Chapter Summaries

Lin An chose to keep the Heartless Puppet despite the danger that it might grow beyond Mo Ling’s control, then returned to the hotel with his team to eat and drink while the Blood Cocoon continued to hatch. As the cocoon began to split, the team faced the possibility that their deaths could unleash several catastrophic beings.

• Lin An decided to keep the Heartless Puppet and let it feed in the hospital, trusting that it would remain controlled while he and Mo Ling were alive.
• Lin An led everyone back to the hotel, where the Blood Cocoon had grown to five stories tall and was expected to hatch within three hours.
• Fan Bing silently watched Lin An and Mo Ling as the group cleaned the ruined restaurant and prepared a hot pot meal.
• Lin An shared beer and hot pot with the team, while Zhang Tie wondered whether the world would end if they died.
• Fan Bing drank and looked toward Lin An but gave up on speaking after Mo Ling stirred in his arms.
• The Blood Cocoon slowly split open beyond the candlelight as the team drank together.

Lin An and his companions prepared to fight the newly hatched Second Order High-Tier Mutant, the High Nailer. As Zhang Tie and Gao Tian moved to attack, Lin An charged his Electromagnetic Cannon to maximum power.

• Lin An identified the early-hatching Blood Cocoon’s creature as the Second Order High-Tier High Nailer.
• Lin An ordered Zhang Tie to attack and retreat, then climbed to the hotel roof with Gao Tian to target the monster from above.
• Zhang Tie activated Bear Transformation and approached the High Nailer while Gao Tian drew his bow under Lin An’s instructions.
• Lin An brought out his Electromagnetic Cannon and charged it at the High Nailer’s brow as blue plasma gathered at the muzzle.

Lin An killed the High Nailer and advanced to Second-Order Awakener, but a clash between two immense forces disrupted the System’s global announcement and leaderboard. Holding a mysterious black key, Lin An realized the first announcement had used the Savior System’s voice, while Chu An concluded that two Systems had appeared.

• Lin An, Black Bear, and the others attacked the High Nailer, and Lin An pierced its exposed skull with an electromagnetic shot.
• The High Nailer died, granting Lin An a rank advancement, an improved talent, and several rewards while Gao Tian also advanced.
• Two terrifying forces clashed above the world, and a corrupted global announcement about the first Second-Order Player failed to identify Lin An.
• A force descended over Linjiang, and the System announced an error, canceled the tier Leaderboard, and left Lin An holding a black key.
• Lin An recognized the first announcement as the voice of the Savior System and wondered what it was doing.
• Chu An replayed the announcements in Dragon An Base and suspected that two Systems had finally appeared.

Lin An examined the rewards from defeating the High Nailer and discovered that the Soul Key could temporarily unlock a Third-Order Gene Lock. He equipped the Void Footwear and tested its flight skill, leaving Gao Tian stunned as he hovered in the scarlet moonlight.

• Lin An wondered why the Savior System had openly opposed the Apocalypse System, but concluded that he lacked enough information to solve the mystery.
• Lin An read that the Soul Key could temporarily unlock one of four Third-Order Gene Locks, and realized it could help him withstand the coming Zombie Tide.
• Lin An inspected the High Nailer's Void Footwear and learned that its Sky Walking skill allowed him to change direction in midair and fly briefly.
• Lin An equipped the footwear, stepped off the hotel roof, and activated Sky Walking to rise a hundred meters into the sky.
• Gao Tian watched Lin An hover and descend through the night as if walking down an invisible staircase.

Lin An examined his new equipment and discovered his S-rank talent, Celestial Human Form, which let him absorb others’ positive emotions to grow stronger. He tested the talent by destroying an eight-story building in an instant, leaving Gao Tian convinced he was no longer human.

• Lin An inspected the Thought Nail and white scale armor, deciding they could be given to Wen Ya and Zhang Tie, respectively.
• Lin An tested Void Footwear and found he could perform a weakened form of Tier 4 aerial combat.
• Lin An read the details of his newly advanced S-rank talent, Celestial Human Form, and wondered how its effects worked.
• Lin An activated Celestial Human Form and experienced heightened senses and an overwhelming flow of information about his surroundings.
• Lin An slashed through the nearby residential building with a longsword, reducing it to dust before Gao Tian could react.
• Gao Tian trembled before Lin An and asked whether he was really human.

Lin An tested Celestial Human Form’s Positive Emotion effect on Fan Bing and discovered that her joy granted him a brief enhancement. He offered to take her to Dragon An Base if she became an Awakened, leaving her shocked to learn his identity.

• Lin An considered Celestial Human Form’s immense power and decided to seek a Fourth-Order Spiritual Energy Core after the Zombie Tide.
• Lin An brought the unconscious Fan Bing to her room and tested whether an outsider could provide Positive Emotion.
• Fan Bing asked Lin An to take her with him, and he said he would accept her if she became an Awakened at a fading Spiritual Energy Node in the hospital.
• Fan Bing’s joy at Lin An’s offer granted him a three-second enhancement, and Lin An clarified that she could return to Dragon An Base but could not follow him.
• Fan Bing recognized that Lin An was the person behind Dragon An Base, while Lin An wondered whether her emotional excitement had granted him further power.

A nearly million-strong Zombie Tide overwhelmed the Third Fleet’s defenses at Cohen Harbor as Colonel Ron refused to use a Tactical Nuclear Bomb, hoping to kill Mutants himself and advance his level. The chapter ended with Ron ordering deserters back into battle as a TANK crushed an officer.

• The Zombie Tide and six TANK Mutants broke through the Third Fleet’s defenses, overwhelming its machine guns, artillery, and armored vehicles.
• As soldiers fled, the Chief of Staff urged Colonel Ron to use a Tactical Nuclear Bomb, but Ron refused and planned to attack the weakened Mutants with Awakened forces.
• Ron revealed that he wanted to personally kill Mutants to advance to the Second Order and pursue the System’s Global First rewards.
• When the Chief of Staff criticized Ron’s reckless attack and called for a retreat, Ron crushed his skull and ordered the rear positions to drive deserters back.
• The army opened fire on retreating soldiers, and a TANK crushed an officer who protested being sent to die.

Ron sacrificed soldiers and Awakeners to reach Second Order, then was recognized as the world's first Second-Order Awakener and received an A-rank Soul Key reward. The reward vanished from its box, leaving Ron furious and demanding to know who stole it.

• Ron forced twenty Awakeners to fight the Mutants while his forces suffered heavy losses, then killed a Second-Order TANK and advanced to Second Order.
• Ron waited anxiously for the Global Announcement, fearing he would not receive recognition for reaching Second Order first.
• The System announced Ron as the world's first Second-Order Awakener, activated the Leaderboard, and issued his reward.
• Ron received an A-rank Soul Key in an iron box, but the box was empty and the System reported that the reward had been lost.
• Ron roared in fury and demanded to know who had stolen his reward.

At the Capital War Zone’s Sixth Defense Line, exhausted soldiers faced an overwhelming Zombie Tide as ammunition and support dwindled. A gigantic Mutant smashed through the battlefield, and the Sergeant Major led the remaining Awakened out to confront it.

• The Sergeant Major urged his exhausted soldiers to keep defending as they discussed the missing fire support and the possibility that Mutants were directing the Zombies.
• A lookout shouted an enemy warning as a nearly twenty-meter mass of flesh crushed buildings and rolled toward the Sixth Defense Line.
• The soldiers fired Heavy Machine Guns and Rocket Launchers, but their attacks barely slowed the Mutant.
• The Sergeant Major ordered all Awakened to step forward, leaped over the wall, and charged the Mutant with the fourteen remaining Awakened.

The Sixth Defense Line fell after the Spherical Mutant slaughtered the Awakeners sent to inject it with Dissolving Potion, and the military reported catastrophic losses. At a tense capital conference, officers argued over withholding heavy firepower and sacrificing weak Awakeners before an elderly man prepared to reveal more information.

• The sergeant major led fourteen Awakeners in a charge against the Spherical Mutant, but its tentacles killed all fifteen before they could inject their potions.
• The Spherical Mutant crushed the Dissolving Potions and destroyed the soldiers and defenses, causing District D of the Sixth Defense Line to fall.
• A military officer reported 799,000 military casualties, including 8,020 Awakeners, and said the Fifth Defense Line was gathering defeated troops.
• Liu Tianming challenged the decision to hold back artillery and aviation units and condemned the practice of sending support-type Awakeners to die with Dissolving Potions.
• An elderly man called for calm and said he would share part of the information the officers wanted to know.

An old man and Luo Feng brief newly promoted officers on the Capital War Zone’s hidden preparations, the threat beyond the Zombie Tide, and General Li Hao’s leveling mission. The Red-Haired Man then questioned how Lin An completed the Safe Zone mission and whether the System had announced his name.

• The old man revealed that the capital’s million-strong Awakener Legion had other missions and warned that the Zombie Tide was only the tip of the iceberg.
• The Red-Haired Man asked why Zombies had fled the capital at the start of the Doomsday, and the old man confirmed that a one-use item had dispersed them.
• The old man explained that the Legion’s deployment was intended to preserve China and asked Luo Feng to explain where General Li Hao and the others were.
• Luo Feng said General Li Hao and other powerful Awakeners were leveling up for the Safe Zone mission, but their technological implants had prevented some kills from counting.
• Luo Feng blamed Lin An and Dragon An Base for withholding the Safe Zone Token and said the North America War Zone had claimed Global First.
• The Red-Haired Man asked how Lin An completed the Safe Zone mission and said he thought he had heard the System announce Lin’s character when the first Second-Order Awakener appeared.

Luo Feng dismissed the possibility that Lin An was the first Second-Order Awakener, accused him of selfishly withholding the secret to establishing a Safe Zone, and urged the capital to wait for its own Safe Zone. Officials learned that Lin An was likely a retired special-forces soldier from the Lin Jiang War Zone, but his location remained unknown, and Luo Feng ordered subordinate military districts to search for him and Dragon An Base.

• Luo Feng argued that Lin An had exploited a loophole to establish Dragon An Base and was hiding because he lacked real strength.
• Luo Feng claimed the first Second-Order Awakener was probably dead and that Lin An was not the person named in the System announcement.
• A researcher told the meeting that Lin An was likely a retired special-forces soldier who had lived in the Lin Jiang War Zone, but officials did not know his exact location or where Dragon An Base was.
• The researcher explained that communications had failed and that the neighboring War Zones could not spare forces for a large search.
• Luo Feng said the capital would wait for its Safe Zone and General Li Hao's advancement, then ordered officers to have their subordinate military districts search for Lin An and Dragon An Base.

Lin An inspected Fan Bing’s Impersonation Talent and tested whether she could imitate Mutants, then watched her successfully impersonate Mo Ling. His attempt to reassure the jealous Mo Ling was interrupted when he sensed screams and more than a hundred life signatures disappearing nearby.

• Lin An inspected Fan Bing’s C-rank Impersonation Talent and considered using her for espionage or propaganda at Dragon An Base.
• Lin An had Fan Bing try to impersonate a Licker, but she could only manage a brief, incomplete transformation that exhausted her.
• Fan Bing successfully impersonated Mo Ling, matching her appearance, voice, and aura closely enough to alarm the real Mo Ling.
• Mo Ling ordered Fan Bing to change back, and Fan Bing pointed out that her larger size made the two of them distinguishable.
• Lin An sensed distant human screams and detected that at least a hundred life signatures had vanished.

Lin An led Zhang Tie and Gao Tian to attack the Mutants slaughtering the Wangjiang First Search and Rescue Team, while Tang Long and the team’s survivors faced near-total despair. The chapter ended with the team still under attack as Lin An’s group prepared to engage.

• Bear Dunce and Gao Tian raced toward the battle after Lin An sensed Mutants nearby.
• Bear Dunce and Gao Tian identified the Wangjiang First Search and Rescue Team and saw two Mutants overwhelming its soldiers and civilians.
• Lin An used Eye of Judgment to identify the Mutants’ weaknesses, ordered Zhang Tie and the others to kill them without contacting the Search and Rescue Team, and gave Fan Bing the Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Tang Long watched the Mutants slaughter people while Yang Bocheng ordered the soldiers to fire and feared that the distant military support would arrive too late.
• The Wailing Banshee brutally killed people in the crowd, causing many survivors to freeze in terror.

As the survivors came under attack, Tang Long tried to kill Tang Tian and was shot dead, while Tang Tian lost an arm. Just as a Crawler was about to strike Yang Bocheng’s group, Zhang Tie arrived in his Black Bear form and knocked it aside.

• Yang Bocheng decided to flee with Tang Wan’s family, while Tang Long begged to join them and Tang Tian refused to help him.
• Tang Long charged at Tang Tian with a manifested Tiger Head Broadsword, and Yang Bocheng’s Wind Blade diverted the strike, causing Tang Tian to lose his right arm.
• The soldiers shot Tang Long, who died cursing Tang Tian’s family as monsters were drawn toward the group.
• Yang Bocheng’s group fled from a Crawler, but Zhang Tie crashed into the monster in his Black Bear form and knocked it aside.

Zhang Tie and Gao Tian fought a Wailing Banshee while protecting Yang Bocheng, Tang Wan, and the others. After Gao Tian crippled the monster and Zhang Tie killed it, Zhang Tie became the seventh Second-Order Awakener in the China War Zone, while Tang Wan watched the group leave and wondered whether Lin An was as strong as Zhang Tie.

• Zhang Tie tore apart a Crawler, and Fan Bing used Lin An’s assistance to blast it with an Electromagnetic Cannon before Zhang Tie ripped it in half.
• A Wailing Banshee attacked Zhang Tie, who blocked its corrosive acid and claws while Yang Bocheng hesitated over whether to flee or help.
• Gao Tian struck the Banshee with a Crippling arrow that destroyed its legs and stopped it from moving quickly.
• Zhang Tie smashed the Banshee’s head with Heavy Punch Strike and his shield, killing it and becoming the seventh Second-Order Awakener in the China War Zone.
• Tang Wan helped Tang Tian up and watched Zhang Tie, Gao Tian, and Fan Bing leave, wondering whether Lin An was as powerful as Zhang Tie.

Lin An headed to the Weapon Research Institute with his group and learned that Zhang Tie’s upgraded talent made him a far tougher frontline fighter. After noticing a familiar, unsettling presence near the Search and Rescue Team, Lin An sent the Heartless Puppet to follow them and watch for trouble as the convoy continued onward.

• Lin An sensed a familiar presence near the First Military Region Search and Rescue Team and felt his killing intent rise.
• Zhang Tie showed Lin An his upgraded Bone Crusher Black Bear talent and its Earthquake skill, and Lin An gave him a Steel Skin Skill Book.
• Zhang Tie activated Steel Skin to test it, became too heavy for his motorcycle, and crushed it beneath him.
• Mo Ling noticed Lin An’s emotional disturbance and asked whether they should return to the Search and Rescue Team.
• Lin An ordered the Heartless Puppet to follow the team, hunt Zombies discreetly, and report anything unusual.
• Mo Ling gave the Heartless Puppet its new command, and it sprinted back toward the Search and Rescue Team, muttering that it would eat everything.

Wang Meng rushed a 2,000-man military force to support Yang Bocheng’s Search and Rescue Team after learning that two mysterious awakened ones had killed the Mutants. Lin An avoided the approaching force, but Wang Meng grew suspicious and ordered an attack before Lin An’s vehicle escaped in an impossible leap.

• Wang Meng learned that Yang Bocheng’s team had survived a fight with two Mutants and was waiting for military support while civilians and people connected to Lin An still needed rescue.
• Wang Meng celebrated the news and urged Yang Bocheng to protect the people connected to Lin An.
• Lin An identified the approaching force as a military unit and told Zhang Tie to leave the highway and go around it.
• Wang Meng ordered his troops to fire when Lin An’s vehicle tried to evade them.
• Lin An’s vehicle stayed airborne for dozens of meters and sped away, leaving Wang Meng stunned.

Lin An learned that the Wailing Banshee had dropped an acid-spitting body modification item and realized Wang Kun and Li Lei’s equipment might have vanished when they became Flesh Puppets. Chu An urged him to return to Dragon An Base using Mo Ling and the Ghost Infant’s teleportation, hinting that he had something important to discuss.

• Bear Dunce inspected the Wailing Banshee’s drop, a Gastric Fluid Converter that granted an acid-spitting skill after the user consumed corpses.
• Lin An asked Mo Ling whether Wang Kun and Li Lei’s equipment had remained on their Flesh Puppets, but she did not know.
• Lin An contacted Chu An through the Chat Channel and asked him to relay questions from the base.
• Chu An told Lin An to have Mo Ling remove her head, use the mirror-lined device, and teleport back to the Ghost Infant at the base.
• Lin An wondered whether Chu An had already tested the Ghost Infant’s teleportation and what important matter he wanted to discuss.

Wang Meng’s convoy spotted a Flesh Puppet but watched it flee after the Off-road Vehicle, then sent a search squad to investigate. Lin An’s group recovered contaminated equipment and discovered that its handgun’s description could be rewritten into powerful fake attributes; afterward, Lin An asked Mo Ling to put her severed head in the iron box, startling Fan Bing.

• Wang Meng ordered a search squad to follow the Off-road Vehicle’s tracks after a red Mutant charged at the convoy and suddenly fled.
• Zhang Tie recovered contaminated gauntlets from the Flesh-Ripping Puppet, and Lin An gave them to him to use as Black Bear.
• Gao Tian found a contaminated spiritual energy handgun inside the Heartless Puppet, and Lin An rewrote its description to make it appear to be a Godslayer.
• Lin An gave the handgun to Mo Ling and sent Flesh Puppets to follow the military and the Search and Rescue Team by separate routes.
• Lin An handed Mo Ling an iron box and told her to cut off her head and place it inside, leaving Fan Bing horrified.