Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo, Cao Qinglin, and Qiu Ming crossed a vast high-temperature zone, struggling to travel through the heat. They found a hidden underground passage in some ruins and encountered a wary boy, whom they let escape after offering him food.

• Xu Huo and the headscarfed Player settled their bet, and the group left the Ruined City without further trouble.
• As the temperature climbed, Xu Huo and his companions descended from the hot-air balloon and continued beneath a floating sunshade on handcarts.
• The group reached another stretch of ruins and Xu Huo found a hidden underground passage beneath a building.
• Qiu Ming caught a boy hiding underground and offered him jerky, but the boy tried to stab him with a broken knife and then ran away.
• Xu Huo stopped Qiu Ming from chasing the boy and suggested leaving some supplies behind.

Xu Huo and his companions encountered a boy who first attacked them, then offered to guide them to a cooler route through an underground river. Xu Huo realized the boy was leading them toward a Random Instance and stopped Qiu Ming from strangling him, intending to question him.

• Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin stopped the boy’s slingshot attack, and Xu Huo gave him food and fruit candies before they left him behind.
• The boy caught up with the group and offered to guide them to an underground river; Xu Huo agreed and asked about his life and home.
• The boy led them toward a dried-up river in the woods, but Xu Huo told him to turn back and gave him a tool dagger.
• Qiu Ming realized the boy was trying to lead them into danger and grabbed him, while Xu Huo recognized that a Random Instance was likely ahead and demanded that Qiu Ming let the boy go.

Xu Huo and his companions captured a boy who tried to lure them into an underground river, then fought the Players who came to retrieve him. Mr. Chi arrived, reprimanded the boy for breaking his order, and offered Xu Huo guidance as an apology while admitting Zone 023 had little choice but to oppose incoming Players.

• Xu Huo argued that Zone 023’s Survivors must have a reason for targeting Outer District Players, and Qiu Ming released the boy.
• Two injured Players demanded the boy back, but Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin fought them after Xu Huo accused them of trying to kill outsiders.
• Xu Huo disarmed the captured man’s explosive item and questioned him, but the man refused to explain why Zone 023’s people attacked Players.
• Mr. Chi arrived with Jian Yue and others, released the boy from Xu Huo’s custody, and scolded him for ignoring an order not to interfere with passing Players.
• Mr. Chi explained that Zone 023’s people had to keep their promises and offered to guide Xu Huo’s group, admitting they had no choice but to oppose incoming Players.

Xu Huo and the others learned that outsiders hunted Zone 023 residents for cash and discovered that many locals had been branded and used as test subjects. After hearing why Mr. Chi’s people refused to abandon their homeland, Xu Huo agreed not to trouble them.

• Mr. Chi explained that information about Zone 023 residents and their capture or death earned large sums of White Cash.
• Xu Huo asked why the people of Zone 023 were targeted, and Mr. Chi said claims about their genes were excuses for slaughter.
• Cao Qinglin described a case of abusive genetic experiments, while Qiu Ming questioned the locals about their scarred faces.
• Mr. Chi and other Players revealed numbers branded on their faces and explained that Zone 023 residents had been used as test subjects.
• Mr. Chi said his people stayed in their homeland despite being outmatched by the outsiders who controlled the District Government.
• Xu Huo acknowledged their conviction and promised not to cause them trouble.

Xu Huo, Qiu Ming, and Cao Qinglin traveled through Zone 023’s scorching wilderness toward Gemini City, where they encountered dangerous wildlife and learned that Safe Zone equipment was tracked. Xu Huo crossed the wall into Point A, triggering the C-class instance "New Hope."

• Mr. Chi apologized for Xiao Lai and arranged for Jian Li to guide the group to Gemini City.
• The group spent the night in the settlement, where Mr. Chi and the others cared for Evolved Humans suffering severe Aftereffects.
• Jian Li and Jian Yue led Xu Huo, Qiu Ming, and Cao Qinglin through the hot zone, and Jian Yue gave Cao Qinglin juice when the heat worsened her condition.
• The group reached Gemini City's defensive wall, and the Jian cousins warned them about Mutated Animals before heading back.
• Xu Huo leaped over the wall into Point A, automatically entering the C-class instance "New Hope."

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.