Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen awakened in the body of Ronan Raymond after Ronan was killed during a patrol in Rand City, and fought off three attackers before escaping to Precinct 3. After recovering at home, Wang Chen accepted Ronan’s identity and resolved to avenge his death.

• Wang Chen awoke in a bloodied alley and beat back three men who attacked him.
• Wang Chen escaped to Precinct 3, where Deputy Chief Shaun Alcott and the other officers treated his injuries.
• Wang Chen told Shaun Alcott that he had been ambushed after becoming separated from Old Hart during a pursuit.
• Wang Chen returned to his apartment and recalled Ronan Raymond’s background and recent death on patrol.
• Wang Chen decided to live as Ronan Raymond and avenge the murder.

Ronan learned about the Blood Moon Realm and decided to use his Psionic Power to explore its extraordinary paths and seek the Origin of the World. After reaching first-ring Psionic Power overnight, he prepared to avenge his previous self.

• Ronan reviewed the Blood Moon Realm’s nations, technology, and supernatural beings, including Demonic Beasts, witches, and bloodkin.
• Ronan recalled how Malcolm Raymond had treated his illegitimate children and how Ronan had been killed while serving as a Reserve Officer.
• Ronan found that he could not sense spiritual energy or use the Cultivation Panel, but he resolved to cultivate Psionic Power instead.
• Ronan examined the world from his Sea of Consciousness as the Primordial Dao Stele quietly emerged and glowed.
• Ronan awoke the next morning, inspected his healing head wound, and found that his Psionic Power had reached the first-ring level.
• Ronan decided to avenge his previous self.

After waking in Ronan’s body, Wang Chen focused on adapting to the spiritless technological world and rebuilding his strength. Ronan collected his salary at the Third Precinct and surprised his instructor Hart Sines by offering to buy him a drink.

• Ronan ate a costly breakfast to give his body the nutrition needed to regain strength.
• At the Third Precinct, Selina reminded Ronan to work toward becoming a full officer, while other officers eyed him jealously.
• Ronan collected his monthly salary of 1 Pound Sterling, 3 silver dollars, and 25 copper coins.
• Hart Sines warned Ronan not to risk his life impulsively after the previous day’s ambush, and Ronan promised to be more careful.
• Ronan offered to buy Hart a drink at the Black Elf Bar after work, surprising the usually miserly old officer.

Ronan learned from Old Hart that the thief who ambushed him belonged to the Gallo Brotherhood, and Old Hart warned him against seeking revenge. While patrolling, Ronan spotted the same thief again, memorized his face, and watched him disappear into the crowd.

• Ronan bought Old Hart drinks and asked which gang the thief who lured him into an alley belonged to.
• Old Hart identified the Gallo Brotherhood and warned Ronan that the gang was dangerous and protected by powerful backers.
• Ronan returned to his cramped room and cultivated his Psionic Power as the moon showed a faint blood-red glow.
• Ronan continued patrolling with Old Hart, who promised to apply to have him made a full officer sooner than usual.
• Ronan recognized the thief in the crowd, ignored his provoking smile, and memorized his face before he vanished.

Ronan killed Caster, a Gallo Brotherhood thug, and went to work the next morning for his first solo patrol. After spotting a hostile passerby watching him, Ronan stopped the man and demanded his identification.

• Caster left the tavern drunk, and Ronan struck him down in the street before shadowy figures dragged away his corpse.
• Ronan arrived at the Third Precinct and learned he had to patrol alone because Old Hart had injured his back.
• Selina warned Ronan to call for help if he encountered danger, and he set out carrying a standard-issue cross sword.
• During his patrol, Ronan noticed a demon hunter enter a tavern and then detected a passerby watching him with intense hostility.
• Ronan blocked the passerby's way, drew his baton, and demanded to see his identification.

Ronan captured Jay Sam, a wanted Grey Wolf Gang leader, after foiling his disguised attempt to stab him. The next day, Ronan received the bounty and an early promotion to full officer, gaining the right to carry a firearm and sword.

• Ronan dodged a disguised traveler's dagger attack, knocked him unconscious, and discovered his disguise and suspected wanted-criminal identity.
• At the Third Precinct, officers identified the captive as Jay Sam, a Grey Wolf Gang leader with a one-hundred-Pound Sterling bounty, and found weapons and gold on him.
• Sean Alcott confirmed Jay Sam's identity, praised Ronan, and promised to recommend him for early promotion.
• The Rand General Police Bureau took Jay Sam away to question him about other escaped gang leaders.
• The next day, Ronan received the bounty and became a full officer, then treated his colleagues to drinks at Manson Bar.

After receiving his full police equipment, Ronan killed three Gallo Brotherhood members who tried to abduct him and disposed of their bodies in the sewers. The next morning, his rental agent Lewis showed him additional housing options outside the city after Ronan rejected the available properties in Rand.

• Ronan received two police uniforms, boots, a duty belt, a cap, and a revolver named Doug.
• Three Gallo Brotherhood members cornered Ronan in an alley and tried to force him to meet their boss.
• Ronan killed all three gang members with throwing knives and dumped their bodies into a sewer.
• Ronan met Lewis, who presented three possible rental homes, but Ronan was dissatisfied with them.
• Lewis showed Ronan another set of property listings for houses outside the city, and Ronan examined them with interest.

Ronan chose a supposedly haunted seaside villa near Rand City and negotiated to buy it, intending to use it as his home while he built his strength. After signing the contract, he arrived and sensed something strange inside the villa, but remained unafraid.

• Ronan selected the seaside villa despite Lewis warning him that it was haunted and someone had died there.
• Ronan proposed renting the villa for a year and buying it for 300 pounds during that time, and the seller agreed to the contract.
• Ronan paid Lewis his commission and an extra pound, then rode his new bicycle from Rand City to the villa.
• Ronan unlocked the empty villa and felt an icy chill in the main hall, so he activated Psionic Power to protect himself.

Ronan inspected his new seaside villa and sensed a sinister aura in its basement, but decided to wait until his Psionic Power was stronger before investigating. As the Blood Moon period began, he stayed in Rand City and told his astonished coworkers about the villa, which they knew as a haunted and cursed house.

• Ronan toured the villa, found a corrupting aura in the basement, and chose to postpone investigating it until he reached Four Rings Psionic Power.
• Ronan returned to his Lower City apartment because the Blood Moon period was near and he was too weak to live alone outside the city.
• Ronan learned that the Blood Moon could cause living beings to mutate at night, prompting people to shelter indoors and Night Watchmen to patrol.
• Ronan met Old Hart at the police station and revealed that he had bought a seaside villa.
• Old Hart and the other officers warned Ronan that the villa was haunted and reportedly cursed by a witch, and Old Hart advised him to carry a Protection Talisman.
• The Blood Moon period began on the second day after Old Hart returned to work.

During the Blood Moon period, Ronan discovered that the Primordial Dao Stele could destroy the moon’s invasive energy and convert it into increased spiritual power, so he used the moonlight to cultivate. On his fifth night working guard duty at the Third Precinct, a pitch-black monster broke through the doors and Ronan opened fire.

• Ronan tested the blood moon’s effects and used the Primordial Dao Stele to protect his body and Sea of Consciousness from its strange energy.
• Ronan found that the Stele’s destruction of the invading energy slightly increased his spiritual power and Psionic Power.
• Ronan spent the following nights cultivating by his window, making rapid progress.
• Ronan stayed on night duty at the Third Precinct and played Black Forest Card with three officers.
• Ronan heard something approaching, and a pitch-black monster smashed through the precinct doors.
• Ronan fired first as the officers drew their pistols.

Ronan fought off a Demonized Puppet and a squad of black-robed attackers who stormed the Third Precinct. After killing their leader, he blew his police whistle as footsteps approached outside.

• A Demonized Puppet exploded in the precinct hall, killing two officers and grievously injuring another while Ronan survived behind the service counter.
• Ronan ambushed the black-robed men with his revolver, killing several and wounding others as they rushed through the hall.
• Ronan drew his sword to block a scimitar strike and faced the last attacker, a scarred, bald man with dark blue-green totemic markings.
• Ronan evaded the man's master-level slash and pierced his heart with his cross sword, killing him.
• Ronan knocked the two wounded attackers unconscious, looked toward the shattered doors, and blew his police whistle as footsteps approached.

After Ronan defended the Third Precinct, Abel Austin and the Night Watchmen took the captured attackers away and left a guard detail behind. Ronan learned more about the Night Watchmen and extraordinary power while sharing a drink with them until dawn.

• Abel Austin arrived with the Seventh Night Watchman Squad, heard Ronan's account, and ordered the attackers and bodies collected while leaving Night Watchmen to guard the precinct.
• A Night Watchman found a severely wounded officer alive, and Abel Austin revived him with a kingdom-issued magic potion.
• The Night Watchmen loaded the captured men and wounded officer into a steam car, and Abel Austin told Ronan that other precincts had also been attacked.
• Ronan cleaned the precinct hall, then joined the three Night Watchmen around a bonfire for canned food and a drink.
• A Night Watchman praised Ronan's marksmanship and explained how people awakened extraordinary power and used secret martial arts and extraordinary equipment.
• As dawn broke and the Blood Moon receded, the Night Watchman patted Ronan on the shoulder and said he hoped they would meet again soon.

After surviving the Blood Moon attacks, Ronan was promoted to Senior Officer and advanced to Three Rings, while the General Police Bureau prepared to publicize him as a hero. His peaceful routine ended when Night Watch Captain Abel Austin invited him to join an operation against underground forces in the sewers.

• Ronan told the superintendent how the Third Precinct had repelled the attackers, and the superintendent decided to present him as a model young officer.
• Shaun warned Ronan that becoming a public hero could make him a target for the attackers and their allies.
• During the seven-day Blood Moon period, security increased across Rand City, and Ronan was promoted to Senior Officer and reached Three Rings.
• Ronan received 145 gold pounds in reward money for killing two wanted criminals, but he could not yet access the secret arts that could help him advance further.
• Abel Austin visited Ronan and invited him to join an encirclement operation against underground forces in the sewers.
• Investigators identified the Blackbeard Pirates and Rand City's underground thugs as the main attackers on Blood Moon night.

After the Blackbeard Pirates’ attack on Rand City’s police stations, Abel Austin invited Ronan to join the Night Watchmen’s operation against the Underground Forces and offered to teach him a powerful technique if he earned merit. Ronan declined to commit to joining, but took part in the raid, which began with fierce fighting in the sewers.

• The investigation blamed the Blackbeard Pirates for the Blood Moon attacks, and Rand’s governor ordered the General Police Bureau to purge the Underground Forces that had aided them.
• Abel Austin invited Ronan on the operation, praised his talent, and offered to recommend him for the Steel Armor Breathing Technique if he earned merit.
• Ronan said he preferred his freedom and did not agree to join the Night Watchmen, but Abel Austin let him choose and prepared equipment for him.
• At dawn, Ronan met the Night Watchmen in the Lower City, received weapons and protective gear, and entered the sewers with them.
• The Night Watchmen encountered attacks from enemies throughout the sewer labyrinth, and Ronan witnessed the transcendent fighters slaughter their opponents.

Ronan accompanied Captain Abel Austin and a Night Watchmen squad through Rand City's sewers, where they fought the Underground Forces and discovered that Blackbeard Pirates had infiltrated the city. As the squad prepared to face a wave of flames rushing through the passage, Abel Austin ordered maximum alert.

• The Night Watchmen crushed the Underground Forces in the sewers, while Ronan followed Abel Austin's squad armed with a shotgun.
• Black-clad fighters attacked the squad, and Abel Austin led the defense as Night Watchmen gunfire felled many of them.
• A wounded black-clad fighter exploded a bomb beneath his robes, injuring several Night Watchmen, who treated their wounds and continued fighting.
• The surviving black-clad fighters retreated, and Abel Austin found a Blackbeard Pirates tattoo on one of the fallen men.
• Abel Austin ordered maximum alert when a red light ahead erupted into flames and swept toward the squad.

Ronan was separated from Abel Austin’s Night Watchmen when a wizard’s fire attack and an earthquake collapsed the sewer passage. Alone, he fought off Blackbeard Pirates and followed them into an enormous underground settlement.

• Abel Austin shielded the Night Watchmen from a wizard’s fire tide, then ordered a retreat as the passage began to collapse.
• Ronan escaped into a side passage but was cut off from Abel Austin and chose a route through the underground labyrinth by himself.
• Ronan encountered Blackbeard Pirates, killed seven with a rapid volley from his revolvers, and pursued the survivors.
• Ronan followed the pirates through the darkness into a vast cavern filled with crude homes, garbage, and emaciated residents.

Ronan entered the cave dwellings beneath Rand City and demanded a guide to the surface, but the residents attacked him. He fought off the bandits until a heavily armored warrior burst from an earthen house and charged at him.

• Ronan encountered hostile cave-dwellers and offered silver coins for a guide back to the surface.
• The bald cripple ordered two men to ambush Ronan, and Ronan killed them with his shotgun.
• The bald cripple drew his flintlock and rallied his accomplices to attack Ronan.
• Ronan shot multiple bandits with his shotgun and revolver while dodging their attacks and using the earthen houses for cover.
• A heavily armored warrior burst through an earthen house and charged Ronan with a battle axe.

Ronan fought and killed a heavily armored transcendent warrior after discovering a weakness in his armor, while the Cave Dwelling bandits tried to shoot him. The battle ended with Ronan identifying the dead warrior as a member of the Blackbeard Pirates.

• Ronan reloaded his revolver and shot the charging armored warrior, but the bullets and his sword strikes could not penetrate the warrior's armor.
• Ronan used his speed and the Cave Dwelling's terrain to evade the warrior and probe for weaknesses as the warrior destroyed huts and called on the bandits to fire.
• Ronan struck the warrior's right ankle joint with his Psionic Power, severing its ligaments, then shot several approaching bandits and drove the others into hiding.
• Ronan damaged the warrior's left leg, knocked him down with a flying kick, and stabbed through a gap in his back armor to kill him.
• Ronan lifted the warrior's visor and recognized the black anchor tattoo on his forehead as a mark of the Blackbeard Pirates.

After killing Tinplate Cook, Ronan returned to Rand City and earned a promotion, a large bounty, and instruction in the Steel Armor Breathing Technique. Abel Austin warned him to conceal his talent before leaving for New York City, and Ronan returned from leave to a warm welcome at the Third Precinct.

• Ronan returned from the sewers with Tinplate Cook's head and gave it to Abel Austin, who identified the pirate leader and celebrated the achievement.
• Two days later, Ronan became Rand City's youngest detective, received Tinplate Cook's 500-gold-pound bounty, and learned the Steel Armor Breathing Technique from Abel Austin.
• Ronan mastered the technique in three days while hiding how quickly he had learned it, and Abel Austin warned him to keep his exceptional talent secret.
• Abel Austin explained the supernatural ranks, encouraged Ronan to reach Supreme, and departed for New York City after teaching him about the supernatural world.
• Ronan's leave ended, and officers at the Third Precinct welcomed him back as Deputy Chief Sean Alcott celebrated his honors with champagne.

After becoming a detective, Ronan spent a month keeping a low profile while strengthening his body and preparing to break through. He entered the Extraordinary realm and reached Four Rings in Psionic Power, then headed into his villa’s basement to eliminate its hidden danger.

• Ronan became a detective at the Third Precinct and arranged with Deputy Chief Sean to take on fewer tasks while he focused on training.
• Over the next month, Ronan cultivated the Steel Armor Breathing Technique and spent hundreds of gold pounds on Demonic Beast flesh to strengthen his body.
• Ronan reached the limit of his Physique and used the Steel Armor Breathing Technique to break through into the Extraordinary realm.
• Ronan’s Psionic Power rose to Four Rings as he completed the breakthrough.
• After cleaning himself up, Ronan went to the villa’s basement to deal with the strange presence he had avoided before.