Recaps

Lu Xin and Gecko prepared to leave the city on a ten-day mission, loading a heavily equipped military vehicle with supplies and weapons. Before setting out, Lu Xin brought his family along, leaving Gecko nervously trying to greet them as the suspension bridge lowered.

• Gecko reviewed the extensive supplies prepared for their wilderness trip and explained why they needed provisions, currency, and weapons.
• Gecko admired the modified military Humvee, and Lu Xin joined him after signing for the vehicle and receiving his identification documents.
• Gecko said he had no family to visit, so Lu Xin asked him to stop at Moon Platform to pick up his own family.
• Gecko drove Lu Xin to his apartment building, where Lu Xin said his family was already in the car, though the back seat looked empty to Gecko.
• Gecko nervously introduced himself to Lu Xin's unseen family as the vehicle approached the lowering suspension bridge out of the city.

Lu Xin and Gecko left Satellite City No. 2 to track the fleeing Knights, whose trail had gone cold after they stopped in an abandoned town. With Mom’s help, Lu Xin learned she could locate someone she had seen before, and he directed Gecko onto the road she chose.

• Lu Xin traveled with Gecko, Mom, and Sister while Father stayed behind, and Gecko explained that two City Defense Department agents had disappeared while investigating the Knights’ abandoned-town stop.
• Gecko drove at high speed to the town, where City Defense Department agents reported that the seven-person group had left south on five motorcycles and an off-road vehicle.
• After reviewing the limited evidence, Lu Xin asked Mom for help, and she directed him to take the road on the left because she had seen one of the Knights before.
• Lu Xin told Gecko to follow the small road on the left and said his family would help him track the Knights.

Lu Xin, Gecko, and Mom pursued the group that had attacked Qinggang, following Mom’s directions through the wilderness. After hours of travel, they caught the scent of fresh blood and found their quarry nearby.

• Gecko drove the off-road vehicle onto a route that Mom indicated, despite investigators believing the fugitives had gone south.
• Lu Xin and Gecko used Mom’s ability and the map to pursue the group, which had fled hundreds of kilometers from Qinggang without stopping.
• Gecko speculated that a distant High Wall City had hired the group, while Lu Xin focused on bringing them back.
• Gecko kept driving and singing through the night as they crossed the wilderness and passed ruined settlements.
• Mom and Sister sensed fresh blood, and Mom told Lu Xin they had found the fugitives nearby.

Lu Xin and Gecko found the remains of their two missing agents and realized a Puppet-type ability user had likely used them to create mental modified humans. Lu Xin tracked the knight order to Blackwater Town, where Gecko warned that they would face a powerful settlement and its leader.

• Lu Xin and Gecko followed the smell of blood into the wild grass and found human organs watched over by wild dogs.
• Lu Xin connected the remains to the Puppet-type ability user and the two missing agents, then ordered Gecko to collect their remains.
• Gecko packed the remains into body bags while Lu Xin and Mom looked toward the southwest.
• Lu Xin guessed the knight order was hiding in a settlement, and Gecko found Blackwater Town in that direction on the map.
• Gecko explained that Blackwater Town was a large nearby black market with armed forces nearly as strong as Qinggang's City Patrol Army.

Gecko and Lu Xin reported finding the two missing agents and entered Blackwater Town to investigate the Order of Knights. In Qinggang, officials deduced how Lu Xin might have predicted the Knights’ destination and ordered a task force to stand by, ready to destroy the town if the investigators sent a distress signal.

• Gecko warned Lu Xin that Blackwater Town’s residents might see them as easy targets, then reported their location and plans to Qinggang.
• Gecko and Lu Xin drove toward Blackwater Town after reporting that the missing agents had died and the Order of Knights might be there.
• Qinggang officials convened an emergency meeting and questioned how the investigators had found the missing agents and identified the Knights’ likely location so quickly.
• Professor Chen deduced that Lu Xin had predicted the Knights would seek supplies and Mental Mutants at Blackwater Town.
• Minister Shen ordered a task force to wait ten kilometers from Blackwater Town and use a long-range plasma weapon to flatten it if the investigators sent a distress signal.

Lu Xin and Gecko arrived at Blackwater Town, where they learned the town charged for parking and openly sold people through its Labor Market. After Lu Xin sensed something nearby, he decided they should look around first.

• Lu Xin and Gecko followed the scouts’ road to Blackwater Town and negotiated the town’s rules for entry, weapons, and parking.
• Gecko paid to park inside the town, and Lu Xin reassured himself that the expense could be reimbursed.
• Mom told Lu Xin they were close and that he should get ready, while Sister grew excited.
• Niuzi offered to guide Lu Xin and Gecko to the town’s markets and described its trade in enslaved laborers.
• Gecko asked Niuzi about another kind of market, then promised to find him later as Lu Xin chose to look around first.

Lu Xin and Gecko tracked the knight order to a mahjong parlor in Blackwater Town, where Lu Xin identified a likely target among the card players. The chapter ended with Lu Xin telling the man in the red suit to finish his turn before they dealt with him.

• Lu Xin and Gecko walked through Blackwater Town’s lively street while Mom guided Lu Xin toward their targets.
• Gecko weighed whether to alert Master Snake or find the knight order first, and Lu Xin chose to search for them before contacting the town’s boss.
• Mom led Lu Xin and Gecko to a mahjong parlor, where Lu Xin sensed the targets behind a closed room door.
• Gecko asked for a plan, but Lu Xin said there was no need and kicked the door open.
• Lu Xin spotted a man in a red suit among the card players and told him to finish his card before they continued.

Lu Xin confronted the red-suited Puppet-type Ability User in a wilderness card room and tried to take him alive. The apparent surrender turned into an attack by mental modified humans, leaving Lu Xin and Gecko facing the puppets.

• Gecko restrained an angry card player and drew his gun while Lu Xin identified the red-suited man as the Puppet-type Ability User who had attacked Satellite City No. 2.
• Lu Xin told the red-suited man he had come to take him back alive, and the man appeared to accept being arrested.
• Two card players suddenly attacked Lu Xin and Gecko, so Gecko shot them down.
• The two wounded men revived and launched another attack, and Gecko recognized them as mental modified humans.
• Lu Xin recalled his research materials on Puppet-type Ability Users, including that their puppets could be controlled through mental threads and weakened by destroying their spines.

Lu Xin and Gecko defeated the Puppet-type ability user’s mentally modified fighters and survived their hidden bombs, but the red-suited man escaped as armed forces converged on the gambling hall.

• Lu Xin and Gecko subdued the two mentally modified fighters, while the red-suited Puppet-type ability user sat still and appeared to accept defeat.
• Mom warned Lu Xin that the danger was not over, and he discovered a bomb inside the fighter whose spine he had broken.
• Lu Xin crumpled the fighter around the bomb and pushed the mass away before it exploded, while Gecko disarmed the bomb inside the other fighter.
• Lu Xin explained that the two living gamblers had lost money to the mentally modified fighters, then noticed that the red-suited man had escaped through the window.
• Niuzi led an armed group toward the gambling hall as people outside called for security officers.
• Lu Xin told Gecko to explain the situation and climbed through the window to deal with the approaching group.

Lu Xin pursued the man in the red suit into a warehouse, where the man ambushed him with Gatling guns and used a Puppet-type ability to force him to imitate a dangerous movement. With Sister’s help, Lu Xin evaded the bullets and turned the attack against the gunmen, leaving the man in the red suit trapped.

• Lu Xin chased the man in the red suit while Gecko stayed behind and faced the people in the room until armed officers arrived.
• Lu Xin followed Mom’s directions to a warehouse, where the man in the red suit had set up three Gatling guns and prepared to flee on a motorcycle.
• Lu Xin climbed across the warehouse ceiling to avoid the bullets, but the man in the red suit used Forced Imitation to make him grab his own throat and fall.
• Lu Xin called for Sister, who caught him and swung him across the warehouse behind one of the Mental Mutants.
• Lu Xin distorted the gunman’s body, causing the Gatling gunfire to hit the other attackers, then confronted the terrified man in the red suit.

Lu Xin subdued the Puppet-type ability user, but Mom warned him that the danger was not over. The chapter ended as Blackwater Town’s armed security team arrived with Gecko and confronted Lu Xin.

• The man in the red suit tried to escape by motorcycle and mental threads, but Lu Xin pulled him down and disabled his gun.
• The Puppet-type ability user stopped resisting and said his companions had split up after their experiment failed.
• Lu Xin questioned the man about where his companions had fled, but he refused to betray his reputation by answering.
• Mom told Lu Xin that the confrontation was not over, prompting him to look for what he had missed.
• A group wearing snake-patterned armbands brought Gecko toward Lu Xin, and a burly security officer threatened them for firing guns in Blackwater Town.

Lu Xin confronted Blackwater Town security officers who tried to take him and the captured man away, and realized the burly officer was under the influence of a Rose Flower or something similar. The officer’s reaction left Lu Xin convinced that the red-suited man had used this as his final means of protection.

• The burly security officer threatened Lu Xin and Gecko and ordered his men to take Lu Xin and the red-suited man away separately.
• Lu Xin noticed Mom watching and told the security officer that he seemed abnormal.
• As armed officers aimed their guns at him, Lu Xin calmly asked whether the red-suited man had given the officer something.
• Lu Xin suggested that the officer had received a Rose Flower or a substitute that made him feel increasingly fond of the red-suited man.
• The red-suited man’s expression changed, while Gecko realized what Lu Xin was implying.

Lu Xin and Gecko confronted Blackwater Town’s sheriff over the red-suited man, whom the sheriff had grown determined to protect. After Gecko brought Qinggang’s armored vehicle to bear, he used a loudspeaker to demand that the town’s leaders negotiate under threat of a missile strike.

• Lu Xin warned the sheriff to stop swearing and said he would act if the sheriff caused trouble over the red-suited man.
• Gecko seized two guns and aimed them at the sheriff and his subordinates, then Qinggang’s armored vehicle smashed through the wall and trained its Gatling gun on the crowd.
• Gecko warned the sheriff that Qinggang could strike Blackwater Town with a missile, and the sheriff lowered his gun and admitted defeat.
• Gecko took the sheriff’s loudspeaker, identified himself and Lu Xin as Qinggang’s Action Team, and demanded that whoever was in charge come talk to them.

Lu Xin and Gecko confronted Master Snake in Blackwater Town while trying to take the red-suited man back to Qinggang City. Master Snake’s cat suddenly sprang from her arms, and the armed standoff grew tense.

• Gecko intimidated the people of Blackwater Town until Master Snake arrived with armed forces and ordered her people to lower their guns.
• Lu Xin apologized for entering without warning, offered to pay for Gecko’s shots, and explained that the public security officer was under an influence that made him protect the red-suited man.
• Master Snake tested the officer’s feelings by having a subordinate aim a gun at the red-suited man, then said she would investigate before sending him to Qinggang City.
• Lu Xin insisted that they had to take the red-suited man back and refused to reveal the details because of a confidentiality agreement.
• Master Snake’s orange cat bristled, escaped her arms, and scratched her, prompting the surrounding armed forces to ready their weapons.

Lu Xin and Gecko secured Master Snake’s cooperation in Blackwater Town and brought the man in the red suit into a garage for questioning. Lu Xin summoned his sister, and the captive felt an unseen hand touch his face as terror overtook him.

• After Master Snake’s orange cat scratched her, she agreed to help Lu Xin and Gecko and had her subordinates arrest the security officer instead.
• Master Snake apologized for her subordinate and offered Qinggang City manpower, weapons, and fuel at a discount.
• Lu Xin asked to use the garage to question the man in the red suit, and Master Snake agreed while suggesting several methods of torture.
• Lu Xin led the captive into the dark garage, shut the rolling door, and said he hoped the man would confess on his own.
• Lu Xin called for his sister, and the captive felt a cold hand touch his face despite seeing Lu Xin standing still by the door.

Gecko spoke with Master Snake about Qinggang and Blackwater Town while Lu Xin interrogated the red-suited Puppet-type ability user inside the warehouse. Lu Xin left the prisoner in Master Snake’s custody, assuring her that he was perfectly normal now.

• Master Snake questioned Gecko about Qinggang, and he described the city’s ordinary comforts and criticized Blackwater Town as too wild.
• Master Snake learned that Gecko’s loudspeaker claim about High Wall City was a bluff, then heard the red-suited man scream from inside the warehouse.
• Lu Xin finished questioning the prisoner and asked Master Snake to keep him until someone from Qinggang could retrieve him.
• The prisoner trembled and called everyone monsters, but Lu Xin calmly told Master Snake that he was perfectly normal now.

Lu Xin and Gecko left Blackwater Town with Master Snake’s generous gifts, and Lu Xin eased Gecko’s troubled mood by telling him he considered him a friend. As they headed onto the main road, Lu Xin began recounting what he had learned from interrogating Chen Zhong.

• Lu Xin praised Master Snake for giving them valuable goods, supplies, and help arranging delivery to Qinggang City.
• Gecko admitted he had been unsettled since Blackwater Town, and Lu Xin reassured him that he cared about him as a friend and teammate.
• Lu Xin revealed that his ability was strange and that his family members were not quite normal, while Gecko accepted the explanation without pressing further.
• Gecko asked Lu Xin what he had learned from interrogating the Puppet-type ability user, and Lu Xin consulted his notes.
• Lu Xin explained that Chen Zhong had joined Qin Ran’s Knights’ Order three years earlier and described their commissioned missions, including assassinations, escorts, and searches.

Lu Xin learned from Chen Zhong that Qin Ran was likely hiding in Happy Town at the end of Highway 85, but Gecko recognized the place as an exceptionally dangerous region. The chapter ended with Lu Xin studying a map marked with five skulls and a warning that nobody who went there returned.

• Lu Xin told Gecko that Chen Zhong’s team had stolen the painting, carried out a failed mental pollution bomb mission, and included the ability user Big Head Ghost, who caused the Rose Flower incident.
• Lu Xin said Chen Zhong had described Qin Ran’s ability with the word “Unkillable” and had been defeated before Qin Ran fully revealed his power.
• Lu Xin revealed that Qin Ran might be hiding at Happy Town, where the team planned to meet again after three months.
• Gecko abruptly stopped the vehicle, checked the map, and recognized Happy Town as a region marked with five skulls and a question mark.
• Gecko warned Lu Xin that nobody who went near the place came back.

Gecko explained that Happy Town was an S-rank mysterious forbidden zone where past expeditions had vanished, but Lu Xin insisted on going there to bring Qin Ran back. As they headed toward it, Lu Xin read the sparse records about the town and its deadly mental force field.

• Gecko told Lu Xin that Happy Town was a forbidden zone that had swallowed an entire Pioneer Team and left no useful exploration records.
• Lu Xin decided to enter Happy Town to retrieve Qin Ran, while Mom and Sister eagerly welcomed the trip.
• Gecko contacted headquarters, which approved the exploration and sent information about the forbidden zone.
• Lu Xin read that Happy Town's mental force field caused severe symptoms, disrupted electronics, and made anyone who crossed its boundary disappear.
• Lu Xin learned that Happy Town's residents wore constant smiles and that a detained resident, the interrogators, and their research report had vanished without a trace.

On the way to Happy Town, Gecko explained ability-user classifications and asked Lu Xin how powerful he was. Lu Xin judged himself at most A-class and admitted he was afraid of the Mysterious Forbidden Zone, but remained determined to go because rescuing the people inside was their job.

• Lu Xin finished reading the ability-user materials and told Gecko they would need to inspect the situation themselves.
• Gecko explained that ability-users were classified from C-class to S-class, with S-class abilities considered unsolvable.
• Lu Xin said he was not unsolvable and was at most A-class, while Mom listened from the back seat and smiled.
• Gecko asked why Lu Xin would enter the Mysterious Forbidden Zone if he was afraid, and Lu Xin said fear did not change their duty to bring the people back.

Lu Xin and Gecko reached the outskirts of Happy Town, where Lu Xin warned Gecko that he might be the real danger and decided to enter alone. After resting and preparing, Lu Xin followed a path into the mist, while Gecko stayed behind and noticed two shadows accompanying him.

• Lu Xin told Gecko to wait outside Happy Town because Lu Xin himself might be dangerous.
• Gecko insisted he would enter with Lu Xin, but agreed to stay outside after Lu Xin explained that he did not want to put him at risk.
• Gecko advised Lu Xin to eat, rest, and avoid consuming anything inside the town to guard against Mental Pollution.
• After resting and eating, Lu Xin set off down a winding path toward Happy Town while Gecko remained by the vehicle.
• Gecko saw one tall and one short shadow following Lu Xin, then asked whether Uncle was going after them.

Lu Xin entered Happy Town and encountered its silent, smiling residents while searching for Qin Ran and the other ability users. After the residents refused to answer his questions, a young woman accepted his money without speaking.

• Lu Xin walked toward Happy Town with Sister, while Mom disappeared and Sister admitted she feared someone other than Father.
• Lu Xin reached vast, orderly farmland under the Crimson Moon and recorded his observations in his notebook.
• Lu Xin encountered a man working among pink medicinal flowers, but the man only smiled instead of answering whether this was Happy Town.
• Lu Xin reached the town and saw silent residents in the fields watching him with identical smiles.
• Lu Xin showed a young woman Qin Ran's photograph and offered her fifty yuan, which she accepted without answering.

Lu Xin entered the silent town to search for Qin Ran, but the residents turned hostile after Mom cut away something that had nearly contaminated him. Mom pointed him toward a house that might have been lit, and he headed there while the armed townspeople followed in the shadows.

• A girl took Lu Xin's fifty Alliance currency but refused to answer his question, so Lu Xin and Sister pried the bill from her hand and he entered the town alone.
• Lu Xin surveyed the town's densely packed houses and sensed danger as he considered opening one to search for Qin Ran.
• Mom appeared and said she had cut away something dirty that had nearly touched Lu Xin.
• Lu Xin noticed armed residents hiding beneath the houses and following him, while Mom denied responsibility for their hostility.
• Mom recalled seeing a room with its lights on and pointed toward the southeastern corner of town, so Lu Xin went to investigate.
• Sister said the hostile residents were already toys and that she did not want things someone else had played with.

Lu Xin followed Mom and Sister through the watched town to find Qin Ran, whom he suspected was hiding in a row of rooms. After he threatened to smoke out anyone inside, Qin Ran emerged, and Lu Xin finally confronted the man he had searched for over several days.

• Lu Xin, Mom, and Sister reached the town’s back row of rooms while residents watched them from the shadows.
• Lu Xin smelled meat near the rooms and reasoned that opening the doors could let the people hiding inside escape amid the confusion.
• A little boy offered Lu Xin sour dates, and Lu Xin accepted them after correcting the boy for calling him Uncle.
• Lu Xin proposed burning pine and cypress branches beside the rooms to force anyone inside to come out.
• Qin Ran stepped out of a room holding roasted corn, and Lu Xin recognized him as the man who had ambushed him and Chen Jing and stolen the painting.
• Lu Xin relaxed when Mom and Sister joined him, then told Qin Ran that he had been looking for him for several days.

Lu Xin confronted Qin Ran over the massacre in Qinggang City, but Qin Ran dismissed ordinary lives and attacked him with help from armed mercenaries. Lu Xin tore out Qin Ran’s still-beating heart, then hurriedly put it back after Mom’s reaction suggested something was wrong.

• Lu Xin told Qin Ran he had come to answer for the deaths of more than two thousand people and to recover the painting if it remained.
• Qin Ran mocked Lu Xin for caring about ordinary people, and Lu Xin called him a madman before advancing.
• Mercenaries hiding in the rooms opened fire, while Mom shielded Lu Xin from the bullets.
• Lu Xin charged through the gunfire as Qin Ran fled inside, dodged Qin Ran’s shots, and tore out his heart.
• Qin Ran smiled and laughed after Lu Xin removed his heart, and Lu Xin put it back when Mom sighed.