Recaps

Xu Huo rejected Dai Wenqian’s offer to work together and learned from Sima Xiao Er about strange newcomers using missing people’s identities to open expensive shops. He wondered whether the shops were connected to players and their ability to manipulate property and government records, but Sima Xiao Er asked if he planned to stir up trouble.

• Dai Wenqian asked Xu Huo to sell him spare items and proposed joining forces, but Xu Huo asked whether Dai had watched his family.
• Xu Huo contacted Team Leader Wu, who promised to have Team Leader Song rein in his people.
• Xu Huo questioned Sima Xiao Er about his training and explained that players could suspend their status after reaching D-class by working for a government.
• Sima Xiao Er told Xu Huo that strange magnetic fields had appeared in remote forests and that District 014 might eventually merge with the game.
• Sima Xiao Er described people using missing individuals’ identities to buy property and open expensive repair shops and toy stores that accepted White Cash.
• Xu Huo wondered whether the shop owners were players who could use government property records to influence their items, and Sima Xiao Er asked if he meant to stir up trouble.

Xu Huo and Sima Xiao Er traveled to meet the First Association, whose Players had been antagonizing the Special Defense Department. After Xu Huo took a sports car from Wang Meng, Bao Jiali confronted him at a service area, and Xu Huo called Tan Yang.

• Xu Huo explained how Artificers worked and discussed the Game Government's control of their craft with Sima Xiao Er as they drove toward the First Association.
• Wang Meng blocked their car and taunted Sima Xiao Er, but Xu Huo suddenly appeared in Wang Meng's car and made him hand it over.
• Sima Xiao Er said the First Association's Players had repeatedly harassed the Special Defense Department without consequences.
• Wang Meng returned with Bao Jiali while Xu Huo and Sima Xiao Er ate at a service area, and Bao Jiali used an Ability to freeze Sima Xiao Er in place.
• Bao Jiali identified himself and threatened Xu Huo, who called Tan Yang.

Xu Huo confronted First Association players Bao Jiali and Wang Meng over their abuse of a woman, then killed Bao Jiali and the players who attacked him. He let Wang Meng live and had him take the woman to a hospital in Yang City, where Xu Huo and Sima Xiao Er continued their journey.

• Xu Huo called First Association chairman Tan Yang and challenged him to control Bao Jiali and Wang Meng, while Huang Junjie persuaded Xu Huo to let the dispute end with an apology.
• Xu Huo spotted an injured woman chained in Bao Jiali's car as he and Sima Xiao Er prepared to leave the service area.
• Bao Jiali and the other players attacked Xu Huo, who killed them all except Wang Meng.
• Wang Meng revealed that Bao Jiali had tortured the woman after she rejected him, and promised to take her to the hospital and turn himself in.
• Xu Huo agreed to let Wang Meng drive ahead to Yang City, and Wang Meng took the woman to the hospital after receiving Xu Huo's approval.

Xu Huo took ore he had collected to Master Craftsman Handmade Shop, where the shopkeeper valued a piece from Clown City as Grade A and offered him items in exchange. The chapter ended with Xu Huo browsing the shop as the old man explained the kinds of items he could buy.

• Sima Xiao Er asked Xu Huo how other Sub-districts controlled lawless Players, and Xu Huo explained that governments used capable Players, advanced weapons, and Dungeons to restrict them.
• Xu Huo and Sima Xiao Er arrived at Master Craftsman Handmade Shop, where the shopkeeper examined Xu Huo's Justice Umbrella and said it worked fine.
• The shopkeeper told Xu Huo that he preferred to trade items for ore, and Xu Huo laid out ore he had gathered from Deep Blue Island and Clown City.
• The shopkeeper identified the Clown City Stone as Grade A ore and offered up to four hundred thousand White Cash worth of merchandise for it and the other ore.
• Xu Huo asked whether ore was used to make items, and the shopkeeper explained that his wares included offensive, defensive, storage, everyday-use, and entertainment items.

Xu Huo traded ore for a D-level item and considered the Game Government’s interest in resources before contacting Team Leader Wu about buying items. Meanwhile, the First Association debated Xu Huo’s threat as he stayed in Yang City.

• Xu Huo haggled with the Toy Store owner and traded his ore for the D-level item Same-Sex Repulsion.
• Xu Huo told Sima Xiao Er that the price was fair and kept his knowledge of the Nuwa Stone from the game platform.
• Xu Huo decided to ask the Special Defense Department about buying items, messaged Team Leader Wu, and checked into a hotel overlooking the Master Craftsman Handmade Shop.
• Huang Junjie called Xu Huo to apologize for the First Association’s actions, and Xu Huo dismissed the matter before hanging up.
• The newly appointed vice president questioned whether the First Association should tolerate Xu Huo, while Huang Junjie worried that Xu Huo had arrived in Yang City to carry out his threat.

Xu Huo learned about the Twin Snakes Organization’s invitation and considered attending its prayer gathering, while he continued investigating the mysterious Master Craftsman Handmade Shop. His suspicions about the shop’s ore trade led him to wonder whether the underground nest in Clown City held more Nuwa Stones, and he asked the painted woman to photograph the Wormhole Flower.

• Tan Yang agreed to replace the person handling Wang Meng and ordered Pu Kang to have someone watch Xu Huo from a distance without interfering.
• Huang Junjie presented a Double Snake Invitation, and Xu Huo learned from Sima Xiao Er that the Twin Snakes Organization held gatherings where Players prayed and exchanged information or items.
• Xu Huo set the invitation aside and told Sima Xiao Er he might attend in a couple of days; Sima Xiao Er asked to go with him to earn merit.
• Xu Huo reviewed what he had learned about Master Craftsman Handmade Shop, including that it refused money for advanced items and appeared to trade only for ore.
• Xu Huo wondered whether the Clown City underground nest contained more Nuwa Stones and texted the painted woman to ask for a picture of the Wormhole Flower.

Xu Huo learned more about the Wormhole Flower’s connection to District 014’s evolution, then discovered that several Players were following him in Yang City. After confronting members of the First Association, he warned them against further surveillance and went to confront another group.

• Xu Huo saw that the Wormhole Flower had grown redder and wondered whether District 014 was nearing full integration with the game.
• The painted woman and Yu Qingqing showed Xu Huo the flower they were caring for, and he later ate and drank with Sima Xiao Er, who spoke anxiously about the growing danger of Random Instances.
• Xu Huo counted eight people watching him and captured a First Association Player near a hospital, breaking his arm while questioning him.
• A second First Association Player burst into the utility room to rescue his companion, but Xu Huo trapped him with his door and Strings.
• The captured Player revealed that three First Association members had come and that two other Players from a Yang City organization were also following Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo warned the First Association members not to follow him again, then went to an apartment building and announced himself as the neighborhood committee.

Xu Huo chased a player through a park and confronted six people connected to the Twin Snakes Organization’s messenger. After trapping them in his Spiritual World, he learned they had followed the messenger to find the organization and revealed that he was interested in it too.

• Xu Huo pursued a hooded young man into a park, dispelled a fog illusion, and discovered six players hiding there.
• The players denied working for the Twin Snakes Organization and said they had followed its messenger, who had delivered Xu Huo an invitation.
• Xu Huo stopped the group from leaving and trapped all six players in his Spiritual World with the Star Binding Ball.
• As the players panicked in the darkness, they vanished one by one until Xu Huo confronted Brother Liang.
• Xu Huo questioned Brother Liang about why the group was seeking the Twin Snakes Organization and said he was interested in it as well.

Xu Huo accepted an invitation to the Twin Snakes Organization’s gathering and gathered companions to attend, while helping Zhou Ning and Hu Wenhu and receiving a useful pair of gloves. The chapter ended with Hu Wenhu asking why Xu Huo kept obtaining Hair Growth Potions.

• Brother Liang told Xu Huo that players who attended Twin Snakes gatherings had gone missing, but Xu Huo decided to investigate and exchanged contact information with him.
• Xu Huo returned to the restaurant, where Sima Xiao Er told him the Special Defense Department had been notified; Team Leader Wu later arranged for Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen to accompany Xu Huo to the gathering.
• Zhou Ning brought Hu Wenhu to Xu Huo, who cured Hu Wenhu with a Syringe.
• Zhou Ning gave Xu Huo Density Extraction Gloves, and Xu Huo gave her a Lucky Bracelet and shared several Potions with them.
• Hu Wenhu asked Xu Huo why he kept receiving Hair Growth Potions.

Xu Huo discussed how players could improve their Instance ratings with Zhou Ning and the others, then heard from Yan Jiayu about a dangerous bird she had captured in a Random Instance. Yan Jiayu planned to bring the bird to her master and visit Xu Huo to buy his antidote.

• Xu Huo gave Zhou Ning several Potions and explained that careful attention to Instance details could help players earn higher ratings.
• Sima Xiao Er mocked the others for thinking they could learn from Xu Huo, leaving the group in awkward silence.
• Yan Jiayu called Xu Huo and showed him a glowing, peacock-like Mutant Animal she had captured, which had caused its Random Instance to disappear.
• Yan Jiayu offered Zhou Ning some of the bird’s poisonous feathers and asked Xu Huo to sell her an antidote.
• Yan Jiayu said she would bring the bird back herself and visit Xu Huo in a couple of days.

Xu Huo and his companions traveled to Water City for the Twin Snakes Organization gathering, where the invitation holders were divided into groups and led along concealed routes. The chapter left them arriving at an unopened resort, masked and robed alongside the other attendees.

• Xu Huo arranged extra invitations through Brother Liang and traveled to Water City with Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen while Yan Jiayu met Brother Liang's group.
• At the factory district, three black-robed guides checked invitations, handed out Evolution Potions, and warned attendees to follow the gathering's rules.
• The guides split the attendees among four factory rooms and led them through underground passages to waiting cars.
• Xu Huo joined Yan Jiayu's group, and the attendees put on colored masks and identical black robes to conceal their identities.
• The car brought Xu Huo's group to an unopened resort, where they saw the other two groups heading toward a greenery-covered building.

Xu Huo realized the Twin Snakes Organization was repeatedly sorting and replacing players before its gathering, and he suspected the markers they distributed were part of the process. When wristbands assigned the group to different prayer halls, Xu Huo went to Door Two, and Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen followed him despite drawing a different number.

• Qian Xuwen warned Xu Huo that the players across the lake were not the same ones who had left, and Xu Huo entered the resort to investigate.
• A black-robed guide described the Twin Snakes Organization and showed the players its history and beliefs before handing out wristbands.
• Xu Huo explained to Yan Jiayu that invitations and masks had helped the organization sort and replace players, and they suspected the wristbands were another marker.
• Yan Jiayu used her ability to flash the room's lights, after which Xu Huo, Guan Sheng, and Qian Xuwen left the exhibit room.
• The guides took the players to a crowded gathering on the third floor and assigned them to prayer halls using their wristbands.
• Xu Huo headed for Door Two, and Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen followed him despite receiving wristband number three.

Xu Huo entered a private lounge alone while Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen were left behind amid confusion across the resort. The Twin Snakes Organization concealed a mass killing, and a masked player escaped through a hidden passage.

• At a Twin Snakes gathering, players prayed to a bronze statue before trading, and black-robed figures invited some of them to Mr. Ding’s lounge one at a time.
• Xu Huo went to the lounge alone, while Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen were stopped and later told he had left without them.
• Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen searched the resort for Xu Huo, then became caught in a growing crowd of players trading across the prayer halls.
• Mr. Ding ordered a black-robed figure to lead Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen to the lounge and keep them there.
• Twin Snakes members dragged corpses through a concealed panel, and a masked player slipped into the Secret Passage.

At the Twin Snakes gathering, Tan Yang and Huang Junjie suspected the organization had secretly mixed its members among the invited players, while Xu Huo was led with three other players to meet the Grey Messenger. After the gathering, players collected Evolution Potions and were split among elevators, leaving their groups separated and the meaning of the wristband numbers still unclear.

• Guan Zu Hong told Sima Xiao Er that Brother Liang had followed a group marked four downstairs and that Zhou Ning had disappeared after the prayer hall groups were assigned.
• Huang Junjie noticed that the crowd at the resort seemed larger than the number of invitees and warned Tan Yang and Pu Kang that Twin Snakes members might be disguised among the players.
• Tan Yang, Huang Junjie, and Pu Kang stayed with the group marked six rather than risk splitting up, while Huang Junjie tried to work out what the wristband numbers meant.
• A black-robed person told Xu Huo and three other players that the Grey Messenger had chosen them, then led them to a dining room to wait for him.
• The players collected Evolution Potions as the gathering ended, then the black-robed members divided them among elevators; Tan Yang and Pu Kang separated from Sima Xiao Er, Xiao Zhang, and Guan Zu Hong at a junction.

Huang Junjie, Sima Xiao Er, and others were swept into a Twin Snakes Organization gathering meant for eight white-masked guests. Xu Huo challenged the group’s treatment of the extra players, and the gray-robed host revealed three paintings he called prophecies.

• Sima Xiao Er was forced out of the elevator with a group of masked players and taken to a sealed dining room, while Huang Junjie followed.
• Huang Junjie found eight white-masked players and three others in the room; when Xiao Zhang attacked a black-robed attendant, the carpet ensnared him and black nets restrained him and his companions.
• A gray-robed host said only the eight white-masked players had been invited and ordered the others escorted out.
• Xu Huo objected to the host’s arbitrary treatment of the players and urged the guests not to stay, prompting others to question the Twin Snakes Organization.
• The host uncovered three oil paintings depicting a fire, the birth of three radiant figures, and millions becoming their believers, then identified them as prophetic paintings.

The Twin Snakes claimed that Sima Xiao Er was destined to play a crucial role in saving District 014 and appointed him their White Envoy. When an explosion rocked the resort, the group rushed to escape through a secret passage, and Sima Xiao Er insisted that Xu Huo and his companions come with them.

• The gray-robed man explained that the Twin Snakes sought an unknown Player who would help District 014 survive a future disaster, and he used a crystal ball to examine the gathered Players.
• The crystal ball displayed different images for the Players, and the Twin Snakes recruited some of them while continuing to search for the predicted savior.
• The crystal ball showed a glowing sphere for Sima Xiao Er, so the gray-robed man named him the White Envoy and granted him the Twin Snakes' support and authority.
• Xu Huo questioned the Twin Snakes' motives and wondered what had happened to Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen and why the Special Defense Department had not intervened.
• A crash shook the resort and shattered windows, prompting the gray-robed man to lead Sima Xiao Er and the others toward a secret passage.
• Sima Xiao Er asked the gray-robed man to bring Xu Huo and his companions along because they were his friends.

After escaping the resort, Xu Huo pieced together how the Twin Snakes had sorted and targeted the Players, while Zhou Ning, Brother Liang, Tan Yang, and Pu Kang remained missing. He concluded that leaving was too dangerous and told Huang Junjie that joining the Twin Snakes was their best chance to survive.

• Xu Huo escaped the resort with Huang Junjie and called Guan Sheng, who said Zhou Ning was missing; Xu Huo told him to search for her.
• Xu Huo explained that the Twin Snakes had used wristband numbers and other screenings to sort Players, and noted that Yan Jiayu might have entered a Random Instance.
• Xu Huo compared the missing Players by their wristband numbers and concluded that the Twin Snakes had targeted Players numbered one, two, and five.
• Huang Junjie questioned the Twin Snakes' motives and suggested they leave, but Xu Huo warned that gray-robed men were stopping anyone who left the group.
• Xu Huo told Huang Junjie that joining the Twin Snakes was their best chance to stay alive.

Xu Huo secretly sent Lichun to investigate the Warehouse, where Twin Snakes members prepared corpses for storage. Lichun rescued Zhou Ning from a truck by taking her place among the bodies, leaving Zhou Ning hidden nearby with Lichun’s phone.

• After reaching an evacuated town, Huang Junjie and the other players discussed whether to trust the Twin Snakes and stayed overnight in a Small Building.
• Xu Huo changed his appearance, slipped out of the building, and sent the painted woman, Lichun, to investigate a Warehouse.
• Lichun discovered Twin Snakes members washing corpses, dressing them in white robes, and storing them in glass cabinets.
• Zhou Ning, who had faked her death after being drugged, realized she was trapped in the truck as the black-robed men unloaded bodies.
• Lichun rescued Zhou Ning by carrying her into a junk pile and taking her place as the last female corpse on the truck.
• Zhou Ning found Lichun’s phone in her pocket and stayed hidden as the black-robed men placed Lichun in a glass coffin.

Xu Huo and Zhou Ning uncovered Black Snake’s operation of transporting dead and living Players, while Black Snake moved Xu Huo and others to Yang City under the guise of an initiation ceremony. After learning the group was being divided between two venues and hearing that Cannibal Players were involved, Xu Huo attacked their transport vehicle.

• Zhou Ning told Xu Huo that Lichun had been taken away, and he asked Zhou Ning to track the vehicle and contact Team Leader Wu with her evidence.
• Xu Huo warned Zhou Ning that Black Snake might have infiltrated Water City’s Special Defense Department, then learned Sima Xiao Er and Huang Junjie were among the living Players Black Snake planned to take.
• Abel, the Player with prayer beads, spoke with Xu Huo and asked about contacting the Special Defense Department, but Xu Huo denied knowing him.
• Black Snake’s grey-robed people made ten Players, including Xu Huo and Sima Xiao Er, undergo an initiation ceremony that drugged them, then ordered them sent in glass cabinets to two venues in Yang City.
• Xu Huo messaged Zhou Ning and learned the vehicle she tracked had reached a hotel where Players, including Cannibal Players, were gathering.
• Xu Huo broke out of the glass cabinet, killed the passenger, and killed the driver after restraining him with a Wooden Man.

Xu Huo rescued several Players from the Twin Snakes Organization and learned that the group had sent other captives to Taole Club. After the painted woman reported killing most of the attackers, Xu Huo headed for Taole Club, where Xiao Zhang and the others offered to help.

• Xu Huo told the rescued Players that the Twin Snakes Organization was holding captives at Huimei Wellness Center and Taole Club, and that someone in the Yang City Special Defense Department knew about the abductions.
• Xu Huo suspected Tan Yang had been involved in the earlier commotion and turned the vehicle toward Taole Club.
• The painted woman called Xu Huo and reported that she had killed the attackers, though one person had escaped and seen her use her Ability.
• Abel recognized Xu Huo, and Guan Zu Hong and Xiao Zhang were surprised to learn his identity.
• Xiao Zhang offered to gather trustworthy Players to help Xu Huo attack the Twin Snakes Organization, even though Brother Liang remained missing.

Xu Huo and his companions attacked the Taole Club, where they suspected Snake Eyes was operating, and fought their way through its Back Kitchen. The chapter left them questioning surviving workers about the clubhouse’s Players and the whereabouts of two missing people.

• Huang Junjie contacted the First Association for help, but no one agreed to come as the group arrived at the Taole Club.
• Xu Huo killed two guards, then drove the group into the clubhouse by posing as a food delivery worker.
• Xu Huo, Abel, and Xiao Zhang entered the Back Kitchen and found evidence of blood mixed with the food preparation.
• A Player attacked Xiao Zhang, but Abel burned the attacker’s face with Holy Water Baptism and Xiao Zhang beheaded him.
• Xu Huo bound and killed most of the kitchen’s attackers, while Abel and Xiao Zhang finished off two survivors who had saved themselves with items.
• Huang Junjie brought in three captured workers, and he asked them to describe the clubhouse’s forces and identify two people.

Tan Yang and Pu Kang were forced to attend a Twin Snakes banquet, where Young Master Qiu revealed that the guests were Cannibal Players and threatened to make Tan Yang join them or become their food. When intruders were discovered outside, Qiu opened the dining room to the lake and ordered gunmen to fire on them.

• Tan Yang and Pu Kang were wheeled into a dining room full of masked guests after being captured by Twin Snakes.
• Young Master Qiu introduced Tan Yang and Pu Kang as guests and offered to make the First Association an ally of Twin Snakes.
• Pu Kang insulted Qiu, who beat him until his Defense Artifact failed.
• Tan Yang realized the covered platters held human bodies and Qiu threatened him with a choice between eating the food or becoming it.
• After a gray-robed man reported intruders, Young Master Qiu opened the doors and windows and had gunmen fire at figures hiding among the trees across the lake.

Xu Huo and the others watched the First Association and Brother Liang’s group struggle against Twin Snakes’ overwhelming firepower as they tried to reach the clubhouse. When the gray-robed men advanced on the shore and the battle turned desperate, Xu Huo finally stepped out to act.

• Brother Liang’s players and the First Association attacked from opposite sides of the lake, but Twin Snakes’ gunfire and grenades drove them back.
• Xu Huo confirmed that Tan Yang and Sima Xiao Er were alive while Huang Junjie explained that he had little influence over the First Association’s members.
• The shore players attacked Twin Snakes’ ammunition crates, but a gray-robed man shielded them, stopped the fireball, and captured a player with an unusual item.
• Military helicopters approached as Young Master Qiu dismissed the deaths of players and ordered the gray-robed men to finish the fight.
• Guan Zu Hong, Xiao Zhang, and their allies attacked two gray-robed men, but the men broke through their defenses and gravely wounded two players.
• As the gray-robed men pursued the retreating players, Xu Huo stepped out from behind a tree and said it was time to act.

Xu Huo attacked Young Master Qiu’s forces at the lakeside clubhouse and prevented his escape, turning the fight into a chaotic battle. Young Master Qiu was left in the clubhouse as several of his men suddenly collapsed, their bodies withering and turning black.

• Xu Huo overwhelmed the black-robed men, destroyed their supplies, and helped the players fighting around the clubhouse rally against them.
• Xu Huo seized Young Master Qiu with his Kite String, but Young Master Qiu and three gray-robed players restrained him and attacked.
• Xu Huo broke free using Truth Transcends All and Straight Line Distance, then reached the helicopter carrying Young Master Qiu and the gray-robed man.
• Xu Huo disintegrated the helicopter, and the gray-robed man killed himself after the Star Binding Ball froze him; Xu Huo returned to the clubhouse.
• Young Master Qiu searched for an artifact as several gray-robed and black-robed players fell to their knees, their bodies turning black and shriveling.

Xu Huo helped the First Association defeat Double Snake’s players and confronted Young Master Qiu, who revealed he could obtain a King Fungus. The Special Defense Department arrived as Xu Huo held Young Master Qiu at swordpoint, leaving a hostile confrontation with Team Leader Song imminent.

• Xu Huo rescued Sima Xiao Er and the other captives while the First Association turned the fight against Double Snake’s players.
• Young Master Qiu offered Xu Huo a King Fungus in exchange for his freedom, revealing Double Snake’s access to the Special Defense Department’s resources.
• Xu Huo knocked Young Master Qiu down and threatened him, but Young Master Qiu claimed his allies were coming and warned that Cannibal Players would retaliate.
• The Special Defense Department arrived at the lakeshore, and the First Association retreated as Huang Junjie told Xu Huo that Team Leader Song was there.