Recaps

Jiang Mian discovered that the South District Public Security Bureau had surrounded the bar where she met Du Biao. She bargained for his Suppressor sources and prepared to lead him out.

• Jiang Mian sensed about ten Awakened surrounding the bar and warned Du Biao that they were trapped.
• Jiang Mian identified the group as the South District Public Security Bureau and learned that its captain, Cheng Qiao, was a Second-tier Mind Net Awakened.
• Jiang Mian offered to get Du Biao out in exchange for information about his sources, and he agreed.
• Du Biao told Jiang Mian about a West City pharmaceutical company and the underground Aberrant coalition called the Mutual Aid Society, then gave her contact details and a verification password.
• Jiang Mian told Du Biao to stay within three steps of her and led him toward the door as his body suddenly felt light.

Cheng Qiao coordinated a Security Officer team through the Mind Net to capture Du Biao and an unknown Aberrant, but Jiang Mian’s unusual speed and abilities complicated the ambush. The chapter ended with Ye Chenyang identifying her as a likely High-tier Sequence after she blocked a Stun Gun with flame.

• Cheng Qiao tracked Du Biao and Jiang Mian through his subordinates’ shared perceptions and ordered his teams to seal the exits and close in.
• Jiang Mian carried Du Biao through the alley at abnormal speed while he tried to guess her abilities.
• Jiang Mian sensed Ye Chenyang and two Security Officers guarding the alley’s exit and considered escaping by gliding or fighting.
• A First Order Security Officer fired a Stun Gun at Jiang Mian, and she used orange-gold flame to intercept the current, filling the alley with steam.
• Ye Chenyang struggled to sense Jiang Mian and concluded that she was strong and most likely a High-tier Sequence.

Jiang Mian and Du Biao confronted Ye Chenyang and the Security Officers, while Ye Chenyang recognized Jiang Mian as a mysterious ultimate Calamity and chose not to provoke her. Jiang Mian launched Du Biao into the air and sent a controlled fire dragon at the officers, where Xiao Ye stepped forward to shield the two First Order recruits and was suddenly covered in golden light.

• Xiao Ye judged that Jiang Mian was a dangerous High-tier, Second Order Aberrant and moved to protect Ye Chenyang.
• Ye Chenyang recognized Jiang Mian as the Calamity [Doom] and decided to conceal what he knew rather than risk turning her against humanity.
• Jiang Mian decided to break through the encirclement while holding off the Security Officers.
• Jiang Mian used a Wind Field to launch Du Biao into the air, then formed an orange-golden fire dragon and sent it toward the officers.
• Xiao Ye chose to face the fire dragon to protect the two First Order recruits, but faint golden light spread over him as he stepped forward.

Jiang Mian escaped with Du Biao while Ye Chenyang hid his abilities and helped protect Xiao Ye. The team realized the fugitives had gone west, and Ye Chenyang remained uneasy about Jiang Mian’s familiar aura.

• Jiang Mian slipped past Ye Chenyang and the others as Ye Chenyang secretly sensed her familiar, chaotic aura.
• Jiang Mian used her Wind Field to catch Du Biao and carry him through the air, despite the strain it caused her.
• Xiao Ye discovered he was unharmed and questioned Ye Chenyang, who claimed he had reached Second Order and used Flowing Colors.
• Ye Chenyang reflected that he had used Holy Radiance to protect Xiao Ye and planned to cover his unusual abilities with further lies.
• Ye Chenyang told the others that Jiang Mian and Du Biao had gone west.

Jiang Mian rescued Du Biao, learned that a supervised refuge for Aberrants existed and that West City was divided among rival groups, then left him with a warning. The chapter left her preparing to hunt Aberrants in West City while Du Biao was expected to disappear from Base City No. 144.

• Cheng Qiao arrived after Jiang Mian escaped with Du Biao, and Ye Chenyang was praised for blocking her attack on Xiao Ye.
• Jiang Mian asked Du Biao about the address she had previously investigated, and he described a gray-area refuge where Aberrants could enter under supervision.
• Du Biao explained that the Blood Gang and Black Kill controlled parts of West City, while smaller groups fought without intervention from the Containment Bureau.
• Jiang Mian suspected the authorities were letting Aberrants weaken each other by restricting Suppressors and considered scavenging among the survivors.
• Jiang Mian warned Du Biao to understand what to do when he returned, then disappeared into the rain, expecting him to vanish from Base City No. 144.

Jiang Mian watched West City’s Aberrants fight and saw a dying Bone Manipulator transform into a Head Spider that killed A Qiang and took over his body. The Head Spider then asked where it could find a new body.

• Jiang Mian surveyed West City’s chaotic streets and decided to gather Suppressors and advance to Third-tier before confronting Black Kill.
• Jiang Mian watched A Qiang, a Second-tier [Riots] Aberrant, beat a Bone Manipulator while the two argued about their past relationship.
• A Qiang strangled the Bone Manipulator, but the dying Aberrant’s head detached and transformed into a Head Spider with eight White Bone Appendages.
• The Head Spider pinned A Qiang, ate his head, and burrowed into his headless corpse.
• The corpse stood up with the Head Spider’s head and murmured, “Where... is my new body...?”

Jiang Mian burned through a Bone Manipulator and harvested the surrounding corpses, bringing her Calamity Core close to Third-tier while keeping her identity hidden. She headed west toward Black Kill’s base as Chen Gong faced pressure from an unknown employer to deal with her.

• Jiang Mian approached the Bone Manipulator, and it abandoned its borrowed body and fled after her Fierce Flame ignited it.
• Jiang Mian’s fire consumed the Bone Manipulator and nearby corpses, filling her Calamity Core to three-fifths.
• Jiang Mian concealed her presence and headed west toward Black Kill’s base, determined not to reveal her identity before leaving the Suppressor.
• Chen Gong told his disguised employer that Liu Mu had gone to Jiang Mian’s home and never returned.
• Chen Gong’s employer berated him for failing to deal with Jiang Mian, and Chen Gong agreed to try again because the employer could help him leave Base City No. 144.

Chen Gong agreed to follow Li Tian’s risky plan after learning the Containment Bureau was moving and his chance to leave the city was uncertain. A mysterious water-covered figure appeared in his office and attacked him, leaving him trapped beneath a massive water blade.

• Li Tian told Chen Gong to put the commission to kill Jiang Mian on hold because the Containment Bureau had begun moving and Jiang Mian had become a City Defense trainee.
• Li Tian offered Chen Gong a chance to leave the city if he came to an address alone and dealt with his men, and Chen Gong agreed.
• Chen Gong realized Li Tian intended to use him as disposable cannon fodder and smashed his desk in anger.
• A drenched, hooded figure appeared beside Chen Gong and threatened to eat him.
• Chen Gong attacked the figure with his Poison Blade, but it dissolved into water that formed a huge wind-wrapped blade as pressure pinned him in place.

Jiang Mian chose Tide as her Initial Skill after her abilities upgraded, then tested her new power by shaping rainwater into a controllable human form. She considered ways to make the water body more useful and disguised, while reflecting on the value others might place on her core.

• Jiang Mian cleared Aberrant corpses from the street, filling her core and upgrading Fierce Flame to Scorched Embers and Gale to Whirlwind.
• Jiang Mian reviewed the three Initial Skill options and chose Tide because it enhanced her strength and let her shape water into a controllable body.
• Jiang Mian endured a mild pain in her core as Tide took effect, then felt stronger.
• Jiang Mian gathered the rain and shaped it into a tall, voluptuous water woman that could follow simple commands.
• Jiang Mian considered adding compressed Wind Fields to the water body and using Skin Painter remains to disguise it.
• Jiang Mian realized her Apex Sequence core could be valuable enough to serve as material for Five-star Mutant Remains.

Jiang Mian confronted Chen Gong at Black Kill’s base, subdued him, and agreed to inspect his hidden valuables. When Chen Gong led her downstairs, he found the hall empty and charred, with his men missing.

• Jiang Mian tested her new ability, then headed to Black Kill’s base to settle her score with them.
• Jiang Mian revealed herself to Chen Gong and restrained him with a blade of wind and water.
• Chen Gong begged for mercy and offered his cash, Mutated Bone Weapons, and Calamity materials in exchange for his life.
• Jiang Mian agreed to see Chen Gong’s valuables, while he secretly planned to ambush her.
• Chen Gong led Jiang Mian downstairs and discovered that his men had vanished, leaving only charred patches in the empty hall.

Jiang Mian revealed that she had killed Chen Gong’s men and escorted him to his hidden safe, where she found cash, Mutated Bone Weapons, and Suppressors. Chen Gong tried to ambush her, but she stopped him effortlessly and snapped the tip off his poisoned bone blade.

• Chen Gong asked where his men were, and Jiang Mian claimed she had eaten them before laughing that she was joking.
• Chen Gong continued leading Jiang Mian to the basement while she reflected on killing his men and planned to use the Suppressors to investigate the Mutual Aid Society.
• Chen Gong opened a concealed safe made with a fragment of the Wildfire Calamity Core and showed Jiang Mian its contents.
• Chen Gong launched a surprise attack with his poisoned bone blade, but Jiang Mian’s wind pressure stopped him.
• Jiang Mian snapped the tip off Chen Gong’s blade and told him she did not like being pointed at.

Jiang Mian killed Chen Gong, took his weapons and Inhibitors, and headed to a warehouse to kill Li Tian. Li Tian waited there for Chen Gong, unaware that Jiang Mian was coming, until he noticed the rain had stopped.

• Jiang Mian subdued Chen Gong, forced living water down his throat, and destroyed his body with flame.
• Jiang Mian searched Chen Gong’s safe and took cash, three Mutated Bone Weapons, and thirty-six Type Three Inhibitors.
• Jiang Mian decided to kill Li Tian and flew toward the warehouse in North City.
• Li Tian waited outside the warehouse, expecting Chen Gong, and wondered why he had not arrived.
• Li Tian frowned when he noticed the rain had stopped.

Jiang Mian attacked Li Tian with controlled wind and water, then revealed herself as the force behind the assault and displayed three elements. She offered him a choice of three options, leaving his fate undecided.

• Li Tian sensed the unnatural stillness, dodged a water attack, and found the warehouse surrounded by rising water and a Wind Field.
• Li Tian called out to his unseen attacker and offered money or connections to settle the supposed misunderstanding.
• Jiang Mian appeared standing on the water’s surface and told Li Tian that the Black Kill members were sleeping peacefully.
• Jiang Mian showed Li Tian three elements, leading him to realize she was an Apex Sequence Awakened.
• Jiang Mian offered Li Tian three choices, asking whether he preferred the gold, the blue-green, or the black element.

Jiang Mian defeated Li Tian after revealing that his choices were all ways to die, then killed him and cleaned up the warehouse. She left for home after retrieving her hidden spoils.

• Li Tian realized Jiang Mian had outmaneuvered him and asked whether she had deliberately caused Li Hao's death.
• Jiang Mian mocked Li Tian and advised him to choose the same death as Li Hao, provoking him into attacking.
• Jiang Mian used her Wind Field to stop Li Tian, submerge him, and suffocate him before selecting the blue-green orb and trapping him in shrinking wind blades.
• When Li Tian survived the wind blades, Jiang Mian burned him to ashes and scattered the traces of the fight.
• Jiang Mian set the warehouse ablaze, restored the rain, retrieved her spoils from the roof, and headed home.

After killing Li Tian and Black Kill, Jiang Mian returned home, sorted her spoils, and reviewed the Mutant Bone Weapons she had acquired. She tested the Phantom Skin on a water construct and gave it a lifelike appearance, creating a potential double.

• Jiang Mian returned home, destroyed her raincoat and outfit, and organized forty-one Type Three Inhibitors, three Mutant Remains, and her money.
• Jiang Mian decided that the Training Program was probably compulsory and reasoned that her concealment ability and supply of Suppressors made attending less risky.
• Jiang Mian read the official catalog and learned how to use the Phantom Skin, Viper Fang, and Energy Binding Hand.
• Jiang Mian shaped water into a human figure, draped the Phantom Skin over it, and molded the skin into a lifelike person with a seductive appearance.

Jiang Mian finished experimenting with a lifelike water puppet and then learned that her leave had been extended before an escort mission the following morning. She prepared to go out for clothes and food, leaving the mission’s purpose uncertain.

• Jiang Mian inspected her lifelike water puppet, considered how to make it more realistic, and dissolved it back into water before going to bed.
• Qin Wu called Jiang Mian and told her that her leave had been extended by a day and that she must report to the Number Three staging area at the East City wall at seven the next morning.
• Qin Wu explained that several squads would escort important supplies from Base City No. 143, and he warned Jiang Mian to rest and stay alert in the Mist.
• Jiang Mian wondered whether the supplies were connected to the unrest in the city, then decided to stop speculating and go shopping for clothes and food.

Ye Chenyang searched West City for signs of [Doom] and suspected she had grown to Third-tier by feeding on Aberrants burned by her flames. He encountered Jiang Mian on the road and offered her a ride, while both privately wondered whether the meeting was truly accidental.

• Ye Chenyang found West City stripped of Aberrant corpses and traces, including the group near the factory district, and guessed [Doom] had consumed them.
• Ye Chenyang reasoned that [Doom]'s flames might turn her victims into nourishment and concluded she would choose water as her Third-tier ability to conceal her tracks.
• Ye Chenyang spotted Jiang Mian on the road between North City and South City and wondered if she was connected to the previous night's events.
• Jiang Mian suspected Ye Chenyang had followed the trail she left through West City, but kept to her routine when he asked why she was there.
• Ye Chenyang said he was off duty and offered Jiang Mian a ride to South City.

Jiang Mian worried that Ye Chenyang might suspect her, but she also feared he had become attached to her. She tested their relationship by asking if they were friends, dispelling his suspicion while leaving their dynamic awkwardly unresolved.

• Ye Chenyang gave Jiang Mian a ride to South City, and she wondered whether he suspected her or had feelings for her.
• Jiang Mian decided to keep acting carefully and test Ye Chenyang before choosing whether to kill him or run.
• Jiang Mian asked Ye Chenyang if they were friends, and he reassured her that they were and offered to help whenever she needed him.
• Ye Chenyang asked what Jiang Mian had come to buy, and she pointed toward an underwear store.

Ye Chenyang waited for Jiang Mian after her shopping trip, apologized, and realized his feelings for her were growing. As they walked together, Jiang Mian noticed his changing affection and tried to keep their relationship casual, while wondering why he hid his abilities.

• Ye Chenyang decided to stay nearby rather than leave Jiang Mian alone after their awkward exchange.
• Jiang Mian came out of the shop, and Ye Chenyang apologized for making her uncomfortable; she reassured him.
• Ye Chenyang recognized that he had begun to care about Jiang Mian and worried that revealing his feelings might frighten her.
• Jiang Mian sensed a shift in Ye Chenyang's aura and invited him to walk with her to steer their interactions back to normal.
• As they wandered the streets, Jiang Mian wondered why Ye Chenyang had hidden his abilities, and they stopped at a barbecue restaurant at noon.

Ye Chenyang stopped suspecting Jiang Mian of being an Aberrant and gave her a bracelet, while Shen Yuan investigated Li Tian’s disappearance and considered whether he had been killed by the Calamity [Mimic]. Shen Yuan planned to visit Jiang Mian before leading an investigation into West City.

• Ye Chenyang decided Jiang Mian was not an Aberrant and offered her a bracelet he had made as a gift.
• Shen Yuan added Li Tian’s name to the list of unresolved cases after Li Tian’s subordinates could not contact him.
• Shen Yuan reviewed Li Tian’s history and suspected he might have sought help from the Black Gloves to retaliate against Jiang Mian, though he had no proof.
• Shen Yuan considered that Li Tian might have been eaten by [Mimic], the Calamity still at large in West City.
• Shen Yuan decided to visit Jiang Mian to check on her before leading a team into West City.

Jiang Mian tried to figure out why Ye Chenyang had given her a powerful Radiance crystal bracelet before discovering a Fourth-tier visitor waiting at her apartment. Shen Yuan warned her about dangerous Calamities and left without accusing her, leaving her to wonder whether the bracelet had helped.

• Jiang Mian examined the Radiance crystal bracelet Ye Chenyang had given her and wondered whether it was a test or a gesture of concern.
• Jiang Mian sensed a concealed Fourth-tier Awakener in her building but continued upstairs to avoid arousing suspicion.
• Jiang Mian found Shen Ming and Inspector Shen Yuan waiting for her, and recognized Shen Yuan as a Fourth-tier Heavy Water Awakener.
• Shen Yuan warned Jiang Mian that dangerous Third-tier Calamities had appeared and advised her to avoid going out alone or visiting secluded places.
• After Shen Yuan and Shen Ming left, Jiang Mian wondered whether the bracelet had influenced the visit or helped her avoid suspicion.

Shen Yuan and Shen Ming ruled out Jiang Mian being a Mimic and headed to West City to investigate Li Tian. Jiang Mian prepared to investigate the Mutual Aid Society through a water puppet and entered a psychiatric hospital near North City Hospital to meet its members.

• Shen Yuan pointed out that Jiang Mian's high-quality Radiance crystal bracelet made it unlikely she had been replaced by a Mimic.
• Shen Yuan and Shen Ming drove toward West City to investigate Li Tian and the previous night's events.
• Jiang Mian prepared a camera-equipped water puppet and decided to use it to investigate the Mutual Aid Society.
• Jiang Mian used Du Biao's contact method and was brought to a psychiatric hospital near North City Hospital.
• Jiang Mian entered through the hospital's side entrance and approached the nurse at the front desk.

Jiang Mian used a sturdy, disguised clone to enter the Mutual Aid Society and undergo its membership test. After confirming her identity and ability, Number Two offered her a sealed tube of blood-red liquid and made drinking it the final condition for joining.

• Jiang Mian told Xu Miao that Number Eight had sent her, and Xu Miao escorted her to the Society’s underground floor.
• Jiang Mian entered Number Two’s office, where a burly Third Stage Aberrant blocked the door.
• Number Two asked about Jiang Mian’s illness, stage, ability, and rank, and she claimed to be a Second-tier [Mist Concealment] Aberrant.
• Jiang Mian demonstrated her mist ability, and Number Two dispersed the mist before it could fill the room.
• Number Two placed a sealed tube of blood-red liquid on the desk and told Jiang Mian to drink it to join the Society.

Jiang Mian infiltrated the Aberrant organization in Base City No. 144 and learned that its new Suppressor could control those who took it. Number Four explained how the drug affected him, and Jiang Mian spotted something surprising on the activity room’s blackboard.

• Jiang Mian pretended to drink the Suppressor, secretly storing it inside her puppet, and drew the number Six.
• Number Two sent Number Four to show Jiang Mian around the branch.
• Number Four came out of his drug-induced stupor and told Jiang Mian that the new Suppressor gradually influenced thoughts and made Aberrants obey orders.
• Number Four believed Jiang Mian might be less affected because she followed the [Cataclysm] Path, while his [Chaos] Path suffered the worst effects.
• Jiang Mian examined the activity room’s blackboard and reacted with surprise at what was written there.

Jiang Mian learned that the Mutual Aid Society planned to use a new Suppressor on High-tier Sequence Awakeners and was assigned to help Number Four and Number Eight. After the group chose her as the easiest target to turn into a “lamb,” she began considering how to handle the mission and leave the city on her own.

• Number Four told Jiang Mian that the Mutual Aid Society had ordered them to secretly dose the Awakeners in the Training Program with a new Suppressor.
• Number Four explained that the drug might work on Awakeners, then chose Jiang Mian as the easiest target after ruling out Ye Chenyang and Shen Qiuyu.
• Jiang Mian agreed to hear the plan and learned that they would act the next day during a City Defense escort mission outside the city.
• Number Four showed Jiang Mian a map of the underground pipes they planned to use to travel through the Mist, and she suspected someone had leaked the route information.
• Jiang Mian told Number Four she had her own way out of the city and privately considered handling him later.