Chapter Summaries

Lin An used Flash, Thunderstorm, and Mental Storm to tear through the Neutral Alliance, repeatedly evading interception and targeting its Mental Awakeners. Andrew assessed that Lin An’s defense and ability to recover energy from the dead made him stronger as the battle continued, while the protective shield began to fail.

• Lin An teleported through squads trying to bind him and killed Awakeners with precise lightning strikes.
• Lin An drove into the Neutral Alliance’s heart, where his Mental Storm battered the shield and killed weaker Awakeners, though the shield blunted its force.
• Lin An focused on Mental Awakeners and disrupted the enemy’s ability to coordinate attacks while the shield began to buckle.
• North American higher-ups hiding behind a Soul Stone realized Lin An was a far greater threat than they had expected.
• Andrew analyzed Lin An’s defense, strength, and energy recovery, concluding that he absorbed energy from those he killed and grew stronger amid the mass battle.

Andrew analyzed Lin An’s abilities and urged the allied forces to control him, limit his teleportation, and prevent him from recovering energy from the dead. With his mental strength running low, Lin An turned his attention to the thirteen exposed flags and sensed a spatial trap waiting there.

• Andrew told the allied commanders that Lin An’s defense depended on recovery and that controlling him while inflicting accumulated damage could overcome it.
• Lin An killed the Awakened attacking him, including invisible assassins he smashed with a corpse.
• The Thunderstorm ended, and Lin An’s points climbed toward fourteen thousand as nearly every Awakened in the European War Alliance died at least once.
• Lin An recognized that his mental strength was too depleted to keep fighting efficiently and decided to seize the flags to secure first place.
• The thirteen flags appeared in the core area, and Lin An detected spatial abnormalities around them and realized someone had prepared a trap.

Lin An fought through the Awakeners trying to protect the exposed War Zone Flag, then used the Death God Mask’s Descent Domain to kill the attackers at the front. As the battlefield fell silent, Zhang Tie descended as a giant bear and struck the ground with an earthquake.

• The war-zone commanders saw North America’s exposed War Zone Flag and sent Awakeners charging at Lin An with their strongest skills and items.
• Lin An fought toward the flag with his swords as the Mental Storm barrier shattered and the storm stopped.
• The Brahma Awakeners and other war zones deployed control items, but Lin An called for Zhang Tie and activated the Death God Mask’s Descent Domain.
• Lin An’s domain crushed the weaker-Willpower attackers near him, causing their heads to explode and halting the charge.
• Zhang Tie descended as a Silver Giant Bear and slammed into the earth with Earthquake.

Lin An pushed through the battlefield and reached the War Zone Flag, where Andrew trapped him with Time Stop and offered to negotiate. Andrew proposed that Lin An join North America’s side in exchange for points and titles, but Lin An asked what his second choice was.

• Lin An and Bear Dunce fought through the crowd toward the War Zone Flag, and Lin An swung his swords at the flags.
• Andrew appeared with Silver Armor soldiers and used Time Stop to immobilize Lin An, but Lin An converted Vitality into Mental Strength and broke free.
• Lin An struck Andrew, only to discover that the figure was an illusion, while the four mirrors sustaining the time effect began to crack.
• Andrew admitted Time Stop could not hold Lin An for long and said he wanted one final conversation.
• Andrew offered to help Lin An claim titles and points, including giving him 3,000 points and North America’s Awakened points, prompting outrage from the War Zone higher-ups.
• Lin An asked Andrew what his second choice was: to kill him.

Andrew used the Sacred Crown and three linked Silver-Helmed Awakeners to suppress Lin An’s abilities and overwhelm him inside the confinement. Just as Andrew’s side believed Lin An was defeated, Lin An activated Face Death and struck fear into everyone present.

• Andrew withdrew from the confinement area and sent three Silver-Helmed Awakeners to attack Lin An.
• Lin An fought the linked Awakeners, but their shared defenses and powerful holy attacks injured him.
• Andrew used the Sacred Crown’s Life Deprivation to suppress Lin An’s recovery and redirect his powers to the Awakeners.
• Andrew’s allies taunted Lin An as the Awakeners severed one of his arms, but Lin An realized the Sacred Crown was Andrew’s only trump card.
• Lin An activated Face Death, causing Andrew and the others to see Him and succumb to fear.

Lin An survived Andrew’s trap by revealing the power of the Lord of Death, killing Andrew and the North American officials caught in the illusion. Andrew, terrified despite his revival, withdrew from the Deathmatch, while Lin An faced the remaining attackers and prepared to reverse causality.

• Lin An recovered from his wounds as the trapped North American officials and Andrew shattered, then revived with the others.
• Andrew stopped his forces from attacking and withdrew from the Deathmatch, unwilling to risk Lin An’s unknown strength.
• The remaining Awakeners watched Andrew leave as Bear Dunce pursued them and Lin An demanded their points and withdrawal.
• The enraged Awakeners charged Lin An, who converted Strength into Mental Strength and activated the Causality Hourglass with “Reversal!”

Lin An recovered his strength and, under the Second Will’s control, unleashed a devastating Sword Stream Storm against the crowd. Meanwhile, the Neutral Alliance debated whether to seek Lin An’s protection until alarms announced an intruder, with a black shadow and a blood-red giant bear approaching.

• Time Power healed Lin An and restored his condition, and the Second Will took control of his body.
• The Second Will gathered weapons and debris with Telekinesis, then fired a Sword Stream Storm that overwhelmed the crowd.
• Tyre and the Neutral Alliance leaders discussed the fighting and urged Fiona to persuade Lin An to ally with them.
• Fiona challenged the leaders’ promise to protect Lin An, and alarms reported that someone had entered their level.
• The alliance saw a black shadow flying toward them while a blood-red giant bear advanced on the ground.

Lin An confronted Tyre’s group, killed a core member, and revealed the corpses of the war-zone leaders he had defeated. As the Deathmatch altar appeared and the final hour began, Lin An stood at the first-floor altar and claimed the top ten places in every class, with no one daring to object.

• Lin An demanded that Tyre’s group hand over their points and let him kill them once, then instantly killed a dual-blade man who challenged him.
• Lin An revealed a mountain of corpses, explained that some enemies had escaped, and asked whether Tyre’s group wanted to be crushed or slashed to death.
• The System announced that the Deathmatch altar had appeared and that war zones had one hour to compete for rewards and class titles.
• China War Zone’s commanders ordered their forces to move out and fight, while Li Hao and Chen Yangtian wondered what had happened during the unusually quiet Deathmatch.
• At the first-floor altar, Lin An claimed the first ten places in all four classes, and the assembled Awakened stayed silent as Bear Dunce ate peaches in syrup beside him.

Lin An prepared to claim the trial’s rewards as Nie Ping and Chu An discussed the resources needed for Spiritual Energy Nuclear Weapons. The trial ended with China War Zone taking first place and the Cataclysm’s progress reduced by 100% for 8,760 hours.

• Zhang Tie revealed he had filled the Rat King's Ring with food, while Lin An checked his score of 17,768 and awaited the reward announcement.
• Nie Ping challenged Chu An’s request for enriched uranium, neutron sources, a mine coordinate, and self-disintegrating Zombies, then agreed to approach Xia Hua.
• Chu An said the materials could be used to make Spiritual Energy Nuclear Weapons and told Nie Ping to trust him about the trial’s outcome.
• A powerful force spread across the Capital Military Region, and the attacking Zombie Tide froze across the war zones.
• The System announced that China War Zone had won the trial and earned a 100% reduction in Cataclysm progress for 8,760 hours.

Lin An swept first place in all four attribute trials, then emerged as the Trial’s sole participant and final winner. His global victory granted rewards and a bonus to every Survivor in China, leaving officials and Awakeners around the world stunned.

• China’s Underground City officials heard that Li Hao’s group had taken first place and celebrated the success of the Underground City Project.
• The System announced Lin An as first in Strength, Agility, physique, and Will, granting him special Third Order advancement qualifications and giving China’s Survivors one point in each attribute.
• Officials and Awakeners across other War Zones panicked at Lin An’s dominance, while a bloodied girl at Twin Star Base recognized his name and a huge Mutant approached her.
• Lin An climbed the altar alone as more than a thousand Awakeners watched, and the System canceled the Confrontation Tournament because no other opponents remained.
• The System named Lin An the Trial’s final winner and awarded him a unique title, 3,000 points, Epic Equipment, All Attributes +3, and a special B-rank reward.

Officials argued over whether Lin An had won the trial through his own efforts, and the dispute widened into a clash over the Underground City Project and the treatment of civilian Awakened. The meeting paused judgment until General Li Hao returned, while Nie Ping privately agreed to Chu An’s message.

• A propaganda official suggested that General Li Hao had led Lin An to victory and that Lin An had received the rewards for other reasons, but the assembly questioned why Lin An had swept every first-place title.
• Officials concluded that the trial’s final stage might have separated the military from Lin An, leaving him to secure the victory alone.
• Nie Ping defended Lin An’s achievement and condemned officials for letting prejudice against his identity obscure his merit.
• Nie Ping and the Neutral Faction stood together, turning the dispute into a confrontation over the Underground City Project and whether the leadership’s principles were mistaken.
• A high-ranking official halted the argument and said the assembly would wait for General Li Hao’s return before deciding how to recognize Lin An’s contribution.
• Nie Ping lost heart, recalled the laboratory connected to the Second Plan, and replied “Okay” to Chu An in a private chat.

Lin An underwent a special advancement to the Third Order, drawing envy and resentment from the Awakeners who watched him. He learned that the advancement had greatly increased his Spiritual Energy capacity and recovery, leaving him stunned by the power he could wield.

• Lin An activated the Promotion Procedure, and four pillars of light converged on him as spiritual energy filled the altar.
• The Awakeners watching Lin An resented that he had claimed all four special advancement rewards and left several war zones without Cataclysm difficulty reductions.
• Jiang Hao Chen reflected on Lin An’s overwhelming performance, smiled bitterly at his own past confidence, and walked away.
• Lin An advanced to the Third Order at Mid Third Order strength and received System details about Spiritual Energy Points, attack damage, and advancement requirements.
• Lin An discovered that his four special advancements had quadrupled his maximum Spiritual Energy and recovery, and he realized the System had effectively given him cheats.

After sharing the remaining advancement slots with the China War Zone, Lin An examined his new Epic equipment and exchanged 9,999 points for an SSS-Rank skill. The System delivered the Death Natural Disaster Skill Module through a terrifying manifestation, leaving Lin An and the onlookers stunned as he touched it.

• Lin An assigned the remaining advancement slots to Zhang Yong, Fiona, and military Awakeners in the China War Zone, who thanked him while senior officials regretted their past treatment of him.
• Chen Yangtian concealed his fear of Lin An and resolved to bring information about him back Beyond the Gate.
• Lin An saw Andrew leave the Trial Space, then examined and equipped Kane's Hand, an Epic glove that granted powerful Arcane abilities.
• Lin An applied to exchange for an SSS-Rank skill, and a gigantic eye appeared and crushed his Mental Barrier before the System approved the reward.
• A beam descended from near-Earth orbit and delivered the Death Natural Disaster Skill Module, which Lin An touched as the gathered Awakeners watched in shock.

Lin An learned that his SSS-Rank Death Natural Disaster skill granted him the power to revive the dead and trigger devastating natural disasters, and he decided to conceal its most dangerous ability. As the Trial Space prepared to close, the leaderboard showed Lin An dominating the first round.

• Lin An read the descriptions of Undead Resurgence and Cataclysm Advent and realized the latter could permanently devastate the world.
• Lin An decided to keep Cataclysm Advent secret and showed Zhang Tie only the effects of Undead Resurgence.
• The System announced that the Trial Space would close in 30 seconds and that a new round would open every six months.
• The trial participants gathered around the leaderboard as the first round ended, with many war zones having lost awakened ones.
• The leaderboard listed Lin An first in points, honors, and the strength-, agility-, and constitution-based categories, while Tyre reflected on his likely unbreakable record.

Lin An removed his mask for Fiona before the Trial Space closed, then returned to Dragon An Base. Mo Ling arrived there riding a Licker, with two Zombies charging alongside her.

• Lin An considered the Space Teleportation Command reward before Fiona asked to see his face.
• Lin An removed his mask, and Fiona looked at him before shaking his hand and saying she wanted to remember him in case it was their last meeting.
• The Trial Space closed, teleporting Lin An and the other Trial Takers back to reality.
• At Dragon An Base, soldiers detected a Licker and two Zombies approaching the Outer City.
• The soldiers saw Mo Ling riding the Licker and urging it to move faster as Lin An's return was announced by a pillar of light.

Lin An returned to Dragon An Base after completing the trial, shared his gains with the team, and gave them points to prepare for future trials. When he asked about threats near the base, Chu An warned that their situation was worse than Lin An expected.

• Lin An returned to a jubilant Dragon An Base after his Global First Third Order announcement and reunited with his team.
• Lin An described the trial and advised Gao Tian to reach his Limit Value before entering the next trial.
• Lin An gave the base about eight thousand points for members to exchange for attributes and skills, urging them to prioritize their safety.
• Lin An asked Chu An about the White Mist Incident and Dragon Security, hoping to use the year-long Cataclysm halt to rest and spend time with An Xia.
• Chu An handed Lin An a stack of documents and warned him that the base's actual situation was not as optimistic as he imagined.

Lin An learned that the base faced an imminent food shortage made worse by the rewards that had saved millions of people and rapidly increased the number of Awakeners. Chu An warned that without a solution, famine and conflict would spread across the China War Zone within months.

• Lin An reviewed the reports as Chu An explained the base's three major problems and urged him to grow stronger.
• Chu An told Lin An that the base's food reserves would last only thirteen days and that Awakeners consumed far more food than ordinary Survivors.
• Lin An suggested searching nearby reserves and growing crops, but Chu An said polluted conditions would prevent crops from surviving and explained that the rewards had allowed many more people to live.
• Chu An projected that the Wangjiang Three Provinces would exhaust their food within two months and the China War Zone within three, while adding more than four hundred million Awakeners.
• Chu An warned that food shortages would trigger widespread fighting, and Gao Tian and the others grasped how terrifying famine could become.

With Dragon An Base facing a food shortage, Chu An proposed relying on insect protein, missions, and Spiritual Energy Crops while preparing a large-scale military operation. He asked Lin An to travel to the Dongshan War Zone to obtain vital parent seeds, seize a satellite launch base, and grow stronger before next year's Cataclysm.

• Lin An suggested breeding insects for food and sending squads to complete System missions as the base could no longer support everyone.
• Chu An revealed that special spiritual-energy wheat could provide food, but the available crops were daughter seeds; he also described cancer-cell meat as a possible supplementary source.
• Chu An explained that the parent seeds were held by Awakened trapped in a valley between two Zombie Tides, with suspected third-order mutants and an unknown special event nearby.
• Lin An asked about buying Spiritual Energy Crops with his reputation points, but Chu An said the shop only sold daughter seeds and urged him to spend the points on research items instead.
• Chu An asked Lin An to rescue the parent seeds, take control of the Satellite Launch Base and global military satellites, and head to the Dongshan Three Provinces to gain strength and prepare for next year's Cataclysm.

Lin An learned that the Safe Zone upgrade’s difficulty reduction and the early Chat Channel had caused Memes, supernatural events, and other special missions to spread across China. The group recognized that preventing these events from reaching their city would require refusing new Survivors and using military satellites to detect threats, while the System’s rewards still came at a steep cost.

• Chu An gave Lin An reports and explained that the Safe Zone upgrade’s difficulty reduction had caused more Survivors to survive and more special missions to be issued.
• Lin An realized that the reward had generated a surge of Meme, supernatural, and other special events, including ownerless missions moving between war zones.
• Chu An explained that the early Chat Channel helped local Meme legends spread by giving Survivors a superficial impression of them.
• Lin An concluded that refusing new Survivors could keep infected people out of the city, while military satellites could detect abnormal gatherings and provide warnings.
• An JingTian wondered whether the System was punishing them for saving people, and Lin An replied that completing the dangerous events could bring exceptional rewards.
• Lin An and Chu An understood that the System valued survival and strength over humanity’s fate, and that saving more people carried a greater price.

Lin An confronted Chu An over his plan to use Dragon An Base’s B-grade Authority to grow Spiritual Energy Crops and feed survivors, warning that the food supply would attract more people than the base could protect. He accused Chu An of trying to make him shoulder the military’s responsibility, leaving their relationship strained by their opposing ideals.

• Zhang Tie left with An Xia to find his younger sister, while Gao Tian and Liang Shaoguang went to Back Yin Mountain to search for traces of the Moon Wolf’s fangs.
• Chu An asked Lin An to obtain the B-grade Authority, and Lin An placed the Rule Authority on the table before demanding to know why Chu An had led him on.
• Lin An argued that growing Spiritual Energy Crops without a plan to manage the resulting influx of survivors would put Dragon An Base at risk of starvation, unrest, and a massive Zombie Tide.
• Chu An assured Lin An that the disaster would not happen, but Lin An recalled a Safe Zone destroyed by survivors after its food ran out.
• Lin An told Chu An that he only wanted to protect the people close to him and accused him of gradually steering Lin An into serving the China military’s goals.