Chapter Summaries

Sing Sing received only 250 yuan for his New York operation and checked in with Sand Rat, who was working safely on a construction project. He then learned that Mayfly had been transferred to a research laboratory in his name, and Wandering Girl brought him to a room filled with cultured body parts.

• Sing Sing argued with Anton over denied expenses and received a final reimbursement of 250 yuan.
• Sing Sing called Sand Rat, who showed him his work on separating rainwater and sewage lines and said he hoped to earn a permanent position.
• Sing Sing went to the hospital and learned Mayfly had been transferred two days earlier to the Adult Tissue Repair Joint Laboratory, with Sing Sing listed as the contact.
• Sing Sing called Blue Elf, who hesitated before saying she would come find him.
• Wandering Girl took Sing Sing to a laboratory filled with culture cabinets, body parts, and tissue samples.

Sing Sing visited Professor Jiang Si’s laboratory and learned that Mayfly, Luke Shaw, had chosen extensive bionic surgery to see the country again and continue helping where he could. As the neural interface was prepared for its first activation, Sing Sing struggled to find words to guide him back.

• Sing Sing and A You arrived at Professor Jiang Si’s laboratory, where Jiang Si scolded them for skipping disinfection procedures.
• Jiang Si showed Sing Sing Mayfly’s bionic modifications and explained that the surgery was still in its early stages, with a twenty-three percent chance of overall success.
• Jiang Si played Luke Shaw’s recording, in which he explained that he had chosen the modifications and was willing to donate his body for research if they failed.
• Jiang Si told Sing Sing that Mayfly had chosen his voice to guide him during the neural interface’s first activation, and Sing Sing struggled to know what to say.

Sing Sing used an emotional speech to reconnect with Mayfly, who agreed to stay alive and continue treatment. After leaving the laboratory, Sing Sing was surprised by Moon-Boy, who eagerly led him to see his workshop.

• Sing Sing told Mayfly that his organization still valued him and urged him to speak up about pain and fear rather than give up.
• Mayfly woke enough to answer Sing Sing, refused to write a self-criticism, and promised to stay alive.
• Professor Jiang Si ended the first electrical-stimulation session and sedated Mayfly again.
• Sing Sing left the laboratory, found himself lost in the guarded research area, and was startled when Moon-Boy dropped from the sky in front of him.
• Moon-Boy embraced Sing Sing, told him about his work and plentiful meals, and led him toward his workshop.

Moon-Boy showed Sing Sing a workshop full of dangerous, impractical inventions and gave him the Whimsical Gun. Sing Sing left with the gun after Xiao Liu arrived, while the search for Devil Dinosaur continued.

• Moon-Boy showed Sing Sing the Whimsical Gun, which alternated the direction of its shots, and Sing Sing warned him not to carve instructions on a tombstone.
• Sing Sing told Moon-Boy that Alpha Flight was comparing maps and satellite data to search for Devil Dinosaur in the Savage Land.
• Xiao Liu called Sing Sing, found him lost in Moon-Boy's workshop, and came to retrieve him.
• Moon-Boy demonstrated returning throwing knives, high-speed escape boots, and a 120-kilogram survival shield, which Sing Sing rejected or left behind.
• Xiao Liu met Sing Sing at the west gate, and Sing Sing reluctantly accepted Moon-Boy's Whimsical Gun as a gift.

Sing Sing learned how the Joint Center was established to develop x-gene screening technology and heard how Number One’s severed arm and Boneforge’s bone spurs had been turned into useful technologies. Xiao Liu’s account left Sing Sing pleased with his role in saving Mayfly and Luke, while Boneforge’s spurs were set to help tunnel and pipeline projects.

• Xiao Liu explained that Mayfly’s injury led to the Joint Center and its x-gene screening system, which processed data at a new facility near a pumped-storage power station.
• Sing Sing learned that Number One’s severed limb had yielded materials and methods used in Luke’s bionic forearm, the screening gate, and a remote manipulator arm.
• Xiao Liu told Sing Sing that Boneforge’s bone spurs inspired a durable composite drill bit after Moon-Boy suggested a design change.
• Sing Sing praised the bone spurs’ new work role and suggested renaming Da Vinci’s Reemployment Plan for Dead Mutant Biological Tissue.

Sing Sing planned jobs for four new recruits and arranged a chicken farm in the Ankang mountains for Geggebu. Bailey chose to join Geggebu there rather than work in the quiet archive room.

• Sing Sing reviewed the recruits’ assessments and called Uncle Biao for advice on safely setting up Geggebu’s chicken farm in the Ankang mountains.
• Sing Sing considered Bailey’s options and worried that he might become another strict archive-room clerk like Anton.
• At the occupational assessment meeting, Geggebu accepted the fifty-mu farm plan and agreed to complete disease-prevention and fire-safety training.
• Sing Sing offered Bailey a choice between the archive room and the chicken farm, assuring him he could choose freely and change jobs later.
• Bailey chose to work with Geggebu at the farm because the archive room might leave him dwelling on the past.
• Geggebu offered to teach Bailey to care for the chickens, and Sing Sing joked about the memorials he would need if Geggebu named all twenty thousand birds.

Sing Sing helped The Spot and Flower Bud consider work placements that suited their abilities, while assuring them they could refuse or change their choices. The Spot chose a trial placement learning under an engineer, and Flower Bud agreed to visit a northwest desertification-control project before deciding whether to stay.

• Sing Sing told The Spot and Flower Bud they could reject proposed jobs and take time to study Chinese and the law before choosing work.
• The Spot identified defects in a desk and cart, and Sing Sing recommended a supervised engineering placement where his ability could assist with safety inspections and equipment assessments.
• Sing Sing suggested plant-related work for Flower Bud and introduced her by video call to Martha Barton, a Mutant working on desertification control in the northwest.
• Martha invited Flower Bud to visit before deciding whether to stay, and Flower Bud agreed to go.
• Sing Sing arranged an adjustment period for Flower Bud and reminded her to study and pay taxes once she earned a salary.

Sing Sing brought Storm to drought-stricken Shaliang Village under the pretense of an inspection, hoping she would volunteer to make rain. After hearing the villagers’ water needs, Storm prepared to help, while Sing Sing pretended not to have asked.

• Sing Sing sent four newcomers to fifteen days of basic training and invited Storm to see another way China’s vast size made itself apparent.
• Sing Sing drove Storm to the dry Tarim Basin with detailed information about local agriculture and rainfall, while Storm saw through his plan to recruit her help.
• Sing Sing handed Storm permits and consultation documents, claiming they were travel insurance in case she chose to make rain voluntarily.
• Sing Sing and Storm met village secretary Aili Muhetar, who described nine months without meaningful rainfall and severe shortages affecting households, livestock, and crops.
• Aili said he wanted rain for the drinking water reservoir, then worried aloud about the orchards; Storm looked to Sing Sing, who acted as though he had noticed nothing.

Storm began a controlled weather intervention in a drought-stricken village, with Sing Sing and Old Zhou overseeing the operation. As rain fell and villagers witnessed Storm in the sky, they hailed her as a benefactor and a living bodhisattva.

• Storm reviewed the twelve-point-six-square-kilometer test area's water plan and asked about rainfall limits and people downstream.
• Sing Sing contacted the meteorological station and ordered it to record conditions during the weather intervention.
• Storm warned Aili to keep villagers away from the riverbed and reservoir, while Aili worried about announcing rain that might not come.
• Sing Sing assured Aili that the 749 Bureau would take responsibility, and Aili announced the coming rain to the village.
• Storm rose above the village as thunder sounded and rain began falling across the village and red date orchard.
• Villagers gathered to see Storm in the sky, praised her as a living bodhisattva, and an elderly villager called her the mother of water.

Storm brought rain to the drought-stricken village, where villagers thanked her with food and gifts. After seeing how much the rain meant to them, she told Sing Sing she was willing to stay and work.

• Secretary Ali thanked Sing Sing as rain poured over the village and described how drought had damaged crops and forced families to conserve water.
• Villagers and children celebrated the rain, and Sing Sing and Secretary Ali organized a cordon to keep people away from the riverbed and reservoir.
• Storm descended and accepted dried apricots, red dates, and other gifts from grateful villagers.
• Storm shared her naan with a young girl and reassured her that the rain would remain in the reservoir and soil.
• After tasting the naan, Storm told Sing Sing she was willing to stay and work.

After three days of bringing rain to drought-stricken areas, Storm and Sing Sing drove back together and discussed her past and the work she had done. Storm joined the 749 Bureau, where Sing Sing promised she would be protected and they would handle old troubles together.

• Storm and Sing Sing argued about the rain, which had eased the drought but flooded roads and nearly inundated experimental fields.
• Storm recalled how she had feared her powers, survived on Cairo’s streets, and fought alongside Charles, while Sing Sing said people valued her for saving their crops.
• Storm thanked Sing Sing for helping her experience ordinary people’s warmth, and he reminded her she would need to study the employee handbook.
• Sing Sing told Storm that the 749 Bureau aimed to provide people with work, food, and homes, and promised no one would take her to a lab again.
• Storm agreed to discuss her salary and benefits when they returned, after Sing Sing promised to give her an official work letter before future assignments.

Sing Sing returned from his trip to find the 749 Bureau’s old site leveled and learned from Chan Ka-kui that the bureau had moved to a new base. Chan Ka-kui drove Sing Sing and Storm to see it, while Sing Sing worried that his expenses would still be scrutinized.

• Sing Sing and Storm found the 749 Bureau’s former headquarters replaced by freshly compacted earth, and Sing Sing wondered whether he had been fired.
• Chan Ka-kui arrived in a battered jeep and told Sing Sing he and Nina had been granted leave after helping capture many wanted criminals.
• Sing Sing mocked Chan Ka-kui and Nina’s crime-fighting partnership, while Storm considered how the bureau used Mutants to catch criminals.
• Chan Ka-kui explained that the bureau had moved during Sing Sing’s nine-day trip and offered to take him to the new workplace.
• Sing Sing and Storm rode with Chan Ka-kui toward the new base as Chan Ka-kui complained that Anton docked his vehicle repair expenses.

Sing Sing arrived at the National Research Center for Abnormal Environments and Materials and learned the 749 Bureau had moved there too. He discovered his old courtyard had been demolished and his belongings, including hidden receipts, had been packed up by Nina and Anton.

• Chan Ka-kui drove Sing Sing and Storm through the center's security gate and showed them the research, training, and residential areas.
• Sing Sing learned the center was an officially approved research facility that the 749 Bureau had moved into.
• Chan Ka-kui told Sing Sing that his old courtyard had been demolished and returned to the logistics department for renovation.
• Sing Sing panicked over his lost belongings until Chan Ka-kui explained they had all been moved to the center.
• Chan Ka-kui revealed that Nina and Anton had sorted through Sing Sing's room, leaving him terrified that Anton had found his hidden falsified invoices.

Sing Sing returned to find a new office for the Overseas Special Talent Recruitment Office and handled Storm’s resettlement paperwork. After hearing that the other recruits’ plans were progressing, he was summoned by Director Wang and feared Anton had uncovered his hidden expenses.

• Chan Ka-kui showed Sing Sing the new office, where Sing Sing celebrated finally having a director’s office of his own.
• Sing Sing and Xiao Liu completed Storm’s resettlement paperwork, and Storm received a pass for her Ability Management Regulations class.
• Sing Sing asked Xiao Liu about the four new recruits and learned that Flower Bud planned to report to the northwest after training, while Geggebu’s chicken farm had been approved and Baobao had agreed to join him.
• After Xiao Liu left, Sing Sing settled into his executive chair, but the red secure telephone rang before he could nap.
• Director Wang ordered Sing Sing to come to his office, leaving Sing Sing worried that Anton had examined his invoices.

Sing Sing entered Director Wang’s office and learned that Wolverine believed he might have a teenage child in Japan. Director Wang tried to recruit Sing Sing to handle the situation, but Sing Sing argued that it belonged to another office.

• Sing Sing found Wolverine sitting awkwardly in Director Wang’s reception area and learned he had remembered something while writing his oral history.
• Director Wang offered Sing Sing an upgrade, which Sing Sing mistook for a demand to sell his body before realizing he meant a promotion.
• Wolverine explained that he had been involved with several women in Japan years earlier and suspected one of them had his child.
• Wolverine named Mariko Yashida, Yukio, and Itsu as possible mothers, leaving Sing Sing to suspect Director Wang planned to assign him the case.
• Sing Sing argued that finding Wolverine’s family overseas should be handled by the Ministry of Public Security’s Anti-Trafficking Office.

Sing Sing was assigned to investigate a likely lead at Toyo High School and bring the target back to the country. He learned he would have to pose as a third-year student under the name Hoshino Seiichi, and Director Wang arranged Japanese lessons to begin the next day.

• Director Wang rejected Sing Sing's excuses for avoiding Wolverine's family search and revealed that the bureau had already assigned staff to other leads.
• Director Wang gave Sing Sing a file identifying Toyo High School as the likely location of Wolverine's child and ordered him to confirm the target and bring them home.
• Sing Sing agreed to the mission, thinking it would be easy to handle schoolchildren, and asked for a teacher's outfit and a gold pointer.
• Director Wang told Sing Sing he would pose as a third-year transfer student, leaving him horrified at the prospect of returning to school.
• Director Wang gave Sing Sing the Japanese name Hoshino Seiichi and scheduled Japanese lessons for the following day.

Sing Sing endured a week of Japanese training with Duan Shuiliu to prepare for his transfer-student cover as Hoshino Seiichi. After passing the basic test, he was struck in the nose by a stone when Da Vinci demonstrated an untested upgraded Dimensional Briefcase.

• Sing Sing met Duan Shuiliu, who began intensive Japanese lessons for his upcoming undercover mission in Japan.
• Sing Sing struggled through lessons on greetings, honorifics, classroom phrases, listening, and identity questioning, while the office imposed a ban on speaking Japanese loudly outside the room.
• After a week, Duan Shuiliu declared that Sing Sing had passed the basic test and warned him to improvise less in the field.
• Da Vinci presented Sing Sing with an upgraded pocket-sized Dimensional Briefcase and warned him to keep it away from his face when opening it.
• Sing Sing opened the case, and an untested stone shot out and hit him on the bridge of the nose.

Sing Sing visited the Ankang chicken farm to check on Baobao and Geggebu, who were managing a high-tech farm with a hundred thousand chickens. He helped accommodate Geggebu’s concern for the chickens and confirmed that the two employees were settling into their roles.

• Sing Sing told Da Vinci to improve the case’s ejection direction control and arrange for Sabretooth to test it.
• Sing Sing visited the Ankang farm and learned it housed 100,000 chickens in enclosed, automated towers because Geggebu’s body was flammable.
• Baobao showed Sing Sing the farm’s production figures and explained that Geggebu was arguing with a robot over how it handled dead chickens.
• Sing Sing agreed to ask the manufacturer to replace the robot’s gripping arm with a tray, and allowed Geggebu a three-minute memorial for a dead hen.
• Baobao explained how he and Geggebu divided their work, and Sing Sing checked their records and reminded Baobao to contact the on-site safety officer during an emergency.

After a powerful earthquake struck the southwest, Sing Sing and the Mutants joined the emergency rescue effort. Sing Sing coordinated the teams as they used their abilities to reach trapped villagers, clear roads, manage floodwater, and support medical crews while the golden rescue window ticked down.

• Sing Sing inspected the completed Tiankeng Village tunnel and visited the Qiongzhou Strait work site before Wang Pangzi summoned special personnel to respond to the southwest earthquake.
• Sing Sing, Polaris, and Soft Serve flew to the disaster area, where Riptide, Toad, Sand Rat, Wandering Girl, Wolverine, Deep Abyss, Prophet, The Spot, Storm, and Anton had also assembled.
• Wang Pangzi assigned the Mutants to specialized rescue and support teams and put Sing Sing in charge of coordinating them from headquarters.
• Polaris cleared a collapsed steel bridge, while Soft Serve supplied cold packs, refrigerated medical supplies, and restorative ice cream at a temporary medical station.
• Riptide redirected floodwater and Deep Abyss helped engineers avoid unstable roads and locate villagers; Toad and Sand Rat opened routes to trapped people, while The Spot and Wolverine aided rescue teams among collapsed buildings.
• Prophet directed search efforts from headquarters as Anton restored communications, Wandering Girl transported injured people, and Storm cleared dust and hot air from the rescue area.

After a week of disaster relief, Sing Sing and the exhausted rescue teams returned to the 749 Bureau for medical checks and mandatory rest. Sing Sing tried to refuse the Japan mission, but Director Wang explained its purpose and revealed that it was meant to resolve an issue left over from the past.

• Sing Sing and Director Wang ended the special personnel rescue operation after the final trapped people in Stone Bridge Village were evacuated, and the exhausted teams returned to the command center.
• Sing Sing found Nina unconscious at the communications station, and a doctor treated her for pushing herself too far.
• The rescue teams returned to the new base, where doctors diagnosed several members with injuries and ordered everyone to rest.
• Sing Sing met Polaris and Soft Serve in the cafeteria, where they admitted they were tired but happy to have helped.
• Sing Sing told Director Wang he did not want to go to Japan, and Director Wang explained how Japan and the United States handled Mutants before saying the mission would resolve an issue left over from the past.