Recaps

Yi Mao's group continued their clearing mission with Jin Dong, whom Xu Huo had persuaded them not to abandon. When hostile players attacked in the Swamp Zone, Xu Huo killed several of them and took their Skateboards, leaving the group equipped to cross the swamp.

• Xu Huo convinced Liang Song and the others to bring Jin Dong along, and Jin Dong warned them that a jungle beyond the Swamp Zone was full of mutated species.
• The group was attacked by players on Skateboards, who demanded their food and water and targeted Jin Dong for a bounty.
• Xu Huo killed several attackers with Kite String and Plant's Lament, while the surviving players fled and left their Skateboards behind.
• Xu Huo handed Jin Dong a Skateboard and explained that becoming a Player did not guarantee strength.

Yi Mao's group continued their clearing mission despite Jin Dong's transformation, and Xu Huo persuaded them to bring him along. When hostile Players attacked in the Swamp Zone, Xu Huo killed or drove them off and collected their Skateboards, leaving the group equipped to cross the swamp.

• Liang Song and the others agreed to continue the mission and take Jin Dong with them after Xu Huo argued against abandoning him.
• Jin Dong warned the group that the jungle beyond the Swamp Zone contained dangerous areas teeming with mutated species.
• Skateboard-riding Players ambushed the group and demanded their food and water, while one tried to kill Jin Dong for a bounty.
• Xu Huo killed three attackers, used Plant's Lament to knock two more from their Skateboards, and scared the rest into fleeing.
• The group gathered five Skateboards to cross the Swamp Zone, and Xu Huo told Jin Dong that becoming a Player did not guarantee strength.

Xu Huo and the soldiers set out to find supplies, but toxic air and a swarm of Aliens trapped them on a mountain path. Xu Huo triggered a landslide to cover their escape, only to discover that more Aliens were swarming out below.

• Xu Huo said he had no food or water, and Liang Song's group decided they would have to take supplies from others rather than reveal that cleanup supplies were dangerous.
• The group climbed a steep mountain path, where Yi Mao and Wan Xiao began struggling to breathe and reported a bitter taste in the air.
• Wan Xiao spotted Aliens crawling up the slope, and the group fought while trying to retreat along the dangerous path.
• An Alien scratched Yue Weiping, and he drank Xu Huo's Antidote before offering to hold off the attackers.
• Yi Mao and Wan Xiao charged toward the Aliens, so Xu Huo knocked them out, assembled an energy cannon, and triggered a landslide that buried some of the creatures.
• Xu Huo warned Liang Song's group that more Aliens had emerged from below as he ran to catch up with them.

Xu Huo and the others set out to find supplies, but they were ambushed by Aliens on a dangerous mountain path. After Yue Weiping was poisoned and Yi Mao and Wan Xiao lost control, Xu Huo used an energy cannon to bury the attackers in a rockslide.

• Liang Song said the group needed to take food and water from others, while Yi Mao objected to hiding the danger posed by contaminated cleanup supplies.
• Xu Huo led the group along a steep shortcut, where Yi Mao and Wan Xiao began gasping and behaving as if they were drunk.
• Aliens hidden in the grass charged the group, forcing them to retreat along the narrow path as their ammunition ran out.
• Yue Weiping was slashed by an Alien while saving Yi Mao, and Xu Huo gave him an antidote.
• Yi Mao and Wan Xiao charged the Aliens, so Xu Huo knocked them out and handed them to Liang Song.
• Xu Huo assembled an energy cannon and triggered a rockslide that buried the pursuing Aliens.

Xu Huo continued into the cleanup zone despite the danger, while Yi Mao, Wan Xiao, Liang Song, and Yue Weiping turned back. He and Jin Dong reached a newly formed Stone Forest Maze, where Xu Huo killed a mutated giant bat and encountered an Alien.

• Xu Huo and the others suspected that contaminated food, water, or unusual odors could cause infection and violent behavior, and Liang Song urged the group to turn back.
• Wan Xiao and Yue Weiping agreed to return with Liang Song and Yi Mao, but Xu Huo chose to continue because Players could not leave the dungeon before it ended.
• Xu Huo gave the departing group Antidotes, while Jin Dong stayed with him and denied deliberately leading the others into danger.
• Xu Huo and Jin Dong found widening ground fissures, dead trees, and a vast Stone Forest Maze absent from Clown City's maps.
• Xu Huo entered the maze, cut a mutated giant bat in half, then kicked apart a rock and revealed an Alien hiding behind it.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun searched for a way through the stone forest while discussing clues that suggested the cleanup mission was not what it seemed. They suspected the glasses and strange environmental effects might be connected to the Dungeon, and continued toward the Sub-district while trying to avoid Kang Yongjie.

• Xu Huo drove off a mutated Alien, but Kang Yongjie killed it with a bomb before Xu Huo could capture it.
• Xu Huo reunited with Kang Yongjie, Hao Mei, and Zhuo Wangsun, and learned that Er Gou and Siming had been separated during the Alien horde’s attack.
• The group discovered that the stone forest’s paths looped back, and Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun set off together to find a way through.
• Zhuo Wangsun warned Xu Huo that Kang Yongjie had tracked him with a special prop and had killed their hostage; he suspected Kang Yongjie was a Cannibal Player.
• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun discussed the strange mission objectives, outdated map, unusual gunfire, and unknown element in the soil, which could affect people’s behavior.
• Xu Huo suggested that the glasses might make their surroundings appear differently, and Zhuo Wangsun agreed to leave the stone forest before Kang Yongjie caught up.

Xu Huo and his companions killed Kang Yongjie and Hao Mei, then continued through the stone forest while investigating its contaminated water and worsening heat. The chapter ended with them wondering whether the toxic environment could also threaten Clown City.

• Xu Huo used Counting Grid to trap Kang Yongjie and killed him and Hao Mei with help from Jin Dong and Zhuo Wangsun.
• The group took supplies from the pair and found a small pool that was already contaminated.
• Xu Huo sprinkled Clown City’s powder into the water, then led the group onward through the stone forest.
• As night fell, the temperature kept rising, and Zhuo Wangsun and Jin Dong suspected the heat might be forcing soldiers to remove their Protective Suits.
• Xu Huo questioned whether the toxic air could reach Clown City, while the group remained uncertain about what was causing the danger.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun encountered a sudden Alien attack in the Stone Forest Maze and discovered that the area’s air or soil could trigger rapid transformation. After soldiers cleared the horde, they met Gao Peng and Cen Lu, who said they had survived in the cleanup zone for nearly half a year.

• Xu Huo’s group pressed onward through the heat and gathered more than a dozen exhausted soldiers before a horde of split-headed Aliens attacked.
• Xu Huo pulled Zhuo Wangsun out of danger and saw that Jin Dong had transformed into an Alien; Jin Dong lunged at them and was killed.
• Xu Huo noticed that injured soldiers were rapidly developing Alien symptoms, suggesting that the Stone Forest’s air or soil could cause transformation.
• Gao Peng, Cen Lu, and other soldiers killed the Aliens and the transforming soldiers, then burned the bodies.
• Gao Peng introduced himself and Cen Lu as soldiers from Batch 809 and welcomed Xu Huo’s group to the cleanup zone.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun went with Gao Peng and Cen Lu to the remnants’ stronghold in an abandoned city, where they encountered hostility toward Players. Xu Huo suspected Gao Peng had another reason for bringing them there and considered what might have caused Jin Dong to become an Alien.

• Gao Peng and Cen Lu took Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun by dune buggy through the dunes to an abandoned city that had once been part of Clown City.
• Gao Peng and Cen Lu explained that the remnants had established a stronghold in a Commercial Building and avoided disturbing Aliens hiding in a fissure beneath the city.
• The stronghold’s fighters greeted Gao Peng’s group, but Lao Wu and others showed open hostility toward Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun because they were Players.
• Gao Peng brought Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun to the thirtieth floor, where they met Master Tu and his trained assistants, who were also unfriendly.
• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun discussed why Gao Peng had invited them and whether the air was safe; Xu Huo found no signs of infection and suspected food or water might have affected the people who became Aliens.

Xu Huo investigated the A-grade item sewn into Hugo's severed hand and discovered that the Life Core could destroy vast quantities of metal across a city. After paying to clean the contaminated item, he left the Laboratory and headed toward the rift in the city center.

• Xu Huo avoided eating the food with Gao Peng and Cen Lu's group, then stayed awake with Zhuo Wangsun until dawn.
• When Gao Peng and Cen Lu led the young people toward the city center, Xu Huo flew off alone and found a medical Laboratory.
• Xu Huo removed a black sphere from Hugo's severed hand and identified it as the A-grade Life Core, an item capable of destroying metal objects across a city.
• Xu Huo paid for system cleaning and used a cleaning kit to contain the bacteria on Hugo's severed hand and clean the sealed box.
• Xu Huo left the Laboratory in broad daylight and walked toward the rift in the city center.

Xu Huo discovered a community of rational Aliens living beneath the city and learned that they had survived underground for more than ten years. The chapter ended with him questioning why they had not left and how many outsiders they had asked for help.

• Xu Huo followed two children into the sewers and found an underground settlement of Aliens.
• The Aliens feared Xu Huo, but he shared food and water with the children and showed them footage of the outside world.
• A woman showed Xu Huo a notebook explaining that the community had retained its humanity, avoided eating people, and hoped he would take children to Clown City for a cure.
• The woman said people above ground treated the Aliens like livestock and ate uninfected newcomers, and Xu Huo asked why the community had not left on its own.

Xu Huo found a hidden underground community of Aliens who had lived in the cleanup zone for more than ten years. After learning they wanted him to take their children to Clown City, he challenged the woman who led him there, suspecting the community had another reason for staying underground.

• Xu Huo followed the children through the sewers and discovered Aliens living in caves along a fissure beneath the city.
• He gave the hungry children bread and water, then showed them footage of the outside world on his Communicator.
• A woman used a notebook to explain that the Aliens had kept their humanity, were not contagious, and wanted Xu Huo to take one or two children to Clown City for a cure.
• The woman said surface dwellers treated the Aliens like livestock and begged Xu Huo to take a child away.
• Xu Huo questioned why the Aliens had not left on their own and suggested their reason for hiding underground went beyond fear of the surface warriors.

Xu Huo used the Life Core to break into the commercial building, killed the shaved-head man, and forced Master Tu’s group to cooperate. After learning that Master Tu had collected samples and data on the Cleansing Zone, Xu Huo began investigating the source of the land’s mutation.

• Xu Huo took Gao Peng’s head and Protective Suit, then brought Fish Ball and Snow Cake to the site’s locked gates.
• Xu Huo used the Life Core to crumble the gate and part of the building, killing several people inside.
• Xu Huo set the site’s supplies alight, killed the shaved-head man, and ordered the survivors to bring everyone downstairs.
• Master Tu brought his group down, and Xu Huo arranged for Zhuo Wangsun’s release while declaring that he needed to borrow the site.
• Xu Huo examined Master Tu’s collected samples and data, learning that Alien blood showed signs of infection but the available equipment could not identify the pathogen.

Xu Huo used the Life Core to breach the commercial building and force Master Tu’s group to cooperate. After learning that Master Tu had collected samples from the Cleansing Zone, Xu Huo began investigating whether Alien blood showed signs of infection.

• Xu Huo brought Fish Ball and Snow Cake to the commercial building, where he used the Life Core to destroy the metal entrance and part of the structure.
• Xu Huo set fire to supplies in the lobby, killed the shaved-head man, and ordered the remaining group to gather.
• Master Tu brought his people down, and Xu Huo said he wanted to use the base and have them help him; Zhuo Wangsun was released.
• Xu Huo examined boxes of collected blood, water, and plants that Master Tu had gathered to study the Cleansing Zone.
• Xu Huo asked whether Alien blood differed from human blood, and Master Tu said their limited equipment could only show signs of infection.

Xu Huo investigated why people in Clown City were being labeled as Aliens and found evidence that the holographic glasses used crude criteria, while Antidotes could restore those who had lost their minds. After studying an old city map, he questioned the purpose of the endless cleanup mission and learned that Clown City offered strong incentives to attract outsiders.

• Xu Huo reasoned that contaminated food and the high-temperature zone could cause poisoning and madness, while small amounts of Alien blood did not infect people.
• Xu Huo cut his hand to test the holographic glasses, and the glasses still labeled him an Alien despite his uninjured palm.
• Xu Huo examined Master Tu’s old map and learned that the cleanup mission ended at a long canyon, with a second phase that had never begun.
• Xu Huo concluded that the glasses might be monitored and questioned why Clown City sent people into an apparently pointless cleanup mission.
• Master Tu told Xu Huo that Clown City offered housing, financial support, and other benefits to outsiders who settled there, especially players and large families.

Xu Huo investigated whether the group’s symptoms came from infection or poisoning and concluded that the holographic glasses could misidentify people as Aliens. After studying a map of Clown City, he focused on a canyon where cleanup missions often ended.

• Xu Huo reasoned that unprocessed food from the cleanup zone had poisoned Jin Dong, Fish Ball, Snowy, and Ice Cream, and that high temperatures worsened the symptoms.
• Xu Huo noted that Numbers One and Two remained well after receiving Alien blood, while the holographic glasses had marked Master Tu and another man as infected when their wounds were exposed.
• Xu Huo cut his own hand and showed Zhuo Wangsun that the wound healed, though the glasses still displayed him as a thermal image.
• Xu Huo argued that the glasses used crude criteria and that people identified as Aliens might recover with an Antidote.
• Master Tu produced an old map of Clown City, and Xu Huo pointed to a canyon while asking whether cleanup missions always ended there.

Xu Huo uncovered that two groups who each believed the other were Aliens came from different parts of the cleanup zone, suggesting there were two Clown Cities. The chapter left the groups confronting the truth that their maps and holographic glasses identified different cities.

• Zhuo Wangsun argued against killing people merely because they might be infected, while the other Players insisted on eliminating suspected Aliens.
• Xu Huo removed a Player’s holographic glasses, and Zhuo Wangsun saw that the man no longer appeared to be an Alien.
• Master Tu identified the group’s blue-and-black glasses as different from Clown City’s red-and-black model, but both groups insisted their own glasses were genuine.
• Xu Huo asked Sister Shan where her group had come from, and she said they had crossed the canyon from the east, where she believed Clown City lay.
• Xu Huo showed the map and explained that he had set out from a city deep in the cleanup zone; he and Zhuo Wangsun concluded that there were two Clown Cities.

Xu Huo uncovered that the two groups in the canyon each mistook the other for aliens because their holographic glasses displayed different colors. He concluded that two places called Clown City existed, leaving both sides to confront the truth that their maps and histories contradicted each other.

• Zhuo Wangsun challenged the Players who wanted to kill anyone they suspected of infection, while Xu Huo realized they were mistaking his group for aliens.
• Xu Huo removed a Player’s holographic glasses, and Master Tu identified them as a different model from the red-and-black glasses used in his Clown City.
• Sister Shan’s group claimed they had come from the east side of the canyon, where they believed Clown City stood, while Master Tu said that area was a restricted cleansing zone.
• Xu Huo showed the groups a map and explained that he had traveled from the supposedly destroyed Clown City, which lay deep in the cleansing zone.
• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun concluded that two Clown Cities existed and that each group’s differently colored glasses made them see the other as aliens.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun crossed into the Blue side’s territory while their unexpected arrival made them reality-show favorites. Zhuo Wangsun cleared the instance by planting the battle flag, while Xu Huo continued toward the opposing Clown City.

• The hosts showcased popular Warriors and announced that Warrior No. 227 would face another Alien tide after a viewer’s request.
• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun appeared in the Blue side’s canyon, surprising the hosts and becoming new favorites after viewers backed them.
• Xu Huo said he had completed the first two tasks and wondered how to finish the Third Task.
• Zhuo Wangsun planted the Clown City flag in the dirt and cleared the instance.
• Zhuo Wangsun followed Xu Huo and asked whether he intended to fight his way to the other Clown City.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun completed the first two tasks and cleared the E-class instance after planting Clown City's flag in the Blue side's position. Their surprise appearance drew huge attention in Clown City's reality-show broadcast, and Xu Huo continued toward the enemy camp as Zhuo Wangsun wondered if he meant to reach the other Clown City.

• Clown City's host promoted Warrior No. 67 and Warrior No. 227, while viewers bet on contestants and made requests for their performances.
• The broadcast shifted to the canyon battle, where Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun appeared unexpectedly in the Blue side's position and became popular dark-horse contestants.
• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun discussed how to complete the Third Task, and Zhuo Wangsun planted Clown City's flag in the soil.
• Zhuo Wangsun realized the instance had been cleared, while Xu Huo continued onward and left him wondering if he planned to reach the other Clown City.

Xu Huo, Zhuo Wangsun, and Xin Hui discussed the truth about Clown City and crossed the river after the Alien tide receded. As they prepared to split up, two heavily armored Aliens attacked them, forcing the three to fight together.

• Xin Hui thanked Xu Huo for saving her and learned from Zhuo Wangsun that Clown City had deceived its Players.
• Xu Huo guessed that Clown City's two halves might be competing, while Xin Hui suggested the Sub-district could be used for human experiments.
• The three shared their professions, and Xin Hui revealed she was a surveyor with long-range items and explosives.
• After the Alien tide passed, Xin Hui ate fungus from the river and Zhuo Wangsun found that the water was clean.
• Xin Hui refused to hide her augmented-reality glasses and said she wanted to hunt Aliens for money, so the three prepared to split up.
• Two large Aliens ambushed them; Zhuo Wangsun fired, Xu Huo slashed with Sword Qi, and Xin Hui's adhesive bomb wounded one Alien without killing it.

After escaping a group of aliens, Xu Huo, Zhuo Wangsun, and Xin Hui took refuge at the edge of the fungus-covered forest called the Fungi Sea. The aliens would not enter the fog, but the trio still had to find a safe place to spend the night.

• Xu Huo wounded an alien, and its cries alerted others as Zhuo Wangsun and Xin Hui helped him escape.
• The trio ran into the dense, foggy forest, where the pursuing aliens stopped at the edge.
• Xu Huo found fungal threads covering the forest floor, and Xin Hui identified the area as the Fungi Sea on her map.
• Xin Hui used Zhuo Wangsun's navigation device to set their direction, and the three followed the forest's edge while avoiding the fungi.

Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun followed Xin Hui through the foggy forest and discovered a dangerous mushroom cavern beneath its mycelium. After escaping the forest’s spreading green mist, Xu Huo set out to intercept Xin Hui, leaving Zhuo Wangsun wondering how strong he really was.

• Xu Huo explained why he suspected Xin Hui and used the Friendly Handkerchief to track her through the foggy forest.
• Zhuo Wangsun fell through a mycelium membrane into a cavern, and Xu Huo used fire to help him escape the sticky fungal cocoon.
• Xu Huo realized the mycelium figures were herding them deeper into the forest and led Zhuo Wangsun toward its edge instead of continuing to search for Xin Hui.
• The mycelium spread across the ground as green mist rose inside the forest, so Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun escaped into the open.
• After Xin Hui moved beyond the tracking item's range, Xu Huo hurried ahead to intercept her and easily defeated Aliens along the way.
• Zhuo Wangsun watched Xu Huo fight and asked whether he was really a D-class player.

Xu Huo, Zhuo Wangsun, Er Gou, and Siming investigated a cave beneath the Mist Forest after suspecting it might be the Dungeon’s designated flag-planting site. Xu Huo entered first and found colorful, mold-like growths lining the underground passage.

• Xu Huo and Zhuo Wangsun met Er Gou and Siming near the Mist Forest, where the two explained that Clown City seemed to have trapped them and they had not found the mission’s designated site.
• Er Gou suggested that a cave they had discovered might be the flag-planting spot, and Xu Huo agreed to investigate it with the others.
• Xu Huo reasoned that shifting fungus beneath the forest could explain why the trees’ growth patterns seemed to change direction.
• The four returned to the Mist Forest and uncovered the cave entrance beneath a patch of white mushrooms.
• Xu Huo climbed into the cave first and saw colorful, fuzzy growths shining along the passage.

Xu Huo and the others explored a vast underground fungal maze, debating the risks and possible purpose of its fungi. After descending along suspended paths, Xu Huo stopped the group and said they needed to find another route.

• Zhuo Wangsun tried to collect a fungus, but the female Player and Siming warned that the fungi could spread and cause trouble if carried away.
• Xu Huo led the group through the glowing passage into an enormous maze filled with fungi and hanging strands of mycelium.
• The female Player found an old water bottle, and the group discussed why people had built paths through the underground world.
• Xu Huo speculated that the fungal nest might extend beneath Clown City and that bodies from the Clean-up mission could be feeding the fungi.
• The four Players descended the suspended paths, but Xu Huo stopped them after a hundred meters and said they needed another way.