Chapter Summaries

Explosions erupted throughout the city after a Peace Officer was killed, and Lu PingAn learned that the People of the Blood Banquet had set explosives across the underground routes. By dawn, Water Wolf was dead and blamed for the crimes, while Lu PingAn gained the title “Killing Without Drawing Blood.”

• Lu PingAn watched the city’s explosions from his room and sent Cat Cat to scout the underground network.
• Cat Cat reported that the Peace Officers had traced the killing of one of their own and that the People of the Blood Banquet had betrayed Water Wolf.
• Cat Cat explained that the Blood Banquet had rigged underground exits and key points with explosives, including equipment taken from Lu PingAn’s construction site.
• Lu PingAn considered the risk that the Blood Banquet might try to silence him, but expected Water Wolf to take the blame for the crimes.
• By dawn, Lu PingAn learned that Water Wolf had been found dead on the street, drained of blood like the murdered Peace Officer.
• Lu PingAn gained the new title “Killing Without Drawing Blood.”

Lu PingAn accepted the Blood Feast’s apology and gave Dao Zhong’s group commissions that would keep them occupied while he considered how to capture the powerful leader. He learned Dao Zhong’s bounty was worth at least a Rule-level item and decided to set his Black Glove and the Blood Feast’s other enemies in motion.

• Dao Zhong apologized to Lu PingAn for Water Wolf’s actions and claimed the case had been closed, blaming Water Wolf for the bomb cache and other crimes.
• Lu PingAn accepted the excuse and assigned the Blood Feast several commissions outside the city, easing their fears while keeping them useful.
• Lu PingAn asked how much Dao Zhong was worth and learned that his bounty began with a Rule-level item.
• Lu PingAn weighed the difficulty of defeating Dao Zhong and considered how many factions wanted the Blood Feast dead.
• Lu PingAn summoned a messenger bird to activate his Black Glove and let the elite hunters make the first move.

Lu PingAn tested how his aid to the displaced hunters could establish debts through business cards, gratitude, and written contracts. As he helped Dao Zhong and Da Mu, the Great Investor’s Ledger took shape.

• Da Mu praised Mr. An Nan for sheltering the injured hunters, while the refugees obeyed strict rules to avoid being expelled.
• Lu PingAn assessed the eleven hunters he had found and decided that their weakness made sending them into lethal fights risky.
• Lu PingAn sent the Black Gloves to aid hunters, and their business cards connected their debts to his Karma.
• Lu PingAn visited Dao Zhong and Da Mu, whose gratitude and promises to repay him established further debts.
• Lu PingAn's Ledger (Unknown Strange Object) took shape.

Lu PingAn awakened the Scholar path profession Bookkeeper and realized it was the first component of a larger, self-forged combat path built around recording and collecting life debts. He returned to Galaxy Hall to test the new service counter and decided to collect debts from others, including his companions.

• Lu PingAn recognized that his Life Transaction rule needed a social order and a complete system of professions to realize its potential.
• Lu PingAn opened his ledger and awakened the Tier 4 Scholar path profession Bookkeeper, which recorded debts and produced a life coin when a debt ratio reached 100%.
• Lu PingAn discovered that his Life Illustrated Handbook had gained a booklet and sealed openings connected to the ledger and coins.
• Lu PingAn returned to Galaxy Hall and found a new counter with an entrance for inserting coins and an exit.
• Lu PingAn understood Bookkeeper as the beginning of his Tier 5 combat path and decided to collect more debts, even from companions.

Da Mu and the other Refugee Camp outsiders struggled as the People of the Blood Feast took over their jobs, food, medicine, and favor at An Nan Manor. With their resources dwindling and no way to compete, Da Mu accepted a mysterious card and decided to try its teleportation function.

• After the Peace Officer's death, Peace Officers and locals watched the outsiders more closely, while rumors blamed them for the incident.
• Da Mu's people complained that the People of the Blood Feast had taken their work, cheap snacks, and access to affordable medicine.
• The Blood Feast gained An Nan's favor by impressing him, leaving the other refugees fearing they would lose their place at the Manor.
• Da Mu accepted a card that offered teleportation to a reception room at the cost of Life Points and chose to try it despite the danger.

Da Mu arrived at the Trading Ground with negative Life Points and found he could not buy anything or return without paying. He accepted a loan from a terrifying agent, while Lu PingAn watched the debt appear in his ledger and the countdown begin.

• Da Mu explored the deserted Trading Ground and discovered its stalls and Rule Buildings offered valuable goods, but his negative balance prevented him from purchasing anything.
• Da Mu learned that returning to his entry point required 50 points, then marveled at the weapons, abilities, knowledge, and other goods for sale.
• A loan agent offered Da Mu credit, and he asked it to max out his credit limit after learning he could not borrow a thousand points.
• Lu PingAn explained that the Life Bank's fairness applied to legal transactions, while private loans relied on mutual consent.
• Da Mu received the loan and eagerly went shopping, unaware that forming the contract had placed his name and a shrinking progress bar in Lu PingAn's ledger.

After reaching the fourth rank, Lu PingAn’s Courtyard expanded into a small-town-like kingdom, with Life Bank as its neutral financial core and other professional paths serving his interests. He farmed two Life Coins from Cat Cat and fed them into Three-in-One, leaving their effect to be revealed.

• Lu PingAn’s Courtyard expanded into a small town after his breakthrough, and he viewed its system as a country that needed support beyond Life Bank.
• Lu PingAn explained that the Bookkeeper could turn debts and gratitude into Life Coins, with the coins allowing him to compel or buy things from their original owners.
• Lu PingAn used Cat Cat’s gratitude to obtain two Cat Cat Gold Coins, while the progress toward a third coin remained at three percent.
• Lu PingAn tossed the two coins into the new coin slot in Three-in-One, the Life Illustrated Handbook.

Lu PingAn tested Money Makes the Ghost Turn the Mill and discovered that Life Coins could create short-lived spirit ghosts retaining some of their owners’ abilities. He saw the power’s potential as a new combat system, then went to ask his companions for coins to test it further.

• Lu PingAn summoned a spirit ghost modeled on Cat Cat and tested how its strength and duration changed with the number of Life Coins invested.
• Lu PingAn discovered the spirit ghost retained Spirit Fusion, Spirit Cat, and Cliff Walker traits, and could receive living weapon bonuses while acting as a disposable attacker.
• Lu PingAn realized that higher-ranked coins demanded increasingly severe sacrifices, with the third coin costing its giver their origin and risking permanent harm.
• Lu PingAn connected his Bookkeeper, Law User, and other paths through Life Coins, and considered the Bookkeeper a way to acquire abilities and laws by taking them rather than studying them.
• After his companions praised the ability’s potential while noting its weaknesses, Lu PingAn went to ask them for coins to summon more spirit ghosts.

Lu PingAn tested the Spirit Ghosts created by his gold-coin ability, discovering their combat uses and risks. As he considered how to obtain a third gold coin, Big Cat suggested that the War Domain’s concept of plunder might provide a way.

• Big Cat explained how Lu PingAn’s gold coins and Tamer Pathways could turn debt into life and power, while Lu PingAn argued that sharing gains with allies was smarter than hoarding them.
• Lu PingAn spent one hundred points to enhance Cat Cat’s Spirit Ghost, and Cat Cat felt better as the incarnation fed back benefits to her main body.
• Big Cat warned that destroying the Life Illustrated Handbook could harm its Spirit Ghost owners, and Lu PingAn accepted the risk as part of running his operation with partners.
• Lu PingAn and Big Cat tested the Spirit Ghosts’ combat abilities, finding that he could summon two at once but struggled to control them precisely; Xue En’s Panda Man Spirit Ghost also possessed a dangerous Doom Field.
• Lu PingAn concluded that obtaining a third gold coin would require controlling someone’s life, and Big Cat proposed using the War Domain’s plunder to acquire it.

Eastern Kingdom kept its Star Boats stationed near the Featherfolk kingdom and used fruitless negotiations to display its strength while the Blood Crow refugees were trapped and watched. A Newborn Blood Godspawn finally set out alone for a steampunk world, as hunters continued to be exposed and Master An Nan spent money helping sufferers.

• Eastern Kingdom and the Featherfolk exchanged repeated diplomatic demands, while Eastern Kingdom’s Star Boats demonstrated that it could rival the local power.
• Eastern Kingdom’s hunters watched the Blood Crow and the People of the Blood Banquet, hoping to catch anyone who tried to leave alone.
• A Newborn Blood Godspawn, tormented by hunger and withdrawal, decided to travel alone to a steampunk world where the discarded refugees were reportedly doing well.
• A hunter’s identity was exposed and he was escorted out of the country, while Lu PingAn and the people involved did not realize the news coverage reflected the conflict overhead.
• Master An Nan made and spent money as he became a benefactor to sufferers.

Lu PingAn expanded his businesses and charitable services across the city, gaining influence while Baron Caso tried to obstruct his transportation companies. Caso realized that people throughout her life—including her family and household—were repeating An Nan Mr.’s message, leaving her terrified and surrounded by his reach.

• Lu PingAn acquired a noble title and expanded his factories, welfare services, hospitals, schools, and low-cost taxi network throughout the city.
• Baron Caso suspended An Nan Mr.’s transportation services using an outdated regulation after repeatedly searching for reasons to interfere.
• An Nan Mr.’s trusted deputy delivered his regards to Baron Caso, making her suspect that her ally had been bought off.
• Baron Caso heard the same greeting from her coachman and passersby as she returned home, and she became increasingly afraid.
• Caso’s daughter, husband, and servants all smiled and told her that An Nan Mr. sent his regards, leaving her frozen with fear.

Lu PingAn used his gold-coin ability to turn Director of Transportation Caso into his sworn younger sister and reflected on how he was quietly gaining control of the city. He concluded that continued investment and small favors could make him its uncrowned king.

• Lu PingAn confronted Caso after she rescinded the restriction order, denied threatening her family, and pressured her to call him Brother An Nan.
• Caso apologized and agreed to treat Lu PingAn as her older brother.
• Lu PingAn met Baron Lars and acknowledged that the supervisory order and execution order had made sense.
• Lu PingAn explained how he used the Ledger and gold coins to encourage people to favor him and support his proposals.
• Lu PingAn reasoned that repeated acts of generosity and targeted goodwill could eventually make him the city's uncrowned king.

Lu PingAn used his ability to turn generosity and public benefits into growing favorability, drawing the city and Dao Zhong’s group under his influence. The arrival of Zhao Yan and news of a Rule-level intruder left Lu PingAn eager to face the new threat.

• At the award ceremony, Mr. An Nan won over the crowd with gifts and discounts, while Dao Zhong grew uneasy about how completely his group had come to trust him.
• Zhao Yan appeared behind Dao Zhong, invisible to the crowd, and said he had come to hunt, asking why Dao Zhong was among the prey.
• Lu PingAn explained how he automatically converted gold coins into favorability and used city resources and publicity to expand his influence.
• Lu PingAn learned that a Rule-level had arrived, and Blood Feast informants handed over intelligence about their former superior to protect Mr. An Nan.

Lu PingAn learned that Zhao Yan was a ruthless Blood Feast Rule-level being and guessed that he was hunting refugees for blood. Da Mu reached the Courtyard nearly dead and begged Lu PingAn for more points so he could take revenge, leaving Lu PingAn to consider another response from the bank.

• An informant warned Lu PingAn that Zhao Yan was exceptionally treacherous, and Lu PingAn investigated Zhao Yan's crimes and rapid rise to Rule-level power.
• Lu PingAn and his companion discussed Zhao Yan's likely whereabouts, the blood pool, and how difficult the underground war had become for both sides.
• Lu PingAn guessed that Zhao Yan was feeding on refugees because he would disdain animal blood and could not risk committing crimes on the surface.
• Da Mu appeared in the Courtyard covered in blood after losing many of his subordinates and offered his life in exchange for more points to pursue revenge.
• Lu PingAn hesitated to refuse Da Mu because Zhao Yan was Rule-level, but realized the bank might have another possible response.

Zhao Yan struggled to endure life under Sentencing’s rules and clashed with Dao Zhong, who refused his offer to cooperate. After Zhao Yan paid for the damage to his hotel room, discarded items from his stay passed through many hands and eventually reached a biological laboratory, where researchers began preparing to hunt him.

• Zhao Yan complained about the lack of victims in the Underground World and destroyed his hotel room in a fit of rage.
• Dao Zhong told Zhao Yan that the Blood Feast had limited funds, rejected his offer to cooperate, and warned that they were no longer colleagues.
• After Dao Zhong left, Zhao Yan decided that Dao Zhong’s wariness meant he had no way to deal with him and revealed that he wanted to prey on his former peers.
• Hotel staff demanded payment for the damaged room, so Zhao Yan cleaned up the blood and paid the bill to avoid being reported to the Peace Officers.
• Items from Zhao Yan’s room passed from person to person until they reached a biological laboratory in a Courtyard, where researchers began studying his rule and how to hunt him.

Lu PingAn secretly manipulated the conflicts surrounding the People of the Blood Banquet while preparing to deal with the Rule-level Zhao Yan. After analyzing Zhao Yan’s traces, Lu PingAn and Big Cat confirmed that his rule was Voodoo Curse Blood.

• Lu PingAn reflected on how he had isolated the People of the Blood Banquet and planned to make them destroy themselves.
• Lu PingAn and Big Cat discussed whether they could hunt Zhao Yan, a genuine Rule-level being who had recently advanced through large-scale sacrifices.
• Big Cat assessed Zhao Yan’s incomplete abilities and concluded that he was likely suffering from Blood Thirst and might see Dao Zhong and the others as blood bags.
• Lu PingAn collected Zhao Yan’s secretions and traces so Big Cat could analyze his rules.
• Lu PingAn and Big Cat confirmed that Zhao Yan had Voodoo Curse Blood and was a Blood God Child with a twisted incarnation.

Lu PingAn learned that Zhao Yan’s ability could create independent duplicates and suspected Zhao Yan was a survivor of the ability’s backlash. To probe him without revealing his side, Lu PingAn planted a false newspaper story that could draw Zhao Yan out.

• Lu PingAn’s team discussed how the Voodoo Book and Curse Blood Seed could create several independent duplicates of the caster, and considered whether Zhao Yan was one such duplicate.
• Lu PingAn concluded that Zhao Yan likely would not use his duplication ability again, but that they needed to investigate his incomplete Rule-level power.
• Lu PingAn’s observers reported Zhao Yan’s volatile temper and severe dislike of bloodstains made by other people.
• Lu PingAn chose to muddy the waters rather than confront Zhao Yan, then arranged a newspaper headline accusing a man from the Refugee Camp of stealing from An Nan Manor and offering a reward for his capture.
• Lu PingAn checked that the story included clues about repaying kindness with ingratitude, fleeing the city, and a hefty reward, then waited to see if Zhao Yan took the bait.

The hunters and Refugee Camp leaders set a trap to test and kill Zhao Yan, using a fugitive and Mr. An Nan’s reward to lure him in. Their first ambush was wiped out in minutes, and Lu PingAn went to the battlefield the next day.

• The leaders gathered in the Courtyard and planned to lure Zhao Yan to a shared exit point, where they could surround him.
• The hunters used a fugitive and Mr. An Nan’s generous reward to draw Zhao Yan out of the city.
• A receiving squad of Great Knights engaged Zhao Yan outside the city while the organizers waited for a signal about his strength.
• The signal arrived, and the first vanguard teleported out to test Zhao Yan’s trump cards.
• The first trial hunt failed: six Law Decree-level fighters and twelve helpers died in six minutes and seventeen seconds.
• Lu PingAn personally visited the battlefield a day later.

Lu PingAn used Bankruptcy Liquidation on the remains of Amsi, harvesting the dead warrior’s combat experience and selling unwanted assets to Life Bank. The experience revealed Zhao Yan’s fighting style, leaving Lu PingAn with a clearer understanding of his enemy and a warning that absorbing such memories could overwhelm him.

• Lu PingAn found a battlefield’s mass graves and summoned the Black Holy Grail, regretting that he had arrived too late to harvest more life force.
• Lu PingAn activated Bankruptcy Liquidation on Amsi’s remains, but the incomplete module could only use its Bankruptcy Repurchase function.
• The system listed Amsi’s assets, and Lu PingAn sold everything except the combat experience to Life Bank for 200 points.
• Lu PingAn absorbed Amsi’s combat experience, gained skill experience, and struggled to distinguish himself from the dead warrior’s memories.
• Lu PingAn recognized Zhao Yan’s fighting style in Amsi’s memories of the Blood God Child’s final battle.

Lu PingAn profited from a deceased creditor’s assets and combat experience, then used what he learned about Zhao Yan to sell intelligence and recruit hunters against him. Zhao Yan returned to collect a bounty, unaware that Lu PingAn had already begun preparing for a future hunt while urging the hunters to wait.

• Lu PingAn gained assets and battle experience through the Life Bank’s liquidation, weighing the benefits against the cost of losing his own principal.
• Lu PingAn decided to sell the hunters information about Zhao Yan’s abilities and produce specialized weapons for profit.
• After the first hunt failed, the hunters feared Zhao Yan’s strength, but Zhao Yan fled and later returned to enjoy his spoils.
• Lu PingAn welcomed Zhao Yan, gave him an unusually generous bounty, and obtained his first coin from a Rule-level target.
• Lu PingAn issued another bounty, sold intelligence about Zhao Yan, and advised the hunters to build their strength before attempting a decisive attack.