Recaps

On a sealed train carriage, a Huntress began coughing up black blood, and the passengers feared she would undergo a dangerous stress mutation. After a hunter smashed her head with an emergency hammer, the man who killed her began choking as something moved in his throat.

• He Dawei became captain after Cheng Ming and Shen Rui supported him, and Yu Duo reluctantly agreed.
• A Huntress collapsed while coughing blood and rotten flesh, and a meme monitor showed her frequency was garbled as authorities sealed the carriage until the next station.
• Cheng Ming recalled that infected people near death could undergo stress mutation, while the hunters in the carriage hesitated to act.
• A tall, thin man approached the Huntress and struck her temple repeatedly with an emergency hammer.
• The monitor operator reported that the Huntress's meme frequency had become more chaotic, and the hammer-wielding man dropped the weapon and clutched his throat as something seemed to move inside it.

A man on the train became infected after contact with the Huntress's blood, leaving the Hunters fearing the disease could spread through the carriage. As they waited for the next station, Cheng Ming used Yu Duo's selfie stick to photograph the Huntress before her face dissolved further and uploaded the image.

• The infected man coughed up a writhing piece of organ, and the Hunters backed away while He Dawei told his companions to put on protective gear.
• Cheng Ming concluded the infection seemed to require direct blood contact, so the Hunters decided to wait for the next station rather than jump from the train.
• The man collapsed into a pool of foul blood, and the Huntress's body began dissolving as the passengers learned the Institute would not stop the train.
• A woman with glasses explained that officials might be treating everyone aboard as potentially infected and would likely quarantine them at the station.
• When the Hunters realized the Huntress's face might soon become unrecognizable, Cheng Ming borrowed Yu Duo's selfie stick, photographed her, and uploaded the image.

The Hunters on the train were trapped with an infected woman’s changing corpse, whose sweet-smelling tumors compelled people to eat them and spread the transformation. As Cheng Ming succumbed, a beautiful girl appeared and addressed him, leaving her identity unknown.

• Yu Duo suspected the woman was an Illegal Infected, and the Hunters discovered that the carriage doors were sealed and the neighboring carriages had been evacuated.
• Tumors grew across the two corpses’ exposed bones, and a cracked tumor released a sweet scent that drew the Hunters toward them.
• He Dawei wounded himself to resist the compulsion, warned the others not to focus on the tumors, and struck Yu Duo and Shen Rui to wake them.
• The Hunters ate the tumors, began transforming, and overwhelmed Cheng Ming as he lost his ability to think and move.
• A beautiful girl appeared on Yu Duo’s seatback, stopped Cheng Ming’s suffering, and asked whether he wanted to know who she was.

Cheng Ming was offered an unexplained deal by a girl while trapped in a train carriage, and Sun Hang’s group learned that an Illegal Infected had caused a deadly incident among hunters bound for their operation. At the Nanhua Town mine, they treated the injured Suyue, uncovered how she had survived Giant Hill, and left her disarmed with mycelium secretly attached to her.

• The girl told Cheng Ming that refusing her deal would return the train carriage to normal and leave him to become one of the crazed people.
• Candle Dragon reported that spores were spreading farther in the Nanhua Town mine and had begun parasitizing plants, while Yang Qiaoxi warned that protective suits needed testing.
• Yang Qiaoxi spotted Suyue approaching alone from Giant Hill, and Sun Hang sent Yang Qiaoxi to help her after she collapsed.
• Suyue admitted that two hunters had saved her and that she shot them while they repaired their vehicle after she had promised them anything they wanted.
• Yang Qiaoxi took Suyue’s weapons, and a piece of mycelium secretly attached itself to Suyue’s waist.
• Candle Dragon reported that an Illegal Infected had caused a train-car massacre in Liangzhu, killing nearly all the hunters and others who had been headed to the operation.

Sun Hang and the others learned how the dangerous Blood Feast anomaly infected passengers aboard a high-speed train and discussed the unexplained Illegal Infected’s appearance. Sun Hang then arranged to cover Cheng Ming’s mother’s transplant costs and secretly test whether Cheng Ming would still join the hunting operation.

• The Mainframe explained that Blood Feast spread through contact and tumor-like fruits, was vulnerable to intense heat, and had infected passengers on a high-speed train.
• Candle Dragon and the Mainframe revealed that Cheng Ming alone had remained unaffected and saved three other survivors, possibly because of a connection between Blood Feast and the Blood-Dissolving Cactus he had devoured.
• Yang Qiaoxi emphasized the danger of the Illegal Infected, and the Mainframe reported that surveillance showed no sign of how she had entered the train carriage.
• Sun Hang learned that Cheng Ming planned to join the hunting operation to pay for his terminally ill mother’s lung transplant.
• Sun Hang ordered Tianshu Tower to provide the transplant and surgery for free, while secretly letting Cheng Ming discover the offer to test whether he would still pursue the operation.

Sun Hang and the others waited for hunters to gather near the collapse zone while monitoring the unusually calm wilderness and the disorganized group planning to hunt the Cordyceps anomaly. The chapter ended as a mercenary learned that Suyue was the lone survivor of Sea Buckthorn Rose’s expedition into Giant Hill.

• Nagano Souya arrived in White Tiger, offered to serve as reserve combat power, and asked Sun Hang to return the mecha to Dragon City after his death.
• Sun Hang learned that Cheng Ming knew his mother could receive a free transplant but still intended to join the operation, so he ordered the Mainframe to monitor him.
• The hunters assembled near the collapse zone and built a makeshift camp, while Sun Hang and Candle Dragon clarified that they would only observe and record the hunt.
• Nagano Souya reported that Death Sandstorms had stayed away from the camp and that the pursuing storm 5198 had dissipated near Nanhua Town.
• Yang Qiaoxi explained that the gathered hunter groups could not agree on a leader, while Sun Hang considered whether any of them were suitable candidates for a more dangerous mission.
• A mercenary approached Suyue, and Yang Qiaoxi warned him that she was from Sea Buckthorn Rose and had survived Giant Hill alone.

Sun Hang refused to hand Suyue over to a mercenary who hated Sea Buckthorn Rose and learned more about the organization’s predatory methods and Dragon City’s corrupt Hunter Management Bureau. He ordered the bureau abolished and Tianshu Tower’s Mainframe to take over, while Pei Zongjun’s personality AI questioned whether an Anomaly should govern humanity; the chapter ended with the mercenary introducing himself as Charles, surname Zha.

• A mercenary described his hatred of Sea Buckthorn Rose and threatened to torture Suyue, but Sun Hang refused to hand her over because he still had a use for her.
• Sun Hang questioned Suyue about her missing companions and suggested Sea Buckthorn Rose might have implanted a tracker in her, while the mercenary returned with food and predicted the organization would come for the bounty.
• The mercenary explained how Sea Buckthorn Rose exploited Hunters and legal loopholes, prompting Sun Hang to order the Dragon City Hunter Management Bureau abolished and its work transferred to the Tianshu Tower Mainframe.
• Pei Zongjun’s personality AI activated to question letting an Anomaly manage humanity, but Sun Hang challenged its reasoning and Pei Zongjun admitted he had gambled on Sun Hang as a last hope.
• Sun Hang asked the mercenary’s name, and Charles explained that his surname was Zha and that his father had named him Ersi, making Charles his registered given name.

Chen Jing's hunting group began probing the spore-filled sinkhole with military robots while Sun Hang and Candle Dragon learned why the Three Great Families were funding the operation. The robots lost contact, and hundreds of entities began climbing toward the surface, leaving the group preparing for battle.

• Candle Dragon explained to Sun Hang that the Three Great Families were funding hunters to gain influence and future business advantages through the operation.
• Chen Jing introduced himself as the head of the hunting group and invited Candle Dragon and Sun Hang to visit the Chen Family after the operation.
• Nagano Souya told Chen Jing to pass a message to Chen Dazhuang about repaying a case of liquor with Spring Breeze, and Chen Jing agreed.
• Chen Jing said his group would start quickly to secure the operation's contributions before more hunters arrived.
• Chen Jing's team sent military robots into the sinkhole, but all six lost their signals as they descended toward the Anomaly.
• The monitoring equipment detected more than eight hundred independent entities climbing up the sinkhole walls, and Chen Jing ordered everyone to prepare for combat.

Chen Jing’s hunting group fought humanoid hyphal puppets that revived after being shot and spread parasitic spores, while Sun Hang and Candle Dragon watched and analyzed their behavior. After powered armor burned the attackers, the Three Great Families deployed their advanced equipment, and the chapter ended as hundreds of Swarm drones split into two groups.

• Humanoid Anomalies climbed from the pit and destroyed the mechanical soldiers before Chen Jing ordered his forces to shoot them.
• Chen Jing’s hunters killed the first wave, but the puppets’ fragments reassembled and their spores parasitized hunters who tried to collect samples.
• A powered-armored fighter incinerated the hyphal puppets and parasitized hunters, while Sun Hang concluded the spores and puppets sought nutrients for the giant cordyceps.
• Chen Jing warned his forces to protect themselves from spores as a young woman deployed hundreds of third-generation Swarm drones.
• Sun Hang counted 420 drones as they split into two groups, one circling above Chen Jing and the other approaching the puppets at the pit.

The hunting corps attacked the mycelial puppets emerging from the sinkhole, while Sun Hang suspected the aberration was preparing a powerful attack. Old Jin’s powered armor was overwhelmed by the puppets, leaving him trapped as mycelium broke through his helmet.

• The swarm drones bombed the puppets, and Chen Jing’s forces advanced using coordinated gunfire and incendiary grenades.
• Old Jin charged into the puppet horde with powered armor and thermal lances, ignoring Chen Jing’s orders to retreat.
• Sun Hang reasoned that the aberration was sending puppets to buy time while it charged up a major attack.
• After his thermal lances ran out of fuel, Old Jin fought with chainswords, but the puppets fused around his armor and disabled its weapons and thrusters.
• Jin Hongyi became trapped inside his failing armor as mycelium broke through his visor and flooded his helmet.

Jin Hongyi broke free from the mycelial puppets through an emotion-induced anomaly transformation driven by rage, then nearly killed Chen Jing before Sun Hang subdued him with an enhanced inhibitor. Sun Hang said Jin Hongyi had not transformed completely and called for an Eternal Freeze Coffin to contain him.

• Xue Yue sensed Jin Hongyi’s intense emotions, and Sun Hang saw a crimson pillar erupt from the mycelial mass around him.
• Jin Hongyi transformed amid blazing heat and blood mist, then tore through the mycelial puppets and fought his way into Sector Four.
• Chen Jing approached Jin Hongyi and asked whether he still recognized him, but Jin Hongyi knocked him down and raised his bone blades to strike.
• Jin Hongyi stopped just before killing Chen Jing, then Sun Hang injected him with an enhanced inhibitor and rendered him unconscious.
• Sun Hang told Chen Jing that Jin Hongyi had not transformed completely and asked Candle Dragon to request an Eternal Freeze Coffin from Dragon City.

After the Three Great Families halted their assaults on the sinkhole, Chen Jing learned that Jin Hongyi had suffered emotional anomalization caused by anger and that his condition had been temporarily contained. Sun Hang identified Jin Hongyi’s unusual resistance to foreign memes and considered bringing him to Egypt, while the hunters prepared to wait for reinforcements and faced dwindling supplies.

• The Three Great Families’ hunting parties stopped attacking the sinkhole after losing twenty-three people, and the mycelial puppets retreated underground.
• Sun Hang told Chen Jing that Jin Hongyi remained unconscious in a makeshift cold-storage setup and would likely need a permafrost coffin.
• Chen Jing used Tianshu Tower’s Mainframe to learn that Jin Hongyi’s infection was emotional anomalization caused by accumulated anger, and heard about a similar case called the Berserker.
• Sun Hang said Jin Hongyi rejected foreign memes so strongly that he could act as an insulator, and considered taking him to Egypt as a hunter named Berserker.
• Chen Jing said the Three Great Families would wait for reinforcements led by the Bai Family’s eldest daughter, expected in ten days, while Sun Hang pointed out that Charles’s group was running short on supplies.

After securing his mother’s transplant and a higher allowance, Cheng Ming honored his deal with a mysterious girl and traveled to Longcheng for the encirclement operation. There, a Bai Shi Group recruiter tried to persuade him to join its hunting party, and Cheng Ming agreed only to consider visiting the selection site.

• Chen Jing offered to supply the survivors, and Sun Hang advised him to sell provisions at Yumen prices rather than give them away.
• Cheng Ming arrived in Longcheng, grateful that his mother’s transplant fees had been waived but bound by his deal with the mysterious girl to join the operation and earn a place on a harder mission.
• Cheng Ming surveyed Longcheng’s military defenses and set off on foot toward his cheap inn after finding no buses or available shared bikes.
• A fashionably dressed young man identified Cheng Ming as an out-of-town hunter and introduced himself as a Bai Shi Group employee.
• The recruiter offered free gear, supplies, a guide, and a ten-percent bounty subsidy in exchange for Cheng Ming joining the Bai Shi hunting party.
• Cheng Ming questioned why the recruiter was approaching him, and the young man admitted he had a quota and invited him to visit the selection site.

Cheng Ming joined headhunter Li Ming on the way to the Three Great Families’ hunter corps selection in Dragon City, learning that the operation would target a fungus-type Anomaly and that the families would supply equipment. He reached Dragon City Stadium as the gates opened and entered with the waiting hunters.

• Cheng Ming checked Bai Shi Group’s official recruitment notice, and Li Ming admitted he wanted Cheng Ming to apply through him for a commission and a chance to meet his quota.
• Cheng Ming learned that Li Ming had singled him out because he appeared to be a lone hunter, and Li Ming said the selection site was Dragon City Stadium.
• Cheng Ming read that the hunt would target a fungus-type Anomaly vulnerable to fire, and Li Ming assured him the Three Great Families would provide flamethrowers and incendiary grenades.
• Cheng Ming and Li Ming arrived at Dragon City Stadium at 1:45 p.m., where more than a hundred hunters were already waiting.
• The stadium gates opened at two, and Cheng Ming joined the hunters streaming inside.

Cheng Ming was tested for a place in Bai Shi Group’s Hunter corps and, after a mysterious girl urged him to claim he was combat-type, faced the G09 biochemical robot. His perception of time slowed during the fight, and the chapter ended as he aimed his pistol at G09’s head.

• Cheng Ming waited in the lounge, heard a mysterious voice, and was called to Venue Five as he wondered whether time had passed unusually quickly.
• During the interview, time stopped and the stone-faced girl mouthed that Cheng Ming should identify himself as combat-type, so he did.
• Cheng Ming chose a pistol and two daggers for the combat power test against Bai Shi Group’s G09 biochemical robot.
• G09 charged, but Cheng Ming perceived its attack in slowed time, dodged, and struck its back with a dagger that was knocked from his hand.
• After G09 healed and charged again, Cheng Ming drew his pistol and aimed at its head.

Cheng Ming’s shooting and newfound burst of speed let him counter G09 during the Hunters’ recruitment test, but Instructor Meng raised the test’s intensity to probe his limits. Cheng Ming could still stop and join the Hunters, leaving his decision about continuing unresolved.

• Cheng Ming shot G09 several times, but it healed within seconds and its strengthened body became resistant to his pistol rounds.
• Trapped against the glass wall, Cheng Ming realized his body could suddenly move as quickly as his slowed perception allowed and slipped behind G09 to fire at close range.
• The interviewers debated whether Cheng Ming’s speed was a limited burst ability, while the middle-aged woman objected to Instructor Meng pushing him too hard.
• The young girl ordered the test to continue, and Instructor Meng raised G09’s Anomaly cell activity and mechanical output to their maximum levels.
• Cheng Ming heard the test’s intensity had increased and knew he could still give up and join the Hunters.

Cheng Ming’s combat assessment turned dangerous when G09 transformed and seized him, while his ability failed. The control console and suppressant system failed to stop G09, whose face revealed glowing scarlet eyes.

• Cheng Ming hesitated over whether to continue the assessment, but G09 transformed into a gorilla-like machine and pounced on him.
• G09 seized Cheng Ming as his speed and the slowing effect in his vision vanished, leaving him in severe pain.
• Instructor Meng ordered the technicians to stop the test, but they reported that cutting G09’s power had failed.
• Tao Ge tried to inject suppressant into G09, but the injection failed, and the control console later crashed.
• G09 kept moving as its mask fell away and scarlet eyes opened on its featureless face.

Cheng Ming awakened red spikes that stopped G09 and survived the test, while Bai Shi officials ordered an investigation and tried to contain the incident. Tao Ge later found an unknown Meme contaminant in G09’s remains, but the footage showed that G09 had lost control before Cheng Ming used his ability.

• Cheng Ming’s red spikes pierced G09’s palm, and G09’s Anomaly tissue dissolved until only its mechanical skeleton remained.
• Medical staff rescued Cheng Ming, and Meng Yunfeng warned Tao Ge that G09’s failure could cost Bai Shi Group its City Defense Army contract and the R&D project.
• The expressionless girl gave Tao Ge one week to find the cause of G09’s loss of control and ordered Cheng Ming recruited into the Hunter Corps.
• Tao Ge and Xiao Li tested G09’s remains repeatedly until one sample turned red and revealed an external Meme unrelated to G09’s own Meme.
• Tao Ge reviewed the fight footage and saw that G09 lost control before Cheng Ming’s red spikes appeared, leaving the cause unresolved.

Tao Ge concluded that Anomaly 116 may have triggered G09’s loss of control, but Meng Yunfeng warned him that Bai Shi Group would reject any investigation and abandon the project to protect its ties with Tianshu Tower. Tao Ge agreed to prepare an acceptable explanation while privately hoping to recruit Anomaly 116 for research; meanwhile, Cheng Ming recovered in the group’s hospital with Bai Lingqiu’s generous offer and the hunting group’s departure set for a week later.

• Tao Ge argued that contact with Anomaly 116 may have caused G09 to lose control, but Meng Yunfeng forbade him from investigating Anomaly 116 and warned that the board would scrap the project.
• Meng Yunfeng told Tao Ge to produce an explanation acceptable to the board, the City Defense Army, and Tianshu Tower within eight hours, and said Bai Lingqiu would handle Cheng Ming.
• Tao Ge said he still wanted to privately invite Anomaly 116 to cooperate with research, but Meng Yunfeng insisted the group would abandon G09 and start future projects from scratch.
• Tao Ge stopped the fifteenth experiment, told Xiao Li the project was over, and invited the staff to dinner before going to shower.
• Cheng Ming remained in Bai Shi Group’s hospital, where Bai Lingqiu had apologized and offered him unconditional admission to the hunting group, five times the additional compensation, and deputy-leader authority; the group would depart in a week.

Cheng Ming tested the red-spike ability he had gained from the Anomaly Cactus Ball and worried that it left him unprepared for combat. After leaving his hospital room to check whether Bai Shi Group was restricting his freedom, he discovered its influence extended across the surrounding street and received a message from an unknown number requesting a meeting.

• Cheng Ming sensed streams of heat beneath his skin and briefly began forming one into a red spike, but dispersed it before it fully emerged.
• Cheng Ming told his mother he was safe, browsed the hunter forum, and reflected on the pressure of attracting attention during the hunt.
• Cheng Ming declined the nurses' advances, got out of bed, and asked the doctor whether he could leave the hospital; the doctor said his freedom was not restricted.
• Cheng Ming walked through the hospital garden to a nearby commercial street, where he realized the shops and surrounding area belonged to Bai Shi Group.
• Cheng Ming learned that the juice bar served Bai Shi Group employees and other people in its territory, then received an unfamiliar text asking to meet.

Cheng Ming gave Tao Ge a blood sample to help investigate why G09 had gone out of control, and Tao Ge tested it in his laboratory. The test coincided with a supernatural event, and the next morning Tao Ge was reported dead by suicide.

• A young woman met Cheng Ming privately and explained that Tao Ge wanted his Meme sample to determine whether it had caused G09 to lose control.
• Cheng Ming agreed to provide the sample without accepting Tao Ge’s payment, and the woman brought the sample to Tao Ge.
• Tao Ge began testing Cheng Ming’s sample in the laboratory, where the lights and his phone failed and a strange face appeared on a computer screen.
• The face made of static smiled at Tao Ge after he asked who it was.
• The next morning, Meng Yunfeng learned that Tao Ge had apparently shot himself while staring at the computer screen.

At Nanhua Town, Sun Hang’s group discussed Cheng Ming’s appointment as vice captain of the Three Great Families’ Hunter Group and learned that he had defeated a runaway G09 biochemical robot. Candle Dragon revealed that the G09’s failure was tied to Cheng Ming, but Bai Shi Military Industry’s explanation was false, leaving the reason for the malfunction unresolved.

• Sun Hang and his companions joked about their quiet days at the mine pit and learned that Cheng Ming had joined the second-phase Hunter Group as its vice captain.
• Candle Dragon explained that Cheng Ming had defeated a runaway G09 biochemical robot whose strength matched a Class B-Low hunting target.
• Candle Dragon said Cheng Ming had displayed a previously unseen ability linked to his Anomaly Cactus Ball, while his infection progression remained stable.
• The group speculated about how Cheng Ming had gained or concealed his strength, and Charles recalled another hunter who had awakened powerful abilities when facing death.
• Sun Hang asked why the G09 had lost control, and Candle Dragon said Bai Shi Military Industry had ended the project after issuing a false report; its project lead had committed suicide.

Sun Hang and his companions discussed the risks of their hunting party and Charles remembered a friend who had died without recognition. Meanwhile, Cheng Ming’s convoy crossed the Hexi Corridor, and Cheng Ming fell into a blood-red world where he could not remember his mother’s face or ward and tried to find help at her hospital.

• Sun Hang dismissed the disorderly hunters, while Yang Qiaoxi and Charles questioned whether the group could recruit capable members for the Egypt expedition.
• Charles described how a friend had saved his life but vanished without remains, family, or anyone left to remember him.
• Cheng Ming’s convoy escaped a Death Sandstorm at the cost of nearly a fifth of its members, and Miss Shadow said the survivors faced another selection on the way to Nanhua Town.
• Cheng Ming fell asleep in the vehicle and awoke in a red version of Kuaiji, where he realized a strange creature had distorted the area and erased his memories of his mother.
• Cheng Ming went to his mother’s hospital to get her out before the contaminated area could be destroyed, but the old guard did not respond when Cheng Ming called to him.

Cheng Ming dreamed that an Anomaly-infected hospital consumed him and erupted into Blood Mist, then woke in a Bai Shi Group vehicle and learned that dreams might overlap with reality in the era of Anomalies. He reviewed the Hunter Group’s plans and questioned why he had been appointed deputy leader as the group continued toward Nanhua Town.

• In his nightmare, Cheng Ming entered an infected hospital to find his mother, discovered the sixth-floor patients and staff had infected him, and exploded into Blood Mist with them.
• Cheng Ming woke in the vehicle, and Miss Shadow explained that hunters commonly suffered nightmares and that an Anomaly might be able to make dreams real.
• Bai Lingqiu told Cheng Ming that the target Anomaly near Nanhua Town remained dormant and that the two Hunter Groups would launch a new offensive after joining up.
• Cheng Ming questioned his appointment as deputy leader, and Miss Shadow explained that having an independent hunter in command could reassure hunters outside the Three Great Families.

The convoy arrived at the sinkhole near Nanhua Town, where Bai Lingqiu left Cheng Ming to organize the camp and met with Chen Jing and Tianshu Tower’s Sun Hang. Sun Hang uncovered that Miss Shadow was the real Bai Lingqiu and asked her about the unusual ability that came from an anomalous picture book.

• The Hunter Group reached the sinkhole after losing only one vehicle, and Bai Lingqiu left Cheng Ming in charge of setting up camp.
• Bai Lingqiu and Chen Jing told Sun Hang that they planned to conduct fire reconnaissance in the sinkhole at seven the next morning, using near-expiry ammunition to reduce risks to the Hunters.
• Sun Hang asked Bai Lingqiu and Miss Shadow to remain after the others left, then revealed that he had noticed Bai Lingqiu seeking her bodyguard’s advice during the tactical meeting.
• Miss Shadow removed her mask and revealed that she was the real Bai Lingqiu, while the apparent Bai Lingqiu was a surgically altered stand-in arranged by the family to protect the infected heiress’s inheritance.
• The real Bai Lingqiu showed Sun Hang the picture book Xiazhou Records of Strange Tales, explaining that it had infected her and that she had once summoned something from its pages into the real world.