Recaps

Xu Huo learned about Yu Kingdom’s divided capital, its history of factional warfare, and its unusual belief that people supplied power to the Supreme God. He investigated the Imperial Treasure and the Supreme God Tribunal, but the treasure’s nature and its connection to the country’s leadership remained unclear.

• Xu Huo surveyed Yu Kingdom’s capital and learned how the government separated ordinary residents from Players and regulated factional disputes.
• Xu Huo heard about Yu Kingdom’s frequent wars and the many conflicting rumors surrounding the Imperial Treasure.
• Xu Huo learned that Yu Kingdom’s people believed the night drew power from them and that their faith helped sustain the Supreme God.
• Xu Huo researched the origins of the religion and found that a ruler had once weakened religious authority by declaring the people the Supreme God’s source of power.
• Xu Huo looked into the former Supreme God Tribunal and the current and previous Chief Executives, but found no clear explanation for the Imperial Treasure.

Xu Huo researched the Imperial Treasure and concluded it was unlikely to be a person, then went with the painted woman to visit historian Shi Qing. He arrived at Shi Qing’s rundown apartment building and was asked by an old woman whether he was looking for someone.

• Xu Huo read theories that the Imperial Treasure was wealth, a token of authority, or a Player from a historic supervisor family.
• Xu Huo learned that the previous Chief Executive had escaped Yu Kingdom hidden inside an item and had later disappeared.
• Xu Huo reviewed reports of factions claiming to find the Imperial Treasure, all of which ended in defeat by the current Chief Executive.
• Xu Huo took the painted woman to meet historian Shi Qing at his apartment building in the capital.
• An old woman spoke to Xu Huo through her window bars and asked whether he had family in the building.

Xu Huo visited Professor Shi to learn about the Assassin Family and its supposed connection to the Imperial Treasure. Professor Shi argued that the family’s descendants still operated in the capital, and Xu Huo found a report about an A-class Player killed there six months earlier.

• An old woman led Xu Huo and the painted woman to Professor Shi’s apartment.
• Professor Shi told Xu Huo that he had already documented the Assassin Family and the Imperial Treasure theory on the Jixin Terminal.
• Professor Shi recounted how Official Peng served the ruler, returned after a secret mission, and vanished with his family after the ruler died.
• Professor Shi said the Assassin Family likely still had descendants in the capital and may have helped drive out the former Chief Executive.
• Professor Shi showed Xu Huo newspaper reports about powerful Players who disappeared or died, and Xu Huo selected an article about an A-class Player found headless in public.

Xu Huo learned more about Yu Kingdom’s lost history and the unresolved assassinations of powerful Players, then left Professor Shi a housekeeping robot to repair the building. After investigating the newspaper footage, he was followed by two Outer District Players and dealt with them, finding that they had been investigating the Chief Executive’s long absence and medical records.

• Xu Huo discussed the possible descendants of Official Peng and Yu Kingdom’s history with Professor Shi, who explained that historical records had been lost and the country remained divided.
• Xu Huo gave Professor Shi a housekeeping robot to inspect the building’s utilities and dig an underground passage.
• Xu Huo watched footage of the assassinations and learned that investigators had never established whether the culprit was a Player working for the government.
• Xu Huo asked a reporter whether a government official called God of Night existed, but the reporter had never heard of the name.
• Two Outer District Players followed Xu Huo, and he dealt with them in a secluded corner.
• Xu Huo found that the two Players had collected information about the Chief Executive’s absence, medical visits, and pharmaceutical purchases.

Xu Huo and the painted woman stopped at a roadside snack shop, where she offered throat lozenges to a sick boy. As they continued on, Xu Huo teased her with a lesson in deception, ending with her discovering that he had eaten a sour fruit just to fool her.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman ate at a roadside snack shop, where the owner explained that his coughing son was naturally frail.
• The painted woman gave the boy throat lozenges, and Xu Huo pretended not to notice her taking two fruits when they paid.
• Xu Huo advised the painted woman to let others fall for a tempting bait rather than openly trying to trick them.
• Xu Huo repeatedly kept the fruit core from the painted woman while making her guess whether the fruit was sweet or sour.
• The painted woman eventually got the core, tasted it, and threw it down after realizing the fruit was sour.
• Xu Huo bought her ice cream and explained that the pleasure of tricking her outweighed the unpleasant taste of the fruit.

Xu Huo investigated leads on the Imperial Treasure and joined a gathering of players from the defending faction to exchange information about the Dungeon. The group began sharing their findings, including Wu Zishuang’s unusual insider information.

• Xu Huo paid several amateur codebreakers to record their materials about the Imperial Treasure.
• A masked man watched Xu Huo and the painted woman in the park, then openly followed them as they left.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman met players at a restaurant and verified their identities by writing out parts of the Dungeon’s background.
• Xu Huo introduced himself as Xu Zhi and the painted woman as Xiao Chun, while the other players gave their names.
• Xiao Mei proposed trading information, and Wu Zishuang revealed that he had an unusual piece of insider information.

Xu Huo and the others exchanged clues about the Imperial Treasure, the previous Chief Executive, and the assassination of a Player believed to have found it. Their leads pointed to a mysterious figure and a Tribunal believer, but the group had not yet identified the treasure or its whereabouts when He Liang brought out a metal case.

• Fei Jingyi said the previous Chief Executive might have been a Player, while Wu Zishuang described evidence that an unidentified person had fled the scene after a Player suspected of finding the Imperial Treasure was killed.
• Fei Jingyi said government employees had resisted revealing information about Lian Qingkong, and she concluded that the government was probably not behind the assassination.
• Wu Zishuang said he had found a witness who had seen the suspected assassin near his home before the person disappeared after the killing.
• Xiao Mei revealed that the previous Chief Executive had visited a Tribunal believer shortly before the Tribunal was bombed, and that the believer had preserved a cleaner’s severed arm to make her seem dead.
• Fu Kuai asked how long before the bombing the visit had occurred, and Xiao Mei said it had been three days; she added that the surviving cleaner was too mentally impaired to question.
• He Liang announced it was his turn and placed a grimy metal case on the table.

He Liang revealed that a stolen box might contain a clue to the Imperial Treasure, but the group could not open it without risking its destruction. They weighed three ways forward: continue tracking the treasure, investigate a plaque at the Supreme God Tribunal, or ask Lian Qingkong's government for help.

• He Liang showed the group an encrypted box that required the dead player's biometric authentication, and they set it aside rather than risk destroying its contents.
• Xu Huo described a masked faction with matching badges that had killed someone he was investigating, while Fu Kuai reported that Players were being kidnapped across District 039.
• The painted woman sketched the masked figures and wrote down details about their clothes, masks, shoes, and silence.
• Fu Kuai suggested asking Lian Qingkong to help clear the Dungeon, and the group discussed the risks of approaching the Yu Kingdom government.
• The group identified three possible leads: follow Wu Zishuang's investigation, look into the plaque at the Supreme God Tribunal, or seek help from the Yu Kingdom government.
• He Liang urged everyone to open his box first.

Xu Huo and the others sought answers from the Yu Kingdom government about the Imperial Treasure and learned that its historical claims were largely false. They left uncertain how the Yu Kingdom had stabilized so quickly, with the government’s account pointing them toward Lian Qingkong for further answers.

• Fei Jingyi argued that the box was probably bait, while Xu Huo suggested asking the Yu Kingdom government for help.
• Wu Zishuang, Xiao Mei, and the painted woman stayed outside as Xu Huo, Fei Jingyi, He Liang, and Fu Kuai entered the government Office Building.
• The group discovered that the building’s simulation device disabled their game panels and items, then received a prerecorded government statement from a table-mounted device.
• The recording said the Imperial Treasure began as a jest, the Supreme God Cult had been wiped out, Gao Hui was unrelated to the ancient Gao rulers and had died, and no legitimate national token existed.
• He Liang and Fei Jingyi questioned how the Yu Kingdom had stabilized without a treasure, and the group considered Lian Qingkong their remaining source of answers.

Xu Huo and the others learned that Yu Kingdom’s government concealed information about the Imperial Treasure, but they found no safe way to pursue it. As the group debated their next move, Xiao Mei spotted the masked man watching them.

• Xu Huo questioned whether Lian Qingkong had personally recorded the government’s account of the Imperial Treasure, then concluded that Lian Qingkong knew more than he had revealed.
• Fei Jingyi told Wu Zishuang and Xiao Mei what the recording said, and Xiao Mei argued that they should take politicians’ statements backward.
• Wu Zishuang and the others speculated that the Imperial Treasure’s secrets had been hidden among Yu Kingdom’s ruling elites, but they could not find a safe way to approach Lian Qingkong.
• The group debated whether Lian Qingkong possessed the Imperial Treasure and whether their real goal involved stopping other Player organizations, but they reached no conclusion.
• Xiao Mei spotted the masked man watching from a nearby rooftop, and Xu Huo immediately got up to leave.

Xu Huo investigated Gao Hui’s past by traveling to his hometown, Miecheng, now reduced to a garbage dump. A former resident revealed that Gao Hui had been born Dou Hui and that his family had fabricated a connection to the Gao clan.

• He Liang refused to hand over his box, and Wu Zishuang left after his contact said special equipment would be needed to open it safely.
• Xiao Mei disappeared, while Xu Huo told the painted woman to follow her, protect her, and distrust Fei Jingyi and Wu Zishuang.
• Xu Huo traveled to Miecheng and found Gao Hui’s former home buried beneath garbage.
• In Lingshui Town, an old man said Gao Hui’s birth name was Dou Hui and described his family’s influence, political rise, and suspicious adopted children.
• The old man said Gao Hui’s family had invented a Gao ancestry, built an ancestral hall, and fabricated a family tree.

Xu Huo followed a lead about Dou Hui’s genealogy and reasoned that a surviving Assassin Family organization might be connected to the Imperial Treasure. When a masked puppet ambushed him on the road, he destroyed it with the newly upgraded Life Origin.

• An old man told Xu Huo that Dou Hui’s ancestral hall had been destroyed and directed him to the crippled tutor who had compiled the Dou family genealogy in Spiritual River Town.
• Xu Huo considered how Dou Hui, the Supreme God Tribunal, the Assassin Family, and the Imperial Treasure might be connected, and decided that investigating Dou Hui’s history could reveal the truth.
• A masked puppet caught up with Xu Huo’s RV, and Xu Huo stopped to confront it.
• The puppet attacked with devices and Spatial Cutlines, but Xu Huo broke through its defenses and thrust his hand into its eye.
• Xu Huo’s Life Origin destroyed the puppet’s metal components through its clothes and rendered many devices unusable, leaving only three devices intact.

Xu Huo tested the upgraded Life Origin and discovered it could destroy metal objects through a connected medium. At the town library, he defeated Players guarding Gong Shu, freed the captured teacher, and began questioning the remaining Players.

• Xu Huo tested Life Origin and learned that he could destroy metal objects without touching them, provided they were connected to a medium.
• Xu Huo traveled to Spiritual River Town and learned that Gong Shu had left with an old man and a woman who claimed to be Players.
• At the library, Xu Huo found four Players and learned that Gong Shu was being held in a container.
• Xu Huo collapsed the library with Life Origin, subdued the Players, and took the old man's belongings after attacking him in his Spiritual World.
• Xu Huo freed Gong Shu from the container and asked him to wait at a nearby restaurant while he dealt with the other Players.

Xu Huo learned that Gong Shu’s genealogy was gone but that its names might point to descendants of the Gao Family in Yongta and Moon Horn. After returning Gong Shu to the orphanage, Xu Huo subdued the Players plotting against him and used Time Power to pin the stranded attacking-faction Player in place.

• The Players revealed their faction goals, and Xu Huo took Gong Shu to eat before bringing him back to the orphanage.
• Gong Shu explained that the genealogy had been fabricated from names supplied by the Dou family and that many listed people had been killed after Dou Hui fled.
• Gong Shu recalled Gao Family descendants living in Yongta and Moon Horn, including a family with a high-ranking official in Moon Horn.
• Xu Huo confronted the Players secretly discussing how to kill him, and the Unlucky Egg agreed to cooperate.
• Xu Huo turned on the stranded attacking-faction Player and immobilized him with Time Power.

Xu Huo forced three players to help investigate names on the Dou family's family tree, then traveled to the Moon Horn Principality to investigate Wan Ping, who was living as the border commander Wang Ping. He reached Wang Ping's lavish Castle and began examining the gaps between the commander's family and the family tree.

• Xu Huo killed a B-class player and poisoned Unlucky Egg and two other players, offering them Antidotes in exchange for helping him.
• After Gong Shu completed the family tree, Xu Huo screened its names against Jixin Terminal messages and sent the three players separate people to investigate.
• Xu Huo traveled to the Moon Horn Principality and learned that Wan Ping was actually Wang Ping, the border front's commander.
• Xu Huo found Wang Ping's conspicuous Castle and watched Wang Ping return with his youngest son.
• Xu Huo reviewed Wang Ping's extensive family history and noticed that the Dou family's family tree listed only a few of his descendants and brothers.

Xu Huo investigated the Wan family’s connections and used Wan Yao’s fan magazine to learn about the singer Bei Bao. After her concert, he followed her to a hotel rooftop restaurant.

• Xu Huo reasoned that the Dou family’s family tree might connect the Wan family to an organization tied to descendants of Official Peng and the Gao family.
• Xu Huo borrowed a fan’s magazine and studied its relationship chart, noting Wan Yao’s connection to Bei Bao and clues about relatives absent from public records.
• Xu Huo asked the fan about Bei Bao and learned she was performing in the capital, then teleported to her concert venue.
• Xu Huo waited through the concert and followed Bei Bao from the venue to a hotel rooftop restaurant.

Bei Bao was cornered by a Player acting on Wang Yao’s behalf and brought to meet a man who wanted a child descended from the Gao family. After Bei Bao exposed the impostor’s ignorance of the family’s history, she realized the man was someone else and tried to escape, but her Ticket failed and she resorted to hidden poison.

• Bei Bao pretended to be drunk at a dinner arranged by her boss, then rejected his marriage proposal and spoke of leaving him.
• A Player threatened Bei Bao and her boss with Wang Yao’s power, but Bei Bao challenged him and learned that Minister Wang had died.
• Bei Bao ended her relationship with her boss after the Player spared him, then went to meet Wang Yao at the hotel.
• The man claiming to be Wang Yao said he wanted Bei Bao to bear a child descended from the Gao family and threatened her by putting her boss underfoot.
• Bei Bao explained that Wang Ping had no connection to the Gao family and that Wang Yao was unqualified to inherit it, then realized the man was an impostor.
• The lights revealed an unknown man in place of the impostor and the real Wang Yao on the floor; Bei Bao could not use her Ticket and bit down on poison hidden under her fingernail.

Xu Huo persuaded Bei Bao to reconsider her willingness to die and asked her to investigate Gao Hui’s dealings with the Wan family. Bei Bao agreed to help if Xu Huo took her to see Lian Qingkong, then revealed how she learned about the Gao surname legacy and her adoptive father’s research into its descendants.

• Xu Huo told Bei Bao that he had stopped her Ticket and poison from working, then urged her to find a reason to live.
• Xu Huo explained that Wan Yao had tried to save Bei Bao after she separated from him, and Bei Bao agreed to consider helping Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo asked Bei Bao to uncover Gao Hui’s movements and dealings with Gao descendants in the Moon Horn Principality, especially the Wan family.
• Bei Bao asked Xu Huo to take her to see Lian Qingkong, and Xu Huo agreed to visit him after their trip to the Moon Horn Principality.
• Bei Bao explained that her biological father had entrusted her with continuing the Gao surname legacy and that her adoptive father had investigated suspected Gao descendants, including the Wan family.

Xu Huo deduced that the Imperial Treasure was a family genealogy recording the Gao descendants and possibly the descendants of Official Peng, whose families were linked to the Supreme God Cult and the Assassin Family. After confirming his theory through the shop owner’s reaction, Xu Huo set off to visit the Wan family to continue searching for the missing treasure.

• Xu Huo questioned why Gao Hui had kept seeking Gao descendants despite their apparent hostility, and concluded that Gao Hui had possessed leverage over them.
• Xu Huo inferred that Gao Hui’s leverage was a genealogy listing the Gao descendants, preserved by the rulers across generations.
• Xu Huo asked the shop owner whether he was descended from Official Peng, and the owner attacked him with a hidden blade before escaping with a Space Artifact.
• Xu Huo concluded that the Gao and Peng families might have merged, with the Peng descendants carrying on the Assassin Family’s traditions through the Supreme God Cult.
• Xu Huo put Wan Yao into a container Artifact and told Bei Bao that he was going to the Wan family.

Xu Huo brought Bei Bao to the Wan family’s castle and questioned Wan Ping about Gao Hui and the Imperial Treasure. Wan Ping began explaining Gao Hui’s visit, but the chapter ended before he answered how Gao Hui died or where the treasure was.

• Xu Huo and Bei Bao discussed why descendants of the Gao and Peng families passed down their surnames and whether their efforts had mattered.
• Xu Huo took Bei Bao to the castle the next morning and waited for Wan Ping despite the Wan family’s attempts to delay him.
• Wan Chuan denied that his family had any connection to the Gao family and offered Xu Huo documents and valuable items.
• Wan Ping arrived just before Xu Huo’s deadline and answered his questions about Gao Hui.
• Wan Ping said Gao Hui had sought the Wan family’s financial support, brought no Imperial Treasure, and eventually tried to kill members of the family.

Xu Huo questioned Wan Ping about the Gao family and discovered that Wan Ping's fourth son, who may have inherited the Gao surname, had just left District 039. As Wan Ping and his Players tried to stall Xu Huo and help the family escape, Xu Huo sealed the Castle and ordered the Wan family to capture them.

• Wan Ping told Xu Huo that his late wife had carried the Gao surname but was not of true Gao blood, and that Gao Hui had pressured him to support the Yu Kingdom's war effort.
• Xu Huo released Wan Yao and questioned Wan Ping about which of his children had inherited the Gao name.
• Wan Ping summoned his children and relatives, and Bei Bao inspected them but withheld the identity of the person Xu Huo sought.
• Xu Huo learned from Wan Chuan that Wan Ping's fourth son had left District 039 three minutes earlier, despite Wan Ping's claim that he was away in Dungeons.
• Wan Ping's Players tried to trap Xu Huo and give the family time to escape, but Xu Huo disabled their devices, sealed the Castle, and ordered the Wan family to capture them.

Xu Huo pressured Wan Ping to arrange negotiations with the Peng descendants over the Gao family’s secrets and the Imperial Treasure. After investigating another family and reviewing his allies’ reports, he headed to Yu Kingdom’s capital, where he found the painted woman and Xiao Mei fighting.

• Xu Huo restrained the Wan family and questioned Wan Ping about Gao Hui, the Imperial Treasure, and the Gao and Peng descendants.
• Xu Huo brought Wan Ping into the Book Tower and asked him to negotiate with the Peng descendants on his behalf; Wan Ping agreed to consider it and was given three days to respond.
• Xu Huo and Bei Bao visited another family from the Dou family genealogy and found that its members had died in the Player War.
• Xu Huo received reports from Unlucky Egg and two other Players, then ordered Unlucky Egg to continue investigating Gao Hui’s movements.
• Xu Huo teleported to Yu Kingdom’s capital and found the painted woman and Xiao Mei fighting someone.

Xu Huo rescued the painted woman from Xiao Mei and questioned Nini about the Tribunal, learning that its believers had been Players. With more Players watching them, he recruited Xiao Mei to spread a false lead and left the capital for a resort city tied to Gao Hui's family.

• Xiao Mei freed the painted woman from Fei Jingyi's threads, but Fei Jingyi and Wu Zishuang trapped them until an unknown attack killed Fei Jingyi and Xu Huo arrived.
• Xu Huo asked Xiao Mei to surrender the cleaner, then brought her and the painted woman to a hotel, where Xiao Mei released Nini.
• Xu Huo questioned Nini about her past and the Tribunal, and she recalled her name, birth year, mother, and time working for the Tribunal.
• Xu Huo concluded that most Tribunal believers had been Players and asked Xiao Mei to spread a false lead in exchange for help clearing the Dungeon.
• Xiao Mei hinted to Wu Zishuang that he had important Dungeon clues, and Wu Zishuang retaliated by publicizing that she and Xu Huo knew the Imperial Treasure's location.
• As more people watched the hotel, Xu Huo left the capital for an abandoned resort city with a resort built in Gao Hui's family's name.

Xu Huo lured Players to the resort with a fake clue, using the resulting battle to kill several pursuers before returning to the hotel. He then spoke with Wan Ping about cooperating to destroy the Dungeon, but their call ended with the registry and the descendants of the two clans still unresolved.

• Xu Huo found an encrypted metal case at the resort, triggering a fight among Players who believed it held a Dungeon clue.
• Xu Huo used a fake case and teleportation portals to draw Players into a chaotic battle, then used mental interference and the Time Ring to increase the casualties.
• Xu Huo killed two Players who had followed him from the capital when they fled after realizing the resort was a trap.
• Xu Huo returned to the hotel, where Xiao Mei questioned his plan and Bei Bao asked when they would meet Lian Qingkong.
• Wan Ping told Xu Huo that the descendants of the two clans would not sacrifice their people and offered manpower in exchange for an acceptable plan.
• Xu Huo asked whether Lian Qingkong had the registry, while Wan Ping insisted that the registry could not be used to threaten them.

Xu Huo failed to get a useful lead on the Imperial Treasure and uncovered that a government Player tailing him knew nothing about the God of Night. Before dawn, a masked Player calling himself Star kidnapped relatives of government officials and Player organization members, murdered two people on a live message, and demanded the Imperial Treasure, prompting the Yu Kingdom government to issue a wanted notice.

• Xu Huo pressed Wan Ping for information about Lian Qingkong and the Imperial Treasure, but Wan Ping refused to provide any other leads.
• Xu Huo caught the Player who had been following him and guessed that the God of Night was the reason for the surveillance, then let him go when he realized the Player did not know about the figure.
• Xiao Mei woke Xu Huo with a video in which the masked Player Star introduced himself and displayed hostages taken from Player organizations and government families.
• Star demanded that the holder of the Imperial Treasure hand it over and threatened to kill hostages unless stranded Players were killed every five minutes.
• Star shot a man and a woman whose parents worked for the government, and the Yu Kingdom government issued a wanted notice as the kidnappers remained difficult to track down.