Chapter Summaries

He Ao bypassed Boss's traps and found the Artificial Intelligence 8753, which revealed that explosives would destroy the area when their countdown expired. As He Ao considered how to remove the Central Processor without triggering the explosives, a group arrived outside the cliff to excavate the hidden structure.

• He Ao used the Substitute Cape to pass through narrow tunnels and timed his way through a changing infrared grid.
• He Ao discovered that the metal door was electrified, fashioned an insulating stone key, and entered the underground room.
• He Ao met 8753, learned that Boss had placed alarms around the Central Processor and Storage Chip, and heard that the alarms were connected to explosives with 1 hour and 53 minutes remaining.
• He Ao examined the Central Processor and realized it was too large to carry back through the tunnel without triggering an alarm.
• A group reached the cliff, identified it as the site of Ruona Ti's hidden Secret Item, and left to fetch an excavator.

He Ao removed 8753’s Central Processor and Storage Chip from a bomb-protected server room, escaped with them on the Verola, and began powering 8753 back up. He then warned an excavation crew about explosives at a cliff, but the crew dismissed the warning and started digging for a Secret Item.

• He Ao replaced the Central Processor and Storage Chip with rocks, removed the originals, and escaped the room aboard the Verola before the server shutdown could trigger the explosives.
• He Ao connected the hardware to a High Performance battery and display aboard the Verola, where 8753 began a recovery boot estimated to take 587 minutes.
• He Ao reached a remote cliff, wrote a warning about explosives and a trigger mechanism, then left to find a place with phone signal.
• Norse found the warning and fled the area before the excavation crew arrived.
• The crew discovered He Ao’s warning, but their captain suspected it was meant to delay them and ordered them to start digging for the Secret Item before midnight.

An explosion devastated Ruodan National Park after someone ignored He Ao’s warning, while He Ao negotiated access to the upcoming ruins with the major organizations. The Research Institute secured more than 55% of the entry slots, and Li Cheng offered He Ao one of two C-rank slots he had obtained.

• A young constable received a warning about explosives in Mountain Ridge, but an explosion soon tore open a huge crater and left a badly burned man trapped beneath the rubble.
• He Ao and Li Cheng reviewed the organizations’ transcendent-material lists and arranged a shared network for research on the ruins.
• Yin Weier tried to intimidate He Ao by reaching for a fly near his face, but He Ao caught his wrist and flicked the fly into a brick wall.
• At the 14:30 exchange, Li Cheng gave He Ao the material lists and network access details, and He Ao persuaded Moonlight and the World Tree to accept the Research Institute taking more than 55% of the ruin slots.
• Li Cheng told He Ao that Old Liu had obtained two C-rank ruin slots and offered one of them to He Ao.

He Ao prepared to enter the newly opened ruin, received a healing Transcendent Item from Yang De, and met the other C-class explorer, Ye Yun. At midnight, the explorers arrived in a ruin beneath a sign reading “Welcome to the Navigator,” with the starry universe beyond it.

• Yang De and Wu Lan warned He Ao to protect himself and sent him the Nutrient Can, while Yang De named Ye Yun as the other C-class explorer.
• He Ao read research documents and learned that the ruin passage had opened much faster than any recorded passage before it.
• A dark figure entered the guarded crater in Ruodan National Park, examined the word “Ruodan” written beside a charred corpse, and vanished when a military policeman approached.
• Ye Yun met He Ao, asked for his autograph on a popular photograph of him, and joined the other selected explorers in Eren City.
• At 23:55, He Ao's avatar arrived at Locke Lun Street as the Old Train emerged, and at midnight the ruin passage opened around the explorers.
• He Ao woke inside the ruin beneath a damaged sign welcoming visitors to the Navigator, with the starry universe visible beyond it.

He Ao, Zhang Yusi, and two Moonlight Transcendents arrived in an unfamiliar region aboard a place called the Navigator, which appeared to be a derelict spaceship. After He Ao saved Zhang Yusi from a monster, a bloodied Moonlight Transcendent approached them, and another warning revealed that the apparent survivor might not be who he seemed.

• He Ao recognized Zhang Yusi and met two Moonlight Transcendents, and they concluded they had been sent to a previously unexplored region.
• He Ao and Zhang Yusi examined the Navigator's damaged control console while the Moonlight Transcendents went to explore a passage.
• A spider-like monster attacked Zhang Yusi, and He Ao cut it down before it could reach her.
• One Moonlight Transcendent returned and said his companion Yaxin had been eaten by a monster beyond a bulkhead.
• As the bloodied Transcendent approached He Ao and Zhang Yusi, another Yaxin appeared at the passage entrance and warned them not to let the approaching figure get close.
• He Ao swung his sword at the approaching figure.

He Ao killed a mutated man, uncovered Yaxin’s hallucinations and the relic’s mental contamination, and deciphered part of a warning written on the control-room door. He and Zhang Yusi entered the corridor to investigate a gate, while the relic appeared to be a spacecraft drifting through space.

• He Ao swiftly killed the transforming Brown-haired Man by destroying both energy centers in his body, and Zhang Yusi followed him onward.
• Yaxin described an attack by Keso, but He Ao identified inconsistencies in his account, prompting Yaxin to break free of an illusion and recall that both men had been harming themselves.
• He Ao and Zhang Yusi inspected the bloody message on the control-console door, deciphered the partial warning “Do not believe wisdom,” and found that the console’s main unit had been deliberately destroyed.
• He Ao noticed the stars shifting outside the glass wall and concluded that the group might be inside a spacecraft drifting through space.
• Yaxin recalled that hallucinations had distorted his encounter with Keso, and He Ao explained that a High-Level Existence’s contamination was affecting them.
• Zhang Yusi chose to accompany He Ao into the corridor, and they reached the shut gate and the bloodstains spread before it.

He Ao helped Zhang Yusi see through the illusions around the blast door and infer why it had remained closed. When a Sea Anemone Monster opened it from outside and four powerful humanoid monsters appeared, Zhang Yusi prepared to hold them off while He Ao raised his Bone Sword.

• Zhang Yusi examined the bloodstains and imagined that survivors had fled through the blast door, while He Ao noticed its control lever was destroyed and the corridor beyond the window was an illusion.
• He Ao guided Zhang Yusi through the contamination, and she realized the inner and outer door switches had been destroyed, leaving her to question where the dead bodies were.
• The Sea Anemone Monster moved away from the window, intensified its mental attack, and sent a tentacle through the damaged outer switch to raise the blast door.
• Four powerful humanoid monsters appeared beyond the opening door, and Zhang Yusi decided to stay behind and fight while He Ao sought help from Yaxin.
• Zhang Yusi drew her heavy pistol and turned toward He Ao, but he simply yawned and raised his Bone Sword.

He Ao killed the monsters attacking the gate, then repaired the gate controls and turned the room into a Safehouse. He left Yaxin to guard it and continued deeper into the ruin with Zhang Yusi, seeking a usable map and the source of the danger.

• He Ao swiftly killed four Humanoid Spike Monsters and a Sea Anemone Monster, revealing that the latter amplified nearby contamination rather than producing it.
• He Ao explained that contamination still affected the area, then used Zhang Yusi's dagger and the Mechanical Core Ring to repair the gate controls.
• He Ao lowered and reopened the gate, establishing the room as a Safehouse where Yaxin could remain as its gatekeeper.
• He Ao left Yaxin behind and took Zhang Yusi down the right-hand corridor, choosing to search for a usable map.

He Ao helped Zhang Yusi resist the lingering contamination as they explored a ruined spacecraft, then led her through a swarm of Flesh Spiders. They escaped into a brightly lit area, where a vast spindle-shaped object appeared beyond an observation window.

• Zhang Yusi learned to distinguish reality from illusion by simplifying and focusing her thoughts, following He Ao's guidance.
• He Ao and Zhang Yusi continued through the dark, damaged spacecraft and found robot wreckage, bloodstains, and no human remains.
• Flesh Spiders poured from the wreckage, and He Ao and Zhang Yusi fought their way toward a lighted passage.
• Zhang Yusi shot a Flesh Spider that lunged at her, and the pair crossed into the bright area as the swarm retreated from the light.
• He Ao and Zhang Yusi looked through a huge observation window and saw a giant spindle-shaped object.

He Ao and Zhang Yusi explored the Navigator, a vast spaceship whose central axis showed signs of a god’s influence, and He Ao salvaged parts to access the ship’s systems. As He Ao prepared to find a map, the lights went out and a tentacled creature lunged at them.

• He Ao and Zhang Yusi examined the Navigator’s rotating cabins and discussed the ship’s connection to the ruins and the Original Federation.
• He Ao used Super Memory to inspect the central axis, saw a god’s trace, and suffered a nosebleed before withdrawing his gaze.
• He Ao and Zhang Yusi searched a hall of open Hibernation Pods for the mainframe, where He Ao found severed wires and gun-damaged components.
• He Ao salvaged an intact motherboard module and processor, hoping to find a Storage Chip containing a map.
• The hall lights went out as tentacles lunged at He Ao and Zhang Yusi, and He Ao used Telekinesis to bring the Bone Sword into his hand.

He Ao and Zhang Yusi defeated the mechanized monster guarding the hall by exploiting its hidden Plasma Cannon and coordinating their attacks. As He Ao searched the remains for storage chips, Zhang Yusi found a bullet from the Research Institute’s latest custom-made 9mm Rifle, though neither of them had fired one.

• He Ao lured the monster into attacking, then used its force to throw the Bone Sword into two of its energy nodes.
• He Ao exposed and severed the monster’s hidden Plasma Cannon, then used telekinesis to take it and send it to Zhang Yusi.
• He Ao feinted toward the monster’s head and threw the Bone Sword into its heart while Zhang Yusi fired the Plasma Cannon at its head, killing it.
• He Ao searched the monster’s mechanical remains for storage chips while Zhang Yusi illuminated the area.
• Zhang Yusi found a bullet identified as ammunition for the Research Institute’s latest custom-made 9mm Rifle, although neither she nor He Ao had fired a gun.

He Ao decoded a map from the monster’s Storage Chip and found a possible route to the central axis, along with signs that a Research Institute superhuman was nearby. After recharging the Plasma Cannon with energy chunks from the monster, he and Zhang Yusi set out to find the survivor despite Zhang Yusi nearing her contamination limit.

• Zhang Yusi found a second bullet near the monster, leading He Ao to suspect that a Research Institute member might have survived elsewhere in the ruins.
• He Ao connected the monster’s Storage Chip to the ruins’ motherboard and used the Mechanical Core Ring and Vian’s software to decode part of its data.
• He Ao retrieved an incomplete map showing a possible elevator at the end of a nearby route and learned that the monster had recently returned from the third area.
• He Ao concluded that a Research Institute superhuman who fired the bullets was probably nearby and took the motherboard module with him.
• He Ao fed three energy chunks from the monster into the Plasma Cannon, restoring it to eight charges.
• After He Ao asked whether she could endure the contamination, Zhang Yusi said she could still manage, and they set off to find the Research Institute superhuman.

He Ao rescued Shu Gui from the mechanical monsters aboard the spacecraft, destroying their giant fused body with Thunder Flash. After Shu Gui reunited with Zhang Yusi, He Ao asked what had happened to the other non-Research Institute members who had been with him.

• Shu Gui fought his way through hallucinations and mechanical monsters, only to be surrounded as he tried to reach the dark passage.
• He Ao arrived, cut down the attacking monsters, and protected Shu Gui as the remaining creatures fused into a giant.
• The giant offered He Ao a helmet to join it, but He Ao dismissed its quality and used Thunder Flash to destroy it.
• Zhang Yusi reunited with Shu Gui and said He Ao was already a legend, while He Ao inspected the remains and asked about Shu Gui's former companions.

After rescuing Shu Gui, He Ao sent him and Zhang Yusi back to the Safehouse while he explored the area beyond the hatch. There, he found danger markings on a Storage Chip map and entered the gray-black space, where a blood-written message warned, “I'm so hungry.”

• Shu Gui told He Ao and Zhang Yusi that Yin Weier had abandoned him and fled through a hatch with another World Tree member while monsters attacked.
• He Ao made crutches for the injured Shu Gui, explained how to resist contamination, and sent him and Zhang Yusi back to the Safehouse with the Plasma Cannon.
• He Ao powered up a Storage Chip in the lounge and found maps marking the suspected elevator area as the most dangerous region.
• He Ao discovered that the hatch Shu Gui said had been closed was now open, and he entered the space beyond it.
• He Ao found the words “I'm so hungry” written in blood on the wall in the language of the Second District.

He Ao followed a trail of monitors documenting how trapped Second District crew members starved, turned on each other, and became obsessed with eating sheep. The final monitor showed Yin Weier abandoning his companion to a monster, then asked He Ao whether he was human or a sheep as his image appeared on the screen.

• He Ao explored a blood-soaked passage and read the monitors’ account of the crew’s isolation, dwindling supplies, and Sai Nuo’s death.
• The surviving writers described hallucinating sheep, eating one, and killing each other before their messages ended with a plan to open the blast door.
• A monitor showed Yin Weier and his stocky companion entering the passage and discussing how they had used a Central Land man as a tool.
• Yin Weier’s companion understood the monitor’s question, answered that he was human, and was shoved toward a monster while Yin Weier escaped.
• He Ao found himself standing in fresh blood as the monitor asked whether he was human or a sheep and displayed his image gripping his Bone Sword.

Shu Gui told He Ao and Zhang Yusi how Iver abandoned him and shut him out, and He Ao sent Zhang Yusi and the injured Shu Gui back to the Safehouse. He Ao explored alone, found that the gate Iver had closed was open again, and discovered a blood-written message beyond it: “I'm so hungry.”

• Shu Gui recounted how Iver and another World Tree member fled through a gate and left him to face the monsters.
• He Ao made crutches for Shu Gui, explained how to resist contamination, and sent him and Zhang Yusi back to the Safehouse with the Plasma Cannon.
• He Ao entered the lounge area, activated a Storage Chip, and found maps marking the elevator area as the most dangerous.
• He Ao noticed that the gate Shu Gui said Iver had closed stood partly open and went through it alone.
• He Ao found the words “I'm so hungry” written in blood on the wall beyond the gate.

He Ao met Research Institute operative Li Le on Locke Lun Street, then joined Ye Yun inside the ruins and learned that Yin Weier had taken a damaged elevator toward the ship’s central axis. He and Ye Yun set out to find another route after discovering a warning against opening the sealed shaft.

• He Ao read the Research Institute’s reports on Locke Lun Street while Li Le brought him instant coffee and confirmed the time in the Main World.
• He Ao met Ye Yun in the elevator area and found footprints suggesting Yin Weier had entered the elevator toward the ship’s central axis.
• He Ao and Ye Yun pried open the elevator doors, but a warning on the sealed shaft gate cautioned that the area beyond was under vacuum.
• Ye Yun told He Ao that he had left researcher Yuan Guo in a safer place after encountering a C-Class humanoid monster.
• He Ao told Ye Yun that he had entered the ruins with Zhang Yusi and two Moonlight members, then asked Ye Yun to lead him back by his route to another elevator.

He Ao and Ye Yun crossed the ship’s outer compartment, checked on the injured Yuan Guo, and fought their way to a working elevator. As they rode upward toward the vacuum shaft, they wondered whether they were truly inside a ruin and heard an announcement warning them to fasten their seat belts.

• He Ao told Ye Yun that Yin Weier might have taken control of the ship or acquired a powerful Transcendent Item, and they considered how easily he could kill them inside the sealed vessel.
• He Ao and Ye Yun found Yuan Guo injured in a small Safehouse, confirmed she was safe, and continued on without bringing her along.
• He Ao and Ye Yun fought through a pack of roughly twenty Mechanical-Headed hyenas and reached an elevator that could still operate.
• Ye Yun asked He Ao whether they were really inside a ruin, and they entered the elevator after He Ao fastened his safety belt.
• The elevator announced that it was preparing to ascend and entering weightlessness; after passing through two gates, it rose rapidly toward the vacuum Elevator Shaft.

He Ao and Ye Yun crossed the Navigator’s weightless transition spaces and reached its core area, where they discovered signs that Iver had recently passed through. A wounded gorilla monster attacked them, and He Ao charged it as the chapter ended.

• He Ao and Ye Yun rode the elevator upward, but a failed hatch trapped them and forced them to open the elevator and transition-space hatch manually.
• They found a steel rod with fresh blood bracing the hatch, suggesting Iver had recently blocked their route.
• He Ao and Ye Yun crossed a gravity boundary, entered a railcar, and traveled into the Navigator’s core area.
• A huge gorilla monster dropped toward them, but He Ao kicked it away before it could strike.
• He Ao identified fresh puncture wounds on the gorilla as damage Iver had inflicted, then rushed to attack the monster.

He Ao and Ye Yun defeated a Steel Gorilla Monster, found Iver’s hidden route, and fought their way through a swarm of Human-Faced Bats before following signs toward a railcar. In the Main World, He Ao waited at 6:00 a.m., but no one who entered the ruins had returned.

• He Ao killed the Steel Gorilla Monster and collected its energy blocks while Ye Yun followed him toward Iver’s hurried footprints.
• He Ao found a concealed staircase and explained that Iver had used misleading tracks to lure pursuers deeper into the ship.
• Ye Yun killed a Human-Faced Bat, and He Ao and Ye Yun fought through a swarm to reach a brightly lit passage.
• He Ao found a railcar sign, and He Ao and Ye Yun concluded that Iver was seeking a railcar to reach the ship’s central area.
• At 6:00 a.m. in the Main World, He Ao checked the street and saw that none of the people who had entered the ruins had returned.