to the 749 Bureau’s underground base in Beijing, where Director Wang welcomed them and assured them there would be no human experimentation.

Sing Sing and Director Wang argued over Sing Sing’s reimbursement claims and the money he took from a smuggling ship before turning to Anton’s worsening condition. Da Vinci arrived with his Cellular Coexistence Persuasion Device, and Director Wang reluctantly authorized him to treat Anton.

• Director Wang confronted Sing Sing about his reimbursement form and demanded to know where the money from the ship had gone.
• Sing Sing revealed that he had found gold chains among the money, then shifted the conversation to Anton’s poor condition.
• Da Vinci arrived carrying a toilet plunger fitted with a flashlight, an antenna, and a bell, and introduced it as the Cellular Coexistence Persuasion Device.
• Da Vinci claimed the device’s green Peace Light and radio white noise could persuade cells to coexist, while its suction cup could also provide cupping therapy.
• Sing Sing urged Director Wang to give Da Vinci’s invention a chance, and Director Wang ordered them to treat Anton and held them responsible if he died.

Sing Sing pitched government jobs for the captured Mutants, convincing Director Wang that Riptide and Polaris could serve as valuable emergency and aerospace specialists. The chapter ended with Director Wang rejecting Sing Sing’s request for travel compensation and an Armani suit reimbursement.

• Sing Sing proposed making Riptide a special-duty firefighter who could fight fires, disperse dangerous gases, and rescue people during disasters.
• Director Wang approved Riptide’s appointment as captain of a special-duty firefighting brigade and promised him a private dorm room and a generous meal allowance.
• Sing Sing proposed that Polaris become a rocket recovery and precision landing expert at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, where she could find acceptance and purpose.
• Director Wang listened as Sing Sing described Polaris’s traumatic past and plans for her future at Jiuquan.
• Sing Sing asked Director Wang to approve his compensation and Armani suit reimbursement, and Director Wang angrily ordered him out.

Sing Sing negotiated Amy’s and Edith’s assignments with Director Wang, proposing roles that accommodated their abilities and needs. Director Wang praised Sing Sing’s work, then attacked him when he requested reimbursement for his damaged Armani and emotional trauma.

• Sing Sing persuaded Director Wang to assign Amy to a cold-drink stall at Jiuquan Space City, with emergency disaster support as a secondary duty.
• Sing Sing explained that Edith’s teleportation ability activated automatically when she faced mortal danger and proposed using her as an emergency photographer and site surveyor.
• Director Wang agreed to keep Edith at headquarters, restrict her access to alcohol, and provide her with a dedicated meal allowance.
• Director Wang praised Sing Sing for bringing the recruits back and earning their trust, then asked what reward he wanted.
• Sing Sing submitted a reimbursement request for his Armani and emotional trauma, and Director Wang clamped his legs around Sing Sing’s neck.

Sing Sing brought Mortimer from the Tiankeng Village project office back to the courtyard to meet his new coworkers and share a meal. As the group celebrated their jobs and newfound security, the displaced Mutants settled into the feeling that they had found a home.

• Sing Sing gave the newly arrived special talents a courtyard house and arranged Chinese lessons as they adjusted to their new workplace.
• Sing Sing visited Mortimer at the Tiankeng Village project office and learned that he had shortened the construction schedule by two months and earned a model worker award.
• Mortimer returned to the courtyard with Sing Sing and reunited with Riptide, whom he had known when they were fugitives.
• Over hot pot, Mortimer showed the others his social security card and described how his coworkers welcomed him as Master Mo.
• Sing Sing vowed to look after the group, and Polaris, Riptide, Soft Serve, and Toad raised their glasses to their hopes for the future.

Sing Sing and his companions learned that Anton had recovered after Da Vinci treated him with an improvised toilet plunger device, leaving him with enhanced electromagnetic abilities. Anton reunited with Riptide and was assigned work at the 749 Bureau, while Sing Sing asked Director Wang about their benefits.

• Sing Sing received Director Wang's call announcing that Anton had improved and hurried to the underground medical room with the others.
• Da Vinci claimed his Cellular Coexistence Persuasion Device had cured Anton, and Dr. Fan confirmed that Anton's rejection response had disappeared and his magnetic signals had stabilized.
• Anton woke, found that he could move without pain, and produced silver sparks that briefly activated a nearby medical instrument.
• Sing Sing assigned Anton to organize the 749 Bureau's archives and serve as temporary communications support.
• Riptide embraced Anton and thanked Sing Sing and Director Wang, and Sing Sing asked Director Wang to hand out the benefits.

Sing Sing requested cell phones and accessories for the returning special recruits, and Director Wang approved the equipment. Anton insisted on starting work as an archivist, so Director Wang arranged for him to settle in near the medical room and visit the underground archives.

• Sing Sing reassured Director Wang that he was not claiming expenses and requested phones so the recruits could stay in contact.
• Sing Sing listed uses for phones, including translation, recipe, and drinking-reminder apps, and Director Wang ordered rugged phones with encrypted SIM cards and protective accessories.
• Anton tried to leave his hospital bed and asked to see his archivist workstation, despite Doctor Fan's recommendation that he remain under observation.
• Director Wang arranged a room near the medical room and assigned Xiao Liu to show Anton around before taking him to the archives.
• Riptide accompanied Anton, who thanked Sing Sing at the doorway, and Sing Sing asked him to buy two cartons of cigarettes after he got paid.

Director Chen came to recruit Polaris for the Qiongzhou Strait sea-crossing project, but Director Wang objected to treating her as a resource before she had recovered. Director Chen apologized and offered support and a choice, leaving Polaris’s decision unresolved.

• Director Wang learned that Director Chen had traveled overnight to seek Polaris for the research institute, and he and Sing Sing insisted that her consent came first.
• Director Chen presented plans for the Qiongzhou Strait sea crossing and explained how Polaris’s magnetic abilities could help position immersed tubes and survey the seabed.
• Director Wang confronted Director Chen for pressuring Polaris despite her poor health and traumatic captivity, demanding that he consider her willingness and recovery.
• Director Chen apologized to Polaris and offered her expert status, a formal contract, medical and psychological support, time to recuperate, and the freedom to refuse.
• Sing Sing raised his hand to speak, as the meeting awaited Polaris’s response.

Sing Sing negotiated a cautious, compensated trial for Polaris to help with the Qiongzhou Strait immersed-tube project, with safeguards for her health and autonomy. Polaris agreed to try, provided Sing Sing stayed with her, and Director Chen brought out a temporary consultant agreement.

• Sing Sing proposed that Polaris begin with recuperation and model training, then provide remote design consultation before any brief on-site support.
• Sing Sing insisted that Polaris volunteer, retain the right to pause, pass medical and psychological evaluations, and receive proper pay and protections; Director Wang required the 749 Bureau to manage any secondment.
• Director Chen accepted the safeguards and agreed to begin with model verification before considering a short visit to the Coastal Base.
• Polaris asked about her salary, heard the compensation and benefits, and agreed to give the work a try.
• Polaris asked Sing Sing to stay with her, and Director Chen presented a temporary consultant agreement.

Sing Sing assigned the returning recruits to new jobs, and Polaris traveled to Jiuquan Space City to join its heavy rocket recovery project. After chief engineer Gao Legao rejected her appointment, Sing Sing brought her to the testing hall, where she prepared to fix a costly attitude control valve.

• Sing Sing announced Riptide's firefighting post, Anton's archives job, Polaris's aerospace expert appointment, and Soft Serve's logistics role, then reminded everyone of workplace rules.
• Polaris arrived at Jiuquan Space City and met chief engineer Gao Legao, who doubted her qualifications and ordered her taken to the guesthouse.
• Sing Sing persuaded Gao to bring the group to the testing hall, where engineers described a valve delay that could send a landing rocket fifty meters off course.
• Polaris offered to help and approached the eight-million-yuan valve as an expert warned her not to touch it.

Polaris used her magnetic power to repair a precision aerospace valve, astounding the engineers and earning their eager respect. Sing Sing negotiated protections and generous benefits for her, and Polaris warmed to her new workplace.

• Polaris rearranged the valve’s microscopic metal lattice, and the high-pressure test showed perfect results with zero response delay.
• Chief Engineer Gao nearly knelt to Polaris and asked her to teach at the materials institute, while the other experts crowded around with questions.
• Polaris insisted that she was only an employee, and Sing Sing warned the engineers that she was recovering and could work no more than four hours a day.
• Sing Sing negotiated recovery meals, allowances, and a major breakthrough bonus for Polaris, and Chief Engineer Gao approved the benefits.
• Polaris laughed and joked that she would twist any rocket belonging to someone who made her work unpaid overtime into a pretzel.

Amy began operating an ice cream cart at Space City's family housing compound, where Sing Sing presented her ability as logistical support for researchers and residents. After a weary researcher tried her refreshing mint ice cream, a crowd formed, and Amy found herself busy serving people who appreciated her work.

• Chief Designer Gao arranged a trial ice cream cart for Amy, and Sing Sing insisted that logistics provide an invoice and proper records.
• Sing Sing wrote a menu and explained that Amy's ice cream had been assessed as safe, while Polaris questioned the refreshing mint flavor.
• When few people approached the cart, Sing Sing advertised free samples for overworked researchers, and a researcher who had been awake for three days came to try one.
• The mint ice cream cleared the researcher's exhaustion, so he ordered twelve servings for his team, and Sing Sing recorded the distribution.
• Word spread through Space City, and researchers, experts, and families queued for different flavors as Xiao Wang requested more cups and spoons.
• Amy served the growing line and felt moved by the customers' gratitude and by the feeling that people needed her.

Sing Sing returned from Space City with Riptide and brought him to a Beijing fire and rescue detachment, where Captain Zhang doubted he could handle the job. Sing Sing proposed a smoke-clearing bet to prove Riptide’s abilities, and Captain Zhang agreed to test him.

• Sing Sing ended Polaris’s workday, gave her advice about overtime, and said goodbye to her and Soft Serve before returning to Beijing.
• Sing Sing found Riptide Jie reading a dictionary at the 749 Bureau and took him to report to a special-operations fire and rescue detachment.
• Captain Zhang objected to Riptide’s transfer, doubting his strength and refusing to accept him without a physical fitness test.
• Sing Sing explained that Riptide had special abilities and proposed a contest comparing him with the detachment’s exhaust fans.
• Captain Zhang agreed to Sing Sing’s bet to start a fire in a training building and see who cleared the smoke faster.

Riptide demonstrated his wind-controlling abilities during a mock chemical fire drill, clearing the smoke and extinguishing the flames in under a minute. Captain Zhang and the firefighters were left stunned by his performance.

• Captain Zhang arranged the base’s toughest mock chemical fire drill and wagered that Riptide would fail.
• Sing Sing told Riptide that a successful demonstration could earn him a private room with a bathroom.
• The smoke and flames overwhelmed the industrial exhaust fans, and Riptide entered the training ground without protective gear.
• Riptide created a tornado that sucked the smoke and simulated toxic gas out of the training area in less than thirty seconds.
• Riptide formed a second, horizontal tornado that extinguished more than a dozen fires, completing the drill in under a minute.
• Lao Chen told the stunned firefighters that their previous fastest time with the exhaust fans had been twenty-two minutes.

Captain Zhang welcomed Janos Quested, also called A-Ji, into the fire brigade as his deputy captain after seeing his abilities save lives in a simulated chemical fire. Sing Sing secured special accommodations and conditions for him, and the chapter left Janos warmly surrounded by his new colleagues.

• Captain Zhang appointed Janos Quested deputy captain and promised him private quarters, five meals a day, and the highest allowances.
• Janos saluted Captain Zhang, who returned the salute and welcomed him to the brigade.
• Sing Sing asked Captain Zhang to adjust Janos’s training, provide a patient language partner, and approve holiday leave for Janos to reunite with his younger brother; Captain Zhang agreed.
• Sing Sing left after teasing Captain Zhang and refusing to clean up his sunflower seed shells.
• The firefighters welcomed Janos with questions, food, and invitations, while Captain Zhang ordered a celebratory dinner and forbade anyone from giving him alcohol.

Sing Sing brought Toad back from remedial language lessons to his construction job, then ran into Ah Mei and pleaded with her to reconcile. She rejected him and left without paying her café bill, leaving Sing Sing heartbroken and stuck with the charge.

• Sing Sing rescued Toad from Auntie Li’s pronunciation lessons and paid her for her trouble.
• Sing Sing told Toad that his coworkers had requested his return to the Tiankeng Village tunnel construction site to cut the ribbon.
• At Good Luck Comes, Sing Sing mistook a woman seated with her back to him for Ah Mei and begged her to explain why she had left him.
• Ah Mei said they were incompatible because they were on different radio channels, then stormed out of the café.
• The waiter demanded that Sing Sing pay Ah Mei’s sixty-eight-yuan bill, and Sing Sing questioned the charge while Toad watched.

Sing Sing brought Mortimer back to Tiankeng Village, where the workers welcomed him as Master Mo and celebrated his return. After leaving Mortimer at the construction site, Sing Sing reviewed his list of mutants still needing placements and turned his attention to Wandering Girl.

• Comrade Ling Ling Qi gave Toad bags of fried silkworm pupae and spicy grasshoppers, which Toad eagerly ate.
• On the train, Mortimer sang “Unity Is Strength” for Sing Sing, who promised to test him on the second verse next time.
• Sing Sing and Mortimer arrived at Tiankeng Village to a firecracker welcome from Lao Liu and the construction workers, including Lao Li, who told Mortimer his newborn son was nicknamed Mo Mo.
• The workers held a celebratory meal for Mortimer, while Sing Sing checked with Lao Liu that Mortimer’s benefits and workplace recognition were in order.
• The next morning, Sing Sing rated Mortimer excellent on his evaluation form as Mortimer worked across the cliff face, then left for the county town.
• Sing Sing crossed Toad off his placement list and decided he needed to find Wandering Girl a job where she could not drink.