Recaps

Xu Huo’s group traveled to CK22 to investigate the alien chips and encountered a swarm of seemingly dead aliens upon entering the city. The chapter ended with the group surrounded behind Juan Er’s protective barrier as Ye Xiaoshan wondered whether the aliens had evolved.

• Xu Huo let Fan Yunhong out and arranged for him to register at the Polar Safe Zone.
• Xu Huo’s group joined the Polar Safe Zone players and traveled toward CK22, learning about poisonous insects, mutant animals, and the aliens in the area.
• The group reached CK22 and made their way through its collapsed streets while trying to avoid alien hideouts.
• A dry-corpse alien leaped at Brother Wu, then quickly recovered and attacked the group.
• Juan Er activated a large-area Defense Artifact as desiccated aliens emerged from the ruins and rushed toward them.

Xu Huo and his group fought Aliens and uncovered an ambush by powerful Outer District Players, who captured several of their companions and attacked the rest with sensory-disrupting music and unusual abilities. Xu Huo rescued his group from a collapsing building and trapped one attacker beneath its ruins.

• The Aliens attacked the defensive barrier, but Xu Huo killed those that reached Gao Dawei after the barrier was sliced open.
• Gao Dawei spotted Players on nearby buildings, and Brother Wu, Juan Er, Big Back Head, and another companion pursued them.
• An ambusher surrounded Brother Wu and the others in green light and made all five disappear, while Darkness Under the Lamp confirmed the attackers had high-grade Artifacts.
• Soothing music impaired Xu Huo and the others' sight and hearing, and Darkness Under the Lamp used a light-reflecting Artifact and a barking Artifact to locate and pursue an attacker.
• An enemy Player split a building apart, but Xu Huo brought Gao Dawei, Ye Xiaoshan, and the others to safety and used Mental Portals to send the attacker beneath the ruins.

Xu Huo fought off a B-level player who had tried to separate and ambush his group, then regrouped with his companions and searched an underground laboratory in CK22. The laboratory held no records about Aliens, only the remains of long-dead ones.

• Xu Huo used Dimension Fog, Mental Portal, and Cube Space to counter his opponent’s attacks and force the B-level player to escape with a Space Teleport Artifact.
• Xu Huo tracked the fleeing player to somewhere within the CK22 Safe Zone and learned that at least five B-level players were hiding there.
• Juan Er contacted Xu Huo and reported that the other group had been teleported across the city; after one person died, their attackers withdrew.
• Brother Wu used an artifact pen to draw a protective circle around the reunited group, helping block attacks from Space Artifacts.
• Xu Huo, Gao Dawei, Darkness Under the Lamp, and Brother Wu searched an underground laboratory for written or digital records while the others kept watch.
• The group found no records about Aliens, but discovered the remains of Aliens that had been dead for a long time.

Xu Huo and his companions searched CK22’s Laboratories and former government offices for clues about Dr. Joyce, but found nothing and decided to investigate an Alien settlement to the north. That night, the players who had ambushed them returned, claiming they had a clue to clearing their Dungeon and asking to recruit them.

• Gao Dawei asked whether anyone had found evidence of Dr. Joyce, but Darkness Under the Lamp had found nothing, and Xu Huo said they would discuss his uncle after leaving.
• Brother Wu and Juan Er set traps in a Laboratory for the players who had ambushed them, and the group later heard the traps go off as their pursuers fled.
• Xu Huo’s group searched more Laboratories and former government offices, but Fei Xian found no trace of Dr. Joyce, so Xu Huo decided to look for him at an Alien settlement to the north.
• Ye Xiaoshan and the others left that night, while Xu Huo explained that finding Dr. Joyce would give him something to report when he returned.
• At midnight, the six players who had ambushed Xu Huo’s group confronted them and asked what Dungeon they were in, claiming they could help clear it.
• Xu Huo suggested asking which Dungeon the other players were in before deciding whether to listen to their clue.

Xu Huo persuaded the black-jacketed Players to join his group in exchange for searching for his missing elder, and the twelve set out toward areas frequented by Mutant Animal packs. They stopped for the night at Xu Huo’s Snowflake Hotel, where the group enjoyed its luxurious facilities and food.

• The black-jacketed Players revealed that their Instance, “Last Wishes,” required at least ten Players, and Xu Huo proposed that they work together despite Juan Er’s group needing a different Instance cleared.
• Xu Huo convinced his companions to let the black-jacketed Players join them, arguing that they could help search for Mutant Animal packs instead of trailing the group as a threat.
• Xu Huo offered to lead the twelve Players north to look for his elder, and the black-jacketed Players agreed to search for three days.
• The twelve traveled across the desert and reached an area frequented by Mutant Animal packs near nightfall.
• Xu Huo brought out the Snowflake Hotel and charged the others a small amount of White Cash to stay there.
• Gao Dawei and the others explored the hotel’s food and amenities, and Xu Huo asked the black-jacketed Players whether they had any special dietary requirements.

Xu Huo hosted Gao Dawei and the others at a desert hotel while the black-coated players secretly planned to rob him. A pink-haired traveler arrived during the night and stayed at the hotel, where he thanked its owner the next morning.

• Gao Dawei offered Xu Huo food and wine, and the guests prepared dinner while Juan Er called out the black-coated players for sitting idle.
• Xu Huo stopped Gao Dawei and the young player from arguing, then let everyone choose rooms in the hotel.
• The black-coated players met privately and planned to target Xu Huo, believing he was a wealthy player who underestimated them.
• Xu Huo had worried the black-coated players would not take the bait, but was pleased when they decided to act.
• A pink-haired man arrived at the hotel, told Gao Dawei he had wandered through District 010, and asked for food and a room.
• The pink-haired man slept soundly and thanked the hotel's owner the next morning, not recognizing the person who had spoken with Darkness Under the Lamp.

Xu Huo's group followed the trail of Aliens across the desert with the pink-haired man, only to be caught in a vast insect tide that disabled their Space Teleport Artifacts. As they escaped upward, a towering pile of Aliens and a massive sandstorm threatened to overwhelm them.

• Xu Huo's group agreed to let the pink-haired man travel with them as they followed the Aliens' trail.
• The pink-haired man ran ahead to photograph a heart-shaped dune, then returned warning that a huge horde of Aliens was approaching.
• Aliens erupted from the sand around the group, and their Space Teleport Artifacts stopped working as the creatures swarmed over their defenses.
• Xu Huo and the others took to the air while the pink-haired man suggested that underground minerals or shifting terrain might be disrupting their Artifacts.
• The Aliens piled on top of one another to form a towering mound, and a gale brought a tsunami-like sandstorm that blotted out the sky.

Xu Huo and Gao Dawei were separated from their allies in a sandstorm, and Xu Huo was attacked by two Players while Gao Dawei searched for help. As Aliens overwhelmed them, Chang Shoujie entrusted Gao Dawei with finding and protecting Dr. Joyce and urged him to defend District 010.

• A sandstorm swept Xu Huo and Gao Dawei away from the others, and two Players attacked Xu Huo as he fought to defend himself.
• Chang Shoujie emerged from a Picture Frame, and Gao Dawei carried him away from the battle.
• Gao Dawei ran into the pink-haired man and warned him about the Deathbed Wish Players and the Alien horde, but the man went off to fight alone.
• Aliens attacked Gao Dawei and Chang Shoujie until Chang Shoujie told him to retrieve a positioning device and use it to find Dr. Joyce.
• Chang Shoujie told Gao Dawei to protect Dr. Joyce, stay loyal to District 010, and hold their ground until the last person.

Chang Shoujie urged Gao Dawei to continue toward the Station and find Dr. Joyce, even as Gao insisted on taking him along. When a hostile B-class Player attacked them, Xu Huo arrived and turned the confrontation around.

• Chang Shoujie shoved Gao Dawei away from an Alien and fought it, but Gao returned to help and was injured.
• Chang Shoujie explained the sacrifices required to give up Player status and asked Gao to find Dr. Joyce and continue in his place.
• Gao agreed to carry Chang Shoujie, but warned him not to demand that he leave him behind.
• A hostile B-class Player attacked the two, and Chang Shoujie shielded Gao from the strike.
• Xu Huo appeared and stopped the attack as other B-class Players surrounded him, while the pink-haired Player mocked the men in black jackets.

Xu Huo and the other players defeated the black-coated attackers, then discussed Chang Shoujie’s connection to Dr. Joyce and his reproduction experiment. The chapter left them questioning whether Dr. Joyce had succeeded in creating a Newborn and what kind of beings could have produced it.

• Xu Huo trapped the black-coated players and killed one who had tried to murder him, while the pink-haired player and the others dealt with their opponents.
• The last black-coated player escaped beneath the sand, so the pink-haired player sent a mechanical mouse after him.
• Xu Huo told Chang Shoujie and Gao Dawei he would not have killed Chang Shoujie for refusing to reveal information.
• Chang Shoujie acknowledged that Xu Huo knew about Dr. Joyce’s reproduction experiment and his final message concerning the Degenerate Aliens.
• Juan Er asked whether District 010 had produced a Newborn and whether its parents could have been Aliens or a human and an Alien.

Chang Shoujie explained that experiments to restore District 010’s ability to reproduce had failed, while Xu Huo set out to investigate the clues about Dr. Joyce. The group waited in the sea of sand, where Chang Shoujie reflected on why he had chosen a difficult life of helping others, until Brother Wu announced Xu Huo’s return.

• Chang Shoujie said Dr. Joyce had tried using Aliens to raise a new generation, but the experiments failed and Dr. Joyce left District 010 to seek help.
• Xu Huo suggested that other Safe Zones had also participated in the experiments and kept quiet after they failed.
• Xu Huo teleported away to investigate the clues about Dr. Joyce while Darkness Under the Lamp and the others stayed with Chang Shoujie and Gao Dawei.
• Juan Er asked Chang Shoujie why he chose a hard path, and Chang Shoujie replied that people had to do something while alive.
• Juan Er warned Gao Dawei to back down when he was outmatched, and Brother Wu announced that Xu Huo had returned.

Xu Huo questioned Chang Shoujie about Dr. Joyce and used a tracking instrument to narrow the search to the vanished CK12 Safe Zone. The trail brought Xu Huo close to where he had started, while Pink Hair’s grim reaction hinted at his lost Player girlfriend.

• Pink Hair admitted he had invented his story about a dying wish, then revealed that his girlfriend had been a Player.
• Xu Huo returned with Dr. Joyce’s instrument, which pointed toward a fixed location, and asked Chang Shoujie to speak privately.
• Xu Huo questioned Chang Shoujie about Dr. Joyce’s connection to Stellar Pharmaceutical Group and the devastation of District 010.
• Chang Shoujie said Dr. Joyce’s last known destination was a Safe Zone that had disappeared two years earlier.
• Xu Huo recognized the direction as CK12 Safe Zone and considered that Dr. Joyce might have died there.
• Chang Shoujie asked whether Xu Huo knew Pink Hair, noting that Pink Hair seemed unusually unconcerned with Dungeon clues.

Xu Huo and the others reached the buried CK12 Safe Zone while an unseen follower continued tracking Xu Huo. As they began searching for the city, Chang Shoujie explained why he had devoted his life to District 010, leaving Gao Dawei quiet after hearing his story.

• Darkness Under the Lamp warned Xu Huo that an invisible player was following them, and Xu Huo confirmed the follower could keep pace even when he teleported.
• Xu Huo reached CK12 after Darkness Under the Lamp and Brother Wu's group had sent machines underground, then directed robots to search the buried Safe Zone.
• Xu Huo released Chang Shoujie and asked about the Black Snake tattoo on his face.
• Chang Shoujie recounted how a black snake had bitten him after a scorpion poisoned him, helping him survive and inspiring his lifelong devotion to District 010.
• Chang Shoujie said he had made the right choice once, thirty years earlier, and Gao Dawei fell silent as Xu Huo toasted him.

Xu Huo and the others searched the sand-buried CK12 Safe Zone laboratory for evidence about Dr. Joyce and discovered preserved mutant animal embryos. They left without learning what the experiments were for.

• Robots brought back four sets of Dr. Joyce's remains and his identification card, but Xu Huo and the others could not identify which bones were his.
• The robots reported that the laboratory was buried in sand and its records were missing, while a video showed that few alien creatures had entered the city.
• Xu Huo, Chang Shoujie, Darkness Under the Lamp, and Juan Er cleared two rooms in the laboratory.
• Darkness Under the Lamp and Juan Er discussed mutant animal teeth used as currency in Sand Sea Safe Zone and how Cannibal Players profited from controlling resources there.
• Darkness Under the Lamp suggested CK12 had been testing animal reproduction, but Xu Huo doubted the theory and wondered what the experiments were actually for.

Xu Huo and the others searched CK12 Laboratory for evidence of a Newborn but found only a baby outfit, abandoned embryos, and dead Aliens. That night, Xu Huo followed the locator to a group of desert-adapted Aliens and confirmed that one carried the locating chip embedded in its leg bone.

• Xu Huo realized the locator's other half was outside the Safe Zone and might have been carried by an Alien.
• Darkness Under the Lamp and Juan Er found a baby outfit in the Laboratory, but the group found no other evidence of a Newborn after clearing the facility.
• The group sealed the Laboratory and returned to the surface, where they discussed the missing child and whether Gao Dawei could become the next Lighthouse.
• After the others went to sleep, Xu Huo followed the locator to a group of Aliens buried in the sand.
• Xu Huo used robots to identify the Alien carrying the locator, anesthetized it, and confirmed the chip was embedded in its leg bone.

Xu Huo discovered that several Aliens could be stored in World in the Painting and negotiated with Pink Hat to disguise one as an experimental subject. He returned to the hotel carrying her and told the others that she was his clearance condition.

• Xu Huo removed a chip from an Alien, sent samples to Dr. Deng, and found that multiple Aliens could be stored in World in the Painting.
• Xu Huo summoned Pink Hat and bargained with her, agreeing to pay her 1.1 million White Cash for help.
• Pink Hat suggested disguise devices, and Xu Huo used them to conceal her appearance before heading to the hotel.
• A Player pursuing Xu Huo saw an Alien foot and changed direction to chase him.
• At the hotel, the pink-haired woman and Juan Er noticed the figure under Xu Huo's tablecloth, and Xu Huo said she was his clearance condition.

Xu Huo discussed the newborn from District 010 and a tracking chip with Chang Shoujie, arguing that they needed to find the child and investigate Dr. Joyce’s clues. Chang Shoujie recognized the chip’s code as one linked to repeated Alien outbreaks, while Xu Huo left the newborn’s existence exposed in hopes that someone would bring him more information.

• Xu Huo revealed to Chang Shoujie that the newborn was real but was not the child he had pretended to find.
• Xu Huo showed Chang Shoujie a damaged tracking chip and the code CKX8911, which he had recovered from an Alien.
• Chang Shoujie recognized the code as one found on Aliens during multiple outbreaks and explained that earlier attempts to analyze similar chips had failed.
• Xu Huo and Chang Shoujie considered why the newborn had remained hidden and whether District 010 could produce more children.
• Xu Huo argued that Dr. Joyce’s clues and the child’s uncertain survival made finding the newborn essential, while Chang Shoujie doubted Xu Huo’s motives.
• Xu Huo said he had publicized the newborn’s existence as a precaution so that someone might bring him a useful clue.

Xu Huo persuaded Chang Shoujie to help search for newborn Melissa and bring District 010 players into the effort, while he investigated the opposing faction and Dr. Joyce’s work. Dr. Deng confirmed the genetic samples came from human children, leaving Xu Huo to consider whether the regressed children were Dr. Joyce’s results.

• Xu Huo convinced Chang Shoujie to seek refuge in the Polar Safe Zone and help gather players, while claiming Dr. Joyce’s former colleague could help them.
• Little Pink Hat questioned why Chang Shoujie believed Xu Huo, and Xu Huo explained that Chang Shoujie wanted to take a chance on the clues about the newborn.
• Xu Huo spotted a hostile player watching the hotel and wondered what the Black Faction’s clearance task was and why Melissa needed to be taken home.
• Xu Huo tested the unconscious Alien in the Safe Zone, then contacted Dr. Deng to ask about the samples and Dr. Joyce’s Potion.
• Dr. Deng said the samples were human children and asked whether the regressed children were Dr. Joyce’s results.

Xu Huo gathered a group to take the newborn to the Polar Safe Zone while Dr. Deng investigated another sample. Chang Shoujie persuaded Fu Yi to rally players from other Safe Zones, and the group set out after the Polar Safe Zone was warned of their arrival.

• Xu Huo asked Dr. Deng to test a different sample, then prepared to leave with Pink Hat concealed in an Artifact alongside Chang Shoujie.
• Xu Huo invited the others to travel with him, and Juan Er, Darkness Under the Lamp, and the pink-haired man agreed to join.
• At the Safe Zone, Chang Shoujie convinced Fu Yi that the child was real and argued that the players should act against the growing Sand Sea Safe Zone.
• Fu Yi agreed to notify the other Safe Zones, then assembled a small group to accompany Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo had Fu Yi warn the Polar Safe Zone that the Newborn was coming, and then set out with the group.

Xu Huo brought the little Pink Hat to Polar Safe Zone and demanded that its people find the survivors of CK12 Safe Zone so he could locate Dr. Joyce. When Mr. Yuan hesitated, Xu Huo announced he would let other Safe Zones compete to take the child, leaving Polar Safe Zone facing a tense standoff.

• Xu Huo showed the little Pink Hat to Fei Xian and the Polar Safe Zone players, then brought her into the city.
• Darkness Under the Lamp questioned Xu Huo about his plan, but he avoided explaining his purpose.
• Chang Shoujie recognized Mr. Yuan when he arrived, and Mr. Yuan asked what it would take for Xu Huo to hand over the child.
• Xu Huo demanded that Polar Safe Zone find the players who escaped CK12 Safe Zone so he could find Dr. Joyce.
• Chang Shoujie revealed that they had already spread news of the newborn, and Xu Huo said he would offer her to anyone who brought him a CK12 survivor or information about Dr. Joyce.
• Mr. Yuan de-escalated the standoff and asked Xu Huo to keep his word.

Xu Huo gathered players from District 010’s Safe Zones and showed them Pink Hat from a distance, hoping to find CK12 players who could explain how she was born. The crowd questioned her humanity and future, and Mr. Yuan urged anyone connected to CK12 to come forward.

• After negotiations with Mr. Yuan’s group soured, Xu Huo sealed off the floor and prepared to wait for players from CK12 and other factions to approach.
• Players from nearly half of District 010’s Safe Zones arrived, and Xu Huo let them see Pink Hat from a distance without bringing her into the conference room.
• The gathered players saw signs of Alien traits on Pink Hat and argued over whether she was human, whether she could survive, and what her birth meant for District 010.
• Mr. Yuan asked anyone from CK12 or connected to its players to step forward and share what they knew.

Xu Huo used little Pink Hat to force the District 010 Players to discuss the child’s fate, while they debated whether she was real and how to recover her. Chang Shoujie confirmed that the child belonged to District 010, and the chapter ended with Xu Huo asking him whether his claim from the previous night was true.

• A short Player accused Xu Huo of inventing the child and demanded proof, but Xu Huo threatened to kill her unless the District 010 Players answered him within an hour.
• The Players returned to their meeting room, where Liao Xiaoyi pressed Liu Chen about his ties to CK12 and Lu He raised Dr. Joyce’s connection to Chang Shoujie.
• Mr. Yuan revealed that Chang Shoujie was in the building, and Gao Dawei brought him to the window to speak with the Players.
• Liao Xiaoyi reproached Chang Shoujie over the deaths caused by his past actions, while another older Player defended his sacrifices for District 010.
• When asked whether little Pink Hat was from District 010, Chang Shoujie firmly confirmed that she was.
• After a prop blocked the buildings from view and sound, Xu Huo asked Chang Shoujie whether what he had said the previous night was true.

Xu Huo read Dr. Joyce’s files and learned that Sample 93’s mutation might suppress Black Thorn Disease, while Dr. Deng identified a dangerous hereditary defect in the sample under investigation. The chapter left Xu Huo questioning how an Alien carrying that defect had survived for two years and whether its creator had somehow edited its genes.

• Xu Huo restrained Chang Shoujie and left Darkness Under the Lamp to watch the little Pink Hat.
• The little Pink Hat shared Lollipops with Darkness Under the Lamp while Xu Huo checked Dr. Joyce’s files in the shelter.
• Xu Huo learned that Dr. Joyce had used artificial wombs to create human-Alien hybrids and that Sample 93’s mutation might suppress Black Thorn Disease.
• Dr. Deng told Xu Huo that the sample had a powerful hereditary disease-causing gene that could make its carriers die from infections.
• Xu Huo noted that the Alien carrying the gene had survived for two years, and Dr. Deng questioned whether anyone could have edited its genes.

Xu Huo discussed Sample 93 and a possible treatment for Black Thorn Disease with Dr. Deng, then faced growing pressure from District 010 over the child. The Sand Sea Safe Zone attacked the Polar Safe Zone, and Xu Huo escaped into an abandoned building with help from a young Player.

• Xu Huo showed Dr. Deng documents about Sample 93 and offered him Dr. Joyce's remains to help develop a Gene Potion for Black Thorn Disease.
• Darkness Under the Lamp told Xu Huo that District 010 had found only one living CK12 Player, while Chang Shoujie asked where the child was.
• A Sand Sea Safe Zone Player attacked the Polar Safe Zone with explosive items, forcing Players to scatter and search for Xu Huo's group.
• Liao Xiaoyi heard Chang Shoujie warn that Xu Zhi might have the Newborn and led Players after Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo shook off most of his pursuers and entered an abandoned building, where the young Player beckoned him over.

Xu Huo joined the chaotic fight over a box believed to contain a newborn, while players from District 010, the Sand Sea Safe Zone, and other districts battled across the city. The box changed hands repeatedly, and the attackers’ attempts to destroy it continued.

• The younger and middle-aged players asked Xu Huo about the newborn, and he said he did not know who had it.
• Xu Huo followed a pink-haired player through the city and found Juan Er under attack by three players.
• Xu Huo called for Juan Er to give him the baby, and Juan Er threw him a large box that drew the attackers’ attention.
• Players fought over the box until someone used “Idol drama essential skill,” making everyone stumble and drop their belongings.
• The box turned into a stone slab in one player’s hands, then flew toward an Outer District player who tried to smash it.
• Other players shielded the box and drove off the attacker, but new assailants soon sent it into the air while fighting off those who tried to seize it.