Recaps

Xu Huo and Qiu Ming learned about Gemini City's disease and the dangerous route between its two districts as they searched for Dr. Dorr. At the Spring Bamboo Laboratory, staff claimed Dr. Dorr had already left, but Qiu Ming suspected they were lying as other Players forced their way inside.

• Xu Huo and Qiu Ming read about Gemini City's illness, its history, and the dangers along Heaven's Ladder.
• Xu Huo spotted a car carrying five Players and a struggling helmeted person, then sent Cao Qinglin to find a car while he and Qiu Ming headed to the laboratory.
• Xu Huo and Qiu Ming reached the Spring Bamboo Laboratory and entered using Xu Huo's Spiritual World.
• A staff member claimed Dr. Dorr had been picked up three hours earlier and ordered Xu Huo and Qiu Ming to leave.
• Qiu Ming told Xu Huo the staff member was lying, while Players outside broke down the door and entered the laboratory with an old Photo.

Xu Huo and Qiu Ming discovered that Dr. Dorr had already been secretly escorted away by Players hired by Spring Bamboo Laboratory. They learned the escort had entered Heaven's Ladder through Huai Ye Canyon and set out to catch up with Cao Qinglin's help.

• A Player threatened the Laboratory staff while demanding to know where Dr. Dorr was, and the staff said Players had taken him away hours earlier.
• Xu Huo and Qiu Ming watched footage showing Dr. Dorr leaving with Players who presented a contract from Winter Wind Laboratory.
• Xu Huo found footage from another surveillance room showing that another group had left the Laboratory twenty minutes earlier.
• Xu Huo deduced that the earlier escort had been hired by Spring Bamboo Laboratory to protect Dr. Dorr, and the white-haired staff member confirmed it.
• Qiu Ming verified the staff member's statements with a lie-detection item, and the staff member revealed that the escort had entered Heaven's Ladder through Huai Ye Canyon.
• Xu Huo contacted Cao Qinglin to arrange a vehicle, and he and Qiu Ming headed to meet her.

Xu Huo tracked the white-haired staff member to Dr. Dorr’s hiding place and offered to escort the doctor to Second City. Dr. Dorr agreed to leave, and one of the players protecting him volunteered to join them.

• Xu Huo told Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin that the staff member had lied about Dr. Dorr being moved, then followed him to an old Mall.
• The white-haired staff member urged Dr. Dorr and his guards to leave, while the guards refused to risk taking him to Second City by a dangerous route.
• Dr. Dorr revealed that the emergency Syringe had reached Second City but the old Potion was no longer effective, and insisted they could not delay.
• Xu Huo knocked at the basement door and offered to escort Dr. Dorr, arguing that the city’s players would not take him and the staff member had no better option.
• Dr. Dorr accepted Xu Huo’s offer and left the basement, and the slicked-back player volunteered to accompany them as a bodyguard.

Xu Huo, Dai Song, and their companions escorted a disguised Dr. Dorr toward Heaven's Ladder while preparing for possible attacks. On the way, Dai Song corrected Cao Qinglin's account of Zone 023's past, leaving her wondering why Mr. Chi and the others had lied.

• Xu Huo and Dai Song agreed to protect Dr. Dorr, who used Dai Song's item and disguise to pose as a Player while the white-haired elder stayed behind.
• Xu Huo noticed Players watching the group near the basement, but none followed them out of the city.
• Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming recognized Dr. Dorr despite his disguise, so Xu Huo advised him to avoid eye contact and pretend to rest.
• Dai Song gave the group an accurate Route Map and estimated that their journey through Heaven's Ladder would take five days.
• Cao Qinglin asked whether Zone 023's original residents had been slaughtered, and Dai Song explained that more than half had survived the Evolution event and desertification.
• Cao Qinglin wondered whether Mr. Chi and the others had lied to her about what happened in Zone 023.

Xu Huo and his companions learned about Zone 023’s neglected high-temperature region and the District Government’s refusal to help Gemini City. They entered Heaven’s Ladder, where enormous Mutated Plants closed around their car as Dai Song tried to get them through.

• Dai Song told Xu Huo and the others that the District Government was far from Gemini City and largely ignored the high-temperature zone.
• Dr. Dorr explained that Gemini City’s Laboratory had repeatedly sought help from the District Government, but its requests were rejected, and he had left the government’s Laboratory after realizing it did not care about ordinary people.
• Qiu Ming asked why Dr. Dorr had not studied in another sub-district, and Dr. Dorr replied that research elsewhere would not suit Zone 023’s environment.
• Dai Song warned the group that Heaven’s Ladder was full of Aliens and activated an environmental simulator to conceal their car.
• Mutated Plants formed a narrowing tunnel over the road, so Dai Song used a levitation item while Qiu Ming accelerated the car through them.
• Xu Huo threw out bottles of flammable liquid to distract the plants, but they quickly extinguished the fire.

Xu Huo and the others drove through Heaven's Ladder's flower forest, where relentless falling petals concealed Mutant Beasts and strange moving walls of flowers. After Xu Huo cut into the walls and their bloodlike fluid drew a horde of beasts, the group fled while he fought to clear their path.

• Cao Qinglin and Dai Song scattered Potion through the tangled woods as the car crossed Heaven's Ladder.
• The group entered a sea of flowers, where petals fell so quickly that Dai Song used a tool to blow them aside and Xu Huo pushed them clear with a spatial barrier.
• A shell-headed Mutant Beast attacked the car, and Xu Huo subdued it and others with sleeping Potion and spatial barriers.
• Two flower walls crashed into the car, so Xu Huo froze and cut through them, exposing roots that bled red fluid and attracted many Mutant Beasts.
• Qiu Ming sped away while Xu Huo fought the pursuing beasts, and Dai Song joined him on the roof and suggested drawing the nearby beasts toward them.

Xu Huo and the others drove through the dangerous flowering-tree zone and continued toward Tiantian Orchard, racing to arrive before midnight. After a pack of giant-toothed wolves began pursuing them, Dai Song’s attack provoked the wolves to leap at the car.

• Xu Huo shielded the car from corrosive bubbles, cleaned away its blood scent, and helped the group escape the Alien creatures pursuing them.
• Dai Song insisted they keep moving toward Tiantian Orchard before midnight, while Cao Qinglin agreed that stopping would be dangerous as night fell.
• Xu Huo had a domestic robot take over driving, giving Qiu Ming a brief chance to rest.
• A pack of giant-toothed wolves split up to pursue the car and likely cut it off ahead.
• Dai Song fired a poison injector at one wolf, causing the others to speed up and leap at the car.

Xu Huo and his companions fought off a wolf pack, repaired their damaged car at an abandoned rest stop, and continued toward Tiantian Orchard. Mutated vines then trapped them on the road, forcing Xu Huo and Qiu Ming to clear a path while Dai Song stayed with Dr. Dorr.

• Xu Huo and Dai Song fought off the wolves as the housekeeper robot drove through the pack and helped shake wolves from the car.
• Xu Huo used his lighter to set wolves ablaze, allowing the group to escape and check the damaged car.
• At an abandoned service area, Xu Huo, Qiu Ming, and the housekeeper robot changed the tires and reinforced a door before resuming their journey.
• The group found the road blocked by enormous piles of vines, and Dai Song suggested turning back to find another route.
• The vines rapidly closed off both directions, so Xu Huo cut and shifted them with the Cake Cutter and a spatial barrier while Qiu Ming helped.
• Dai Song gave Qiu Ming potions to slow the vines but stayed in the car to protect Dr. Dorr, prompting Qiu Ming to criticize him for not helping.

Xu Huo challenged Dai Song over the hidden routes and questioned whether the man they were escorting was really Dr. Dorr. Dai Song’s reaction suggested the Spring Bamboo Laboratory had sent multiple supposed Dr. Dorrs into Heaven’s Ladder.

• Xu Huo’s group found a stretch of forest scarred by fire and learned that another party had traveled through a different route.
• Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin accused Dai Song of hiding alternate paths, and Xu Huo insisted they discuss their options before continuing.
• Xu Huo questioned whether their Dr. Dorr was genuine, arguing that Dai Song might be escorting a fake to win their trust.
• Dr. Dorr showed his work ID and insisted he was real, but Xu Huo asked how many Dr. Dorrs the Spring Bamboo Laboratory had sent.
• Dr. Dorr looked to Dai Song, whose changed expression gave away that Xu Huo’s suspicion had struck a nerve.

Xu Huo questioned Dai Song about the attempt to escort Dr. Dorr to Second City and learned that assassins had repeatedly attacked the Laboratory’s teams. As the vehicle escaped the enclosing vines, doubts remained about the forces targeting Dr. Dorr and the other supposed doctor traveling with a different team.

• Dai Song became agitated when Xu Huo held Dr. Dorr, but Qiu Ming noticed Dai Song had been poisoned, and Dai Song took antidote pills.
• Dai Song explained that the Laboratory had sent out substitute doctors with real maps and planned routes, but assassins had killed or ambushed their teams.
• Dai Song confirmed that some attackers seemed to be B-class players, while Cao Qinglin and Xu Huo considered why powerful players would target Dr. Dorr and his research.
• Dr. Dorr said his genetic reprogramming research only benefited Gemini City residents, and Xu Huo warned Dai Song that their Dr. Dorr had to be genuine.
• Xu Huo fired poison into the vines trapping the vehicle, causing the plants to blacken and retreat.

Xu Huo gave Dr. Dorr a set of contaminating toxins and received a genetic disease treatment in return before the group encountered a flock of night owls. Xu Huo killed the attacking birds and left Dai Song questioning his strength as three rescued players asked to join their ride.

• Dr. Dorr traded Xu Huo a genetic disease treatment for a set of contaminating toxins.
• Xu Huo warned the group that people were ahead, and they found three injured players sheltered from man-eating flowers.
• A flock of night owls attacked the vehicle, damaging it and overwhelming the group with their numbers and tough feathers.
• Xu Huo killed the night owls with Cake Cutter, including the largest one circling above the trees.
• The three rescued players caught up and asked to ride with the group, while Qiu Ming looked to Xu Huo for a decision.

Xu Huo and the others took in Fan Zhigang, Gou Wu, and Wei Dong after learning that their supposed escort, Dr. Dorr, had disappeared and might not have been the real researcher. As the vehicle continued through Heaven’s Ladder, they evaded several waves of mutated creatures and ended the chapter discussing whether they could cook the wild boar they had killed.

• Fan Zhigang, Gou Wu, and Wei Dong told Xu Huo that Dr. Dorr had vanished through a hole during the night owl attack and that they doubted he was the real researcher.
• Xu Huo invited the three Players to stay aboard the vehicle, and they introduced themselves by name.
• A dead tree trunk launched the vehicle into the air, but Fan Zhigang used an item to suspend it before it crashed.
• Xu Huo and the others protected the vehicle from mutant pangolins and armored black bears, then escaped the creatures at speed.
• The group encountered rolling beetles pursued by wild boars, and Xu Huo used the Appraisal Fork to check that a boar leg was safe to eat.
• Fan Zhigang collected a dead boar and asked whether they had a venue item so they could cook that night.

Xu Huo’s group reached Tiantian Orchard and rested in the U-pick garden’s dining hall, where he and Fan Zhigang discussed Zone 023’s genetic illnesses and the origins of its residents. The conversation ended in anger as Dai Song defended Zone 023’s people and accused migrants of causing a deadly Evolution event.

• Xu Huo led the exhausted group to Tiantian Orchard, where they sheltered in the dining hall using his location item.
• Gou Wu cooked a meal, and the two groups ate together before resting.
• Fan Zhigang admired Xu Huo’s A-class black knife and showed him his own collection of knives.
• Xu Huo and Fan Zhigang discussed genetic disease in Gemini City, and Fan Zhigang said Zone 023 had few high-level local Players.
• Dai Song said the people on the wanted posters were migrants who had tried to take over Zone 023 and caused an Evolution event that killed many locals.
• Qiu Ming challenged Dai Song about the deaths in a ruined city, and Dai Song angrily described the massive loss of life across Zone 023.

Dai Song recounted Zone 023’s bloody history with the Ya tribe, while Xu Huo questioned gaps in his account and the government’s motives. The group suspected the unusually high reward for capturing Ya tribe members alive pointed to human experimentation.

• Dai Song explained that the Ya tribe had migrated to Zone 023 thirty years earlier, initially sharing technology before climate change and resource shortages sparked conflict.
• Dai Song accused the Ya tribe of trying to take over Zone 023 and killing its residents, describing the deaths and destruction he had witnessed as a child.
• Xu Huo questioned when the new District Government had been established and challenged the details of the Ya tribe’s migration and technological contributions.
• Dai Song said the new District Government had no interest in Zone 023, then insisted that Zone 023 would kill every remaining Ya tribe member regardless of the cost.
• Xu Huo asked why the bounty for bringing Ya tribe members in alive was far higher than the reward for killing them, pointing to the numbered brands on their faces.
• Fan Zhigang suggested that the Ya tribe members were wanted alive for experiments.

Xu Huo questioned Dai Song about the Ya tribe and human experiments in Zone 023, then led the group onward through Heaven's Ladder's dangerous flora and fauna. When red grass appeared along their route and Xu Huo sensed pursuers, he split off with Fan Zhigang and two others to confront them.

• Xu Huo challenged Dai Song about the Ya tribe's treatment and asked where its people had been transferred, but Dai Song refused to answer.
• Fan Zhigang suggested two prosperous cities where human experiments might be taking place, and Xu Huo accepted the suggestion.
• After a night with two alien attacks, the group found red grass growing around their shelter and along the path they had taken into the picking garden.
• The group drove on through repeated attacks from mutant plants and animals as Xu Huo fought them off with his knife.
• Xu Huo noticed that the red grass had spread along their vehicle's route and said someone was catching up, so he and Fan Zhigang moved forward with two others while Qiu Ming continued driving.

Seven Dungeon Players ambushed Xu Huo’s group and captured Dr. Dorr, but Xu Huo rescued him while Fan Zhigang’s team fought the remaining attackers. The fighting drew a swarm of Aliens, leaving both sides surrounded and still battling over Dr. Dorr.

• Seven enemy Players attacked the vehicle with magnetic spheres and Short Arrows, then used a speedster to strike Qiu Ming and Dai Song and coat the vehicle in wax.
• An enemy Player swapped places with Dr. Dorr and attacked Cao Qinglin, while Dai Song pursued the speedster and Qiu Ming defended her.
• Four attackers revealed that they had captured Dr. Dorr, but Xu Huo killed the Bald Player, hid Dr. Dorr in the painting, and told the household robot to clean the wax from the vehicle.
• Fan Zhigang and his companions cornered the remaining opponents, but the noise attracted growing numbers of Mutant Animals and other Aliens.
• Both groups fought the Aliens and each other, and Fan Zhigang demanded that the attackers hand Dr. Dorr over as everyone became wounded and surrounded.

Xu Huo’s group escaped the Aliens after another team kidnapped someone they believed was Dr. Dorr, while the group debated which of several impostors was real. As they considered how to find the genuine doctor, an explosion erupted in the distance.

• A fast Player stole his companion and escaped with his group, leaving Fan Zhigang, Qiu Ming, and the others surrounded by Aliens.
• Xu Huo protected the car and its occupants with a barrier, then had the housekeeping robot drive while the group fought through the Aliens.
• Xu Huo used bait and poison to distract the Aliens, allowing the group to escape, and suggested that the other Players might have taken a different Dr. Dorr impostor.
• The group debated whether Gemini City had used lookalikes, multiples, or plastic surgery to create the competing Dr. Dorrs, and Qiu Ming wondered if only one group could clear the Dungeon.
• Xu Huo noticed red grass growing again, and a distant fire and explosion lit up the sky.

Xu Huo confronted a group of Players searching for Dr. Dorr and discovered that Bai Jing, a Space Power Super Evolver, was among them. He trapped the group in a field of Space Rays and demanded answers.

• Xu Huo left Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin to guard the car, then went to investigate the explosion and found Ya tribe Players questioning survivors about Dr. Dorr.
• Xu Huo attacked the Ya tribe man and the Player with the notebook, taking the notebook and confirming that the group had tracked Dr. Dorr for days.
• The Ya tribe man escaped with the notebook Player using a teleportation item, but Xu Huo pursued them and narrowly avoided an explosion trap.
• Bai Jing joined the confrontation and detonated the air around Xu Huo, but Xu Huo appeared behind the notebook Player and killed him.
• Xu Huo warned the remaining Players that Space Rays filled the woods, then identified Bai Jing as a Space Power Super Evolver.

Xu Huo confronted Bai Jing and the Ya tribe about Dr. Dorr’s disappearance and learned their claim that Dr. Dorr conducted experiments on living people to create stronger Evolved Humans. He brought Dai Song into the discussion, and both Dai Song and Bai Jing insisted they were telling the truth, leaving Xu Huo to weigh conflicting accounts.

• Xu Huo subdued the Ya tribe players, held one hostage, and demanded information about Dr. Dorr.
• Bai Jing said the Ya tribe had killed fifteen people resembling Dr. Dorr and provided six photos.
• Bai Jing claimed Dr. Dorr was experimenting on living people to create stronger Evolved Humans using the Ya tribe’s genes.
• Xu Huo questioned the Ya tribe’s account and brought Dai Song, who had been hiding nearby, into the discussion.
• Dai Song denied Bai Jing’s claims and swore that Dr. Dorr had gone to Second City to save its people.

Spoken oaths carried little weight among Players fighting for survival. Dai Song was not ordinarily weak, but he was outmatched by Bai Jing and the others, as well as Xu Huo.

• Players fighting for survival placed little value on spoken promises.
• Players regarded attempts to gain trust through oaths as a sign of weakness.
• Dai Song fell short of Bai Jing and the others, as well as Xu Huo.

Xu Huo inspected what he had received and signaled that they could leave, leaving the Ya tribe and Dai Song confused about how he would clear the instance after Dr. Dorr’s death. The chapter then broke off into unrelated promotional blurbs for other novels.

• Xu Huo inspected the item and nodded to signal that they could leave.
• The Ya tribe people and Dai Song wondered how Xu Huo would clear the instance with Dr. Dorr dead.
• The text shifted to promotional descriptions of several unrelated novels.

Dai Song pointed out another route between First City and Second City that passed the Star Flower Sea, but he did not know whether their people had made it through. The chapter ended before anyone could determine what had happened along the route.

• Dai Song noted that First City and Second City seemed cut off despite Zone 023's communications facilities being undamaged.
• Dai Song pointed out an alternate route past the Star Flower Sea.
• Dai Song said he did not know whether their people had made it through.

Qiu Ming noticed that Dai Song had disappeared after leaving the car with Cao Qinglin. Fan Zhigang suspected that Dai Song had run off because Dr. Dorr was gone.

• Qiu Ming announced that Dai Song was missing.
• Cao Qinglin stood behind the group after getting out of the back seat with Dai Song, who was nowhere to be seen.
• Fan Zhigang suggested that Dai Song had run off because Dr. Dorr was gone and he had no reason to keep following them.

A tall white figure plunged into the woods among Bai Jing and three others, forcing them to scatter. Once they looked back, the figure had begun to come apart like a machine.

• A white figure plunged through the dense woods and landed precisely among Bai Jing and three others.
• Bai Jing and the other three retreated in different directions before looking back.
• The tall white figure began to come apart like a machine.

The pigtail-wearing Player broke free of the dummy Player's control and counterattacked. The golden-booted Player returned and caught the dummy Player before he hit the ground.

• The pigtail-wearing Player forcibly adjusted his posture midair and broke free of the control.
• The pigtail-wearing Player kicked forward and sent the dummy Player flying with a shoe-print-shaped shockwave.
• The golden-booted Player appeared behind the dummy Player and caught him in a wide-armed embrace.