Chapter Summaries

He Ao and Li Cheng investigated the aftermath of Ruodan’s catastrophe and discussed how the Research Institute could take the lead in stabilizing the city as Moonlight’s power declined. He Ao then prepared to explore Ruona Ti’s hidden base, while his main body began a new life simulation as Madman Jess.

• He Ao told Li Cheng that Hao Yi was behind the incident, and Li Cheng explained that the evidence was insufficient to prove it.
• Li Cheng told Enke that Moonlight’s era in Ruodan was over, then joined He Ao for barbecue and discussed a Research Institute-led transition of power.
• He Ao and Li Cheng speculated that the same powerful strange entity had eroded both the World Tree branch and Moonlight headquarters, and agreed they needed to meet Hao Yi.
• Old Man told children the story of the elder prince and said the age of kingdoms had ended, then promised that tomorrow would be a Clear Day.
• He Ao’s avatar examined a narrow cave that might lead to Ruona Ti’s secret base, but put away the Substitute Cape and concealed himself in the Verola as the countdown neared zero.
• He Ao’s main body began a new Life Simulation Game and matched with the character Madman Jess.

Jess traced the occult research behind his parents’ deaths and began developing Gene Serum, while a corporate visitor offered to fund his work. He learned that the Old Professor had been killed by cultists, leaving him to decide how to proceed.

• At age 30, Jess found that his parents’ research materials and his mother’s manuscript had been taken, and a discarded draft linked his father to Tini’s undergraduate teacher.
• Jess confronted the Old Professor, who revealed that he and Jess’s father had studied occult knowledge and disagreed over using it to grant ordinary people extraordinary power.
• Jess secretly investigated the occult knowledge and his parents’ deaths, then began researching Gene Serum with the Old Professor’s help.
• A strange man claiming to represent a major corporation offered to fund Jess’s experiments, and Jess suspected he was connected to his parents’ deaths.
• Jess learned that the Old Professor had been killed in an attack by cultists.

He Ao’s life story revealed how he pursued the truth behind his family’s deaths, advanced through Talent Sequences, and sabotaged the Gene Serum project before walking into a trap. The chapter left him wounded in a Blood Pool as he pulled a sniper bullet from his chest and heard pursuers approaching.

• After his wife found his mother’s letter, He Ao told her about his investigation and chose to step back from the Mysterious Man’s experiments, hiring a detective agency instead.
• He Ao learned about the Witchcraft Church and the Desire Witch, bought a Hermit potion, and helped establish a charitable foundation with his wife before she was killed at a conference.
• He Ao resumed the Gene Serum research with the Mysterious Man, advanced through Layman and Almsgiver, and discovered that making Gene Serum from his own power helped suppress his worsening madness.
• He Ao gathered evidence against the project’s backers, arranged for it to reach the Federal Bureau of Investigation after his death, and planted trojans to destroy the laboratory’s data and Gene Serums.
• When the Mysterious Man failed to appear at their meeting, He Ao escaped an ambush, then awoke in the rain with a sniper wound and pulled a bullet from his chest as footsteps approached.

He Ao, trapped after Jess’s attempted advance and hunted by the Mysterious Man’s forces, put on a strange mask and killed two mercenaries. He found thirty enemies nearby and prepared to fight his way out while questioning what was happening to Jess’s body.

• He Ao placed a blood-stained mask over his face as two armored mercenaries followed his trail through the rain.
• He Ao tricked the mercenaries into firing at a wall, then killed both with a dagger.
• He Ao used a dead mercenary’s display to locate thirty enemies and collected their Gauss Rifles and ammunition.
• He Ao reviewed Jess’s Almsgiver ability and realized the Mysterious Man had used the promised meeting as a trap.
• He Ao found that signal jammers had isolated the mercenaries’ local network and suspected Jess’s computer trojan and the detective agency’s FBI contact might not be enough.
• He Ao carried the rifles out of the alley to face the encirclement, while unsettling sensations from Jess’s body raised doubts about the secret medicine and his advancement.

He Ao fought his way through the mercenary hunt for Jess, using the alleys to evade a sniper and eliminate several squads. He faced a powerful Desperado and the remaining mercenaries, who opened fire around him.

• Two mercenaries spotted He Ao at an alley entrance and tried to claim the reward, but he killed them before a sniper forced him to dodge.
• He Ao used the alleys and a small building to evade the sniper while the mercenaries searched for him.
• He Ao ambushed a four-man squad in an alley, killing its members and leaving a trail through the rain.
• The sniper and his commander discussed He Ao’s advance as the remaining mercenaries gathered in Area C.
• A Gaunt Man attacked He Ao, who shot him repeatedly at close range, but the man pulled the bullets from his body and kept fighting.
• Ten mercenaries surrounded He Ao and opened fire as he prepared to face the Gaunt Man.

He Ao defeated the Gaunt Man and the mercenaries, then faced the sniper who had been targeting him from a distant high-rise. He left the rooftop after shooting the sniper through the chest, though his badly injured body staggered through the rain.

• He Ao fought through the mercenaries and used the Gaunt Man's attack to kill one, then seized the Gaunt Man's Alloy Dagger by exploiting his own energy-concentration technique.
• The Gaunt Man killed the remaining mercenaries to strengthen his Bandit ability, then attacked a nearby home and clashed with He Ao, who injured his leg before cutting the Gaunt Man's neck with the dagger.
• He Ao dodged the sniper's next shot and escaped behind a building as the sniper ignored a retreat order and prepared to kill him.
• He Ao climbed onto a rooftop and used Hyperthymesia to model the sniper's position and his Gauss Rifle before firing.
• The sniper fell with a hole through his chest, and He Ao staggered away across the rooftop in the rain.

He Ao disposed of the Gaunt Man’s corpse, killed the mercenary captain, and replaced his compromised Smart Bracelet before speaking with the Mysterious Man. After driving through the night, he arrived at the Nobeck Detective Agency, where the detective agency contact had been trying to locate him.

• He Ao dragged the Gaunt Man’s corpse out of the Hunting Ground so it could be disposed of safely.
• The mercenary captain tried to threaten He Ao with his Exoskeleton Armor, but He Ao handed him an armed explosive and walked away as it detonated.
• He Ao bought a new Smart Bracelet from a communication store and used Eve to find a tracker on his car, then destroyed the tracker and his old bracelet.
• He Ao answered a call from the Mysterious Man using the Gaunt Man’s Smart Bracelet, told him the mission had gone well, and ended the call.
• He Ao traveled overnight with Eve’s autonomous driving and, after waking near dawn, entered the Nobeck Detective Agency and messaged his contact that he was there.

He Ao confronted the detective agency owner Nobeck about who had ordered him monitored and given tampered secret medicine, but Nobeck’s crew tried to trap him. The chapter ended with Nobeck weighing a two-million payment for holding He Ao against a ten-million reward for killing him, while He Ao pressed for the real client’s identity.

• Winter and Nobeck’s crew waited for Jess to come online, deciding to withhold the information Jess had asked them to release.
• He Ao arrived at the agency in bloodstained clothes and asked Nobeck who had ordered him monitored and supplied with tampered secret medicine.
• Nobeck denied knowing what He Ao meant and tried to delay him with a conversation, but He Ao turned to leave.
• Winter shut the door at Nobeck’s signal, and the armed crew surrounded He Ao with guns, prosthetic bodies, and miniature Laser Cannons.
• Nobeck admitted he had been paid two million to hold He Ao and revealed that killing him would earn ten million.
• He Ao asked Nobeck to identify the client, leaving Nobeck hesitant and He Ao in control of the exchange.

He Ao killed Nobeck and his men after learning that Thorne had arranged the ambush on behalf of the Mysterious Man. He avoided the trap waiting at Thorne’s residence and went to Dense Forest Bar to seek out Hai Xi, while the Mysterious Man’s people headed to Thorne’s place to intercept him.

• Nobeck told He Ao that Thorne was his client and revealed that Talent Sequence 108, Missionary, followed Benefactor.
• Nobeck and his men attacked He Ao, but He Ao killed them and discovered a message from Thorne warning that the client’s people were coming.
• He Ao reasoned that the Mysterious Man had used Nobeck to delay him and likely sent reinforcements to Thorne’s residence, so he drove to Dense Forest Bar instead.
• A Brown-haired Man arrived at the detective agency, realized He Ao had already left, and ordered his men to go to Thorne’s place and prepare a surprise.
• He Ao crossed into the North Vitran District and arrived at Dense Forest Bar carrying an oversized suitcase.

He Ao pushed open the reinforced door to Hai Xi’s office, helped her defeat an attack, and sought the secret medicine and formula for a later Talent Sequence. Their negotiations stalled when Hai Xi offered illegal commissions, and He Ao began to leave before she called after him.

• He Ao found the door to Hai Xi’s office and opened it with Hyperthymesia, astonishing the burly man and the Youth who had failed to move it.
• He Ao dodged a knife attack inside the office and joined Hai Xi in fighting the attackers, killing several of them as Hai Xi killed their leader and drove the rest to flee.
• Hai Xi introduced herself and identified the Gaunt Man’s Talent Sequence as Bandit; He Ao offered the body in exchange for information and a secret medicine formula.
• Hai Xi named the known Rank C sequences after Almsgiver and offered to trade a Fear Disciple potion and formula for a commission.
• He Ao refused Hai Xi’s offers to steal a chip or commit murder, shut the suitcase, and started to leave before Hai Xi called, “Wait!”

He Ao agreed to guard Hai Xi at a charity dinner in exchange for the Preacher secret medicine formula, while investigating the Mysterious Man’s trap and confirming that Jess’s actions had been under his control. The chapter left He Ao pursuing C-rank advancement, with an unexplained stirring in the crowd’s thoughts lingering as a possible warning.

• Hai Xi hired He Ao to protect her at the Huier Mei Medical Building charity dinner and promised the Preacher secret medicine formula after the job; He Ao accepted and received the Terrorist secret medicine.
• Hai Xi ordered the Iron Claw Gang eliminated and asked the doorman to contact Enwitt.
• He Ao secretly observed the Boris Biological Laboratory and saw that its equipment had been moved while armed mercenaries guarded the nearly empty building.
• He Ao concluded that the Mysterious Man had controlled Jess’s plans, monitored him through the Hacker’s software, and prepared a trap based on Jess’s old habits.
• He Ao sensed a brief, unusual stirring among nearby people’s thoughts, then left to prioritize advancing his body to C-rank.

He Ao and Hai Xi attended Huier Mei Medical Consortium’s charity dinner, where Hai Xi revealed her distrust of the foundation and its ties to Senator Nide. He Ao settled into the banquet hall, where someone unexpectedly recognized him as Professor Jess.

• Hai Xi gave He Ao a custom evening suit, and she changed into a dress that could convert into trousers for movement.
• He Ao and Hai Xi drove to Huier Mei Medical Building, where Hai Xi said researchers might present their work at the dinner.
• He Ao stored his suitcase and passed security with Hai Xi before meeting Senator Nide, whom they told they were distant relatives.
• Hai Xi explained that Nide’s family controlled the charity foundation and described receiving spoiled food from its relief program as a child.
• Hai Xi mingled with guests while He Ao sat apart, ate a small cake, and heard someone call him Professor Jess.

He Ao met his former student Salan at Huier Mei’s charity dinner and learned about the consortium’s past confidential gene research. After Salan delivered her report, He Ao inspected the building and left with Hai Xi, but a staff member sealed their elevator as they descended.

• He Ao reunited with Salan, who explained that she had chosen Huier Mei over Stars Pharmaceutical and had stopped accepting support from Jess’s foundation once she could work.
• Salan told He Ao that Huier Mei had reassigned biological gene researchers to confidential projects and had disbanded a failed gene project more than six years earlier.
• Salan delivered a report on illnesses and mortality among homeless children, then the dinner held a charity auction.
• He Ao left the banquet to inspect the thirty-ninth floor, found that access to other floors required a Work Badge, and returned without encountering another former student.
• He Ao and Hai Xi left the dinner with his suitcase and entered the elevator toward the underground garage; a staff member sealed the elevator doors with an electronic barrier and an Under Maintenance sign.

He Ao and Hai Xi discovered that the charity dinner had led them into a trap in the Huier Mei Medical Building’s underground parking garage. After fighting through the ambush, they escaped in a stolen off-road vehicle, but a massive silver vehicle pursued them with a red-haired man holding an injection vial.

• He Ao noticed the parking garage was too quiet and detected drone tracks beneath their sports car before a bomb exploded.
• He Ao and Hai Xi dodged a charging off-road vehicle, and He Ao shot its driver as attackers in surrounding cars opened fire.
• Hai Xi realized the dinner and her transaction had been under surveillance and that the parking garage was a prepared trap.
• He Ao and Hai Xi fought back against the gunmen, and He Ao seized an off-road vehicle while Hai Xi joined him in the passenger seat.
• He Ao drove toward the exit, broke through the attackers’ vehicles, and drew pursuit from a massive silver off-road vehicle carrying a red-haired man with an injection vial.

He Ao and Hai Xi fought through a trap in an underground parking lot as armed mercenaries attacked them with Laser Cannons. They escaped the tunnel in He Ao’s black off-road vehicle, but the Red-Haired Man injected a Gene Serum and stopped the Iron Gate from closing behind them.

• He Ao took control of the black off-road vehicle while Hai Xi identified the Red-Haired Man’s weapon as a modified military Laser Cannon.
• He Ao evaded the Red-Haired Man’s shots, but Hai Xi and He Ao found mercenaries, Iron Thorns, and three Laser Cannons blocking the tunnel ahead.
• He Ao used Eve to overclock the vehicle and drive it along the tunnel wall and ceiling, bypassing the blockade.
• He Ao and Hai Xi sped toward the exit as the Iron Gate began to close, while the Red-Haired Man injected himself with Jess’s Gene Serum.
• He Ao drove through the gate just before it shut, but an orange-lit arm thrust out and held the gate open.

He Ao protected Hai Xi from the Red-Haired Man, killed him, and considered the mysterious source and cost of Gene Serum. As the pursuers fell behind, He Ao asked Hai Xi whether she trusted him and ordered her to turn toward the Plant District.

• The Red-Haired Man broke into Hai Xi's vehicle, and He Ao pulled Hai Xi from a trance before taking the back seat to fight him.
• Hai Xi drove while He Ao tested the Red-Haired Man's Gene Serum-enhanced strength and resisted his attempt to turn them against each other.
• The Red-Haired Man attacked Hai Xi and then He Ao, but He Ao seized his fists and killed him by stabbing his neck when the man's defenses converged.
• He Ao realized the serum's power remained unexplained, while Jess's memories suggested the Mysterious Man had secretly developed C-Rank serum through cruel experiments.
• Hai Xi said her people would protect them in the West District as the pursuing vehicles fell behind, but He Ao asked whether she trusted him and ordered her to turn right toward the Plant District.

He Ao and Hai Xi escaped the ambush and discovered that a trusted subordinate had betrayed her by tampering with her car’s navigation. As Hai Xi prepared to strike back and offered to help He Ao find Thorne, He Ao received the Terrorist promotion ritual and asked Hai Xi for a favor.

• He Ao identified Hai Xi’s navigation as the clue that revealed someone had led them into the ambush, and predicted that her next caller would be the traitor.
• Hai Xi answered a call from her doorman, Ronn, and realized from his eager questioning that he had betrayed her.
• Hai Xi told He Ao she still had resources to resist the Huier Mei Medical Consortium, then explained that Thorne could be lured by a high-value commission.
• He Ao and Hai Xi discussed how many forces the Mysterious Man could mobilize and concluded that the groups hunting them might have limited manpower and separate information.
• He Ao read the Promotion Ritual for Talent Sequence 111: Terrorist, then asked Hai Xi to do him a favor.

He Ao escaped a sniper ambush and a mercenary convoy after discovering that Ronn had betrayed Hai Xi and that the Huier Mei Medical Consortium’s forces were targeting him as Jess. After abandoning his destroyed vehicle, he took refuge in an unfinished building as the mercenaries surrounded it and prepared to storm inside.

• He Ao met Ronn outside Hai Xi’s mall, where Ronn demanded proof that Hai Xi was safe and armed subordinates appeared.
• He Ao recognized that Ronn was stalling for mercenaries and a rooftop sniper, then dodged the sniper’s shot and killed the sniper.
• He Ao shot Ronn and escaped the mall as mercenaries revealed that Jess was their target and pursued him through the West District.
• He Ao killed a mercenary who attacked his vehicle, then jumped out before a rocket destroyed it.
• He Ao ran into an unfinished seven-story building, and the mercenary captain surrounded it, requested more Gene Serum, and ordered his forces to enter.

He Ao fought through mercenaries hunting Jess, relying on combat skill and limiting his use of Hyperthymesia. After killing their adjutant, he left the mercenaries terrified as the dead rapidly decayed into skeletons.

• He Ao killed three rooftop mercenaries, including two who had injected Gene Serum and gained Assassin and Thug abilities.
• He Ao learned that high-level Gene Serum users’ bodies decayed and their souls vanished after death, and he threw a Walkie-Talkie down the stairwell to mislead the hunters.
• An adjutant injected serum and attacked He Ao with a Rank C Paranoid ability, but He Ao wounded him and escaped the first exchange.
• He Ao fought the adjutant again amid gunfire and silence, then cut his throat while the man tried to use his Walkie-Talkie.
• A mercenary caught the adjutant’s severed head as it rolled down the stairs, and watched it decay into a skeleton.

Thorne took Wu Na and the Iron Claw Gang’s assets into his protection, but Hai Xi ambushed him as he tried to leave the mall. Meanwhile, He Ao continued fighting through the mercenaries hunting him, leaving the building’s forces shaken and preparing for a tighter assault.

• Thorne questioned Wu Na about the Iron Claw Gang’s defeat, then agreed to shelter him after Wu Na handed over most of the gang’s assets.
• Thorne learned the mercenaries had pursued Jess and decided to leave the mall before Hai Xi discovered his betrayal.
• He Ao killed several mercenaries, including one who accidentally shot an Assassin enhanced by Gene Serum, while the surviving troops prepared to surround him more closely.
• He Ao treated his worsening waist wound and realized the Mysterious Man had committed a costly stockpile of Gene Serums to ensure Jess could not fall into enemy hands.
• Hai Xi surrounded Thorne’s car with armed vehicles, killed his D-Rank bodyguard, and forced Thorne to surrender.