Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo failed to retrieve the living sample from the building because a powerful Space Artifact kept forcing him out, so he abandoned the attempt and regrouped with Shangguan Xi and Teacher Ai. They decided to pursue the third sample toward W37, though Shangguan Xi raised the problem of transporting the injured person on his back.

• The baby-faced man and six other players attacked the building, but its spatial barrier pushed them all two hundred meters away.
• Xu Huo repeatedly used spatial movement to enter the building, but the artifact forced him back out each time.
• Xu Huo pretended to be exhausted, lured his pursuers into following him, killed one, and drove two others away.
• Xu Huo met Shangguan Xi and Teacher Ai at the south gate and told them to pursue the third living sample instead.
• Shangguan Xi pointed out that they had no car and suggested killing the person he was carrying.

Xu Huo, Shangguan Xi, and Teacher Ai left W19 to track the living sample after Xu Huo concluded that the south-gate sample was a decoy and the real one had already been moved. They followed tracks through Alien-infested woods as the weather turned cold, heading toward shelter Xu Huo had prepared.

• Xu Huo brought Teacher Ai along by making him float with the Balloon item, then crossed the unfinished underground city and set a possible trap near a metal bridge.
• Xu Huo explained that the south-gate sample was a decoy and that the real sample was no longer in W19; he suspected its carrier was connected to the Players guarding the gate.
• Teacher Ai warned that the woods ahead held Aliens and poisonous plants, but Xu Huo chose to follow the tracks left by the people carrying the sample.
• Shangguan Xi explained that clearing the Dungeon mattered to his ranking, and Xu Huo assured him their trip would not be wasted.
• Xu Huo said the sample’s heavy metal cage and registered hand scanner made it difficult to transport, and the group pressed on as the temperature dropped and snow threatened.

Xu Huo and Shangguan Xi used Shelter 101 to travel through the blizzard, but someone diverted them toward a tent protecting the living specimen. Xu Huo and Shangguan Xi fought the Players guarding it, and the chapter ended as an Ability forced one attacker to lunge at Shangguan Xi.

• Xu Huo used the Twisting Pulley and Shangguan Xi's remote control to move Shelter 101 through the snow, but the shelter stopped after a pounding at the door and then veered off course.
• Xu Huo opened the door and fought off two Players who tried to enter the shelter, while Shangguan Xi rushed toward the tent containing the living specimen.
• The tent's barrier stopped Xu Huo's attacks and deflected gunfire, while Shangguan Xi's Deflect item sent the Players' bullets back at them.
• One Player used Friends Do Not Separate to make Shangguan Xi lunge toward Xu Huo, but Xu Huo vanished and the other Player became the target of the Ability instead.

Xu Huo and Shangguan Xi fought off the Players who had attacked them, but a third party intervened and asked Xu Huo to release his captured partner. Xu Huo suspected the newcomers had stolen his car, and they asked to ride with him instead.

• Xu Huo killed one Player and helped Shangguan Xi trap the other inside a blizzard.
• Xu Huo used molten metal and the Life Core to destroy the enemy’s metal poles, while Shangguan Xi bound him with a rope.
• When the snow began shifting, Xu Huo knocked the bound Player unconscious and moved back to the shelter.
• Xu Huo spotted a metal pedestal and confronted the people in the woods, asking if they had taken his car.
• One of the people in the woods asked Xu Huo to release their partner and offered to ride with him.

Xu Huo and Shangguan Xi confronted the Players who had taken their vehicle and companion, each side using their abilities to gain the upper hand. Xu Huo registered his wristband at the metal cage, but the frail girl in the car attacked him with her space ability.

• Shangguan Xi spotted the baby-faced Clown following them, while Xu Huo revealed that another Player was hiding nearby.
• The space-controlling Player returned the damaged off-road vehicle, but the Clown and Shangguan Xi fought over it as Xu Huo’s traps failed to catch anyone.
• Xu Huo deduced that the space item could move objects but not living beings, and that its range had inner and outer areas.
• Xu Huo cut the vehicle’s wires, boarded it, and registered his wristband at the metal cage while its occupants were trapped in their seats.
• Xu Huo asked to inspect the girl’s space item, and she raised snow beneath his feet to attack him.

Xu Huo and his companions fought the little girl over the living sample, using their abilities and items to overcome her space-manipulating defenses. The girl began to retreat, while Xu Huo turned on the baby-faced man after he tried to seize the prize.

• Xu Huo used Forced Forgetfulness and an anesthetic to restrain the Player in the car, then tried to negotiate with the little girl for the item.
• The little girl attacked Xu Huo, but Shangguan Xi caught her leg in a bear trap while the baby-faced man and Shangguan Xi weakened her with their abilities.
• The little girl used her Space Artifact to pull Xu Huo toward its boundary and free her companion, but Xu Huo blocked her with Road Closed and recovered the man.
• The baby-faced man tried to attack the little girl from behind, but Xu Huo used The Strength of Writing against him and sent him flying with a slap.

Xu Huo and the other Players compromised and agreed to cooperate so they could clear the Dungeon while protecting the living sample and repairing their vehicle. They entered the Sole Entrance together, where the sample revealed itself as a violent Alien, and the chapter ended with the group exchanging limited information as Teacher Ai worked on the vehicle.

• Xu Huo, the baby-faced Player, and the little girl reached a standoff, so Shangguan Xi proposed that they cooperate against other Players seeking the samples.
• The baby-faced Player, who introduced himself as Zhu Feiyun, agreed to cooperate; the little girl, Kuang Wenjun, accepted after explaining that her unconscious companion's survival did not matter to her.
• Shangguan Xi called Teacher Ai out, and Teacher Ai examined the off-road vehicle and said he could replace its damaged wire.
• Xu Huo opened the Sole Entrance and stored the vehicle inside, and the group entered together with the living sample.
• The living sample roared and clawed at its cage, revealing itself as an Alien, so Pan Qiao tranquilized it after Kuang Wenjun suggested knocking it out.
• The Players exchanged names and limited ranking information, and Shangguan Xi revealed that Xu Huo ranked in the top five thousand.

Xu Huo and the others discussed the living samples, the clearance mission, and rumors of players ambushing travelers near W37 as they prepared to continue their journey. While repairing the car, they learned that W37’s mayor had built an artificial river to block routes into the city.

• Kuang Wenjun, Shangguan Xi, Zhu Feiyun, and Xu Huo considered whether delivering the living samples might trigger a branch mission and debated whether bracelet authentication was separate from clearing the instance.
• Shangguan Xi reported that failed players were allegedly ambushing others near W37 and destroying their bracelets, while Kuang Wenjun and Zhu Feiyun discussed how the samples’ survival might affect clearance.
• Xu Huo reminded Shangguan Xi that Teacher Ai needed to reach W37 alive, then explained that Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahua had died after leaving marks on the car that led them astray.
• Xu Huo took over repairing the car while Teacher Ai rested, and Shangguan Xi showed him a map of the route from W19 to W37.
• Teacher Ai noticed a river on the map and said W37’s mayor had built an artificial river to block routes from other base cities.

Xu Huo and the others debated W37’s history and chose the shortest route to deliver the live samples, despite the dangers on the way. After surviving Alien nests, they faced a charging herd of Rampaging Bison.

• Zhu Feiyun told the group a rumor about W37’s female mayor, and Shangguan Xi and Xu Huo questioned its accuracy.
• Xu Huo suggested the rumor combined the stories of two women and that the first woman fled during an Alien wave.
• The group decided to cross the river by the shortest route and set off with Teacher Ai guiding them.
• Xu Huo killed several Alien nests along the route, where the group found human bones and a few props.
• A herd of Rampaging Bison charged toward the vehicle, and Shangguan Xi urged Teacher Ai to speed up.

Xu Huo and his companions escaped a stampeding herd of cattle with help from a group of Players, then discovered another group had set a trap for them. Xu Huo and the woman and lightning-pattern man retaliated against the ambushers.

• Teacher Ai drove while Xu Huo and the others killed cattle, but the seemingly endless herd kept catching up with them.
• Shangguan Xi spotted an off-road vehicle, and its driver raised the ground into a bridge that sent the cattle plunging to their deaths.
• Xu Huo noticed hidden people around the road, and a man revealed three disguised cars surrounding the two vehicles.
• The ambushers demanded their goods and the women, but Xu Huo cut the front car in half while the young woman and the lightning-pattern man destroyed the cars on either side.

Xu Huo’s group fought off several Players attacking their car and discovered that the assault was a diversion while a much fiercer battle raged around the other vehicle. As the ground shifted like a giant seesaw, a lightning-wielding Player reached them and the fight escalated.

• Pan Qiao warned the group about something in the air, and two concealed Players attacked them after forcing everyone out of the car.
• Zhu Feiyun and Pan Qiao helped kill one attacker, while the other vanished and threatened Kuang Wenjun and Teacher Ai.
• Xu Huo killed the invisible Player beside Teacher Ai, and the group realized the two attackers had been a diversion from the battle around the other car.
• The ground rose and fell beneath the vehicles, and a lightning-wielding Player joined the fight as others deployed a mirror and threw an iron ball into the clouds.

Xu Huo’s group encountered Players fighting in the wilderness and asked whether any of them were from W37 Base City. After Xu Huo mentioned their delivery of a virus-carrying mutant from W11, the W37 Players slaughtered their opponents and left Xu Huo’s group facing their intimidating strength.

• A lightning attack struck the seesaw, and Kuang Wenjun used a Space Artifact to move Xu Huo’s vehicle and shield the group.
• Xu Huo’s group was trapped beside a spatial barrier while two groups of Players fought nearby.
• Teacher Ai and the others discussed whether the combatants included Players from W37 Base City.
• Xu Huo called out to ask if anyone was from W37 and said his group was delivering a virus-carrying mutant from W11 to W37.
• The young woman from W37 crushed the bald man’s head, and her companions killed the remaining members of the opposing group in under a minute.

Xu Huo and his companions accepted Gao Xiaoyan’s invitation to travel to W37 with the Alien, while he learned more about the base city and its people. During a camp meal, suspicion between the two groups flared when the ponytail man stopped Zhu Feiyun from approaching the fire.

• Gao Xiaoyan’s group agreed to let Xu Huo’s party accompany them to W37 with the Alien instead of killing it on the spot.
• Gao Xiaoyan introduced herself to Xu Huo as they traveled and told him about W37, its resources, and its willingness to take in infected ordinary people.
• Gao Xiaoyan said that death and survival were both a matter of luck at the station, prompting Xu Huo to change the subject.
• At their overnight stop, Gao Xiaoyan’s group shared roasted ox and their homemade liquor with Xu Huo’s party.
• The ponytail man stopped Zhu Feiyun from approaching the fire, and Gao Xiaoyan challenged the group after a dagger flew toward Zhu Feiyun with meat on it.

Xu Huo negotiated a truce with Gao Xiaoyan’s group and agreed to guide her younger brother in exchange for safe passage to W37 Base City. The group set out before dawn, facing two dangerous high-heat zones on the way.

• Xu Huo convinced Gao Xiaoyan that killing Zhu Feiyun would undermine his plan to deliver the Alien to W37 Base City, and she agreed to let him live.
• Gao Xiaoyan asked Xu Huo to demonstrate Super Evolution, then offered safe passage if he guided her younger brother, and Xu Huo accepted.
• Gao Xiaoyan’s companions seized Zhu Feiyun’s bracelet and revealed they knew Xu Huo’s group were Dungeon Players tasked with delivering the Alien to W37.
• Xu Huo asked Gao Xiaoyan to spare Zhu Feiyun, then gave Teacher Ai a sleeping bag and stamina tonic while the group settled in for the night.
• Before dawn, Gao Xiaoyan woke everyone and warned that they had to cross two high-heat zones before noon, and Xu Huo asked if they could go around them.

Xu Huo and the others traveled toward W37, speculating about Gao Xiaoyan’s motives and the Dungeon’s possible branch mission. They agreed to divide clear rewards evenly and to keep working together if Xu Huo could bring them along on a branch mission.

• Xu Huo stayed with his group as Gao Xiaoyan’s people drove ahead, and the travelers discussed whether they might attack or trigger a branch mission.
• Xu Huo suggested W11 and W37 might be cooperating, while the group considered whether the branch mission could involve vaccine research.
• As the heat intensified, Zhu Feiyun produced buckets of ice, and Gao Xiaoyan offered Xu Huo a seat in her car, which he declined.
• Zhu Feiyun asked how they would split the clear rewards, and Xu Huo proposed an even split plus a third of any branch mission rewards for himself if he took the others along.
• Teacher Ai said she expected to live out her remaining days in W37, where welfare policies would provide for her.

Xu Huo’s group endured extreme heat, deadly rabbits, and a torrential storm while traveling with Gao Xiaoyan’s group through W37. They took shelter from the rain, and Gao Xiaoyan’s growing attention to Xu Huo left Shangguan Xi and the others sidelined.

• Shangguan Xi was attacked by a swarm of vicious rabbits, which chased the vehicles until the group escaped the shade and entered the scorching sun.
• Xu Huo and the others struggled to keep their vehicles cool as the heat melted their ice and defeated their attempts to make shade.
• Gao Xiaoyan warned that the rain was coming, and a violent storm soon forced Pan Qiao to stop the vehicle.
• Xu Huo used the Sole Entrance to bring Gao Xiaoyan’s vehicle inside while the group waited out the storm.
• Gao Xiaoyan explained W37’s harsh weather and defended the decision to stay and support ordinary people, then focused her conversation on Xu Huo while ignoring Shangguan Xi and the others.

Xu Huo and his companions reached W37's training city after enduring repeated Alien attacks, but they still needed to reach the Base City to complete their dungeon. Gao Xiaoyan brought Xu Huo to meet her younger brother, and revealed that the mayor was her aunt.

• After Gao Xiaoyan and her group stood by during repeated Alien attacks, Xu Huo's injured team reached the flooded bridge near W37 and crossed on a bridge reserved for W37 Players.
• At W37's gates, Gao Xiaoyan introduced Xu Huo as a teacher for her younger brother, Xiao Mantou, and led the group into the city.
• Xu Huo's companions noted that they had received neither a dungeon-completion notification nor a side-quest prompt, and wondered whether meeting Xiao Mantou might trigger one.
• Gao Xiaoyan explained that the city was a training facility built by the mayor and said she would take Xu Huo to W37 Base City after he met Xiao Mantou.
• Xu Huo asked whether Gao Xiaoyan held a high position, and she told him that the mayor was her aunt.

Xu Huo toured W37’s training facilities and learned that Ren Man’s declining mental-energy readings threatened his chance at a second Evolution. Gao Xiaoyan asked Xu Huo to help him, and Xu set conditions for trying, leaving Gao to consider the deal.

• Gao Xiaoyan showed Xu Huo W37’s simulated combat training rooms and Ren Man, whose mental-energy readings had fallen toward the threshold for losing his chance at a second Evolution.
• Gao explained that Ren Man might undergo mental Super Evolution and asked Xu, a mental Super Evolver, to help him in exchange for a reward and assistance clearing the Dungeon.
• Ren Man agreed to begin, but Xu said he had not yet accepted and named two B-level combat props, a meeting with the mayor, and Gao’s exclusive companionship as his conditions.
• Ren Man objected to Xu’s third condition and refused to be used as a bargaining chip, while Gao asked Xu to explain what he meant.
• Xu clarified that he wanted a guide available around the clock, with no physical contact, and said the conditions would be void if he failed to help Ren Man.

Xu Huo visited W37’s training base to learn about Ren Man’s declining mental power and let the staff test his own. His reading reached fifty thousand, leaving Ren Man discouraged and the researchers eager to study Xu Huo’s abilities.

• Gao Xiaoyan agreed to let Xu Huo visit Ren Man’s training room and examine the base’s research.
• A staff member explained the risks of using instruments to stimulate mental power and described how powerful Players could interfere with signals and matter.
• Xu Huo agreed to test his mental power and held the entire room within its range for three seconds.
• The staff member reported that Xu Huo’s reading had reached fifty thousand, while Ren Man’s highest reading had been nine thousand and was declining.

Xu Huo taught Ren Man how to project his mental power and open a spiritual world, helping him create a small doorway into an incomplete space. Ren Man’s unusual spiritual world led Xu Huo to realize that Bai Kou had layered a separate space outside her own to conceal her Manifestation, and he began exploring how to see beyond his spiritual world’s range.

• Gao Xiaoyan ended the staff’s discussion and arranged for Xu Huo to teach Ren Man in the woods.
• Xu Huo used the Door of Severed Relations to draw Ren Man into an illusion filled with chained doors and told him to find the key himself.
• After struggling to open the chains, Ren Man realized he could create a door and formed a black hole in the ground.
• Ren Man emerged through the black hole and manifested a surveillance camera that briefly spotted Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo concluded that Bai Kou had layered a separate spiritual space over her own to protect her Manifestation.
• Xu Huo summoned a vertical pupil behind himself as he considered how to perceive beyond his spiritual world.