Chapter Summaries

Ji Jue took over Coast Automobile Factory and found its former employees and suppliers returning in hopes of its reopening, only to discover that the factory owed more than four hundred million yuan. He refused to promise immediate repayment and began calming the furious creditors with an unconventional show of emergency treatment.

• Yan Jian told Ji Jue he would stay and try to revive Coast, while warning him that much of the equipment was broken and the factory's debts would be substantial.
• A crowd of former workers and creditors rushed to Coast after hearing it would reopen, presenting Ji Jue with IOUs and unpaid contracts.
• Ji Jue learned from the creditors' representatives that Coast owed more than four hundred million yuan, excluding bank mortgage loans.
• Ji Jue said the accounts had to be checked and declared that Coast had no money to pay the creditors immediately.
• When a creditor collapsed during the uproar, Ji Jue claimed the man had asthma and slapped him several times, leaving the onlookers amazed when he appeared to recover.

Ji Jue struggled to restart Coast Automobile Factory, dealing with creditors, a strike notice, and a shortage of workers. When Ye Chun arrived, he clung to her and begged her to save him from the factory’s mounting chaos.

• Ji Jue and the creditors took turns slapping a choking man until he began breathing again, then Ji Jue promised to repay the factory’s debts over time.
• Coast Automobile’s labor union presented Ji Jue with a strike notice demanding unpaid wages and compensation, but he threw it away and told Yan Jian to recruit whoever was willing to work.
• Ji Jue arranged for university mechanical-processing students to join the factory, leaving Yan Jian dismayed and the understaffed operation overwhelmed by repairs, paperwork, and daily mishaps.
• Ye Chun arrived at the factory and teased Ji Jue about his predicament, and he shut the office door before clinging to her leg and pleading for help.

Ye Chun took over Coast Automobile Factory’s administrative work while Ji Jue faced a coordinated campaign to block the factory’s suppliers and equipment repairs. After online attacks and a protest erupted, Ji Jue called Isis for good news, and the Workshop Spirit unleashed its network and began eliminating people connected to the threats, ending with Yin Chao Yang’s driver dead and a mysterious greeting appearing on a flyer.

• Ye Chun massaged Ji Jue’s legs, took his signed contract, and quickly arranged factory services, audits, and maintenance while ordering Ji Jue out of his office.
• Yan Jian told Ji Jue that equipment manufacturers and suppliers were refusing to help Coast Automobile Factory, and Ji Jue promised that the equipment problem would be solved by the next day.
• Ji Jue saw protesters and media outside the factory and learned that online rumors had made him infamous, so he asked Isis for good news.
• The Workshop Spirit activated Deus Ex Machina, spreading surveillance and control through Yacheng as a Mercury Spider moved through the pipes.
• Brother Wu’s car plunged into the sea and exploded, while a fire destroyed a data company and other fatal accidents struck across the city.
• Yin Chao Yang survived a car wreck caused by falling construction materials, but a rusted nail pierced his driver’s throat and killed him as a flyer marked with a smiling face and the word “Hello” fell nearby.

After Yin Chao Yang received orders to keep Coast Automobile Factory shut down, Ji Jue restored its long-abandoned machinery with Deus Ex Machina. He then persuaded Yan Jian to abandon the dream of an immediate comeback with a high-end car and begin developing a small three-wheeler instead.

• Yin Chao Yang reported his failed operation to Shang Tong Wen, who replaced his lost manpower and told him to use every channel to prevent Coast Automobile Factory from resuming work.
• Laila's security team dispersed the staged protesters outside the factory, but Yin Chao Yang continued blocking access to parts and materials until the factory closed for the night.
• Ji Jue awakened and repaired the factory's machinery with Deus Ex Machina, and Yan Jian discovered the clean, functioning factory the next morning.
• Ji Jue recruited college students as workers and told Yan Jian that the factory needed to resume production as soon as possible.
• When Yan Jian estimated that building a car would take six months, Ji Jue proposed producing a small three-wheeler within a week.
• Yan Jian accepted the design requirements and set to work on the three-wheeler, telling Ji Jue to find someone else to supervise the students.

Ji Jue finalized a tricycle design and prepared Coast Automobile Factory to resume production while Yin Chao Yang tightened his financial and commercial assault. The factory began work under pressure, and Ji Jue suddenly announced a new car launch.

• Central City passed new environmental regulations that would require newly manufactured vehicles to pass strict inspections.
• Ji Jue ordered Yan Jian to finish the tricycle design, then approved the completed plans and prepared the factory to restart production.
• Ji Jue explained to Isis why he valued inexpensive, broken things, and Isis took charge of the workshop as production preparations began.
• Yin Chao Yang cut off Coast Automobile Factory’s suppliers, maintenance, hiring, and sales channels, then acquired more than 1.4 billion in its debts and sued to force an asset auction.
• After less than a week of mounting pressure, Ji Jue announced the launch of a new car.

Coast Automobile Factory’s rough Small Three-Wheelers sold out across Quancheng, where Garbage Collectors traded scrap for vehicles. Shang Tong Wen’s team examined a second-hand one at Echo Science and Technology, and an engineer discovered something unexpectedly appealing beneath its crude construction.

• Yin Chao Yang traced Coast Automobile Factory’s shipments to wilderness settlements, including the bustling ruins of Quancheng, and reported his findings to Shang Tong Wen.
• Chen Yu Bo arranged for Jade Tower Trade to sell Coast’s Small Three-Wheelers to Garbage Collectors, who bought them eagerly and traded scrap for more.
• Shang Tong Wen’s people failed to buy a new vehicle in Quancheng, so they paid over a hundred thousand for a used one and airlifted it to Echo Science and Technology.
• A team of experts inspected the crude Small Three-Wheeler under spotlights and questioned whether it counted as a vehicle.
• An engineer inspecting the chassis murmured that it was unusually free.

Engineers tested Coast Automobile Factory’s Small Three-Wheeler and found it extraordinarily durable, adaptable, and cheap, leaving Echo Science and Technology unable to compete or block its production. As the tricycle’s success spread, Ji Jue prepared to recruit workers, approach suppliers, and launch a new model.

• The engineers inspected the Small Three-Wheeler and confirmed its reinforced frame could bear more than thirty tons without deforming.
• The vehicle passed extreme driving and collision tests, impressing the engineers with its strength, adaptability, and low price.
• Shang Tong Wen asked how Echo Science and Technology could target Coast, but his staff said the vehicle was too cheap and self-produced for them to undercut or disrupt.
• The Small Three-Wheeler finally broke apart during a destructive test, and its speaker’s song enraged Shang Tong Wen before an assistant crushed it with Formless gravity.
• Ji Jue reviewed the sales data and told Yan Craftsman to approach the Labor Association and suppliers as Coast prepared to release a new model.

Ji Jue expanded Coast Automobile Factory’s Small Three-Wheeler business with the cheap Peanut model, while Yin Chao Yang mistook the venture for a harmless distraction. The chapter left Yin screaming after Coast announced its first independently developed family sedan, the Cucumber.

• Coast’s engineers examined the lightweight Peanut Tricycle and discovered that Fluid Alchemy had formed its strong honeycomb chassis in a single step.
• Coast sold the Peanut cheaply with agricultural subsidies, grew its Small Three-Wheeler business, acquired other factories, and announced a major production expansion.
• Yin Chao Yang felt relieved that Ji Jue seemed focused on Small Three-Wheelers, but continued blocking equipment supplies and pursuing other ways to undermine Coast.
• As political and industrial crises mounted, Coast announced the Cucumber family sedan on December 12, and Yin Chao Yang screamed after hearing the news.

Ji Jue’s expanding automobile production continued to advance his alchemical transformation, while Yan Jian worried over the strain on the factory workers and the return of Coast Automobile Factory. The factory launched its first self-developed sedan, the Cucumber, with a bizarre crash-test promotional video that went viral across the Federation.

• Yan Jian questioned Ji Jue’s casual product names as exhausted factory workers complained about relentless overtime and rumors of strange happenings spread around Coast Automobile Factory.
• Yan Jian admitted he felt nervous and excited about making cars again, then went to inspect the workshop while Ji Jue stayed behind in the cafeteria.
• As the factory’s tricycles spread across the region, Ji Jue absorbed the growing influence of his works and advanced [Unextinguished Tinder], gaining greater control over Material Property Interference.
• Ji Jue returned to the assembly line and helped Coast Automobile Factory complete its first fully self-developed family sedan, the Cucumber.
• Coast Automobile Factory released a deliberately crude promotional video in which a truck smashed the Cucumber into the air, while Ji Jue emerged unharmed and promoted safe driving.
• The video spread rapidly across social media, sending Coast Automobile Factory and Cucumber trending and marking the factory’s return to the automobile industry.

Coast Automobile Factory launched the Cucumber, a mature mini-car built on experience gathered from its small three-wheelers, but rival automakers blocked its sales and flooded the market with discounts. Ji Jue responded by preparing a trade-in promotion, leaving Yin Chao Yang horrified as Yacheng’s situation began to shift.

• Cucumber’s viral promotional video and unusually polished design revealed that Coast had refined its vehicle through months of three-wheeler production, while Shang Tong Wen recognized the strategy and ordered his team to attack Coast’s marketing.
• Rival manufacturers flooded media platforms with bad reviews, blocked Cucumber from dealerships, and cut prices, leaving Coast with only a little over two hundred sales in three days.
• Yan Jian worried that Coast could not keep losing money, but Ji Jue dismissed the pressure and proceeded with a plan supported by Lü Garrison Chief.
• Coast kept producing Cucumber and, on the fifth day, announced a trade-in discount promotion through its website and online stores.
• Yin Chao Yang realized what the trade-in promotion meant and erupted in anger as Yacheng began to feel the effects the following day.

Ji Jue’s trade-in campaign flooded Yacheng with Chopped Chili Fish Heads and drove Coast Automobile Factory into a production boom, while the factory struggled with labor shortages and expanded its operations. As Coast Group reentered the wider Federation’s political and economic landscape, a chemical plant explosion halted the factory’s third-phase project, and an explosion destroyed Jade Tower Group’s base, leaving Lu Feng missing.

• Ji Jue launched a ten-day trade-in campaign that let owners exchange old Coast vehicles, especially Knockoff Minivans, for new models and flooded Yacheng with Chopped Chili Fish Heads.
• Yan Jian pleaded with Ji Jue to end the campaign as Coast Automobile Factory’s workers and production lines could not keep pace with demand, while Ji Jue planned to expand production and introduce new vehicle models.
• Ji Jue refurbished the recovered Knockoff Minivans and sold them through settlement networks, where Chen Yu Bo became a major used-car dealer and Chen Xingzhou expanded Yacheng Wild Bazaar into the Wilderness.
• The City Hall and the Tong Family supported Coast Automobile Factory’s expansion, and Coast Group’s name returned to a military procurement list as political and economic events unfolded across the Federation.
• A chemical plant explosion on Yacheng’s outskirts killed six workers and indefinitely suspended Coast Automobile Factory’s third-phase project.
• Half an hour later, an explosion reduced Jade Tower Group’s base in the Quancheng ruins to rubble, and Lu Feng went missing.

A chemical leak threatened Yacheng, but Tong Shan used his Rebirth Form to draw the pollution into a storm and send it away. Just as Ji Jue received an emergency call, a bomb attack devastated a settlement outside the Quancheng ruins, leaving Lu Feng fleeing with Chen Yu Bo and Black Skin.

• Workers at the Coast Automobile Manufacturing Plant evacuated as a chemical plume spread, and Ji Jue learned that the leak could contaminate the region for years.
• Tong Shan arrived in Yacheng and summoned a storm that gathered the pollution into a tornado and carried it out to sea.
• Ji Jue received an emergency call as flames erupted in a settlement outside the Quancheng ruins.
• A truck rammed Chen Yu Bo's pink Small Three-Wheeler, and the blast destroyed buildings and part of Jade Tower Trade's courtyard.
• Lu Feng pulled Chen Yu Bo and Black Skin from the wreckage and tried to escape, but Dog Head warned him of incoming fire just before an RPG streaked toward them.

Lu Feng and Chen Yu Bo survived an ambush by the Horde when Ji Jue sent missiles and mechanical spiders to eliminate their attackers. As Ji Jue tracked Yin Chao Yang and arranged to pursue him, he learned that Xu Chao Xian had been rushed to the hospital with life-threatening food poisoning.

• Lu Feng shielded Chen Yu Bo with a mercury fortress, escaped the initial attack, and received Old Lin’s warning to get down.
• Ji Jue launched missiles from Workshop Six, wiping out the Horde’s Jackals and Tiger Leopard while mechanical spiders hunted the remaining invaders.
• Little An killed the surviving attackers in the alley near Lu Ma’s repair shop and had Wild Bazaar clean up before Lu Ling came outside.
• Ji Jue ordered surveillance teams to track the vehicle involved in the chemical-plant explosion and learned that Yin Chao Yang had fled Yacheng by cruise ship.
• Ji Jue arranged for Lu Feng to be reported as seriously injured and asked him to pursue Yin Chao Yang; Lu Feng agreed to kill him.
• Tong Shan informed Ji Jue that Xu Chao Xian had been hospitalized with life-threatening food poisoning.

As Xu Chao Xian lay unconscious after a suspiciously coincidental poisoning, Ji Jue’s factory and business faced a coordinated blockade from powerful rivals. After learning that Yan Jian had been seized by Wild Bazaar’s Ling Zhou, Ji Jue refused to back down and prepared to act.

• Tong Shan told Ji Jue that Xu Chao Xian had been poisoned by improperly prepared black-striped sea snake and remained unconscious after surgery.
• Ji Jue suspected the chain of coincidences around Xu Chao Xian’s poisoning might have been arranged by an Aether practitioner, while Tong Shan warned him that Xu Chao Xian’s condition was unusual.
• Ye Chun reported that chemical pollution had shut Coast Automobile Factory, disrupted cucumber sales, and prompted four military industrial groups to challenge the factory’s qualifications.
• Ji Jue urged Ye Chun to keep the workers safe and arrange a temporary holiday, then learned that Yan Jian had been detained after going to collect parts from a Wild Bazaar shipment.
• Ye Chun identified Ling Zhou as the man holding Yan Jian and demanding that Ji Jue come explain himself, but Ji Jue rejected involving the Security Bureau and called Chen Xingzhou.

Chen Xingzhou offered Ji Jue a choice between fighting Crossing-the-River Dragon and settling the dispute through Wild Bazaar mediation, but Ji Jue chose talks to protect Yan Jian. As Ling Zhou agreed to meet at Tianbo Cargo Ship, Ji Jue continued refining a sinister creation and decided it needed more material.

• Chen Xingzhou explained the two ways to settle the dispute with Crossing-the-River Dragon and promised to support Ji Jue.
• Ji Jue chose negotiation but insisted he could not wait because Yan Jian was being held by the other side.
• Chen Xingzhou called for the Chieftain’s presence, then warned Ling Zhou that Wild Bazaar’s rules applied; Ling Zhou agreed to talk on his own territory.
• Chen Xingzhou sent Ji Jue the meeting time and place: 10:30 at Yai City East Port aboard the Tianbo Cargo Ship.
• Ji Jue returned to the melting furnace, judged his month-long creation perfect, and said it still needed more material.

Ji Jue attended a mediation gathering aboard Ling Zhou’s casino ship, where Ling Zhou revealed he had taken Yan Jian captive and demanded that Ji Jue erase Ash Port’s debts and accept his offer. Ji Jue challenged Ling Zhou’s confidence by asking, “Just you?”

• Ye Chun lent Ji Jue Ghost Artisan and warned him to remember his debts to her.
• Gold Hair guided Ji Jue onto the casino ship, where Chen Xingzhou and senior figures waited around the Chieftain’s seat.
• Ling Zhou arrived and questioned Chen Xingzhou’s use of the Chieftain’s seat to witness their talks.
• Ling Zhou accused Ji Jue of ignoring Ash Port’s business and claimed he wanted to be friends.
• Ling Zhou had the beaten Yan Jian brought in and demanded that Ji Jue erase debts of roughly four or five hundred million, offering another two hundred million.
• Ji Jue looked at Ling Zhou’s demand and asked, “Just you?”

Ji Jue accepted Ling Zhou’s challenge to gamble for Yan Jian and wagered his own hands against Ling Zhou’s debt, person, and goods. As the game was prepared aboard the Tianbo Ship, a hidden accomplice named Klanjer used a mysterious balance scale, suggesting the outcome had been arranged in advance.

• Ling Zhou threatened Ji Jue and proposed settling their dispute through a gamble, with Yan Jian as the stake if Ji Jue refused.
• Ji Jue agreed to gamble and wagered his hands, while Ling Zhou accepted before the witnesses and released Yan Jian to Xie Lan for treatment.
• Both men were searched and restrained against using spiritual abilities, then their gambling stakes and equipment were inspected.
• The foreman reported that Ji Jue had taken the bait and asked for their honored guest to prepare.
• A bearded man asked Master Klanjer to handle the rest, and Klanjer fed blood and spiritual substance to a balance scale whose beam had already tipped toward the black weight.

Ji Jue defeated Ling Zhou in a high-stakes poker game, overturning the wager and claiming the Tianbo Ship before forcing Ling Zhou to keep playing under the White Deer’s witness. Ling Zhou died after losing a rigged game of Russian roulette, and Ji Jue declared the ship his.

• Ji Jue lost several early poker hands to Ling Zhou, then won a 210-million-chip pot with a flush and later took another 470 million with four of a kind.
• Klanjer sacrificed his blood and Spiritual Substance to manipulate the fate scale, but it shattered and he died when a chandelier struck him.
• Ji Jue insisted that Ling Zhou continue playing under the Wild Bazaar’s witnessed terms, and Ling Zhou signed over the Tianbo Ship and its cargo after losing all its liquid capital.
• Chen Xingzhou took over dealing and helped Ji Jue win the ship’s remaining assets, after which Ji Jue made Ling Zhou wager his life on rounds of Russian roulette.
• The White Deer appeared as witness, and Ling Zhou died when a Mercury bullet struck his head; Ji Jue claimed the ship and celebrated with champagne as the gathered witnesses applauded.

After Ji Jue defeated Ling Zhou, he claimed the Tianbo Ship and its spoils, then arranged to refit and rename it Tyet. As he prepared to help Chen Xingzhou retaliate for Yubo, Ji Jue affirmed that despite his ruthless nature, he would keep the compassion and hypocrisy that made him who he was.

• Chen Xingzhou cleared Ling Zhou’s people from the Tianbo Ship, and Ji Jue sent the stranded lackeys in Yacheng to work at Zero Workshop.
• Ji Jue used Disintegration Art on the broken scales, while Ghost Artisan revealed it had secretly controlled the ship and helped kill the Aether elder.
• Ji Jue asked Chen Xingzhou to dismantle the gambling tables and arrange for the ship to be registered through Yuantong Shipping.
• Ji Jue recruited Chen Xingzhou to help avenge Yubo, who had been beaten in Quancheng.
• Ji Jue named the ship Tyet after Isis, and she threatened Ghost Artisan when it mocked her new name.
• Isis praised Ji Jue’s ruthless resolve, but Ji Jue said he preferred his hypocritical self and would not abandon the compassion that had shaped him.

Lu Feng and his team intercepted Yin Chao Yang as he fled by speedboat, defeating the Chosen Ones who protected him and capturing him at sea. After Lu Feng’s old acquaintance in the Six Islands Patrol let the team go, they took Yin Chao Yang away, and Ji Jue received a coded message ten minutes later.

• Lu Feng’s helicopter pursued Yin Chao Yang’s speedboat, and Lu Feng used a rocket and machine-gun fire to kill the Chosen Ones aboard.
• A hidden Chosen One attacked the helicopter from the sea, but Lu Feng spotted and shot him with his final silver bullet.
• Lu Feng and Laila recovered Yin Chao Yang from the wrecked speedboat, bound and gagged him, and prepared to take him away.
• A Six Islands Patrol boat arrived, but its scarred major recognized Lu Feng and departed without inspecting Yin Chao Yang.
• Lu Feng flew off with Yin Chao Yang, and Ji Jue received a message from Meimei Supermarket ten minutes later.