Chapter Summaries

He Ao extracted contaminated secret medicines from Night Hawk and rapidly advanced through several Talent Sequences, using Super Memory to draw the contamination away from his body. He claimed he had completed the ritual for Traditional Martial Artist and drank its secret medicine, leaving Sien Ji alarmed as the next advancement began.

• The Old Man told an unseen contact that a minor problem could be resolved that night, then advanced his queen toward a black rook on the chessboard.
• Yixia instructed the Contamination Cleanup Division team leader to continue the investigation and moved to a pickup truck.
• Sien Ji warned He Ao that Night Hawk’s Talent Sequences were contaminated, but helped gather materials and prepare secret medicines after He Ao insisted on advancing.
• He Ao stopped Sien Ji from being drawn into a strange dance-music trance, then worked with him to extract Night Hawk’s Talent Sequences into four contaminated secret medicines.
• He Ao drank the Berserker, Fighter, and Martial Artist medicines in succession, using Super Memory to draw contamination toward the image of Winding Hill as his Physical Fitness rose to 298.
• Despite Sien Ji’s warning that Rank C advancement required a ritual, He Ao said he had completed it and drank the Traditional Martial Artist secret medicine.

He Ao completed his advancement to Martial Artist and refined his martial arts, then taught Jia Qian and Sien Ji before preparing for a banquet. Yixia escaped an attack by a fellow Contamination Cleanup Division officer and headed toward a clinic, while He Ao faced the silver-haired Old Man at the banquet.

• He Ao's advancement triggered a review of his combat memories, allowing him to link and refine his martial arts and greatly increase his burst strength.
• He Ao arranged for Night Hawk's body to be collected, then taught Jia Qian and Sien Ji his improved martial arts and gave Sien Ji a memory chip and shell fragment.
• Yixia realized Contamination Cleanup Division forces were moving against her, escaped their roadblock, and detonated her pickup to defeat the D-rank pursuing her.
• Yixia received an address for a southern-district clinic and found an unmanned vehicle waiting to take her there.
• He Ao arrived at a late-night banquet in the Division building, where the silver-haired Old Man claimed he had killed Martial Artists; He Ao replied that he had killed B-ranks too.

Yixia discovered that Deres, the Director of the Contamination Cleanup Division, was Hidden Mask, the leader of Evolution Follower, and read Night Hawk’s account of how he uncovered their crimes. He Ao confronted Deres over the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law, declared he wanted justice, and faced him as their dinner turned into a standoff.

• Yixia read Night Hawk’s records and learned that he had suspected contamination monsters were mutated humans and that headquarters had concealed the truth.
• Night Hawk’s records described how Deres, as Hidden Mask, attacked him, while the Investigation Team ambushed him and forced him to flee before Kawi rescued him.
• He Ao told Deres that Kajet Group’s food factories produced contamination monsters as byproducts, while the Contamination Cleanup Division served as a public cover for its operations.
• He Ao explained that Shadow Weaver had used Night Hawk to investigate the truth and eliminate him, while Deres dismissed Shadow Weaver as an unfit successor.
• Deres warned He Ao that Kajet Group’s forces, the City Defense Army, and several B-ranks controlled the city, but He Ao pointed out another hidden B-rank behind the scenes.
• He Ao showed Deres the urns of his son and daughter-in-law, declared that he had come for justice, and reached for his cane and Butterfly Knife as Deres gripped his sword.

Yixia learned more about Night Hawk’s lonely past as his body was taken for restoration, while Sien Ji left to visit an old acquaintance at the Mayor’s Residence. At a banquet, He Ao fought Deres after Deres tested him with a sudden sword attack, and the chapter ended with both men preparing for a serious duel.

• Yixia removed Night Hawk’s iron mask, saw his badly disfigured face, and arranged for a skilled mortuary makeup artist to restore it.
• A Funeral Home worker told Yixia that people in nearby neighborhoods remembered Night Hawk as the Iron Mask Hero who saved them from monsters and helped poor families.
• Sien Ji told Yixia to look after Jia Qian while he went to the Mayor’s Residence to visit an old acquaintance he called a dog of power.
• Deres attacked He Ao with a soft sword, but He Ao blocked the strike and killed a staff member who tried to ambush him.
• He Ao and Deres exchanged further attacks and gauged each other’s strength, with He Ao recognizing that Deres was much stronger but preparing to fight anyway.
• Deres and He Ao rose with their weapons ready, and Deres promised to place flowers on He Ao’s grave.

He Ao fought Deres, adapting his weapons and martial arts to withstand the stronger swordsman and briefly gain the ability to counterattack. Deres then unleashed the Punishment Knight’s supernatural power, crushing He Ao’s momentum and leaving him struggling against an oppressive force.

• Deres lunged at He Ao, and the two exchanged deadly attacks as He Ao used his telescoping spear to parry and wound Deres’s hands.
• He Ao recognized that Deres’s soft sword had the advantage at close range, dismantled his spear into a cane and Butterfly Knife, and continued fighting with both weapons.
• He Ao adapted Deres’s force-dispersing techniques during the fight, blocked a powerful double strike, and killed a monster that charged at him while the other C-class fighters retreated.
• He Ao counterattacked with the Butterfly Knife and cut Deres’s sword-wielding wrist, but Deres soon released a terrifying supernatural pressure that forced He Ao to struggle against the urge to kneel.

He Ao killed Deres in a rooftop battle by turning Deres’s borrowed power from Winding Hill against him and exploiting a brief opening. He then appeared to die, but his body vanished, while the Old Man began investigating Yixia and the fate of Sito.

• Deres sacrificed the nearby Fused Ones to increase his power, then attacked He Ao with the Soft Sword and Winding Hill’s suppressive force.
• He Ao used his connection to Winding Hill and his Super Memory abilities to interrupt Deres’s attempt to withdraw, then stabbed Deres through his Energy Convergence Point with the Butterfly Knife.
• As he died, Deres recognized that He Ao’s Talent Sequence involved more than Listening and said the next battle belonged to him; He Ao placed flowers beside Deres’s corpse.
• Contamination Cleanup Division teams arrived, and He Ao examined Deres’s book, collected the suitcase, and stood motionless until the crowd believed him dead.
• He Ao’s body vanished, apparently taken by Shadow Hound, as the gathered people speculated about his fate and Night Hawk’s.
• The Old Man learned that Deres was dead and Sito’s wounded body had disappeared; he ordered his officer to seek information about Yixia through South City and West City brokers.

A middle-aged man found a warning from an old acquaintance, while Sien Ji and Yixia prepared to follow Sir Sito’s escape plan as the City Defense Army anticipated their attempt. The chapter ended with Vian emerging from a Metal Box in Kaya City as the Little Girl greeted him.

• The Mayor found his old glasses and a flyer bearing a warning at the back door of the Mayor's Residence, then declined a charity ball to meet his old acquaintance at the Elm Money Tree Bar.
• Sien Ji and Yixia watched news about Kajet mercenaries entering Saint Jon City and discussed their limited time to escape; Jia Qian steadied the exhausted Yixia.
• An officer learned that a veiled woman had hired an underground broker to smuggle a child and a person-sized box out of the city by the night after tomorrow, and ordered the youth to make the broker accept the job.
• The officer relayed the broker's message to Old Man, who removed the Black Chariot from the chessboard.
• In Kaya City, a person emerged from a Metal Box as the Little Girl greeted him, “Good morning, Vian.”

Sien Ji met Mayor Krote in secret to warn him that the Kajet Group’s mercenaries threatened his position and to seek authorization to open the West Gate. Krote refused, but Sien Ji left a private phone number hidden in an eyeglass case, expecting Krote to contact him if trouble arose.

• Sien Ji met Krote in a private room at Elm Money Tree Bar and challenged his decision to let the Kajet Group’s mercenaries enter Saint Jon City.
• Sien Ji argued that Krote could use Da En and the City Defense Army to resist the Kajet Group if its mercenaries caused trouble.
• Sien Ji asked Krote to authorize opening the West Gate, but Krote feared Sien Ji might use it to create chaos and refused.
• Krote left the room with the Brawny Man, and Sien Ji told Yixia that the meeting had only been meant to make Krote wary.
• Sien Ji opened the eyeglass case and found Krote’s private phone number concealed inside.

He Ao met with Lina and Danny to review Nolanka Group’s struggles in food, medicine, and industry, including Kajet Group’s attacks and employees’ heavy debts. With the group short on funds and growth constrained, He Ao asked whether Fiss had returned and went to see him.

• Lina reported that Kajet Group was blocking Nolanka Group’s food products from stores and undercutting them with subsidized prices.
• Danny described the group’s food-production shortfall, Qiming Medical College’s progress, and the Medical Consortium Alliance’s efforts to poach doctors and restrict supplies.
• Danny said industrial expansion and sales had improved employment and cash flow, but Lina explained that employees’ high-interest debts were suppressing consumption.
• Lina proposed that Nolan Ka Bank refinance employees’ debts with preferential loans, but said the plan required more cash than the group had available.
• He Ao concluded that Nolanka Group needed money to expand food production and stimulate consumption, then asked Danny whether Fiss had returned and went to see him.

He Ao made his first public appearance in Kaya City, accepted the citizens’ support, and acknowledged the reforms as “our Nolanka.” He then met Fiss outside the North City Gate to discuss the Mercenary Group’s mechs, recruitment, and combat readiness as they faced the wilderness.

• Jack and Aisha recognized He Ao in a crowd and took their daughter Annie off the bus to watch him pass.
• He Ao walked through a passage formed by Kaya City residents, remembered how the road had changed since his childhood, and praised its repairs.
• At the North City Gate, He Ao told the crowd, “This is our Nolanka. Hope and the future are in our hands,” prompting thunderous cheers before he left with Lina and Danny.
• He Ao met Fiss beyond the gate and discussed the Mercenary Group’s recruitment, the need to promote its role, and the capabilities and limits of its Cain Type and Abel Type mechs.
• He Ao looked toward the tents outside the city and noted that a force crossing the wilderness would inevitably be discovered.

Saint Jon City's leaders prepared defenses against the Nolanka Mercenary Group while the Old Man pursued a separate plan involving Da En. Elsewhere, Yixia and Sien Ji sought help, and Roger witnessed the Hibernation Pod begin to open.

• The Old Man ordered Saint Jon City to reposition troops, prepare obstacles at the South Gate, and send a squad to follow the Nolanka Mercenary Group's exercise route.
• The man in the officer's uniform confirmed that the Old Man's banquet with Da En was arranged at the West City Gate command post.
• Yixia and Sien Ji visited an unmarked shop with Jia Qian to seek assistance, but the woman inside said she only did makeup for the dead.
• A cloaked figure left the Kai Jett Grain Factory before two Youths arrived to guard it.
• Roger checked the Hibernation Pod in his laboratory and saw its cover tremble as alarms sounded and signs of life surged.

Christos and Serle learned that the original K was alive, while Yixia’s efforts to secure Krote’s cooperation were upended by his assassination. As Saint Jon City sealed its gates and launched a manhunt, Yixia fled in a truck carrying Sito’s corpse, pursued by a monster.

• Christos showed Serle an authentic video of K and confirmed that K was still alive.
• The Old Man and an officer arranged a coordinated operation, assigning an extra fused monster to watch Yixia’s departure from Saint Jon City.
• Yixia waited for Krote to choose whether to cooperate, but a bloodied man told her that the mayor had been assassinated.
• Yixia traveled toward a truck caravan with a Little Girl and a coffin-like box containing Sito’s corpse, while two youths discovered the body and reported it.
• The Vice Mayor announced Krote’s death, closed the city gates, and enlisted Kajet mercenaries in a citywide manhunt.
• Yixia’s truck escaped the square as a tentacled monster killed the two youths and pursued it.

Christos and Serle prepared to use K’s evidence and the Kajet Group’s enemies to advance grain reform, while Bran and Old Man began a coordinated takeover of Saint Jon City’s gates. Yixia and her allies killed the tentacled monster and moved toward the west gate with the key they needed to open it.

• Christos told Serle that one-third of the council had accepted Kajet Group donations, but K’s evidence and the conglomerate’s many enemies could give the Grain Bill a chance if a major incident occurred.
• Bran killed Division Commander Da En with a poisoned dagger, confirmed that Sito was dead, and reported that the City Defense Army’s gates were ready to be seized.
• Old Man learned that the Nolanka Mercenary Group was still approaching, then ordered Bran to move after knocking over the chess pieces.
• Yixia’s truck lost control during a citywide network outage, but a man with a broadsword killed the pursuing tentacled monster and Yixia helped the decoy pair escape.
• The broadsword wielder told Yixia that the mayor’s Highest Physical Authority Key could open the gate, and the two set off toward the west city gate.

During Saint Jon City’s blackout, Kajet Group mercenaries attacked the Federal Bureau of Investigation branch while Sketer escaped and joined Jia Qian in an off-road vehicle. As the mercenaries seized the West Gate, Bran spotted aircraft approaching through the wilderness.

• A citywide blackout and communications outage left residents isolated as a broadcast warned them to stay indoors, and a Kajet mercenary nearly shot a Little Girl outside a Cake Shop.
• Kajet Group mercenaries attacked the Federal Bureau of Investigation branch, where Deputy Director Vince ordered agents to retreat upstairs after the attackers brought in armored vehicles.
• Sketer escaped from the building with a Metal Briefcase, but mercenaries spotted him and pursued him.
• Jia Qian rammed the mercenaries’ vehicle, picked up Sketer, and helped him shoot the attackers before telling him they were heading to the Contamination Cleanup Division Building.
• Jia Qian gave Sketer a remote automatic control system chip to use amid the network, power, and wireless signal failures.
• Bran watched Kai Jiete’s Mercenary Group seize the West Gate until an officer spotted Fighter Jets and transport planes approaching through the wilderness.

Bran recognized the aircraft approaching the West Gate as a daring Nolanka Mercenary Group surprise attack and ordered the Kajet forces to prepare their defenses. As Yixia and the Brawny Man began their assault on the gate amid a strange purple phenomenon in the sky, Sien Ji led agents into the former Evolution Follower headquarters, one of the suspected altar sites.

• Bran realized the six aircraft had crossed the wilderness to exploit the Kajet Mercenary Group's weakened defenses at the West Gate, and he ordered the troops to activate their Mecha and anti-aircraft systems.
• Bran learned that the City Defense Army still controlled most anti-aircraft systems and ordered more guards sent to the city gate.
• Yixia and the Brawny Man prepared to attack the West Gate, carrying Krote's key and resolved to protect his family despite expecting to die.
• Purple flames and twisted lines spread across the sky as Yixia and the Brawny Man counted down and charged the gate.
• Sien Ji led Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in an assault on the former Evolution Follower headquarters and entered the building to search one of the city's possible altar sites.

Jia Qian and Sketer prepared to attack the Contamination Cleanup Division Building while Bran went to deal with a breach at the city gate. At West Gate, Yixia and the Brawny Man fought through Kajet's defenses toward the emergency gate switch.

• Federation fighters and transport planes attacked West Gate, while Bran learned that two superhumans were targeting the gate defenses and went down to confront them.
• Jia Qian and Sketer opened a case containing a customized armed drone and prepared to carry out their mission within ten minutes.
• Sketer doubted their chances and worried about Jia Qian, but she reminded him that only this operation could let them survive, and he agreed to trust her.
• Jia Qian and Sketer set off toward the Contamination Cleanup Division Building, with Jia Qian saying she had a way to send their final information to Sir despite the communications blackout.
• Yixia and the Brawny Man advanced toward the emergency gate switch, fighting through Kajet's three-layer defensive line.

Yixia and the Brawny Man opened the city gates, but Bran nearly reversed their victory before outside forces intervened. As the Nolanka Group entered the city and other allies mobilized, the hooded spear-bearer confronted Mr. Velen Te and declared that he had won the first half of their game.

• Yixia killed an invisible assassin, used the Key Card to unlock the emergency switch, and pulled both levers to open the city gates.
• Bran arrived, wounded the Brawny Man, and grabbed Yixia while trying to close the gates, but a ship-mounted laser cannon struck him and Fiss knocked him away.
• Annie of the Nolanka Group treated Yixia and the Brawny Man as Mecha troops poured through the open gates and defeated the remaining mercenaries.
• A Little Girl flew into the Contamination Cleanup Division building, killed a mercenary, and released a surge of psychic power after crushing a shell fragment.
• Sien Ji killed an opponent in the Evolution Follower Building and crushed a shell fragment in his hand.
• The hooded spear-bearer confronted Mr. Velen Te in the City Center Park, placed a Black Chariot before his white king, and called check.

He Ao explained how his feigned death let him exploit the conflict between Velen Te, Krote, and Da En, weakening Velen Te’s opposition before the ritual. As Velen Te realized the Nolanka Group had targeted Bran and that He Ao had used the Authority Key, He Ao hinted that even a pawn could rise to become a queen.

• Velen Te asked where He Ao had hidden, and He Ao explained that he had chosen a position from which he could support Jia Qian and Sien Ji while still reaching the real altar in time.
• Velen Te recognized that He Ao’s feigned death had let him act from the shadows and exploit the conflict within Velen Te’s faction.
• He Ao explained that Sito’s apparent death had encouraged Velen Te to move against Krote, whose death left Velen Te in control of Saint Jon City and reduced the B-ranks He Ao had to face from three to two.
• He Ao told Velen Te that Bran would not arrive to support him, and Velen Te deduced that the Nolanka Group had attacked through the West Gate and that Krote had given He Ao the Authority Key.
• He Ao compared himself to a pawn reaching the back rank and being promoted, while Velen Te looked at the Black Chariot.

He Ao confronted Velen Te as Winding Hill descended over the city and learned that Velen Te had orchestrated the ritual to gain access to its power. He Ao revealed that he had sabotaged the ritual, and the two prepared to fight as the city’s sacrifice stalled.

• A mercenary attacked the Cake Shop, but three armored figures killed him and his companions before Little Girl saw the City of Stars Emblem on their armor.
• Velen Te offered He Ao a share of Winding Hill’s power and explained that he believed it held the tomb and Talent Sequence of a High-Level Existence.
• He Ao rejected the offer, saying his son was a nameless person killed by Velen Te’s pursuit of eternal power, and revealed the suitcase containing the child’s ashes.
• Winding Hill appeared above the city, and Velen Te admitted that this was the first of multiple cities he had prepared for the ritual.
• He Ao revealed that he had obstructed the ritual, causing its sacrifice to stall, and Velen Te realized they had reached a point of no return.
• He Ao and Velen Te raised their weapons and prepared to fight.

He Ao fought Velen Te while using a three-minute flaw in the sacrifice ritual to stall Winding Hill’s offering. He learned Velen Te’s Hidden Force during their clash, but Velen Te used Thought Alteration to change He Ao’s reaction and pierce his chest.

• He Ao revealed that Winding Hill’s contamination had restored and strengthened him, while the Control Arrays arranged by the Nolanka Group could jam Velen Te’s sacrifice ritual for only three minutes.
• Velen Te summoned resentful undead and attacked He Ao with an invisible blade, but He Ao’s contaminated body and spear destroyed most of the spirits.
• He Ao used his enhanced strength and spear skills to withstand Velen Te’s attacks and learned to imitate his Hidden Force.
• He Ao struck Velen Te with Hidden Force, broke several of his bones, and forced him to defend against a series of spear attacks.
• Velen Te sent a powerful undead at He Ao, then used Thought Alteration to change He Ao’s response and pierce his right chest with the invisible blade.