Chapter Summaries

Dragon An Base prepared its defenses and supplies for the approaching Zombie Tide, with Liu ShiMing warning that the horde could build corpse ramps over the walls. As the base assigned combat and support duties, Fan Bing reflected on her growing sense of belonging.

• Liu ShiMing explained that the zombies could pile corpses into ramps and ordered Heavy Machine Guns set in crossed fields of fire.
• An JingTian deployed snipers along the walls and directed them to target First Order Mutants in coordination with Awakened fighters.
• Wen Ya organized food and medical supplies, explaining to the thirty-three medics that they would treat injuries caused by attacks without viruses.
• Fan Bing transported ammunition and considered how the base’s strict rules and Credit Points had given her a sense of belonging.

At the base, Chu An planned how to use Fan Bing’s ability to infiltrate the Wangjiang Military Region while keeping the Dragon An Base’s strength secret. He proposed replacing the region’s commander and began questioning Gao Yan about her father’s position in the capital.

• Fan Bing chatted with the base girls about skincare and noticed a girl applying vivid red lipstick whom she thought she had seen before.
• Liang Shaoguang escorted Gao Yan and the reconnaissance team to the base, where Chu An explained his plan to contact the Wangjiang Military Region privately.
• Fan Bing copied Gao Yan’s appearance and explained that she could maintain the disguise for about three days if she avoided fighting.
• Chu An proposed telling the Wangjiang Military Region that the base’s City Defense War would be livestreamed, while Fan Bing infiltrated with the Meme.
• Chu An suggested having Fan Bing impersonate the Wangjiang commander, then told Gao Yan that he knew she was Gao Wang’s daughter and asked about her father in the Capital Military Region.

Chu An revealed his identity to Gao Yan and began persuading her to help him impersonate the Wangjiang Military Region commander. Lin An explained the plan to Fan Bing and considered how political divisions might let them take control of the military region.

• Chu An identified himself to Gao Yan as a general in charge of the Capital Military Region's Hua An Project and began trying to win her cooperation.
• Lin An left the conference room with Fan Bing, reasoning that Chu An wanted Gao Yan to disclose information that would help Fan Bing impersonate the Wangjiang commander.
• Lin An wondered how Chu An knew about tensions between the military regions and the capital, and recalled how factional conflict had caused disasters in his previous life.
• Fan Bing worried that she would be exposed if she impersonated the Wangjiang commander, and Lin An suggested Gao Yan might help them contact her father.
• Lin An told Fan Bing she might eventually become the Wangjiang commander if Chu An's plan succeeded.

Chu An explained to Lin An that the Capital was consolidating control over the military regions and that Gao Wang was in danger of being sidelined or killed. He proposed using Fan Bing to stabilize Wangjiang and recruiting Gao Wang as an ally, leaving Lin An to wonder whether Chu An had a larger plan.

• After questioning the Wangjiang soldiers, Chu An told Lin An that their identities as Kindling Project agents were true and explained Wangjiang's weak position with the Capital.
• Chu An said Gao Wang had influence in Wangjiang but was trapped in the Capital, where he could be replaced as the higher-ups sought tighter control of the military regions.
• As they walked through the Safe Zone, Chu An explained that the Capital's orders were straining Wangjiang's defenses and that the resulting power struggle could cost Gao Wang his position and life.
• Lin An recalled how the Capital had stripped a powerful Player of command and sent him to die, reinforcing his distrust of the authorities.
• Chu An planned to have Fan Bing impersonate Gao Yan and return to Wangjiang, then contact Gao Wang after the Zombie Tide so he could absorb the military region and serve as their ally and spy in the Capital.
• Lin An followed Chu An's gaze and suspected he intended more than the plan he had just described.

At the Wangjiang Military Region, survivors and former officials struggled with harsh rations while the military rejected increasingly unreasonable rescue demands from the authorities above. As Commander Wang worried over dwindling food and the search for Lin An, the Gao Yan Team reported that they had made contact with him.

• A wealthy merchant tried to bribe a soldier for extra food, but the soldier rejected him and sent him away.
• Director Huang explained to Zhang Fucheng that former city officials now had little influence and survived on the same rations as everyone else.
• Director Huang said the Wangjiang Military Region’s old officials had been stripped of their positions after a dispute with the authorities above.
• Commander Wang refused another order to rescue a mayor’s family member and learned that the military region’s food reserves would last only a few months.
• The radio operator announced that the Gao Yan Team had made contact with Lin An, and Commander Wang reacted with excitement.

Wang Meng learned that Gao Yan and her team had accepted Chu An’s deception and confirmed Dragon An Base had no Safe Zone shortcut. The chapter left Wangjiang Military Region stunned by the approaching 370,000-zombie tide, Dragon An Base’s plan to livestream its defense, and reports that Lin An might be a Third Order Awakener.

• Wang Meng demanded coordinates and a Safe Zone method, but the communications officer reported that Dragon An Base would discuss cooperation after the Zombie Tide and claimed its success came from strength.
• Chu An told Gao Yan and the soldiers that Fan Bing would impersonate Gao Yan and return to Wangjiang Military Region, and the team accepted his plan.
• Wang Meng privately contacted Gao Yan, who assured him she was safe and reported that Lin An had not used a mission loophole; the soldiers added that Lin An might be a Third Order Awakener.
• Wang Meng told his staff that Dragon An Base faced 370,000 zombies, including sixteen Second-Order Mutants and at least thirty-three Mutants in total.
• Wang Meng said Dragon An Base planned to livestream its defense for the military region, leaving the command center shocked by the report of Lin An’s possible strength.

Yun Tian, Yun Lin, and Mo Ling went out to draw part of the Zombie Tide away from Dragon An Base and expose its hidden First Order Mutants. As the horde reached the base, Lin An began the city defense mission and ordered the defenders to attack.

• Yun Tian drove out with Yun Lin and Mo Ling, while Mo Ling recalled her two First Order Flesh Puppets and learned that Yun Lin could see the Heartless Puppet’s memories.
• Yun Tian spotted the enormous Zombie Tide and its Mutants, including TANKs and Rotting Giant Corpses, and steered around its path near Dragon An Base.
• Yun Tian transformed into a four-meter-tall Black Mecha and charged the horde’s flank as Mo Ling summoned the dead with Death Qi.
• Lin An and the soldiers prepared as the system announced 378,841 zombies and 36 Mutants in the city defense mission.
• When the countdown reached zero, Lin An raised Blood Annihilation and ordered the defenders to fight as gunfire and shells struck the horde.

Dragon An Base’s defenders opened fire on a Zombie Tide of more than 370,000, while artillery and land mines tore through the advancing horde. As the soldiers’ fear threatened to waste their ammunition, their Squad Leaders and medics worked to steady them, and the chapter left the battle still underway.

• Heavy machine guns, artillery, and land mines cut through the zombies and forced the First Order Mutants to leap away from the explosions.
• A Squad Leader shouted for his soldiers to use controlled bursts and save their ammunition as the Zombie Tide advanced.
• A panicked machine gunner kept firing until his Squad Leader knocked him aside and his squad members slapped him to bring him around.
• Female soldiers from the medical team injected Stimulants into distressed defenders behind the wall.
• The machine gunner regained his composure, saw the medic who had helped him, and felt ashamed of his panic.

Lin An directed the Central City Wall’s defenses as the Zombie Tide pressed against it, while Huang Shao Hua explained how the System’s staged attacks probed defenses and exhausted ammunition. The defenders prepared for a possible mass Mutant assault, with explosives planted at weak points in case they had to abandon part of the wall.

• Lin An reassured An JingTian that the soldiers’ disorder was normal and that surviving their first battle would improve their performance.
• Huang Shao Hua warned Lin An that the first Mutants were about to probe the defenses, and Lin An ordered snipers into position, machine guns to cease fire, and the Spiritual Energy Defense Towers to charge.
• The defenders opened controlled rifle fire on the zombies gathered beneath the wall while the machine guns and Spiritual Energy Defense Towers prepared for the Mutants.
• Huang Shao Hua explained to An JingTian that the System sent zombies and Mutants in successive waves to find weak points and wear down the defenders’ ammunition.
• An JingTian worried that the many Mutants could attack one section together, while Senior Colonel Chu and An JingTian’s plan reserved explosives to slow them if the defenders had to abandon part of the wall.

Dragon An Base’s first mutant wave began, while Wang Meng watched the livestream and assessed its defenses. An JingTian and six close-combat Awakened then leaped from the wall into the zombie horde, leaving their fate unclear.

• Lin An explained that the System had kept the original attack rhythm because it had not accounted for the newly added mutants.
• Dragon An Base’s defenses slowed and killed the first Licker with Wind Blades, sniper fire, and heavy machine guns.
• Huang Shao Hua warned that mutants could accumulate if the defenders killed them too slowly and explained the three waves of the siege.
• Wang Meng and the Wangjiang Military Region watched the livestream, weighing Dragon An Base’s defenses and the possibility of retrieving its Safety Token.
• An JingTian led six close-combat Awakened over the wall and into a horde of roughly forty thousand zombies.

An JingTian’s squad used Wen Ya’s enhanced Mental Barrier to slip through the Zombie Tide and kill three Lickers with coordinated ambushes. Watching the broadcast, Wang Meng became determined to identify and acquire the Awakener with the sensory-concealing ability.

• Wen Ya’s First-Order Mental Barrier concealed An JingTian’s squad from the zombies and Mutants as they approached the Lickers.
• Wang Meng suspected the ability might explain Lin An’s success on the Safe Zone mission and ordered his staff to identify its user.
• An JingTian and the squad killed two Lickers in a simultaneous attack, then used the Mental Barrier to disappear from the remaining Licker’s view.
• The squad ambushed and killed the final Licker, tied up its body, and returned to the wall.
• Wang Meng demanded that the military region find the ability’s user and obtain them, regardless of Dragon An Base’s fate.

Dragon An Base repelled the Zombie Tide’s first wave, but Mo Ling reported that a Second-Order Mutant was pursuing her team. Yun Lin then revealed that she had seen Mo Ling destroy the Spiritual Energy Core in a future vision, leaving Mo Ling despairing over the mission’s apparent failure.

• An JingTian returned from killing a Licker, and Lin An praised his performance and accepted the equipment it dropped.
• Lin An warned Dragon An Base that the first wave was only a probe and that Second-Order Mutants and the larger Zombie Tide still threatened the defenses.
• Mo Ling told Lin An that her team had lured away roughly eighty thousand Zombies but had been forced toward the right side of the horde, where a Second-Order Mutant began pursuing them and throwing explosive fireballs.
• Lin An offered to send support, but Mo Ling refused because the base could not spare its strongest fighters.
• Yun Lin confirmed to Mo Ling that her vision showed Mo Ling destroying the Spiritual Energy Core thirty-six hours later, which meant the mission would fail and everyone would be exterminated.

During corpse-clearing after the first Zombie Tide wave, Huang Siqi was infected by a drop of Zombie blood and killed, prompting Lin An to order his body processed in the Spiritual Energy Tower. A red dot escaped through a pipe as the base mourned, leaving an unseen danger behind.

• Dragon An Base's soldiers cleared Zombie corpses while Gao Tian watched from the city wall.
• A buried Zombie grabbed a soldier, and Gao Tian killed it with an arrow before the soldiers pulled the survivor free.
• A drop of Zombie blood entered Huang Siqi's eye, and he transformed in under ten seconds before his captain shot him.
• Lin An ordered Huang Siqi's corpse thrown into the Spiritual Energy Tower, where it was reduced to energy as his girlfriend mourned.
• A red dot crawled away through a pipe from the ashes without anyone noticing.

Lin An worried over Mo Ling’s long absence as Dragon An Base prepared for the next Zombie attack. When Mo Ling returned, Yun Lin revealed a vision in which Mo Ling would destroy the Spiritual Energy Core, leaving Lin An stunned.

• Lin An learned that ammunition reserves had fallen by 16% and grew anxious when he could not contact Mo Ling.
• Mo Ling and Yun Tian escaped a Second-Order Mutant after diverting the Zombie Tide and decided to return to Dragon An Base.
• Mo Ling resolved to tell Lin An about Yun Lin’s vision that she would enter the Spiritual Energy Core in thirty-six hours and destroy it.
• Lin An rushed to meet the exhausted Mo Ling when Yun Tian’s mech returned near midnight.
• Yun Lin told Lin An what she had foreseen, and Lin An stared in disbelief toward the Core Fortress.

Lin An and the others tried to explain Yun Lin’s vision of Mo Ling reaching for the Spiritual Energy Core, considering mutant control and a Supernatural Event. The discussion ended when Chu An suggested they could prevent the vision by killing the person Yun Lin foresaw.

• Chu An sketched Yun Lin’s vision of Mo Ling reaching for the Spiritual Energy Core at 01:57 the day after tomorrow.
• Lin An suspected a Spiritual Energy Mutant might control Mo Ling, but Senior Colonel Chu argued that controlling Gao Tian or An JingTian would be easier.
• Gao Tian suggested Mo Ling might be trying to protect the core, but Lin An explained that the Spiritual Energy Node could not be moved.
• Wen Ya wondered whether a ghost inside Dragon An Base could be influencing Mo Ling, but Chu An attributed her unease to the Ghost Infant stored in the Core Fortress.
• Chu An asked whether Yun Lin’s vision could be changed and suggested that killing the person foreseen would prevent the future scene.

Lin An rejected plans to kill or cripple Mo Ling to prevent her from destroying the Spiritual Energy Core, and chose instead to guard it himself during the City Defense Mission. As the next Zombie Tide approached, Chu An wondered whether the future vision might not be part of the mission at all.

• Chu An proposed killing Mo Ling and sending her far away with the Ghost Infant Teleportation Array, but Lin An threatened him and refused to sacrifice her.
• Chu An suggested imprisoning and severely injuring Mo Ling, but Lin An rejected the plan because harming her might trigger the incident.
• Chu An proposed that Lin An guard the Spiritual Energy Core while the others defended or retreated from the outer perimeter, and Lin An chose that plan.
• Lin An encouraged the group to endure until the mission ended, believing the future might still change and the Savior System might help them survive.
• After the meeting, Lin An watched the fortress entrance while Chu An observed him and wondered whether the foreseen disaster was unrelated to the City Defense Mission.

As the Zombie Tide approached Dragon An Base on the second day of the attack, the defenders struggled with low morale because Lin An was missing from the front line. Awakeners in the Wangjiang Military Region watched the battle broadcast, studied Dragon An Base’s impressive defenses, and wondered where Lin An had gone.

• Dragon An Base’s soldiers prepared for the Zombie Tide while the Sergeant Major worried that Lin An had disappeared from the front line.
• An JingTian used the broadcast to reassure the defenders that Lin An would act at the critical moment and urged them to follow their training.
• Nearly a thousand Awakeners gathered in the Wangjiang Military Region to watch the battle, and newcomers marveled at Dragon An Base’s walls, equipment, and facilities.
• Young Awakeners asked Commander Wang Meng where Lin An was, as the broadcast showed no sign of him.

Wang Meng and the Wangjiang Military Region watched Dragon An Base’s broadcast, where Lin An’s absence led some viewers to call him a coward while Wang Meng urged them to study the battle. As the second Zombie Tide attack began with four Second-Order Mutants and TANKs, Wang Meng considered the military region’s plans to approach Dragon An Base.

• Viewers speculated that Lin An had withdrawn from the front line, and several military awakened ones mocked him while Wang Meng ordered everyone to study Dragon An Base’s defenses.
• Wang Meng told the gathered awakened ones that Dragon An Base’s broadcast could help the military region prepare for its own Safe Zone and might reveal a hidden trump card.
• Wang Meng learned that Gao Yan and her team were expected that afternoon, while the military region’s Armored Unit was approaching Dragon An Base.
• Wang Meng inferred that Dragon An Base was located at Lin Jiang College and considered positioning troops nearby to secure the awakened one who controlled the Mental Barrier.
• The second Zombie attack began as four Second-Order Mutants, two TANKs, and Rotting Giant Corpses advanced, and shells struck the charging horde.

Dragon An Base unleashed artillery and defensive fire against the Zombie Tide while Gao Tian prepared to stop the Rotting Giant Corpse without Lin An’s help. First Order Mutants breached the wall, and the Awakened team rushed to meet them as the first soldiers died.

• The defenders targeted the Rotting Giant Corpse with artillery to keep it from reaching the wall and spraying Zombies into the city.
• Chu An’s plan kept Lin An at the Core Fortress, leaving Gao Tian responsible for the Mutants and directing him to cripple the Rotting Giant Corpse before using Annihilation.
• Artillery and machine guns slowed the Zombie Tide, but the Rotting Giant Corpse healed quickly and continued advancing.
• Hound Mutants evaded the gunfire, climbed the city wall, and killed a machine gunner as they broke through.
• The Awakened team and Defense Towers attacked the Mutants at the breach points with elemental abilities.

Wang Meng and the Awakened in the Wangjiang Military Region watched the Dragon An Base struggle against the second Zombie Tide assault. The Defense Tower’s power impressed them, but the Second-Order TANK advanced toward the walls as the defenders appeared close to being overwhelmed.

• Wang Meng’s staff officer assessed that the Dragon An Base had too few heavy weapons and Awakened to withstand the Mutants and Second-Order threat.
• The Dragon An Base’s Defense Tower unleashed Wind Blades, killing three Mutants and clearing an area in front of the walls.
• Wang Meng ordered the staff officer to record the Defense Tower’s attack frequency, and the officer estimated its strength and energy limits.
• The Zombies piled up beneath the walls, while Mutants used the corpses as ladders and the soldiers began firing wildly.
• The Second-Order TANK charged toward the walls, shrugged off bullets and grenades, and led the observers to doubt the Dragon An Base could hold.