Chapter Summaries

Lin An fused the heart with the Rotting Titan and the Leaping Corpse, then read the notes about the Marrow Sucking Spider and considered how the case might relate to the Zombie Virus outbreak. He ended the chapter wondering whether the Rotting Titan-Pseudo had once been an Awakener, while Mo Ling left to check on Mo Yu and warned him to sleep.

• Lin An noticed the Mental Body inside Li Lei's necklace reacting to the heart, then decided to begin the fusion of the Rotting Titan and the Leaping Corpse.
• Lin An considered accepting the Safe Zone quest to obtain a City Building Token, but postponed the plan until after the Zombie Tide and the System's trading function became available.
• Lin An read the restaurant owner's notes and found an account of a haunting at Thailand's Zhongtian Hotel involving a Case Le employee who later supplied spider ingredients.
• Lin An failed to connect the notes' clues to the early Zombie Virus outbreak and put the notes away.
• Lin An wondered whether the Rotting Titan-Pseudo had been transformed from an Awakener, and Mo Ling scolded him for staying awake before leaving to check on Mo Yu.

Li Lei learned from his master that Lin An’s sword and likely exceptional talent made him too dangerous to confront directly, so he agreed to feign submission. His master expected Li Lei’s fortune to make Lin An eat the Mandala and told him to persuade Wang Kun to provide a body for possession.

• Li Lei asked his master how Lin An had killed and captured a Second Order monster, and the master attributed his strength to his sword and unusually dense Psionic energy.
• The master guessed Lin An might possess Sword Soul or Spirit Devouring Sword Body, and explained that his power could convert his attributes into control power for devastating attacks.
• Li Lei resented Lin An’s strength and worried that Fan Bing admired him, but his master warned that attacking Lin An at full strength could destroy Wang Kun’s body.
• Li Lei agreed to submit to Lin An, while worrying that Lin An might refuse the Mandala and humiliate Fan Bing.
• The master said Li Lei’s fortune made it likely Lin An would eat the Mandala and urged him to persuade Wang Kun to let the master possess his body.
• After the Mental Link ended, Li Lei decided to seek out Fan Bing and Wang Kun again.

Fan Bing struggled to decide how to survive Lin An’s suspected plan to kill everyone, while Li Lei secretly urged her to help trick Lin An into eating Mandala. The chapter ended with Li Lei revealing his Talent Skill and boasting that Lin An was no match for him.

• Fan Bing feared Lin An had noticed Wang and Li’s schemes and worried that the Blood Cocoon’s hatching would bring their deaths.
• Li Lei visited Fan Bing and silently instructed her to describe Mandala’s flower as a strength booster and its leaves as a healing remedy for Zhang Tie.
• Fan Bing warned Li Lei that Lin An might refuse Mandala or recognize its poison, but Li Lei insisted that he would eat it.
• Li Lei revealed his Talent Skill to Fan Bing, who reacted with disbelief at its abnormal power.
• Li Lei left Fan Bing’s room and declared that Lin An was merely an ant he could crush with one finger.

Li Lei sent Fan Bing to deliver Mandala to Lin An while pretending to apologize and profess affection, but Fan Bing warned Lin An in writing that Li Lei and Wang Kun planned to attack him with the poisonous plant. Lin An blocked eavesdroppers and asked to see the Mandala, leaving its effect and their confrontation unresolved.

• Li Lei revealed his talent to Wang Kun and urged him to follow along, leaving Wang Kun conflicted.
• Fan Bing went to Lin An's room carrying the split Mandala and paper, intending to warn him about Li Lei and Wang Kun.
• At Li Lei's instruction, Fan Bing apologized and feigned affection for Lin An, while Li Lei secretly listened and grew jealous.
• Fan Bing wrote that Li Lei and Wang Kun planned to attack Lin An and that the Mandala was a Highly Poisonous Spirit Plant.
• Lin An set up a Mental Barrier and asked Fan Bing to hand over the Mandala.

Lin An discovered that the Mandala was a powerful Abyss World plant whose benefits came with lethal costs, and learned why Fan Bing had warned him against eating it. Fan Bing offered to reveal Li Lei’s secret if Lin An would take her with him as his woman.

• Fan Bing gave Lin An two Mandalas and warned him that Li Lei had used one to kill a man during an experiment.
• Lin An poured his Mental Strength into the Eye of Judgment and learned that the Mandala boosted all attributes and granted healing and immunity, but would nearly drain his Mental Strength and reduce his vitality.
• Lin An realized he could use his Energy Core to restore Mental Strength and considered consuming the Mandala despite its dangers.
• Fan Bing admitted she had manipulated Li Lei and Wang Kun to survive, and said she warned Lin An because she feared he might kill them if the Mandala harmed him.
• Lin An asked why Li Lei was certain he would eat the Mandala, and Fan Bing offered to reveal Li Lei’s secret if Lin An promised to make her his woman and take her with him.

Fan Bing revealed Li Lei’s talent, Heavenly Luck Spirit Gathering, to Lin An after he rejected her advances and demanded the information. Lin An questioned how Li Lei’s fortune would affect his plans, and Fan Bing argued that Lin An was the protagonist of the larger story.

• Fan Bing tried to seduce Lin An and asked him to take her away, but he turned her down and demanded Li Lei’s talent information.
• Lin An threatened Fan Bing, who wrote down Li Lei’s A-Grade Advanced Talent, Heavenly Luck Spirit Gathering, and its luck-based passive abilities.
• Lin An considered whether Li Lei’s talent had anticipated his plans involving the Mandala and the Spiritual Energy Core.
• Lin An asked Fan Bing why she had betrayed Li Lei despite the System identifying him as a Child of Fortune.
• Fan Bing told Lin An that his greater strength meant he had better fortune, and compared Li Lei to a movie’s main character while calling Lin An the protagonist of the entire production.

Fan Bing argued that Li Lei was no true protagonist and said Lin An seemed to exist independently of the world, prompting him to consider the Doomsday Game’s hidden framework. Lin An left to kill people before the Blood Cocoon hatched a Mutant.

• Fan Bing explained that Li Lei lacked the qualities of a protagonist and said Lin An could defeat him.
• Fan Bing told Lin An he felt as if he did not belong to this world, and Lin An connected her impression to Chu An’s earlier remark and his own reincarnation.
• Lin An speculated that Li Lei was a System-backed protagonist and wondered whether he himself was a bug with a cheat.
• Fan Bing tried to seduce Lin An as he prepared to leave, but he told her to move because he was going to kill people.

Lin An joined the survivors for dinner, while Wang Kun worried that Li Lei’s plan to kill him with Mandala might be exposed. Li Lei remained confident in his talent and headed downstairs to carry out their scheme.

• Lin An and his companions entered the cafeteria and sat down to eat with the survivors.
• Fan Bing joined Lin An, and Wang Kun read her appearance as proof that she had approached him as planned.
• Wang Kun went upstairs to ask Li Lei whether he had used his talent on Lin An.
• Li Lei said his talent remained active and claimed Lin An would eat the Mandala as soon as Li Lei spoke.
• Li Lei took a hot pot downstairs, telling Wang Kun to endure the situation because Lin An would be dead after tonight.

Lin An prepared to bait Li Lei and Wang Kun into attacking him while learning about Wang Kun’s brother and the nearby Lin Jiang Military Region. Wang Kun began describing strange remains at the Rotting Titan’s location, leaving Lin An poised to hear what else had happened there.

• Lin An told Zhang Tie to pretend to eat a leaf and act as if he were dying so their would-be attackers would make a move.
• Mo Ling confronted Fan Bing over her closeness to Lin An, while Fan Bing tried to ingratiate herself with Lin An’s Team.
• Li Lei and Wang Kun brought Lin An a hot pot and offered to join his Team or have him join Wang Ba, who was gathering forces and weapons at Huang Village Town.
• Wang Kun said Wang Ba had obtained heavy weapons and was preparing to establish a Safe Zone, prompting Lin An to consider investigating the Lin Jiang Military Region after the Zombie Tide.
• Lin An asked whether anything unusual had happened near the Rotting Titan, and Wang Kun began by mentioning the many dog bones there.

Lin An used the Mandala and his intimacy with Fan Bing to provoke Li Lei while keeping the pair from acting before he consumed the spirit plant. The chapter ended with Li Lei fighting his rage as Lin An demanded that he kowtow.

• Lin An placed the two portions of Mandala on the table, and Wang Kun and Li Lei tried to persuade him to accept it as a gift and delay eating it.
• Lin An gave the leafy portion to Zhang Tie, sent Gao Tian and Mo Ling away, and recognized that Li Lei was receiving a message from the mysterious Mental Body.
• Lin An ordered Li Lei to watch Fan Bing lick his fingers, then pulled her into his embrace to provoke him.
• Fan Bing removed her trench coat and pressed against Lin An while the old voice in Li Lei's necklace urged him to endure the humiliation.
• Lin An touched Fan Bing and demanded that Li Lei give him a loud kowtow, leaving Li Lei trembling with fury.

Lin An pretended to succumb to the poisoned Mandala so Li Lei and Wang Kun would attack, then revealed his strength and trapped the Spirit Body from Li Lei’s necklace. He used the Death God’s power against the old man, leaving its fate to the final blow.

• Lin An ate the Mandala while Zhang Tie pretended to eat it, and Li Lei waited for the poison to weaken Lin An before attacking.
• Li Lei fired his Spiritual Energy Handgun as Wang Kun attacked with Hundred Fists, but Lin An fought back despite appearing poisoned.
• Lin An broke both of Li Lei’s arms and forced him to kneel, prompting Li Lei to call for his master.
• The old man’s Spirit Body emerged from Li Lei’s necklace and tried to possess Wang Kun, but Lin An revealed he had been pretending to be weakened.
• Lin An used the Black Dragon’s Dragon’s Might to trap the Spirit Body, then summoned the Death God Phantom and struck with Wither.

Lin An defeated Li Lei’s master, captured Li Lei, and questioned the people in the restaurant after Li Lei’s mind collapsed. Their accounts linked Li Lei’s awakening to his necklace and revealed Abyssal Aura near the hospital; Lin An then identified the necklace as a Soul Box.

• Black Dragon devoured the Death God Phantom, and Black Bear knocked Li Lei down as Lin An demanded to know about his master, talent, and Mandala.
• Li Lei begged Lin An to spare him and Fan Bing, but her concern for Lin An pushed him into a mental collapse.
• Lin An suspended Li Lei with Telekinesis, then dropped him when he realized Li Lei had gone insane.
• Wang Kun and the others told Lin An that Li Lei had awakened near Wanda Building, acquired a necklace, and repeatedly found Mutants, spirit plants, and other opportunities.
• Lin An concluded that Li Lei’s awakening might have been arranged by his master and that Abyssal Aura had mutated the area near the hospital.
• Lin An removed Li Lei’s necklace and identified it as a special item called a Soul Box.

Lin An used the Soul Box to protect the dark-blue Mental Body after the Black Dragon spat it out, then prepared to interrogate the being called Master. The old man recognized the Black Dragon and panicked, leaving Lin An with a frightened captive and new questions.

• Lin An ordered the two Awakened restrained and sent their hands and feet to be crushed before heading upstairs to awaken the Black Dragon.
• Wang Kun regretted siding with Li Lei, while Fan Bing stayed silent and worried about what Lin An might do to her.
• Lin An sensed the Nether River's power after Mandala boosted his attributes, then discovered the Black Dragon was digesting the dark-blue Mental Body.
• Lin An persuaded the Black Dragon to spit out the struggling Mental Body and used the Soul Box to contain it before it dissolved.
• Lin An threatened to shatter the old man's soul unless he answered his questions, but the old man recognized the Black Dragon and screamed in terror.

Lin An tortured Huang Shao Hua until the old man revealed that he was an awakened Player whose existence triggered the System’s punishment. Huang Shao Hua’s answers led Lin An to suspect the Doomsday Game had run through previous rounds, but he set aside the investigation and asked about Li Lei’s talent.

• Lin An rejected Huang Shao Hua’s claim that he had once been a cultivator and threatened him until he admitted he was an awakened one and a Player named Huang Shao Hua.
• Huang Shao Hua said the System would erase him if he revealed certain information, then began burning with White Fire after saying he was twenty-six but had technically lived for a very long time.
• Lin An connected Huang Shao Hua’s words to theories about previous rounds of the Doomsday Game and wondered whether his own rebirth made him a target of the System.
• The Black Dragon interrupted Lin An to say it was hungry, so Lin An stopped questioning Huang Shao Hua about the game’s secrets.
• Huang Shao Hua explained that he had pretended to be a cultivator and an old man inside a treasure because Li Lei would be easier to fool that way.

Li Shaohua explained that Li Lei's talent came from his Power of Belief and fantasies of being a protagonist, while Lin An deduced that Li Shaohua had groomed him to steal his body. Lin An's suspicions were confirmed when Li Shaohua suddenly unleashed his Mental Strength against him.

• Li Shaohua told Lin An that Li Lei's Power of Belief had turned his fantasies into an awakened talent with the System's help.
• Lin An realized that Li Lei's belief in being the protagonist had collapsed after his defeat and betrayal, leading to his breakdown.
• Li Shaohua offered Lin An knowledge of locations, missions, and hidden opportunities in exchange for his life and Mental Strength.
• Lin An accused Li Shaohua of grooming Li Lei so he could take over his body and live again.
• Li Shaohua erupted with powerful Mental Strength and spatial ripples, warning Lin An that being too clever could get him killed.

Lin An confronted Huang Shao Hua’s powerful Mental Body, which threatened to kill his companions unless Lin An submitted and surrendered his body. After explaining how he uncovered Huang Shao Hua’s possession scheme, Lin An revealed a flash of white light and declared that villains died from talking too much.

• Huang Shao Hua’s Mental Body broke through the Black Dragon’s pressure, struck Lin An through several walls, and sent the Black Dragon flying when it attacked.
• Huang Shao Hua admitted he wanted Lin An’s body and threatened to torture and kill Lin An’s companions unless Lin An knelt and submitted within a minute.
• Lin An explained that Huang Shao Hua’s attempt to possess Wang Kun had exposed his ability to possess people and made Lin An suspect he had deliberately let Li Lei die.
• Huang Shao Hua mocked Lin An for revealing his suspicions instead of pretending not to know and waiting for a chance to resist.
• Lin An raised a hand with a flash of white light and told Huang Shao Hua that villains died from talking too much.

Lin An used the Silver Hourglass to reverse Huang Shao Hua’s state and drag him back into the System’s White Fire punishment, defeating him. Huang Shao Hua questioned Lin An’s identity as Lin An tossed the Crystal Ball into the Black Dragon’s belly.

• Lin An activated the Silver Hourglass’s Eighth Sequence, reversing Huang Shao Hua’s time until the System’s White Fire punishment struck him again.
• Huang Shao Hua’s screams broke his Mental Barrier, terrifying Wang Kun and the others downstairs as Zhang Tie wondered what was happening.
• After recovering with Mental Strength and Origin of Life, Lin An taunted Huang Shao Hua and explained that he had delayed to replenish his strength before using the Hourglass.
• Huang Shao Hua reverted to his old-man form and asked who Lin An was, accusing him of carrying too many Items and exceeding the equipment limit.
• Lin An agreed that schemes were useless before absolute strength and tossed the Crystal Ball containing Huang Shao Hua into the Black Dragon’s belly.

Lin An returned to the restaurant after dealing with Huang Shao Hua and reassured Mo Ling that he would not abandon her. As the Blood Cocoon reached the fourth floor, they turned to making a Flesh Puppet from Li Lei.

• Lin An kept Huang Shao Hua's dark-blue Mental Body, deciding that the weakened survivor from the previous cycle could still be useful.
• Lin An returned to the restaurant, where Zhang Tie's teasing about his treatment of Li Lei and Fan Bing upset Mo Ling.
• Mo Ling confronted Fan Bing, and Lin An carried the struggling Mo Ling while promising that they would stay together.
• Mo Ling warned Lin An not to betray her, even if she became a Necro-spirit.
• Lin An pointed out that the Blood Cocoon was about to hatch, and Mo Ling looked at Li Lei as the candidate for a Flesh Puppet.

Lin An had Mo Ling turn Wang Kun and Li Lei into Flesh Puppets after Zombies killed them. He discovered that Awakeners transformed into Flesh Puppets could gain upgraded abilities and level up, then checked what Li Lei’s A-Grade talent had become.

• As Zhang Tie carried Wang Kun and Li Lei, Wang Kun realized Lin An’s identity and regretted attacking him, then bit off Li Lei’s ear in a fit of rage.
• Zhang Tie separated the two men as their screams drew Zombies, and Lin An signaled Mo Ling to use her Flesh Puppet skill.
• The Zombies devoured Wang Kun and Li Lei, and both rose again as Flesh Puppets under Mo Ling’s control.
• Mo Ling shared that Wang Kun’s Hundred Fists ability had become Corpse Rend and that Flesh Puppets made from Awakeners could level up and gain mutant skills.
• Lin An reassured Mo Ling, then opened Li Lei’s information panel to see what his Heavenly Luck Spirit Gathering talent had become.

Lin An discovered that Li Lei’s transformed Flesh Puppet had the Heartless One ability, letting it devour almost anything to grow stronger without fear or tier suppression. After Mo Ling released her control, it rapidly ate zombies, and Lin An realized it might reach Third Order within days.

• Lin An assessed Li Lei’s Heartless One ability and concluded the Flesh Puppet could grow by devouring any existence while ignoring fear and suppression.
• Mo Ling told Lin An that controlling the Heartless Puppet drained more Mental Strength than controlling the Corpse Split Puppet and that it wanted to eat everything except her.
• Lin An ordered Mo Ling to send the puppet to the hospital and release her Mental Strength control so they could test its devouring.
• Freed from control, the Heartless Puppet tore through the zombies and devoured seven of them in ten seconds.
• Mo Ling measured the puppet’s strength increase at about 6.1%, and Lin An calculated that it could reach Third Order after devouring enough zombies.