Chapter Summaries

Luo Xiaoxiao rapidly helped Chu Han put on his elaborate general’s uniform just as the celebration began. After learning she had designed its fifty-six buttons to represent China’s ethnic groups, Chu Han joined the procession and shocked the assembled officials by appearing in full uniform.

• Luo Xiaoxiao pulled Chu Han’s uniform from his bag and promised to fasten the jacket in thirty seconds while Chen Shaoye helped him with his trousers and boots.
• Zhuang Hong urged Commander Mu to remove Chu Han from the program, but Luo Ming suggested letting him join if he finished in time, and Commander Mu agreed Chu Han could come out after the major generals.
• As the celebration began and the officials filed out, Luo Xiaoxiao fastened Chu Han’s jacket in just over twenty seconds and explained that she had designed its fifty-six buttons to represent China’s fifty-six ethnic groups.
• Chu Han finished dressing and told a startled lieutenant general that he was up next, then strode out to join the procession.
• Chu Han reached the platform in full uniform, leaving the seated generals and officials shocked by his sudden appearance.

Chu Han smoothly joined the generals at the New Year celebration, but he had not learned the oath required for his General's Badge ceremony. As the crowd awaited his appearance, Zhuang Hong expected him to embarrass himself onstage.

• Chu Han changed into formal clothes and took his seat among the generals, leaving Zhuang Hong stunned and Commander Mu relieved.
• Commander Mu delivered a routine speech while Duan Jiangwei warned Chu Han that a general's oath was more complex than a recruit's; Chu Han refused his offer to explain it.
• Duan Jiangwei reflected on Chu Han's schemes and his own forced debt to him, while Chu Han privately planned to make use of that debt later.
• The announcer invited Chu Han to receive his General's Badge, and the assembled crowd and soldiers turned to watch.
• Zhuang Hong hoped Chu Han would make a mistake onstage because he had arrived late and had no time to learn the ceremony's rules.

Chu Han received his general’s badge at the Shangjing Survivor Base’s assembly and discovered that the oath handed to him had been altered. As the crowd waited to hear how he would respond, Chu Han began to swear the oath aloud.

• Chu Han rose before the assembly and walked to the platform, where his flawless salute surprised Commander Mu and the military officers.
• Commander Mu returned Chu Han’s salute and personally pinned the general’s badge onto him.
• Commander Mu warned Chu Han that the oath might differ from the version he had reviewed, and Chu Han smiled after opening it.
• People in the crowd mocked Chu Han with a deliberately altered version of the oath, while Commander Mu and Luo Ming worried that someone would exploit the situation.
• Chu Han began reciting the oath through the loudspeakers.

At the Shangjing Survivor Base enlistment ceremony, Chu Han replaced the prescribed oath with a pledge of loyalty to Huaxia alone, provoking the base’s officials while winning the quiet approval of Commander Mu and Luo Ming. As he headed toward the afternoon meeting, he remained unconcerned about threats to strip his rank and bargained with Wang Cai over its investigation.

• Chu Han swore loyalty to Huaxia without reading the official oath, and the crowd erupted in applause and outrage.
• Shangguan Rong, Duan Jiangwei, and other Shangjing officials condemned Chu Han’s oath, while Commander Mu and Luo Ming recognized its usefulness if Shangjing fell into turmoil.
• Chu Han privately explained that he had no intention of submitting to Shangjing’s leadership and planned to build his own base and Wolf Fang Regiment.
• Officials threatened to impeach and demote Chu Han at the afternoon meeting, but he dismissed their warnings and noted that he had given the fake oath to Luo Ming.
• Chen Shaoye worried that Chu Han would lose his general’s rank, and Chu Han distracted him before bargaining with Wang Cai for information using chicken drumsticks.

At Shangjing Base’s first high-level meeting of the apocalypse’s second year, Chu Han’s opponents failed to have him demoted after a doctored oath was exposed. Chu Han then seized the chance to demand that his general’s rank be permanent for life.

• Chen Shaoye followed Chu Han to the general’s residence, while Liu Yuding privately told Chu Han something that prompted him to order Wang Cai to steal an item from the archives room.
• The high-level meeting began with Luo Ming announcing that the petition to demote Chu Han had been rejected.
• Zhuang Hong and another attendee challenged the decision, but Luo Ming revealed the oath Chu Han had received and said those responsible had been detained.
• After the room fell silent and Commander Mu moved the meeting on, Chu Han stood up and objected.
• Chu Han complained about how he had been treated in Shangjing and applied to keep his rank as general for life.

At the Shangjing Base meeting, Chu Han secured a guarantee against future attempts to demote him and learned that Bu Sha had become the Beautiful Yama. He Feng then presented reports of strange events near Nandu, leaving the meeting focused on an unknown force that had eliminated mutants and sharply reduced zombie populations.

• Commander Mu rejected the petition to demote Chu Han but guaranteed on behalf of Shangjing Base that the same kind of misunderstanding would not happen again.
• He Feng presented a list of powerful figures, and Chu Han realized that Bu Sha had followed the path that made her the bloodthirsty Beautiful Yama.
• He Feng reported that the Dragon Tooth Squad had completed all its missions while the Tiger Fang Team had failed two; Chu Han revealed that he had dealt with the zombie horde and mutant group himself.
• He Feng described two cities near Nandu where zombies had suddenly disappeared, a destroyed bridge had been repaired overnight, and a mutant settlement had been wiped out by an unknown force.
• He Feng pointed to another location on the map after confirming that no nearby large survivor base had mobilized.

He Feng briefed the meeting on two elusive civilian groups whose opposing trails of destruction and repairs had baffled the scouting team. When he revealed their names, Black Gleam and Divine Concealment, Chu Han sprayed tea over Zhuang Hong and drew everyone’s attention.

• He Feng described strange incidents at several locations, including vanished livestock and food, slaughtered zombies, stolen potatoes, missing underwear, and a destroyed bridge that was rebuilt overnight.
• He Feng explained that two unorganized civilian groups had been traveling in opposite directions, with one causing damage and the other repairing it, while evading the scouting team.
• Duan Jiangwei urged the military to recruit the groups, but He Feng said they had repeatedly disappeared and avoided contact.
• He Feng said a six-year-old boy had delivered a note confirming the two groups and revealed that they were called Black Gleam and Divine Concealment.
• Chu Han sprayed his tea onto Zhuang Hong, prompting the room to stare at him and ask what he was up to.

At the Shangjing meeting, Chu Han proposed the name Reforging Coin and set its exchange rates with crystals, then abruptly left after Wang Cai warned him that something had happened. He ordered Chen Shaoye to bring the guns as they went.

• Chu Han read a note from Xiao Kun and Lu Bingze and realized Black Mang Squad and Divine Concealment Squad had grown far stronger during their absence.
• He Feng led the meeting into a discussion about currency for the Apocalypse Era, and Commander Mu asked Chu Han for his opinion.
• Chu Han named the currency Reforging Coin and explained its meaning as returning to the beginning and the primitive.
• Wang Cai urgently told Chu Han that something had happened, so Chu Han pushed the meeting to approve the currency and its crystal exchange rates.
• Chu Han left the meeting with Chen Shaoye and told him to bring the guns.

After leaving the meeting where Reforging Coins were approved at the prices he had named, Chu Han went to Deng Weibo’s house in the Refugee District. He ordered Chen Shaoye to blast open the door and shoot a hidden target on the roof, then questioned why Wang Cai had reported only two mutants.

• Commander Mu asked about the proposed crystal quotas, and the meeting discovered that Chu Han’s prices matched the figures on page ninety-seven of the file.
• Duan Jiangwei noticed Chu Han’s document was open to page fifty and wondered how Chu Han had known the quotas.
• Chu Han took Chen Shaoye to Deng Weibo’s empty residence in the Refugee District, carrying information Wang Cai had obtained.
• Chu Han told Chen Shaoye to blow open the door, then directed him to shoot a target on the roof.
• Chen Shaoye’s shot hit the hidden target, and Chu Han asked why Wang Cai had said there were two mutants.

Chu Han and Chen Shaoye uncovered an alien hiding among Refugees, along with a room full of murdered people, and found Deng Weibo gravely wounded. Deng Weibo revealed his resentment toward Chu Han and claimed Fang Rong was in the room.

• Chen Shaoye shot through the door and killed one alien, while another escaped.
• Chu Han confronted Deng Weibo, who was surrounded by corpses with their organs removed.
• Chu Han asked Deng Weibo where Fang Rong was and offered to overlook his collusion with aliens if he answered.
• Deng Weibo blamed Chu Han and Fang Rong for becoming Evolvers while he remained powerless, and admitted he had killed Fang Rong's family.
• Chu Han asked where the second alien had gone, and Deng Weibo claimed Fang Rong was in the room.

Chu Han discovered that Deng Weibo had tortured Fang Rong to death and had eaten human flesh, leaving him furious and devastated. After Chen Shaoye dealt with Deng Weibo, Chu Han tried to leave the Refugees district, but punched Meng Cai when the inspection captain demanded that he submit to an investigation.

• Chu Han beat Deng Weibo and learned from his reaction that he had eaten human flesh and colluded with the alien species.
• Deng Weibo lunged at Chu Han, who kicked him into a wooden board and uncovered Fang Rong's mutilated corpse beneath it.
• Chu Han left Deng Weibo to Chen Shaoye, who took the gun and fired a shot as Chu Han walked away.
• Meng Cai blocked Chu Han and demanded that he cooperate with an investigation, so Chu Han punched him into a wall.

Chu Han beat and dragged away Meng Cai after the inspection captain tried to extort him, while the commotion reached a meeting of Shangjing Base’s leaders. The leaders learned that Chu Han and Chen Shaoye had eliminated a mutant in the refugee district, leaving those who had condemned them embarrassed.

• Chu Han punched Meng Cai through a wall after Meng Cai tried to cause trouble and extort him.
• Meng Cai threatened Chu Han, who grabbed him and dragged him away, breaking his jaw.
• A guard reported to Commander Mu’s meeting that chaos had broken out in the refugee district and that Chen Shaoye had used the Doom Sniper Rifle.
• Several leaders denounced Chu Han and Chen Shaoye before another soldier announced that a mutant had appeared in the district.
• He Feng ordered the soldier to continue, and the report revealed that Chu Han and Chen Shaoye had already killed the mutant and caused the earlier disturbance.

Chu Han returned to the meeting hall after killing a mutant in the Refugees district and dragged the battered inspection captain Meng Cai in with him. He broke Meng Ming’s finger and clashed with the assembled officials, then explained why he had left the meeting, though they continued to challenge his account.

• Luo Ming shamed the officials who had accused Chu Han of taking weapons to the Refugees district.
• A soldier reported that Chu Han had beaten up inspection captain Meng Cai, prompting Meng Ming to seize the messenger and demand details.
• Chu Han kicked open the meeting hall doors and dragged the nearly unconscious Meng Cai inside.
• Meng Ming tried to attack Chu Han, who broke his finger, while Chu Han mocked him and cursed at a protesting official.
• At Commander Mu’s demand, Chu Han said he had gone to the Refugees district to kill a mutant and rescue the people there, but the officials questioned how he had known about it.

Chu Han defended beating Meng Cai and Meng Ming by exposing Meng Cai’s failure to detect an alien in the Refugees district and invoking his general’s preferential terms. He left the assembled leaders cowed and scrambling to apologize.

• Chu Han dismissed a man’s complaint about leaving the meeting and called for the next person to speak.
• Chu Han argued that Meng Cai had failed to catch an alien in his district and demanded that Meng Cai be removed as inspection captain.
• Chu Han claimed Meng Ming had attacked him first and said his general’s privileges allowed him to retaliate.
• Chu Han berated a hostile big shot until the man fainted, then confronted another critic about his efforts to protect Shangjing.
• The leaders tried to stop Chu Han and apologized, with one calling him Huaxia’s lucky star.

Chu Han discovered that the Dragon Tooth Squad had completed a mission to rescue his father, Chu Yuntian, after the meeting’s fallout left him shaken by the brutality he had witnessed. The chapter ended with Chu Han, Liu Yuding, and Chen Shaoye staring in shock at the report identifying Chu Yuntian as a rescued Mensa Organization member.

• Chu Han demanded twenty thousand Reforging Coins, and the meeting ended after Meng Cai was stripped of his position and Meng Ming was reassigned.
• Chen Shaoye returned with the Doom Sniper Rifle and found Chu Han silent and visibly troubled by a Dragon Tooth Squad mission report.
• Chu Han reflected on Fang Rong’s fate and Deng Weibo’s cruelty, then forced himself to examine the report Wang Cai had stolen from the archives.
• Chu Han found the fifth mission entry, which stated that the Dragon Tooth Squad had completed a mission to rescue Chu Yuntian, a core member of the Mensa Organization.
• Liu Yuding and Chen Shaoye sprang to their feet in shock when they saw Chu Yuntian’s name.

Chu Han read a classified Dragon Tooth report and learned that his father, Chu Yuntian, had been rescued in Nandu because he was a core Mensa member ranked tenth in IQ. He also checked a protection list, confirmed Song Xiao’s identity, and realized the boy ranked above Luo Xiaoxiao was the person he remembered from his previous life.

• Chen Shaoye and Liu Yuding were shocked when Chu Han showed them a Dragon Tooth mission report naming Chu Yuntian.
• Chu Han read that Dragon Tooth had rescued Chu Yuntian and that his father was a core Mensa member ranked tenth in IQ.
• Chu Han realized his father was in Nandu and reconsidered the mysteries surrounding his parents and the rescue missions.
• Chu Han examined a classified protection list and saw that Luo Xiaoxiao’s entry was marked completed while many others were marked missing.
• Chu Han recognized Song Xiao as the boy ranked second on the protection list and confirmed he was the person Chu Han remembered from his previous life.

After discovering his father’s whereabouts and Song Xiao’s identity, Chu Han was drawn into another scheme involving Shangjing’s secrets and a generous reward. He accepted supplies and money for establishing a base and planned to leave Shangjing that afternoon.

• Chu Han let Liu Yuding and Chen Shaoye see Shangjing’s top-secret documents, and Liu Yuding realized Chu Han had deliberately made him an accomplice.
• Shangjing’s leadership began issuing orders after the New Year ceremony, including producing the first Reforging Coins.
• Commander Mu and Luo Ming offered Chu Han a voucher for twenty thousand Reforging Coins, his general’s salary, and supplies for establishing a base.
• Chu Han spotted the catch in the documents but accepted the reward and decided to collect the supplies before leaving Shangjing that afternoon.

After Commander Mu and Luo Ming used Chu Han to deal with their political maneuvering, Chu Han turned the tables by ordering He Feng to deliver a message to Cheng Xianguo. At the Logistics Department, he found more than two hundred soldiers assembled for his new force and realized the group concealed loyalists from rival factions; when he ordered them outside, someone openly objected.

• Chu Han confronted He Feng in the office corridor and ordered him to tell Cheng Xianguo to prepare to set out.
• He Feng refused at first, but Chu Han used his rank and knowledge of He Feng's hidden identity to make him obey.
• Chu Han concluded that He Feng had chosen Luo Ming's side and left the office area amid speculation about their encounter.
• Chu Han arrived at the Logistics Department and found Chen Shaoye, Liu Yuding, and more than two hundred assembled soldiers.
• Chu Han recognized the gathering as a trap designed to make him identify and remove rival factions' loyalists, then ordered everyone to wait outside.
• A soldier protested that Chu Han was sending them into the minus-twenty-degree cold.

Chu Han forced the gathered Evolvers and Enhancers to obey his order to stand outside in the snow, then demolished the room around those who refused. The rebels were buried under the collapsing roof, while the story left their fate unclear.

• Li Bifeng challenged Chu Han's order to stand outside, but Liu Yuding invoked the soldiers' oath and stepped into the snow himself.
• Chu Han ordered everyone to stand outside for two hours, and half the group went out while Li Bifeng and others refused.
• A man protested that Chu Han was disrespecting the Evolvers and Enhancers, and Chu Han answered by kicking down two walls.
• When the group begged him to stop, Chu Han kicked down a third wall, causing the roof to collapse on those who had stayed inside.

Chu Han demolished the house to force the protesting troops into obedience, then went to the logistics office to claim supplies. Pan Changxian returned to the rubble and demanded that Chu Han explain himself, but the troops stayed silent under Liu Yuding’s supervision.

• Chu Han emerged from the rubble and ordered the troops to stand still while Liu Yuding supervised them.
• Chu Han brought Chen Shaoye to the logistics office to collect supplies, where one clerk fainted from fear.
• A trembling logistics worker accepted Chu Han’s supply claim voucher and began preparing the requested items.
• Pan Changxian returned to the demolished house with the man who had fled and a hired bodyguard, then demanded to know where Chu Han was.
• Liu Yuding’s troops said nothing as Pan Changxian called for Chu Han to explain himself.