Chapter Summaries

Wen Huilan argued that Xia City’s declining production of aberrant materials had driven veteran Ability Users away, using Rock Blast as a key example. Ronan accepted her reasoning and asked her to explain Horned Demon’s case next.

• Xie Junping and the group speculated about Ronan’s plans while Wen Huilan agreed to explain her analysis.
• Wen Huilan presented figures showing a decline in Xia City’s resident Awakened Ability Users and said several B-Rank registrants had become inactive or left.
• Wen Huilan named Rock Blast as a typical case, arguing that he had gone elsewhere to pursue growth and support himself as Xia City’s aberrant-material output fell.
• Ronan accepted Rock Blast as a good example and asked Wen Huilan to explain Horned Demon’s case.

Wen Huilan explained that Xia City's orderly model attracted newcomers but pushed ambitious and highly capable Ability Users to leave, while its costs and external compromises made reform difficult. She argued that the current arrangement could change, and Zhang Yingying suggested that circumstances were now different.

• Wen Huilan compared Horned Demon and Mr. Rock Blast, arguing that both left Xia City because its peaceful, restrictive environment could not meet their needs.
• Wen Huilan described Xia City as an effective training ground for lower-ranked Ability Users but an unsustainable home for veterans seeking greater resources and opportunity.
• Xie Junping questioned whether the Xia City Model could be adjusted, and Wen Huilan pointed to weak market capacity, shareholder changes, and the costs of redistributing interests.
• Bamboo Pole and Wen Huilan explained how the Spirit Wave Network and Xia City's mutated-product trade relied on compromises with outside investors and the Ability User Association Headquarters.
• Xie Junping realized that Xia City's model allowed other cities to benefit from the talent its branch trained, and Zhang Yingying said things were different now.

Wen Huilan explained how Ronan’s innovations had made Xia City a major power and warned that its model could provoke opposition from Extraordinary Species elsewhere. Ronan then questioned her about Return Voyage’s smuggling business, uncovering its focus on ordinary people and aberrant food products before asking whether those goods had increased Xia City’s “dirty people.”

• Wen Huilan described the Blood Intent Ring Fortress’s appeal to Mental Side Ability Users and the costs and risks of admitting large numbers of new registrants.
• Wen Huilan said Xia City’s three Extraordinary Species could disrupt the world’s existing order, while President Gao Wenfu was incompatible with Xia City.
• Ronan praised Wen Huilan’s analysis, then asked whether Return Voyage earned more from inner-world Ability Users or ordinary people, and she answered that ordinary people accounted for more profit.
• Wen Huilan said the largest share of the goods consisted of aberrant products, especially jerky, bone meal, and herbs sold through vagrant culture.
• Zhai Gong explained that the branch’s nutritional meals required costly harmless treatment, while Ronan asked whether Return Voyage’s goods were connected to the increase in Xia City’s “dirty people.”

Ronan questioned Wen Huilan about genetic contamination and the trade in refined powders made from aberrant products, then demanded detailed records from Return Voyage’s supplier network. He revealed that his request was directed to President Gao Wenfu’s representative, and Wen Huilan left after he dismissed her.

• Ronan and Bamboo Pole discussed the risks and social use of products made from aberrant species, including Body Strengthening Powder and Smart Drug.
• Zhang Yingying showed the recovered refined powders, and Ronan asked her to investigate their uses, customers, and sales potential.
• Ronan gave Wen Huilan forty-eight hours to provide detailed data on the powders, their production, costs, and every transaction record.
• Zhang Yingying told the group chat that she knew Wen Huilan, though Wen Huilan did not know her.
• Ronan clarified that he was speaking to President Gao Wenfu’s representative, then dismissed Wen Huilan, who left with her bodyguard.

After Wen Huilan left the Underground Laboratory, the others realized she was the famous actress Wen Qing, while she privately warned The Other Side that Ronan might be a Deity trying to reach Earth. Meanwhile, Raven’s livestream drew growing attention and controversy, and viewers began questioning why Raven’s Brother was called Ronan while she was called Raven.

• Zhang Yingying recognized Wen Huilan as the actress known as the Wisdom Blade and mourned her shattered idol.
• Paper Cut, Zhai Gong, and Xie Junping identified Wen Huilan as Wen Qing, the star of the politically influential film Winter Holly.
• Wen Huilan told The Other Side that Ronan was like a Deity in the Starry Sky attempting to touch Earth, and worried Earth could not bear the added weight.
• Zhong Man watched Raven’s popularity grow as her livestream stirred attention around sensitive topics, including vagrants and Raven’s connection to Ronan.
• Someone in the Demon Eye Girl Demi-Plane asked why Raven’s Brother was called Ronan while Raven herself was called Raven.

Zhong Man watched a video exposing Raven’s brutal past as an underage fighter in the Underground Fighting Arena and feared the backlash. Tian Qi reassured her that Raven had been rescued and assessed before joining Ronan’s family, just as an official account began an unexpected livestream calling Long Qi to respond.

• A social hotspot commentator circulated footage of Raven fighting in the Underground Fighting Arena, including her defeating a much larger opponent amid a bloodthirsty crowd.
• Zhong Man saved the video and worried about the comments accusing Raven of murder.
• Zi Ran Mian Er defended Raven, arguing that she had survived an inhuman arena and deserved to live openly.
• Zhong Man sent Tian Qi the post and asked the Raven Team to respond, but Tian Qi explained that Ronan had rescued Raven and that her adoption followed her recovery.
• Tian Qi urged Zhong Man to trust Raven and her supporters, while the Wilderness Explorers Association Xia City Branch began a livestream and tagged Long Qi to act.

Long Qi was recruited by Ink to join a live-streamed task after learning that Raven was at the center of a killing controversy. He received a Six Ears device and drove toward Xia City's eastern Coastline to meet Raven, leaving the Wilderness expedition for another time.

• Long Qi spotted a beautiful woman on a bench, but Ink landed on his car and frightened her away.
• Long Qi checked the live-stream information and learned that viewers were asking him to help explain Raven's involvement in a killing.
• After clearing the viewers' comments, Long Qi accepted a Six Ears device from Ink and accessed the task channel.
• Long Qi received the task of producing, testing, and coordinating natural-material protective gear, then said he would meet Raven at the eastern Coastline.
• Ink flew ahead as Long Qi set up his stream and drove through Xia City toward the Coastline.

Long Qi reached the Coastline and found Raven with her brother Ronan, who asked him to guide Raven’s Wilderness expedition. Ronan proposed upgrading Long Qi’s equipment and sent him to acquire a test Exoskeleton from the shipyard as a massive vessel departed.

• Long Qi drove to the mission location on the Coastline and spotted Raven and Ronan below the cliff.
• Long Qi sent his car away, climbed down the cliff, and greeted Ronan.
• Ronan explained that Raven would explore the Wilderness and that Long Qi would serve as her guide and main force.
• Ronan noted that Long Qi’s Machine Core and Exoskeleton were outdated and offered to tune up his equipment.
• Ronan told Long Qi to acquire a test Exoskeleton from the City Defense Force’s shipyard as a large ship left port.

After Ronan and his companions arrived at East Coast Shipyard and entered without the live stream, Ink flew out over the sea as a storm swallowed the departing cargo ship. The chapter ended with Ink landing on an antenna atop that ship.

• Ink flew along the Coastline while viewers debated Long Qi's leap from the cliff and speculated about his abilities.
• Ink approached East Coast Shipyard, where uniformed personnel waited at the gate to welcome Ronan and his companions.
• Ronan asked about a cargo ship that had just departed for Ji City, then agreed to keep Ink and the live stream outside the Military Control Zone.
• Ink flew over the sea as clouds and strong winds obscured the cargo ship from view.
• Ink stopped in the storm and landed on an antenna atop the cargo ship.

Ink’s livestream followed a freighter out to sea, where its armed crew encountered a White Bone Hill rising from the seabed. As the ship’s lights went dark and its crew panicked, a voice from the sea asked to borrow Deep Blue Platform Exoskeleton Armor.

• Ink perched on the freighter and livestreamed as it sailed away from Xia City.
• The freighter’s crew spotted a strange shadow following behind them, but it disappeared under their searchlights.
• Armed personnel aimed a mounted rifle at Ink before warning lights and shouts drew them toward the ship’s starboard side.
• A White Bone Hill rose from the seabed ahead of the freighter, and the ship’s lights went out as its crew took cover.
• A distressed voice called for Mister Luo and Professor Ronan, saying the cargo shipment had twenty-four hours left on its deadline.
• Someone from the sea asked whether anyone aboard had Deep Blue Platform Exoskeleton Armor to lend.

Long Qi boarded the freighter to borrow a Deep Blue Platform Exoskeleton, while Ronan arrived with White Bone Hill and questioned the ship’s crew about its cargo and a Sacred Displacement user. A marked rotorcraft then arrived with more people, and Long Qi’s livestream abruptly crashed as he reacted to one of them.

• Long Qi jumped from White Bone Hill onto the freighter and asked its armed crew to lend him equipment.
• Cui Da introduced himself and Xu Er as security-company employees, while Long Qi said he had been assigned to obtain an Exoskeleton.
• White Bone Hill disappeared, and Ink flew away after Long Qi asked what was happening.
• Xu Er confronted Long Qi about rumors that he had injured Raven, then Ronan appeared and asked how much cargo the ship carried.
• Xu Er revealed that the freighter held five holds and 192 refrigerated containers, and Ronan asked whether Xu Er was a Sacred Displacement user on the Secular Side.
• An unmarked rotorcraft arrived above the freighter and lowered people onto the deck, and Long Qi’s livestream feed crashed as he looked at the second arrival.

After ZM crashed, Ronan restarted the livestream through the Spirit Wave Network while Wen Huilan explained a shipment of processed remains bound for Ji City. Ronan headed to the cargo hold to inspect the goods, but a heavy sound from below made the others react before he asked where to go down.

• Long Qi discovered that ZM had crashed and saw topics about Hill of White Bones and Raven Hit by Particle Cannon Fire rise on the trending list.
• Ronan introduced Wen Huilan as Gao Wenfu's special envoy and head of Return Voyage Company, then Raven resumed the livestream through the Spirit Wave Network.
• Viewers discussed ZM, the Hill of White Bones, and Wen Huilan as the livestream audience rapidly grew.
• Wen Huilan introduced cargo distributor Song Yangguo and explained that she had advised him to transfer the shipment, while Song insisted its contents had been sealed and none had been sent out.
• Ronan asked whether the shipment was intended for the Justice Cult and said he wanted to inspect the cargo hold; a heavy sound from below shook the ship as he asked where to go down.

Ronan inspected the Aberrant Species products in the Cargo Hold and explained the risks of consuming them without harmless processing. He left the group facing the possibility that long-term exposure could contaminate ordinary people and affect generations to come.

• Ronan arrived at the Cargo Hold with Raven, Wen Huilan, and the others, where Song Yangguo let them inspect the refrigerated containers.
• Ronan questioned Song Yangguo about product classifications and realized the cargo was intended for direct sale without another harmless-processing stage.
• Strange metallic impacts sounded against the ship’s hull as the others received reports from their teammates.
• Ronan asked Wen Huilan and Cui Da about harmless processing and learned that it was not guaranteed outside urban bases or during missions.
• Ronan explained that raw Aberrant Species ingredients could contaminate unawakened people and influence their abilities, then used Long Qi’s past consumption as an example.
• Ronan warned that the effects might extend to descendants and become a widespread, growing problem.

Ronan explained his view that the world’s ascension system was malformed, while the Live Stream Room erupted over the arrival of several powerful figures. As the ship began groaning and buckling around them, Ronan’s remarks coincided with an unseen force crushing the Cargo Hold and endangering Director Song and the crewman.

• Ronan discussed aberration, the layers of reality, and the world’s distorted structure as viewers debated his words in the Live Stream Room.
• Blood Demon introduced Heart Q, and viewers recognized Steel Rust, Slaughterer Louis, and War King Geng Huai among the commenters.
• Long Qi asked Ronan to explain Rotten Fragments, aptitude, and rules, but Ronan said the task was to make armor for Raven and described the world as a malformed Culture Dish.
• A crewman rushed into the Cargo Hold, warning that bones were dragging down the ship.
• Ronan said the two ascension channels were twisted by a huge tumor in the middle, and an unseen force made the ship lurch and crushed the Cargo Hold’s freezer cabinets.
• Director Song and the crewman lost their footing as frozen meat, ice, and bloody water spilled across the floor.

Ronan explained that the skeletal force crushing the cargo ship was a projected shadow of shattered remnants, then began an experiment to trace a rotten fragment back toward its original form. The ship vanished from the exterior feed as the storm intensified, while meat scattered through the cargo hold began to stir.

• A streamer on The Aviator piloted a drone to the cargo ship and showed a giant skeletal claw gripping it as it sank into the sea.
• Lightning and a thunderclap swept across Xia City, while the people in the cargo hold remained unaware of the storm outside.
• Wen Huilan asked Ronan whether the rotten fragments were things that had twisted the Dao, and Ronan explained that they were shadows cast by shattered remnants.
• Ronan said he had created an environment to experiment on how a rotten fragment might recover its original form and affect people in the present world.
• An electromagnetic field passed through the cargo hold, and chunks of meat on the floor and inside containers began to move and convulse.

Ronan investigated a frozen fragment by asking Wen Huilan to select a piece of meat, which Director Song identified as Bristle Badger. As Ronan prepared to test it, Director Song detected poison in the Cargo Hold, leaving Long Qi strangely unable to laugh aloud.

• Ronan agreed to let someone else choose a fragment, and Wen Huilan selected a chunk of frozen meat.
• Ronan examined the meat and explained how biological Containers could be enhanced to interact with nutrients and abnormal matter.
• Director Song identified the meat as Bristle Badger and described its toxins, uses, and danger to people exposed to its contaminated habitat.
• Long Qi explained Bristle Badger hunting and processing to Raven and the Live Stream Room while Ronan prepared to test the fragment.
• Director Song smelled poison and covered his mouth and nose, while Long Qi smelled nothing and found himself unable to make a sound.

Ronan removed a parasitic threadworm from Long Qi and explained that the Bristle Badger was connected to an aberrant transformation. He then used Director Song’s hair to provoke a reaction in the contaminated flesh and began questioning Song about his efforts to become an Ability User, ending by revealing the title of his research paper on the subject.

• Ronan pulled two hairs from Long Qi, triggering his Format Fire to burn out a blood-sucking threadworm that had poisoned him.
• Long Qi and viewers discussed how the threadworm might relate to the Bristle Badger, while Ronan said he had chosen Long Qi as a reference subject.
• Ronan pulled two hairs from Director Song and dropped one into the contaminated remains, causing the flesh and filthy water to react and form a writhing mass.
• Ronan questioned Director Song about trying to become an Ability User and inferred that he had worked with Justice Cult channels in Xia City.
• Ronan said he had been studying how ordinary people could become Ability Users and announced his paper’s title, “Case Studies and Expanded Research on the Mapping of the Format Theory ‘Furnace’ in the Human Giant System.”

Ronan demonstrated how an ordinary person could develop a Furnace, using a humanlike prop created from Director Song’s strand of hair. The prop ignited with life energy, leaving Long Qi questioning whether it was a true lifeform without a Machine Core.

• Ronan defined a Furnace as the most special kind of Container structure within the limits of his understanding and warned that his presentation was only a demonstration.
• A smoky mass formed around the corrupted water, and a humanlike figure emerged as Director Song recognized its resemblance to himself.
• Ronan explained that the prop represented an ordinary person and credited Prototype Format researchers and Burners for the data and material behind it.
• Ronan demonstrated how bodily systems could strengthen and interact to form a Furnace, while viewers debated whether the method belonged to the Burner System.
• The prop’s gathered life energy reached its ignition point and burst into flame, startling Long Qi with the possibility of a true lifeform without a Machine Core.

Ronan examined the flaws in the newly ignited Furnace and explained how Earth’s power systems relied on imperfect interference and modifications. Director Song panicked as Prop approached him, then felt a warm, energizing force enter his body.

• Prop ignited Format Fire and assumed a boxing stance, while Ronan explained that it had formed only a preliminary Furnace rather than a genuine Fire Seed.
• Long Qi recalled Ronan’s earlier explanation that a true Fire Seed ignited through a qualitative transformation shaped by a person’s Form and Spirit Framework and the spacetime environment.
• Ronan revealed dark patches at Prop’s Configuration nodes and explained flaws in Furnace construction, Prototype Format, Machine Cores, and the Deep Blue Platform.
• After Ronan finished his critique, Director Song begged him for mercy, and Prop advanced until its flames touched Song’s face.
• Director Song scrambled backward as Prop approached, then felt warmth enter his mouth and nose and his fear-induced weakness give way to surging energy.

Ronan let Director Song test the Deep Blue Walker armor, then explained that its high-energy cultivation process could trigger Aberration Genes and that Song’s prior exchanges had contaminated him. As Ronan’s smoke formed a humanoid monster, it attacked Song, and they crashed to the Cargo Hold floor.

• Ronan revealed that the fiery display was a demonstration plan and had Long Qi bring Director Song the Deep Blue Walker armor.
• Cui Da and Xu Er taught Director Song to operate the armor, and he demonstrated its strength by denting the Cargo Hold wall and smashing into cargo containers.
• Ronan explained that the plan’s irreversible high-energy process could cause Aberration Genes to express before genuine human evolution, making contamination a serious danger.
• Ronan identified Director Song as contaminated through his dealings with aberrant products, and a smoke-wreathed humanoid monster lunged at him.
• Director Song collided with the monster, and they rolled together across the floor.