Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo helped the Polar Safe Zone repel Sand Sea players and discovered hormone Potions among the wreckage that suggested the Sand Sea Safe Zone was trying to breed Aliens. After accepting Fei Xian’s invitation, he traveled with the Polar players back to their Safe Zone.

• The Polar Safe Zone players attacked the immobilized Sand Sea players, and both sides continued fighting after the transported Alien died.
• Xu Huo avoided the battle until a Polar player tried to ambush him, then he noticed hormone Potions among the wreckage and suspected they were meant to make Aliens reproduce.
• A Sand Sea player attacked Xu Huo, and he killed the Cannibal Player before defeating several more Sand Sea fighters with help from his Abilities.
• Xu Huo joined the battle and helped the Polar players turn the tide, after which the Sand Sea players retreated using teleportation items.
• Fei Xian invited Xu Huo to the Polar Safe Zone, and Xu Huo traveled back with the players as they carried their dead companions along.

Xu Huo and the others rode with players who discussed District 010’s decline, the middle-aged player’s fear of regression, and their instances. The convoy reached the Polar Safe Zone, where Fei Xian welcomed them with a banquet.

• A player explained that District 010’s residents hated Sand Sea Safe Zone players because of past conflicts and years of upheaval caused by Outer District Players.
• The middle-aged player said he had come to District 010 to do good before he regressed, and revealed that he was in the Wandering Melissa instance, which required him to find someone.
• Darkness Under the Lamp said he was in the Lighthouse Instance, while Gao Dawei glanced at Xu Huo when the middle-aged player mentioned finding someone.
• The middle-aged player said he planned to stay in the Polar Safe Zone, and Xu Huo silently shook his head after Darkness Under the Lamp signaled him.
• Fei Xian brought the convoy to the Polar Safe Zone’s reception hall and thanked the visitors at a banquet.

Fei Xian told Xu Huo about the Sand Sea Players’ abductions and experiments, while Xu Huo asked about a doctor from Stellar Pharmaceutical Group. After Fei Xian left the commercial district, Xu Huo arranged a decoy to fool the Polar Safe Zone Players and followed him.

• Fei Xian described how Sand Sea Players abducted women from District 010 and forced them into reproduction experiments, prompting the Safe Zones to disrupt their operations.
• A middle-aged Player offered to stay in the Polar Safe Zone and help, while Xu Huo declined the gifts and asked to meet the person in charge.
• Xu Huo asked Fei Xian about a doctor from Stellar Pharmaceutical Group, and Fei Xian promised to ask around the next morning.
• Xu Huo noticed the middle-aged Player outside his room but put off talking with him until the next day.
• Xu Huo hired Juan Er to disguise himself and remain in the room, then used his Spiritual World to locate Fei Xian and follow him.

Xu Huo investigated the Polar Safe Zone’s secrecy around Dr. Joyce and considered whether Joyce had been involved in human-Alien breeding experiments connected to Melissa. He left the story still unsure of Joyce’s connection to Melissa, while warning Gao Dawei that others were watching them.

• Fei Xian reported to Mr. Yuan that someone had come asking for Dr. Joyce, and Mr. Yuan ordered him to send the visitor to the CK22 Safe Zone and repeat the same answer to future inquiries.
• Fei Xian and other Players discussed the upcoming funeral and complained about the growing number of Outer District Players in the Polar Safe Zone.
• Xu Huo returned to his lodging after meeting Juan Er, then told Darkness Under the Lamp that he had found nothing conclusive about Dr. Joyce.
• Xu Huo reasoned that Dr. Joyce and the Safe Zones might be concealing past experiments to breed a human-Alien next generation, and wondered whether Joyce was connected to Melissa.
• Darkness Under the Lamp told Xu Huo that two Players had eavesdropped on him and Fei Xian, so Xu Huo asked him to warn Gao Dawei.

Xu Huo investigated the places where Dr. Joyce had lived and worked in Polar Safe Zone, then invited Juan Er and his companions to travel with him. After attending the funeral for the fallen players, Xu Huo and his group prepared to leave.

• Fei Xian explained that Dr. Joyce had left Polar Safe Zone for CK22 Safe Zone, and Xu Huo visited the abandoned laboratory and other places Dr. Joyce had frequented, taking photographs.
• Xu Huo learned that the Safe Zone’s Potion research had stopped and that Dr. Joyce’s belongings and fate remained unknown.
• Xu Huo invited Juan Er and his companions to join him, and they agreed to leave after the funeral.
• Fei Xian led the funeral ceremony, and Polar Safe Zone’s residents vowed to remember the fallen, seek revenge, and keep District 010 from falling.

Xu Huo’s group traveled to CK22 to investigate the alien chips and encountered a swarm of seemingly dead aliens upon entering the city. The chapter ended with the group surrounded behind Juan Er’s protective barrier as Ye Xiaoshan wondered whether the aliens had evolved.

• Xu Huo let Fan Yunhong out and arranged for him to register at the Polar Safe Zone.
• Xu Huo’s group joined the Polar Safe Zone players and traveled toward CK22, learning about poisonous insects, mutant animals, and the aliens in the area.
• The group reached CK22 and made their way through its collapsed streets while trying to avoid alien hideouts.
• A dry-corpse alien leaped at Brother Wu, then quickly recovered and attacked the group.
• Juan Er activated a large-area Defense Artifact as desiccated aliens emerged from the ruins and rushed toward them.

Xu Huo and his group fought Aliens and uncovered an ambush by powerful Outer District Players, who captured several of their companions and attacked the rest with sensory-disrupting music and unusual abilities. Xu Huo rescued his group from a collapsing building and trapped one attacker beneath its ruins.

• The Aliens attacked the defensive barrier, but Xu Huo killed those that reached Gao Dawei after the barrier was sliced open.
• Gao Dawei spotted Players on nearby buildings, and Brother Wu, Juan Er, Big Back Head, and another companion pursued them.
• An ambusher surrounded Brother Wu and the others in green light and made all five disappear, while Darkness Under the Lamp confirmed the attackers had high-grade Artifacts.
• Soothing music impaired Xu Huo and the others' sight and hearing, and Darkness Under the Lamp used a light-reflecting Artifact and a barking Artifact to locate and pursue an attacker.
• An enemy Player split a building apart, but Xu Huo brought Gao Dawei, Ye Xiaoshan, and the others to safety and used Mental Portals to send the attacker beneath the ruins.

Xu Huo fought off a B-level player who had tried to separate and ambush his group, then regrouped with his companions and searched an underground laboratory in CK22. The laboratory held no records about Aliens, only the remains of long-dead ones.

• Xu Huo used Dimension Fog, Mental Portal, and Cube Space to counter his opponent’s attacks and force the B-level player to escape with a Space Teleport Artifact.
• Xu Huo tracked the fleeing player to somewhere within the CK22 Safe Zone and learned that at least five B-level players were hiding there.
• Juan Er contacted Xu Huo and reported that the other group had been teleported across the city; after one person died, their attackers withdrew.
• Brother Wu used an artifact pen to draw a protective circle around the reunited group, helping block attacks from Space Artifacts.
• Xu Huo, Gao Dawei, Darkness Under the Lamp, and Brother Wu searched an underground laboratory for written or digital records while the others kept watch.
• The group found no records about Aliens, but discovered the remains of Aliens that had been dead for a long time.

Xu Huo and his companions searched CK22’s Laboratories and former government offices for clues about Dr. Joyce, but found nothing and decided to investigate an Alien settlement to the north. That night, the players who had ambushed them returned, claiming they had a clue to clearing their Dungeon and asking to recruit them.

• Gao Dawei asked whether anyone had found evidence of Dr. Joyce, but Darkness Under the Lamp had found nothing, and Xu Huo said they would discuss his uncle after leaving.
• Brother Wu and Juan Er set traps in a Laboratory for the players who had ambushed them, and the group later heard the traps go off as their pursuers fled.
• Xu Huo’s group searched more Laboratories and former government offices, but Fei Xian found no trace of Dr. Joyce, so Xu Huo decided to look for him at an Alien settlement to the north.
• Ye Xiaoshan and the others left that night, while Xu Huo explained that finding Dr. Joyce would give him something to report when he returned.
• At midnight, the six players who had ambushed Xu Huo’s group confronted them and asked what Dungeon they were in, claiming they could help clear it.
• Xu Huo suggested asking which Dungeon the other players were in before deciding whether to listen to their clue.

Xu Huo persuaded the black-jacketed Players to join his group in exchange for searching for his missing elder, and the twelve set out toward areas frequented by Mutant Animal packs. They stopped for the night at Xu Huo’s Snowflake Hotel, where the group enjoyed its luxurious facilities and food.

• The black-jacketed Players revealed that their Instance, “Last Wishes,” required at least ten Players, and Xu Huo proposed that they work together despite Juan Er’s group needing a different Instance cleared.
• Xu Huo convinced his companions to let the black-jacketed Players join them, arguing that they could help search for Mutant Animal packs instead of trailing the group as a threat.
• Xu Huo offered to lead the twelve Players north to look for his elder, and the black-jacketed Players agreed to search for three days.
• The twelve traveled across the desert and reached an area frequented by Mutant Animal packs near nightfall.
• Xu Huo brought out the Snowflake Hotel and charged the others a small amount of White Cash to stay there.
• Gao Dawei and the others explored the hotel’s food and amenities, and Xu Huo asked the black-jacketed Players whether they had any special dietary requirements.

Xu Huo hosted Gao Dawei and the others at a desert hotel while the black-coated players secretly planned to rob him. A pink-haired traveler arrived during the night and stayed at the hotel, where he thanked its owner the next morning.

• Gao Dawei offered Xu Huo food and wine, and the guests prepared dinner while Juan Er called out the black-coated players for sitting idle.
• Xu Huo stopped Gao Dawei and the young player from arguing, then let everyone choose rooms in the hotel.
• The black-coated players met privately and planned to target Xu Huo, believing he was a wealthy player who underestimated them.
• Xu Huo had worried the black-coated players would not take the bait, but was pleased when they decided to act.
• A pink-haired man arrived at the hotel, told Gao Dawei he had wandered through District 010, and asked for food and a room.
• The pink-haired man slept soundly and thanked the hotel's owner the next morning, not recognizing the person who had spoken with Darkness Under the Lamp.

Xu Huo's group followed the trail of Aliens across the desert with the pink-haired man, only to be caught in a vast insect tide that disabled their Space Teleport Artifacts. As they escaped upward, a towering pile of Aliens and a massive sandstorm threatened to overwhelm them.

• Xu Huo's group agreed to let the pink-haired man travel with them as they followed the Aliens' trail.
• The pink-haired man ran ahead to photograph a heart-shaped dune, then returned warning that a huge horde of Aliens was approaching.
• Aliens erupted from the sand around the group, and their Space Teleport Artifacts stopped working as the creatures swarmed over their defenses.
• Xu Huo and the others took to the air while the pink-haired man suggested that underground minerals or shifting terrain might be disrupting their Artifacts.
• The Aliens piled on top of one another to form a towering mound, and a gale brought a tsunami-like sandstorm that blotted out the sky.

Xu Huo and Gao Dawei were separated from their allies in a sandstorm, and Xu Huo was attacked by two Players while Gao Dawei searched for help. As Aliens overwhelmed them, Chang Shoujie entrusted Gao Dawei with finding and protecting Dr. Joyce and urged him to defend District 010.

• A sandstorm swept Xu Huo and Gao Dawei away from the others, and two Players attacked Xu Huo as he fought to defend himself.
• Chang Shoujie emerged from a Picture Frame, and Gao Dawei carried him away from the battle.
• Gao Dawei ran into the pink-haired man and warned him about the Deathbed Wish Players and the Alien horde, but the man went off to fight alone.
• Aliens attacked Gao Dawei and Chang Shoujie until Chang Shoujie told him to retrieve a positioning device and use it to find Dr. Joyce.
• Chang Shoujie told Gao Dawei to protect Dr. Joyce, stay loyal to District 010, and hold their ground until the last person.

Chang Shoujie urged Gao Dawei to continue toward the Station and find Dr. Joyce, even as Gao insisted on taking him along. When a hostile B-class Player attacked them, Xu Huo arrived and turned the confrontation around.

• Chang Shoujie shoved Gao Dawei away from an Alien and fought it, but Gao returned to help and was injured.
• Chang Shoujie explained the sacrifices required to give up Player status and asked Gao to find Dr. Joyce and continue in his place.
• Gao agreed to carry Chang Shoujie, but warned him not to demand that he leave him behind.
• A hostile B-class Player attacked the two, and Chang Shoujie shielded Gao from the strike.
• Xu Huo appeared and stopped the attack as other B-class Players surrounded him, while the pink-haired Player mocked the men in black jackets.

Xu Huo and the other players defeated the black-coated attackers, then discussed Chang Shoujie’s connection to Dr. Joyce and his reproduction experiment. The chapter left them questioning whether Dr. Joyce had succeeded in creating a Newborn and what kind of beings could have produced it.

• Xu Huo trapped the black-coated players and killed one who had tried to murder him, while the pink-haired player and the others dealt with their opponents.
• The last black-coated player escaped beneath the sand, so the pink-haired player sent a mechanical mouse after him.
• Xu Huo told Chang Shoujie and Gao Dawei he would not have killed Chang Shoujie for refusing to reveal information.
• Chang Shoujie acknowledged that Xu Huo knew about Dr. Joyce’s reproduction experiment and his final message concerning the Degenerate Aliens.
• Juan Er asked whether District 010 had produced a Newborn and whether its parents could have been Aliens or a human and an Alien.

Chang Shoujie explained that experiments to restore District 010’s ability to reproduce had failed, while Xu Huo set out to investigate the clues about Dr. Joyce. The group waited in the sea of sand, where Chang Shoujie reflected on why he had chosen a difficult life of helping others, until Brother Wu announced Xu Huo’s return.

• Chang Shoujie said Dr. Joyce had tried using Aliens to raise a new generation, but the experiments failed and Dr. Joyce left District 010 to seek help.
• Xu Huo suggested that other Safe Zones had also participated in the experiments and kept quiet after they failed.
• Xu Huo teleported away to investigate the clues about Dr. Joyce while Darkness Under the Lamp and the others stayed with Chang Shoujie and Gao Dawei.
• Juan Er asked Chang Shoujie why he chose a hard path, and Chang Shoujie replied that people had to do something while alive.
• Juan Er warned Gao Dawei to back down when he was outmatched, and Brother Wu announced that Xu Huo had returned.

Xu Huo questioned Chang Shoujie about Dr. Joyce and used a tracking instrument to narrow the search to the vanished CK12 Safe Zone. The trail brought Xu Huo close to where he had started, while Pink Hair’s grim reaction hinted at his lost Player girlfriend.

• Pink Hair admitted he had invented his story about a dying wish, then revealed that his girlfriend had been a Player.
• Xu Huo returned with Dr. Joyce’s instrument, which pointed toward a fixed location, and asked Chang Shoujie to speak privately.
• Xu Huo questioned Chang Shoujie about Dr. Joyce’s connection to Stellar Pharmaceutical Group and the devastation of District 010.
• Chang Shoujie said Dr. Joyce’s last known destination was a Safe Zone that had disappeared two years earlier.
• Xu Huo recognized the direction as CK12 Safe Zone and considered that Dr. Joyce might have died there.
• Chang Shoujie asked whether Xu Huo knew Pink Hair, noting that Pink Hair seemed unusually unconcerned with Dungeon clues.

Xu Huo and the others reached the buried CK12 Safe Zone while an unseen follower continued tracking Xu Huo. As they began searching for the city, Chang Shoujie explained why he had devoted his life to District 010, leaving Gao Dawei quiet after hearing his story.

• Darkness Under the Lamp warned Xu Huo that an invisible player was following them, and Xu Huo confirmed the follower could keep pace even when he teleported.
• Xu Huo reached CK12 after Darkness Under the Lamp and Brother Wu's group had sent machines underground, then directed robots to search the buried Safe Zone.
• Xu Huo released Chang Shoujie and asked about the Black Snake tattoo on his face.
• Chang Shoujie recounted how a black snake had bitten him after a scorpion poisoned him, helping him survive and inspiring his lifelong devotion to District 010.
• Chang Shoujie said he had made the right choice once, thirty years earlier, and Gao Dawei fell silent as Xu Huo toasted him.

Xu Huo and the others searched the sand-buried CK12 Safe Zone laboratory for evidence about Dr. Joyce and discovered preserved mutant animal embryos. They left without learning what the experiments were for.

• Robots brought back four sets of Dr. Joyce's remains and his identification card, but Xu Huo and the others could not identify which bones were his.
• The robots reported that the laboratory was buried in sand and its records were missing, while a video showed that few alien creatures had entered the city.
• Xu Huo, Chang Shoujie, Darkness Under the Lamp, and Juan Er cleared two rooms in the laboratory.
• Darkness Under the Lamp and Juan Er discussed mutant animal teeth used as currency in Sand Sea Safe Zone and how Cannibal Players profited from controlling resources there.
• Darkness Under the Lamp suggested CK12 had been testing animal reproduction, but Xu Huo doubted the theory and wondered what the experiments were actually for.

Xu Huo and the others searched CK12 Laboratory for evidence of a Newborn but found only a baby outfit, abandoned embryos, and dead Aliens. That night, Xu Huo followed the locator to a group of desert-adapted Aliens and confirmed that one carried the locating chip embedded in its leg bone.

• Xu Huo realized the locator's other half was outside the Safe Zone and might have been carried by an Alien.
• Darkness Under the Lamp and Juan Er found a baby outfit in the Laboratory, but the group found no other evidence of a Newborn after clearing the facility.
• The group sealed the Laboratory and returned to the surface, where they discussed the missing child and whether Gao Dawei could become the next Lighthouse.
• After the others went to sleep, Xu Huo followed the locator to a group of Aliens buried in the sand.
• Xu Huo used robots to identify the Alien carrying the locator, anesthetized it, and confirmed the chip was embedded in its leg bone.