Chapter Summaries

Lu Mingfei learned that the Principal’s video and his American university scholarship were real, though Nero had lied about the scholarship being paid early. After returning to the cinema, he found Su Xiaoqiang asking him to be her boyfriend and urged her to reconsider.

• Nero admitted that she had lied about the scholarship being paid early, and Lu Mingfei agreed to borrow money from her for the movie tickets.
• Su Xiaoqiang rushed toward Lu Mingfei in tears, then confronted him about knowing Zhao Menghua planned to confess to her.
• Su Xiaoqiang told Lu Mingfei to return later, while Nero suggested she might confess to him to recover her pride.
• Nero accompanied Lu Mingfei to open a bank account, and he returned to the cinema with money.
• Su Xiaoqiang asked Lu Mingfei to be her boyfriend, and he sincerely told her not to choose him just to vent her anger.

Su Xiaoqiang confessed to Lu Mingfei and decided to pursue him while studying abroad with him. After he admitted he did not like her yet, she linked arms with him and announced to the screening room that they had confirmed their relationship.

• Su Xiaoqiang told Lu Mingfei she would go to America with him and keep pursuing him until he found a girlfriend.
• Lu Mingfei said he did not like Su Xiaoqiang yet, but she accepted that they had time to grow closer.
• Su Xiaoqiang called her father to begin preparing for studying abroad and asked Lu Mingfei how he had passed Cassell College's interview.
• Lu Mingfei opened the screening-room door and returned with Su Xiaoqiang holding his arm.
• Su Xiaoqiang announced to everyone that she and Lu Mingfei had confirmed their relationship, prompting a splash in the screening room.

After becoming Su Xiaoqiang’s boyfriend, Lu Mingfei settled into a routine of dates and school life before preparing to leave for Cassell College. Su Xiaoqiang joined him on the same flight to America, while Nero stayed behind to take care of other matters.

• At the Literary Club dinner, Su Xiaoqiang paid for the meal, Chen Wenwen and Su Xiaoqiang made peace, and Zhao Menghua privately apologized to Lu Mingfei.
• Lu Mingfei bought a phone and computer, and Su Xiaoqiang took him on dates around the city and sometimes played StarCraft with him.
• Su Xiaoqiang visited Lu Mingfei’s home after the college entrance examination, and his uncle and aunt learned that they were dating.
• Su Xiaoqiang got into the University of Chicago and arranged to travel to America with Lu Mingfei on the same flight, upgrading his seat.
• At the airport, Su Xiaoqiang laughed at Lu Mingfei’s many bags and led him toward the check-in counter, while Nero told him she had other things to do before leaving.

Nero found the entrance to the Bronze City and entered to kill the Dragon Servants before the Kuimen Project began. Meanwhile, Lu Mingfei was stranded at Chicago Train Station because his ticket was for a train that did not appear on the schedule.

• Nero searched underwater for the Bronze City entrance, hoping to eliminate the Dragon Servants and prevent casualties during the Kuimen Project.
• Lu Mingfei waited overnight at Chicago Train Station for the nonexistent CC1000, while Su Xiaoqiang offered to bring him food.
• Nero sensed a Living Spirit inside the mountain, used Yamato to break through the rock, and let the gate admit her with Lu Mingfei's bloodstained handkerchief.
• Nero crossed the dormant Bronze City and punched through a bronze wall to wake its Dragon Servants.
• A Dragon Servant's golden eyes appeared, and flames surged through the flooded passage toward Nero.

Nero fought her way through the Bronze City, destroying its mechanisms and killing one of the Dragon Servants. After washing off the dragon blood, she called Lu Mingfei, who had reached Chicago Station and was waiting for the CC1000 Express Train.

• Nero destroyed the Bronze City's mechanisms to force her way deeper inside.
• Nero caught a Dragon Servant by its tail, cut it down, and shredded its internal organs with Yamato.
• Nero opened the living spirit's gate, washed the dragon blood from herself, and checked her phone.
• Nero saw Lu Mingfei's messages and called him after learning he had reached Chicago Station.
• Lu Mingfei answered Nero's call while waiting for the CC1000 Express Train with Fingel, and Nero asked whether he was already in America.

Lu Mingfei waited at Chicago Station while Su Xiaoqiang visited him with food and a PSP, bringing them closer as they played games together. On his third day there, Nero arrived, and Lu Mingfei remained stranded as he questioned why the promised fast arrival had failed.

• Lu Mingfei waited another day at Chicago Station while Fingel kept the reason for the delay from him.
• Su Xiaoqiang brought Lu Mingfei food, then surprised him and Fingel with PSP consoles so she and Lu Mingfei could play Monster Hunter together.
• Lu Mingfei held Su Xiaoqiang's hand, but Fingel's teasing interrupted the moment and they returned to playing games.
• Su Xiaoqiang left at dusk, and Lu Mingfei spent his third day waiting at the station.
• Nero arrived in Chicago, and Lu Mingfei complained that he had waited two days despite being told higher-ranked people arrived faster.

Lu Mingfei learned that Fingel led the College News Department and discovered that his embarrassing past had been posted on the forum. Later, Lu Mingfei met Lu Mingze in a dream, where the boy warned that fate had begun to turn and that Lu Mingfei still clung to a path toward power.

• Fingel introduced Nero Fortuna as a suspected surviving member of a fallen Hybrid family with at least Super A-Class bloodline.
• Lu Mingfei learned that Fingel was the News Department Club President and that the College had already posted his personal information and exam scores on its forum.
• Fingel threatened to sell a story about Lu Mingfei flirting with his cousin, and Lu Mingfei fainted when he realized Fingel valued money over privacy.
• Lu Mingfei woke in an empty, moonlit station and found Lu Mingze waiting there.
• Lu Mingze warned Lu Mingfei that fate had begun to turn and said he was still holding on to a ticket toward authority and strength.

Lu Mingfei and Nero arrived at Cassell College, where the entrance ceremony turned into a bloody firefight between armed groups. Nero fought back as Lu Mingfei took cover, and she told him to prepare to cover her after she seized a gun.

• Lu Mingfei, Nero, and Fingel arrived at the empty Cassell College campus by train.
• A sniper shot Fingel, and gunfire erupted as black-clad and crimson-clad groups attacked across the plaza.
• Nero drew her blade from her suitcase and cut bullets out of the air before taking cover under the crossfire.
• Nero called Lu Mingfei and told him to get ready to cover her after she seized a gun.

Nero joined Cassell College’s Freedom Day Live CS match, disrupting both the Student Union and the Lionheart Club while treating them as her fire support. She left Lu Mingfei with a rifle to cover her, and he struggled with whether he could shoot at anyone as Nero moved through enemy fire.

• Nero entered the Freedom Day match and attacked Student Union members, giving the Lionheart Club a chance to eliminate them.
• Nero drew the Student Union’s fire, then returned to Lu Mingfei and handed him a rifle and spare magazine.
• Nero decided to disrupt the Lionheart Club as well and slipped through the battlefield using shadows and cover.
• Lu Mingfei aimed after Nero but hesitated to fire at living opponents, hoping that if he pulled the trigger, it would be for a reason other than killing an enemy.

Nero tried to keep the Lionheart Club and Student Union evenly matched while Caesar launched a Student Union charge across the parking lot. As Nero drew Lionheart fire, Lu Mingfei climbed toward the sniper and promised to stop him from taking another shot at her.

• Nero dodged a barrage from the Lionheart Club, then vanished into the trees after shooting several members.
• Caesar held the Student Union back while Nero fought, then ordered his members to charge across the parking lot.
• Lu Mingfei spotted the sniper targeting Student Union members and climbed a wall to approach him from his blind spot.
• Nero returned to the Lionheart Club's rear to draw its fire and disrupt its formation as the Student Union advanced.
• A sniper nearly hit Nero, but she reached cover and answered Lu Mingfei's call as he said he would deal with the sniper.

Lu Mingfei helped Nero eliminate the remaining Lionheart Club members and discovered the supposed bullets were tranquilizers before the three leaders gathered in the parking lot for a final blade fight. Nero joined Caesar Gattuso and Chu Zihang as they began battling, and she ended the chapter striking at Chu Zihang from behind.

• Lu Mingfei fired at the Church sniper and tracked her movements until he glimpsed long hair behind a shattered window.
• Nero defeated the last charging Lionheart Club member, while Caesar Gattuso and Chu Zihang agreed to settle the three-way contest in the parking lot.
• Nero told Lu Mingfei that the bullets were tranquilizers and warned him to stay safe during the melee.
• Caesar and Chu Zihang arrived in the parking lot, discarded their guns, and drew blades as Nero fired her last shots and joined them.
• Chu Zihang charged Caesar, and Nero attacked both men before redirecting her blade toward Chu Zihang's back.

Chu Zihang fought Nero and Caesar but was eliminated after Nero outmaneuvered him. Nero then faced Caesar in a duel that ended with Yamato poised before his eye.

• Chu Zihang attacked Nero at close range, but Caesar intervened and the two cornered him with a coordinated assault.
• A rooftop attacker shot Chu Zihang's sniper before she could support him.
• Nero feinted past Chu Zihang's counterattack and pointed her sword at his throat, forcing him to concede.
• Caesar introduced himself and invited Nero to join the Student Union, but she agreed to consider it only if he won.
• Nero locked blades with Caesar, overcame his defense, and stopped Yamato's tip before his eye.

After Nero won Freedom Day, Lu Mingfei learned about her reward and received notice that he would take the Bloodline Test the next day. Nero browsed the college forum and posted under her own name, leaving her story open on the Night Watchman Forum.

• Lu Mingfei saw sensational Freedom Day coverage on Cassell College's forum and asked Fingel how the News Department had obtained its photos.
• Fingel told Lu Mingfei that Nero's victory earned a year's use of Norton Manor and the power to make her first pursuit target unable to reject her for three months.
• Professor Guderian brought Lu Mingfei his student ID and told him he had to take the Bloodline Test the next day.
• Nero read a Student Union post about its final meeting at Norton Manor and reflected on Caesar's inspiring declarations.
• Nero replied to the post with “The Peacock's Pride is God's Glory” under her forum ID, “Nero.”

Caesar Gattuso arranged for Fingel to pin his invitation asking Nero to attend the Student Union’s Peacock and Mask dance, where he wanted to speak with her. Nero guessed he planned to discuss her wager and joining the Student Union, then asked Lu Mingfei to attend in her place.

• Caesar started a new forum post inviting Nero to the Student Union’s dance and privately asked Fingel to pin it in exchange for agreeing to his Student Union application.
• Fingel celebrated joining the Student Union, while Lu Mingfei worried that the News Department would use its new funding to target the Lionheart Club.
• Lu Mingfei sent Nero a link to Caesar’s pinned invitation, which announced that the dance would take place in one week at Amber Hall.
• Nero guessed Caesar wanted to discuss the wager and invite her to join the Student Union, then asked Lu Mingfei to go to the dance in her place.

Lu Mingfei took the 3E Exam, which tested a Hybrid’s ability to perceive Dragon Language, and entered the Spirit Vision he had experienced before. There, he found the Boy in Black waiting for him by the classroom window.

• Lu Mingfei arrived for the 3E Exam, greeted Professor Manstein and Chen Motong, and spoke with the Indian freshman Kiran, who introduced himself as president of the Freshman Association.
• Manstein explained that the exam papers were blank and warned that Nóma would detect plagiarism before he and Nono left the classroom.
• As the exam began, Lu Mingfei closed his eyes and heard solemn chanting beneath the rock music, which shifted into the sound of a bell.
• Lu Mingfei opened his eyes to a silent classroom where freshmen danced, sang, laughed, and wept, then spotted the Boy in Black by the windowsill.
• The Boy in Black beckoned Lu Mingfei over and invited him to watch the sunset.

Lu Mingfei dreamed of Lu Mingze urging him to exchange for a Word of Power, then woke after the exam with the answers completed. At lunch, he learned that Hybrids without a Word of Power could be judged to have unstable bloodlines and subjected to isolation or surgery.

• Lu Mingfei questioned whether Lu Mingze was another personality and refused his offer to exchange for a Word of Power.
• Lu Mingze told Lu Mingfei he had no way back, and Lu Mingfei fell from the windowsill into the sea before waking in the exam room.
• Nono collected Lu Mingfei's completed exam paper, and he left the room shaken by his dream.
• Lu Mingfei told Fingel and Nero he doubted he could awaken a Word of Power, and Fingel brought up Chen Motong as another Hybrid without one.
• Fingel explained that Hybrids without a Word of Power could be suspected of unstable bloodlines and isolated or subjected to neutralization surgery, prompting Lu Mingfei to ask whether the surgery suppressed the Dragon Raja bloodline.

Lu Mingfei and Fingel talked about failing courses at Cassell College, while Nero monitored Xia Mi and considered the risks of acting against the King of Earth and Mountain. Nero shared her course selections with Lu Mingfei and realized the Kuimen Project was only about a week away.

• Nero explained that students' Word of Power files were confidential, and Fingel dodged her question about how he had learned their contents.
• Fingel told Lu Mingfei he could not graduate because he repeatedly failed courses, despite earning top marks in mathematics and magic-powered machinery.
• Lu Mingfei messaged Nero to ask about her courses, and she said she had chosen Alchemy Chemistry, Dragon Language and Symbol Analysis, and Dragon Race Genealogy.
• While monitoring Xia Mi, Nero considered entering the subway Nibelungen to eliminate the King of Earth and Mountain but decided against risking its effects on the city.
• Nero told Lu Mingfei that things were normal and realized the Kuimen Project would begin in about a week.

During the Kuimen Project, Ye Sheng and Jiude Ya Ji discovered a bronze structure deep in an underwater fissure and identified it as the palace of Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire. The storm forced the team to postpone entering the palace, while Principal Angers confirmed that the sleeping baby was essential to opening it.

• Ye Sheng and Jiude Ya Ji dove through a newly formed fissure despite the storm and rising water, searching for the suspected Bronze City.
• At the bottom, they found a massive bronze gate and reported that it was likely Norton's palace, though they had no key to enter.
• Professor Mance recognized the Living Spirit on the gate and ordered the divers to surface as the storm made the operation unsafe.
• Mance told Principal Angers that the discovery was confirmed and planned to resume within two days, once the weather cleared.
• Angers said the sleeping baby was essential for entering the palace, and Mance welcomed Ye Sheng and Jiude Ya Ji back aboard.

Nero confronted Jörmungandr near Bronze City and drove her into the river, but the Dragon King escaped in the mudslide. Nero confirmed that the Moniakh’s passengers would evacuate, then raced back to Cassell College for class.

• Nero found Jörmungandr hiding in the mountain forest near Bronze City and challenged her.
• Jörmungandr fled toward the river, wounded Nero, and triggered a mudslide to cover her escape.
• Nero pursued Jörmungandr underwater but lost her, then checked Bronze City and concluded that Jörmungandr had escaped.
• Nero saw helicopters arrive over the Moniakh and realized the passengers would evacuate before the storm worsened.
• Nero flew back toward Cassell College while messages from Lu Mingfei and Xia Mi appeared on her notebook computer.

Lu Mingfei went with Nero to Caesar’s dance at Amber Hall, while underwater Ye Sheng and Jiude Ya Ji explored a complete bronze city and discovered signs that something inside was alive. The chapter ended with Professor Mance ordering the team to stop documenting the Dragon text and prepare for an enemy.

• Lu Mingfei asked Nero to attend Caesar’s dance with him, and Nero agreed to take him as her companion.
• Nero changed into a black formal dress and left with Lu Mingfei for Amber Hall.
• Ye Sheng and Jiude Ya Ji explored the bronze city beneath the water while Professor Mance monitored their progress from the surface.
• Jiude Ya Ji found Dragon Text on the city’s dome, and Mance ordered the team to record it.
• Ye Sheng noticed that a bronze statue’s fracture surface was brand-new, prompting Mance to order the team to abort photography and watch for enemies.