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Ch. 381Protocol Birth

Chapter Summary: “Protocol Birth”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • After an Arbitration Court member named Rin approaches Chen Xuan about joining the Dimensional Limit Organization, she leaves abruptly, frustrating Honglian and leaving Chen with no chance to explain further.
  • Back at the Ability Store, Chen explains that he has no intention of joining the organization. Honglian admits she distrusts him because of his many secrets, but promises to remain at his side until they find the real Lin Qing.
  • Liu Li teases Chen and Honglian after overhearing their conversation. She then reveals that she once killed an Arbitration Court member named Rin during the battle at Northern Heaven Institute.
  • Liu Li’s description of that Rin—an ice-and-snow user with a ruthless personality—matches the abilities of the future Rin, but Honglian’s photographs show that the two women are not exactly alike.
  • This discrepancy leads Chen to realize the true function of Protocol Birth, an ability associated with Lin Qing. It can create or transfer a person’s background, abilities, memories, and destiny across time, effectively producing a new version of someone without altering the original historical events.
  • Chen concludes that the Dimensional Limit Organization uses Protocol Birth to preserve powerful abilities and continue missions through successors or “backups.” This explains how the past Rin could die while another Rin existed in the future.
  • He also suggests that Honglian and Lin Qing’s shared ability, Mind Fortress, may have been deliberately passed down through Protocol Birth and may be connected to the organization’s research into compatibility with cybernetic bodies.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan gains a major breakthrough in understanding Protocol Birth. He realizes that Lin Qing’s fate was not accidental but was imposed on her through an externally designed protocol.
  • Honglian reveals both suspicion and loyalty toward Chen. Although she feels excluded by his secrets, she reassures him that she will support him until Lin Qing is found.
  • Liu Li provides crucial evidence about the historical Rin and demonstrates her detached, matter-of-fact attitude toward defeating powerful enemies.
  • Lin Qing is reframed as someone whose life and mission were engineered by another person or organization rather than chosen freely.
  • Rin is revealed not to be a single continuous individual, but possibly a role, identity, or ability transmission reproduced across different people and eras.

Significant Themes

  • Identity and continuity: The chapter questions whether people remain the same when their abilities, memories, missions, or destinies are transferred to others.
  • Fate versus free will: Protocol Birth can impose a predetermined life path, suggesting that Lin Qing’s warrior identity was created rather than naturally developed.
  • Power and institutional ambition: The Dimensional Limit Organization’s claim to protect stability is exposed as a cover for collecting Wanderers and accumulating abilities in pursuit of global dominance.
  • History and causality: The existence of multiple Rins shows that the future can inherit or reproduce elements of the past without rewriting historical events.
  • The ethics of technological and biological transfer: Protocol Birth preserves abilities while potentially sacrificing individuality, raising questions about whether a successor is truly the same person.

Character Interactions

  • Chen and Honglian argue over secrecy and trust, but their exchange ultimately strengthens their mutual commitment.
  • Liu Li lightens the tension by teasing them, though her recollection of Rin becomes essential to Chen’s deduction.
  • Honglian contributes the photographs that allow Liu Li to compare the two versions of Rin.
  • Chen explains the implications of Protocol Birth to Honglian, using her shared Mind Fortress ability with Lin Qing as evidence of deliberate inheritance.
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Ch. 382Tracing Cause and Effect Backward

Chapter Summary: “Reverse Causality”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan and Honglian discuss the origins of Honglian’s “Mind Fortress” ability. It appears to be a form of exceptional compatibility with Cybernetic Bodies, allowing her to withstand over sixty percent cybernetic modification.
  • The Organization likely preserved Honglian’s ability through “Protocol Birth,” but the power was not inherited completely by Lin Qing. It may have been divided among multiple people or subject to strict limitations.
  • Chen Xuan concludes that the current Lin Qing cannot simply regain the identity or destiny of the original Lin Qing. Because history has been overwritten, her experiences and personality are fundamentally different. “Protocol Birth” cannot restore someone whose entire life has changed.
  • Honglian is saddened by the possibility that the original Lin Qing is gone forever, though Chen Xuan hints that there may still be another solution—before they can explore it, the current Lin Qing arrives.
  • Lin Qing announces that the Organization has agreed to support Frontline Band’s plan to destroy the Ghost Subway. It will provide unmanned weapons, advanced cybernetic limbs, supplies, and technology.
  • In exchange, the Organization wants everything recovered from the crashed spaceship except the two Destiny Wedges. The subway station has accepted the deal, with further compensation promised.
  • Chen Xuan suspects the Organization’s eagerness is connected to the mysterious black coin or another important item aboard the spaceship.
  • Honglian secretly signals that she could transfer the crystal box containing the “cargo,” but Chen Xuan tells her not to act yet. Because Jiangcheng cannot be exited easily, the Organization cannot simply remove the item, and revealing Honglian’s involvement could expose her connection to the future.
  • Lin Qing also reveals that Rin specifically requested Chen Xuan’s participation in negotiations. The Organization wants him to serve as a local consultant and liaison, making his role increasingly important and potentially dangerous.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Demonstrates a more nuanced understanding of altered history and identity. He recognizes that changing destiny does not merely restore old outcomes; it creates entirely new people. He remains suspicious of the Organization and carefully withholds information about Honglian and the spaceship’s cargo.
  • Honglian: Learns that her abilities may have been forcibly preserved and passed on by the Organization. She struggles with the idea that the original Lin Qing cannot be recovered and becomes emotionally invested in finding a way to reverse the damage.
  • Lin Qing: Shows enthusiasm and optimism upon learning that the Organization will aid Frontline Band. Unlike the original Lin Qing, she is an ordinary person shaped by a different history, though she now acts as an important intermediary between the subway station, Frontline Band, and the Organization.
  • Rin: Although absent from the chapter, she becomes more significant by specifically requesting Chen Xuan’s involvement, suggesting that she has a particular interest in him.
  • Frontline Band: Their dangerous Ghost Subway operation gains a much better chance of success through advanced equipment and weapons.

Significant Themes

  • Identity and altered destiny: The chapter emphasizes that a person’s identity is formed through both innate traits and life experience. Rewriting history cannot simply restore an earlier version of someone.
  • Causality and unintended consequences: Honglian’s early defection changed the Organization’s history, preventing it from inheriting “Mind Fortress” through Lin Qing and producing a different chain of events.
  • The cost of technological advancement: Cybernetic Bodies offer tremendous power but still carry risks of illness, insanity, and loss of self.
  • Trust and hidden motives: The Organization’s generosity is treated with suspicion because its interest in the spaceship suggests a deeper agenda.
  • Sacrifice versus survival: Frontline Band is prepared to use suicide squads, but the new equipment offers the possibility of preserving lives while accomplishing the mission.
  • The past versus the present: Honglian’s grief over the lost Lin Qing reflects the larger question of whether restoring the past is desirable—or even possible.

Important Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan and Honglian: They analyze the connection between “Protocol Birth,” “Mind Fortress,” and Lin Qing’s altered destiny. Chen Xuan tries to temper Honglian’s hope while hinting that another solution may exist.
  • Honglian and Liu Li: Liu Li raises the possibility that returning “Protocol Birth” could restore Lin Qing, prompting the discussion about why the current Lin Qing is fundamentally different.
  • Chen Xuan and Lin Qing: Lin Qing brings news of the Organization’s assistance, while Chen Xuan questions the terms and whether the Organization can be trusted.
  • Honglian and Chen Xuan: They silently coordinate over the mysterious spaceship cargo, with Honglian offering to move it and Chen Xuan deciding that concealment is safer.
  • Lin Qing and Chen Xuan: Lin Qing reveals Rin’s request that Chen Xuan join the negotiations, ending the chapter on a note of uncertainty about the Organization’s motives and Chen Xuan’s future role.
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Ch. 383A Banquet Invitation

Chapter Summary: “A Banquet Invitation”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • The Dimensional Limit Organization invites Chen Xuan to become a nominal collaborator and liaison.
  • Although Chen initially claims he will never join the Organization, he accepts the role to gain intelligence and access to its members.
  • Lin Qing is uneasy about the possibility that another version of herself could replace her identity and memories. Chen reassures her indirectly, while Honglian defends his loyalty to the original Lin Qing.
  • Lin Qing informs Chen about a banquet celebrating the Organization’s visit and its cooperation agreement with Frontline Band. She chooses not to attend because she considers the event wasteful and merely symbolic.
  • After Lin Qing leaves, Chen explains that he wants information about Protocol Birth and its inheritor. Since the ability may have existed before 2026, learning about its current user could help him locate the ability’s earlier incarnation.
  • Honglian warns that the Organization’s secrecy will make casual interrogation ineffective. Genuine infiltration would require years of effort, which Chen refuses to undertake.
  • Instead, Chen decides to attend the banquet with Liu Li, intending to use the gathering to pursue another method of obtaining information.
  • The chapter ends as Chen and Liu Li arrive at the lavishly prepared banquet, where they are welcomed by Stationmaster Du and the other guests.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Demonstrates strategic cunning and willingness to assume a dangerous intermediary role. He balances his need for information with concern over how his actions appear to Lin Qing. His determination to find Protocol Birth’s origins also shows his impatience with long-term infiltration.
  • Lin Qing: Reveals anxiety about losing her current identity if the memories of the other Lin Qing return. Despite this fear, she understands Chen’s desire to restore his missing friend and accepts that the outcome may be inevitable.
  • Honglian: Shows strong insight into Chen’s motives and acts as a quiet guarantor of his loyalty. She also provides a realistic assessment of the difficulties involved in penetrating the Organization.
  • Liu Li: Remains eager for direct violence, offering to kill the Organization’s representative again, but follows Chen’s more subtle plan by accompanying him to the banquet.
  • Stationmaster Du and Shasha: Display warmth toward Chen and surprise at Liu Li’s transformed appearance, reinforcing the banquet’s formal and unusually celebratory atmosphere.

Significant Themes

  • Identity and memory: Lin Qing’s fear centers on whether recovering another self’s memories would preserve or erase her present personality.
  • Loyalty versus compromise: Chen must cooperate with an organization responsible for immense harm without betraying his allies or principles.
  • Information as power: The banquet and liaison position are treated as opportunities for intelligence gathering rather than simple diplomacy.
  • Appearance versus reality: The cooperation agreement and extravagant banquet conceal the station’s scarcity and political tensions, while Chen’s polite cooperation masks his investigative agenda.
  • Time and inheritance: The continuity of Protocol Birth across generations suggests that abilities, identities, and historical consequences can persist through altered timelines.

Character Interactions

  • Chen and Lin Qing debate his decision to collaborate with the Organization, with Lin Qing initially suspicious but ultimately understanding his motives.
  • Honglian supports Chen’s explanation and recognizes the emotional connection between him and the original Lin Qing.
  • Honglian and Chen discuss the difficulty of learning about Protocol Birth through the Organization’s tightly controlled networks.
  • Chen rejects Liu Li’s suggestion of using force and instead recruits her as his companion for the banquet.
  • At the banquet, Stationmaster Du warmly welcomes Chen and reacts with surprise to Liu Li’s strikingly refined appearance.
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Ch. 384Probe

Chapter Summary: “Probe”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan attends a banquet with Liu Li, using the event to investigate Rin, an agent of the Arbitration Court.
  • Liu Li skillfully socializes with Du Pingzhang and other guests, surprising Chen Xuan, who had underestimated her knowledge of etiquette and negotiation.
  • Chen leads Liu Li to Rin and introduces her as his partner and an ability user. He secretly observes Rin’s reaction with the Divine Eye Method.
  • Rin does not consciously recognize Liu Li, confirming that Liu Li has been erased from or never existed in Rin’s memories. However, Rin displays an instinctive physical reaction—constricted pupils, trembling fingers, and visible discomfort—suggesting that Liu Li triggers some buried awareness or threat response.
  • Chen sends Liu Li away to obtain food so that he can question Rin privately.
  • Rin assumes Liu Li is a weak, ordinary person and suggests Chen was right not to choose her. Chen uses the conversation to learn more about the organization’s talent system and its plans.
  • Rin reveals that her eyes contain advanced detection equipment capable of evaluating ability users. Chen is the only person at the banquet whose presence triggers an alarm.
  • Chen learns that his previous “999” talent score was caused by a faulty, outdated machine. Although he has no valid numerical rating, Rin believes his talent is strong enough for him to become an Arbitration Court agent.
  • Rin explains that a liaison’s duties involve providing information and guiding agents, though she prefers working with ability users.
  • The conversation turns to the Gospel Society and Nano-Lifeforms. Rin expresses intense hatred for the Gospel Society, blaming it for creating the first Weapon-Grade Nano-Lifeforms and causing the Nanobug Plague.
  • Chen recognizes contradictions in the historical account: the Dimensional Limit Organization appears to have developed Nanoworm Technology first, yet the Gospel Society ultimately weaponized it. He chooses not to reveal his knowledge and instead asks about the state of the wider world.
  • Rin agrees to answer, but once again demands that Chen drink before she explains.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Demonstrates increasing strategic skill and caution. He uses the banquet as an information-gathering operation, tests Rin’s reactions, and conceals his deeper knowledge of history and the organizations involved. He also learns that his abilities are considered exceptionally promising.
  • Liu Li: Reveals that she possesses extensive social and diplomatic knowledge in addition to combat ability. Her confidence and adaptability allow her to manipulate social situations effectively. Her unexplained effect on Rin becomes more significant, suggesting a connection to Rin’s lost or altered memories.
  • Rin: Shows growing personal interest in Chen, appearing pleased when he denies having a romantic relationship with Liu Li. Beneath her polite public persona, she is arrogant and openly dismissive of ordinary people and weaker ability users. She also reveals herself to be strongly loyal to humanity and hostile toward the Gospel Society.

Significant Themes

  • Hidden identity and erased memories: Rin does not remember Liu Li, yet her body reacts instinctively to her, implying that memory loss or manipulation cannot completely suppress deeper recognition.
  • Talent, power, and institutional control: The organization evaluates and ranks ability users, placing enormous importance on innate potential. Its goal of producing “Omnipotents” suggests an attempt to control or reproduce superhuman abilities.
  • Historical revision and concealed responsibility: The official blame placed on the Gospel Society may be incomplete. Chen notices that the Dimensional Limit Organization may also bear responsibility for the development and spread of Nanoworm Technology.
  • Humanity versus transformation: Rin condemns the Gospel Society for abandoning humanity in favor of Nano-Lifeforms, while the organization itself appears committed to artificially modifying and cultivating human powers.
  • Manipulation beneath social politeness: The banquet’s courteous interactions conceal competing agendas. Chen, Liu Li, and Rin all probe one another while pretending to engage in casual conversation.

Character Interactions

  • Liu Li charms Du Pingzhang and demonstrates that she can navigate elite social settings.
  • Chen and Liu Li exchange playful but revealing remarks about her abilities and past.
  • Chen introduces Liu Li to Rin while covertly analyzing Rin’s reaction.
  • Rin questions Chen about his relationship with Liu Li and is visibly relieved when he denies romantic involvement.
  • Chen and Rin engage in a careful exchange of information, with alcohol serving as Rin’s playful condition for answering his questions.
  • Rin shares valuable information about ability detection, organizational recruitment, Omnipotents, the liaison role, and the Gospel Society, while Chen conceals the extent of his own knowledge.
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Ch. 385Superstorm

Chapter Summary: Superstorm

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan discovers that Rin is not antisocial by nature; she simply dislikes ordinary people. Alcohol makes her unusually open and talkative, provided the conversation avoids classified information.
  • Rin reveals the catastrophic global condition monitored by the Organization from space:
    • Major cities have been overrun by Nano-Lifeforms.
    • Survivors have fled to remote villages and wastelands, where inadequate infrastructure has caused famine, disease, and further mass deaths.
    • Nearly three billion people have already died from the Nanobug Plague, with the death toll expected to rise for years.
    • Large machinery left aboveground is dangerous because Nano-Lifeforms can “replace” it with identical organisms, leading to sudden and brutal attacks. This forces survivors to rely on small motorcycles and dismantle or hide vehicles when not in use.
  • Chen Xuan asks about the worldwide spread of Nanobug sandstorms and the existence of other Super-Large Nano-Lifeforms.
  • Rin explains that the Sky Patroller appears from space like the eye of a typhoon. Its surrounding storms cover more than half of Asia, while its central abyss is so deep and vast that it reaches beyond the atmosphere and cannot be properly explored.
  • She reveals that five Giant Nano-Lifeforms exist, corresponding to the world’s five major landmasses. Their movements create enormous storm systems that form five “walls of wind” across the planet.
  • These storms are expanding and may soon collide, particularly between North and South America. Rin warns that the resulting encounters between Giant Nano-Lifeforms could lead to further slaughter, assimilation, or even the end of the world.
  • Rin urges Chen Xuan to abandon Earth and use his abilities to help the Organization return to space, though it remains uncertain whether the Sky Patroller will ever leave.
  • Rin then questions Chen Xuan about his capture of a high-ranking Gospel Society ability user, who may actually be a former Organization member involved in an infiltration operation.
  • Chen Xuan uses alcohol as leverage, persuading Rin to drink before he shares information. Their private conversation grows increasingly intimate and candid.
  • As the banquet nears its end, Chen Xuan prepares to give Rin a gift he had brought for her.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan becomes more aware of the true scale of the global disaster. Although he has helped prevent humanity’s extinction, he struggles to emotionally comprehend the deaths of billions and the possible destruction of Earth.
  • He also demonstrates his usual cleverness and confidence by controlling the conversation with Rin, teasing her and making her drink in exchange for information.
  • Rin reveals a more sociable and emotionally open side. She discusses the Organization’s intelligence, life on the Moon Base, her personal history, and the bleak future facing Earth.
  • Rin’s apparent contempt for the people around her contrasts with the concern she shows for Chen Xuan, especially when she encourages him to go to space rather than waste his abilities on Earth.
  • Their relationship grows more comfortable and flirtatious as they drink and speak privately.

Significant Themes

  • The enormity of catastrophe: Humanity’s survival does not mean victory; billions have died, civilization has collapsed, and the remaining population faces long-term famine and disease.
  • Human helplessness before overwhelming forces: The Giant Nano-Lifeforms and their storms operate on continental or planetary scales, making ordinary resistance seem almost meaningless.
  • Secrecy and controlled information: Survivors and stronghold leaders conceal the truth about the global situation to prevent panic, while the Organization observes events from space.
  • Escape versus resistance: Rin presents space as humanity’s best chance for survival, challenging the surface survivors’ determination to continue fighting despite impossible odds.
  • Trust and intimacy: Chen Xuan and Rin exchange information through drinking and playful bargaining, suggesting that personal trust can emerge even amid political secrecy and disaster.

Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan and Rin share an extended private conversation at the banquet, gradually moving from classified global intelligence to personal stories.
  • Chen Xuan questions Rin about the Nano-Lifeforms, while Rin later presses him for information about the captured Gospel Society operative.
  • Their drinking becomes a mutual ritual: Chen Xuan refills Rin’s glass and insists she drink before he answers, and she accepts the challenge without offense.
  • The other banquet guests avoid interrupting them, recognizing that their conversation has become a private space.
  • The chapter ends with Chen Xuan preparing to present Rin with a gift, emphasizing the growing personal connection between them.
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Ch. 386Each with Their Own Agenda

Chapter Summary: “Each with Their Own Agenda”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan gives Rin an elaborate, jewel-encrusted music box as a gift. Though presented as a keepsake, it secretly serves as a surveillance device containing a miniature camera.
  • Rin is genuinely pleased by the gift, explaining that it is the first present anyone has given her. Once aboard the Dimensional Limit Organization’s spaceship, however, she has her assistant inspect it for hidden technology, nanobugs, or other threats.
  • The examination finds no abnormalities, confirming that the materials are ordinary and that the box appears to be a genuine handicraft. Rin keeps it in her cabin, unaware of its true purpose.
  • Rin and Captain Macaro discuss Chen Xuan. They estimate that he is at least a level-five ability user, making him exceptionally powerful and potentially eligible for the Arbitration Court.
  • Because Chen Xuan has no records in their database, the organization suspects he could be a spy. Rin proposes appointing him as a liaison so they can both recruit and monitor him, while promising to deal with him personally if he proves dangerous.
  • That night, Chen Xuan, Xu Xuanling, Xiao Jiu, and Liu Li use an Invisibility Talisman to secretly leave the subway station and approach the organization’s spaceship.
  • They avoid the station’s guards, robots, and surveillance systems by taking a long route through abandoned buildings near the Sha River.
  • Chen Xuan uses Shifting Forms, Changing Shadows to swap the genuine music box with a modified one containing a hidden camera. Xiao Jiu connects an antenna and begins intercepting the signal.
  • The camera reveals Rin asleep in her cabin, creating an ideal opportunity for Chen Xuan to infiltrate the spaceship. He prepares to use Castling to teleport or switch places with the music box.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan demonstrates strategic cunning and resourcefulness. His gift is carefully chosen to appear sincere while enabling surveillance, and he is willing to risk infiltrating enemy territory for intelligence.
  • Rin shows an unfamiliar capacity for gratitude and delight when receiving the music box, though her suspicion and caution quickly return once she is aboard the spaceship. She is both emotionally affected by Chen Xuan’s gesture and professionally alert to possible deception.
  • Captain Macaro views Chen Xuan primarily as a potential threat or recruit and reinforces the organization’s cautious, analytical approach.
  • Xu Xuanling remains fiercely confident and loyal, reassuring Chen Xuan that she can protect the group even against the organization’s forces.
  • Xiao Jiu contributes technical expertise by intercepting and decoding the hidden camera’s signal.
  • Honglian and Wang Baihu support the mission from the subway station, serving as the team’s backup and communications link.

Significant Themes

  • Mutual deception and hidden motives: Chen Xuan disguises espionage as generosity, while the organization plans to monitor him under the guise of cooperation.
  • Trust versus suspicion: Rin accepts Chen Xuan’s gift emotionally but still treats it as a possible security threat. Both sides recognize that the other may have ulterior motives.
  • Technology and supernatural abilities: The chapter combines advanced surveillance, nanobug detection, radar, and cameras with talismans and supernatural techniques.
  • Calculated risk: Chen Xuan knowingly enters dangerous territory because firsthand intelligence is worth the danger.
  • Value and appearances: The music box’s luxury craftsmanship makes it believable as a gift, emphasizing how appearances can conceal practical or strategic purposes.

Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan and Rin share a seemingly warm exchange over the gift, but both interpret the interaction differently: he sees an opportunity for surveillance, while she sees an unusually personal gesture.
  • Rin and Macaro debate whether Chen Xuan is a powerful recruit or a possible spy, revealing the organization’s cautious attitude toward outsiders.
  • Chen Xuan reassures Honglian that the infiltration is necessary, while she expresses concern for his safety.
  • Xu Xuanling openly promises to defend Chen Xuan, highlighting her loyalty and confidence.
  • The chapter ends with Chen Xuan poised to exploit Rin’s trust and unconsciousness, turning the gift into the key to a covert invasion.
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Ch. 387Seeking Truth in Dreams

Chapter Summary: “Seeking Truth in Dreams”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan successfully teleports into Rin’s room by switching places with a second music box. He carefully stabilizes himself on the table and catches two rolling pens without making a sound, demonstrating greatly improved reflexes and physical control.
  • He replaces the music box and hides inside Rin’s wardrobe, preparing to enter her dream. Because the Dream Master must sleep within the dream, he equips himself with an alarm system and emergency wake-up device monitored by Xiao Jiu and Liu Li.
  • After taking a powerful sleeping pill, Chen Xuan enters the dream and constructs a historically accurate scenario: the Organization’s assault on the Battle of Northern Heaven Institute in 2026.
  • Rin awakens within the dream, believing she is participating in an ongoing Organization operation. Chen Xuan poses as a familiar Execution Team agent and persuades her to follow the attack plan.
  • The dream’s realism depends on Chen Xuan’s detailed knowledge of the battle and the Organization, preventing Rin from immediately recognizing inconsistencies.
  • The operation begins, but Chen Xuan’s squad is soon ambushed in the western courtyard by the Mala Village Hunting Squad.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Shows remarkable physical improvement, caution, and strategic preparation. Rather than relying on ordinary conversation, he decides to use a shared, emotionally immersive experience to extract information from Rin. He also reveals growing interest in the relationship between abilities, souls, inherited consciousness, and memory.
  • Rin: Initially accepts the dream scenario as reality and assumes her role as an Organization operative. Her inherited instincts appear to influence her behavior: she unconsciously reacts with fear and rejection toward Liu Li, despite having no explicit memory of him or the event in which her predecessor died.
  • Liu Li: Although she does not directly appear in the dream sequence, her presence in the experiment is important because Rin’s subconscious reaction to her reveals a possible connection to her predecessor’s lingering consciousness.
  • Lin Qing and Honglian: Used as examples of inherited abilities and subconscious tendencies. Lin Qing’s resistance to the Organization may reflect the transmission of Honglian’s convictions along with her powers.
  • Xiao Jiu and Liu Li’s support team: Provide an external safety mechanism to wake Chen Xuan if Rin discovers him or the situation becomes dangerous.

Significant Themes

  • Truth through dreams: Chen Xuan believes that emotional immersion and shared danger may reveal information that ordinary questioning cannot.
  • Memory, identity, and inherited consciousness: The chapter questions whether Rin is merely a new person with inherited abilities or whether fragments of her predecessor’s personality, instincts, or soul also survive.
  • The nature of the soul: Research by the Gospel Faction and the Dimensional Limit Organization suggests that souls may exist and can potentially be preserved or manipulated.
  • Control versus free will: Rin appears to act independently, yet subconscious remnants from her predecessor may influence her decisions and emotional responses.
  • Preparation and risk: Chen Xuan’s elaborate precautions emphasize the danger of entering another person’s dream, where his own body remains vulnerable and waking may be necessary at any moment.
  • Reality and constructed worlds: The dream must possess a convincing logical background because those inside it instinctively resist contradictions. Chen Xuan therefore bases it on a real historical event he knows thoroughly.

Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan physically awakens Rin within the dream and assumes the role of a trusted Organization operative, giving her orders during the assault.
  • Rin questions whether she had been distracted, but Chen Xuan smoothly explains the situation and directs her attention toward the mission.
  • Chen Xuan commands the Organization’s troops, presenting himself as an experienced agent and encouraging ruthless action.
  • Rin’s unconscious reaction to Liu Li—fear and rejection despite lacking conscious memories—provides Chen Xuan with evidence that traces of her predecessor may remain within her.
  • The chapter ends with Chen Xuan and Rin’s forces encountering the Mala Village Hunting Squad, creating an immediate combat crisis that may intensify the emotional and psychological pressure of the dream.
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Ch. 388A Script Gone Off Course

Summary: “A Script Gone Off Course”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan enters an ambush he secretly planned and hides among the Mechanism faction’s soldiers to avoid friendly fire.
  • The Hunting Squad, aided by the Mind Method, overwhelms the Mechanism soldiers with extraordinary nighttime accuracy, evasive movements, coordinated suppressive fire, and even individual rocket launchers.
  • Chen Xuan calls in Rin, whose ice-based ability dramatically shifts the battle. She freezes the environment and kills several Hunting Squad members with ice crystals.
  • The deaths provoke the Hunting Squad into abandoning their planned retreat and launching reckless attacks, causing further casualties.
  • Liu Li arrives and counters Rin’s ice attacks with a Dimensional Slash. Her recognition of Chen Xuan and Rin creates a dangerous deviation from the expected dream scenario.
  • Chen Xuan attacks Liu Li with Strong Seize, but narrowly survives Liu Li’s deadly Quickdraw Technique through Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell.
  • Rin traps Liu Li within an icy domain, freezing her movements and piercing her with ice pillars.
  • Anticipating Liu Li’s counterattack, Chen Xuan pushes Rin out of the sword’s path. However, Liu Li’s attack unexpectedly changes direction or target, striking Chen Xuan through the chest instead.
  • As Chen Xuan appears mortally wounded, Rin becomes furious at Liu Li. Her anger unleashes an intensely destructive freezing storm across the battlefield.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Demonstrates strategic foresight, adaptability, and a willingness to sacrifice himself to protect Rin. He also realizes that the dream’s characters and events are becoming unpredictable, undermining his original plan.
  • Rin: Initially confident and disdainful of the Mechanism soldiers, she displays overwhelming power and grows increasingly emotionally affected by Chen Xuan’s intervention. His apparent sacrifice triggers a violent, protective rage.
  • Liu Li: Shows exceptional combat skill with both Dimensional Slash and Quickdraw. Her behavior diverges from Chen Xuan’s expectations, suggesting she possesses greater autonomy within the dream than anticipated.
  • The Hunting Squad: Their discipline breaks down after Rin kills several comrades. Rather than retreating according to plan, they pursue her, worsening their losses.
  • The Mechanism soldiers: Their confidence collapses as they confront civilians whose combat abilities and firepower far exceed expectations.

Significant Themes

  • Loss of control and altered fate: The dream is supposed to follow a fixed script, but character choices and outcomes begin deviating from reality and Chen Xuan’s expectations.
  • Sacrifice and protection: Chen Xuan risks death to save Rin, while Rin’s furious response reveals the emotional bond forming between them.
  • The limits of prediction: Even Chen Xuan’s advanced foresight fails when Liu Li changes her attack pattern, emphasizing that knowledge of the original events does not guarantee control.
  • Power beneath appearances: The villagers appear ordinary but possess extraordinary marksmanship, coordination, and weaponry; Rin and Liu Li likewise reveal terrifying levels of strength.
  • Dream realism and autonomy: Although Chen Xuan knows the battle is occurring within a dream, its pain, danger, and emotional consequences feel genuine, raising questions about how independent the dream’s fabricated characters may be.

Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan coordinates with Rin by calling her into battle, though she initially dismisses him and orders him out of her way.
  • Rin and Liu Li immediately become powerful rivals, with ice and dimensional sword techniques repeatedly clashing.
  • Chen Xuan intervenes when Liu Li begins recognizing Rin and later attacks Liu Li to create an opening for Rin.
  • Rin becomes alarmed when Chen Xuan exposes himself, warning him that Liu Li is beyond his ability to handle.
  • After Chen Xuan is struck while shielding her, Rin reacts with disbelief and anger, blaming Liu Li and unleashing her full power.
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Ch. 389The Accidental Ending

Chapter Summary: The Accidental Ending

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Liu Li attacks Rin and Chen Xuan, but her sword thrust misses its intended lethal target after Rin shouts Chen Xuan’s name. Liu Li is then caught by an icy crystal pillar and torn apart by frost, leaving Rin as the battle’s victor.
  • Chen Xuan is accidentally impaled through the chest. His original plan—to save Rin, gain her trust, and investigate her inherited abilities—fails because the dream’s events diverge from history.
  • Rin carries Chen Xuan away from the Northern Heaven Institute rather than continuing her assault on Green Grass Hall. She insists that he can still be saved through the Prophet and a mysterious “Preservation Ritual.”
  • Chen Xuan uses Blood Orange pills to stabilize his catastrophic injuries long enough to remain conscious and gather information. The pills freeze and seal his damaged chest but cannot truly save him.
  • Rin brings him to the Mechanism’s command vehicle and demands a satellite phone to contact headquarters. The call fails because the supposed contact line and Preservation Ritual are unknown to the people answering.
  • Xiao Kanong, unexpectedly present in the vehicle, reveals that he does not recognize Rin’s claims or the supposed headquarters procedures. This threatens to expose the artificial nature of the dream.
  • Chen Xuan distracts Rin and Xiao Kanong by worsening his condition through his Mind Method. Before the dream collapses, he pretends to thank Rin and dies—or appears to die—leaving the identities of the Prophet and the Preservation Ritual unresolved.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: His carefully constructed plan collapses, forcing him to improvise. Rather than ending the dream immediately, he struggles to stay conscious after learning that Rin believes he can be preserved or reborn. He becomes more desperate and manipulative, using his injuries and apparent death to prevent the dream from being exposed.
  • Rin: She unexpectedly shows concern for Chen Xuan and prioritizes rescuing him over completing her attack. Her belief in the Prophet’s ability to preserve or resurrect him suggests access to powerful secrets, though her confidence falters when headquarters denies knowing about the Preservation Ritual.
  • Liu Li: Her death demonstrates how dramatically the dream has diverged from the original history. Her suspicions of Chen Xuan appear to have caused her fatal change of intent.
  • Xiao Kanong: He appears in an unplanned role as the Mechanism’s commander. Though initially confused, he unintentionally helps Chen Xuan preserve the dream’s illusion by asking questions and delaying Rin’s investigation.

Significant Themes

  • Unpredictability and failed control: Chen Xuan’s elaborate plan is overturned by a minor alteration—Rin calling his name—which changes Liu Li’s attack and the entire course of events.
  • Dreams versus reality: The chapter emphasizes the danger of an “unnatural dream,” in which recognizing the dream allows the dreamer to retain memories and potentially disrupt the scenario.
  • Manipulation and improvisation: Chen Xuan constantly adjusts his behavior, exploiting Rin’s concern, Xiao Kanong’s confusion, and his own apparent death to obtain information.
  • Life, death, and preservation: Chen Xuan’s injuries, the Living Dead, Blood Orange pills, and the Preservation Ritual all raise questions about whether death can be reversed or transformed.
  • Unexpected emotional bonds: Rin’s urgent efforts to save Chen Xuan reveal genuine concern that contrasts with his earlier plan to manipulate her.

Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan and Rin: Their relationship shifts from calculated exploitation to a moment of apparent mutual concern. Rin angrily scolds him for risking his life, while Chen Xuan uses her concern to investigate the Prophet.
  • Rin and Xiao Kanong: Rin treats Xiao Kanong as an incompetent subordinate and demands his cooperation. Their conversation nearly exposes the inconsistencies in the dream.
  • Chen Xuan and Xiao Kanong: Although they have no deliberate alliance, Chen Xuan relies on Xiao Kanong’s confusion to support his cover. Xiao Kanong’s questions also create the danger that Rin will realize something is wrong.
  • Chen Xuan and Liu Li: Chen Xuan feels guilty about Liu Li’s death, even though it results from his plan and the altered dream circumstances.
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Ch. 390The Bond Between Classmates

Chapter Summary: “The Bond Between Classmates”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Rin awakates from a vivid, disturbing dream in which Chen Xuan reached out to her at the end. Though she dismisses it as a result of stress and changing workplaces, the dream leaves her feeling an unexpected sense of loss and attachment.
  • She reflects on the Music Box and admits that she likes the feeling of having Chen Xuan fight beside her, while criticizing her dream-self for being too weak to prevent the tragic ending.
  • Chen Xuan returns to the shop and recounts the dream to Honglian. They analyze the mysterious prophet Lotiya, whose ability appears to be extremely important but who is unknown to both the organization’s headquarters and Xiao Kanong.
  • They identify a major inconsistency: Lotiya should already belong to the organization if the dream’s future events are possible, yet Rin’s call to the organization’s dedicated hotline could not reach her.
  • Chen Xuan explains the Dream Master ability and how carefully he constructed the dream to make Rin believe she was participating in a real, present-day mission. He concealed dates, began the scenario during combat, and manipulated events so she would not realize she was witnessing a historical battle.
  • Honglian concludes that finding Lotiya will be difficult but not impossible. They know her name, title, and that she likely exists within the organization.
  • Honglian reveals that she has contacts at headquarters from her past as part of a centrally trained group of agents. She and Xiao Jiu were among children whose families had been destroyed by illegal ability users; the organization trained the survivors and placed them in various branches.
  • Chen Xuan realizes that Honglian’s old comrades may still help her despite her reputation as a traitor after collaborating with the Wanderer and crippling the Jiangcheng Branch.
  • The chapter ends with Chen Xuan wondering whether Honglian’s former classmates—and perhaps a particularly influential figure among them—helped her eventually rise to become the leader of the Resistance Army.

Character Developments

  • Rin: Her reaction to the dream reveals that Chen Xuan matters to her more than she consciously admits. She values their partnership and feels genuine loss at the thought of being separated from him.
  • Chen Xuan: He demonstrates careful control over his Dream Master ability and reflects on the consequences of making dreams indistinguishable from reality. He also begins reevaluating Honglian’s history and the possible network behind her rise.
  • Honglian: She is shown to have deep roots within the organization and a history shaped by trauma, training, and loyalty to her classmates. Despite being labeled a traitor, she retains confidence in the convictions of her former comrades.
  • Lotiya: Although absent, she becomes an increasingly important mystery. Her prophetic ability and hidden connection to the organization may be central to future events.

Significant Themes

  • Emotional bonds and hidden attachment: Rin’s dream exposes feelings she does not openly acknowledge, while Honglian’s history emphasizes loyalty formed through shared suffering.
  • Reality versus illusion: Chen Xuan’s Dream Master ability raises questions about whether an experience is less meaningful simply because it occurs in a dream.
  • Institutional loyalty versus personal conviction: Honglian’s betrayal of the organization may have been motivated by the same ideals that originally led her to join it.
  • Trauma and solidarity: The organization’s child recruits were united by the destruction of their families, turning grief and revenge into a lasting bond.
  • The hidden influence of history: The dream suggests that past events, concealed identities, and inherited abilities may be shaping the present.

Important Character Interactions

  • Rin privately wrestles with her feelings about Chen Xuan after the dream.
  • Chen Xuan and Honglian investigate Lotiya together, combining his knowledge of the dream with her organizational connections.
  • Their conversation reveals a contrast between Chen Xuan’s skepticism and Honglian’s faith in the loyalty of her former classmates.
  • Chen Xuan questions Honglian about her past and whether she truly overcame her desire for revenge, prompting her to explain the background of her training group.
  • By the end, Chen Xuan begins to see Honglian’s old classmates as a possible key to both locating Lotiya and understanding Honglian’s transformation into a Resistance leader.
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Ch. 391Wind Fills the Mountain Tower

Chapter Summary: “Wind Fills the Mountain Tower”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • First Mountain Tower, formerly called Building No. 99, has been extensively excavated by the Pioneer Team. Its exposed metal walls, windows, entrances, and advanced construction reveal technology far beyond that of the Six Nations.
  • Mala Village has undergone major development. Roads, construction, and excavation are being carried out efficiently with improved versions of the Deity-Summoning Art, which animates durable straw figures for labor.
  • Liu Shuyue’s research, based on Ji Yun’s cultivation manuals and notes, has greatly advanced the village’s arcane techniques. The Deity-Summoning Art has become more popular than the Lotus Cloud Sect’s Alchemy because it is useful both for work and for joining the well-paid Pioneer Team.
  • The Hunting Squad, led by Fu Jiaolu, has also grown stronger. Their combat experience from accompanying Chen Xuan to other worlds has accelerated their cultivation, allowing Fu Jiaolu to reach the level of an entry-level Lotus Cloud Sect disciple.
  • Liu Shuyue organizes an activation test for First Mountain Tower. Since the tower’s original Spiritual Energy source appears to be gone—replaced by a pit filled with dry bones—she attempts to power it by having the entire Hunting Squad inject Spiritual Energy into its underground pipelines.
  • At first, nothing happens. Then Liu Shuyue senses the tower beginning to glow with Spiritual Energy. Birds flee, and the tower starts shaking violently.
  • The apparent earthquake is revealed to originate within the tower itself. Mountain rock surrounding the structure collapses outward as four enormous metal bridges unfold from its middle levels.
  • The bridges extend several li in four directions and point precisely toward other mountain pillars, suggesting that First Mountain Tower is part of a larger interconnected system.

Character Developments

  • Liu Shuyue has become a capable leader, researcher, and innovator. She has advanced Mala Village’s techniques and devises a practical method to activate the tower despite the missing Spiritual Energy source. Her perception and composure allow her to understand that the tower’s “collapsed” walls are actually mechanisms opening.
  • Fu Jiaolu has made remarkable progress through the improved Heart Calming Incantation and his experience in battle. He now functions as a reliable officer within the Pioneer Team and Hunting Squad, faithfully carrying out Liu Shuyue’s commands.
  • The people of Mala Village are no longer merely villagers or cultivators with limited training. Through improved techniques, practical labor, and exposure to dangerous battles, they have become an organized and increasingly capable workforce and fighting force.
  • Chen Xuan and Ji Yun, though not directly present, continue to influence events: Chen Xuan provided the Hunting Squad with battlefield experience, while Ji Yun’s knowledge enabled Liu Shuyue to improve the village’s cultivation and arcane methods.

Significant Themes

  • Adaptation and innovation: When the tower’s original power source is missing, Liu Shuyue finds an improvised alternative by combining the Spiritual Energy of many cultivators.
  • The value of experience: The Hunting Squad’s rapid progress demonstrates that real combat and exposure to other worlds can be as important as formal cultivation techniques.
  • Community development: Mala Village advances through cooperation between cultivation, technology, organized labor, and shared knowledge.
  • Ancient technological mystery: First Mountain Tower contains machinery of extraordinary sophistication, hinting at a lost civilization or an enormous hidden network.
  • Discovery and danger: The successful activation of the tower reveals that exploration may trigger powerful and unpredictable mechanisms.

Character Interactions

  • Liu Shuyue directs Fu Jiaolu and the wider Pioneer Team, showing the trust and discipline within their working relationship.
  • Fu Jiaolu respectfully reports the Hunting Squad’s readiness and relays Liu Shuyue’s orders through the communication network.
  • Liu Shuyue’s improved techniques affect the entire village, linking her intellectual work to the villagers’ labor and cultivation.
  • The activation test unites the Hunting Squad, Pioneer Team, and straw figures in a coordinated effort, culminating in the dramatic opening of the four bridges and the revelation of First Mountain Tower’s connection to distant mountain pillars.
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Ch. 392"The Messenger"

Chapter Summary: “Messenger”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • The Hunting Squad exhausts its Spiritual Energy while activating Mountain Tower, causing the tower’s glow to fade and revealing that the structure has awakened only temporarily.
  • Liu Shuyue and Fu Jiaolu realize that the newly revealed sky bridges may connect Mountain Tower to other towers. Liu orders the cleanup and exploration of the fifth tower to become the village’s second priority.
  • Over the following three days, Pioneer Team reports reveal major changes throughout Mountain Tower:
    • Sealed doors and hidden rooms have opened.
    • Some rooftops glow when the tower is activated.
    • A grain-processing facility powered by Spiritual Energy is discovered.
    • A vast central chamber is found, containing a gigantic bone more than ten meters in diameter.
  • Liu Shuyue concludes that Mountain Tower is an extraordinarily advanced Spiritual Energy device, far beyond the Immortal Alliance’s technology. She begins to suspect that it was not abandoned but placed into a dormant state, awaiting activation.
  • She is troubled by the tower’s unknown purpose, the enormous bone within it, and the lack of knowledgeable advisers who can help her interpret its secrets.
  • County Lieutenant Tang arrives with a letter from Prefect Shen Fang. The letter reports worsening political conditions among the Six Nations:
    • The Mist Kingdom, supported by the Luo Kingdom, has invaded the Xia Kingdom.
    • The Luo Kingdom appears to be using the conflict to expand its influence and may eventually control the Mist Kingdom.
    • Jiang Ning, the Qi Kingdom’s new Immortal Master, has ordered the recruitment of children aged ten to eighteen under the promise of granting them immortality.
  • Liu condemns the recruitment as government-sanctioned abduction and doubts that ordinary children can easily become cultivators.
  • Her anger gives way to an important realization: everyone in Mala Village has achieved Qi-Sensing through Great Demon Blood, suggesting that Jiang Ning may know of—or have discovered—another method of forcing people into cultivation.

Character Developments

  • Liu Shuyue becomes increasingly aware of Mountain Tower’s vast complexity and her own limited understanding of it. Her curiosity deepens into both admiration and unease.
  • She also demonstrates stronger political judgment, recognizing the Luo Kingdom’s expansionist ambitions and rejecting Jiang Ning’s recruitment policy as exploitative.
  • Fu Jiaolu continues to act as a dependable administrator, immediately accepting Liu’s new priorities for exploring Mountain Tower.
  • County Lieutenant Tang appears nervous and deferential toward Liu, reflecting the changed political relationship between Mala Village and the authorities. Though he defends the child-recruitment decree, he clearly understands the risks surrounding it.
  • Prefect Shen Fang remains politically cautious, sending Tang instead of visiting personally because of growing tensions at court.
  • Jiang Ning is characterized as ambitious and potentially dangerous through his mass recruitment of children, while his connection to Lan Qin remains suspicious.

Significant Themes

  • Dormant power and hidden history: Mountain Tower appears less like a ruin and more like a sleeping machine whose true functions are only gradually being restored.
  • Limits of knowledge: Even Liu, one of the most capable figures in the region, realizes that she understands only a small portion of the tower and the wider world.
  • Political ambition and manipulation: The Luo Kingdom’s support for the Mist Kingdom may be a strategy for domination rather than genuine aid.
  • The abuse of power: The promise of immortality is used to justify taking children from their families, raising questions about coercion, authority, and exploitation.
  • The nature of cultivation: The discovery that Great Demon Blood can enable Qi-Sensing challenges the assumption that cultivation is naturally restricted and raises the possibility that other forced methods exist.

Character Interactions

  • Liu and Fu Jiaolu work together efficiently, with Liu directing exploration and Fu carrying out her orders.
  • Liu’s internal reflections show her frustration that the villagers lack the education to advise her, while Chen Xuan knows little about the Myriad Mountain Great Wilderness.
  • Liu and County Lieutenant Tang maintain a tense but formal exchange: she questions him sharply, while he speaks cautiously and defends the official position.
  • Their debate over the recruitment of children highlights Liu’s moral opposition to state coercion and Tang’s willingness to rationalize it as an opportunity.
  • The chapter ends with Liu connecting Jiang Ning’s actions to Mala Village’s use of Great Demon Blood, opening a new mystery about who else knows the method and what alternative paths to cultivation may exist.
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Ch. 393Seizing People

Chapter Summary: “Seizing People”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Liu Shuyue recognizes that Prefect Shen Fang does not truly support the King of Qi’s decree demanding that every region send young boys and girls to the Royal City. Shen fears both the decree’s cruelty and the possibility that the weakened royal court may punish him if he openly resists.
  • Shen has sent County Lieutenant Tang to provoke Liu Shuyue into opposing the decree, allowing Shen to preserve his reputation while shifting responsibility for resistance onto her.
  • Liu Shuyue agrees to intervene, declaring that no city or county in Qingzhou—or elsewhere—should comply with the King of Qi and Jiang Ning’s demand.
  • She reveals that the Six Nations are heading toward a chaotic war and that every prefectural city, including Zhangwei, will eventually become a battlefield.
  • Liu warns that if Jiang Ning can turn the recruited youths into rogue cultivators, sending them to the Royal City would effectively provide the King of Qi with a growing army. She therefore intends to seize Zhangwei and the rest of Qingzhou before they can become military bases or sources of recruits.
  • Liu tells Shen Fang that she wants the entire population of Zhangwei relocated to Mala Village. This shocks Shen and Tang, since the city’s residents are not refugees and would likely resist being forced from their homes.
  • Liu counters their objections by revealing that Mala Village has a genuine method of enabling even people without cultivation talent to begin cultivating. She offers Shen and Tang the possibility of attaining an “immortal fate” as well.

Character Developments

  • Liu Shuyue: Moves decisively from defensive isolation to active intervention in the political and military crisis. She accepts that conflict will find her regardless of how cautiously she behaves and chooses to reshape the situation on her own terms. Her plan is not merely to block the King of Qi’s decree but to take control of strategic territory and protect ordinary people from being used as sacrifices.
  • Shen Fang: Is exposed as a cautious political survivor. He tries to resist the King of Qi without openly rebelling, hoping Liu will become the public force behind his opposition. Her announcement that she may occupy Qingzhou destroys his ability to remain neutral and forces him to confront the scale of the coming conflict.
  • County Lieutenant Tang: Acts as Shen Fang’s intermediary and attempts to steer Liu toward intervention. His confidence disappears once Liu announces the mass relocation plan, revealing how unprepared he is for the consequences of her decision.
  • Jiang Ning and the King of Qi: Though absent, they become more threatening. Their recruitment decree is presented as a possible means of building a powerful army through forced cultivation, intensifying the urgency of Liu’s response.

Significant Themes

  • The collapse of political authority: The King of Qi’s desperate decree, the court army’s previous defeat, and the officials’ fear suggest that royal power is weakening.
  • Manipulation and political calculation: Shen Fang attempts to use Liu as a shield, while Liu recognizes his scheme and turns the situation to her advantage.
  • Inevitable conflict: Liu’s reflection that “the tree may wish for peace, but the wind will not cease” emphasizes that retreat and neutrality can no longer protect her or those around her.
  • Protection versus coercion: Liu opposes the King of Qi’s plan to seize children, yet her own proposed relocation of Zhangwei’s population also involves large-scale coercion. The chapter raises questions about whether force can be justified when used to prevent a greater catastrophe.
  • Access to cultivation and social transformation: Liu’s claim that ordinary people can cultivate challenges the existing hierarchy of talent and suggests that Mala Village could become a refuge—and possibly the foundation of a new power.

Character Interactions

  • Liu sees through Shen Fang’s indirect strategy and refuses to let him control the narrative.
  • With Tang, she shifts from being the person he hopes to manipulate into the authority who dictates the course of events.
  • During the meeting at the Prefect’s residence, Liu calmly confronts Shen with the consequences of his dependence on the King of Qi: Zhangwei could become a military supply base and target.
  • Shen and Tang are repeatedly stunned as Liu escalates her plans—from blocking the decree, to occupying Qingzhou, to relocating an entire city, and finally offering them the chance to cultivate.
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Ch. 394Overturning the Chessboard

Chapter Summary: “Overturning the Chessboard”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Liu Shuyue offers the people of Zhang Wei City the chance to cultivate and gain the ability to sense qi. Although she presents it as an “immortal opportunity,” she clarifies that she will bear the dangers and costs, particularly the need to hunt Great Demons for their blood.
  • County Lieutenant Tang questions her earlier claim that there was no easy path to immortality. Liu explains that the method is not convenient or risk-free for her, but it will be highly beneficial to those she teaches.
  • Liu’s circumstances have changed significantly:
    • She has already begun teaching villagers and modifying Lotus Cloud Sect techniques.
    • The sect’s restrictions on her have weakened.
    • The recent war has produced abundant Great Demon blood and other materials.
    • Her connection to Ji Yun and Ji Lian gives her access to those resources.
    • Her experience with a cultivator-led society has shown her that widespread cultivation can improve production, medicine, research, trade, and general prosperity.
  • Liu intends to relocate the people of Zhang Wei City to Mala Village in the Myriad Mountain Great Wilderness. She believes Mountain Tower can house tens of thousands and provide living conditions superior to those in ordinary human settlements, though it requires many cultivators to power and operate it.
  • Shen Fang worries that migrants may later regret moving and attempt to leave. Liu says they will be free to depart, since she is trying to protect and attract people rather than imprison them.
  • Liu reveals that her larger goal is not merely to preserve Mala Village, but to establish a new society—or effectively a new kingdom or massive sect—where everyone can cultivate to some degree.
  • She rejects becoming involved in endless conflicts among the Six Nations. Conquering Great Qi would only burden her with defending every city and province, while rival disciples and kingdoms would continue plotting against her.
  • Shen Fang agrees to work with Liu, recognizing that she has effectively decided to become the ruler of Qingzhou.
  • He advises her to turn the relocation into a public spectacle: spread rumors, create awe-inspiring phenomena, and publicly help a small group of people begin cultivation. This would counter the influence of Jiang Ning, the new immortal master of King of Qi, and establish Liu’s credibility.
  • Liu accepts the strategic value of Shen Fang’s advice and resolves to challenge the Lotus Cloud Sect’s control over the mortal world.

Character Developments

  • Liu Shuyue: Becomes more ambitious and openly rebellious. She moves beyond merely protecting refugees or managing Mala Village and begins planning a large-scale social and political transformation. Her goal is to break the traditional structure in which the Lotus Cloud Sect controls the mortal world through selected “immortal masters.”
  • Shen Fang: Shifts from a skeptical observer into a potential political ally. He demonstrates a strong understanding of public persuasion, authority, and social control, despite knowing little about cultivation.
  • County Lieutenant Tang: Represents the ordinary official’s astonishment at Liu’s offer and helps expose the apparent contradiction between her former statements and her current proposal.
  • Jiang Ning and Liu’s fellow disciples: Though largely absent, they function as looming political threats. Their growing strength and the prospect of their eventual return push Liu toward taking the initiative.

Significant Themes

  • Rebellion against established authority: Liu intends to undermine the Lotus Cloud Sect by making cultivation widely available rather than reserving it for sect disciples and chosen rulers.
  • Power and social structure: The chapter contrasts a bloodline-based royal hierarchy with a society where cultivation is broadly accessible and people can contribute through industry, medicine, research, and commerce.
  • The costs of progress: Liu’s plan depends on dangerous Great Demon hunts, the careful use of scarce resources, and the difficult task of moving and organizing entire populations.
  • Freedom versus order: Liu favors allowing people to leave Mala Village, while Shen Fang argues that rules and severe penalties are necessary to maintain stability.
  • Political spectacle and legitimacy: Shen Fang emphasizes that public demonstrations and symbolic displays are essential for convincing ordinary people to accept Liu’s authority.
  • Overturning the “chessboard”: Liu no longer wants to compete within the existing struggle among the Six Nations or follow the role assigned to her by the sect. She aims to create a completely new system that will eventually sever the sect’s influence over the mortal realm.

Character Interactions

  • Liu and Tang debate whether her method truly constitutes a convenient path to immortality. Liu distinguishes between the burdens she must bear and the benefits received by those she teaches.
  • Liu and Shen Fang discuss the practical problems of migration, including living conditions, desertion, discipline, and political persuasion.
  • Shen Fang proposes punishments for unauthorized departure, but Liu rejects coercion and argues that genuine migrants must be allowed to choose their own future.
  • Shen Fang ultimately accepts Liu as a political leader and offers advice on how to present her powers publicly.
  • While speaking with Shen Fang, Liu looks toward Kunlun and mentally addresses the Lotus Cloud Sect, declaring her intention to overturn the system that binds cultivators and mortals together.
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Ch. 395Classmates, Abigail

Chapter Summary: “Classmates, Abigail”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Honglian contacts former classmates from the Dimensional Limit Organization to investigate her expulsion and current situation.
  • Abigail, now an agent in headquarters’ disciplinary inspection unit, is the first to respond. She agrees to help but insists on meeting Honglian in person to verify her circumstances.
  • Because headquarters and the organization’s agents may pose a trap, Honglian suggests meeting Abigail at the New City Branch instead. Chen Xuan agrees to accompany her.
  • Chen Xuan and Honglian travel discreetly through Ao City, using the Walter Family’s private jet to reach New City. Walter also provides a property contract, giving Chen Xuan a new teleportation point through the Butler APP.
  • They observe the organization’s prominent New City office in the Condé Nast Building and discuss how the organization operates openly in major cities while still officially maintaining a concealed identity.
  • Honglian criticizes the rivalry and pride among the organization’s branches, noting that headquarters agents and local branches often look down on one another. Chen Xuan finds her comments amusing, especially because she knows how events will eventually unfold.
  • Abigail arranges a meeting at Mel’s Café near Times Square. Both sides disclose their companions, reducing the possibility of an ambush.
  • Honglian and Chen Xuan arrive at the café and find Abigail with one male companion. Chen Xuan confirms through his Mind Method that no additional hidden agents are nearby.
  • Abigail is introduced as a composed, imposing young woman with blond hair, a black cloth covering her eyes, and an unusually disciplined posture. The chapter ends as Honglian enters the room to meet her former classmate.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Continues to act cautiously and strategically. He recognizes the risks of entering the organization’s territory but decides to accompany Honglian because his abilities—particularly Guest Invitation and Shopkeeper Recall—give them an advantage in case of danger. He also expands his network of teleportation points.
  • Honglian: Shows both practical caution and emotional vulnerability. Although she is confident when facing enemies, she becomes visibly nervous about meeting Abigail after more than a decade apart. Her former identity and relationships within the organization still carry emotional weight.
  • Abigail: Is established as disciplined, authoritative, and apparently trustworthy, though her blindfold and role in disciplinary inspection make her motives uncertain. Her insistence on personally examining Honglian suggests both caution and professional responsibility.
  • The Organization: Its structure and internal culture are further revealed. It presents itself publicly through legitimate businesses such as financial consulting, while its branches compete for prestige and avoid admitting weakness.

Significant Themes

  • Trust after betrayal and separation: Honglian must rely on a former classmate despite not knowing whether Abigail’s ideals have changed.
  • The difficulty of confronting the past: Meeting an old colleague is more emotionally challenging for Honglian than confronting powerful enemies.
  • Caution versus cooperation: The characters must balance the potential value of Abigail’s assistance against the possibility of a carefully arranged trap.
  • Institutional pride and rivalry: The branches and headquarters are united by a common purpose but divided by status, pride, and competition.
  • Hidden identities and public appearances: The organization operates through respectable public institutions while concealing its deeper activities and capabilities.

Character Interactions

  • Honglian enthusiastically informs Chen Xuan about Abigail’s reply and explains Abigail’s reputation for fairness during their training years.
  • Chen Xuan questions whether Abigail can still be trusted and whether Honglian’s former relationships remain meaningful after so much time.
  • Honglian and Chen Xuan negotiate the safest way to meet Abigail, ultimately deciding to travel together.
  • During their journey, they discuss the organization’s branches, public image, internal politics, and past cooperation.
  • At the café, Honglian’s nervousness contrasts with Chen Xuan’s calm surveillance, emphasizing their different emotional and tactical approaches to the meeting.
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Ch. 396Mind Games

Chapter Summary: “Mind Games”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Honglian and Chen Xuan meet Abigail, Honglian’s former classmate and a senior member of the Dimensional Limit Organization. Abigail is accompanied by Reid, a battle-hardened disciplinary inspection agent and her deputy.
  • Reid’s handshake activates a curse on both Chen Xuan and Honglian: “Curse: Tremor Bomb,” which binds them to the same explosive fuse. Chen Xuan secretly removes the curse from himself through the Ability Store and later removes Honglian’s curse using the Butler APP.
  • Abigail introduces Chen Xuan as a Wanderer. He gives the improvised codename “World Mind” and remains guarded, immediately suspecting that Reid was deliberately brought to counter Honglian’s teleportation ability.
  • The reunion quickly becomes a tense interrogation rather than an emotional meeting. Abigail accuses Honglian of betraying the organization and contributing to the collapse of the Jiangcheng Branch by cooperating with an Illegal Wanderer.
  • Honglian explains that her loyalty is to Dimensional Limit’s ideals, not blindly to its current organization. She recounts the abuses committed by the Jiangcheng Branch and others, including unlawful detentions, harsh treatment of ability users, and corporate influence over the organization.
  • Abigail acknowledges that such corruption is widespread but argues that the Dimensional Limit Organization remains the world’s best defense against chaos and disorder.
  • Frustrated by Abigail’s position, Honglian decides to leave. Chen Xuan then reveals that the real subject of their meeting may be Ascension.
  • Chen Xuan claims that the organization’s approach to Ascension is fundamentally wrong and will eventually destroy the world. Although he refuses to provide evidence, Honglian confirms that she has seen the same proof and agrees with him.
  • Abigail’s attitude shifts: she still wants direct evidence but now understands why Honglian defected. She then announces that she must determine whether Chen Xuan and Honglian are secretly members of the Gospel Society.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Becomes increasingly suspicious and strategic. He identifies the handshake curse immediately, neutralizes it without revealing his abilities, and recognizes that the meeting is a trap or test. His confident accusation about Ascension forces Abigail to take him seriously.
  • Honglian: Shows disappointment in Abigail, realizing that her former classmate knowingly tolerates the organization’s corruption for the sake of maintaining order. She remains defensive of her beliefs but is visibly hurt by Abigail’s changed outlook.
  • Abigail: Is portrayed as controlled, pragmatic, and committed to institutional stability over idealistic justice. However, her reaction to the Ascension revelation shows that she is not entirely inflexible and may be willing to reconsider her position.
  • Reid: Appears as a capable and dangerous operative whose handshake curse is specifically designed to neutralize escape or teleportation abilities. His presence confirms Abigail’s distrust of Honglian.

Significant Themes

  • Ideals versus institutions: Honglian believes in Dimensional Limit’s original ideals but rejects the organization’s corruption and abuses.
  • Order versus justice: Abigail accepts wrongdoing as a necessary cost of preserving global stability, while Honglian sees this compromise as a betrayal of justice.
  • Trust and manipulation: The meeting appears friendly on the surface but is structured as a test, with Reid’s curse demonstrating that Abigail prepared for conflict.
  • Hidden knowledge and power: Chen Xuan’s secret abilities and knowledge of Ascension give him an advantage, while Abigail’s guarded behavior reflects the organization’s culture of secrecy.
  • The danger of Ascension: The chapter introduces the possibility that the organization’s greatest project may not save the world but instead lead to its destruction.
  • Changing perceptions: Abigail’s view of Honglian shifts after learning that she and Chen Xuan possess evidence about Ascension, suggesting that ideological conflicts may conceal deeper disagreements over the future of humanity.

Important Character Interactions

  • Reid’s handshake with Chen Xuan serves as both a formal greeting and a covert attack.
  • Honglian restrains Chen Xuan when Abigail accuses him of being an Illegal Wanderer, showing that she understands the danger of escalating the confrontation.
  • Honglian and Abigail argue over whether organizational corruption can be tolerated in the name of order.
  • Chen Xuan disrupts the confrontation by identifying Ascension as the true issue, shifting Abigail’s attention from Honglian’s alleged betrayal to the possibility of a catastrophic flaw in the organization’s plans.
  • Abigail ends the encounter by questioning whether Honglian and Chen Xuan are connected to the Gospel Society, leaving the meeting unresolved and setting up a further test of their identities and loyalties.
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Ch. 397A battle of wits

Chapter Summary: “Duel”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Honglian rejects any connection to the Gospel Society and questions why Abigail is involving the organization in their search for Rodiya.
  • Abigail, suspicious of infiltration, arranges a “truth test” using a revolver loaded with six bullets. Anyone who lies while repeating certain statements is supposedly shot.
  • Reed demonstrates the test by pulling the trigger four times without being harmed. Honglian does the same and refuses to make her companion undergo the test.
  • Abigail offers information about Rodiya if Honglian’s companion participates. When Honglian tries to leave, Chen Xuan stops her and takes the gun.
  • Chen Xuan deliberately makes statements in reverse—claiming to be a Gospel Faction member, planning to join the Gospel Society, being connected to it, and having known Abigail. The gun fires each time.
  • The bullets narrowly miss Abigail and Reed, forcing Reed to evade Chen Xuan rather than attack him. One bullet tears Abigail’s blindfold away, revealing her emerald-green eyes.
  • Chen Xuan returns the gun and claims he has technically passed the test because the weapon fires whenever someone lies.
  • The gunshots alarm the surrounding guests, so Honglian and Chen Xuan flee before the police arrive.
  • While escaping, Chen Xuan explains that the test was based on a curse ability called “Trembling Burst Bullet,” not on ordinary truth detection.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan demonstrates his intelligence, courage, and willingness to take risks to protect Honglian. He recognizes the loophole in Abigail’s test and turns it against her.
  • He also reveals that he can manipulate or transfer curses through the assistance of the World Mind, moving the “Trembling Burst Bullet” curse onto Honglian during her turn and removing it afterward.
  • Honglian shows strong loyalty toward Chen Xuan, refusing to let him face the test simply to obtain information. She also reveals her distrust of Abigail despite believing Abigail is not inherently cruel.
  • Honglian’s confidence and combat instincts remain evident, but she is surprised by Chen Xuan’s deeper understanding of the situation.
  • Abigail is shown to be manipulative and well-informed. She knows about Honglian’s abilities and uses that knowledge to create a dangerous test. However, her earlier relationship with Honglian suggests some emotional conflict rather than complete hostility.
  • Reed acts as Abigail’s enforcer but is caught off guard by Chen Xuan’s sudden attack and is forced into a defensive position.

Significant Themes

  • Trust and suspicion: The meeting is shaped by mutual distrust, with Abigail testing Honglian and Honglian questioning whether Abigail’s offer is genuine.
  • The danger of hidden abilities: The apparent truth test conceals a curse whose real function is activated by hesitation or fear, showing how powers can be misunderstood or weaponized.
  • Cleverness over brute force: Chen Xuan wins the confrontation by identifying the test’s flaw rather than overpowering his opponents.
  • Loyalty and protection: Honglian refuses to sacrifice Chen Xuan for information, while Chen Xuan takes the risk himself to protect her and expose Abigail’s trap.
  • Manipulation of truth: By speaking false statements that trigger the gun, Chen Xuan exposes how the test depends on the curse’s mechanism rather than objective truth.

Character Interactions

  • Abigail and Honglian clash over the Gospel Society and the need for verification.
  • Reed conducts the test and pressures Honglian’s companion to participate.
  • Honglian protects Chen Xuan by refusing to let him undergo the test.
  • Chen Xuan overrides her decision, confronts Abigail and Reed, and turns the test into a threat against them.
  • Afterward, Honglian questions Chen Xuan about his actions, while he explains the curse and reveals that the World Mind told him about Abigail’s ability.
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Ch. 398There's a Mole in the Organization!

Chapter Summary: “There Is a Mole in the Organization!”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Chen Xuan examines Abigail’s ability and discovers that she possesses “Barrier” LV10 (Restricted), gold—the first level-ten gold ability he has seen. Its maximum level and the “Restricted” label make it unusually mysterious.
  • Chen Xuan and Honglian return from the café incident and prepare to leave New City. On their journey, Chen Xuan observes the city’s severe social decline: prosperous streets coexist with neglected homeless people, illustrating the effects of Erosion points.
  • Abigail and her adjutant, Reed, unexpectedly visit Chen Xuan and Honglian at their hotel before their flight.
  • Abigail apologizes for her earlier harsh behavior, particularly for disregarding Honglian’s feelings during the meeting. Reed also offers to remove the ability he had previously placed on them as a precaution against Gospel Society manipulation.
  • Reed discovers that both Chen Xuan and Honglian no longer possess traces of his ability, demonstrating Chen Xuan’s unusual power to remove or neutralize abilities. Abigail recognizes this as precisely the kind of power the Agency needs.
  • Abigail reveals that she is also searching for Rotia, the person Chen Xuan and Honglian are seeking. She shows them Rotia’s photograph and explains that Rotia was once a Gospel Society member who voluntarily defected to the Agency.
  • A week earlier, the Gospel Society attacked a New City Branch safe house, killing five people while apparently trying to capture Rotia. The safe house was destroyed, and Rotia disappeared.
  • Abigail was sent by the Discipline Inspection Unit to investigate the incident, but she has encountered obstruction at every turn. She concludes that the Gospel Society may have infiltrated the Agency itself, suggesting the existence of a deeply embedded mole or traitorous network.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan continues to display his analytical nature, studying Abigail’s rare ability and recognizing the significance of his own ability-erasing power. His observations also reveal increasing awareness of the wider social consequences of Erosion.
  • Honglian remains suspicious and confrontational toward Abigail, challenging her authority and motives. However, Abigail’s sincere apology catches her off guard and slightly softens the tension between them.
  • Abigail is shown to be more self-aware and honorable than previously suggested. She is willing to admit fault, apologize directly, and reveal sensitive information about the Agency’s internal crisis.
  • Reed acts obediently and professionally, attempting to remove the ability he placed on Chen Xuan and Honglian. His shock at finding no trace of it reinforces how abnormal Chen Xuan and Honglian are.
  • Rotia becomes a more complicated figure: she is not simply a Gospel Society member or Agency operative, but a former Gospel defector whose disappearance may be connected to a major internal conspiracy.

Significant Themes

  • Institutional distrust and infiltration: The chapter shifts the danger from an external enemy to the possibility that the Gospel Society has compromised the Agency from within.
  • Power and control: Chen Xuan’s ability to erase or neutralize abilities makes him strategically valuable, while Abigail’s restricted Barrier suggests that great power may come with hidden conditions.
  • Appearances versus reality: Abigail’s blindfold, Rotia’s uncertain allegiance, and the Agency’s apparent security all conceal deeper truths.
  • Social decay and indifference: The homeless people in New City symbolize how Erosion has damaged society—not only materially, but also by making people ignore suffering around them.
  • Accountability and cooperation: Abigail’s apology marks a move away from hostility and toward collaboration, though trust remains limited.

Important Character Interactions

  • Chen Xuan and Honglian debate the meaning of Abigail’s ability and whether it reflects her personality.
  • Abigail and Honglian clash over Abigail’s earlier treatment of them, but Abigail’s apology forces Honglian to reconsider her assumptions.
  • Reed’s failed attempt to remove his ability from Chen Xuan and Honglian confirms Chen Xuan’s unusual capabilities.
  • Abigail presents Rotia’s connection to both the Gospel Society and the Agency, compelling Chen Xuan and Honglian to reassess their search.
  • The chapter ends with Abigail warning them that the Gospel Society may have penetrated the Agency, transforming their investigation into a potential internal conspiracy.
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Ch. 399Limited Cooperation

Chapter Summary: “Limited Cooperation”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Abigail reveals that the suspected Gospel Society infiltration may extend throughout the Dimensional Limit Organization, not merely the New City branch. She suspects someone is obstructing the investigation from within, though she lacks proof.
  • Chen Xuan refuses to explain how he learned about Luo Diya, while Honglian also withholds information unless Abigail is willing to leave the Organization.
  • Reid objects to any plan that might weaken Dimensional Limit, warning that its collapse could plunge the world into chaos. Chen Xuan notices that even headquarters agents have become uncertain of the Organization’s strength.
  • Abigail explains that her initial investigation of Honglian was partly a test to determine whether she was connected to Gospel Society. However, Abigail now asks Chen Xuan and Honglian for help finding Luo Diya.
  • Cooperation would violate Organization regulations, potentially resulting in life imprisonment. Abigail nevertheless believes Honglian is trustworthy and insists that she has not betrayed her principles.
  • Abigail warns that Gospel Society is actively hunting Luo Diya and will execute her if they find her. She cannot safely use the New City branch’s Execution Team because the suspected mole might compromise the operation.
  • Chen Xuan realizes that Luo Diya’s survival may be essential to the future he knows, including Rin’s existence and Luo Diya’s eventual transformation into the Organization’s “Lady Oracle.”
  • After considering the potential consequences of further disrupting history, Chen Xuan agrees to cooperate. Honglian follows his decision.
  • Abigail will gather intelligence through her own contacts, while Chen Xuan and Honglian act as the operational team. Reid is assigned to contact them the following day.
  • After Abigail and Reid leave, Honglian and Chen Xuan conclude that Luo Diya must be extraordinarily important, since Gospel Society is willing to infiltrate and directly challenge Dimensional Limit to reclaim her.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan: Moves from distrust and hostility toward the Organization to accepting limited cooperation for the sake of preserving the future and preventing greater chaos. He shows increased awareness of how his present actions can alter history.
  • Honglian: Demonstrates loyalty to Chen Xuan and readiness to oppose both the Organization and Gospel Society when necessary. She also recognizes the unusual importance of Luo Diya.
  • Abigail: Emerges as pragmatic, perceptive, and morally independent. Though loyal to the Organization, she is willing to violate its rules to expose internal corruption and save Luo Diya. Her trust in Honglian reveals her ability to judge character beyond official regulations.
  • Reid: Represents concern for the Organization’s stability and the wider consequences of weakening it. Though he disapproves of Abigail’s plan, he supports her judgment and participation.
  • Luo Diya: Although absent, becomes increasingly central to the conflict. Her defection is important enough for Gospel Society to risk an unprecedented confrontation with Dimensional Limit.

Significant Themes

  • Limited cooperation despite opposing loyalties: Former enemies temporarily unite because a greater threat endangers everyone.
  • Institutional corruption and mistrust: The suspected mole makes official authority unreliable, forcing Abigail to work outside established procedures.
  • The burden of changing history: Chen Xuan must balance his knowledge of the future against the unpredictable consequences of interfering with it.
  • Individual importance within larger conflicts: Luo Diya’s fate may affect the future of entire organizations and even the existence of other characters.
  • Order versus necessary rule-breaking: Abigail breaks Organization regulations not out of rebellion, but to preserve its deeper purpose and prevent its destruction.

Character Interactions

  • Abigail questions Chen Xuan and Honglian about their information and motives, while they remain guarded.
  • Reid openly challenges Chen Xuan’s anti-Organization attitude, creating tension over whether Dimensional Limit should be protected.
  • Abigail and Honglian establish mutual trust, with Abigail asking her to become part of a covert operation.
  • Honglian defers the final decision to Chen Xuan, and he accepts responsibility for the alliance.
  • The chapter ends with Chen Xuan and Honglian recognizing that their temporary partnership with Abigail may be the only way to find Luo Diya before Gospel Society does.
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Ch. 400Tracking a trail through the lost city

Chapter Summary: “Tracking Through the Lost City”

Key Plot Points and Events

  • Reid arrives with documents explaining Luo Diya’s disappearance, demonstrating Abigail’s willingness to cooperate and share intelligence.
  • Luo Diya had initially been considered an ordinary case among many people seeking entry into the Dimensional Limit Organization. Her psychological ability scored only 68, but she was retained because she had defected from the Gospel Society and later joined the Logistics Team.
  • Following her disappearance, the organization gathered former Gospel Society members in a suburban safe house after learning that Gospel agents had arrived from Europe to eliminate defectors.
  • The safe house was betrayed and attacked. The building was burned, five people were killed, and Luo Diya escaped during the battle. Evidence later showed that she—not the other defectors—had been the attackers’ main target.
  • The incident exposed serious failures in the New City branch’s intelligence and security systems, suggesting possible internal betrayal. Abigail was sent to investigate but received little support from headquarters or the local branch.
  • A former classmate unexpectedly contacted Abigail and asked her to find Luo Diya, adding a personal and mysterious dimension to the case.
  • Abigail’s latest lead identifies Abdullah, an underworld-connected man who runs an underground hotel in Brooklyn District and allegedly sheltered the Gospel Society agents. The group’s next mission is to capture him and force him to reveal their location.

Character Developments

  • Chen Xuan continues to act strategically, using his knowledge of the organization’s deepest secrets—especially Ascension—to unsettle and probe Reid. He recognizes the weaknesses in the organization’s investigation and focuses on practical ways to track Luo Diya.
  • Honglian shows growing skepticism toward the organization’s confidence and dismissive attitude toward the Gospel Society. She also objects when Reid speaks too casually about World Erosion and the organization’s priorities.
  • Reid is revealed as a hardened operative who trusts interrogation and coercion. He dismisses the Gospel Society as a minor threat but is clearly interested in what Chen Xuan knows about Ascension.
  • Abigail emerges as cautious and principled. Her concern is less about the Gospel Society itself than about internal conflict, infiltration, and the catastrophic consequences of World Erosion. Her willingness to understand Honglian’s betrayal suggests that her true priorities are tied to humanity’s survival and the truth behind Ascension.
  • Luo Diya remains absent, but the chapter establishes that she is important enough to be specifically targeted, implying that she may possess valuable information or abilities.

Significant Themes

  • Institutional failure and internal corruption: The safe house’s location was leaked, and the organization’s investigation is hindered by distrust, poor cooperation, and possible insiders.
  • The limits of official narratives: Reid dismisses the Gospel Society, while Chen Xuan suggests the organization’s theories about World Erosion are outdated or incorrect.
  • Knowledge as leverage: Chen Xuan’s information about Ascension gives him power over Reid and Abigail, while the organization’s hidden research appears to influence major betrayals and alliances.
  • Conflicting priorities: Characters must balance organizational loyalty, personal morality, political conflict, and the larger question of humanity’s survival.
  • The danger of underestimating enemies: The organization treats both Luo Diya and the Gospel Society as relatively unimportant, yet their actions reveal a coordinated and increasingly dangerous threat.

Character Interactions

  • Reid and Chen Xuan exchange guarded information, with Chen Xuan challenging Reid’s assumptions about the Gospel Society and World Erosion.
  • Honglian openly pushes back against Reid’s dismissive comments, though Chen Xuan prevents the argument from escalating.
  • Reid probes Chen Xuan about Ascension, but Chen Xuan refuses to explain and instead uses the subject to pressure him.
  • Abigail communicates with the group through a formal mission briefing, directing them toward Abdullah.
  • Reid volunteers to handle the interrogation, making clear that Chen Xuan and Honglian only need to capture Abdullah while he uses harsher methods to extract information.
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