Chapter Summaries

Ronan guided the Burning Demon Shadow through the military’s forces, trying to limit casualties and conceal his own presence. As he prepared to return to his body, a Deep Blue Walker in Prototype Format state appeared and unleashed Format Fire.

• Ronan ordered the Burning Demon Shadow to force Brave Warrior’s smoke back into his body, then followed the demon out of the compartment.
• Ronan stayed behind the Burning Demon Shadow and adjusted his route to mislead the military’s Shadow Mist detection.
• The Burning Demon Shadow crossed the soldiers’ Fire Clouds and struck them with the Siege Hammer, leaving several unconscious and spreading fear among the troops.
• Ronan restrained the demon’s attacks and redirected it toward his body, but it sensed an approaching threat.
• A Deep Blue Walker in Prototype Format state rounded the corridor and released Format Fire, which mingled with the military’s Fire Clouds.

Ronan’s Burning Demon Shadow fought off a Deep Blue Walker’s attack before escaping the corridor and reaching the warship’s lower deck. Yan Yongbo and Captain He regrouped, while Yan privately ordered his subordinates to delay their operation and observe.

• A second Deep Blue Walker charged the Burning Demon Shadow and cut through it twice with his Format Fire blade, leaving it disoriented.
• The first Deep Blue Walker tried to trap the Burning Demon Shadow in a Fire Cloud vortex, but Ronan roused it and sent it through the weakest point into the lower deck.
• Yan Yongbo revealed himself after the escape, and the injured Fighter sat up and began recalibrating her armor.
• Captain He rebuffed Yan Yongbo’s praise and said she hoped to work with Quantum Corporation with Tacit Understanding.
• Yan Yongbo privately told his subordinates, especially Hei Zi, to delay the operation, observe, and prioritize support.

Ronan returned to his body after the Darkside Creature was killed, then waited for the Dark Heavy Chains to retract without drawing attention. He was taken to meet a lawyer hired by Xie Junping as police questioning began.

• Yan Yongbo followed Captain He and the Burning Ones squad as five Deep Blue Walkers killed the Darkside Creature, with Captain He delivering the final blow.
• Ronan returned his Soul Body to his physical body, while the Burning Demon Shadow was left fatally damaged by Format Fire and the Combatant’s will.
• Ronan waited in the Confinement Room until the Dark Heavy Chains fully retracted, then followed the captain officer to the police questioning area.
• The captain officer told Ronan that police questioning was beginning and that, as a minor, he would meet with a lawyer first.
• Ronan met Zhang Yingying, who introduced herself as the lawyer Young Master Xie had hired for him.

Ronan’s lawyer, Zhang Yingying, warned him to be cautious during the investigation and then helped him through the authorities’ lengthy questioning. Ronan was cleared but had to wait aboard the warship to leave, where a tough-looking man watched him with open hostility.

• Zhang Yingying explained that Ronan had avoided being handed over to the police and warned him that the government and military would investigate the detainees more closely.
• Zhang Yingying escorted Ronan into the interrogation area, where he cooperated with the police and completed their tests and questioning.
• Zhang Yingying negotiated with the police and other lawyers while Ronan recounted the day’s events several times.
• Ronan was cleared after ten hours, though Zhang Yingying told him he had to wait for the other detainees before leaving the warship.
• Ronan noticed a dark-skinned man with a crew cut watching him coldly from a vehicle carrying detached Exoskeleton Armors.

Ronan recognized Quantum Corporation’s Deep Blue Walkers aboard the carrier before Zhang Yingying brought him back to the cabin and restored his communications access. He discovered he had missed the Mystic Studies Society entrance exam, then called Mo Ya and his aunt to explain his absence and keep Mo Ya’s cover story intact.

• Ronan identified the Exoskeleton Armor as Quantum Corporation’s Deep Blue Walkers, including the Crowd Controller he had seen fight the Burning Demon Shadow, before the carrier’s operator sealed the equipment away.
• Zhang Yingying told Ronan that communications had been restored in the cabin, and he found twenty-five missed calls from Mo Ya and three from his aunt.
• Ronan called Mo Ya, who berated him for missing class and the Mystic Studies Society entrance exam, then explained that she had waited at his apartment and covered for him with their mother.
• Mo Ya warned Ronan to stay away from the society’s wealthy circle, and Ronan promised to apologize by treating her the next day.
• Ronan called his aunt and continued Mo Ya’s story that the interview involved assessing his experimental ability; his aunt seemed to accept his explanation and told him to rest.

After finishing a difficult phone call, Ronan grew curious about Zhang Yingying and accepted her invitation to play Wilderness Ten Days while they waited for the police. He chose the beginner-friendly Black Tooth, and Zhang Yingying was surprised when he said he disliked the Deep Blue Platform.

• Ronan found Zhang Yingying studying the distorted Prison Building sketch in his notebook and gave her a vague explanation for it.
• Zhang Yingying urged Ronan to play Wilderness Ten Days with her to pass the hours while they waited for the police.
• Ronan scanned his hands on Zhang Yingying's soft screen and watched her set up an augmented-reality PvP match.
• Ronan selected Black Tooth, a Standard-category heavy gunner, prompting Zhang Yingying to ask why he had not chosen a more challenging character.
• Ronan said he did not like the Deep Blue Platform, and Zhang Yingying enthusiastically called him a kindred spirit.

Ronan and Zhang Yingying spent the night battling in Wilderness Battle, then Ronan sketched the hidden aura he could see around her. Zhang Yingying recognized the phenomenon as her White Rainbow and realized Ronan was a psychic.

• Ronan and Zhang Yingying fought more than two hundred rounds of Wilderness Battle, with Zhang Yingying winning their first match by defeating Black Tooth and Nubi.
• A phone call told Zhang Yingying that the interrogation had finished, and she shut down the game at 4:50 a.m.
• Ronan drew Zhang Yingying playing the game and used his enhanced perception to sketch the aura stirring around her.
• Zhang Yingying examined the sketch, recognized the depicted phenomenon as her White Rainbow, and accused Ronan of being a psychic.

Ronan tested Zhang Yingying with a sketch and learned that she belonged to a circle of Ability Users. After admitting his strong interest in joining, he asked her to seriously consider giving him an opportunity.

• Zhang Yingying realized Ronan had used his portrait of her to test her reaction and confronted him about it.
• Ronan pointed out that Zhang Yingying had investigated him, including his family and Grandfather, before asking about his ability.
• Zhang Yingying explained that a medium could sense and communicate with invisible beings, and Ronan described drawing from unusual feelings.
• Ronan questioned Zhang Yingying about Ability Users, their organizations, training, and ability levels, and learned she belonged to an organization.
• Ronan said he would rather join as an inexperienced employee than wait as an outstanding student, then bowed and asked Zhang Yingying to consider giving him an opportunity.

Zhang Yingying explained the Ability User community and the Association to Ronan after teasing him about his earnestness. She dropped him at Zhi Xing Institute for his assessment, then called her boss to report that she had found a promising newcomer.

• Zhang Yingying pretended to sympathize with Ronan before bursting into laughter, and later apologized while they left the military Transport Ship.
• Ronan asked Zhang Yingying for meaningful information, and she explained the scarcity of Ability Users, the Association, and the distribution of Awakened people.
• Zhang Yingying reassured Ronan that he would likely be accepted into the Association, though his initial rating would depend on his assessment.
• Zhang Yingying dropped Ronan at Zhi Xing Institute and wished him success in his assessment.
• After Ronan left, Zhang Yingying called her boss and asked for a bonus for finding an exceptionally promising newcomer.

Zhang Yingying brought Ronan’s game and control data to an Awakened association institute so Susan could assess him. Susan rated Ronan E+ and registered him in the Database, which sent him a contact notification.

• Zhang Yingying visited the institute and learned that 200 injured Burners had retired early and would be recruited into the Association.
• Susan told Zhang Yingying that He Wei, a twenty-year-old Burner and leader of the Lan Shan Battleship Special Operations Team’s Seventh Squad, had retired and was set to become vice president.
• Zhang Yingying persuaded Susan to evaluate Ronan using a replay of their Wilderness Ten Days match aboard the Lan Shan Battleship.
• Zhang Yingying and Susan reviewed Ronan’s control data and found signs of strong precision and increasing character anthropomorphism.
• Susan assessed Ronan as an unawakened mental-enhancement candidate with an E+ potential rating and registered him in the Association’s Database.

Zhang Yingying and Susan received an emergency summons for all Awakened in Xia City, while Lian Yu rode with Li Xuecheng and discovered he planned to target Ronan. The chapter ended as Li Xuecheng invited her to join his staged attack on Ronan in a school locker room.

• Zhang Yingying and Susan argued over the Martial Emperor's influence and the safety of Youlan Agency's non-combat personnel.
• Zhang Yingying and Susan received an order for an in-person emergency meeting and agreed that few Awakened would attend.
• Zhang Yingying drove away from the research institute as Lian Yu rode back to school in Li Xuecheng's Titan vehicle.
• Li Xuecheng grabbed Lian Yu's hand and apologized, then showed her a projection of Ronan in a school locker room.
• Li Xuecheng revealed a stun gun and needleless syringe in the projection and invited Lian Yu to join him in targeting Ronan.

Li Xuecheng watched his hired enforcers pursue Ronan and treated the ambush as an entertaining game. After Ronan was cornered and shocked, someone confronted Li Xuecheng, and the First Perspective feed went dark.

• Li Xuecheng told Lian Yu about his enjoyment of controlling real-life games and pulled her into his arms to watch Ronan.
• Li Xuecheng sent several puppet enforcers after Ronan and chose to have them attack him in a restroom.
• Ronan escaped through a window, evaded his pursuers, and was eventually cornered by the campus Black Gang behind a building.
• The enforcers shocked Ronan, but he raised his head and looked directly toward Li Xuecheng.
• Someone shouted at Li Xuecheng, and the First Perspective view plunged toward the grass before going black.

Ronan uncovered the source of the surveillance at Zhi Xing Institute and entered a Meditative State, where the Dark Heavy Chains revealed a symbol resembling Burning Demon Shadow. Meanwhile, Li Xuecheng and Xie Junping fought after Xie interrupted Li’s attempt to assault Lian Yu.

• Ronan carried the unconscious First Perspective while searching for clues, and Li Xuecheng realized Ronan had found the camera.
• Li Xuecheng threatened to use his wealth and influence against Ronan, then tried to force himself on Lian Yu.
• Xie Junping arrived after Lian Yu secretly asked him for help, and he and Li Xuecheng began fighting until the bodyguards intervened.
• Ronan confirmed the International Science Exploration Association’s verification email after escaping people who had been following him at Zhi Xing Institute.
• Ronan entered a Meditative State and saw a dark-red symbol among the Dark Heavy Chains that resembled Burning Demon Shadow’s true form.

Ronan used a strange drawing process to identify a likely target in the Medical Department and learned that his forum friend uLing had been killed by his wife during a violent breakdown. He headed to the Medical Department, but began to feel dizzy along the way.

• Ronan concluded that the Burning Demon Shadow’s symbol had warned him of the attack and might be recovering through the Dark Heavy Chains.
• Ronan added details to his sketch and identified a person in the Medical Department, about three kilometers southwest of campus, as his likely target.
• Ronan remembered that uLing had mentioned taking his wife for a physical examination and checked the Secret Star Forum for an update.
• Ronan found a memorial thread reporting that uLing’s wife had suffered a mental breakdown and stabbed him to death after an argument.
• Ronan left class for the Medical Department and felt faint dizziness not long after setting out.

Ronan went to the Medical Department as drug withdrawal symptoms hit, but encountered another Burning Demon Shadow inside Li Xuecheng. His Dark Heavy Chains devoured most of it and stopped Li Xuecheng from dying, leaving Ronan to question how many demons had entered the world.

• Ronan's medicine supply ran out, triggering withdrawal symptoms, so he went to the Medical Department.
• Ronan sensed a target in the inpatient department and saw Li Xuecheng arrive with bodyguards after being hypnotized the previous day.
• A Burning Demon Shadow emerged from Li Xuecheng, and Ronan felt an overwhelming hunger toward it.
• Ronan's Dark Heavy Chains pierced the demon shadow and drew most of it into the glowing symbol at his brow.
• Li Xuecheng collapsed as his life force began draining, but Ronan withdrew the chains and stopped the loss, leaving him in a deep coma.
• Ronan considered the demons' apparent food chain and wondered how many Burning Demon Shadows the howl from the Research Zone had unleashed.

Ouyang Chen briefed Xia City's wilderness explorers on a virus released by the Human-Faced Spider, which could activate through intense negative emotions and transform hosts into Darkside Creatures. He questioned whether the creature could be reborn, and Hu Yuli's evasive answer prompted attendees to challenge Quantum Corporation's account of a stolen drug.

• Ouyang Chen announced that 429 people had attended the screening, but only 420 would participate in the briefing after nine were killed or went missing.
• Ouyang Chen explained that Quantum Corporation, the government, and the military had studied the Human-Faced Spider, a Darkside Creature parasitizing an Aberrant Species, at the Research Zone laboratory.
• Ouyang Chen reported that the creature released a virus across Xia City's metropolitan area and Satellite Cities, with Ability Users especially vulnerable and negative emotions able to trigger infections.
• Ouyang Chen said activated infections transformed hosts into Darkside Creatures that absorbed Qi and Blood and grew by devouring one another.
• Ouyang Chen asked Hu Yuli whether the Human-Faced Spider might be reborn through the Darkside Creatures, but Hu Yuli said the research had not gone far enough to know.
• An attendee challenged Hu Yuli over news of a stolen drug, saying it contradicted Quantum Corporation's earlier account.

Ouyang Chen persuaded the Association to consider an operation against Quantum Corporation by revealing the portal's location and linking it to the origins of Aberrant Species and Awakened abilities. Meanwhile, Ronan struggled with withdrawal symptoms while seeking to repair his Imitation Paper Soft Screen, and the chapter ended with a man approaching him outside the crowded club.

• Hu Yuli failed to convince the audience that Quantum Corporation had mishandled the theft of laboratory agents, and Ouyang Chen silenced the venue to address them.
• Ouyang Chen revealed that the Human-Faced Spider came from a portal located in the South-Central Mariana Trench and said the Association should negotiate for Quantum Corporation's coordinates and materials.
• Ouyang Chen urged the Awakened to investigate the source of their powers, calling the proposed operation 'road sign' and saying they should guide humanity's future.
• Ronan, exhausted and disoriented from withdrawal and a day of changing classrooms, went to the Precision Electronics Interest Club to repair his damaged Imitation Paper Soft Screen.
• After failing to get help quickly in the crowded club, Ronan stepped outside and used the Sixteen-Word Incantation to steady himself before an unfamiliar man asked whether he was okay.

Ronan reunited with Xue Lei, the classmate who had helped him that morning, and they discovered that Advisor Li Mingde had summoned them both to his office. Chen Xiaolin invited them to wait together at an ice cream shop before their five o'clock appointment.

• Ronan met Xue Lei on the roadside, and they recognized each other as classmates from He Wu District.
• Xue Lei revealed that he had helped Ronan during an incident outside the South District 2 Changing Room that morning.
• Xue Lei introduced Ronan to his girlfriend, Chen Xiaolin, and Ronan tried to thank him without openly discussing the incident.
• Ronan and Xue Lei received messages from Li Mingde ordering them to report to his office at five o'clock.
• Chen Xiaolin learned that Ronan was a freshman who had attended Xia City No. 6 Middle School before moving to He Wu District.
• Chen Xiaolin invited Ronan and Xue Lei to wait at an ice cream shop before their appointment, and Ronan agreed.

Ronan met with Chen Xiaolin, who urged him to avoid making commitments to Advisor Li and invited him to a Mutual Aid Society buffet. At the repair club, Engineer Zhai found that Ronan’s Imitation Paper Soft Screen lacked nearly all its components, then uncovered a mysterious thread inside it.

• Chen Xiaolin advised Xue Lei to avoid making promises to Advisor Li and told Ronan about the Mutual Aid Society buffet.
• Ronan left for his repair appointment after Xue Lei reminded him to go to Old Immortal Mingde’s place later.
• Ronan handed his damaged Imitation Paper Soft Screen to Engineer Zhai, who carefully dismantled it while explaining the process.
• Engineer Zhai and the students discovered that the screen had no processor, storage, or other essential modules, despite Ronan having used it the day before.
• Engineer Zhai used a mechanical arm to draw a thread as fine as spider silk out of the screen’s circuitry.

Ronan retrieved a mysterious Electric Light Thread hidden inside the Imitation Paper Soft Screen and struggled to understand its connection to its previous owner. He then arrived with Xue Lei at Li Mingde’s meeting for students who had not joined a club, where the advisor began lecturing them.

• Ronan stopped Zhai Gong from repairing the device after the filament was removed, and Zhai Gong returned the filament to him in a pouch.
• Ronan saw the Electric Light Thread surrounding the filament and wondered how its previous owner had obtained and concealed it.
• Xue Lei caught Ronan when he stumbled, and Ronan put the pouch inside his notebook before heading with him to the grade advisor’s office.
• Ronan and Xue Lei arrived at Li Mingde’s meeting just in time and were called to the front of the crowded office.
• Li Mingde called roll and asked the gathered students why they had been summoned, but no one answered.