Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo and the others voted to investigate Little River City’s Commercial Building at night, despite warnings about an Alien that made people disappear. After they went out, Xu Huo calmly played cards on the Fifth Floor while Sun Jing and Miss Ma revealed they hoped the group would act on its own.

• Chi Minghong, Ruan Qiyan, and Lin Qiao joined Xu Huo in voting to leave their room, and Uncle Guan agreed to plan an investigation.
• Uncle Guan assigned Xu Huo and Chi Minghong to check the Fifth Floor while the others covered the floors below.
• Sun Jing and Miss Ma warned the group that the night bell would be followed by a blackout and possible Alien attacks.
• After the bell rang and the building emptied, Xu Huo and the others went out and headed upstairs.
• Xu Huo opened the Fifth Floor door, found it empty, and invited Chi Minghong to play cards.
• Sun Jing and Miss Ma discussed how the group had misunderstood their intentions and said that this saved them the trouble of acting themselves.

Xu Huo killed Sun Jing with a poisonous insect and trapped Miss Ma in a mental space to question her about the Commercial Building and its newcomers. Miss Ma realized Xu Huo was a powerful Mental Manipulator.

• Miss Ma accused Sun Jing of coveting the female Players and questioned what had happened to their child.
• Sun Jing slapped Miss Ma, then was poisoned and killed after he could not use his Antidote.
• Xu Huo appeared in a white room and injected Miss Ma with a Syringe to calm her.
• Xu Huo asked Miss Ma about the Players, her children, the Aliens, Mr. Kang, and the newcomers.
• Miss Ma noticed the transformed room and recognized Xu Huo as a powerful Mental Manipulator.

Xu Huo trapped Miss Ma in a hospital hallucination where her props failed and staff treated her as a patient. After enduring sedation and pretending to cooperate, she met Zeng Shangping, who planned to attack Xu Huo, but she still suspected their surroundings were unreal.

• Xu Huo assessed Miss Ma, restrained her, and told Zheng Da to keep her confined because her condition had worsened.
• Qian Zi gave Miss Ma medicine, and when she resisted, she shot her with a firearm and had her restrained and sedated.
• Miss Ma overheard Zheng Da and Qian Zi discussing suspicious events at the hospital, including missing patients and Dean Kang's abuse of female patients.
• After waking without chains, Miss Ma attacked Qian Zi, was restrained and sedated again, then learned to take her medicine to regain permission to walk around.
• Miss Ma met Zeng Shangping, who said he was trapped in the hallucination and wanted to team up against Xu Huo, while she remained convinced that what she saw might be fake.
• A nurse summoned Miss Ma to see Doctor Xu.

Xu Huo used illusions and mental influence to keep Miss Ma and several Cannibal Players trapped in a fabricated mental hospital while investigating the people imprisoned there. He confronted Miss Ma about her child’s death, and she angrily denied killing him.

• Xu Huo questioned Miss Ma again, refused to discharge her, and told Zheng Da to keep her medication unchanged.
• Miss Ma realized the calendar showed that seven days had passed, accused Xu Huo of altering her sense of time, and secretly marked her body and mattress.
• Xu Huo revealed that Sun Jing’s death and Qian Zi’s nursing role were fabricated illusions, while he had sent Sun Jing away after learning about disappearances in Little River City.
• Xu Huo examined Sun Jing’s map and filter maintenance log, then arranged for Zeng Shangping to be seen going downstairs.
• Xu Huo showed Miss Ma a photograph of her child and suggested that, while suffering from postpartum depression, she had killed him; Miss Ma stood up and denied it.

Xu Huo investigated the disappearances in Little River City while treating Miss Ma, who reluctantly agreed to go with Qian Zi to Dean Kang’s office. The Players’ investigation took a sudden turn when Uncle You vanished in front of Zhou Yuanzhu and Lin Qiao.

• Xu Huo tried to persuade Miss Ma to accept treatment and suggested Dean Kang evaluate her for discharge.
• Miss Ma overheard that Zeng Shangping had been discharged, then followed Qian Zi to the Director’s office.
• Xu Huo and Chi Minghong discussed the disappearances with Zhou Yuanzhu, who reported that no Players had come out to investigate.
• Xu Huo explained that the disappearances could happen at different times and might follow a pattern that could not be avoided.
• Zhou Yuanzhu reported that Uncle You had vanished in the blink of an eye, and Lin Qiao confirmed her item had not detected him entering the bathhouse.

After You Xuewen vanished without a trace, Xu Huo returned to the mental hospital and discharged Miss Ma. A brutal transfer to Dean Kang’s care subdued her, and she later revealed that Kang was a Cannibal Player and named the two players he trusted most.

• You Xuewen disappeared while with Lin Qiao and Zhou Yuanzhu, leaving the Holy Sword Society unable to determine what had happened.
• Xu Huo and the others discussed the Dungeon’s unexplained disappearances and decided to focus on understanding its dangers.
• Xu Huo returned to Miss Ma’s room and discharged her, sending her away with Qian Zi and a Leather Case.
• Miss Ma rejected the elderly couple presented as her parents, attacked her mother, and was returned to the mental hospital.
• Dean Kang subjected Miss Ma to two weeks of brutal treatment before moving her to the regular ward.
• Miss Ma told Xu Huo that Kang was a Cannibal Player and that Jiang Wenzhang and Gong Jiaji were the players he trusted most.

Xu Huo investigated the underground filter and the Players guarding it, then encountered an unseen force attacking him in the second-floor corridor. The attacker vanished, and Xu Huo confirmed his Space Artifact was still restricted.

• Xu Huo learned that Jiang Wenzhang could hypnotize people and that Gong Jiaji was a Super Evolver guarding the lower basement.
• Xu Huo altered Qian Zi and Cao Zheng’s delusions, then found Zeng Shangping dead near the passage to basement level two.
• Xu Huo sent the vertical pupil downstairs and discovered an old, oversized filter manufactured by Stellar Mechanical Recycling.
• Xu Huo questioned a woman about who had left their rooms, then encountered a woman with an abdominal wound in the corridor.
• An unseen force struck at Xu Huo from behind, but disappeared after he dodged, and he confirmed that his Space Artifact remained restricted.

Xu Huo investigated the disappearances in Little River City as several more people went missing overnight. Mr. Kang explained the local theories about the disappearances, while Xu Huo suggested that a moving Random Instance entrance might be responsible.

• Xu Huo checked the rooms and warned a frightened man not to wander after Brother Liu disappeared from the bathroom.
• A Remote Control Car watched Xu Huo from the corridor, and he suspected Little River City's Players were avoiding his group.
• Three Players and one ordinary person were reported missing the next morning, including Sun Jing, whose disappearance sparked accusations between Qian Zi and Jiang Wenzhang.
• Mr. Kang said disappearances often began when outside Players entered the Sub-district and described theories involving hidden Aliens and evolved chameleons.
• Xu Huo asked whether a special Random Instance with a moving entrance could explain the disappearances.

Xu Huo joined Zheng Da’s group on a hunting trip outside Little River City to investigate the strange dangers and broken surveillance cameras. After Wang Mo’s device disrupted a group of Aliens, a gigantic Alien chased their truck, and Zheng Da prepared to retaliate.

• Zheng Da said outsiders seemed connected to strange incidents in Little River City, though the group had never found the cause.
• Uncle Guan gave Xu Huo a smuggler’s contact for specialized water filters, and Xu Huo suggested the group cook with filtered city water.
• Xu Huo questioned Wang Mo about the building’s repeatedly broken cameras, but Wang Mo dismissed him.
• Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu joined Zheng Da’s hunting party outside the city.
• Wang Mo’s sound device caused a group of Aliens to stumble and attack one another, but a nearly ten-meter-tall Alien pursued the truck with smaller Aliens behind it.

Wang Mo and the others used weaponized metal balls to kill many Aliens, then led Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu to the Big River to hunt. Zheng Da's group separated them in the woods and attacked Zhou Yuanzhu, who escaped in a paper ball, while Xu Huo confronted the buzz-cut player who had been left behind.

• Wang Mo and the others killed more than half the pursuing Aliens with explosive metal balls, and the truck continued toward the Big River.
• Zheng Da's group handed Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu crossbows, then spread out through the woods and left them behind.
• Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu identified the nearby players as a threat and charged toward ten o'clock, where they ran into a net and flying arrows.
• A player trapped Zhou Yuanzhu with invisible lines, but she broke free and moved toward Xu Huo as the others closed in.
• Zhou Yuanzhu escaped the surrounding players inside a translucent paper ball, while Xu Huo got behind the buzz-cut player and tapped the back of his own hand.

Xu Huo killed one of the Players pursuing Zhou Yuanzhu and intervened as she was overwhelmed by the other four. He confronted the Player in the vest in the woods, where his A-class item protected him from an attack and he tore apart the Player’s spatial barrier.

• Xu Huo killed the crew-cut Player with poison, then crushed a Land Jellyfish against his neck and followed Zhou Yuanzhu.
• Zhou Yuanzhu fought four Players, used many of her artifacts, and was injured before teleporting away from her attacker.
• The Players noticed Yuan Kai was missing and searched the woods, leaving Zhou Yuanzhu behind.
• The Player in the vest found Yuan Kai dead from poison and realized he had lost contact with his other companions.
• The Player in the vest used his Ability and planted Attack Artifacts against Xu Huo, but Ideal Skin stopped the attacks.
• Xu Huo kicked free of the vines and tore apart the Player in the vest’s spatial barrier with his bare hands.

Xu Huo killed three of the Little River City players and left one alive to report back, then returned to Zhou Yuanzhu and concealed their involvement from Jiang Wenzhang’s group. Jiang Wenzhang examined the bodies and questioned whether Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu had killed all four men, while Pu Gaoshan remained eager to confront them.

• Xu Huo defeated the vest-wearing player with his abilities and killed him, then killed another player and left a survivor to report back to Jiang Wenzhang.
• Xu Huo found the injured Zhou Yuanzhu, explained that he had adjusted their plan, and told her to deny seeing Yuan Kai and the others.
• Jiang Wenzhang and the others caught up with Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu, but Zhou Yuanzhu claimed she had injured her foot and seen none of the missing players.
• Jiang Wenzhang sent Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu back to the truck, while Pu Gaoshan angrily went deeper into the woods with the others.
• At the burned area, Jiang Wenzhang said three bodies showed signs of poisoning and questioned whether Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu had killed all four men; Pu Gaoshan accused Xu Huo of using dirty tricks.

Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu joined Jiang Wenzhang’s group on a dangerous mission to capture an Alien youngling, while Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo secretly used bait and surveillance devices to lure one. Their plan was interrupted by a strange rhythmic sound coming from beneath the supposedly impenetrable ground.

• Jiang Wenzhang’s group decided not to attack Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu directly, but planned to make them help with the mission.
• Pu Gaoshan invited the injured Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu to join the group in capturing an Alien youngling.
• The group traveled to a ravine, split up, and told Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu to search the marked underground nests.
• Xu Huo followed Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo, who changed routes repeatedly to shake him off.
• Wang Mo used a remote-controlled toy car to deliver bait, but Pu Gaoshan heard a rhythmic thumping and hissing sound beneath the ground.

Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu discovered that Excavator 114 had been digging through the underground Alien nest and recovered it. Its mission footage revealed Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang underground, as well as a mine containing bright fungi, but left their conversation unheard.

• Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo heard a noise beneath the jungle and abandoned their instruments before leaving.
• Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu learned that Zhao Xiaofang and Cao Zheng were planting a poison capsule in the Alien nest instead of capturing young Aliens.
• Xu Huo told Zhou Yuanzhu that Little River City's leaders might be holding women and even Players in the back of the Commercial Building.
• A huge underground passage opened beneath Xu Huo and Zhou Yuanzhu, and Excavator 114 climbed out of the pit.
• Xu Huo reviewed 114's mission footage and saw that Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang had entered the nest to search for Alien young, near a mine with bright fungi.

Xu Huo explored the underground caves and discovered that Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang were fighting over a valuable black Stone. He pulled it away from them, but Jiang Wenzhang sealed it inside a barrier, leaving the three Players facing off.

• Xu Huo followed 114’s tunnels and found radioactive ore and fungi, including hallucinogenic mushrooms that Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang had collected.
• Xu Huo avoided the Aliens and followed them to Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang, who were trapped in a defensive barrier while protecting a concealed object.
• Xu Huo cut through the barrier, forcing Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang to let go of the object as they fought off an Alien.
• Xu Huo used a Balloon string to drag the revealed black Stone toward himself, but Jiang Wenzhang trapped it inside a square barrier.
• Zheng Da demanded to know who Xu Huo was.

Xu Huo tricked Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang into fighting over the Sub-class Stone, then escaped their sealed passage with Excavator 114. A bomb set off by the fleeing Players stirred the Aliens throughout the underground stone valley.

• Xu Huo used uncertainty about his identity to pressure Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang into discussing how to divide the Sub-class Stone.
• Jiang Wenzhang attacked Xu Huo, but he and Zheng Da turned on each other when each believed the other had taken the Stone.
• Xu Huo seized the Sub-class Stone while Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang fought, then tried to leave as Aliens charged toward them.
• Zheng Da sealed the passage with a Defense Artifact, trapping Xu Huo behind the barrier while he and Jiang Wenzhang fled.
• Xu Huo used Excavator 114 to break into a nearby tunnel, then escaped into a larger cave after spreading a substance to deter the Aliens.
• Zheng Da and Jiang Wenzhang used a bomb against the Aliens, and the explosion stirred the underground stone valley.

Xu Huo survived the collapse of the underground tunnels and caught up with Wang Mo and Pu Gaoshan, whom he questioned about their group’s motives. The chapter ended with Xu Huo noticing that Pu Gaoshan seemed to know why the group had treated him and his companions with unusual restraint.

• Xu Huo used Shelter 101 and his abilities to survive as the tunnels collapsed around him.
• Xu Huo sent 114 to dig an escape route and discovered that Wang Mo and Pu Gaoshan were nearby.
• Xu Huo disabled the men’s items, freed himself from their attempted trap, and restrained Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo.
• Xu Huo questioned Wang Mo about why the group had not attacked him, but rejected his explanation that Jiang Wenzhang had wanted to avoid a fight.
• Xu Huo pointed out that the group had repeatedly treated him with unexpected consideration, then asked Pu Gaoshan if he knew the real reason.

Xu Huo interrogated Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo about Little River City’s strange disappearances and why outsiders stayed. He learned that some outsiders remained in the high-risk Dungeon, but the reason was unknown, and the disappearances seemed to target outsiders independently of Mr. Kang.

• Xu Huo blinded Pu Gaoshan with a mirror, disabled his Artifacts, and injected him with Land Jellyfish venom.
• Xu Huo released Wang Mo, then trapped him with cutting lines and severed the fingers of his left hand when he tried to act.
• Wang Mo said Mr. Kang had ordered the attack because he thought Xu Huo might stay in Little River City, and confirmed that some outsiders had stayed before.
• Wang Mo said Jiang Wenzhang and Gong Jiaji knew more about Mr. Kang’s plans, and that Jiang Wenzhang and Zheng Da had collected hallucinogenic mushrooms.
• Wang Mo said the disappearances varied in duration and number of victims, and that Mr. Kang’s own son had once disappeared in the same way.

Xu Huo questioned Wang Mo about the missing Players and persuaded him to explain why he had stayed in Little River City. After Wang Mo described his reasons for fleeing the instances, he turned against Pu Gaoshan and said he had only betrayed himself.

• Xu Huo wondered whether missing Players had been swallowed by a spatial anomaly and questioned Wang Mo about the children born in Little River City.
• Wang Mo explained that he was a Wanted Criminal who had stayed in the high-risk instance to escape pursuers and the endless dangers of other instances.
• Wang Mo described the exhausting risks of C-class instances, while Xu Huo said he would let him go because he had little to gain by killing him.
• Wang Mo woke the still-living Pu Gaoshan, who accused him of betraying Mr. Kang, and Wang Mo replied that he had only betrayed himself.

Xu Huo questioned Pu Gaoshan and Wang Mo about their decision to stay in the high-risk Dungeon and learned that time seemed to pass slowly and Players went missing when new ones arrived. After escaping the collapsed rock belt, Xu Huo reunited with survivors and Zhou Yuanzhu, then offered her a bag of green mushrooms.

• Xu Huo used truth serum to question Pu Gaoshan and compared his account with Wang Mo's, learning that time felt unusually slow and Players had disappeared around the arrival of new Players.
• Xu Huo killed Pu Gaoshan after 114 returned, then led Wang Mo through a tunnel and out of the rubble.
• Xu Huo and Wang Mo found Zheng Da, Jiang Wenzhang, Zhao Xiaofang, and Cao Zheng alive near the collapsed cliff, and Wang Mo said Pu Gaoshan had been buried.
• Xu Huo called Zhou Yuanzhu down from her hiding place and gave her green mushrooms, offering to juice them when she thought they looked poisonous.