Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xin and Xu Qing suspected that Chen Mo had rescued them, while Chen Mo watched the survivors struggle for food and considered them potential subordinates. As the girls searched the shore, Xu Qing called into the woods, hoping the mysterious uncle would help them.

• Zhang Xin and Xu Qing decided that the Super Hero who saved them might have been the handsome man from their row and agreed to keep his identity secret.
• Three foreign survivors made spears and caught fish, while Zhang Lan and the other women searched the shore for food.
• The survivors shared a meager meal of shellfish, and the flight attendants gave most of theirs to the injured Captain and an unconscious man.
• Chen Mo watched from the woods, resolved to judge the survivors' character and recruit suitable subordinates rather than reveal his supplies.
• The foreigners continued fishing, the bodyguard occasionally caught fish, and the others gathered shellfish and crabs; Zhang Xin and Xu Qing often relied on others' spare food.
• After finding little to eat, Xu Qing called toward the woods, saying she was hungry and appealing to the uncle she thought might be watching.

Chen Mo secretly supplied the stranded survivors with food, helping the two little girls share a steady supply of provisions with the group while they built shelters. As the three foreigners grew resentful of the girls’ good fortune and blocked their way, the search for the crashed plane in China remained fruitless.

• Chen Mo left compressed biscuits on the beach for Xu Qing and the other little girl, who recognized that the mysterious Black Man was real.
• The girls shared the biscuits with Su Wan and the flight attendant, then continued sharing food from secret airdrops with the survivors.
• The survivors secured enough food to avoid nightly hunger and worked together to build crude shelters, while the three foreigners kept to their separate camp.
• After a day of poor fishing, the three foreigners saw the girls pick up two cans and blocked them on their way back to camp.
• A week after the crash, China’s search operation had still not found the plane, and the investigation into Zhou Tianhao’s murder had made little progress.

Chen Mo watched as three foreigners robbed Zhang Xin and Xu Qing, while Su Wan chose to avoid a fight and urged the group to stay together and defend themselves. After the girls found food that seemed deliberately left for them, one foreigner’s stolen can was knocked from his hand by a sudden sharp pain.

• Chen Mo’s parents learned from the airline that he had been aboard the crashed plane and waited anxiously for news of him.
• Three foreigners seized Zhang Xin and Xu Qing’s canned food and demanded that future finds be shared.
• Su Wan persuaded the group not to fight, then told them to make spears and stay together.
• Zhang Xin and Xu Qing found two cans and a chocolate bar near the woods, making Su Wan suspect the items had not washed ashore by chance.
• A foreigner’s hand jerked from a sharp pain, sending his stolen can and its contents onto the ground.

After Chen Mo’s intervention made the three foreigners fear taking the girls’ food, Su Wan’s group prepared for danger and struggled to survive on the island. The foreigners later harassed two flight attendants, attacked Captain, and were confronted as the others rushed to help.

• Chen Mo caused the foreigners to spill both cans of food, making them believe Heaven was punishing them for targeting the girls.
• Su Wan had everyone make spears for self-defense, and the foreigners moved their camp farther away.
• Several days later, the group continued gathering food, while Chen Mo rationed his supplies to sustain everyone.
• The three foreigners blocked Zhang Lan and another flight attendant on their way back from collecting shellfish and tried to drag them away.
• Captain rushed to stop the foreigners, but they shoved him down and one struck his head, reopening his wound.
• Su Wan and the others heard the commotion, called the bodyguards out of the water, and hurried toward the camp.

After the three foreign survivors tried to abduct Su Wan and two flight attendants in broad daylight, they later attacked the sleeping flight attendants at night. The survivors’ hopes continued to fade after the middle-aged man died, while the three men carried the women toward their camp and set their sights on Su Wan.

• Su Wan confronted three foreigners as they dragged two flight attendants away, and Xu Qing and Zhang Xin arrived with spears, frightening the men into releasing the women and fleeing.
• The survivors grew more wary of the foreigners, and the middle-aged man died two weeks later despite Chen Mo secretly giving him emergency medicine.
• Three weeks after the crash, police investigating the missing plane discovered that Chen Mo had been aboard and made him their prime suspect.
• Several days later, the three foreigners crept into a shelter at night, restrained Zhang Lan and another flight attendant, and carried them toward their camp.
• One of the foreigners glanced toward Su Wan’s tent and planned to target her next.

Chen Mo killed three foreigners when they tried to abduct Zhang Lan and Su Wan from the camp. The next morning, the survivors found blood and the foreigners missing, and the two women told them about the mysterious man in black.

• The three foreigners carried Zhang Lan and Su Wan away from camp to abduct them.
• Chen Mo rushed out of the darkness, killed all three with one sword stroke, and caught the women as they fell.
• Chen Mo confirmed Zhang Lan and Su Wan were unharmed, dragged away the corpses, and stored them in his space.
• The next morning, the camp discovered blood outside and found that the three foreigners had vanished.
• Zhang Lan and Su Wan recounted the night's events to the frightened survivors.

Chen Mo continued secretly protecting the island survivors while Wang Jianqiang tried to turn them against him. A month later, Chen Mo’s mental space revealed two worlds he could choose to visit next.

• Wang Jianqiang warned the survivors that Chen Mo was dangerous, but Zhang Lan, the two little girls, Su Wan, the Captain, and the elderly defended him and recognized his secret help.
• Chen Mo stayed hidden, monitored the survivors, and continued supplying them with food while treating the island as a chance to rest.
• Chen Mo reflected on his observations of the survivors and recalled that he had killed the three foreigners after they crossed his limits.
• After a month passed, Chen Mo’s mental space became transparent and revealed two bright spheres representing worlds he could travel to.
• Chen Mo focused on the spheres and received fragmented images of both worlds.

Chen Mo entered a medieval world overrun by werewolves and found them slaughtering a village. After cutting down several attackers, he reached a stone house where a group of villagers were holding off more than a dozen werewolves and paused to assess their defense.

• Chen Mo recognized the medieval world from his visions and crossed into it wearing his armor and carrying his shield and sword.
• Chen Mo followed cries and roars to a village where werewolves were killing the villagers.
• Several werewolves attacked Chen Mo, and he decapitated three with a single sword strike before charging deeper into the village.
• Chen Mo fought his way toward the surviving villagers and found more than a dozen werewolves attacking a fortified stone house.
• Chen Mo watched the people inside repel the werewolves with coordinated spear thrusts and inferred that an experienced fighter was directing them.

Chen Mo rescued the people trapped in a stone house and single-handedly wiped out the werewolf pack attacking their village. The survivors learned that Andrew had witnessed Chen Mo’s feat, while Chen Mo remained among the corpses, quietly experiencing something.

• As the werewolves broke through the stone house’s defenses, Chen Mo charged in and saved a man from a werewolf at the doorway.
• Chen Mo fought off more than a dozen werewolves surrounding the house and killed the entire attacking pack.
• Andrew rushed outside and witnessed Chen Mo slaughter the werewolves, then welcomed the arrival of a human powerful enough to fight them.
• The survivors emerged from the stone house, learned from Andrew that Chen Mo had killed the werewolves, and looked at him with gratitude and awe.
• Chen Mo stood motionless among the werewolf corpses, quietly experiencing something.

Chen Mo reflected on how fighting werewolves had sharpened his swordsmanship, then used the fearsome display of their corpses to secure control of a ravaged territory. A year later, his rule had brought stability, protection, and a newly established guard force.

• Chen Mo recognized that the werewolves’ strength had pushed him to fight seriously and slightly improved his swordsmanship.
• Nearby lords discovered the slain werewolves and abandoned plans to seize Chen Mo’s territory, sending gifts and acknowledging his rule instead.
• Over the next year, Chen Mo killed werewolves found in his lands and protected the commoners from outside invasions.
• Chen Mo abolished heavy taxes, improving the commoners’ lives and restoring stability across the territory.
• Chen Mo founded a one-hundred-man territorial guard, appointing Andrew as its captain to lead training and command.

Chen Mo gave the surviving men the damaged Knight equipment left behind after the werewolf invasion, while Andrew saw a chance to become the Knight he had long dreamed of being. Though only Andrew was yet strong enough to qualify as a Knight, Chen Mo valued the other men’s loyalty and potential and planned to train them.

• The chapter explained that Knights were rare and costly, and that a lord’s Knight force largely determined his military strength.
• Andrew’s family could equip only his older brother, so despite years of fighting and killing werewolves, Andrew had remained an ordinary soldier.
• After Chen Mo saved Andrew and entrusted him with an important task, Andrew vowed to serve him and hoped to fulfill his dream of becoming a Knight.
• Chen Mo gave Andrew and the other eight men he had rescued the nine damaged sets of Knight equipment left behind by the dead Baron and his Knights.
• Chen Mo judged that Andrew alone already had a Knight’s strength, but the other men’s courage, loyalty, and combat potential made them worth training.

Chen Mo trained Andrew and the territorial guard while developing workshops and improving the territory over the course of a year. When Count Valen’s Knights arrived, Chen Mo ordered the gates opened, revealing that he had summoned them, and faced their skeptical, arrogant leaders.

• Chen Mo taught Andrew Holy Cross Swordsmanship, and Andrew mastered it quickly before helping train Chen Mo’s other followers.
• Chen Mo organized more than a hundred recruits into nine squads and trained them with Andrew, while gathering the territory’s craftsmen to build a workshop.
• Over a year, Andrew and the others grew stronger, and Chen Mo’s disciplined territorial guard became a formidable force.
• When Count Valen’s cavalry approached, Andrew halted training and led the soldiers to the walls, where a Knight demanded that they open the gate.
• Chen Mo arrived and ordered Andrew to admit the Knights, saying he had called them; the mounted visitors entered and studied him with disbelief and disdain.

Count Valen’s knights delivered one hundred warhorses to Chen Mo and decided he was a fraud, then attacked him to test his strength and seize his wealth. Chen Mo had anticipated the nobles’ hostility and prepared to use the transaction to test them and begin his plan, while Andrew and the territory guards rushed to defend him.

• Count Valen sent knights to deliver warhorses and investigate whether Chen Mo was as powerful as rumors claimed.
• The knights remained mounted before Chen Mo, and he threw their leader a gold ingot and told them to leave the horses behind and go.
• Believing Chen Mo was a bluffer, the knights grew greedy and charged him with swords and lances on Count Valen’s orders.
• Andrew and Chen Mo’s territory guards formed up to protect him, ready to fight the attacking knights.
• Chen Mo showed no surprise at the attack, having expected the nobles to grow bolder and planned to use the horse purchase to test them.

Chen Mo used Count Valen’s attempted attack as an opportunity to begin expanding his power, slaughtering the escorting Knights with the King's Sword. He secured nearly two hundred warhorses and left Count Valen with almost half his Knights destroyed, setting the stage for Chen Mo’s next plan.

• Count Valen agreed to sell Chen Mo warhorses and sent an elite Knight escort, intending to test Chen Mo’s strength.
• The escorting Knights attacked Chen Mo, while Andrew and the territorial guard rushed to protect him.
• Chen Mo leaped in front of the charging Knights and killed the two leading men with the King's Sword.
• Chen Mo fought through the Knights, splitting their armor and weapons and annihilating the entire force before the guards could reach him.
• Count Valen lost nearly half his Knights, while Chen Mo gained nearly two hundred warhorses and prepared to begin the next stage of his plan.

After defeating Count Valen's knights, Chen Mo gave their two hundred warhorses to his guards and brought them to his secret workshop. He ordered them to gather their armor and weapons, preparing to show them something new.

• Chen Mo reflected on the benefits of his victory, including weakening Count Valen and deciding to begin his long-prepared plan.
• Chen Mo ordered Andrew to clean the battlefield and distribute the warhorses, then declared that the territory guard would become cavalry.
• Andrew warned that learning to ride took years, but Chen Mo told everyone to bring their horses to the workshop.
• The guards gathered their horses and entered the heavily guarded workshop, where they saw its busy craftsmen and furnaces.
• Chen Mo emerged with an elderly man and ordered the guards to remove their weapons and armor, including the damaged armor worn by Andrew and the others.

Chen Mo replaced the territorial guard’s old armor and weapons with lighter, superior equipment made using advanced steelmaking. As Andrew and the soldiers equipped themselves, they discovered the new gear’s advantages and learned that the stirrups could transform mounted combat.

• Chen Mo ordered Kane to melt down the captured armor and weapons, which Andrew and the others had reluctantly surrendered.
• Kane opened the armory, revealing more than a hundred sets of finely crafted knight armor, horse armor, and weapons.
• Chen Mo explained that he had used advanced steelmaking and improved manufacturing methods to create lighter, stronger equipment.
• Andrew and the territorial guard equipped themselves with the new armor and weapons and found them far more comfortable and sturdy than their old gear.
• Andrew and the others discovered stirrups on the saddles, and Kane explained how they improved mounting, balance, and fighting on horseback.

Chen Mo prepared his newly trained heavy cavalry for battle and promised to make any soldier a true Knight for slaying an enemy Knight or werewolf. As the regiment set out, Count Valen reflected on Chen Mo’s power and grew wary of him.

• The soldiers completed three days of riding training with stirrups and formed a heavy armored Knights regiment of more than a hundred men.
• Chen Mo told the regiment that killing an enemy Knight or werewolf would earn them formal Knighthood, raising their morale.
• Chen Mo ordered the Knights to move out.
• At Blackrock Castle, Count Valen recalled repelling a werewolf attack and killing more than a dozen werewolves at heavy cost.
• Count Valen considered reports of Chen Mo slaying werewolves and became deeply wary of him.

Count Valen sent a powerful knight force to test Chen Mo, kill him, and seize his wealth, but the force failed to return as expected. When a silver-armored cavalry force approached his Castle, Count Valen feared that Chen Mo had destroyed his Knights and rushed to the walls.

• Count Valen accepted Chen Mo’s offer to buy warhorses and sent Knights to investigate Chen Mo’s strength and take his gold.
• Five days later, Count Valen waited for his Knights to return and imagined the wealth they might bring back.
• Count Valen heard hoofbeats and initially believed his Knights had returned.
• The Castle alarm bell rang, and Count Valen realized the approaching force might be Chen Mo’s cavalry.
• Count Valen hurried to the city walls as more than a hundred silver-armored riders led by a Black Robe Knight charged toward the Castle gates.

Chen Mo led a heavily armored knight corps in a charge against Blackrock Castle, while Count Valen trusted the fortress gates to stop them. The knights reached the gates unharmed, and Valen watched expectantly as they continued charging without slowing.

• Count Valen saw Chen Mo's elite heavy cavalry approach Blackrock Castle and ordered the defenders to stop them.
• The guard captain assured Valen that the shut gates and thick walls would keep the cavalry out.
• Chen Mo ordered his knights to raise their shields, and their armor blocked the arrows raining down from the walls.
• The archers' repeated volleys failed to injure the knights or their armored warhorses as the corps charged toward the gates.
• Count Valen mocked the charging knights and anticipated that they would crush themselves against the sturdy gates.

Chen Mo’s Silver Armored Knights breached Blackrock Castle, killed Count Valen, and conquered his lands. A year later, Chen Mo ruled a vast territory and learned that Lord Victor had appeared in his intelligence network.

• Chen Mo cut through Blackrock Castle’s gate and led his Knights inside, where they overcame the defenders and stormed the walls.
• Chen Mo beheaded Count Valen, and the surviving soldiers and Knights surrendered.
• Chen Mo repaired and prepared at Blackrock Castle, then conquered neighboring territories and claimed more than two thousand square kilometers of land.
• Over the next year, Chen Mo expanded his rule, grew his force to more than five hundred Knights, and used trade caravans as an intelligence network.
• Chen Mo discovered the familiar name Lord Victor in the intelligence gathered by his network.