Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “The Truth Behind Every Event”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng orders Lokasky and Black Tiger Venerable to leave the ruins, insisting that their presence would only hinder him. Although they resist because they promised to protect him, the statue teleports them out and seals the entrance.
• Lokasky attempts to reopen the ruins using the password Chen Cheng entered earlier, but the password is rejected, confirming that the statue deliberately altered or restricted access.
• The statue admits that it had concealed its true strength in order to persuade Chen Cheng to remain. It claims to have endured more than 110,000 years of torment and genuinely wishes to die.
• Chen Cheng becomes focused on the ruins’ age and agrees to kill the statue, but the statue demands that he swear upon the mysterious black pendant around his neck.
• The statue reveals that the pendant is not an ordinary object but a “heart”—possibly the heart of a god or, more significantly, the heart of a living world.
• It explains that sufficiently evolved worlds may develop into living entities with consciousness, emotions, and independent will, rather than merely possessing impersonal Heavenly Dao laws.
• The Ancient Civilization’s ruins and the World Box’s actions are revealed to be connected to this process: the World Box seeks to reverse or prevent the world’s transformation, while the Ancient Civilization monitored and resisted it.
• The statue argues that a living world would view gods, humans, and other beings as parasites exploiting its energy and resources to resist entropy. Once conscious, the world would have no reason to continue nourishing them.
• Chen Cheng asks how much time remains. The statue cannot give an exact answer, but warns that when the pendant’s “heart” changes from gemstone into flesh and blood, the destruction of Chen Cheng’s world will be imminent.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng becomes increasingly suspicious and determined. He recognizes that the statue is hiding information and manipulates the situation to force his allies away, showing both confidence and willingness to act alone.
• His attitude toward the statue remains skeptical and mocking, but the revelations about the pendant and the world’s possible consciousness deeply unsettle him.
• Chen Cheng’s understanding expands from individual enemies and historical conspiracies to a cosmic conflict involving entropy, world evolution, and the survival of all life.
• The statue is shown to be far more powerful and knowledgeable than it initially claimed. Although it may genuinely desire death, it also carefully controls Chen Cheng through incomplete information and demands a binding oath.
• Lokasky and Black Tiger Venerable demonstrate loyalty and protectiveness toward Chen Cheng, but are forced into helplessness when the statue removes them from the ruins.

Significant Themes

• The world as a living organism: The chapter explores the idea that a world may evolve from an inanimate environment into a conscious lifeform.
• Life as parasitism: Intelligent beings survive by extracting resources from the world, creating an inevitable conflict between the world and the lives it supports.
• Entropy and survival: Civilization, intelligence, and conflict are portrayed as methods of resisting entropy, but this resistance requires continual consumption and plunder.
• Truth concealed behind appearances: The statue, the pendant, the ruins, and the World Box all possess deeper identities than Chen Cheng initially understands.
• Inevitable catastrophe: The transformation of the pendant into flesh becomes a symbolic countdown, suggesting that the world’s awakening—and the destruction accompanying it—may be unavoidable.
• Isolation and sacrifice: Chen Cheng deliberately separates himself from his companions, accepting personal danger in order to uncover the truth and confront the statue alone.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng argues with Lokasky and Black Tiger Venerable, dismissing their promise to protect him and forcing them to leave.
• The statue intervenes directly by teleporting the two guardians out and sealing the ruins, demonstrating its superior control over the environment.
• Chen Cheng questions and challenges the statue, using sarcasm to probe its motives and the nature of the pendant.
• The statue responds with increasingly profound revelations, attempting to secure Chen Cheng’s promise while warning him that his world’s survival depends on the outcome of the larger conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Dimensional Rift-Jump Storm”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng remains skeptical of the statue’s explanation that the entire world is a living entity and that the pendant he carries is its “heart.” He identifies several contradictions, especially the pendant’s tiny size and the fact that the Ancient Civilization supposedly discovered and refined it.
• He questions the statue about the mysterious system capable of killing it, joking that he might possess enough authority to command the system himself. The statue refuses to elaborate, insisting that there is no time and urging Chen Cheng to help steal the Ancient Civilization’s weapons.
• Chen Cheng touches the towering arrays while holding the pendant, causing the system and the ruin’s electromagnetic output to malfunction. The magic circle sustaining the statue disappears.
• The statue successfully releases several sets of Dimensional Armament but begins to break down as its consciousness and the system fail. Before dying, it thanks Chen Cheng for freeing it and admits that it deceived him, though it cannot finish explaining the deception.
• Chen Cheng activates one suit using his identity plate. The armor recognizes him as “Citizen Number 0” and assembles itself around his body.
• The Dimensional Armament is revealed to be vastly superior to ordinary divine artifacts, possessing abilities such as power analysis, dimensional-space recognition and traversal, and combat optimization. However, its accompanying weapon modules are missing.
• The armor detects a Dimensional Rift-Jump Storm and automatically forms a spatial barrier around Chen Cheng.
• The statue collapses completely, revealing that it had been suppressing a dimensional rift rather than merely maintaining the ruins. The rift unleashes a massive storm.
• The resulting earthquake devastates thousands of miles around the sea ruins. Islands sink, volcanoes erupt, tsunamis spread, and many members of the Sea Clan die.
• The disaster reaches Qimu Province, forcing Hisslaj to abandon preparations for the northern campaign and return to manage relief efforts. The earthquake therefore alters the political and military course of the continent.
• Chen Cheng survives inside the armor but is violently thrown through unstable space because he lacks the modules needed to control or stabilize dimensional movement.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng demonstrates continued intellectual skepticism. Rather than accepting the statue’s cosmic claims, he examines their logical weaknesses while remaining open to the possibility that they contain some truth.
• He becomes the recipient of immensely advanced Ancient Civilization technology, gaining a powerful new suit of Dimensional Armament and potentially greater access to the civilization’s systems.
• His situation becomes more dangerous and uncertain after the statue’s death, as its confession suggests that Chen Cheng may have been manipulated.
• The statue shifts from manipulator and source of information to a tragic prisoner. It appears to have been forced to maintain the ruins and suppress the dimensional rift, and its final actions imply that it sought freedom even at the cost of deceiving Chen Cheng.

Significant Themes

• Truth versus incomplete knowledge: Chen Cheng recognizes that the statue’s explanation may be partly true without accepting it wholesale.
• Freedom and sacrifice: The statue dies after disrupting the system, viewing Chen Cheng’s actions as liberation, while also admitting that it deceived him.
• Ancient power and dangerous technology: The Dimensional Armament represents technology beyond divine artifacts, but its release also unleashes catastrophic consequences.
• Unintended consequences: Chen Cheng’s attempt to obtain the weapons triggers a dimensional disaster that kills countless beings and changes political events far beyond the ruins.
• Fragility of civilization: A single suppressed rift’s release causes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and major historical disruption.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and the statue engage in a tense exchange: Chen Cheng probes for information about the system, while the statue avoids answering and pressures him to act quickly.
• The statue relies on Chen Cheng to disrupt the system and release the weapons, but secretly withholds the truth about its role in suppressing the rift.
• Before its consciousness disappears, the statue thanks Chen Cheng for freeing it and apologizes for deceiving him.
• Chen Cheng has no opportunity to confront the statue about the deception, as it dies immediately afterward.
• Outside the ruins, Lokasky and another figure witness the statue’s destruction and the resulting collapse, while Hisslaj is forced to respond to the disaster politically and militarily.

Chapter Summary: “A New World”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng is swept through a terrifying dimensional transition. He experiences suffocation, dizziness, and visions of countless worlds and alternate versions of himself.
• His Dimensional Armament detects a marked dimension and activates dimensional stabilization before he loses consciousness.
• Chen Cheng awakens within another ruined research institute, where he discovers a Transcendent God Weapon and a vast nebula sealed by a Divine Matrix.
• He realizes with shock that the nebula has the exact shape of the Karmak Continent, suggesting a mysterious connection between the research institute, the weapon, and his known world.
• Before he can investigate further, his consciousness is pulled back into his body.
• He awakens on a futuristic road beside Melinda, who believes he has been harassing or pursuing her. A passerby mistakes them for a married couple arguing in traffic.
• Melinda takes Chen Cheng to her luxurious private manor, where he encounters familiar figures—especially Isabel—in completely different roles.
• Confused by the altered reality, Chen Cheng allows Melinda and Isabel to explain the situation.
• Melinda reveals that, in this world, she is the daughter of an extremely wealthy corporate chairman and a powerful World Government Council member. She has lived as a privileged, highly accomplished “fairy-tale princess.”
• She then explains Chen Cheng’s alternate history: he was abandoned as an infant, became an orphan, and rose from the lower classes through exceptional intelligence and determination, eventually entering the prestigious First Academy and winning numerous academic competitions and scholarships.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes increasingly disoriented as he realizes he has entered an alternate dimension where familiar people and circumstances have been radically changed. His ability to observe inconsistencies and compare realities remains intact, but he must suppress his confusion while gathering information.
• Melinda: Appears as a wealthy, confident, and socially powerful young woman with a loving family and privileged upbringing. Unlike the Melinda Chen knows, she has not suffered abandonment or hardship. She is embarrassed by the apparent relationship between herself and Chen Cheng but still takes responsibility for helping him.
• Isabel: In this reality, Isabel serves as Melinda’s formal butler rather than occupying her familiar role. Her calm, practical suggestion that Chen Cheng needs counseling highlights how strange his behavior appears to others.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda’s alternate relationship: The system has apparently matched them as a couple, though Chen Cheng has no memory of their relationship. Melinda accepts the system’s decision more readily than he does, while he struggles to understand how their connection differs across dimensions.

Significant Themes

• Alternate realities and identity: The chapter emphasizes how the same individuals can possess entirely different lives, personalities, and social positions in parallel worlds.
• Fate versus circumstance: Melinda’s privileged life and Chen Cheng’s heroic rise from poverty suggest that identity is shaped both by innate qualities and by the conditions of one’s world.
• Disorientation and perception: Chen Cheng cannot rely on familiar faces or memories, forcing him to question what is real and how much of his previous life applies to this dimension.
• Connections between worlds: The nebula’s identical shape to the Karmak Continent hints at a deeper relationship between the different dimensions and possibly the origins of the world itself.
• System-controlled relationships: The system’s matching mechanism influences personal relationships, raising questions about free will, emotional authenticity, and whether bonds can be imposed by external forces.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng briefly interacts with the mysterious Transcendent God Weapon before being pulled back into consciousness.
• Melinda confronts him over what she believes is his persistent pursuit of her, while Chen Cheng is bewildered because he remembers no such behavior.
• Their argument attracts a passerby, who jokes that they are a married couple blocking traffic, embarrassing Melinda.
• At the manor, Isabel and the servants greet Chen Cheng as Melinda’s “Young Master,” reinforcing the alternate reality’s assumption that he belongs there.
• Melinda and Isabel initially interpret Chen Cheng’s confusion as emotional stress or difficulty adjusting to his new relationship with Melinda, but Melinda eventually begins explaining their alternate histories to him.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Melinda explains that after graduation, Chen Cheng was blacklisted by major corporate conglomerates because he had humiliated the heirs of powerful Lineage families during his academy years.
• Chen Cheng questions why those families did not recruit him as a son-in-law, prompting Melinda to reveal a fundamental rule of this society: since the Epoch, the system controls marriage and assigns partners.
• The system is presented as impartial and impossible for even the ruling Lineages to manipulate. It prevents the powerful from physically destroying talented outsiders, though they can still obstruct their careers.
• Chen Cheng questions whether his relationship with Melinda is genuine or merely the result of the system’s biological and emotional matching. Melinda insists that they truly love each other and that the system only brings together people who are naturally compatible.
• Melinda offers Chen Cheng a place within the Lineage’s company, freeing him from the need to search for employment.
• Isabel escorts Chen Cheng to his room. He studies her gait because he believes she may have a prosthetic leg, but she explains that although her leg was injured, advanced technology and her wealth allowed her to preserve it.
• Alone in his luxurious, technologically advanced room, Chen Cheng begins researching the world through its computer.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Remains skeptical and analytical, prioritizing logical inconsistencies over emotional intimacy. He is disturbed by the possibility that his relationship with Melinda may be system-determined and recognizes that his assumptions about this world are often shaped by his previous life.
• Melinda: Shows affection and patience toward Chen Cheng, but also reveals the controlling social structure governing marriage. She tries to reassure him that their love is authentic and encourages him to join her family’s company.
• Isabel: Maintains a calm, professional attitude while correcting Chen Cheng’s mistaken assumptions about her injury. Her exchange with him highlights her confidence and subtly embarrasses him.

Significant Themes

• Free will versus social control: Marriage and romantic compatibility are regulated by an apparently infallible system, raising questions about whether personal choice and love can truly exist under such supervision.
• Power and merit: Although Lineage families dominate society, the system limits their ability to eliminate gifted outsiders, illustrating the tension between inherited privilege and individual talent.
• Cultural dislocation: Chen Cheng repeatedly compares this world with his former one, revealing how difficult it is to understand a society governed by unfamiliar technological and social rules.
• Authenticity of emotion: His cold reaction to Melinda and doubts about their love suggest a larger uncertainty over whether his mind, body, or identity has been altered by crossing dimensions.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melinda: Their intimate conversation combines affection with philosophical conflict. Melinda embraces and reassures him, while Chen Cheng responds with suspicion and rational questioning.
• Chen Cheng and Isabel: Their brief exchange exposes Chen Cheng’s mistaken assumptions and creates an awkward but lightly humorous moment when Isabel interprets his attention to her leg as inappropriate curiosity.
• Chen Cheng and the new world: His decision to investigate the internet marks the beginning of his effort to understand the society he has entered rather than simply accept its explanations.

Chapter Summary: “Finding She Li’s Whereabouts”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng investigates Melinda’s background and confirms that her father is a powerful capitalist while her mother is a high-ranking official.
• He researches the history of the world and learns that, one hundred thousand years earlier, a devastating global war ended the pre-Epoch era.
• After the war, humanity created an all-powerful, highly rational system to govern society. The system eliminated war, famine, and most major social conflicts, creating a near-utopian civilization.
• To prevent wealth from being concentrated through family bloodlines, the system abolished the right to freely choose one’s spouse, leaving the union of bloodlines to chance. Class divisions remained, however, since even the system could not eliminate them.
• Remembering Samlet’s account of advanced flying cars, Chen Cheng searches recent news for signs of outsiders from other worlds, believing She Li and the others may have appeared in this world.
• Unknown to him, Melinda and her aide Isabel monitor his actions through surveillance. They notice that Chen Cheng uses technology in an outdated, pre-Epoch manner and suspect that something is unusual about him.
• Melinda grants him broader access to information. Chen Cheng then discovers a classified report titled: “Experiment 0721 malfunction: pre-Epoch human discovered, suspected of possessing some kind of extraordinary pre-Epoch method.”
• The report’s footage reveals She Li in his Little Dragonkin form, holding a butcher’s knife, appearing inside a laboratory.
• When scientists attempt to restrain or return him to his original era, She Li attacks, releasing powerful blade energy that cuts through the laboratory.
• She Li demands to know who captured him and where Chen Cheng—whom he calls “His Majesty”—has been taken.
• The researchers speculate that She Li’s abilities come from an ancient cultivation method and express interest in obtaining it for human evolution.
• Chen Cheng becomes enraged and worried, imagining the experiments and dangers She Li may face. He resolves to learn what happened afterward and use Melinda’s influence and family power to help him.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes more informed about the new world and its history. His initial curiosity turns into intense concern after confirming that She Li is present and being studied. He recognizes that his position as Melinda’s husband may provide the resources needed to intervene.
• She Li: Is shown reacting fiercely and instinctively to captivity. He remains loyal to Chen Cheng, immediately asking for his whereabouts, and demonstrates overwhelming combat power by cutting through the laboratory.
• Melinda: Reveals a calculating and observant side by monitoring Chen Cheng. Rather than confronting him, she chooses to grant him more access and watch what he discovers.
• Isabel: Identifies Chen Cheng’s behavior as resembling that of a pre-Epoch person and helps Melinda interpret his unusual actions.
• The Researchers/System: View She Li less as a person in danger and more as a valuable source of power or evolutionary knowledge, exposing their curiosity, fear, and opportunism.

Significant Themes

• Rational order versus human freedom: The world’s peaceful civilization is built on extreme control, including the removal of personal choice in marriage.
• The cost of utopia: Although the system has eliminated war and poverty, it has also reduced human relationships and individuality to controlled social mechanisms.
• Power and exploitation: She Li’s abilities are treated as something to be studied and appropriated rather than respected, reflecting the danger of powerful institutions exploiting outsiders.
• Loyalty across worlds: She Li’s first concern is Chen Cheng’s safety and whereabouts, while Chen Cheng is driven to rescue him despite being unable to act immediately.
• Outsider identity and cultural displacement: Both Chen Cheng and She Li are strangers in a highly advanced civilization, where even ordinary behavior and traditional abilities are considered abnormal or primitive.
• Class and inequality: The chapter acknowledges that even an apparently perfect system cannot completely erase social hierarchy.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and She Li: Though they do not meet directly in the present chapter, She Li’s demand for Chen Cheng and Chen Cheng’s emotional reaction demonstrate their strong bond and mutual loyalty.
• Melinda and Isabel: They discuss Chen Cheng’s suspicious behavior and agree to observe him rather than confront him. Melinda’s decision to expand his permissions allows him to uncover She Li’s situation.
• She Li and the researchers: The researchers attempt to control and study him, while She Li responds violently, demanding answers and defending himself.
• Chen Cheng and the new world’s system: Chen Cheng investigates the system indirectly through historical records and restricted news, beginning to understand how its supposedly perfect society functions—and where its abuses lie.

Chapter Summary: “The Truth Behind the Anger”

Key Plot Points and Events

• She Li destroys the laboratory where he was imprisoned but remains behind because he senses no Transcendent power and suspects the real threat has not appeared.
• He demands to know the identity of his captors and asks about “His Majesty,” Lord Sam, and Melos, while secretly preparing an escape through his Shadow Demon.
• The researchers realize that She Li’s speech confirms the existence of the Time Flow Loop and suggests that other people from the past—possibly Lord Sam and Melos—may also have survived.
• Team Leader Chen orders She Li’s containment. Electricity briefly incapacitates him, but he resists by covering himself in Saber Intent.
• She Li attempts to break through the laboratory, but a special containment procedure and an Electromagnetic Prison Matrix stop him. His Shadow Demon cannot penetrate the matrix.
• The researchers enter the room to negotiate with him, but She Li is prepared to kill them—until Chen Cheng appears.
• Upon seeing Chen Cheng, She Li’s murderous intent disappears, and he respectfully calls him “Your Majesty.” Chen Cheng accepts the title and persuades him not to resist recklessly.
• Afterward, Chen Cheng investigates the world’s research on spacetime travel and discovers that his predecessor had sent an important academic paper for review.
• The paper reveals that the previous Chen Cheng had made major breakthroughs in spacetime travel and had also researched the Ancient Era’s Magic Energy cultivation system and Transcendent Magic.
• Chen Cheng realizes that his predecessor rejected system pairing with Melinda because marriage could cause his accomplishments to be viewed as products of Melinda’s Lineage rather than his own work.

Character Developments

• She Li is shown to be cautious, intelligent, and fiercely protective of his allies. Despite being trapped and attacked, he remains ready to fight until Chen Cheng’s appearance calms him.
• Chen Cheng gains a deeper understanding of both the alternate world and his predecessor. He realizes that the predecessor’s anger toward the pairing system came from fear of losing ownership and recognition of his life’s work.
• The previous Chen Cheng is revealed to have been an ambitious researcher on the verge of achieving immense influence through spacetime research and Transcendent Magic.
• Melinda begins to recognize the emotional and professional cost the system pairing imposed on Chen Cheng. She feels guilty, wondering whether choosing pairing made her responsible for his troubles.
• Isabel reassures Melinda that the pairing was effectively unavoidable because the system had already designated Chen Cheng as a suitable match.

Significant Themes

• Scientific ambition versus social obligation: Chen Cheng’s predecessor views marriage as a threat to his independence and academic legacy because his work might become associated with Melinda’s family power.
• Identity and inheritance: The current Chen Cheng must navigate the achievements, relationships, and consequences left behind by another version of himself.
• Fate versus personal choice: The system presents pairing as predetermined, raising questions about whether Melinda and Chen Cheng truly had freedom in the matter.
• Recognition and ownership: The chapter emphasizes the importance of receiving credit for one’s achievements and the resentment caused when external forces appear to claim them.
• The past returning to the present: She Li’s survival and the possible return of other Ancient Era figures suggest that history may directly disrupt the modern world.

Character Interactions

• She Li confronts the researchers through the broadcast system, demanding answers about his companions and “His Majesty.”
• The researchers discuss She Li’s origins and significance, treating him as both a dangerous prisoner and an invaluable scientific discovery.
• Team Leader Chen orders She Li’s containment and prepares to document the breakthrough for a world-shaking academic report.
• Chen Cheng and She Li share an immediate bond: Chen Cheng’s appearance alone ends She Li’s aggression, indicating deep trust and loyalty.
• Melinda and Isabel discuss Chen Cheng’s anger. Isabel argues that Melinda should not blame herself because the system—not her alone—created the forced marriage arrangement.

Chapter Summary: “No Sense of Boundaries”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng decides not to rush to rescue She Li because She Li’s rarity as an experimental subject means he is not in immediate danger.
• He considers using his current identity and position to search for Melos and the others, who disappeared after being swept into the world by the Eye of the Storm.
• The next morning, Chen Cheng behaves unusually cheerfully and openly, revealing knowledge from the alternate world without concern for how strange he sounds.
• He tells Isabel that, in another world, she was a respected teacher rather than a manor steward. He then treats Melinda as her alternate-world counterpart, calling her “Teacher Melinda” and joking that they are now a teacher-student couple.
• Melinda assumes Chen Cheng is mentally unwell after reading her research and worries that he may be acting recklessly around She Li, whom she considers dangerous.
• Chen Cheng takes Melinda to the laboratory, using his access to the automated flying car and system locks. He orders breakfast based on the alternate Melinda’s tastes, unknowingly confirming that he understands her extremely well.
• At the laboratory, Chen Cheng publicly holds Melinda’s hand and teases her, causing embarrassment for her and jealousy among the staff, many of whom had admired her from afar.
• After changing into laboratory coats, Chen Cheng prepares to meet She Li with Melinda. He orders the staff to arrange breakfast for She Li, intending to use their meal-time conversations to gather information about magic and Battle Aura.
• Chen Cheng relies on knowledge gained from the alternate world to deceive the researchers, who do not understand those supernatural systems.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes more confident, playful, and socially uninhibited. He deliberately uses his knowledge of alternate-world identities and relationships, though his behavior appears eccentric to those around him. He also demonstrates strategic thinking by planning to use She Li’s conversations and his laboratory position to investigate both supernatural knowledge and the missing travelers.
• Melinda: Shifts from being Chen Cheng’s distant, icy superior to a shy and flustered wife-like partner under the system’s arrangement. She remains skeptical of his claims and worries about his safety, but her reactions reveal growing emotional vulnerability and attraction.
• Isabel: Is briefly confronted with information about her alternate-world identity, though she responds only with a formal greeting.
• She Li: Does not appear directly, but his role becomes increasingly important as Chen Cheng plans to question him under the guise of routine experimentation.

Significant Themes

• Identity across worlds: The chapter explores how alternate versions of people may share personalities, preferences, or relationships despite occupying different roles.
• Knowledge as power: Chen Cheng’s unique experience gives him information that the researchers lack, allowing him to manipulate the situation and investigate supernatural phenomena.
• Social boundaries and role reversal: Chen Cheng’s disregard for conventional behavior contrasts sharply with Melinda’s embarrassment and the laboratory staff’s expectations. Their former boss-employee relationship is transformed into a public romantic partnership.
• Performance versus reality: Melinda interprets Chen Cheng’s behavior as illness or secret affection, while the reader knows it stems from his genuine knowledge of another world. This creates dramatic irony.
• Growing intimacy: Public teasing, shared food, hand-holding, and mutual embarrassment begin to turn the system-imposed marriage into a more emotionally complicated relationship.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng speaks casually and provocatively to Isabel and Melinda, treating them as their alternate-world counterparts.
• He flirts with Melinda during the flying-car journey, feeds her breakfast, and teases her about her private eating habits.
• Melinda responds with concern, skepticism, embarrassment, and playful anger, even kicking Chen Cheng after he embarrasses her in front of the staff.
• The laboratory employees react with jealousy and despair when they see Chen Cheng and Melinda acting like an affectionate couple.
• Chen Cheng takes control of the laboratory’s preparations and plans a direct, carefully staged interaction between Melinda and She Li.

Chapter Summary: “The Art of Employing People”

Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng oversees the preparation of food and living conditions for She Li, a man from 100,000 years in the past. The institute has created special ventilation, waste-disposal systems, and even cloned ancient organisms to accommodate his physiology.
• Chen Cheng notices that the researchers are giving She Li ordinary steak, which lacks sufficient energy for someone of his strength. He orders them to replace it with the high-energy food normally used by the institute.
• When a researcher repeatedly challenges his decision, Chen Cheng dismisses him immediately, replacing him with an intern. He also orders the Cloning Division to stop producing meat specifically for She Li.
• Chen Cheng efficiently handles several administrative issues in the institute, astonishing Melinda and the other researchers, who had previously seen him as inexperienced.
• The intern brings Chen Cheng a high-energy meal but fails to follow proper sample-retention procedures. Chen Cheng orders him to copy the laboratory rules one hundred times, though he retains the intern rather than dismissing him.
• After personally taking a food sample and testing the meal, Chen Cheng and Melinda enter the isolation area where She Li is being held.
• Melinda questions Chen Cheng’s personnel decisions, believing the dismissed researcher was cautious and correct while the intern was incompetent. Chen Cheng explains his reasoning and uses the situation to teach her how to employ and manage people.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates that he is not merely a capable researcher but also an experienced administrator. His past leadership of a national-level project has given him strong skills in authority, personnel management, and institutional discipline.
• He reveals a pragmatic leadership philosophy: obedience, adaptability, potential, and willingness to improve can be more valuable than experience combined with resistance and excessive conservatism.
• Melinda initially doubts Chen Cheng’s choices but quickly understands the logic behind them. She recognizes that he is teaching her a lesson applicable to her own company and becomes embarrassed that she had overlooked such basic management principles.
• The dismissed researcher is characterized as knowledgeable but overly argumentative, conservative, and unwilling to accept Chen Cheng’s authority.
• The intern is shown to be inexperienced and careless, yet obedient, resourceful, and capable of being trained into a better researcher.

Significant Themes

• Leadership and authority: A leader must have the authority to make final decisions and ensure that subordinates respect the chain of command.
• Employing people according to potential: Raw ability is not the only qualification; obedience, flexibility, work ethic, and capacity for improvement are also important.
• Experience and competence: Chen Cheng’s past experience allows him to manage an unfamiliar institute effectively, even though he is new to its specific environment.
• Discipline and procedural safety: The intern’s mistake emphasizes that enthusiasm and obedience do not excuse failures to follow laboratory protocols.
• Adaptability versus conservatism: The chapter favors employees who can act effectively under imperfect conditions over those who merely criticize without offering practical solutions.
• Teaching through management: Chen Cheng uses a personnel decision not only to run the institute but also to educate Melinda about leadership.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng commands the researchers firmly, dismissing one for repeatedly opposing him and promoting the intern in his place.
• He disciplines the intern for failing to retain a food sample but acknowledges the intern’s initiative and ability to work around obstacles.
• Melinda challenges Chen Cheng’s decisions, fearing he has removed a cautious expert while rewarding an unqualified flatterer.
• Chen Cheng calmly explains six reasons for his choices, clarifying the distinction between constructive competence and insubordinate conservatism.
• Their exchange strengthens Chen Cheng’s role as both leader and teacher, while Melinda gains a deeper understanding of management and of Chen Cheng himself.

Chapter Summary: “Making a Contract”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng brings Melinda into the laboratory to meet She Li, warning her beforehand not to speak until he explains the situation.
• She Li recognizes Melinda as another version of someone from his original world. Chen Cheng explains that She Li arrived from a parallel world, comparing the two realities to mirror images.
• She Li realizes Chen Cheng is not the ruler he once knew and begins questioning the existence of alternate versions of familiar people, causing a major shock to his worldview.
• She Li warns that he does not want to remain imprisoned indefinitely and will not hesitate to fight if necessary, though he does not truly desire unnecessary slaughter.
• Chen Cheng redirects the conversation toward cooperation, offering to help She Li locate his missing companions, including Melos and the others.
• She Li agrees to share information but demands a binding contract with Chen Cheng and Melinda. In exchange for recovering his companions, She Li’s group will provide complete Magic Warrior cultivation methods.
• Melinda initially views She Li as a resurrected asset rather than a citizen, reflecting her society’s distorted relationship between capital and human rights. However, because of her relationship with Chen Cheng and her wish to help him investigate Ancient Era powers, she agrees to negotiate.
• She Li creates a contract using Saber Intent. Melinda carefully revises it to close loopholes, clarify both sides’ responsibilities, and impose severe penalties for breach.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates diplomacy and strategic thinking. He carefully prepares both sides for the meeting, reassures She Li, and steers the discussion away from conflict toward mutually beneficial cooperation.
• She Li: Experiences a profound crisis after encountering alternate versions of familiar people. Despite his intimidating power and origins in the chaotic City of Sin, he shows restraint and a practical desire to avoid war. He also proves shrewd by using the contract to secure help for his companions and protect his group’s interests.
• Melinda: Reveals both her pragmatic, security-minded nature and her growing loyalty to Chen Cheng. Though she initially sees She Li as company property, she accepts the contract to support Chen Cheng and takes a highly cautious approach by strengthening its terms and penalties.

Significant Themes

• Parallel worlds and identity: She Li struggles with what it means to exist in a world containing alternate versions of people he knows, raising questions about individuality and reality.
• Cooperation over conflict: Although the meeting begins with the possibility of violence, negotiation and shared interests prevent bloodshed.
• Power, ownership, and human rights: Melinda’s view of She Li as an asset highlights the extreme influence of capital in her society and the uncertainty surrounding the rights of resurrected or artificially restored individuals.
• Trust and binding agreements: The contract represents a formal attempt to create trust between strangers from different worlds, while Melinda’s revisions show how fragile that trust remains.
• Personal loyalty: Melinda’s willingness to accept danger is motivated partly by her relationship with Chen Cheng and her desire to help him overcome his struggles.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng introduces Melinda to She Li and uses humor to ease the tension.
• She Li reacts with disbelief and discomfort toward Melinda’s alternate existence, while Chen Cheng explains the parallel-world situation.
• She Li and Melinda briefly stand on opposing sides: he threatens resistance if confined, while she initially regards him as company property.
• Chen Cheng mediates between them, emphasizing that neither side wants war.
• She Li offers information and Magic Warrior techniques in return for assistance, and Melinda accepts after ensuring the contract protects her side as thoroughly as possible.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• She Li reviews Melinda’s revised contract, including stricter penalty clauses, and signs it without objection.
• Using Transcendent power and Saber Intent, She Li guides Melinda’s thoughts so she can sign the spiritual contract mentally. Chen Cheng independently imprints his name onto it.
• Once all three names are registered, the contract takes effect, placing a spiritual restraint on each participant. Chen Cheng realizes his god-level soul could easily break the contract, but allows it to remain as a reminder of his obligations.
• Chen Cheng offers to help She Li learn the knowledge and customs of the modern era. She Li accepts, asking to learn everything about the new world.
• She Li insists that his freedom not be restricted. Chen Cheng explains that, because She Li lacks legal identification, he can only move freely within the laboratory without being detected and punished by the world’s surveillance system.
• After She Li requests books, Chen Cheng and Melinda leave to arrange them. Melinda admits that their research direction may need to change because of She Li’s revelations.
• Chen Cheng encourages Melinda by claiming that finding other Transcendent individuals could prove the existence of parallel worlds and help them rediscover the ancient Transcendent evolution system.
• Melinda points out that personal information is strictly protected by the world’s matching and surveillance system, making it difficult to locate outsiders.
• Over the next three days, Chen Cheng repeatedly travels between Melinda’s home and the laboratory while secretly using Transcendent power to test whether the system detects him.
• The system shows no reaction, leaving Chen Cheng uncertain whether it can recognize people who have replaced their counterparts in this parallel world.

Character Developments

• She Li demonstrates flexibility despite his ancient origins. Rather than resisting modern customs, he willingly seeks education and adapts to the new era, while firmly protecting his independence.
• Melinda becomes more trusting of Chen Cheng’s claims and accepts that She Li may change the direction of their research. However, she remains practical and concerned about the legal and technological obstacles involved.
• Chen Cheng takes a more assertive leadership role, manipulating events and encouraging Melinda with ambitious visions of their future. He also reveals his immense power by recognizing that the contract cannot truly bind him.
• Chen Cheng’s familiarity with Melinda’s “parallel-world” counterpart deepens their intimacy, though his casual use of terms such as “Father-in-law” and “Mother-in-law” embarrasses her.

Significant Themes

• Trust and restraint: The spiritual contract formalizes cooperation between the three characters, even though Chen Cheng is powerful enough to ignore it.
• Freedom versus control: She Li demands freedom, while Chen Cheng explains that modern society’s legal and surveillance systems impose strict limits on individual movement.
• Tradition and modernity: She Li’s willingness to learn reflects the tension between ancient Transcendent civilization and the technologically advanced present.
• Parallel identities and replacement: Chen Cheng investigates whether people from his original world have replaced their counterparts in this one, raising questions about identity and behavioral continuity.
• Technology versus Transcendence: The chapter contrasts advanced social systems and surveillance technology with spiritual power that may exist beyond the system’s ability to detect or control it.

Character Interactions

• She Li and Melinda establish a formal alliance through the contract, with She Li accepting her conditions despite recognizing her fear of betrayal.
• She Li and Chen Cheng cooperate closely: Chen Cheng helps him sign the contract and offers him access to modern knowledge, while She Li agrees to remain in the laboratory.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda discuss the implications of She Li’s information. Chen Cheng is optimistic and persuasive, while Melinda emphasizes practical limitations.
• Their relationship appears increasingly intimate, with Chen Cheng teasingly treating Melinda as his partner and future family member, causing her visible embarrassment.
• The chapter ends with Chen Cheng still searching for evidence of the other Transcendent individuals and trying to determine whether the world’s system can detect displaced or replaced people.

Chapter Summary: “Flash of Inspiration”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng notices that despite using magic and Battle Aura, the world’s supposedly omnipotent system still shows no reaction. He begins to suspect that the system has deliberately sealed away some of its abilities.
• He encounters Melinda and playfully teases her about her parents’ imminent return, joking that they may treat him like a son-in-law and son. Melinda is embarrassed but continues helping him search for Melos and the others.
• Melinda has hired detective agencies, contacted the media, and released missing-person notices, though these efforts are limited because they lack reliable clues and more aggressive tracking would be illegal.
• Chen Cheng realizes he must make a favorable impression on Melinda’s parents, since their assistance may be important to finding the missing people.
• While speaking with Isabel, Chen Cheng learns why society still maintains seemingly unnecessary human jobs despite extremely advanced technology. The system once nearly eliminated human purpose by handling all resources and research, causing social stagnation and an alarming rise in suicide. It therefore restricted itself and left humans room to work, create, and develop.
• This explanation leads Chen Cheng to sympathize with the system, viewing it as an intelligent, godlike entity that voluntarily limited its own power for humanity’s sake.
• Chen Cheng compares this benevolent system with the potentially hostile omnipotent god soon to emerge on the Karmak Continent, recalling the warning from the fallen statue.
• While watching Isabel inspect the manor manually before its intelligent steward performs the same task automatically, Chen Cheng suddenly realizes the important insight he had been struggling to grasp.
• He asks Isabel about Melinda’s parents’ interests so he can prepare to win their approval. Isabel explains that they favor refined, traditional pursuits such as chess, racing, shooting, and natural skincare products.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng: Continues using humor and affection to draw closer to Melinda, though he feels guilty about relying on her to help find Melos. He becomes more strategic, recognizing the importance of gaining her parents’ support. His understanding of the system deepens, and he begins to see it as a self-restrained intelligence rather than merely a tool.
• Melinda: Demonstrates loyalty and initiative by organizing extensive efforts to locate Melos and the others. She is embarrassed by Chen Cheng’s teasing but increasingly accepts his presence and their apparent marital relationship.
• Isabel: Acts as a knowledgeable and perceptive confidante. She understands Chen Cheng’s desire to impress Melinda’s parents and willingly helps him, while also supporting the possibility of Chen Cheng and Melinda forming a genuine family.
• The System: Though not directly active, it gains greater narrative significance. Its self-imposed limitations suggest intelligence, moral judgment, and concern for humanity.

Significant Themes

• Technology versus human purpose: A society where technology eliminates all labor and creativity may appear utopian but can become psychologically destructive.
• Self-restraint and responsibility: The system’s decision to limit its own omnipotence contrasts with the dangerous godlike entity emerging on Karmak Continent.
• Privacy and freedom: Chen Cheng reasons that a system capable of detecting and correcting every unusual trait would threaten individual autonomy.
• Adaptation and identity: Chen Cheng continues adjusting to life in the parallel world while using his unusual powers and uncertain identity to pursue his goals.
• Family and acceptance: His efforts to win over Melinda’s parents show that his relationship with her may be developing beyond mere convenience or manipulation.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melinda: Their playful physical affection reveals growing familiarity. Chen Cheng teases her about being his wife and future family, while Melinda reacts with embarrassment but remains committed to helping him.
• Chen Cheng and Isabel: Their conversation explains the society’s unusual labor structure and prompts Chen Cheng’s key insight. Isabel also becomes an ally in helping him gain Melinda’s parents’ approval.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda’s absent parents: Though they do not appear directly, their return creates tension and motivates Chen Cheng to prepare carefully for their meeting.

Chapter Summary: “Gift”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Isabel reveals that Melinda anticipated Chen Cheng would want to prepare gifts for her parents and had already arranged suitable presents.
• Chen Cheng spends the day carefully studying the gifts so he can explain them convincingly rather than presenting them without understanding their value.
• With the Lineage reunion banquet approaching, Isabel insists that Chen Cheng receive a new formal suit. His old interview suit is judged unsuitable for such an important family gathering.
• Using advanced technology, a custom suit is produced within half an hour from an unusual spider-silk material. It fits perfectly and possesses defensive properties such as bulletproofing, fire resistance, and waterproofing.
• Melinda returns home, notices Chen Cheng’s transformed appearance, and prepares for the banquet herself by having a formal dress made.
• Chen Cheng retrieves two rare blue potions from his spatial ring. They are Agelessness Potions created by the lich, capable of restoring the drinker to youthful vitality without harmful side effects.
• He intends to give the potions to Melinda’s parents both as extraordinary gifts and as a way to encourage them to take his agreement with She Li seriously.
• Melinda mistakes the potions for a small amount of exotic juice and does not believe Chen Cheng’s claim that they can preserve eternal youth.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda go to welcome her parents and relatives. Her parents arrive in a retro-style flying car, and Melinda warmly embraces her mother.
• The chapter ends as Melinda’s father, Xiao Suo, asks her to introduce Chen Cheng as his new son-in-law, leaving her embarrassed.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates thoughtfulness and social awareness by studying the prepared gifts and choosing to contribute something personally meaningful rather than relying entirely on Melinda’s arrangements.
• His financial situation is shown to be strained despite his high social position, making him rationalize the new suit as an advance use of shared marital property.
• Chen Cheng becomes more confident and playful in his relationship with Melinda, openly teasing her and taking pride in his improved appearance.
• His decision to give the Agelessness Potions reveals both generosity and strategic thinking: he wants to honor Melinda’s parents while also strengthening his position within the family.
• Melinda continues to act as a practical guide for Chen Cheng, arranging his clothing and preparing him for the expectations of the family gathering. She is affectionate toward her parents but embarrassed by Chen Cheng’s joking behavior.
• Isabel is portrayed as competent and considerate, managing both the reunion banquet and Chen Cheng’s preparations.

Significant Themes

• Gifts as expressions of respect and strategy: Chen Cheng’s presents are not merely formal offerings; they reflect his desire to earn his in-laws’ approval and secure their support.
• Appearance and social expectations: The new suit symbolizes Chen Cheng’s need to present himself properly within Melinda’s elite family and demonstrates how clothing communicates status in formal settings.
• Advanced technology and fantasy alchemy: The futuristic suit-making technology contrasts with the lich’s magical potions, combining science-fiction and supernatural elements.
• Youth, aging, and mortality: The Agelessness Potions introduce the powerful appeal of escaping visible aging, while emphasizing the difference between genuine restoration and cosmetic or technological alteration.
• Marriage and shared identity: Chen Cheng’s comments about joint marital property and his role as a son-in-law show him gradually adapting to the obligations and privileges of his marriage.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Isabel: Isabel teases Chen Cheng while helping him prepare, and he relies on her practical assistance for the gifts, clothing, and banquet arrangements.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda: Their exchanges are playful and increasingly familiar. Chen Cheng flirts with her appearance and jokes about the potions, while Melinda tries to keep him respectful before the family gathering.
• Melinda and her parents: Melinda greets them with obvious affection, especially embracing her mother. Her father immediately highlights Chen Cheng’s new role in the family by asking for an introduction.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda’s parents: They have not yet formally interacted in the chapter, but Chen Cheng’s carefully chosen gifts establish his intention to make a strong first impression and win their favor.

Chapter Summary: “The Power of the Elixir”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng meets Melinda’s parents, Mephisto and Xiao Suo, for the first time.
• He immediately wins Mephisto over by taking photographs of her and praising both her and Xiao Suo enthusiastically.
• Chen Cheng explains that he wants the photographs so Melinda can eventually see what her biological mother looked like in the Karmak Continent, where Melinda never knew her mother.
• He presents the meeting gifts Melinda prepared: bottles of Rejuvenation Elixir.
• Although Melinda’s parents initially assume the bottles contain an ordinary health drink, they drink the elixir immediately.
• The potion rapidly rejuvenates them, restoring their bodies to the appearance and physical condition of people in their twenties.
• Mephisto reacts with overwhelming joy, hugging and kissing Chen Cheng, while Xiao Suo remains more cautious and questions him about the elixir’s safety and origins.
• Chen Cheng explains that the potion preserves a person’s body at its peak until death and links it to his mysterious experiment involving a person from a parallel world.
• When Xiao Suo asks whether the elixir can be mass-produced, Chen Cheng claims that the formula is unknown to the person they found, but that one of the missing companions—a mage—may know how to brew it.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng demonstrates exceptional social confidence, charm, and adaptability. His flattering words quickly dissolve Melinda’s fears about him meeting her parents.
• He also reveals a more thoughtful and compassionate side by taking photographs for Melinda’s benefit, recognizing the emotional pain caused by her never knowing her mother.
• Melinda begins the chapter worried that Chen Cheng will fail to get along with her parents, but her concern turns into embarrassment and surprise as he wins them over almost instantly. Her idealized views of both her parents and Chen Cheng are shaken by the encounter.
• Mephisto is immediately charmed by Chen Cheng’s confidence and affection. After drinking the elixir, her excitement becomes openly emotional, and she embraces Chen Cheng as a beloved son-in-law.
• Xiao Suo is likewise impressed but remains more analytical. Rather than focusing only on his rejuvenation, he immediately considers the scientific and civilizational implications of the elixir.

Significant Themes

• Family and emotional healing: The photographs offer Melinda a chance to connect with the mother she never knew, while Chen Cheng’s behavior helps bridge the gap between him and her parents.
• Charm and social intelligence: Chen Cheng’s confident flattery transforms a potentially awkward first meeting into an immediate family bond.
• The power of magic and technology: The Rejuvenation Elixir represents a breakthrough capable of fundamentally changing human society.
• Youth, mortality, and human progress: The potion confronts the fear of aging while raising the possibility of extending humanity’s physical prime.
• Trust and hidden agendas: Chen Cheng presents a carefully prepared explanation for the elixir, suggesting that its true origin and his broader plans may be more complicated than he reveals.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng playfully interacts with Mephisto while photographing her, creating an affectionate and informal first impression.
• Melinda scolds and secretly pinches Chen Cheng for his bold behavior, but she is ultimately impressed by how effectively he handles her parents.
• Chen Cheng flatters Mephisto and Xiao Suo while presenting the gifts, causing them to view him favorably.
• Mephisto responds to her rejuvenation by hugging and kissing Chen Cheng, then embracing Melinda in excitement.
• Xiao Suo and Chen Cheng form an immediate intellectual connection, sharing an interest in experimentation and human advancement as they discuss reproducing the elixir.

Chapter Summary: “Confession”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng gives his rejuvenation potion to Melinda’s parents, Xiao Suo and Mephisto, causing them to regain their youthful appearances.
• The potion and Chen Cheng’s actions reveal that he has a hidden agenda: he wants to use Melinda’s parents and their connections to help locate his missing companions from the Karmak Continent.
• Melinda realizes that Chen Cheng deliberately provoked her parents’ curiosity and feels betrayed, believing that their relationship may have been nothing more than a manipulation.
• Overwhelmed by heartbreak, Melinda confronts Chen Cheng. She cries, strikes him, and bites his neck so deeply that she ruptures a blood vessel.
• Chen Cheng’s divine, pale-golden blood exposes that he is far more powerful and mysterious than the person described in the system’s records. Melinda helps treat his injury using her intelligent clothing.
• Chen Cheng apologizes and admits that he deceived Melinda, though he insists he had no choice because his missing companions are important to him and must be found.
• Melinda asks whether all his previous affection was false. Chen Cheng cannot give her a simple answer, admitting both that he deceived her and that his feelings are complicated.
• From upstairs, Xiao Suo and Mephisto observe the confrontation. Although they sympathize with their daughter and recognize that Chen Cheng should be punished, they decide to let the couple resolve their problems themselves.
• Afterward, Melinda asks about Chen Cheng’s past. He tells her about his tragic life on the Karmak Continent: losing both parents, being hunted from birth, and eventually being captured and enslaved.
• Chen Cheng explains that he once encountered another version of Melinda, Isabel, and reveals that he had hoped to bring photographs of Melinda’s parents back to that parallel-world counterpart.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: His manipulation and hidden motives are exposed, but so is his emotional conflict. He remains determined to find his companions, even though pursuing that goal hurts Melinda. His divine blood and mysterious origins further distinguish him from the identity known through the system.
• Melinda: She shifts from romantic infatuation to painful emotional awareness. Her love for Chen Cheng is confirmed by the intensity of her reaction, but she must now confront the possibility that she was deceived. Despite her anger, she still cares for him, tending his wound and wanting to understand his past.
• Xiao Suo and Mephisto: Their rejuvenation creates a lighter initial moment, but they quickly demonstrate their insight and maturity. They recognize Chen Cheng’s strategy and choose not to interfere directly, trusting Melinda and Chen Cheng to handle their relationship.
• Mephisto and Xiao Suo’s relationship: Their affection remains strong despite their sudden physical transformation, with Mephisto seeking comfort from Xiao Suo as they watch their daughter suffer.

Significant Themes

• Love versus deception: The chapter questions whether genuine affection can exist alongside manipulation and hidden intentions.
• Duty and personal relationships: Chen Cheng prioritizes finding his companions, showing how loyalty to his past conflicts with his relationship with Melinda.
• Identity and hidden origins: Chen Cheng’s true nature, divine blood, and connection to another version of Melinda complicate the characters’ understanding of who he really is.
• Pain as proof of love: Melinda’s violent grief demonstrates how deeply she has fallen in love, while Chen Cheng’s own emotional pain suggests that he is not indifferent to her suffering.
• Family and emotional support: Melinda’s parents understand her heartbreak but deliberately allow her to make her own decisions, emphasizing both parental concern and respect for her independence.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melinda have the chapter’s central confrontation. She accuses him of treating her as a fool, while he confesses to deceiving her but maintains that his mission cannot be abandoned.
• Melinda’s physical attack turns into an emotionally vulnerable exchange, with Chen Cheng wiping her tears and holding her even as he admits his betrayal.
• Xiao Suo and Mephisto discuss the conflict privately, balancing sympathy for Melinda with recognition that the couple must resolve the issue themselves.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda later move from confrontation toward understanding as he shares his tragic history and she learns about his connection to the parallel-world Isabel.

Chapter Summary: “Competitive Club”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Melinda and Chen Cheng reconcile emotionally after discussing the alternate-world versions of themselves. Melinda accepts that Chen Cheng is not from her world and understands that his past actions were shaped by his experiences with another version of her.
• Melinda prepares Chen Cheng to meet her family, teasing that her uncle, aunt, and cousin will look different from the people he knows.
• Kekebor arrives with Fini and Fini’s mother. Chen Cheng is overwhelmed by seeing another version of Fini, recalling the relationship and emotional history he shared with the Fini from his own world.
• Chen Cheng hides his tears by claiming something entered his eye. Melinda jokingly tells Fini that he cried because she was so cute, and Chen Cheng plays along.
• Mephisto and Xiao Suo, who have become youthful again, reunite with Fini’s mother. The women discuss beauty and skincare, while the fathers talk about business.
• Chen Cheng takes photographs of the women, intending to bring them back as memories for people in his original world.
• Later that night, Fini persuades Melinda and Chen Cheng to go out with her. They visit a newly opened racing club featuring competitive activities ranging from races to holographic conquest simulations.

Character Developments

• Melinda becomes more understanding and accepting of Chen Cheng’s identity and history. Although she feels pain when she realizes he had feelings for the other Fini, she continues supporting him.
• Chen Cheng gains emotional closure regarding Melinda but is deeply affected by meeting this world’s innocent version of Fini. He carefully separates the people before him from the versions he knew while preserving their memories through photographs.
• Fini is portrayed as cheerful, innocent, energetic, and mischievous. She eagerly welcomes Chen Cheng as her brother-in-law and later convinces the couple to join her nighttime adventure.
• Mephisto and Xiao Suo appear younger and happier, enjoying the reactions their transformation produces. Mephisto bonds with Fini’s mother through conversation about beauty treatments.
• Fini’s mother and the fathers help create a warm, familial atmosphere during the gathering.

Significant Themes

• Alternate identities and emotional complexity: The chapter explores how people can resemble loved ones while remaining fundamentally different individuals.
• Acceptance and healing: Melinda’s willingness to accept Chen Cheng’s unusual origins allows their relationship to recover.
• Memory and remembrance: Chen Cheng’s photographs preserve connections between parallel worlds, especially for people who cannot meet their alternate counterparts.
• Family and belonging: The reunion emphasizes affection, teasing, shared memories, and the comfort of family life.
• Youth and vitality: The rejuvenated adults and the lively racing club highlight the advanced society’s unusual approach to beauty, entertainment, and physical competition.

Character Interactions

• Melinda and Chen Cheng share a private emotional conversation before rejoining the others, strengthening their relationship.
• Melinda introduces Chen Cheng to her family and uses humor to ease the tension of meeting Fini.
• Chen Cheng and Fini interact as brother-in-law and sister-in-law, though his memories of another Fini make the encounter emotionally difficult.
• Mephisto and Fini’s mother enthusiastically discuss beauty and skincare, while Xiao Suo provides playful commentary.
• Fini acts as the bridge between the family gathering and the chapter’s final adventure, drawing Melinda and Chen Cheng into the competitive racing club.

Chapter Summary: “Calculating Cards”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fini brings her sister Melinda and Chen Cheng to a gambling club disguised as a “competition” venue, where money lost is treated as a legal “gift of friendship.”
• Two augmented men, led by a cyborg named Jethead, recognize Fini and approach the group. Jethead offers to play against Chen Cheng and boasts about the advantage provided by his implanted super chip.
• Chen Cheng refuses Jethead’s handshake, makes a sarcastic remark about his mechanical body, and challenges him to an intelligence-based game rather than a physical or conventional gambling contest.
• Jethead accepts, choosing to rely on his super chip. Chen Cheng selects card counting, a difficult memory game involving eight decks of cards.
• Players have ten minutes to study the cards from a distance before the referee removes and shuffles some of them. They must then remember card positions and call out numbers to draw cards, playing several blind rounds in a best-of-three match.
• The club’s patrons gather to watch, expecting Jethead’s enhanced memory and processing power to overwhelm the unmodified Chen Cheng.
• Jethead’s cybernetic eyes and super chip rapidly record the position and sequence of every card. Chen Cheng, by contrast, appears to struggle, rubbing his eyes after the viewing period ends.
• Despite appearances, Chen Cheng confidently refuses to change games and claims the match is “just right.” As the referee begins shuffling, he focuses on Melinda rather than visibly watching the cards, causing Fini to worry that he is not taking the contest seriously.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng presents himself as an ordinary, slightly provocative man, but his calm confidence suggests he may possess abilities beyond what the spectators understand. His contempt for Jethead’s arrogance and his willingness to challenge a heavily augmented opponent establish his self-assurance.
• Melinda has shifted from a cautious, rule-abiding “good girl” into someone confident in Chen Cheng’s extraordinary abilities. She no longer fears the consequences if violence breaks out, trusting that her status and influence can protect him.
• Fini remains bold, rebellious, and familiar with the club’s criminal-style culture. She initially tries to defend Chen Cheng aggressively, but becomes increasingly anxious when the game begins and his strategy is unclear.
• Jethead is established as arrogant, predatory, and dependent on technological enhancement. He assumes Chen Cheng is at a severe disadvantage and attempts to undermine his confidence with mock politeness.
• Melinda and Fini’s relationship is highlighted through their contrasting personalities: Melinda is composed and restrained, while Fini is impulsive, streetwise, and ready to confront anyone who threatens her companions.

Significant Themes

• Natural ability versus technological enhancement: The card game pits Chen Cheng’s supposedly ordinary mind against Jethead’s artificial memory and computational power.
• Appearances versus reality: Chen Cheng looks unprepared and distracted, but his calm behavior may conceal a deliberate strategy. Likewise, the respectable Melinda and unruly Fini reveal unexpected sides in the club environment.
• Confidence and intimidation: Jethead relies on his reputation and cybernetic advantage to intimidate Chen Cheng, while Chen Cheng counters with composure and psychological pressure.
• Class and social power: Melinda’s wealth and influence, along with Chen Cheng’s importance as a scientist with special privileges, suggest that status can offer protection within the legal and social system.
• Human identity and augmentation: The narration questions the meaning of mechanical modification, distinguishing life-saving enhancements from elective body alterations associated with vanity or criminal culture.

Character Interactions

• Fini introduces Chen Cheng and Melinda to Jethead as her sister and brother-in-law, using her familiarity with the club to secure favorable treatment.
• Chen Cheng deliberately insults Jethead’s mechanical body and refuses his handshake, immediately establishing an antagonistic relationship.
• Jethead’s men attempt to react, but Jethead restrains them because he recognizes Fini’s influence.
• Fini tries to intervene when Jethead agrees to play, while Melinda calmly reassures her that Chen Cheng can handle himself.
• Chen Cheng reassures both women before the match, especially Melinda, while Fini grows increasingly nervous over his apparently careless behavior.
• The chapter ends with the crowd expecting Jethead to win, while Chen Cheng’s unexplained confidence creates suspense about whether he has a hidden advantage.

Chapter Summary: “Super Gamble”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng objects to the referee’s extremely fast shuffle, claiming it puts him at a disadvantage.
• He proposes an advanced version of card counting in which each player must remember and play the cards dealt to the other person. The referee approves and explains that each player has only one pass; inability to play results in surrender.
• The referee also describes an even harder card-insertion format, but the players ultimately proceed with the advanced card-counting rules.
• The spectators mock Chen Cheng, assuming he is an inexperienced nobody seeking humiliation. The pompadour-haired opponent also becomes nervous because, although he can deal Chen Cheng strong cards, he cannot predict how Chen Cheng will use them.
• Young Master Wang offers the pompadour-haired man a reward of one hundred Crystal Dollars for winning. Melinda responds by challenging Wang to stake his entire fortune.
• Wang accepts. Melinda arranges a formal contract stipulating that, if she wins, Wang’s entire fortune will be donated rather than claimed personally.
• Because of the enormous wager, the club replaces the original referee with a highly experienced one and charges a substantial venue fee.
• The players guess who will deal first. The pompadour-haired man draws a Big Joker, while Chen Cheng draws a three, giving Chen Cheng the first turn.
• The pompadour-haired man deals Chen Cheng a hand full of powerful cards, believing this will make victory impossible to avoid. Chen Cheng deals the opponent a chaotic, weak-looking hand.
• Chen Cheng accurately identifies the card positions and repeatedly plays Joker bombs and powerful combinations that the opponent cannot beat.
• Although spectators think Chen Cheng is about to lose because he is rapidly exhausting his cards, veteran players realize he is deliberately “playing the pig to eat the tiger.” He has retained low cards—especially threes—that should allow him to win at the end.
• Chen Cheng plays a single three, leaving himself three cards. The opponent attempts to play what he remembers as a Nine of Clubs, but the card position instead contains a Four of Clubs.
• Chen Cheng reveals that the Nine of Clubs is in his own hand, suggesting the opponent has made a serious memory error or that Chen Cheng has manipulated the situation.
• The opponent recovers enough to play a Seven of Diamonds, but Chen Cheng uses his sole pass. The round remains unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates exceptional memory, composure, and strategic ability. He deliberately gives the impression that he is losing while controlling the sequence of play and preserving key low cards.
• The pompadour-haired man initially appears confident because of his superhuman card memory, but Chen Cheng’s unconventional strategy causes him to panic and doubt his recollections.
• Melinda displays confidence and ruthlessness by immediately escalating the wager against Young Master Wang and arranging for the winnings to be donated.
• Young Master Wang is arrogant and dismissive of Chen Cheng, but his decision to stake his entire fortune reveals how personally and financially invested he is in the outcome.
• Fini openly supports Chen Cheng and mocks Wang, while Wang’s followers insult Chen Cheng and Melinda before being silenced.
• The spectators are divided between those who misunderstand Chen Cheng’s strategy and experienced card players who recognize that he is deliberately setting a trap.

Significant Themes

• Skill versus appearance: Chen Cheng looks as though he is losing, but his apparent weakness is part of a calculated strategy.
• Memory and perception: The game depends not only on remembering cards but also on knowing whether one’s opponent remembers them correctly.
• Risk and wealth: The personal conflict expands into an enormous financial gamble involving Wang’s entire fortune.
• Pride and humiliation: Chen Cheng frames the unusual rules as a way to avoid public embarrassment, while Wang and the spectators treat the match as a test of status and superiority.
• Control under pressure: Chen Cheng remains calm while his opponent becomes increasingly anxious, showing that psychological composure is as important as card-counting ability.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng negotiates directly with the referee and the pompadour-haired man to raise the game’s difficulty.
• Melinda confronts Young Master Wang after he backs her opponent, turning the contest into a wager over his entire fortune.
• Wang and Melinda’s hostility reflects their personal rivalry, while Fini openly sides with Melinda and Chen Cheng.
• Chen Cheng’s accurate card calls steadily undermine the pompadour-haired man’s confidence.
• The apparent change from the remembered Nine of Clubs to the Four of Clubs creates the chapter’s central mystery and leaves the outcome of the gamble hanging.

Chapter Summary: “Change of Plans”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Pompadour hesitates over whether to play or pass, unsure whether Chen Cheng still holds high cards. Believing he has accurately tracked Chen Cheng’s hand, Pompadour passes, confident that Chen Cheng has no low cards left.
• Chen Cheng reveals that Pompadour has fallen for his bluff. He identifies the exact cards remaining in Pompadour’s hand and orders a play that wins the round, proving he had deliberately dealt Pompadour many low cards while hiding the true strength of his hand.
• Chen Cheng then demonstrates an extraordinary memory by reciting the rank and suit of every card in the remaining stack, despite the cards coming from eight mixed decks with some cards removed. The spectators are stunned by his apparent superhuman memory.
• Young Master Wang, realizing he is about to lose his entire fortune, demands that the match be stopped, the players changed, and the cards reshuffled. Although this violates the wager’s terms, the club agrees to discuss the request.
• Chen Cheng has the anti-cheating system removed so he can address the people outside directly. He angrily points out that the contract does not permit player substitutions or rule changes and threatens to file a formal complaint through the system.
• Melinda offers a compromise: Wang may change players and rules if all Wang Family star domains are opened unconditionally to Chen Cheng at all times. Wang views this as an easy concession, but Chen Cheng understands that Melinda is helping him search for Melos and the others in otherwise restricted territories.
• After the contract is revised, Wang replaces Pompadour with a heavily modified cyborg whose head contains advanced computational technology.
• The next game begins under different rules: each player receives twenty cards, the cards are dealt alternately by both players, and the first person to empty their hand wins. Chen Cheng and the cyborg each announce eight cards, setting up another battle of calculation and strategy.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Reveals his true intelligence and strategic ability, abandoning his earlier foolish façade. He can memorize and reconstruct entire decks, manipulate opponents psychologically, and exploit contractual rules. Despite his arrogance, he remains practical and rule-conscious, preferring legal procedures over threats. He is also deeply moved by Melinda’s attempt to aid his search.
• Pompadour: His confidence collapses when Chen Cheng exposes his bluff and superior card memory. He is shown to be intelligent enough to calculate probabilities but unable to match Chen Cheng’s comprehensive memory and deception.
• Young Master Wang: Becomes increasingly desperate and enraged as he realizes his fortune is at risk. His willingness to challenge the rules reveals his desperation, but the notarized contract leaves him powerless.
• Melinda: Demonstrates loyalty and strategic foresight by using the rule change to create access to the Wang Family’s restricted star domains. Her support also shows that she trusts Chen Cheng’s ability to win.
• The cyborg: Introduced as Wang’s replacement opponent, possessing extreme mechanical enhancements that imply Chen Cheng will face a more sophisticated challenger.

Significant Themes

• Intelligence versus technology: Chen Cheng’s natural memory and reasoning are presented as powerful enough to challenge even a cyborg equipped with quantum-level computation.
• Bluffing and perception: The game depends not only on the cards but on controlling what the opponent believes. Chen Cheng wins by making Pompadour misread his hand.
• Rules and justice: The contract becomes a source of power, showing that formal systems can restrain even wealthy and influential figures.
• Loyalty and partnership: Melinda’s seemingly minor condition conceals a meaningful effort to support Chen Cheng’s larger mission.
• Revealing hidden identities: Chen Cheng’s harmless appearance is discarded, exposing a calculating and formidable personality.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng psychologically defeats Pompadour by allowing him to trust an incorrect calculation, then publicly exposing his remaining cards.
• Chen Cheng confronts Young Master Wang over his attempt to alter the wager, while Wang is unable to answer because the contract clearly supports Chen Cheng.
• Melinda and Chen Cheng cooperate closely: she negotiates a condition that advances his search, and he promises to win Wang’s fortune for her.
• Chen Cheng’s confrontation with the new cyborg establishes the next major conflict, shifting the contest from human bluffing to a battle between human ingenuity and advanced machinery.

Summary of “Easy Victory”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng and Wang’s super modified human compete in a card game under strict anti-cheating measures. Both initially call identical ranks—sixteen twos—forcing the referee to invalidate and destroy the cards.
• In the next round, Chen Cheng calls eight aces, while the modified human draws the remaining twos and several kings. Since aces are higher, Chen Cheng wins the card-calling phase.
• The players then deal twenty cards from memory without seeing the deck, having to track changing card positions and each other’s moves.
• The modified human begins with a long straight. Chen Cheng appears unable to beat it and seems forced to use his only pass, but he unexpectedly reveals a higher straight ending in a jack, queen, and king.
• The modified human responds with a joker bomb, automatically defeating Chen Cheng’s play, then plays an “airplane” combination that leaves him with only one card. Victory seems nearly certain unless Chen Cheng’s remaining cards form a bomb.
• Chen Cheng reveals that he still holds four threes, using them to complete a winning grand straight and defeat the modified human. The modified human realizes that his own dealing mistake gave Chen Cheng the final three he needed.
• Chen Cheng explains that he exploited the modified human’s algorithmic thinking: introducing a high card caused the computer’s strategy to change, making it overlook Chen Cheng’s acquisition of the crucial three.
• Young Master Wang loses all his assets according to the contract. Melinda immediately donates the winnings through the system, treating the donation as a virtuous act that may help Chen Cheng’s unresolved situation.
• Before Wang leaves, Chen Cheng invokes an unfulfilled contract condition and asks him to publish a missing-person notice throughout the Wang Family’s star domain. Melinda pressures Wang by warning that otherwise Chen Cheng’s people may search the Wang territory themselves, embarrassing the Wang Family.
• Wang reluctantly agrees to arrange the search, though he refuses to guarantee success.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates exceptional memory, strategic reasoning, psychological insight, and confidence. Rather than overpowering the modified human directly, he studies its decision-making patterns and manipulates its algorithm into making a fatal mistake.
• The super modified human proves highly capable at calculation and memory but is ultimately limited by its rigid, predictable optimization process. Its loss shows that mechanical intelligence can be defeated by flexible human deception.
• Young Master Wang shifts from confidence in his unbeatable modified champion to humiliation and despair after losing his fortune. His dependence on the modified human’s supposed superiority is exposed.
• Melinda remains practical, generous, and protective of Chen Cheng. She donates the winnings without hesitation and uses social pressure to ensure Wang fulfills the remaining contract condition.
• Fini becomes openly admiring of Chen Cheng, calling him a “god of cards.” Chen Cheng responds modestly and encourages her to value intellectual competition and study.

Significant Themes

• Human ingenuity versus artificial intelligence: Chen Cheng wins not through faster calculation, but by understanding and manipulating the modified human’s predictable logic.
• The importance of psychological strategy: The decisive move comes from tricking the opponent into revising its assumptions, demonstrating that perception and deception can matter more than raw information processing.
• Memory and attention: The game tests both players’ ability to track card positions and sequences, making memory a weapon as important as the cards themselves.
• Fortune, justice, and redistribution: Wang’s wealth is transferred as the result of the wager and then donated, framing the victory as both punishment for arrogance and an opportunity to do good.
• Power and leverage: Although Wang loses financially, Chen Cheng uses the contract to obtain further help in locating the missing person. Melinda’s threat demonstrates that social and political pressure can be as effective as direct force.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and the modified human engage in a battle of calculated play, with Chen Cheng eventually explaining how he exploited its programming.
• Chen Cheng and Fini share a warm, affectionate exchange when she praises his victory; he responds like a mentor or older brother.
• Chen Cheng and Melinda cooperate closely: she handles the donated assets and protects his interests during negotiations with Wang.
• Melinda confronts Young Master Wang on Chen Cheng’s behalf, making clear that refusing the request could damage his family’s reputation.
• Young Master Wang, defeated and stripped of his wealth, has little choice but to accept Chen Cheng’s demand to publish the missing-person notice.

Chapter Summary: Shattering a Young Girl’s Chuunibyou Fantasy

Key Plot Points and Events

• After defeating Young Master Wang in the card-counting wager, Chen Cheng prepares to leave the club.
• Fini asks how he memorized every anti-cheating card. Chen Cheng conceals the true reason—his extraordinarily powerful soul—and jokingly attributes his ability to studying hard.
• Fini is disappointed that there is no “legendary” secret technique and complains that Chen Cheng and Melinda sound like nagging adults.
• Fini suggests taking them to participate in Unlimited Racing, a highly dangerous activity involving vehicles without safety restrictions. Melinda and Chen Cheng lecture her about its risks and persuade her to abandon the idea in favor of holographic racing.
• The club manager gives Chen Cheng his ten Crystal Dollars in winnings and offers him a Black Gold VIP Card, which grants the club’s assistance with a major request.
• Chen Cheng accepts the card’s authority, not the money, and asks the club to locate Melos and several other people. He specifically orders the club not to interfere with or harm them, even under the pretext of protecting them.
• Fini recognizes Ireland, one of the people in Chen Cheng’s search images, as a new teacher at her school. She secretly decides to investigate rather than immediately tell Chen Cheng.
• The club manager forwards the request to the club’s mysterious owner. Upon seeing the photographs, the owner reacts with shock.
• Sifite takes the intelligent device, orders Chen Cheng’s information to be retrieved, and commands that an interstellar jump ship be prepared for a trip to Chen Cheng’s home planet. The owner is visibly terrified of her.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates his superhuman memory while continuing to hide the true source of his abilities. He shows restraint and practical judgment by using the club’s influence to search for Melos and the others rather than pursuing wealth. His warning against shortcuts also reveals a more serious, mentor-like side.
• Fini: Remains fascinated by dramatic, “legendary” explanations and dangerous thrills. Her fantasy of becoming a cool, mysterious figure is humorously undermined by Chen Cheng and Melinda’s lectures. After recognizing Ireland, she becomes suspicious and begins acting independently as a self-appointed detective.
• Melinda: Acts protectively toward Fini, immediately opposing Unlimited Racing and reinforcing Chen Cheng’s warnings. Her relationship with Chen Cheng is comfortable and cooperative, with both taking on parental roles toward Fini.
• The club manager and owner: Treat Chen Cheng with increasing respect because of his winnings and the power of his request. The owner’s reaction to the photographs suggests prior knowledge of the people being sought.
• Sifite: Makes a dramatic reappearance, displaying authority and decisiveness. Her demand for Chen Cheng’s information and a journey to his home planet implies a serious connection to the larger mystery.

Significant Themes

• Hard work versus secret talent: Chen Cheng rejects Fini’s desire for a shortcut and emphasizes that apparent brilliance is often built through long preparation, even though he is secretly relying on extraordinary innate power.
• Reality versus fantasy: Fini wants a “legendary” secret and dangerous adventures, but the adults repeatedly replace romanticized excitement with practical concerns about effort, legality, and survival.
• Family-like concern: Chen Cheng and Melinda’s teasing and lectures reflect genuine affection and anxiety over Fini’s reckless behavior.
• Hidden identities and emerging conspiracies: Fini’s recognition of Ireland and Sifite’s alarm at the photographs hint that Chen Cheng’s search is connected to a larger, undisclosed plot.
• Power and influence: The club’s Black Gold VIP Card demonstrates the reach of powerful organizations, while Chen Cheng’s request shows that information and personal connections matter more to him than money.

Character Interactions

• Fini questions Chen Cheng about his card memorization, leading to a humorous exchange about talent, studying, and “legendary” techniques.
• Melinda joins Chen Cheng in scolding Fini about Unlimited Racing, and the two exchange amused looks after successfully frightening her away from it.
• Chen Cheng negotiates with the club manager, using the VIP privilege to request a search for Melos and the others.
• Fini silently recognizes Ireland and chooses not to reveal it, creating a potential conflict or mystery for later chapters.
• Sifite takes control of the club owner’s device and orders immediate preparations to investigate Chen Cheng, while her presence inspires fear and obedience.