Chapter Summaries

Wang Tao interrogated Zhu Fen and uncovered how the Twilight Church used two kinds of addictive holy medicine to manipulate its members and gain influence in Long River Base. After Zhu Fen explained her plans and collaborators, Wang Tao exposed her identity by shattering her mask, leaving her future uncertain.

• Wang Tao learned that Zhu Fen and other church leaders took advanced holy medicine, whose milder poison symptoms concealed its risks and deepened their dependence.
• Zhu Fen claimed the holy medicine could bring rebirth because a bishop could move through zombie hordes without being attacked, though Wang Tao thought the effect might have another explanation.
• Wang Tao discovered that Zhu Fen’s desires had been heightened and that another official’s desire for power made him a threat to Long River Base.
• Zhu Fen revealed that she had secretly supplied holy medicine to women including Xia Zhen, Qiu Rong, and Li Xin, and planned to use them to influence council members.
• After Wang Tao verified her account against the others’ testimony, Zhu Fen asked to be released, but her cracked mask shattered and exposed her identity.

Wang Tao exposed Committee Member Zhu Fen and several senior officials as leaders of the Twilight Church, then uncovered the church’s poisoned followers and remaining hideouts. Zhu Fen later killed herself in custody, leaving Wang Tao considering using her identity and secrets to contact the bishop and destroy the organization.

• Wang Tao used his mental power to break Zhu Fen’s mask, recognized her as a committee member, and captured her with the other Twilight Church leaders, including two deputy mayors who had killed Yao Guodong.
• Wang Tao summoned the fifth-order Night Demon II Type to help Jiang Hui escort the prisoners, then obtained access to the base’s resident records.
• Wang Tao examined the poisoned followers and learned from Zhu Fen that more church followers were elsewhere, while Qiu Rong and Xia Zhen pleaded for holy medicine.
• Jiang Hui told Wang Tao that Zhu Fen had taken poison and died by suicide; Wang Tao reassured him and went to see her body.
• On the way back to Emerald Bamboo Residential Area, Wang Tao considered using Zhu Fen’s identity and the church’s remaining assets to contact its bishop and eradicate the organization.

Wang Tao dealt with the Twilight Church’s followers and discovered that Qiu Rong and Xia Zhen had worsened their poisoning by drinking too much holy medicine. He took them to Qu Shilin for treatment and then set out to search Zhu Fen’s hidden homes for church supplies and records.

• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue found Qiu Rong and Xia Zhen free and intoxicated after they had drunk more holy medicine, then waited as the other followers woke up and sent them home.
• Wang Tao claimed to be the New Sacerdotal, told the followers the church leaders had been arrested, and kept most of the holy medicine for research.
• Jiang Hui arrived and helped transport the remaining thugs and holy medicine to the police station, where Wang Tao saw that Qiu Rong and Xia Zhen’s poisoning had worsened.
• Qiu Rong and Xia Zhen explained that they had drunk several bowls of both kinds of holy medicine, and Wang Tao warned them they would have to endure a longer, more painful detox.
• Wang Tao brought Qiu Rong, Xia Zhen, and Li Xin to Qu Shilin at the research institute, leaving the three women in her care to study the poison.
• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue left to search Zhu Fen’s hidden properties for church-related items, crystal cores, and a list of the Twilight Church’s members.

Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue looted Zhu Fen’s hidden villas, discovering vast stores of crystal cores and rescuing people she had kept captive and abused. At the last villa, Wang Tao found the Twilight Church’s roster and holy medicine, and realized Zhu Fen had recruited many believers, including women who had been conditioned to become potential threats.

• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue stripped crystal-core decorations from Zhu Fen’s first villa and took the valuable cores from its safe.
• Wang Tao searched the second villa, collected its furs, specimens, and crystal cores, then followed Jiang Shixue’s hearing to a hidden basement.
• Wang Tao freed the captive men in the basement, learned Zhu Fen had subjected them to abuse for the entertainment of powerful guests, and gave them food and water.
• The rescued men identified officials, Espers, and two council members among Zhu Fen’s guests, and Wang Tao left them in the villa for the police to find.
• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue searched Zhu Fen’s remaining properties until morning, then found the Twilight Church’s roster and holy medicine at the last villa.
• Wang Tao read the roster and realized Zhu Fen had recruited many believers, including women who had been conditioned and could become dangerous.

After Zhu Fen’s death, Wang Tao considered how to handle the people hooked on her holy medicine and coordinated with Jiang Hui, Gu Yun, and Qu Shilin. When Cheng Yiyi asked for help arresting two council members, Wang Tao joined the Six Army Corps’ heavily armed team as it moved to confront them.

• Wang Tao took Zhu Fen’s crystal cores, worth 140 million crystal coins, and considered gathering her followers for forced detox.
• Wang Tao told Jiang Hui to question the rescued Animal Hide People before sending them to a hospital, warning that they might be silenced and urging him to involve the Six Army Corps’ council members.
• Jiang Hui shared a public account of Wang Tao’s role in the investigation, and Gu Yun confirmed that the news could help clear his name and secure his position as mayor.
• Qu Shilin told Wang Tao that Zhu Fen’s holy medicine appeared to contain Strength Mushrooms and Defense Mushrooms, and Wang Tao said about two hundred people had been affected.
• Cheng Yiyi asked Wang Tao to help arrest two council members who were with several fourth-order awakened people, and Wang Tao brought Lan Yulian and others to join the Six Army Corps’ force.
• As the Six Army Corps’ team approached, two council members and their associates discussed Zhu Fen’s death at a villa before noticing a sound outside.

Cheng Yiyi and the Six Army Corps surrounded the villa and fought the four Awakeners who had served Zhu Fen. Wang Tao’s group stayed back, but Wang Tao detected two committee members escaping through the sewers and had Xiang Hongbin capture them; the four Awakeners were also taken alive.

• Tian Xuesong ordered the surrounded villa’s occupants to surrender, and the committee members realized the Six Army Corps had acted without a meeting.
• The committee members persuaded the four Awakeners to confront the soldiers while they tried to escape through a hidden tunnel.
• The four Awakeners came outside, saw more than thirty Awakeners from the Six Army Corps, and were captured after Tian Xuesong authorized an attack.
• Wang Tao detected the two committee members moving through the sewers and sent Xiang Hongbin to dig them out.
• Xiang Hongbin brought the committee members to Cheng Yiyi, who had them restrained and handed them to Tian Xuesong.

After the Six Army Corps swiftly arrested the Twilight Church suspects, Wang Tao learned that the Awakening School project would launch next month with him as principal. He accepted the role after securing broad authority, and the chapter ended with him approving a public announcement to give the base hope.

• Wang Tao helped capture two committee members who tried to escape through an underground passage, and the Six Army Corps arrested the people at the villa.
• Tian Xuesong told Wang Tao that the Awakening School would launch next month and asked him to serve as its first principal.
• Wang Tao secured authority over the school while agreeing that its government funding would be independently supervised.
• Jiang Hui told Wang Tao that the two Deputy Mayors had tricked Yao Guodong into visiting a place that prevented people from becoming Espers.
• Gu Yun asked Wang Tao whether to announce the Awakening School project, and Wang Tao approved the announcement.

Wang Tao prepared to leave Long River Base during the blizzard to improve his group’s strength and scout the conditions outside. Before departing, he bought meteorites to open on the trip, including three sixth-order meteorites to save for later.

• Wang Tao heard that Long River Base planned to establish an Awakening School, and he told his companions they could serve as guest instructors.
• Wang Tao decided to take his group outside for several days despite the blizzard, and Gu Yun agreed to open the base gate while asking him to assess the conditions beyond the walls.
• Gu Yun resolved to seek items that could help him awaken so he could remain fit to serve as mayor.
• Wang Tao asked Cheng Yiyi to sell him meteorites, and she sold him three sixth-order, ten fifth-order, and thirty fourth-order meteorites for ten million gold coins.
• Wang Tao exchanged money for Attribute-less Crystal Cores and returned home, where he confirmed that everyone was ready to leave the next day.

Wang Tao’s mysterious egg hatched into Little Ice, a Level 4 lord sable with an Ice Awakening, and Qu Shilin arrived with a pink sable whose Fire Awakening could fuse with Little Ice’s. The group remained at the South Gate as Qu Shilin asked Wang Tao to take her along so they could investigate the two creatures’ abilities.

• At the South Gate, Wang Tao’s Mysterious Egg hatched into a blue sable, which he named Little Ice and identified as a Level 4 lord with the Frost Shot Awakening.
• Wang Tao wondered whether Qu Shilin’s egg had hatched too, and she called to say her egg had produced a pink sable.
• Qu Shilin arrived at the South Gate, and the two sables met and began playing together.
• Wang Tao discovered that Little Ice’s Frost Shot could fuse with the pink sable’s Blazing Fire Spray to form Icy Flames.
• Qu Shilin asked Wang Tao to take her along when the group headed out.

Wang Tao’s group reached a horde of evolved Frozen Zombies and tested their powerful Frozen Aura. Little Ice and Little Fire revealed abilities that countered the zombies, and the group defeated all six with ease.

• Wang Tao’s group traveled through the blizzard toward a zombie horde identified by the Municipal Government, while Qu Shilin named her sable Little Fire.
• Han Rui sensed no zombies near the reported location, but Wang Tao detected six fourth-tier Elite Frozen Zombies behind a dirt mound.
• Wang Tao discovered that Frozen Aura slowed nearby enemies and weakened their Ice Attribute defense, while Little Ice’s presence nullified the aura for the group.
• Wang Tao killed one Frozen Zombie, and Little Ice froze another while Little Fire incinerated one with intense flames.
• Wang Tao saw that all six Frozen Zombies had been defeated and wondered whether fire attacks countered their freezing abilities.

Wang Tao and his companions discovered that Little Ice and Little Fire could annihilate groups of Frozen Zombies with their fused awakening, Icy Flames, and tested their own attacks against the new enemies. They returned to the vehicle with recordings and loot, leaving the group alarmed that zombies were adapting to the blizzard but excited by the two sables’ strength.

• Wang Tao figured out how Little Ice and Little Fire’s awakenings consumed and recovered energy, then examined the Ice Attribute Defense Crystal Cores dropped by the first Frozen Zombies.
• Wang Tao sent Little Ice and Little Fire against fifteen Fourth Order Elite Frozen Zombies, and their Icy Flames killed the entire group in seconds.
• Wang Tao tested a fireball on another group of Frozen Zombies and discovered that its fire damage could instantly kill them, while the companions handled the remaining zombies.
• Wang Tao and the others returned to the vehicle after an hour, and the group watched his recording of the battle and worried that zombies were adapting to the snow.
• Qu Shilin celebrated Little Fire’s power after learning that Icy Flames was its fused awakening with Little Ice.

Wang Tao and the others tested the sables’ fused awakening and fought a group of Frozen Zombies, while realizing the missing hordes might have mutated and left. The chapter ended as Han Rui detected a large approaching group of Frozen Zombies and a huge one among them.

• Little Fire and Little Ice fused their awakenings to destroy a group of Frozen Zombies, and Lan Yulian explained how their attacks might amplify each other.
• Wang Tao warned that the sables could not use their awakenings endlessly and suspected the missing zombies had left and mutated.
• The group traveled through heavy snow to a second horde location, where Han Rui detected more than twenty fourth-order Frozen Zombies.
• Wang Tao led the group in fighting the Frozen Zombies, and Qu Shilin wielded Little Fire to burn several of them.
• After the group finished the battle, Han Rui detected many more Frozen Zombies approaching along with a large one.

Wang Tao and his companions confronted a horde of about two hundred Frozen Zombies led by a Fourth Order Lord whose powerful Frozen Aura weakened their attacks and slowed them. Wang Tao’s Prairie Fire countered the Lord’s ice attack and let him kill it, revealing that the strange changes affecting the zombies were tied to the Lord.

• Wang Tao ordered the group to retreat from the approaching Frozen Zombies, then had He Jijun find a safe place to stop and fight.
• Qu Shilin joined the battle with Little Fire as Wang Tao and the others faced roughly two hundred Fourth Order Elite Frozen Zombies and a Fourth Order Lord.
• Wang Tao’s fireball dealt far less damage than expected, and the group discovered that the zombies’ stronger Frozen Auras also reduced their speed and damage.
• Wang Tao charged the Lord while the others held back the Elite Zombies, but the Lord’s Ice Cone Summon covered a wide area and threatened to bury him.
• Qu Shilin sent Little Fire to help Wang Tao, but Wang Tao survived the ice attack by activating Prairie Fire, which melted and exploded the ice cones.
• Wang Tao’s flames nullified the Frozen Aura, drained the Lord’s health, and killed it; its dropped items showed him that the strange effects were related to the Lord.

After Wang Tao killed the Frozen Zombie Lord, his group defeated the weakened Frozen Zombies and collected their loot. He discovered that the lord’s head was a support weapon that strengthened nearby Ice Element partners, and planned to test who could benefit from it.

• Lu Gang noticed that the Frozen Zombies had weakened, and the group saw Wang Tao kill the Frozen Zombie Lord before joining the slaughter.
• Wang Tao led the group in clearing the remaining zombies, then ordered everyone to collect the loot and retreat to a safer location.
• Wang Tao checked the spoils and found Ice Attribute Defense, Ice Attribute Enhancement, and Ice Attribute Attack Crystal Cores, which he synthesized and discussed with the others.
• Wang Tao examined the Frozen Zombie Lord’s Ice Spike Crystal Core and Awakening Energy Orb, then identified its head as a fourth-order support weapon called Small Frozen Lord Head.
• Wang Tao concluded that the head’s Ice Chain boost might benefit people who fused ice-attribute Crystal Cores and considered using fourth-order Separation Crystal Cores to test it.

Wang Tao tested the Small Frozen Lord Head and discovered that it could link Ice Attribute Partners, guide them to one another, and boost their attack and defense, though his small team could not make full use of it. After inspecting the Frozen Lord Zombie’s loot, he crafted an Ice Bracelet that added Ice Attribute damage to attacks.

• Wang Tao had Wei Zhenguo fuse an Ice Attribute Defense Crystal Core, then added him to the Small Frozen Lord Head’s ice chain.
• Wei Zhenguo felt the weapon’s cold mark attach to him, while Wang Tao sensed his location and confirmed that the chain increased his Ice Attribute Defense.
• Wang Tao explained that the ice chain could hold up to one hundred members and boost attack by as much as 25% and defense by as much as 50%, but the team had too few people to benefit much.
• Wang Tao handed the Small Frozen Lord Head to Wei Zhenguo for the group to study and examined the Frozen Lord Zombie’s loot, including crystal cores, crafting materials, potions, and blueprints.
• Wang Tao crafted the Ice Bracelet and found that it made attacks carry Ice Attribute damage.

Wang Tao and his group discovered a lake filled with zombies frozen in the ice and witnessed a Third Order Common Zombie evolve into a Fourth Order Elite. After clearing the lake’s outskirts, they pushed deeper and Han Rui sensed an unusual Fifth Order Zombie Lord ahead.

• Wang Tao crafted a Frostproof Leather Armor Top, tested its warmth, and put it away because his existing armor suited him better.
• Wang Tao secretly gave Lan Yulian the Ice Bracelet and asked her to test it alongside the Flame Bracelet later.
• Xiang Hongbin killed five Fourth Order Frozen Zombies, and Wang Tao’s group continued toward the next trapped horde core.
• The group found a vast Frozen Lake full of trapped zombies, and Wang Tao watched a wounded Third Order Common Zombie evolve into a full-health Fourth Order Elite Frozen Zombie.
• Wang Tao warned everyone that trapped zombies could evolve, so the group hunted the ordinary zombies around the lake before advancing together into its center.
• Han Rui sensed a different kind of Fifth Order Zombie Lord ahead.

Wang Tao and his companions entered an ice cave to hunt a Fifth Order Lord Zombie that shrouded the area in black mist. They defeated the Black Mist Zombie, and Wang Tao discovered that Little Ice could amplify his fireball damage through a powerful combination attack.

• Han Rui warned Wang Tao's group that the cave held a Fifth Order Lord Zombie as well as many other zombies, and Wang Tao led everyone inside to investigate.
• Wang Tao identified the Lord as a Black Mist Zombie whose Dim Mist blocked light and made the other zombies frenzied, then ordered the group to lure the cave's zombies outside.
• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue attacked the Black Mist Zombie while Little Ice slowed it with frost, allowing Wang Tao to hit it with an amplified fireball.
• Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue continued attacking, and Wang Tao used Little Ice's frost to slow the zombie again before finishing it with another fireball.
• The Black Mist Zombie's Health Bar emptied, and a huge pile of items dropped.

Wang Tao tried to lure a Hammer Lord Zombie away from the Crystal Energy Car, but discovered that none of his attacks could damage it. His final attack suddenly shattered something and dealt heavy damage, leaving the battle unresolved.

• After the Black Mist Zombie died, Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue returned with the group and helped clear the remaining zombies.
• Han Rui spotted a Fifth Order Lord Zombie approaching the Crystal Energy Car, so Wang Tao drew it away while Jiang Shixue led the others toward the vehicle.
• Wang Tao found the Hammer Lord Zombie with ten Fifth Order Elite Frozen Zombies and discovered that his bullets and saber dealt zero damage to it.
• The Hammer Lord Zombie struck Wang Tao with powerful Shockwaves, while Wang Tao's fireballs, fusion attack, and Prairie Fire also dealt no damage.
• Wang Tao used his final attack, and a crack appeared before it dealt 106482 damage to the Hammer Lord Zombie.

Wang Tao and his teammates fought the Hammer Lord Zombie through a blizzard, enduring its devastating Shockwave before Wang Tao killed it with Hellfire. The team survived but suffered severe injuries, and they left the area by Crystal Energy Car as darkness fell.

• Wang Tao broke through the Hammer Lord Zombie’s defenses with Hellfire and continued attacking while calling Ding Yuqin and the others for support.
• He Jijun organized the team into squads, and the group surrounded the zombie, dividing its attention while wearing down its health.
• The Hammer Lord Zombie charged up a massive Shockwave, and Wang Tao shielded Qu Shilin, Little Ice, and Little Flame as the blast struck the team.
• Wang Tao saw the zombie’s health had fallen to the Hellfire execution threshold and killed it with another Hellfire.
• Wang Tao fed the zombie’s corpse to Lightning, confirmed that no teammates had died, and ordered everyone to leave before dark.

After surviving a brutal battle with the Hammer Zombie Lord, Wang Tao’s group sheltered at Yiyun Elementary School, where they set up camp and recovered. Wang Tao examined the Black Mist Zombie’s loot, found a Dark-type Hidden Attribute item and other rewards, and crafted a bracelet that added Dark Attribute damage to attacks.

• Wang Tao and his companions cleared the ordinary zombies from Yiyun Elementary School and installed the Crystal Energy Car’s surveillance system.
• The group assembled a heated temporary camp, tended their injuries, and ate together while discussing the Hammer Zombie Lord’s overwhelming strength.
• Wang Tao reviewed the Black Mist Zombie’s drops and found a Crystal Core that could reflect mental attacks, Gloomy Teeth, and a Magical Shadow that could grant a Hidden Attribute.
• Wang Tao found Crystal Cores, an Awakening Energy Orb, an Awakening Key, Dark Attribute potions, and a Dark Night Bracelet Blueprint among the loot packages.
• Wang Tao crafted the Dark Night Bracelet, which granted Dark Attribute damage and increased Dark Attribute Attack by 20.