Recaps

Suzuki asked Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi for help with her lingering spore addiction, and Guan Tong arranged for her to enter a safe withdrawal facility. The UHC declared war on the Sery Divine Kingdom, the two crewed rockets launched successfully, and the story ended with people awaiting the Fifteenth Apocalypse Rule on January 15.

• Suzuki admitted she remained addicted to spores and asked Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi to save her.
• Guan Tong promised to arrange safe withdrawal treatment for Suzuki and have North Star monitor her.
• On January 11, the UHC classified the Sery Divine Kingdom as a colonization operation, declared war, and announced a coalition led by North Star, Suoloma, and Xisiya.
• The UHC announced that Dream Boat One and Empire Pioneer would launch as scheduled on January 12.
• Both crewed rockets launched successfully on January 12, giving people hope for humanity's future in space.
• On January 15, people waited anxiously for the Fifteenth Apocalypse Rule to be announced.

Xiao Cao held a character symposium to discuss the Fourteenth Apocalypse Rule, explain its length and ongoing effects, and answer questions about the novel. The gathering ended as Xiao Cao hoped to avoid overtime and publish the next rule the following day.

• Guan Tong asked where the first thirteen symposiums were, and Xiao Cao said she would write them gradually and add them to earlier chapter notes.
• Shi Jingyi asked why the rule lasted fifty-two chapters, and Xiao Cao explained that the growing cast and Yuze Chun's role had extended it.
• Zhang Minglu asked whether the parasites would persist across multiple rules, and Xiao Cao confirmed that they would create long-term pressure on humanity.
• Lu Cheng asked whether he could become a second protagonist, but Xiao Cao said the book had only one male protagonist, Guan Tong.
• Suzuki asked whether he would appear again, and Xiao Cao kept the answer secret; Xiao Cao also told the group that her setting guide needed more time.
• Shi Jingyi began another question, but Xiao Cao ended the symposium, and everyone left as Xiao Cao hoped to avoid overtime before the next rule's release.

Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi uncovered how Shangyuan’s Yuanlu bloodline connected to the ancient serpent legend before the Fifteenth Apocalypse Rule announced that an intelligent alien would arrive on Tianshui Star. The UHC agreed to prepare for contact while suspending its campaign against the Sery Divine Kingdom until the alien’s intentions were known.

• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi read Yuze Family records identifying Yuanlu as a serpent that defeated Yamata, and Guan Tong explained how Yuze Chun had intended to exploit Shangyuan’s power.
• Guan Tong suggested that Shangyuan may have gained power by helping kill Yuze Chun, and the two waited for the new rule.
• Fire Thief released the Third Kind Contact rule, announcing that an Alien Intelligent Individual would be deployed on Tianshui Star for fifteen days with no reward or penalty.
• Gao Liangwei secured UHC members’ agreement that all countries would have fair, public access to contact with the alien, while Mary and Toravt warned it might be hostile.
• The UHC suspended its coalition operation against the Sery Divine Kingdom and directed countries to prepare surveillance and armed forces ahead of the alien’s arrival.

Guan Tong read Hidden Rule Fifteen, which warned that the extraterrestrial intelligent individual’s interaction would depend on its appetite, as a spacecraft landed in Xisiya. During first contact, the alien devoured two delegates and demanded food in exchange for answering questions.

• Guan Tong read Hidden Rule Fifteen and withheld its contents while he tried to understand its warning about a steep price.
• A cookie-shaped spacecraft appeared in orbit and descended toward the Sainantata Icefield in Xisiya.
• Yelena sent Sigaoxin and a rapid-response unit to secure the landing site, then helped organize the UHC Contact Delegation.
• The delegation gathered around the silent spacecraft while billions watched the first-contact livestream.
• The spacecraft sprayed black sludge over two delegates, devoured them, and murmured, “Taste through... Give me food... Answer... questions...”

The alien individual emerged from its spacecraft and killed members of the Contact Delegation, prompting the authorities to cut the livestream. When Louis tried to communicate with it, it demanded food and devoured eight more people before stopping, leaving Louis to suspect that humans were the food it wanted in exchange for answers.

• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi discussed the livestream cutoff, the alien’s attack, and the risks of trying to kill it before the Fire Thief retrieved it.
• On the ice field, armed soldiers aimed at the black sludge while the Contact Delegation kept its distance.
• Louis approached the alien and asked whether it had spoken; it answered that it had.
• When Louis asked its name and origin, the alien demanded food and swept into the crowd, devouring four or five people.
• Ascendants’ items and soldiers’ bullets failed to stop the alien, which devoured a total of ten people before collapsing back onto the ground.
• Louis concluded that the alien required human food in exchange for answering questions.

After the alien entity killed ten people to answer Louis’s questions, the Contact Delegation debated what its unintelligible response meant and prepared to test whether animals could replace humans as food. At the UHC meeting, representatives considered feeding it captured parasites and agreed to restrict future questions to practical problems.

• Louis argued that the ten deaths had yielded valuable information, but a bereaved young man confronted him and Sigaoxin’s soldiers kept him away from the alien entity.
• Louis suggested the entity’s name and home could not be expressed in human language, raising doubts about whether humanity could understand its answers.
• Xisiya transport vehicles arrived carrying cages of livestock so the delegation could test whether animals could feed the alien entity.
• At the UHC meeting, Mary proposed using parasites as food if other animals could not replace humans, and Toravt suggested sending captured fighters from Black Flag Nation to Xisiya.
• Gao Liangwei and the other representatives agreed to restrict questions, favoring practical issues and rejecting overly broad questions that could cost humanity more lives.

The authorities kept the Contact Delegation isolated after the alien entity’s question killed ten people, while the UHC tried to prevent parasites from learning they could be exposed by questioning it. Zhang Minglu arranged an information exchange with the administrator through Guan Tong, agreeing to reveal what happened after the livestream ended.

• The Contact Delegation remained stranded on the Sainantata Icefield with its signals blocked, and members reasoned that the authorities were hiding the alien entity from parasites.
• Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu concluded that parasites might attack the alien entity or use reckless questions to cause more deaths, so the UHC required strict screening of questioners.
• Gao Liangwei told Zhang Minglu to contact Shadow for information from the administrator of Ascendant's Home.
• Through Silver Fox, Zhang Minglu asked Guan Tong to contact the administrator, who offered hidden rule information in exchange for details about events at the site and the livestream cutoff.
• After Silver Fox raised concerns about leaks to parasites, Guan Tong guaranteed the administrator was not a parasite, and Zhang Minglu agreed to the exchange.

Guan Tong learned that questions to the alien entity triggered its hunger and required human food, then decided to travel to Xisiya with Shangyuan Zi to collect a debt. At the alien’s ice-field site, the UHC began a food replacement test using animals, confirmed parasites, and an unexplained third group of people.

• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi discussed how the UHC might feed the alien and what questions it could answer, including how to identify parasites.
• Guan Tong decided to travel to Xisiya to collect a debt, and Shangyuan Zi insisted on going with him.
• UHC researchers struggled to study the alien’s language, body, and spacecraft, while planning how to obtain useful information during its brief visit.
• Xisiya soldiers unloaded dozens of confirmed parasites and farm animals, and Sigaoxin told the Contact Delegation that a food replacement test was about to begin.
• Soldiers arranged animals, parasites, and an unexplained group of people in three rings around the alien, and a UHC designee stepped forward to begin the test.

The UHC tested whether the Alien Intelligent Individual charged again for a repeated question and learned that it consumed four parasites for its name. Meanwhile, Solloma’s king ordered Adam to help capture the parasites’ leader, and Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi entered Xisiya to settle a score with help from a commissioned guide.

• A UHC questioner repeated Louis’s question about the Alien Intelligent Individual’s name, and the creature consumed four parasites despite passing over the animals.
• The Solloma king decided to leave the creature on the Xisiya ice plain and sent Adam to personally capture the parasites’ leader.
• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi bypassed official entry procedures, crossed a deserted neighboring country, and reached Xisiya.
• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi met Black Star, who had accepted Guan Tong’s commission and led them into a bar.

Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi bought information on Rieka from the broker Black Star so Guan Tong could find him without involving Yelena. They left with a file containing Rieka’s location and personal details, while Black Star and a woman speculated about their connection to the governor.

• Guan Tong explained that he had chosen to buy intelligence on Rieka rather than investigate alone or ask Yelena for help.
• Black Star brought Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi a computer file with extensive information about Rieka, including his current location.
• Black Star said the intelligence came from one of Rieka’s trusted confidants, who wanted to sell it and flee after Rieka’s political defeat.
• Shangyuan Zi completed the Ascension Coin transaction, and Guan Tong left with the computer after agreeing to verify the information.
• A woman at the bar wondered whether Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi were connected to Yelena, but Black Star dismissed the gossip and told her to check for new commissions.

The Prophet agreed to cooperate with Fahuo against the UHC and ordered the parasites to retreat into underground fortifications while they awaited a turning point. At the Senantata Icefield Landing Site, the UHC prepared a fourth round of questioning with thousands of sedated parasites, and the questioner asked the alien entity how humans could identify them.

• The Prophet concluded that the parasite forces could not defeat the UHC alone and accepted Joel II's offer of cooperation, asking Fahuo for intelligence about the alien entity.
• The Prophet ordered the parasites to enter underground fortifications and endure until a turning point arrived.
• At the Senantata Icefield Landing Site, UHC forces delivered thousands of sedated parasites for the fourth questioning session.
• The soldiers arranged the parasites in rings around the alien entity as Sigaoxin's unit and snipers secured the site.
• The UHC questioner asked the alien entity how humans could identify parasites created by the Alien Spore.

The Alien Intelligent Individual devoured 2,900 parasites before answering that the Mind Network could identify parasites, leaving the UHC uncertain how to use the information. The conference ended with news that the Fahuo Nation had attacked the Solloma Empire.

• Sigaoxin prepared to withdraw the Action Team if the alien entity consumed 3,000 parasites, but it stopped at 2,900 and answered, "Mind Network."
• UHC representatives debated whether the Mind Network could help identify parasites and whether it was possible to activate it again.
• Mary suggested asking how humans could activate the Mind Network, but Gao Liangwei and others argued that the answer might be unusable and the question too costly.
• Mary disconnected after receiving urgent news, and Gao Liangwei learned that the Fahuo Nation had attacked the Solloma Empire.

Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi traveled to Senanta Tata to find Rieka, while avoiding the security surrounding the alien creature. Guan Tong found Rieka living comfortably in a prison fortress and killed him and his warden confidant, leaving Xisiya’s leaders to learn of the assassination.

• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi arrived in Senanta Tata and heard that armed troops barred visitors from approaching the alien creature’s Coordinate.
• Guan Tong sent Shadow to scout the prison fortress and located Rieka Konia in the guards’ dormitory.
• Shadow overheard Rieka and the warden discuss using evidence of Yelena’s secret transfer of prisoners and the fortress weapons to seize Sigaoxin.
• Guan Tong stabbed Rieka with Silver Fox’s knife and killed the warden with Shadow Blades.
• Rieka died after recognizing Guan Tong as the academy teacher targeted in his earlier assassination order, and Guan Tong escaped using Phase Shift.
• A guard discovered the bodies, and Sigaoxin, Yelena, and Xisiya’s decision-making body learned of Rieka’s death.

The Fahuo Nation invaded the Solloma Empire while its elite forces were away, prompting the king to deploy a hundred secret Annihilators. At the Landing Site, the Contact Delegation was sent home after the Alien Intelligence’s purpose and feeding needs were leaked, while Sigaoxin was ordered to guard it from unauthorized visitors.

• More than a thousand evolved beings from the Fahuo Nation broke through Solloma’s eastern border and advanced toward its core cities.
• Solloma’s king ordered Dr. Hysen to activate one hundred Annihilators and asked about Angel’s neural connection problems, hoping the Alien Intelligence could answer questions humanity could not.
• Sigaoxin told the Contact Delegation it could leave because information about the Alien Intelligence and its feeding had leaked online, then had soldiers escort everyone away despite Louis’s protests.
• Yelena ordered Sigaoxin to remain at the Landing Site and prevent anyone unauthorized from approaching the Alien Intelligence.
• Yelena and Sigaoxin discussed whether Guan Tong had killed Rieka, but agreed they needed evidence before making a judgment.

After the Alien Intelligence’s secrets leaked, public outrage and border unrest put pressure on Xisiya while North Star considered restarting the Mind Network to identify parasites. In Senantata Town, Guan Tong admitted he wanted to ask the Alien Intelligence a question, but his chance depended on Yelena, whose brother he had killed.

• The Contact Delegation regained access to their devices and saw public arguments over the Alien Intelligence, while news of Fahuo Nation’s attack on Solloma and a rush of outsiders into Xisiya heightened tensions.
• Yelena ordered a crackdown on undocumented entrants and barred people from approaching the Senantata Icefield to protect Xisiya’s population.
• At the Countermeasure Research Institute, Academician Han proposed testing whether powerful Ascendants could restart the Mind Network, and Gao Liangwei approved sharing classified data and contacting Shadow.
• Gao Liangwei warned Zhang Minglu that Fire Thief Cult followers might have infiltrated UHC decision-making and that the institute might still harbor a dangerous former associate.
• In Senantata Town, Guan Tong told Shangyuan Zi he hoped to use Living Dead as food to earn a chance to question the Alien Intelligence.
• Guan Tong revealed that the person he had killed in revenge was Yelena’s biological older brother, making his prospects of securing her help uncertain.

Dream Boat One and Empire Pioneer landed safely on Terra and began building temporary survival outposts, while the UHC coalition prepared to capture the parasite leadership in Uze. In Senantata, Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi considered whether the Mind Network could identify parasites and began testing it themselves.

• Dream Boat One and Empire Pioneer landed on Terra, and their astronauts followed ground instructions to establish temporary survival outposts.
• The UHC coalition advanced on Uze, where Adam and other Ascendants received orders to parachute above the National Shrine and capture the parasite leadership in its underground shelter.
• Guan Tong told Shangyuan Zi that he had killed Yelena's brother, Rieka, but believed Yelena would not hold a deep sibling bond with him.
• Guan Tong received Zhang Minglu's message that the Alien Intelligence had named the Mind Network as a way to identify parasites, and he declined to travel to the Countermeasure Research Institute for testing.
• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi clasped hands and attempted to establish a Mind Network together.

Guan Tong failed to form a Mind Network with Shangyuan Zi, then contacted Yelena, who admitted she had wanted Rieka dead. At the UHC meeting, commissioners debated leaked intelligence, humanity’s space plans, and which question to ask the Alien Intelligence, while Xisiya demanded veto power over costly questions.

• Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi tried to connect their Mind Power but failed, and Guan Tong decided to contact Yelena instead.
• Yelena asked Guan Tong whether he had killed Rieka, and he admitted it; Yelena said she had wanted Rieka dead and asked to meet him.
• At the UHC meeting, Mary accused someone of leaking intelligence about the Alien Intelligence, and Gao Liangwei urged nations to investigate possible infiltration and mental control.
• Gao Liangwei announced that the Dream Boat One and Empire Pioneer missions had landed on Terra and that humanity planned to build a Survival Base there.
• The UHC commissioners debated five proposed questions for the Alien Intelligence, with many favoring the Mind Power question because the others might cost too much.
• Toravt demanded that Xisiya receive veto power over costly questions or that the Alien Intelligence be moved out of Xisiya.

Guan Tong met Yelena, now Xisiya's Archon, and discussed both the political fallout from Rieka's death and his request to question the Alien Intelligence. He agreed to stay in Xisiya and protect her until her position was secure in exchange for her arranging an opportunity for him to ask one question.

• Yelena met Guan Tong at the National Museum in disguise and explained why her father had preserved its destruction as a warning.
• Yelena assured Guan Tong that she was glad Rieka had died and would not pursue him, but said the Konia Family and Rieka's former subordinates might investigate.
• Yelena asked Guan Tong to stay in Xisiya and protect her while she consolidated her position as Archon.
• Guan Tong revealed that he wanted to ask the Alien Intelligence a question and demonstrated that he could summon Living Dead as possible food for it.
• Guan Tong promised to ask only whether the Alien Intelligence's name was, and to stop if the Living Dead could not serve as its food.
• Yelena offered to arrange an opportunity for Guan Tong to ask a question, and Guan Tong agreed to protect her until her position was secure.

Guan Tong entered the Landing Site disguised as a Xisiya soldier to contact the Alien Intelligence, with Sigaoxin keeping him under close watch. As the UHC prepared its next question, he arranged to test whether the Alien Intelligence would eat a Living Dead hidden among the parasites.

• Xisiya soldiers let Guan Tong into the Landing Site disguised within an armed squad, and Sigaoxin recognized him as he arrived.
• Guan Tong told Sigaoxin he would find a way to question the Alien Intelligence without drawing the UHC observers' attention, but she ordered him to stay beside her until the UHC's question was asked.
• Sigaoxin showed Guan Tong the Landing Site's defenses, and he assessed the rings of security surrounding the Alien Intelligence.
• After transport trucks brought parasites for the UHC's question, Guan Tong asked Sigaoxin to let him hide a Living Dead among them as a test, and she agreed.
• By evening, more than thirty thousand sleeping parasites had gathered around the Alien Intelligence, including Guan Tong's Living Dead, which pretended to sleep among them.

Solloma’s Annihilators ambushed the Fire Thief Cult convoy headed for Rodel City, while Dr. Hysen turned his attention to an unfinished humanoid robot he called an angel. At the Landing Site, the Alien Intelligence answered humanity’s energy question with news that Tianshui Star lacked a substance needed to overcome material-science limits, leaving the UHC searching for a way forward.

• Solloma’s unmanned Annihilators ambushed the Fire Thief Cult followers on their way to Rodel City and inflicted devastating casualties.
• A cult follower broke into an Annihilator, where Dr. Hysen mocked him remotely before detonating the machine and killing him.
• Dr. Hysen visited a lifelike intelligent robot and hoped to activate the angel valued by the Emperor.
• The Alien Intelligence consumed the Living Dead along with other parasites before answering the UHC’s question about safe, abundant energy.
• The Alien Intelligence said Tianshui Star lacked a substance needed to obtain that energy and that humanity could not overcome material-science limits; snipers then killed the questioner for speaking beyond the rules.
• Gao Liangwei, Mary, and the other commissioners discussed searching other planets for the substance, gathering language samples, and continuing research into the Mind Network.

Han Qiu argued that humanity should treat Fire Thief’s rules as a game and search for the clues it had hidden in Alien Intelligence’s appearance, then revealed he had a question in mind for the next meeting. Meanwhile, Black Star’s tavern drew a crowd of clients seeking information, and Guan Tong prepared to question Alien Intelligence despite the heavily guarded Landing Site.

• Han Qiu told Zhang Minglu that the Mind Network might be the intended way to identify parasites and that humanity should follow Fire Thief’s rules rather than pursue useless questions.
• Han Qiu said he would propose a question for the next meeting, and Zhang Minglu was astonished when he heard it.
• Black Star returned to his tavern and found crowds of clients seeking information about Alien Intelligence; he began receiving them despite worrying that the New Consul might target his operation.
• Bai Xing told a lackey to keep gathering intelligence while worrying about the many outsiders arriving in Xisiya.
• Guan Tong, disguised as a soldier, told Sigaoxin that he would create a domain to block surveillance and ask Alien Intelligence his question.

The Allied Forces' elite Ascendant unit discovered its decapitation strike had hit the wrong parasites, then rescued a resistance group that included Lu Cheng in disguise. Meanwhile, the Pope dismissed the destruction of Father Yak's Apostle Group as mission accomplished, and Shangyuan Zi watched an overcrowded icefield town come under Xisiya scrutiny while waiting for Guan Tong.

• Adam and the elite Ascendant unit found that the parasites at the sacrificial hall were weak scapegoats, then went to rescue Ascendants under siege at a broken bridge.
• Adam subdued more than a hundred parasites with Force Field Manipulation, and the Allied Forces took the parasites and rescued Ascendants to their temporary base for containment.
• The rescued group complained about being confined, while the man called Wang Ming revealed the face of Lu Cheng and flashed an inconspicuous green gleam in his eyes.
• The Four Great Bishops reported that Father Yak's Apostle Group had been wiped out by Suoloma's Annihilator, and the Pope said their mission had already been completed.
• Shangyuan Zi observed hundreds of new arrivals and Xisiya patrols in the icefield town as she waited for Guan Tong to contact her.

The UHC debated whether to keep questioning the Alien Intelligence amid public accusations that its parasite-capturing campaign was harming innocent people. Suoloma and North Star proposed questions about brain-computer connections and the Sixteenth Apocalypse Rule, leaving the committee to consider both proposals.

• UHC committee members debated public opposition to questioning the Alien Intelligence and focused on deciding what to ask next.
• Mary proposed asking how human brains could connect with intelligent chips, explaining that Suoloma would open-source the technology if the UHC pursued the question.
• Toravt demanded that Suoloma share the technology with UHC nations, and Mary agreed on Suoloma's behalf.
• Gao Liangwei proposed asking what the Sixteenth Apocalypse Rule would be, explaining that the answer could reveal whether the Rules were predetermined and whether the Alien Intelligence could foresee the future.

Shangyuan Zi discovered that suspected Fire Thief Cult followers were stirring up visitors in town, while Louis rallied the crowd to march on the Landing Site. As Guan Tong waited for the UHC to question the Alien Intelligence, over a thousand civilians began assaulting the site’s outer defenses.

• Shangyuan Zi overheard suspected Fire Thief Cult followers discuss using the townspeople to reach the Landing Site.
• A young woman and others denounced the UHC and Xisiya’s restrictions at the tavern, and the crowd began protesting.
• Louis identified himself as the first official questioner and urged the crowd to march together to the Landing Site.
• Guan Tong told Sigaoxin he would wait for the UHC to ask questions before asking his own.
• Sigaoxin received word that over a thousand civilians were assaulting the Landing Site’s outer defensive line and reported it to Yelena.

A thousand-person crowd led by Louis tried to breach the Landing Site’s defensive line, but Fire Thief Cult followers opened fire and turned the arrests into a deadly clash. At the scheduled questioning, the Alien Intelligence consumed 27,395 parasites answering a question about converting brain activity into digital signals, leaving too little stock for the next question.

• Yelena ordered the soldiers to arrest the advancing crowd, and Louis and Fire Thief Cult agitators urged them onward with chants of “To the Landing Site.”
• Fire Thief Cult followers shot into the crowd during the arrests, triggering a chaotic exchange of fire that left more than half the people killed or injured and the rest detained.
• Yelena suspected a conspiracy connected to recent infiltrators and asked Guan Tong to seek clues from Shangyuan Zi through a secure channel.
• Sigaoxin told Guan Tong that the scheduled questions concerned converting brain activity into digital signals and the contents of the next rule.
• At ten o’clock, the questioner asked how human brainwaves could be converted into digital signals, and the Alien Intelligence ate 27,395 parasites before answering.