Chapter Summaries

Lu Xin resisted Father's attempt to take control while facing Qin Ran, and the family’s confrontation ended when Queen interrupted them. Mom silenced Qin Ran and asked Lu Xin to wait until he reached the Second Stage before reading the materials about his past, while Sister began playing with Qin Ran.

• Father reached for Qin Ran as Lu Xin fought to resist him, while Mom and Sister prepared to confront Father.
• Queen interrupted the argument from her villa, easing the pressure on Lu Xin and prompting Father to withdraw into the house.
• Lu Xin decided to take Qin Ran back to Qinggang, recover the stolen items, and investigate what Qin Ran knew about him.
• Mom silenced Qin Ran and told Lu Xin that his suitcase contained a painting and materials about the Weeping Boy and Lu Xin.
• Mom asked Lu Xin to wait until he reached the Second Stage before reading the materials, and he agreed.
• Sister pounced on Qin Ran while Mom explained that they would let Sister play with him.

After completing the mission in Happy Town, Lu Xin met Gecko and learned that he had defeated the fleeing mercenaries and captured one. Lu Xin summoned Qinggang’s Special Task Forces to recover four abandoned motorcycles, leaving the wilderness with a formidable support squad at his disposal.

• Lu Xin waited outside Happy Town for Gecko and reflected on the Queen, his family, and the town’s contamination.
• Gecko arrived and reported that he had killed three mercenaries and captured one, while Lu Xin confirmed that he had dealt with two ability users and recovered the stolen items.
• Gecko showed Lu Xin the mercenaries’ weapons and grenades, and Lu Xin asked about the four motorcycles they had left behind.
• At Lu Xin’s insistence, Gecko called for a support squad, and Qinggang’s Special Task Forces arrived with armed vehicles and helicopters.
• Lu Xin directed the Special Task Forces to find the four motorcycles and transport them back.

Lu Xin and Gecko returned safely to Qinggang after defeating the Knights, and Chen Jing granted them leave while arranging the captured mercenary and recovered items. Lu Xin went home instead of joining Gecko at Blue Ocean, then received a call from Han Bing to review his mission rewards.

• Lu Xin reported that the Knights’ three ability users had been dealt with, their stolen painting recovered, and five motorcycles seized.
• Chen Jing postponed Lu Xin’s mission report, gave him and Gecko three days of leave, and took charge of the recovered items and captured mercenary.
• Gecko went to Blue Ocean to unwind, while Lu Xin chose to return to his family at the old apartment building.
• Han Bing called Lu Xin to congratulate him and began listing the rewards for his earlier missions.

Chen Jing and the officials opened the Lone Soldier’s recovered briefcase, which contained the Crimson Moon painting and information about it and the Weeping Boy Mental Pollution bomb. They prepared to open the final document bag, whose contents might reveal the Lone Soldier’s connection to the escaped laboratory.

• Chen Jing delivered the unopened briefcase to Professor Bai, Minister Shen, and Mr. Su, and warned that it might contain information about the Lone Soldier and the escaped laboratory.
• Lu Xin thanked Han Bing for calculating his rewards and asked her to apply for more rewards, reimbursement, and permission to keep one of the five motorcycles he brought back.
• The officials opened the briefcase and found the Crimson Moon painting wrapped in black cloth and three sealed document bags.
• Chen Jing opened document bag 001, which contained information about the painting, and document bag 002, which held photographs and the Weeping Boy Mental Pollution bomb data.
• Mr. Su urged Chen Jing to open document bag 003 as the group waited to see what it contained.

Lu Xin returned to a calmer family home, where Mom, Father, and Sister agreed to support him as he sought answers. Meanwhile, Chen Jing discovered that the Alliance’s document about the escaped laboratory had been shredded, while Lu Xin received a different sealed document from his family that he could open only after reaching the Second Stage.

• Lu Xin returned home to find his family in better spirits, and Father urged him to come back earlier next time.
• Chen Jing opened document 003 with Minister Shen, Mr. Su, and Professor Bai, but found only thoroughly shredded paper scraps.
• Mom criticized Father’s violent temper and told him he would be excluded from future family trips unless he changed.
• Mom told Lu Xin she supported his search for answers, and Lu Xin agreed to her conditions.
• Mom gave Lu Xin the key to document 003, which she locked in a drawer and permitted him to read only after he reached the Second Stage.

Lu Xin returned to his business company, where his colleagues and Director nervously welcomed him because they believed rumors that he was a dangerous figure. After a generous dinner and promises of a promotion and awards, he left and quietly took the orphanage’s posted utility bill.

• Lu Xin returned to the company after more than a week away, and his colleagues froze when they saw him.
• The Director nervously welcomed Lu Xin, then changed the Outstanding Employee list to name him.
• Brother Zhang and Sister Sun gave Lu Xin thick envelopes alongside the project documents, and Lu Xin praised their work.
• The Director treated the staff to dinner and promised Lu Xin the supervisor position and Outstanding Employee award.
• After his colleagues and the Director left, Lu Xin went near the orphanage, took the utility bill from the stairwell wall, and departed.

Lu Xin submitted his mission report and asked Han Bing about the Second Stage, while Professor Bai and the Qinggang leaders discussed how to respond to his request. They agreed to follow established rules rather than grant or deny him special treatment.

• Lu Xin wrote a report describing his mission to Blackwater Town and Happy Town, then sent it to Han Bing for review.
• Lu Xin asked Han Bing about the Second Stage, and she said she would apply to access the classified information.
• Chen Jing, Professor Bai, Minister Shen, and Mr. Su discussed Lu Xin’s report and his guardedness about his abilities.
• Professor Bai argued that Lu Xin was willing to follow rules and that Qinggang should avoid exercising privilege over him.
• Professor Bai advised that Lu Xin’s request to enter the Second Stage should be handled under the regulations.

Lu Xin learned that his reward for pursuing the Knights could be paid as a bounty or converted into promotion points, and Han Bing proposed splitting it between the two. The choice would affect his advancement and access to information about the Second Stage.

• Director Liu approved Lu Xin's request for two days of leave, and Lu Xin went to the Guard Department to sign for his mission payment.
• Lu Xin reviewed the mission documents and noticed that the three-million bounty for pursuing the Knights was missing.
• Han Bing explained that Lu Xin's external-member status allowed him to claim the bounty despite the pursuit being an internal operation.
• Han Bing described Qinggang's citizen levels and the Special Talent Recruitment Mechanism, explaining that Lu Xin qualified for formal employment and had about one hundred contribution points.
• Han Bing offered Lu Xin a choice between the three-million bounty and promotion to Level 2 Special Talent, which would require fewer points to access information about the Second Stage.
• Han Bing suggested splitting the reward between bounty payment and contribution points, and Lu Xin asked whether that arrangement was possible.

Lu Xin accepted a deal that upgraded him to a full-time Level Two special talent while securing payment for the Knights' Order mission. Han Bing then explained that the second stage involved evolving ability users, leaving Lu Xin disturbed by the idea.

• Han Bing offered Lu Xin 1.5 million for the Knights' Order mission, a full-time position, and Level Two special talent status, and Lu Xin agreed.
• Lu Xin calculated his earnings from past missions, totaling 2,221,200 yuan before unknown subsidies.
• Lu Xin signed his new employment contract after checking that it did not require him to reveal his personal secrets.
• Han Bing explained that the first stage involved discovering and developing abilities, while the second stage meant strengthening or extending them into more powerful abilities.
• Lu Xin felt instinctive dislike and disbelief at the idea of ability users evolving.

Han Bing explained the history, risks, and Qinggang rules for second-stage ability enhancement to Lu Xin. After learning Gecko qualified but refused, Lu Xin asked to undergo enhancement himself, but Han Bing told him he was only Level 2 and could not apply yet.

• Han Bing told Lu Xin that past forbidden experiments had strengthened ability users, sometimes causing them to lose control and sometimes granting them powerful new abilities.
• Han Bing said Qinggang's enhancement program followed rules of voluntariness and moderation, and applicants had to be Level 3 Special Talents who passed stability screening.
• Han Bing revealed that Gecko was the only person Lu Xin knew who currently qualified, but he had refused enhancement because he was satisfied with his life.
• Lu Xin wondered whether his mother had wanted him to reach the second stage before reading the locked document, then decided to apply for enhancement.
• Han Bing rejected Lu Xin's request because he was only Level 2.

Lu Xin learned he was fifty-five contribution points short of Level 3 Special Talent benefits and asked Han Bing for a nearby mission. Professor Bai assigned him a cleanup mission while arranging an appraisal of the painting, and Lu Xin set out on a newly modified motorcycle to catch ghosts.

• Han Bing told Lu Xin that he had earned 245 contribution points and was fifty-five short of Level 3, then found him a mission worth ten points.
• Professor Bai told Chen Jing that the painting’s appraisal would happen at eight that night and suggested assigning Lu Xin her capture mission to earn contribution points.
• Chen Jing agreed to hand the mission to Lu Xin, who changed into his combat uniform and received a modified motorcycle equipped for Spider-type ability users.
• Lu Xin started the motorcycle and slowly rode out to handle the ghost-catching mission.

Li Mengmeng encountered a persistent stranger who warned her that refusing him would have serious consequences, then spent the day and night with her best friend. When her friend repeated the warning and behaved strangely, Li Mengmeng began to suspect something was wrong.

• A handsome man persistently hit on Li Mengmeng at a café, but she rejected him and left after he threatened her with serious consequences.
• Li Mengmeng met her best friend, went shopping with her, and spent the evening watching an old movie at her friend’s apartment.
• Her best friend offered Li Mengmeng treasured red wine, but they spat it out after discovering it had spoiled.
• During the night, Li Mengmeng woke to find her best friend touching her and acting strangely, then refused her suggestion to shower together.
• Her best friend’s face darkened as she asked Li Mengmeng if she knew something and repeated that refusing her would have serious consequences.

Li Mengmeng sought help after terrifying people around her repeatedly threatened her for rejecting them, but the psychologist made the same threat. As she broke down in the street, a young man arrived and offered to help her.

• Li Mengmeng told the psychologist that strange events had followed her rejection of a man, including her father and mother threatening her with the same words.
• The psychologist dismissed Li Mengmeng's fears as stress, then asked her out and threatened her when she refused.
• Li Mengmeng fled into the street, where a little girl and various passersby repeated the threats and drove her to collapse in fear.
• A young man on a motorcycle approached Li Mengmeng, offered her a tissue, and promised to help her.

Lu Xin recognized that Li Mengmeng was being tormented by a Ghost-type ability user and took her away to help catch him. As he rode toward a location he had chosen, he reviewed the mission briefing identifying the target as a suspected B-class ability user who possessed people.

• Lu Xin seized a middle-aged passerby after seeing him change into a smug, smiling face, then released him when the face vanished.
• Li Mengmeng recognized the face as the ghost tormenting her and begged Lu Xin to save her.
• Lu Xin asked Li Mengmeng to come with him so they could catch the ghost, and she climbed onto his motorcycle.
• A briefcase-carrying young man watched Li Mengmeng leave with Lu Xin and clenched his teeth in jealousy.
• Lu Xin rode toward his chosen location with Li Mengmeng and reviewed the details of Special Pollution Event 102, a Ghost-type ability-user capture operation.

Lu Xin used Li Mengmeng as bait at a hotel to draw out the ghost-type Ability User who could hide by parasitizing others. The ghost finally revealed himself in the body of a cleaner, and Lu Xin confronted him.

• Lu Xin recalled that the ghost had nearly tried to parasitize him before fleeing, and he planned to capture it by using its interest in Li Mengmeng.
• Lu Xin brought Li Mengmeng to a couples' hotel and showed her his Qinggang identification document, asking her to act relaxed so they would not scare the ghost away.
• Li Mengmeng linked arms with Lu Xin and asked whether he could catch ghosts, while Lu Xin tried to reassure her.
• Lu Xin registered and paid for a room while watching for the ghost to appear.
• A cleaner confronted Lu Xin, and he saw her face transform into that of a cold, arrogant man who stared greedily at Li Mengmeng.
• Lu Xin smiled at the revealed ghost and asked why it had taken so long to arrive.

Lu Xin confronted a cleaner possessed by an ability user who threatened Li Mengmeng, then subdued her with Sister’s help. The front-desk girl revealed herself as another ability user and appeared to take control of a security guard, who attacked Lu Xin from behind.

• The cleaner threatened Lu Xin and claimed she could kill Qinggang’s top officials, but Lu Xin told her he had read her file and had come to take her back.
• The cleaner lunged at Lu Xin with a sharp floor scraper, and Sister lent him strength so he could catch the cleaner by the neck without seriously injuring her.
• The cleaner regained control of herself and begged Lu Xin for forgiveness, while bystanders and security guards noticed the commotion.
• The front-desk girl declared herself superior to ordinary people and said she was like a god, and Lu Xin called her a lunatic.
• As Sister charged toward the front desk, the girl’s expression went blank, and a security guard swung his rubber baton at the back of Lu Xin’s head.

Lu Xin defended Li Mengmeng as the ghost used people in the hotel hall to threaten and attack them. After the City Patrol Army surrounded the building, Lu Xin confronted the ghost and asked it to stop causing trouble.

• The ghost spoke through people in the hall, threatened Li Mengmeng, and claimed it could become anyone near her.
• Li Mengmeng resisted the ghost while people under its influence attacked Lu Xin, who blocked them and climbed the wall with her.
• A briefcase-carrying man offered to work with Lu Xin, but Lu Xin refused and moved Li Mengmeng away from the crowd.
• Lu Xin borrowed Sister's power, stopped a possessed police officer from firing into the hall, and evaded attacks from a little girl and an old man.
• Lu Xin covered his left ear, spoke to someone unseen, and told the old man that the City Patrol Army had surrounded the place and the ghost should stop causing trouble.

Lu Xin revealed that the City Patrol Army had surrounded the area and begun outfitting residents with Mental Pollution protective helmets to restrict the Ghost’s access to minds. As the cordon tightened, the Ghost found itself facing an increasingly desperate situation.

• Lu Xin told the woman in leopard print that soldiers had sealed off three blocks and were distributing protective gear to everyone inside.
• The Ghost left the woman’s body, while Lu Xin reassured the hotel crowd and directed a freed police officer to maintain order.
• City Patrol Army soldiers advanced through the cordoned streets, calming residents and using tranquilizer rounds on those who charged at them.
• Support teams fitted residents with protective helmets as thermal-imaging teams searched the area and Cheng Hui shot a rat near the perimeter.
• A second team advanced to shrink the cordon, while the Ghost watched in terror as its escape routes dwindled.

Lu Xin cornered the ghost in the hotel lobby, where it threatened to kill its nearby hostages. He used two ability suppressors to trap it, then called for the support team.

• A security guard revealed himself as the ghost and threatened Lu Xin after Lu Xin explained the limits of its ability.
• The ghost possessed people around the lobby, injuring two and threatening the hostages with a knife.
• Lu Xin charged forward and used an ability suppressor on a man to his left while Sister restrained the leopard-print woman on his right.
• Lu Xin confirmed that the ghost’s escape routes were blocked and called the support team to enter.

Lu Xin confronted the ghost possessing the young receptionist and defeated it after seeing the memories of its crimes. He forced the receptionist to refund his room fee while waiting for help to arrive.

• Lu Xin reasoned that the ghost would not dare harm Li Mengmeng because it had no way to escape into another body.
• The ghost manifested above the young receptionist and tried to invade Lu Xin, revealing memories of its abuses and murders.
• Lu Xin resisted the ghost's influence and knocked it down with a slap and a stomp, forcing it back into the receptionist.
• Lu Xin ordered the frightened receptionist to stay put and refund the room fee he had paid.
• The receptionist handed Lu Xin a wad of bills, and he took two before thanking her.