Recaps

Bubble Bean became trapped in a series of apparent deaths and followed a voice calling him into the woods, where Xu Huo had lured him out. Xu Huo then discovered that Bubble Bean’s escape and the surrounding events were part of a strange spatial change that had swept them both up.

• Bubble Bean woke from an apparent death, found a lookalike on his bed, and attacked a figure resembling Xu Huo before being killed by one of his own arrows.
• Bubble Bean woke again and was killed by Yin Yang Master when he tried to leave the cabin, then returned to bed once more.
• Bubble Bean destroyed the Wooden Cabin and rushed into the woods after the voice, calling for Xu Huo and tearing through the trees with his items.
• Xu Huo explained that he had used mental interference to lure Bubble Bean out, believing the voice and figure were replays of a past event.
• Xu Huo felt a subtle force envelop him and Bubble Bean and realized Bubble Bean’s dramatic escape had only happened in his imagination.

Xu Huo followed a force through the forest’s overlapping spaces and watched memories of people who had passed through, including Tuo Tuo and Grandma Yi. He hid the unconscious Bubble Bean in a tree hollow, then received two messages on his Personal Panel.

• Bubble Bean wandered through the forest, unknowingly followed by Yin Yang Master and the others, while Xu Huo followed a faint force through a different space.
• Yin Yang Master pressed into the fog after Bubble Bean, but the man with a pierced eyebrow and Chi Cai refused to follow farther.
• Xu Huo reasoned that the hidden friend could draw people into the forest without fully controlling them, and that outsiders might interrupt the process.
• Xu Huo saw memories of Tuo Tuo, Grandma Yi, and others recorded in the forest, then spotted Bubble Bean looking like a True Man.
• Xu Huo knocked Bubble Bean out, hid him in a tree hollow under scented leaves, and saw two messages appear on his Personal Panel.

Xu Huo cleared the Dungeon by recognizing that it ended when anyone succeeded, then explored the underground cavern where the forest’s hidden victims had been buried. As he prepared to leave with mud for his mutated seed, his ability revealed that the figure following him had approached.

• Xu Huo received the Dungeon-clear notification and realized players did not need to kill anyone to end the Dungeon.
• The painted woman stamped Bubble Bean’s forehead, then followed Xu Huo to investigate where the Dungeon hid people.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman descended into a vast cavern of roots and found numerous bodies absorbed by the plants.
• Xu Huo used Home Field Advantage Perspective and learned that a figure had followed him into the forest and was now approaching.
• Xu Huo recognized the wet cavern mud as suitable for growing mutated plants and collected some for his seed.

Xu Huo found an Instance Authorization Letter and the S-class Core of Eternal Sleep beneath the mud in the cavern. He chose to suspend the Dungeon by taking the letter away, then left by train, where he unexpectedly encountered Bubble Bean.

• The painted woman found an Instance Authorization Letter and a Core of Eternal Sleep beneath the cavern’s sludge, and Xu Huo examined both items.
• Xu Huo decided to take the authorization letter away and suspend the Dungeon rather than destroy it, leaving the area safe for ordinary people to shelter in.
• The painted woman asked whether their images would remain after the Dungeon was suspended, and Xu Huo said they might still appear on the surface.
• Xu Huo left the cavern and checked his Dungeon rewards aboard the train, including an S-class reward set, Nutrient Amber, and a Plant Enthusiast Badge.
• Bubble Bean entered Xu Huo’s carriage, tried to avoid him, and walked toward the next carriage as the painted woman followed and greeted him.

Xu Huo and Bubble Bean reunited on the train after escaping the Hidden Friend Dungeon, and Xu Huo explained how he had cleared it. During the journey, the painted woman fixated on a short female Player, who angrily challenged her questions.

• Bubble Bean thanked Xu Huo for sparing his life and treated him and the painted woman to a meal.
• Xu Huo explained that the Hidden Friend Dungeon ended when one person cleared it, and Bubble Bean accepted that Xu Huo had saved him.
• The train entered an energy-explosion zone, and the passengers discussed the dangerous, unstable spaces along the tracks.
• The painted woman approached a short female Player and asked why she looked like a child.
• The female Player suggested cutting sections from the painted woman's bones, and the painted woman asked if there was another way.

On the train, Xu Huo’s painted companion was mistaken for a victim being held against her will, prompting two female Players to offer her help. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Xu Huo learned about a pharmaceutical company in C20-001 and received an invitation to visit its representative there.

• A knowledgeable female Player described unusual genetic diseases and told the others that some youthful-looking people had been exploited as test subjects.
• The painted woman said that people who tried to take her had been killed, and identified Xu Huo as her companion.
• Two female Players offered to help the painted woman escape from Xu Huo, but Xu Huo explained that she was his friend and was going with him to a Dungeon.
• The painted woman ran to Xu Huo and called him handsome, revealing that she wanted his beauty rather than needing rescuing.
• Xu Huo spoke with the knowledgeable Player about genetic diseases, and she gave him a Ren Zhi Pharmaceutical card and invited him to visit her in C20-001.

Xu Huo arrived in a tourist city in District 001 and learned that he had entered the B-class instance "Cat Whiskers Fruit Journey." Unable to determine how to complete its vague mission, he investigated the route and conflicting guides before searching for a nearby Dimension Rift library.

• Xu Huo arrived in a tourist city, where a female Player explained that its streetlamps released harmless medicinal fragrances, and he said he had hay fever.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman checked into the Yongxing Hotel, where Xu Huo reviewed the instance information.
• Xu Huo learned that the clearance mission was to complete one "Cat Whiskers Fruit Journey," with no time limit, and suspected the fruit might not be the mission’s true focus.
• Xu Huo studied the route between Cat Fruit Town and Cat Eye City and found that it passed through numerous cities and towns.
• Xu Huo read conflicting instance guides, considered that earlier clearance methods might stop working, and searched for a nearby Dimension Rift library.

Xu Huo researched Cat Fruit Town and Cat Eye City at a library, uncovering the history and unusual adoption practices of the influential Wan family. He turned to Cat Eye City’s records and learned that it was an “independent” city.

• Xu Huo left the painted woman at the hotel and went to the library to research the cities on his route.
• Xu Huo searched for scandals involving District 001’s pharmaceutical companies but found nothing significant.
• Xu Huo learned that Cat Fruit Town had remained peaceful during Evolution and read about Town Chief Wan’s safety measures.
• Xu Huo discovered that Secretary Wan and other members of the Wan family were adopted rather than blood relatives, and planned to investigate the family in Cat Fruit Town.
• Xu Huo began reading about Cat Eye City and found that it was an “independent” city.

Xu Huo investigated Cat Eye City’s peaceful public image and met Wen Xin, who suspected the District concealed its violence. Back at the hotel, Xu Huo learned that the painted woman had left with a stranger after visiting a handicraft shop.

• Xu Huo researched Cat Eye City’s government and found that its leadership mostly descended from officials of the destroyed country.
• Wen Xin called Cat Eye City boring and suggested its crimes might be hidden or displaced, while Xu Huo said bloodshed might force people to conceal it.
• Wen Xin introduced himself to Xu Huo, then departed after learning they were in different Dungeons.
• Xu Huo noticed someone following him and made several stops before returning to Yongxing Hotel, where the tail disappeared.
• A hotel employee gave Xu Huo a note saying the painted woman had gone out for fun and showed him footage of her leaving with a woman who had approached her outside a handicraft shop.

Xu Huo used District 001’s law enforcement team to find the painted woman, only to discover she had spent the day shopping, donating money, and enjoying an entertainment venue. After returning to the hotel, he learned that multiple groups were screening Players and suspected a wider problem in the Sub-district.

• Xu Huo hired two law enforcement Players, who charged him upfront and coordinated a search across surveillance records and nearby departments.
• The search showed that a woman had taken the painted woman luxury shopping, to a welfare institute to make a donation, and then to a women-only entertainment venue.
• Xu Huo found the painted woman spending money in a private room, paid the remaining fee, and took her back to the hotel.
• A hotel staff member explained that locals sometimes targeted wealthy visitors from other Districts and that law enforcement charged outsiders for assistance.
• The painted woman told Xu Huo that several groups, including powerful Players, had watched them, and Xu Huo concluded that District 001 might be screening people amid a serious wider problem.

Xu Huo, the painted woman, and Bubble Bean traveled to Cat Fruit Town to investigate the Cat Whiskers Fruit Journey dungeon, where they teamed up with another Player named Ling Ling. They arrived at the town and got their first view of the unsettling cat-head-shaped fruits covering a nearby mountain.

• Xu Huo recognized Bubble Bean on the bus to Cat Fruit Town and persuaded him to join forces for the dungeon.
• Ling Ling introduced herself and proposed that the Players work together, reasoning that the town's cat-loving residents might offer clues.
• The painted woman questioned whether loving cats meant the townspeople would be kind to people, and Xu Huo sided with Ling Ling and Bubble Bean's practical approach.
• The bus arrived in Cat Fruit Town, where Ling Ling recoiled at the mountain covered in cat-head-shaped fruits.
• The painted woman asked Ling Ling whether she was also afraid of White Cash.

Xu Huo, Ling Ling, the painted woman, and Bubble Bean explored a town where tourists and players crowded around Cat Whiskers Fruit crafts and local jobs. Xu Huo left with the painted woman to investigate the Wan family, whose influence over the town’s mayor and residents had caught his attention.

• Ling Ling and the painted woman attracted swarms of cats, and the painted woman chased them through town with a water gun.
• The painted woman asked Xu Huo to hold her place while she fought the cats, then took a photo beneath the giant cat’s head.
• Xu Huo observed players investigating the Cat Whiskers Fruit journey and heard townspeople discuss the new mayor, the Wan family, and a child expected to be born into the family.
• Xu Huo checked a town map for the Wan family’s home and left the square with the painted woman while Ling Ling and Bubble Bean stayed behind.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman approached the Wan family’s residential neighborhood and sensed players watching them.

Xu Huo visited the Wan family to ask about their Dungeon, but learned they had no reliable guide to clearing it. He left with an invitation to their newborn’s banquet in three days and continued to consider the family as a possible lead.

• Xu Huo visited the Wan family openly and asked Old Mr. Wan about their Dungeon-clearing methods, but Old Mr. Wan said others had failed to replicate them.
• Old Mr. Wan left to see the newborn, and Xu Huo learned the Wan family had ancestral ties to Cat Eye City while looking around their welcoming home.
• Xu Huo saw residents and nearby players bring gifts to the Wan family, while two players pressured him and the painted woman to leave.
• Xu Huo left gifts, received invitations to the banquet in three days, and told Bubble Bean and Ling Ling he had found no clues yet.

Xu Huo and his companions planned to use the Wan family banquet to find a Dungeon target, while Xu Huo visited Cat Whisker Fruit Mountain and learned about its fruits. He helped an old woman who collected cracked fruits, whose words suggested that even damaged things had a purpose.

• Xu Huo, Bubble Bean, and Ling Ling agreed to wait for the Wan family banquet and choose a convenient target there.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman visited Cat Whisker Fruit Mountain, where she attracted a crowd of cats and a curious child.
• Xu Huo learned from a tourist that carefully grown cat-whisker fruits had neat openings and seeds that could be carved into patterns.
• Xu Huo noticed an old woman collecting fallen, cracked fruits, then helped her after she fell.
• The old woman told Xu Huo that good and broken fruits both had their uses, and Xu Huo offered to carry her basket and help her collect more.

Xu Huo explored Cat Whisker Fruit Mountain and town with the painted woman, who collected cat fur and tested a cow-patterned cat with questions about the Dungeon. The next morning, a local family confronted Ling Ling over a Cat Whisker Fruit she had taken.

• The old woman declined help and carried her basket down the mountain, while Xu Huo asked the female traveler for advice on carving fruit pits.
• The painted woman showed Xu Huo the fur balls she had collected, and Xu Huo watched cats eagerly rub against her Medals.
• Xu Huo bought the painted woman perfume and found them a room near town center when rain interrupted their walk.
• A cow-patterned cat offered them a Cat Whisker Fruit and settled in their room, while the painted woman asked it questions about the Dungeon.
• Ling Ling told Xu Huo that she had argued with a local Player while searching for clues, and three Players watched their table at breakfast.
• A bespectacled middle-aged man accused Ling Ling of taking his family's Cat Whisker Fruit and asked her to return it, saying it would not help her clear the Dungeon.

Xu Huo, Ling Ling, and Bubble Bean dealt with an accusation that Ling Ling had stolen a cat whisker fruit, but a scent-tracking bee cleared her. Xu Huo suspected the accusation was connected to a deliberate plot involving an official in Cat Fruit Town, while the group left without finding out what had really gone missing.

• A middle-aged man accused Ling Ling of taking a cat whisker fruit and brought a bee to identify its scent.
• Ling Ling objected to the accusation, while Bubble Bean and Xu Huo challenged the man's approach and raised the possibility that she had been baited.
• The bee circled the group without landing on anyone, and the middle-aged man left after apologizing.
• Ling Ling told Xu Huo and Bubble Bean that an attacker had ambushed her near an official surnamed Mi, and that she had entered the official's home during the fight.
• Xu Huo suggested that the attacker had targeted the official and that the missing item might not have been a cat whisker fruit.
• Bubble Bean left after Xu Huo teased him about Cat Fruit Town's history, and Xu Huo told Ling Ling he had been bored and wanted to hear Bubble Bean's head rattle.

Xu Huo accompanied a female traveler to Small Item Carving, where she asked Teacher Gui to take her as an apprentice. After the cow-patterned cat stole an unfinished cat-whisker fruit, Xu Huo returned it, and Teacher Gui watched from afar before going back inside.

• Xu Huo met the female traveler and went with her to Small Item Carving to see Teacher Gui.
• The female traveler offered Teacher Gui a miniature terminal as tuition, but Teacher Gui refused to take her on and told her to return in a few days.
• Xu Huo bought a carved cat-whisker fruit and paid for several that the painted woman and the cow-patterned cat had broken.
• The painted woman told Xu Huo that the cat knew where cat-whisker fruit could be taken on a trip.
• The cow-patterned cat stole an unfinished cat-whisker fruit and brought it to Xu Huo, who returned it to the shop robot.
• Teacher Gui watched Xu Huo and the others from a street corner, then went back inside the shop.

Xu Huo learned why the Wan family had attracted so many reporters and Players, then asked them for a Cat Whisker Fruit. He received one as part of a return gift, but the young man warned him that it might not help him clear the Dungeon.

• Xu Huo noticed extra Players guarding the Wan family and learned from reporters that their presence was tied to a council candidate who had once received the family's kindness.
• Xu Huo heard how the Wan family had forgiven a daughter-in-law who had married into the family seeking revenge, after she confessed and proved her decency.
• Xu Huo decided to ask the Wan family for a Cat Whisker Fruit, reasoning that people inside a Dungeon might be able to help a Player clear it.
• The young man from the Wan family gave Xu Huo a gift box containing a Cat Whisker Fruit, while warning that other people had already offered to deliver the family's return gifts.

Xu Huo declined a suspicious delivery job and instead joined an old woman carrying carved cat-whisker fruit, hoping to learn more about her. As they traveled with Bubble Bean and two Wan family escorts, the old woman sold a piece of fruit and toured a stop, then questioned Bubble Bean’s claim that he looked after strangers because he had elders at home.

• Bubble Bean mocked Xu Huo for collecting cat-whisker fruit, while Ling Ling told them about a risky anonymous delivery job that Xu Huo suspected could be a trap.
• When no better opportunity appeared, Ling Ling formed a team for the delivery, but Xu Huo and Bubble Bean did not join her.
• The old woman arrived at the Wan family with her basket and asked for an escort; Xu Huo offered to accompany her, and Bubble Bean followed out of curiosity.
• The old woman traveled with Xu Huo, Bubble Bean, and two Wan family players, refusing to stow her basket or use teleportation because she wanted to enjoy the scenery.
• At the first stop, the old woman sold one of her hand-carved cat-whisker fruit pieces and toured the town with the group.
• Bubble Bean asked where she planned to go, and the old woman challenged his claim that he looked after other people’s elders because he had elders at home.

Xu Huo traveled with the Bowl family Players and Old Mrs. Gui as she tried to deliver her final nut carving, while Ling Ling and her companions faced repeated attacks aboard another train. The chapter ended with Ling Ling refusing Xu Huo’s offer to join his group and continuing her dangerous assignment.

• Xu Huo and the others watched a disguised would-be thief apologize and leave after finding them awake.
• Old Mrs. Gui led the group to a bookstore, learned its owner had gone to Xiao'an City, and decided to pursue him there to complete her final delivery.
• Xu Huo’s group encountered Ling Ling and three injured companions on their next train as hidden attackers sent flying knives into the carriage.
• Ling Ling used Soul Tremor to stop a fine needle from reaching her, and the attackers vanished after the group drove off their assault.
• Xu Huo offered Ling Ling’s group a chance to travel with him, but Ling Ling refused to abandon their assignment.

Xu Huo and Bubble Bean tested whether the attackers were targeting the Wan family by drawing out a disguised Conductor, but he escaped after Xu Huo wounded him. Further attacks on the train confirmed that the three Outer District Players had been targeted since leaving Cat Fruit Town.

• Xu Huo warned the two Wan family members, gave the painted woman instructions, and took Bubble Bean to the dining car to test the attackers’ motives.
• A Player disguised as the Conductor tried to flee after Xu Huo confronted him over a drink, and Bubble Bean’s attack forced him to escape the train.
• Xu Huo pursued the Conductor, pierced his defenses with artifacts, and wounded him before the man entered the Station.
• Xu Huo and Bubble Bean returned to the others, who wondered why the attackers had struck them instead of the Wan family or the old lady.
• The group was attacked twice more at the next four stops, and Xu Huo concluded the three Outer District Players had been targeted since leaving Cat Fruit Town.

Xu Huo suspected Players were attacking Outer District Players aboard the train to manipulate their travel times, so he arranged to escort the old lady by aircraft and tampered with a train to disrupt the route. When an ambush awaited them in the woods, Xu Huo left the aircraft to confront the attackers.

• Xu Huo told Bubble Bean that the train attacks might be part of a race between Players, with attackers trying to delay selected travelers rather than kill them.
• Xu Huo persuaded the old lady to travel by aircraft, damaged a train's kinetic unit, and reported problems with two tracks to the transportation department.
• Bubble Bean rented an aircraft, and after the old lady and the painted woman finished a delivery, the group set off by air.
• Bubble Bean destroyed several monitoring devices following the aircraft, while Xu Huo confirmed that the tampered train had slowed and the track repairs had been announced.
• The group spotted Players hiding in the woods, and Xu Huo left the aircraft to face them, using Center Gravity and Dimension Fog as two attackers advanced with defenses against his abilities.

Xu Huo fought six coordinated B-class players whose jamming devices and artifacts kept him from gaining an advantage. When neither side could break the stalemate, Xu Huo called for a more interesting fight and unleashed a rain-like Space Artifact.

• The six players surrounded Xu Huo and attacked in rotating close-combat and support teams, while their devices and defensive artifacts interfered with his own.
• Xu Huo used the Mirror World, his Life Core, and his Storage Compartment to disrupt and remove some of their attacks, but the players' jamming devices repeatedly hindered him.
• Xu Huo used The Weight of Life to pin himself and the six players, then escaped three hundred meters away through a Mental Portal and smashed their goggles with his Manifestation.
• The players muffled the area’s sound and later dispelled Holy Light of Justice, but Xu Huo continued to defend himself and disrupt them with his mental abilities.
• After Xu Huo and the six players reached a stalemate, he proposed making the fight more interesting and summoned silent rain that fell like blades, prompting the players to identify it as a Space Artifact.

Xu Huo’s group escaped an ambush by six Players from District 001 and continued toward Xiao'an City. After reuniting with Ling Ling and other travelers who had also been intercepted, Xu Huo proposed traveling off the train in a group to confront their attackers, but the others questioned whether that would be safe.

• Xu Huo retrieved Rain in the Sky after the six Players vanished, destroyed their Flying Monitor, and rejoined the painted woman and the others.
• Bubble Bean challenged the Wan family members over the attacks, but they said they knew nothing about Players from District 001 stirring up trouble.
• Xu Huo continued toward the next stop and arranged to meet Ling Ling in Xiao'an City, where the old woman planned to search for the bookstore owner.
• Xu Huo met Ling Ling and nine other Players, who had all been intercepted, and learned they wanted to join forces for protection.
• Xu Huo proposed that those not required to stay aboard travel together beside the track, explaining that their attackers were trying to delay their clearance.
• A refined-looking Player questioned whether leaving the train would draw an attack and suggested the attackers targeted anyone who strayed from the route.

Xu Huo and Ling Ling gathered nearly twenty Players to confront the local Players targeting their group, while the Wan family agreed to travel with them for safety. Their aircraft were intercepted by a Jammer, but Xu Huo and several others fought off the attackers and urged the group to move quickly.

• Ling Ling and a few others agreed to take the initiative against the local Players, while the rest returned to the train.
• Xu Huo and Ling Ling recruited nine Players, including Wen Xin, bringing their group to nearly twenty.
• The Wan family members proposed splitting up, but Old Mrs. Gui agreed to travel with Xu Huo's group.
• The group flew past the next station, and Xu Huo said they would kill anyone who intercepted them.
• A Jammer forced the aircraft to descend, and Xu Huo, the painted woman, Wen Xin, and others jumped out to fight.
• The fighters returned, activated the anti-interference devices, and Xu Huo told everyone to move as fast as possible.