Chapter Summaries

Huang Ji convinced the players and wealthy spectators that the game allowed Wrongfully Imprisoned people to become Criminals by carrying out their listed crimes, then used that belief to maneuver against Magician. He left Magician alive after beating him, confounding the spectators’ bets and leaving his larger plan unclear.

• The wealthy spectators bet that Magician and the Wheat-skinned Beauty would die after Huang Ji appeared to understand Magician’s trap but did not intervene.
• Huang Ji’s claim that players could become Criminals through their listed crimes stunned the spectators, and Host Jin confirmed that this was not an original rule.
• Kogas explained that Huang Ji was using the invented rule to make the Wrongfully Imprisoned vote for pardon and intended to kill Magician under the pretext of carrying out a crime.
• Host Jin agreed to add the rule, and the Blonde Sickly Woman dragged the Wheat-skinned Beauty away while Huang Ji approached Magician with an iron pipe.
• Huang Ji beat Magician severely but stopped before killing him, bewildering the spectators who had bet on Magician’s death.

Luther faced a choice between killing the Magician to fulfill his murder charge and preserving his dream of becoming a Doctor, but Huang Ji persuaded him to let the Magician go and promised he would survive. The final Collective Pardon vote failed when Huang Ji unexpectedly cast an exoneration vote.

• Kogas deduced that Hua Ji had crippled the Magician so Luther would kill him to fulfill his murder charge, and the tycoons bet on someone dying.
• Luther dragged the helpless Magician toward the Blue Prison Building, but Huang Ji urged him not to sacrifice his dream of becoming a Doctor.
• Luther released the Magician and went to cast a pardon vote after Old Wang suggested abandoning the attempted murder might count as becoming a criminal.
• The Magician thanked Huang Ji, while the others returned to their cells to cast the final Collective Pardon votes.
• Huang Ji cast an exoneration vote, and Host Jin announced that Collective Pardon had failed with seven pardon votes and one exoneration vote.

Huang Ji exposed the prison key as a tool for sowing distrust and persuaded everyone to abandon the uncertain pardon strategy and charge the battery together. As the prisoners worked toward escape, a key dropped into the courtyard without breaking their unity, while the wealthy spectators began planning a more divisive third game.

• Huang Ji admitted that he had voted against collective pardon and argued that the organizers might execute them even if they committed their listed crimes, while the hidden key was meant to provoke suspicion.
• Huang Ji urged the prisoners to choose the clear route of charging the battery, explaining how he had helped remove dangerous prisoners and created conditions for them to trust one another.
• Alan, Luther, the Magician, and the others agreed to pedal; Huang Ji healed the Magician and taught Luther how to treat him, while the Blonde Sickly Woman rested after Huang Ji eased her discomfort.
• The prisoners pedaled for hours, and a key dropped beside the battery, but nobody left the group to seize it.
• The wealthy spectators realized Huang Ji intended to save everyone, and Host Jin proposed choosing a crueler, luck-driven game for the third round.

After clearing the cycling prison stage, Huang Ji and the others were moved to a new game called Four Races Paradise, where players competed as gods, humans, beasts, or insects and could evolve by answering questions. Huang Ji joined the first race draw and immediately identified the races of all four representatives.

• The exhausted group cleared the cycling stage, but anesthetic gas knocked them out before they could explore beyond the prison.
• The organizers transferred Huang Ji, the Blonde Sickly Woman, Alan, the Autistic Youth, Old Wang, Luther, the Magician, and the Wheat-skinned Beauty to a new underground game site and divided them among four rooms.
• Host Jin explained the food-chain contests, starvation and revival rules, and the question-based evolution system, which let players rise through the four races to become gods.
• The Blonde Sickly Woman urged Huang Ji to represent their room in the first race draw, saying his presence kept the group united.
• Huang Ji chose one of four cards alongside the Magician, Alan, and Old Wang, then identified himself and the Magician as insects and Alan and Old Wang as gods.

Huang Ji explained how the organizers arranged the race cards to make survival depend on trust, strategy, and luck, then guided Magician through two evolution questions. Magician advanced from Insect to Human, and Huang Ji requested an evolution attempt as the next confrontation approached.

• Huang Ji reasoned that the organizers had paired races in a pattern designed to leave some races absent and make evolution split teammates apart.
• Magician and the others concluded their group had drawn two Gods and two Insects, while spectators praised them as a strong group of racehorses.
• Huang Ji prompted Evil Dragon to stir up bets, while the group recognized that they needed to evolve quickly to avoid starving.
• Magician answered that hot water freezes first and, following Huang Ji's advice, answered that a bursting soap bubble could reach forty thousand degrees Celsius.
• Huang Ji concluded Magician had become Human, and Magician urged him to try evolving before the next confrontation.

Huang Ji helped the Magician evolve into a God by answering an Ultimate Wisdom Question, then answered several questions of his own. He ended by overthinking a Beginner Wisdom Question about the Solar System and becoming an insect again.

• Huang Ji admitted he did not know who won Best Supporting Actress at the twelfth Academy Awards, then arranged room switches to keep the group safe.
• Honey stayed an insect to protect Huang Ji, while Little Wheat answered correctly and evolved into a beast.
• The Magician drew an Ultimate Wisdom Question about coordinates and submitted Huang Ji’s answer, R’lyeh, evolving directly into a God.
• Huang Ji correctly answered that a kilogram of iron weighed more than a kilogram of wood on Earth because wood received greater buoyant force.
• Huang Ji answered that the Solar System had nine planets, arguing that an undiscovered ninth planet existed, and became an insect after his answer was judged incorrect.

Kogas gambled five billion on Honey being the only person to accept Heavenly Tribulation, believing Huang Ji would let the wandering Gods sit out. Huang Ji initially gave that order, then stopped Honey and the others with a new idea, leaving Kogas's bet in doubt.

• Kogas borrowed billions and wagered that Honey alone would accept Heavenly Tribulation, while Evil Dragon bet five billion on an impossible five-person outcome.
• Huang Ji told the wandering Gods to stay in their rooms because Gods could clear the game without being revived.
• Kogas added another billion to his bet before the betting pool closed and celebrated Huang Ji's strategy.
• Huang Ji asked Honey to revive him, and she prepared to press the Heavenly Tribulation button.
• Huang Ji suddenly stopped Honey and called the other Gods back, saying he had thought of a brilliant idea.

Huang Ji persuaded Honey and the wandering souls to face Heavenly Tribulation together, and they survived a hailstorm that gave the thirsty players water. The unexpected outcome made Evil Dragon a winner and left Kogas determined to stay until the game ended.

• Huang Ji proposed that the wandering souls join Honey in facing Heavenly Tribulation, arguing that they could protect one another.
• Honey objected, but Huang Ji held her hand and guided it to activate the tribulation as Alan, Old Wang, and Magician entered the room with them.
• Hailstones poured from the ceiling, and the five players worked together to withstand the brief storm without serious injuries.
• Huang Ji and Honey carried the clean hailstones to the other rooms, giving the players water to drink.
• Host Jin announced that someone had correctly bet on five players facing Heavenly Tribulation, and Evil Dragon realized he had won.
• Kogas collapsed in envy, then insisted on staying because the game was not over.

Huang Ji helped Little Wheat and Honey become Gods, then answered an impossibly difficult DNA question just before time ran out, allowing everyone to survive. After losing another fortune, Kogas arranged to transport the group himself and pushed for another round of betting as his last chance to recover.

• Little Wheat evolved into a human and then a God with Huang Ji's help answering questions, including an Ultimate Wisdom Question about the thickness of folded paper.
• Honey became a God after Huang Ji answered an ancient-riddle question, leaving Huang Ji as the last insect-race member with little time before the duel.
• Kogas bet billions that Huang Ji would fail or die, while Huang Ji drew an Ultimate Wisdom Question asking him to identify an organism from its DNA sequence.
• Huang Ji guessed Riding Nanoarchaeum by reasoning that the displayed DNA represented an unusually small genome, and the announcement confirmed that everyone had passed.
• Kogas lost his final bets and protested, but Evil Dragon proposed continuing the games during transport, and Kogas used his authority to arrange another round as his last chance to recover.

After the organizers transferred the survivors to Kogas, he promised to release them if they crossed Great Serpent Valley alive. Huang Ji realized the valley was a Lizardmen ranch designed for a hunt, and the group left the container facing an uncertain escape.

• The eight survivors woke in a locked container, and Host Jin invalidated their Number Plates and made them spend money to remove their collars.
• Kogas announced that the survivors were in Great Serpent Valley and offered supplies by airdrop at an exorbitant shipping cost.
• Kogas promised to release them if they reached the valley’s southern steel gate alive, while Huang Ji recognized that the organizers had brought them there to be hunted by Lizardmen.
• Kogas described the valley’s powerful, fast, bullet-resistant monsters, but Huang Ji dismissed the warnings and asked him to open the container.
• Huang Ji crushed his earpiece and watch after exiting the container, and he warned Honey not to trust that she would be freed with her remaining money.

Huang Ji led the group to reject Kogas’s control and prepare for survival in the wilderness, while Kogas and the wealthy bettors watched, expecting the Lizardmen to kill them. The group settled in a forest and gathered supplies, unaware that Kogas believed their escape was impossible.

• Honey proposed that the group escape on their own, and Huang Ji agreed while Magician and the others destroyed their earpieces and watches.
• Huang Ji directed Honey to spend their money on medical supplies, tools, and a few weapons, then led everyone out of the wasteland under surveillance by drones.
• Huang Ji found covered, three-toed footprints and inferred that a large, tailed creature had made them, but told the group to rest before deciding what to do next.
• The group made camp in a forest, accepted an airdrop of requested supplies, and divided up tasks to gather food, water, wood, and medicinal herbs.
• The wealthy bettors criticized Kogas for not explaining the Lizardmen’s danger, while Kogas secretly hoped they would wipe out Huang Ji and the others.

Alan encountered a Lizardman while gathering food, but escaped and warned the group. Huang Ji played music that blended with the surrounding sounds, leaving the group entranced and the Lizardmen watching from nearby.

• Alan killed a deer, caught a pike, and fled after sensing danger across the river.
• A young Lizardman followed Alan, decided he was a powerful fighter, and returned to warn his parents.
• Alan told the group about the threatening presence, and Huang Ji scattered pungent herbal juice around their camp.
• Four Lizardmen watched the group from a nearby tree and discussed the herbs and the humans.
• Huang Ji played a bone flute with beakers and a jar, weaving the wind, water, leaves, and birdsong into a melody that captivated everyone.
• An eagle cried overhead, the music stopped, and the group found that Huang Ji had torn his clothes to shreds.

Huang Ji’s music dissuaded four Lizardmen from attacking the group, but nine others later surrounded the camp. When one attacked Magician, Shark Fin Head intervened and drank Huang Ji’s medicine, leaving the humans unsure what would happen next.

• Huang Ji’s layered flute performance moved four young Lizardmen so deeply that they abandoned their planned attack and returned to report to their elders.
• After the group fell asleep, Huang Ji woke and prepared a jar of medicine while Alan kept watch.
• Nine Lizardmen surrounded the camp, and Magician tried to flee as they rose on their tails to intimidate the humans.
• A Lizardman dove at Magician, but Shark Fin Head stopped the attack and took Huang Ji’s medicine jar.
• Shark Fin Head drank the medicine and water, then expelled black liquid from his tail, which Huang Ji identified as detoxification.

Huang Ji revealed that the valley’s poisoned food had sickened the Lizardmen and that his failed medicine could help them expel the toxin. He persuaded Alexei and the others to resist the Illuminati and escape, leaving them united in defiance as drones gathered overhead.

• Alexei drank Huang Ji’s medicine, expelled the accumulated poison, and agreed with the other Lizardmen to keep the humans and have Huang Ji make more.
• Huang Ji explained that the valley’s fruit, meat, and fish carried a chronic toxin, and Alexei realized the Illuminati had poisoned the Lizardmen through their food.
• Alexei and the other Lizardmen smashed the surveillance drones with stones after learning the Illuminati had imprisoned and experimented on them.
• Huang Ji proposed using the Illuminati’s desire for particular outcomes to escape, predicted they would attack to destroy his medicine, and declared he would overthrow them.
• Alexei proclaimed that he would overthrow the Illuminati, and the Lizardmen roared with him.

Hua Ji’s cure and clever use of the game rules helped his group gain supplies and the Lizardmen’s cooperation, but Alexei killed him after Hua Ji pretended to be an Illuminati researcher. The remaining humans were taken into the Lizardmen’s cave, leaving Kogas desperate to make them die before the game was stopped.

• Kogas agreed to refund Hua Ji’s destroyed chemical agents at twenty times their cost so the tycoons would keep the bet running.
• Alexei spared Hua Ji’s group as laborers, and Hua Ji predicted that the Illuminati might send weapons; when Kogas attacked their medicine crates with a drone, Alexei captured two unexploded rockets.
• Hua Ji and Alexei secretly cooperated, with Alexei pretending not to understand the game funds while Hua Ji acted as though he wanted to work with the Illuminati.
• Alexei grabbed Hua Ji after Hua Ji claimed to be an Illuminati researcher, accidentally snapped his neck, and declared the rest of the group his laborers.
• The Lizardmen took the surviving humans into their guarded cave, cutting off the drones’ view, while Kogas resolved to find a way to kill them within three days.

Huang Ji gained the Lizardmen’s attention by offering to build excavation equipment, then warned that the Illuminati would likely stop them within days. Vahana revealed that she and the Lizardmen were once human, explained their connection to ancient aliens who helped create humanity, and left Huang Ji and the others confronting the truth behind human origin myths.

• Alexei brought Huang Ji and the others to meet Vahana and the young Lizardmen, and Huang Ji revealed that he had faked his death.
• Huang Ji agreed to make a basic rock excavator but warned that the Illuminati would likely send a squad to intervene before the Lizardmen could escape.
• Huang Ji challenged Alexei and Vahana for withholding information, prompting Vahana to explain that she, Alexei, and Haspa had once been human before genetic alteration.
• Vahana said the Illuminati had found Dragonization nanomedicine in Sumerian ruins and sought the secret of immortality without becoming Dragonkin.
• Vahana explained that aliens, including the Anunnaki and the original Dragonkin, had used and modified ancient hominids to create humanity, while the Illuminati’s gods claimed to have come from the sun.

Vahana explained that Dragonkin were engineered to resist domestication and place dignity above survival, recounting how successive groups rebelled against the Illuminati and were exterminated. Huang Ji reasoned that the Dragonkin’s genes let them evolve in response to attacks on their dignity, and concluded that years of confinement could produce Super Dragonkin capable of breaking out.

• Vahana described how becoming a Dragonkin changed her instincts, making her able to resist pain, death, and attempts to force her into submission.
• Vahana recounted how the first Dragonkin rebellion ended with the Illuminati exterminating the rebels, then explained that she belonged to a third batch created after earlier batches were wiped out.
• Huang Ji proposed that Dragonkin evolved through assaults on their dignity rather than through ordinary survival pressures.
• Huang Ji explained that the Dragonkin transformed by the Illuminati were weakened, but prolonged humiliation and resistance could eventually trigger powerful mutations.
• Huang Ji concluded that Dragonkin rebellions recurred because years of confinement and repeated thoughts of escape could produce Super Dragonkin.

Huang Ji explained that the Dragonkin could not defeat the Illuminati through direct force and devised a plan to help them escape by making the Illuminati believe they had already fled. He would stay behind, surrender, and infiltrate the Illuminati, leaving the Dragonkin to escape and later rescue him.

• Alexei asked whether the Dragonkin should wait for evolution, and Huang Ji warned that even stronger bodies could not overcome the Illuminati's military resources.
• Huang Ji suggested feigning surrender, but Vahana said she could not bear to bow to the Illuminati and betray them later.
• Huang Ji challenged Magician's belief that Dragonkin secretly ruled the world and said the Illuminati had spread those stories to smear them.
• Huang Ji proposed sending photos and rumors outside to make the Illuminati believe the Dragonkin had escaped, while the group hid underground and he erased their traces.
• Huang Ji said he would let the Illuminati capture him, surrender and reveal the escape plan after the Dragonkin had time to get away, then pose as a traitor turned spy.
• Alexei promised that the Dragonkin would return to rescue Huang Ji after they escaped.

Honey appeared to die after resisting the Lizardmen, while Kogas manipulated the Magician into seeking poison to kill the other survivors. The survivors revealed that Honey’s death was staged and Huang Ji planned to exploit Kogas’s scheme to obtain useful equipment.

• Honey attacked a Lizardman with a scalpel after he struck her, and Luther believed she had been killed when she fell and bled.
• The Magician urged Alan to escape, then used the inheritance rule to request poison and a vehicle so he could kill his teammates and flee.
• Kogas agreed to provide the Magician with TX Compressed Deadly Spray, believing the plan would help him kill the survivors.
• Alan and the Magician returned to the cave with prey, where the others revealed Honey had faked her death with a blood pack.
• Huang Ji told the Magician to bring in the poison for him to study and explained that they would use the scheme to coax more equipment from Kogas.

Huang Ji explained how language was embedded in Dragonkin and human genes, then Vahana revealed that Annie had been deprived of language as a child and described how she escaped Illuminati experiments after becoming a Dragonkin. Huang Ji realized the Illuminati had abandoned plans to control Dragonkin and instead sought to transfer their genes into humans, unaware that humans already carried more Dragonkin genes than they knew.

• Huang Ji explained to Honey that Dragonkin learned their language automatically before age five and demonstrated that humans could speak it with difficulty.
• Huang Ji described the human language-sensitive period and how failing to learn any language by age ten could permanently impair language and thought.
• Vahana told Huang Ji and the others that Annie had grown up without anyone speaking to her and could not understand or speak any language.
• Vahana explained that Annie escaped Illuminati experiments, resisted their attempts to sedate her, and was exiled after fighting back.
• Huang Ji recognized that Annie had been demanding food as compensation for completing experiments, while Vahana said she still worked each day to earn her meals.
• Huang Ji concluded that the Illuminati had abandoned using Dragonkin as a military force and instead pursued transferring Dragonkin traits into humans, despite humans already possessing Dragonkin genes.