Chapter Summaries

Ronan used the Spirit Light Seed and the Earth power grid to rebuild his Biochemical Reactor, then joined it to his Exoskeleton Armor to prepare to control the violent electromagnetic energy. Quantum Corporation forces and a powerful Mental Side Extraordinary Species closed in as Ronan reached the brink of his first attempt at zero-distance control.

• Ronan used his Soul Power and the Earth power grid to ignite the Biochemical Reactor, but its energy demand overwhelmed the Energy Center's transmission lines.
• The External Neuron bridged the reactor to the power source, allowing it to renew itself and rapidly convert Ronan's cells into Omnipotent Stem Cells.
• As the reactor consumed the Energy Center's electricity and nutrients, Quantum Corporation dropped two Deep Blue Squads while powerful figures in Spring City took notice.
• Ronan moved toward the reshaped reactor, which enveloped him and fused flesh, blood vessels, and lightning with his Exoskeleton Armor.
• The God Binding Hoop rose to Ronan's forehead as his preparation and the Electromagnetic Division Universal Array Structure formed a framework for controlling the power at zero distance.

Yuan Mu led the Forest and Ying Huo Squads into a blackout-stricken Energy Center, where an unexplained Abyss Zone storm and massive power consumption suggested an unknown enemy. The Deep Blue Walkers formed a coordinated combat domain and entered the reactor work area, but their night-vision equipment could not penetrate the darkness.

• Yuan Mu learned that the Abyss Zone storm had persisted for over 200 seconds at a projected intensity far beyond ordinary B-Rank abilities, despite no interference source being detected.
• Yuan Mu and Light Spot led fifteen Deep Blue Walkers toward the Energy Center after reports linked its damaged power lines to an unexplained surge in electricity consumption.
• Yuan Mu and Light Spot agreed to combine their squads’ abilities into a Formatted Space, with Oak serving as its defensive mental anchor.
• The fifteen Deep Blue Walkers completed their seventh-version Formatted Space as they advanced through the Energy Center toward its reactor.
• Yuan Mu, Light Spot, and the other operatives found that their night-vision equipment could not clearly show the darkened work area.

Yuan Mu and Light Spot’s teams investigated the spreading darkness near the reactor and concluded that electromagnetic waves were being siphoned into the Abyss Zone. As they entered what Light Spot called an Electromagnetic Domain, they lost contact with Command Center and Oak’s perception network collapsed, leaving the fifteen Deep Blue Walkers isolated in darkness.

• Little Sister warned Yuan Mu that electromagnetic-shielding walls could obstruct communications and limit EMP weapons, while Yuan Mu argued that the darkness meant electromagnetic waves were disappearing rather than merely being blocked.
• Oak switched on his helmet light, but the darkness rapidly consumed its beam, and he explained that electromagnetic waves could not simply vanish.
• Light Spot proposed that the missing electrical energy and electromagnetic waves had been transferred into the Abyss Zone, possibly forming an Abyss Zone Storm.
• Yuan Mu ordered the teams to switch to pure perception mode and had Oak activate Perception Sharing, restoring their vision while increasing their mental strain.
• Light Spot named the area an Electromagnetic Domain or a Light Rider’s domain, and the squads then lost contact with Command Center.
• Oak groaned as a Mental Layer attack collapsed the perception network, isolating all fifteen Deep Blue Walkers in darkness.

Ronan used the Electromagnetic Domain to disable Yuan Mu and the other Deep Blue Walkers, then escaped the Energy Center after his temporary body material burned away. He recognized the need for more practice and arranged for raw materials to be sent to Ban City.

• Yuan Mu activated the Buck Style Defense and took command of the Deep Blue Walkers’ Formatted Space as the Black Tide struck.
• Ronan’s electromagnetic attack pierced the team’s defenses, leaving Yuan Mu and the other fourteen Deep Blue Walkers incapacitated.
• Yuan Mu realized that Ronan’s combined Mental Side ability and Electromagnetic Domain made him a natural enemy of the Deep Blue Walkers.
• Ronan used the God Binding Hoop to redirect the high-voltage current, while his temporary body material crumbled to ash.
• Ronan removed his damaged Exoskeleton Armor and sent it with Raven to the Forward Base.
• Ronan left the Energy Center unnoticed and asked someone in Di City to send raw materials to Ban City.

Ronan restored power to Spring City's CBD District and tried to leave for the Forward Base, but police seized his off-road motorcycle. He realized that buying a replacement without exposing his movements would reveal his suspicious presence in Spring City, leaving him stranded with an unexpected crisis.

• Ronan used the Electromagnetic Direction Configuration to restore power across the CBD District, and the crowd celebrated as the city lit up.
• Ronan headed toward his motorcycle, but police surrounded it as a priority target, so he abandoned it and went looking for another off-road vehicle.
• Ronan checked his funds and considered buying a replacement, then realized that any transaction could expose his location and travel history to SCA and Inner World intelligence organizations.
• Ronan stood on the street, recognizing that he had no safe way to pay for a vehicle and was facing a major crisis.

Cat's Eye helped Ronan find a discreet way to trade after he asked for advice from Spring City, where he had gone looking for an off-road vehicle. Ronan reached the U-Cave Market in the city's Recycling Layer, but found that its underground river setting made vehicles unlikely to be available.

• Cat's Eye took a call from He Yueyin, then learned Ronan was in Spring City and teased him over his failed attempt to get an off-road vehicle.
• Ronan asked Cat's Eye for a convenient, discreet trading method, and she sent him an app called Trade.
• Ronan used the app to locate Spring City's Vagrant Exchanges and chose the U-Cave Market, about forty kilometers from the CBD District.
• Ronan ran to the U-Cave Market through the Recycling Layer, hoping to find an off-road vehicle or perhaps take one from a robber.
• Ronan sensed that the market lay along an underground river channel, making land vehicles unlikely there.

Ronan reached the concealed entrance to U-Cave Market and used its disguise room and professional assessment system. After passing a demanding mechanical skills test, he completed his disguise and prepared to explore the black market.

• Ronan released mental pressure that drove off people lurking with malicious intent in the Recycling Layer.
• Ronan followed the app’s instructions to enter the abandoned factory compound leading to U-Cave Market.
• Ronan chose a full-head mask and cloak in the underground disguise room instead of attempting an elaborate disguise.
• Ronan selected mechanical design, processing, and assembly for a Credit Rating assessment and completed a series of practical repair and engineering challenges.
• Ronan gained a clearer sense of his gaps in mechanical knowledge, then inspected his masked reflection after completing the disguise.

Ronan created a virtual identity as “Furnace” to receive his full Credit Rating System results, then traveled by sealed boat toward the U-Cave Market while mapping its underground passages. The boat struck something underwater and suffered propulsion damage, leaving Ronan jolted and the journey in jeopardy.

• Ronan chose to create a virtual identity despite fearing the Vagrant Exchange might expose him, and named it Furnace.
• The terminal rated Ronan’s mechanical assessment rank 3,609 and his comprehensive assessment rank 60,763, awarding him 328 starting funds at Tier C.
• Ronan rode an electric cart to the dock, verified his identity tag, and boarded an automated sealed boat bound for the U-Cave Market.
• As the boat traveled through the cave system, Ronan used his sensory network and Coordination Secret Technique to map the waterways and terrain.
• The boat entered an underwater passage, then struck an obstacle and a stone wall, damaging its propulsion system and triggering an alarm.

Ronan rescued Bo Luo from a miniature submarine disguised as a moving stalagmite after it collided with his boat in the underground river. He brought the boy to shore, realized he had run away from home, and held him until Bo Luo’s family arrived.

• Ronan escaped his sinking boat, opened the damaged stalagmite submarine with his abilities, and pulled the trapped child out.
• Ronan carried the boy through the underground river, reached a bank, and learned the child was called Bo Luo.
• Bo Luo checked a map and tried to lead Ronan back the way they had come, but Ronan suspected he had run away from home.
• Ronan sensed adults approaching, grabbed Bo Luo, and shouted for help, prompting the boy to curse at him.
• Two boats arrived with people calling for Bo Luo, while Ronan continued holding the angry boy by the collar.

Ronan brought Bo Luo back to his mother’s repair shop and demanded the armored vehicle in exchange for helping him solve a problem. When Bo Luo’s prosthetic arm ran out of power and the shop lost electricity, Ronan saw the boy break down before he vowed to make the arm work without electricity.

• Zhang Liu An arrived with Xin Zi and took Bo Luo and Ronan back toward U-Cave Market, while another boat stayed behind to inspect the wreckage.
• Ronan insisted on staying at Bo Luo’s home, claimed he had visited U-Cave anonymously before, and led the group along the route to the shop.
• After the others left, Ronan offered to solve Bo Luo’s problem in exchange for the armored off-road vehicle.
• Bo Luo’s prosthetic arm froze when its power ran out, and he fled upstairs and angrily pounded the floor with his left hand.
• The shop’s lights failed before Bo Luo could charge his arm, and he cried in the darkness before declaring he would make the arm move without electricity.

Zhang Liu An confronted Wright about the cloaked man, but Wright dismissed the danger and planned to use the boy as leverage. At Bo Luo’s shop, Ronan restored power to Bo Luo’s mechanical arm, and Bo Luo opened up about his disability and the accident that left him stranded.

• Zhang Liu An returned to the hall and learned that Wright had interrogated his wife, who had revealed no valuable information.
• Zhang Liu An warned Wright that provoking the cloaked man could endanger Bo Luo and ruin their chance to learn about the holy relic, but Wright decided the stranger was unlikely to be a serious threat.
• Wright said he would rely on Zhang Liu An’s standing in Spring City and use his children to silence anyone who interfered.
• Ronan charged Bo Luo’s mechanical arm, and Bo Luo excitedly tested it before telling Ronan that his right arm had never grown properly.
• Bo Luo explained that he had assembled the Stalagmite himself and blamed its malfunction and his route choice for getting stranded; when Ronan asked about his father, Bo Luo asked whether a dad was something to eat.

Ronan considered whether his Biochemical Reactor could heal Bo Luo’s damaged arm, but learned that it could only safely serve Ronan himself. After asking Cat’s Eye about Brain Demon and the conflict surrounding Bo Luo, Ronan decided to act simply, while He Yueyin arrived to discuss his increasingly willful behavior.

• Ronan collected a small sample of Bo Luo’s skin tissue and discovered that his Biochemical Reactor could not safely be used to heal the boy.
• Ronan asked Cat’s Eye about Brain Demon, and she identified him as a wanted criminal and renowned hypnosis master with powerful connections.
• Ronan explained the factional conflict involving Bo Luo’s Mother, Boss Jun, and the rebels led by Zhang Liu An, Xin Zi, and others.
• Cat’s Eye told Ronan that his motives were to help Bo Luo and oppose Brain Demon’s group, and Ronan said he would keep matters simple.
• He Yueyin visited Cat’s Eye and said Ronan had become willful because she could not keep up with his pace of testing the rhythm of the world.

He Yueyin sought Cat's Eye's advice about how to handle Ronan's rapidly growing power, while Cat's Eye warned her that anyone caught in his storm would have to accept the consequences. In Spring City, Wright began using a Many Treasures Worm to interrogate Yan Fen, as Zhang Liu An watched uneasily, and a knock interrupted the procedure.

• He Yueyin told Cat's Eye that Ronan's leap in power required probing and adaptation, but said she was unsure where guidance crossed into coercion.
• Cat's Eye welcomed those about to be swept up by Ronan's storm and told He Yueyin there would be no escape or refunds.
• Wright explained the Many Treasures Worm's pheromones and began exposing Yan Fen and preparing her for the interrogation while Zhang Liu An stood nearby.
• The Many Treasures Worm pierced Yan Fen's chest and began burrowing beneath her skin as Wright described how it would fuse with her nervous system.
• Wright praised Yan Fen's progress, and someone knocked at the bedroom door.

Ronan entered Zhang Liu An’s room while Wright tortured Yan Fen, interrupting Wright’s interrogation and demanding payment for an off-road vehicle. Wright kept Yan Fen under his control and prepared to make Zhang Liu An pay, while Ronan challenged him to control a Fire God Ant queen.

• Xin Zi told Zhang Liu An that the Power Outage Area was still drawing electricity, and Zhang Liu An sent him to investigate while Wright continued torturing Yan Fen.
• Ronan forced his way into the room, knocking Zhang Liu An and Xin Zi down, and explained that he had come to buy the off-road vehicle from Wu Jun’s shop.
• Wright seized Yan Fen by the throat and asked Zhang Liu An the vehicle’s price, then ordered him to charge Ronan 300 Trade Points.
• Ronan suggested controlling a Fire God Ant queen and revealed that he knew Wright as Wright the Brain Demon, making Wright ask how Ronan knew him.

Ronan assessed Wright as a skilled hypnotist and discussed controlling Fire God Ants before Zhang Liu An’s card transaction exposed Furnace’s misleading credentials. Zhang Liu An attacked Ronan, but Wright’s ambush with the Giant Salamander left Zhang Liu An badly injured.

• Ronan judged Wright’s Soul Power ordinary in depth and intensity but unusually agile in sensitivity, and rated his combat ability as limited.
• Ronan discussed using a Fire God Ant queen as a remote controller, while Wright dismissed the proposal as too vague.
• Ronan persuaded Zhang Liu An to charge only 28 Trade Points, and Zhang Liu An’s terminal displayed Furnace’s credentials as a Body Cultivator specializing in mechanical design and assembly.
• Wright inferred that Furnace was actually Mental Side, and Zhang Liu An used that assumption to launch a close-range punch at Ronan.
• Zhang Liu An grabbed Ronan’s cloak, and Wright whistled to summon the Giant Salamander through the stone wall.
• The Giant Salamander attacked the entangled men and tore off most of Zhang Liu An’s right arm.

Ronan outmaneuvered Wright by using Fire God Ants to override the Giant Salamander’s nervous system, leaving Wright severely wounded and Yan Fen freed from his control. Wright’s Abyss Zone Configuration remained active as his aura grew increasingly violent.

• Zhang Liu An screamed and fainted after the Giant Salamander mangled his leg, while Wright threatened Yan Fen and demanded to know who Ronan was.
• Ronan mocked Wright’s failed mission and distracted him, allowing the Giant Salamander to sever Wright’s foot and arm and then slash his torso.
• Wright’s forced signal sent the Giant Salamander crashing into the living room, where the people in the outer room were left in danger.
• Ronan explained that Fire God Ants were controlling the Giant Salamander’s central nervous system through a relay linked to the Queen Ant.
• Wright acknowledged Ronan’s greater expertise as the aura around him grew chaotic, and Ronan realized Wright’s Abyss Zone Configuration was still active.

Wright burned his soul to empower a sacrificial Configuration and summon the Eye of All Souls, but Ronan disrupted the ritual and then restored the chaotic Abyss Zone. The chapter ended with Ronan reorganizing Wright’s mutilated body and the scattered remains in the room while Yan Fen watched.

• Wright burned his soul to draw power from the Abyss Zone and strengthen his Sacrificial Configuration.
• Wright invoked the Eye of All Souls, but Ronan disrupted the Configuration before it could complete.
• The collapsed power rebounded on Wright, mangling him and scattering blood and organs across the room.
• Ronan began diverting the Abyss Zone’s turbulence to prevent it from attracting attention.
• Ronan reorganized the Configuration fragments and gathered Wright’s scattered remains into an orderly shape as Yan Fen watched.

Ronan used his Soul Power to gather Wright’s collapsing body long enough for him to die after calling Ronan a god, and Yan Fen recovered from the neurotoxin. She learned why Zhang Liu An had betrayed the Evil Luo Order and killed him, leaving Ronan beside the aftermath.

• Ronan’s illusionary reconstruction briefly let Wright experience life and death before his body dissolved and the Abyss Zone Storm subsided.
• Yan Fen repeatedly called Ronan’s cloak a “Cloak,” then recovered enough to kneel and kiss its hem.
• Yan Fen took Zhang Liu An’s knife and demanded to know why he had betrayed the Evil Luo Order.
• Zhang Liu An admitted he had sold out the order because he feared the Amaterasu Order and wanted Wu Jun’s Cloak technology and power.
• Yan Fen called Zhang Liu An shameless and cut his throat, then struggled to keep herself propped away from his corpse.

Bo Luo woke after the previous night’s crisis and found that Furnace had left him a giant salamander and a bracelet that let him control it through a Fire God Ant network. Meanwhile, Ronan’s thoughts about the events at the cult were interrupted by a meeting at school, where Li Mingde suggested that Luo Shuqing arrange a temporary leave of absence for him.

• Bo Luo remembered the submarine escape, Furnace’s help, and the events of the previous night, then learned Furnace had left and taken the Exhibition Hall’s off-road vehicle for twenty-eight points.
• Yan Fen showed Bo Luo the Giant Salamander Furnace had given him and fitted a control bracelet onto his mechanical arm.
• Bo Luo focused on the bracelet, causing the Fire God Ant and Giant Salamander to respond to his gaze.
• Ronan reviewed the design behind Bo Luo’s gift and wondered why the Amaterasu Order was interested in a minor cult’s holy relic.
• At Zhi Xing Institute, Li Mingde praised Ronan’s talents while discussing his conduct with Luo Shuqing, then suggested she arrange a temporary leave of absence for him.

Ronan learned that Wu Jun had been his grandfather’s graduate student and had last visited the family around 90 Year. Suspecting a connection between Wu Jun’s pregnancy and his father’s disappearance, he asked The Other Side whether tissue samples could be used for a paternity test.

• Luo Shuqing said she would discuss Ronan’s possible leave of absence with his uncle before deciding.
• Ronan asked Luo Shuqing about Wu Jun, and she explained that Wu Jun had studied in his grandfather’s laboratory and had visited the family until around 90 Year.
• Ronan connected Wu Jun’s last visits, her pregnancy, and his father’s disappearance, then contacted The Other Side through Six Ears.
• The Other Side confirmed that hair-bearing skin tissue could be used for a paternity test and reacted with shock when Ronan asked about his own sample.