Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo expanded his mental control range as several groups of players entered the inn at night, only to become trapped in a disorienting illusion. The survivors turned on one another, and the chapter left a Moshi Water Shop player circling back to the inn despite trying to escape.

• Xu Huo increased his precise-control range to six hundred meters and prepared to expand his Spiritual World.
• Several groups of players approached the inn after dark, while the children in the alley stayed hidden.
• The first players searched the inn but could not see one another, and people around them vanished without a sound.
• A bald player mistook Moshi and Jichi Water Shop players for enemies, prompting them to fight and kill him.
• A Moshi Water Shop player killed his Jichi ally, then saw people suspended overhead and bleeding as he fled.
• The Moshi Water Shop player repeatedly lost his sense of direction and ended up back in front of the inn.

Players from several Water Shops investigated the disappearances and deaths around the inn, where a Moshi Water Shop Player was killed after losing his abilities and being attacked by starving commoners. The survivors suspected mental interference by someone with Super Evolution, but they still did not know why their enemy used such an indirect approach.

• A Moshi Water Shop Player lost access to his Personal Panel and Evolution abilities, then was swarmed and eaten by starving commoners inside the inn.
• Two Jichi Water Shop cousins found the Player’s corpse and were attacked by three Moshi Water Shop Players who mistook them for his killers.
• The younger Jichi cousin escaped to fetch help, but returned with allies too late to save his brother.
• Players from Jichi, Qingquan, and Moshi Water Shops exchanged accusations before the Qingquan leader suggested their minds were being interfered with.
• A Jinyu Water Shop Player questioned why an enemy powerful enough to use mental interference would take such a roundabout approach instead of fighting them directly.

Xu Huo used illusions and mental interference to defeat the Water Shops’ attack, leaving only six of thirty-three Players alive. The next day, he headed toward the slum’s exit with the children following him, then turned back after a young man offered to cook for him and asked whether he could buy fresh fruit.

• A female Player from Jichi Water Shop threatened a child to test whether Xu Huo was injured, but two streaks of blood killed the attackers she had brought.
• The female Player and a Qingquan Water Shop Player rushed toward an illusory figure in the inn and killed each other, while a maddened Player attacked the survivors before they killed him.
• Xu Huo appeared upstairs and warned the survivors not to return; the Jinyu Water Shop and Moshi Water Shop Players carried away the dead and counted only six survivors from the four Water Shops’ thirty-three Players.
• Xu Huo left the inn the next day and walked toward the mountain’s exit as children and adults followed him to the slum entrance.
• A young man with an injured leg invited Xu Huo to eat, and Xu Huo asked whether he sold fresh fruit.

Xu Huo learned how District 026’s settlements survived amid dwindling water and harsh conditions, then investigated the Underground Palace’s links to Rain City. The chapter ended with the boy revealing that he had been sold to the Underground Palace despite not coming from the slums.

• The boy explained that District 026 had four isolated settlements, where cities expelled people who could no longer contribute and prioritized children who might become Players.
• Xu Huo learned that only Central City had reached underground water and that Rain City supplied his settlement’s share as water grew scarcer.
• Xu Huo ordered the inn to request extra food and clean water from the water shop, the casino, and the Underground Palace, which also offered him the boy.
• After reviewing a map and local reports, Xu Huo asked whether the Underground Palace dealt with Rain City.
• The boy said the Underground Palace had connections to Players in Bai City and admitted that he had been sold there despite not being from the slums.

Xu Huo learned about the boy’s past and offered to take him back to his hometown. He then trained his Spiritual World, testing how to influence multiple Players and move from mental interference toward control.

• Xu Huo learned that the boy had been kidnapped as a child and offered to take him home when he left.
• The boy accepted Xu Huo’s offer, while his orphaned brothers waited outside and his older brother watched enviously.
• Xu Huo expanded his Spiritual World and tested whether he could interfere with several Players at once.
• Xu Huo trapped five Players in a constructed maze and used suggestions of danger and safety to influence their choices.
• The Players chose a blue door over a green door marked SAFE and encountered a gigantic eyeball behind it.
• Xu Huo added the words “This is safe” to the green door.

Xu Huo tested how suggestions could influence players, learning that brief, instinctive reactions might make mental control easier than lasting, absolute compulsion. The next morning, slum residents treated him as an honored guest when a supply convoy arrived, leaving the delivery crew puzzled by their unusual deference.

• Five players escaped a dangerous room through the green door after Xu Huo’s suggestion that it was safe influenced their choice.
• Xu Huo reasoned that control required compressing the suggestion process and imposing compulsion at the moment it took hold.
• After resting for two hours, Xu Huo went for a walk as children from the slums quietly followed him.
• A convoy delivering vegetables from Rain City arrived, and its driver assumed the children might be for sale.
• The slum players calmly unloaded the supplies, called Xu Huo an honored guest, and returned to the mountains.

Xu Huo used mental interference to turn a group of Players against one another, then lured Brother Pan into a trap. The chapter ended with Brother Pan seeing an Abyss beneath his feet and hearing Xu Huo tell him to jump down.

• Xu Huo bought candy for the slum children and told the boy to take it back to the inn.
• The innkeeper warned Xu Huo about the forces behind the underground palace and casino, but Xu Huo said he would still visit Rain City in a few days.
• Two Players tested Xu Huo at the inn, then returned late at night with ten more Players.
• Xu Huo drew the group into his Spiritual World and used mental interference to make five Players mistake one another for enemies.
• Brother Pan escaped the interference, shot at what he thought was Xu Huo, and followed a blood trail into an empty room.
• Brother Pan saw the ground become the Abyss and heard Xu Huo order him to jump down.

Xu Huo used his Spiritual World to trap Brother Pan and four D-class players, driving Brother Pan to flee with his Ticket. He then began building a hemispherical barrier with Space Rays to blur the boundary between his Spiritual World and reality, but the demanding work left him exhausted.

• Brother Pan resisted Xu Huo’s mental influence at first, but repeated commands made him jump into an apparently endless Abyss before he escaped with his Ticket.
• Xu Huo narrowed his Spiritual World and used the diagram to intensify his mental interference against four D-class players.
• Xu Huo reasoned that a barrier at the edge of his Spiritual World could conceal his actions and make illusion harder to distinguish from reality.
• Xu Huo used Space Rays to construct a hemispherical barrier, completing less than a tenth of it in two hours before stopping to rest.
• As his energy dwindled, Xu Huo dealt with the C-class player and two players who had been probing the depths.

Xu Huo completed a Confusion Barrier, then went to Bai City to confront the Player organizations that had targeted him. After arriving at the Eagle Organization’s assembly, he exposed the group’s connection to human trafficking and attacked its members.

• Xu Huo tested his Confusion Barrier and found that ten spatial layers could make him invisible to the water shop Players, though he moved the barrier inward to reduce strain and avoid blocking entry.
• After sleeping, Xu Huo went to Bai City and found the underground palace owner and his Player relatives among the Eagle Organization, which was gathering allies to kill him.
• Xu Huo appeared in the Eagle Organization’s assembly hall and used Sit Please to force everyone into their seats.
• The white-haired leader claimed the attack on Xu Huo had been a misunderstanding, and Brother Pan reluctantly confirmed his account.
• Xu Huo brought in the underground palace owner and said he wanted to investigate Bai City’s human trafficking business.
• When the white-haired leader accused Xu Huo of seeking revenge, Xu Huo agreed that killing them all would be difficult and used cutting threads to slice the Eagle Organization members’ lower legs down to the bone.

Xu Huo killed members of the Eagle Organization and other players implicated in human trafficking, then questioned a survivor about Central City. He learned that Central City controlled the No. 01 Gathering Place’s water and was protected by a powerful B-class player.

• Xu Huo used the Underground Palace owner’s ledger to identify and kill twenty Eagle Organization members involved in human trafficking.
• Xu Huo killed the Eagle Organization’s white-haired elder and four nearby players, then had the owner identify more people connected to the trafficking deals.
• The owner accused several players, but Xu Huo killed the owner and spared one of the accused.
• Xu Huo lifted the Spiritual World and asked someone familiar with Central City to explain the city’s water supply and defenses.
• The spared player told Xu Huo that Central City supplied water to the other cities and was guarded by a B-class player and many C-class players.

After resolving the crisis in Bai City, Xu Huo traveled to Rain City and met with Mayor Song to ask about Central City’s water supply. Mayor Song confirmed that Central City had no shortage of water, while Rain City could not afford the costly equipment needed to extract underground water.

• Xu Huo told Bai City’s players to inform Central City that the incident was resolved, then left for Rain City.
• Rain City’s leaders gathered their strongest players in a plaza and prepared for Xu Huo’s arrival.
• Xu Huo appeared beside the plaza, and Mayor Song calmed the players before inviting him to the city government office.
• Xu Huo asked Mayor Song about Central City’s water supply, and she confirmed that the city had plenty of water.
• Mayor Song explained that Rain City could not afford the expensive equipment needed to extract underground water.

Xu Huo discussed District 026’s bleak prospects with Mayor Song, then agreed to let Rain City players accompany him to Central City. Mayor Song prepared for both success and failure, and Xu Huo asked Da Jiang and Kang Miao whether they had teleportation items.

• Mayor Song asked Xu Huo whether District 026 had any hope, and he said an exceptionally powerful player was needed.
• Da Jiang urged Rain City to seize the chance to act alongside Xu Huo, while Kang Miao warned that failure could bring Central City’s retaliation.
• Mayor Song ordered half the D-class players and a third of the E-class players to prepare to go to Central City, with women making up less than a third of each group.
• After breakfast, Xu Huo invited Rain City’s players to come along and said they would not need to enter Central City if he left early.
• Mayor Song asked Da Jiang and Kang Miao to accompany Xu Huo, and he asked whether they had teleportation items.

Xu Huo and his companions reached Central City, where Ji Minzhang welcomed him and arranged a meeting with the city’s super mental evolver. Xu Huo entered the mental training facility alone while Xiao Jiang and Kang Miao waited outside.

• Ji Minzhang led a team out of Central City to meet Xu Huo, Xiao Jiang, and Kang Miao, and the city lowered its barrier after Shaja recognized Xu Huo.
• Ji Minzhang invited Xu Huo to meet Central City’s super mental evolver, while Xu Huo told Xiao Jiang and Kang Miao to stay behind.
• Mr. Xu took Xu Huo to a mental training facility and offered to show him the city’s training grounds.
• Xu Huo entered a conference room divided by an opaque wall, where Fan Fujie sensed and withstood a mental attack.
• Xu Huo identified the room where the mental evolver was waiting and agreed to spar with him.

Xu Huo and Shaja discussed Central City's troubled history and the plight of the slums, then agreed on a plan to seek homes for the displaced people. Xu Huo brought Shaja to meet the elderly mayor, where Shaja learned Central City had been attacked twenty years earlier.

• Shaja explained how Sector 01's cities had cut off resources to smaller settlements and attacked Central City, which survived under its mayor's leadership.
• Xu Huo proposed that Central City invite its partner cities to take in people from the slums in exchange for waived water fees and discounts.
• Xu Huo and Shaja settled their earlier hostility, and Xu Huo arranged for Shaja to meet Central City's mayor.
• Shaja asked when Central City had been attacked, and Xu Huo told him it was twenty years ago.
• Xu Huo arranged food for Xiao Jiang and Kang Miao and told them the slum matter had been handled.

Xu Huo realized Central City had lured him into a trap built around the mayor’s mental power, but he fought back after discovering he was trapped in a Spiritual World. Shaja and Ji Minzhang discussed the threat outside, while Xu Huo tried to escape and protect the mayor.

• Shaja warned Ji Minzhang that Xu Huo was dangerous and said the mayor’s mental influence had not yet secured him.
• Xu Huo noticed the room’s effects slowing his perception, attacked Shaja, and told the mayor he was about to leave.
• Yan Yong questioned why Central City used the mayor as a tool, then vanished from Xu Huo’s view as the mayor’s mental power surged.
• Xu Huo realized he was inside Shaja’s Spiritual World and rejected the idea that the trick could fool him.
• Xu Huo sent a torrent of water through the room, detected something unusual, used an interference artifact, and charged toward the door.
• Ji Minzhang said Central City and the other cities were sworn enemies, then led half the group away to deal with two people outside the city.

Xu Huo compelled Shaja to negotiate over Central City's water supply, revealing the gap between their abilities. Shaja brought the proposal to a government meeting, where Ji Minzhang and others resisted sharing water with the other cities.

• Shaja tried to take the unconscious mayor from Xu Huo but was stopped, and he explained the mayor's condition and Central City's history.
• Xu Huo asked whether other settlements might have B-class players, then persuaded Shaja to consider increasing water supplies to other cities.
• Shaja realized Xu Huo had drawn him into a Spiritual World without his noticing and agreed to call a meeting of Central City's key personnel.
• Shaja brought Xu Huo to the Office Building and told Ji Minzhang to gather the city's key personnel for a vote.
• At the meeting, Ji Minzhang argued that Shaja could not rule alone, while Shaja urged the players to choose between sharing water and suffering heavy losses in a fight against Xu Huo.

Xu Huo confronted Central City's Players over their refusal to share Settlement 01's abundant water, then slaughtered most of them when they attacked. As Shaja tried to hold Xu Huo still so Ji Minzhang and the others could strike, they were decapitated and found themselves back in the meeting room as it had been minutes earlier.

• Xu Huo revealed that Settlement 01 had ample groundwater and urged its leaders to share water with other cities.
• Ji Minzhang attacked Xu Huo's spatial barrier, and other Players joined him while Shaja failed to stop the conflict.
• Xu Huo removed the Goalkeeper barrier and killed most of the Players with a rain of transparent blades.
• Shaja grabbed Xu Huo's legs and urged Ji Minzhang and the others to kill him, but Xu Huo stabbed Shaja.
• Ji Minzhang and the remaining Players lost their heads and then found themselves in the clean meeting room from several minutes earlier.

Xu Huo forced Central City to cooperate with his plan to abolish the shantytown and redistribute its residents, then traveled with its convoy toward the shantytown. Rain City and nearby cities began coordinating to secure the water agreement, while Da Jiang and Kang Miao sought to learn what had happened in Central City.

• Xu Huo’s display in Central City’s meeting room convinced Shaja, Ji Minzhang, and the city’s other elites to accept his demands.
• Central City sent a convoy toward the shantytown with Xu Huo, Da Jiang, Kang Miao, and their companions among its passengers.
• Cong Min explained that Central City had agreed to abolish the shantytown, take in some residents, and stop abandoning vulnerable people by controlling the water supply.
• Rain City discussed how much to increase its water supply and contacted surrounding cities to help prevent Central City from reversing the agreement.
• The convoy stopped near a canyon after nightfall, and Da Jiang and Kang Miao remained uncertain about why Central City’s leaders had become so compliant.

The three children tried to escape the slums but were caught and abused by casino Players until Xu Huo rescued them. As the Central City and Flower City convoy arrived, Central City announced it would blow up the slums in thirty minutes.

• The homeless boy persuaded the two injured brothers to leave the water shop's territory with him before dawn.
• Casino Players caught the children near the slums' exit, and the boy urged the brothers to run while claiming Xu Huo was nearby.
• The children fled into the path of the approaching convoy, where a female Player checked the younger boy's injured shoulder.
• Casino Players seized the boy again and threatened to force him and the brothers to work for the casino.
• Xu Huo reunited with the children, promised they would be safe, and brought them aboard the convoy.
• Central City announced that the slums would be blown up in thirty minutes and ordered everyone to evacuate.

Xu Huo helped Central City evacuate the residents and demolish the slums, then trained his mental powers in Rain City. As he left District 026, a notice announced that District 017 had obtained a Super Artifact, the fourth at the E27 wormhole point.

• Bian Zhichuan ordered Central City's players to enter the slums and evacuate the residents.
• Xu Huo appeared with Central City's convoy, prompting the water-shop players to leave while the casino players chose to resist.
• Central City's forces killed the players who fought back, drove out the rest, and evacuated the slum residents before demolishing the settlement.
• Central City arranged for nearby cities to take in the residents, and Xu Huo helped a boy search for his old home.
• Xu Huo trained his mental powers in Rain City before leaving District 026 for Card City Station.
• A message announced that District 017 had obtained a Super Artifact, the fourth at the E27 wormhole point.