Chapter Summaries

Magician manipulated Little Wheat into spraying poison, then framed an imaginary intruder to divert the Lizardmen while arranging to obtain drone controls and escape supplies from Kogas. After revealing his plan to Alan and the others, he poisoned Luther and defended his choice to obey the human tycoons rather than the Lizardmen, leaving the survivors facing his betrayal.

• Magician hid poison around the forest and tricked Little Wheat into taking a bottle of TX Poison Spray by calling it air freshener.
• Little Wheat poisoned herself, and Little Jorton accidentally killed Middle-parted Youth with the spray before Alexei discovered Magician's scent on the bottle.
• Magician claimed a mysterious strong man had forced him to poison the Lizardmen, drawing Alexei and the Dragonkin away to search the valley.
• Magician asked Kogas for drone-control equipment, a sand buggy, hydrogen tanks, and other supplies, then arranged for them to be dropped near the cave.
• Alan confronted Magician about the poison, and Magician admitted he had deceived Little Wheat and planned to escape rather than wait for the Lizardmen.
• Magician sprayed Luther with poison and told Alan and Old Wang that he had chosen to obey the human tycoons instead of the Lizardmen.

The Magician killed Alan and Old Wang, but Kogas’s rigged airdrop left him unable to prepare before Alexei and the Dragonkin caught him, wiping out the team. After Kogas won the bet and the wealthy spectators prepared to leave, Evil Dragon detained them and revealed that Huang Ji had been running the game all along.

• The Magician used the drone controller to kill Alan and Old Wang, then demanded his winnings from Kogas.
• Kogas sent down a slow, overloaded airdrop, forcing the injured Magician to flee before he could set traps; Alexei caught him, and the Magician died after his controller and poison spray broke.
• Kogas celebrated winning twenty billion, repaid Morgan Bank, and planned to retrieve the supplies from Great Serpent Valley.
• Evil Dragon detained the wealthy spectators, killed a man who tried to send a message, and ordered Coyote to confiscate their communication devices.
• Kogas realized he had been trapped, while Evil Dragon revealed that Huang Ji—not Kogas—had been hosting the game.

Lin Li and Seth planted false evidence of Lizardmen near Santa Fe while Huang Ji’s plan kept Great Serpent Valley’s supervisors from reporting the apparent escape. Huang Ji cleared Kogas’s game, but the supervisors arrested him and sent him toward Santa Fe.

• Lin Li used the Buddha Bone Armguard’s virtual mini-world to create realistic Dragonkin images, then planted them and physical traces in a forest south of Santa Fe with Seth and the others.
• Kogas’s supervisors waited for the Lizardmen to break out, but Huang Ji emerged from the cave alive and told them the Lizardmen were still inside dismantling drones and making something to fool the sentries.
• Huang Ji boarded a helicopter and asked to be taken to the South Gate, explaining that he was the last player and could clear the game there.
• The supervisors flew Huang Ji to the South Gate to end the game quickly, then refused to honor Kogas’s promise to release him and ordered him taken to Santa Fe.
• The guards anesthetized Huang Ji as he shouted that the Lizardmen had a conspiracy and offered to join the Illuminati.

Huang Ji was sent to the Santa Fe Life Science Center while an S-Class squad discovered that the Lizardmen had vanished from Great Serpent Valley. The White-Skinned Strongman concluded that an insider had helped them escape, and the search shifted to the Southern Dense Forest.

• Huang Ji was taken to a cell on the fourth underground level of the Santa Fe Life Science Center as a Guinea Pig.
• Three S4 Super Sentinels questioned the regulatory staff, who revealed that Kogas had given the Lizardmen tools and drone controllers.
• The squad searched Great Serpent Valley, found no Lizardmen, and followed a trail of disturbed soil to a buried crate of Lizardman samples and research equipment.
• The Black-Skinned Strongman inhaled buried TX Toxin and collapsed, while the White-Skinned Strongman realized a skilled researcher had been cooperating with the Lizardmen.
• An intelligence officer reported that an S-Class squad had been wiped out in the Southern Dense Forest and that Lizardman tracks were found there.
• The White-Skinned Strongman ordered his forces to guard the forest and concluded that an insider had helped the Lizardmen escape.

Lin Li and the other Burning Devotion Sentinels infiltrated the Illuminati’s encirclement by posing as their own troops and faking an attack on the Lizardmen. They led mercenaries to the mountain and reported false traces, leaving the Command Center poised to send reinforcements.

• The White-Skinned Strongman believed the Dragonkin had escaped and mobilized three thousand guards to surround the Southern Dense Forest.
• Lin Li told Yam, Seth, Suomi, and Hawk that they would impersonate Illuminati personnel and stage an attack to join the search.
• Lin Li hijacked helicopter WZ-76’s weapons, and Seth’s group used the ensuing confusion to approach the troops as Burning Devotion Sentinels.
• Lin Li caught the pilot after a grenade destroyed WZ-76, then misdirected the Sector No. 2 mercenaries and led them toward Sector No. 1.
• Lin Li joined up with guards from Sector No. 1, led the combined force to the mountain, and reported false Lizardmen tracks to the Command Center.

Lin Li and Seth helped the Lizardmen escape by misleading the White-Skinned Strongman into believing they were trapped in a mountain hollow. After realizing the Lizardmen had never been there, he ordered an investigation and prepared to report a possible conspiracy within the Illuminati.

• The White-Skinned Strongman arrived with eighteen Super Sentinels and joined the bombardment of the mountain hollow, while Lin Li and Seth pretended to be Osiris Squad reinforcements.
• As mines exploded around the mountain, Lin Li prompted the Strongman to discuss the supposed traitor Kogas, and the Strongman claimed Kogas had helped the Lizardmen escape.
• The Strongman led his elite squad into the hollow, found it empty, and searched the surrounding area without finding any Lizardmen.
• After Lin Li and Seth left, the Strongman ordered the hollow dug up, then learned the pilot who supposedly spotted the Lizardmen had never seen them and had been misled by Lin Li.
• The Strongman realized Lin Li and the others had deceived him, ordered an investigation into Osiris Squad and Kogas, and decided to report a possible hidden Rebellious Faction to the Sword-Keeper.

The White-Skinned Strongman learned that the Lizardmen had escaped and that Kogas had concealed information, then investigated the survivors and sought help from Professor Mu. At Mu Yuan’s laboratory, the chapter revealed the Illuminati’s cloning experiments to find the Dragonkin Longevity Gene, while Hua Ji remained unconscious and crucial to the investigation.

• The White-Skinned Strongman learned from the Great Serpent Valley overseer that Hua Ji had emerged from the valley, while the Lizardmen had disappeared, and ordered Hua Ji brought in for questioning.
• The overseers blamed Kogas for arranging the cover-up and alleged that he had hidden contacts and knowledge of the Lizardmen’s escape; the White-Skinned Strongman ordered an investigation.
• The White-Skinned Strongman visited the Yellow-Skinned Strongman, learned that Mu Yuan had used the Nano Swarm to save Old Third, and asked Mu Yuan to wake Hua Ji.
• The White-Skinned Strongman entered Mu Yuan’s laboratory and saw cloned test subjects and experiments using Multipotent Stem Cells to search for the Dragonkin Longevity Gene.
• Mu Yuan’s researchers discarded a failed batch of clones, and Mu Yuan met the White-Skinned Strongman without remembering his name.

The White-Skinned Strongman tried to interrogate Huang Ji about the escaped Lizardmen, while Mu Yuan treated Huang Ji and unknowingly let him control the Nano Swarm. Huang Ji’s account led Mu Yuan and the White-Skinned Strongman to discover evidence that Kogas’s faction had stolen Lizardmen neural tissue for secret research.

• The White-Skinned Strongman tricked Mu Yuan into treating Huang Ji, and Mu Yuan injected Huang Ji with the Nano Swarm to remove the anesthetic.
• After the White-Skinned Strongman threatened him, Huang Ji bit off his tongue; Mu Yuan stitched it back together, while Huang Ji secretly controlled his own recovery and the Nano Swarm.
• Huang Ji described an underground escape plan, but the White-Skinned Strongman realized that outside collaborators had helped the Lizardmen escape and that Huang Ji knew only part of the operation.
• Mu Yuan used the Nano Swarm to make Huang Ji confess what he knew, and Huang Ji mentioned a hidden scientist, Lizardmen neural tissue, and the code Σ-95.
• Mu Yuan identified Σ-95 as Santa Fe’s classified label for a Lizardmen genetic sequence, while the White-Skinned Strongman concluded that Kogas’s faction had stolen neural tissue for the Longevity Project.

Huang Ji convinced the White-Skinned Strongman that the Dragonkin had developed a new form of gene-driven evolution, while withholding the Rebellious Faction’s true plans. The White-Skinned Strongman accepted Huang Ji into the Illuminati, though he remained wary of how the enemy might use the intelligence.

• The White-Skinned Strongman questioned Huang Ji about Old Wang, and Huang Ji admitted he was feigning surrender while sharing both false and true information about the Dragonkin’s movements.
• Huang Ji explained that psychological pressure and cultural values could trigger Dragonkin gene mutations, prompting Mu Yuan to connect the idea to Gamma and Zeta proteins found in rebellious Lizardmen.
• Mu Yuan concluded that Dragonkin could evolve collaboratively through sacrifice and shared resolve, with some producing Gamma proteins for others to transform into Zeta and grow stronger.
• The White-Skinned Strongman realized the Dragonkin might attack Santa Fe or use the warning to keep his forces from searching for them, but Huang Ji said he did not know their deeper purpose.
• After questioning Huang Ji about his identity and motives, the White-Skinned Strongman accepted him as a member of the Illuminati.

Huang Ji deceived the White-Skinned Strongman into sending troops back to Great Serpent Valley while Santa Fe’s researchers uncovered the Longevity Gene. After the Nano Swarm’s retrieval failed, Huang Ji took control of assistant Weeks and led him away without alerting the guard.

• Huang Ji pretended to be shocked after the Nano Swarm confession, and the White-Skinned Strongman ordered him to return to Great Serpent Valley with the army.
• Mu Yuan’s researchers identified Σ-95 as the Longevity Gene, prompting the White-Skinned Strongman to fear that the Rebellious Faction could use the discovery to seize power.
• The White-Skinned Strongman sent Huang Ji to meet Guard Commander Amu while he rushed off to report his suspicions.
• Huang Ji delayed with the escorting guard until Weeks arrived, then linked arms with the assistant and pulled him into the elevator.
• Huang Ji used the Nano Swarm to control Weeks, making him laugh and preventing him from warning anyone that the swarm was still inside Huang Ji.

Huang Ji infiltrated Great Serpent Valley Base with Weeks and Lin Li’s group, posing as Weeks’s aide while Amu tracked him. He found Kogas and the wealthy backers hiding in an abandoned building, then stunned Kogas by addressing him as Alexei.

• Huang Ji persuaded Amu to let him fly to Great Serpent Valley with Weeks, disguising their approach as a researcher’s visit.
• Huang Ji picked up Lin Li and five sentries near the base, then impersonated Weeks to gain entry and slapped the supervising steward twice.
• Huang Ji let the steward believe he was reporting sensitive information, then followed his directions to abandoned Building T, No. 78.
• Amu heard Kogas inside the building and ordered Huang Ji to keep the Lizardmen there until his forces arrived.
• Huang Ji entered, grabbed Kogas to silence him, and called him Alexei, shocking Kogas and the gathered gambling backers.

Huang Ji used Mu Yuan’s Nano Swarm and the Buddha Bone to transform twenty wealthy Illuminati members into Dragonkin, then set them up to be mistaken for Alexei’s group as the base came under siege. He sent Evil Dragon and Coyote toward Lin Li and the others while he stayed behind, waiting for a promotion.

• Amu reported that Lizardmen were inside Great Serpent Valley, and the White-Skinned Strongman ordered him to surround the base while staying away himself.
• Huang Ji wrote Mu Yuan’s Gene Database from memory and injected two billion nanobees into twenty wealthy men, claiming he was Luo Yan and explaining his plan to seize the Longevity Elixir.
• Huang Ji knocked five men unconscious and transformed the other twenty into Dragonkin of carefully matched sizes and appearances, while sealing their vocal cords.
• Huang Ji sent Evil Dragon and Coyote to meet Lin Li and the others, then arranged the five unconscious men and told the transformed Dragonkin they had to survive the Illuminati assault.
• Huang Ji gave each Dragonkin an Illuminati pendant as their only bargaining chip and remained behind, waiting for a promotion.

Huang Ji fought off Kogas and escaped the Dragonkin before Amu ordered an artillery barrage and tactical missiles against Great Serpent Valley Base. The base was devastated, and Amu mistakenly believed Weeks had escaped by helicopter, though Weeks had died and Lin Li, Evil Dragon, and the others were aboard instead.

• Kogas attacked Huang Ji, who used his momentum and Thunder Palm to send him flying and secretly strengthen him while impairing his judgment.
• The other transformed Dragonkin pursued Huang Ji, and Amu ordered artillery fire after Huang Ji reached him.
• Huang Ji warned Amu that Weeks remained inside the base, but Amu ordered tactical missiles launched anyway.
• The missiles leveled the base, and a helicopter escaped as Amu assumed Weeks was aboard.
• Weeks had died in the barrage, while Lin Li, Evil Dragon, and the others escaped in the helicopter.

Kogas led a desperate charge against the Illuminati forces, survived their bombardment and superheated bombs through a mutation, and helped the other Dragonkin break into the enemy ranks. As the White-Skinned Strongman rushed reinforcements toward Great Serpent Valley, Alexei and the other Dragonkin watched the defenders leave Santa Fe and saw an opening.

• Kogas charged through artillery and machine-gun fire, breaking into the Illuminati position and killing guards as Huang Ji drove Amu away.
• Kogas survived a superheated bomb blast, mutated to S5, brought down helicopters, and continued attacking the guards.
• The other thirteen wealthy Dragonkin charged through the breach, while Amu requested reinforcements from the White-Skinned Strongman.
• The White-Skinned Strongman left Santa Fe with twenty Super Sentinels, putting Osiris in charge of its defense.
• Alexei and the other Dragonkin watched the helicopters depart and concluded that Santa Fe was more lightly defended than ever.

Huang Ji led the wealthy Dragonkin away from Amu, then used his strange movements and their poor combat skills to keep dodging their attacks. The chapter left Huang Ji surrounded and still alive as Amu watched from a distance, believing reinforcements might arrive.

• The wealthy Dragonkin pursued Huang Ji after their attack overturned the command vehicle, and Huang Ji persuaded Amu to hide and play dead while he drew them away.
• Amu smeared blood on his face and pretended to be dead as the Dragonkin passed him and caught up with Huang Ji.
• Kogas approached the apparently helpless Huang Ji cautiously, while Huang Ji warned the Dragonkin to run and dodged Kogas’s blade.
• Huang Ji maneuvered the Dragonkin into disrupting one another’s attacks, using their strikes and his feigned injuries to evade them.
• Amu watched the chaotic fight and mistook Huang Ji’s cries and falls for desperate pleas that were keeping him alive.

Huang Ji tricked the Dragonkin tycoons into delaying their escape until Illuminati reinforcements arrived, then helped Amu survive and regroup the scattered troops. Amu realized Huang Ji had used his faked death to draw the Dragonkin’s hatred away from him, and promised to help Huang Ji rise through the ranks.

• Huang Ji urged the Dragonkin tycoons to choose between surrendering in Great Serpent Valley and fleeing, and Kogas finally led them toward their armored vehicles.
• Kogas aimed an autocannon at Huang Ji, but a missile struck his vehicle as the Illuminati aircraft arrived with twenty Super Sentinels.
• The Super Sentinels attacked the nine Dragonkin tycoons, while the White-Skinned Strongman rescued Amu and ordered him to regroup the remaining troops.
• Amu helped the wounded Huang Ji aboard the aircraft, and Huang Ji explained that the Dragonkin had stayed to avenge the young Lizardmen Amu had killed.
• Amu understood that Huang Ji had arranged his fake death to draw the Dragonkin’s hatred onto himself, then promised Huang Ji credit and called him his brother.
• Huang Ji told Amu that he owed him a meal.

Evil Dragon and five companions attacked Santa Fe while a hidden team infiltrated the base and turned its defenses against Osiris Squad. Osiris destroyed the weapons with the Golden Anka, but his squad lay devastated and the puppy was the only one to answer his call.

• Amu learned that six Burning Devotion Sentinels had reached Santa Fe while Osiris stayed on the roof with a puppy.
• Evil Dragon and his companions entered the base, where Unit Three's fighters mocked him and demanded to know who supported Messiah.
• Osiris spotted a hidden team near a boulder, and Amu ordered Santa Fe's missile platform to target it.
• A missile struck the Indian sentinel as Santa Fe's defenses turned on their own troops, killing more than half of Osiris Squad and knocking Amu unconscious.
• Osiris donned the Golden Anka and destroyed Santa Fe's missile launchers and other defensive weapons.
• Osiris called out to check for survivors, and only the puppy barked in response.

Osiris survived the destruction of his squad and fought Evil Dragon’s group, but Lin Li’s Black Wand severed his arm and the lizardmen arrived to seize the weapon. With Santa Fe’s defenses shattered and Vahana, Alexei, and Haspa confronting him, Osiris weighed whether to flee or fight.

• Osiris sent Uluru and three wounded survivors into the base to protect the professors while he charged Evil Dragon’s group.
• Lin Li fired the Black Wand’s Plasma Cannon, and Osiris dodged the blast but lost his left arm.
• Osiris disarmed Lin Li and raced to retrieve the Black Wand as Evil Dragon’s group moved to recover it.
• Vahana, Alexei, Haspa, and over a dozen lizardmen arrived, revealed Santa Fe’s defenses had collapsed, and took possession of the Black Wand.
• Osiris assessed the three adult lizardmen and considered fleeing to report what had happened.

Mu Yuan used Keke, his dead sister’s living brain in a computer, to expose the attack on the Osiris Squad and kill the guards, but Santa Fe was overrun by Vahana and the Dragonkin. As the researchers fled and Old Wang confronted Uluru, Lin Li proposed capturing Uluru and forcing him to defect.

• Uluru confronted the guards protecting Mu Yuan and accused them of attacking the Osiris Squad, but Mu Yuan called Keke, who confirmed the attack and killed all thirty guards with the corridor guns.
• Mu Yuan revealed that Keke was his sister’s brain connected to a computer, then discovered the Nano Swarm was missing as a Plasma Cannon blasted into basement level three.
• Vahana, Annie, and the other Dragonkin entered the corridor while the researchers fled; Vahana pursued them, and the Dragonkin joined forces with Evil Dragon’s group against the Illuminati.
• Vahana overwhelmed Uluru and his men, while Old Wang prepared to avenge his son; after Uluru mocked him, Lin Li stopped Old Wang and suggested taking Uluru alive to make him defect.
• Uluru rejected the idea of defecting, and Lin Li replied that making him defect had nothing to do with him.

Huang Ji persuaded Vahana that the Dragonkin needed a spaceship and a world of their own, then stopped her from pursuing Mu Yuan so they could escape Santa Fe with its valuable research. He salvaged the serum that could upgrade his Controllable Cancer Cells, giving his Huang Ji Point the potential to create any biological tissue from genetic data.

• Vahana lost Mu Yuan after he released a foul-smelling cloud, then met Huang Ji, who explained that the Dragonkin could find freedom by leaving Earth and building their own society among the stars.
• Vahana abandoned the pursuit of Mu Yuan and returned with Huang Ji to the researchers captured in Santa Fe.
• Alexei injected a researcher with an experimental Nirvana Serum, killing him after learning too late that it required spinal injection rather than muscle injection.
• Huang Ji stopped Alexei from wasting the serums and collected the valuable cellular transformation and DNA-transplantation supplies.
• Huang Ji realized that combining the Multipotent Stem Cell serum with his Controllable Cancer Cells could let him create any organ or living tissue for which he had genetic data.