Chapter Summaries

After regaining memories of his previous life as the doomed villain in a novel, Xu Shi moved to stop Spark’s attack on Serpent Coil and targeted the hacker Gu Yi instead. He captured her in her apartment, interrupting her attempt to extort the corporation.

• Xu Shi learned that two unidentified hacker groups had intruded into Serpent Coil’s database and recognized the incident as the start of the novel’s plot.
• Xu Shi ordered a Type III Combat Squad and traveled with Su Lin to District Five, intending to capture Gu Yi rather than search for Spark’s hackers.
• Gu Yi finished hacking Serpent Coil and began drafting an extortion email, pleased that the other hacker attack had distracted the corporation.
• Xu Shi’s soldiers broke into Gu Yi’s apartment, subdued her, and surrounded her with electromagnetic rifles.
• Xu Shi entered the apartment, took Gu Yi’s pistol, and greeted her.

Xu Shi captured hacker Gu Yi and forced her to locate the hackers who had attacked Serpent Coil, threatening her with a bomb collar. Gu Yi found their location, and Su Lin led a team to pursue them while the combat captain stayed behind to guard Xu Shi.

• Xu Shi confronted Gu Yi with evidence of her hacking and blackmail, then identified her as the wanted hacker Black Rabbit.
• Gu Yi realized Xu Shi wanted her to locate another group of hackers and agreed to help in exchange for a chance at freedom.
• Xu Shi put a timed Red Ant bomb collar around Gu Yi's neck and ordered her to find the hackers within half an hour.
• Gu Yi reported a string of coordinates, and Xu Shi sent Su Lin and five operatives to investigate.
• Su Lin ordered the combat captain to protect Xu Shi before leaving with the team.

Zhou Xi and his Spark team tried to steal data from Serpent Coil, but Su Lin’s combat team killed the other members and cornered him. With Gu Yi’s help, Xu Shi altered the stolen information before Zhou Xi sent it, and Su Lin killed Zhou Xi after he tried to attack her with a grenade.

• Zhou Xi’s teammates reported progress on Operation Serpent Lure, but Serpent Coil’s combat team found and killed them one by one.
• Xu Shi asked Gu Yi to impersonate Serpent Coil’s database terminal and replace the information the hackers were stealing.
• Zhou Xi completed the data transfer without noticing that the information had been changed.
• Su Lin and the combat team broke into Zhou Xi’s hideout and announced his execution.
• Zhou Xi tried to use a grenade against Su Lin, but she appeared behind him and snapped his neck.
• Su Lin ordered her team to remove Zhou Xi’s Brain-Computer Chip, take anything valuable, and withdraw.

Xu Shi captured Gu Yi and forced her to work for Serpent Coil, while Su Lin learned that he had deliberately recruited her and suspected she was an Ascendant. Meanwhile, Spark continued its operation against the conglomerates and planned to contact Miss Xia.

• Su Lin reported that the subdued intruders belonged to Spark and that their equipment and Brain-Computer Chips had been recovered.
• Xu Shi ordered Gu Yi taken to the company to work off the nearly ten million Credit Points in losses, and she was gagged and carried away after attacking him.
• Xu Shi admitted to Su Lin that he had never intended to let Gu Yi go and told her to arrange Gu Yi’s employment and test whether she was an Ascendant.
• Xu Shi and Su Lin headed home, where he wished her a happy birthday and teased her about her torn stockings.
• At Night Charm Bar, a hooded man reported Operation Serpent Lure’s success to Old Shen, who ordered the operation to continue and Chen Fang to contact Miss Xia.

Xu Shi awakened the B-rated psychic ability Malice Entropy and went to meet Xia Wuyou, whom he suspected of helping Spark. At lunch, Xia accepted Spark’s payment for her cooperation, just before Xu Shi arrived at her table.

• Xu Shi insisted that Su Lin use Sundial to awaken his ability despite her concerns about the complications.
• Xu Shi awakened Malice Entropy, which amplified others’ negative emotions, and Sundial rated it B.
• Xu Shi asked Su Lin to accompany him to lunch so he could meet Xia Wuyou.
• At Eaton Tea Restaurant, a man representing Shen He asked Xia Wuyou to confirm the escort roster and gave her a key and note as payment for her cooperation with Spark.
• Xia accepted the deal because the SS-class inhibitor would help her sick aunt, then a man in gold-rimmed glasses approached and asked to share her table.

Xu Shi confronted Xia Wuyou about her hidden identity and her deal with Spark, then used her aunt’s illness to force her into following his instructions. Xia Wuyou left the restaurant agreeing to comply, with no choice but to betray Spark.

• Xu Shi stopped Xia Wuyou from leaving and asked whether she knew about Refraction, revealing that he knew she was Xia Yuanhai’s surviving daughter.
• Xu Shi confronted Xia Wuyou over betraying Serpent Coil to help Spark and revealed that her aunt’s Ability Complication could not be treated at Hualan Public Hospital.
• When Xia Wuyou became enraged, Xu Shi seized her wrist and used his crimson gaze to make her doubt whether Shen He and Spark could protect her.
• Xu Shi gave Xia Wuyou a note with instructions and promised to provide her aunt with the best medical care in exchange for her cooperation.
• Xia Wuyou accepted Xu Shi’s terms and left the restaurant in a daze.

Xu Shi secured Xia Wuyou’s cooperation in Serpent Coil’s escort mission, then suffered a bout of paranoia caused by his ability and learned more about Su Lin’s loyalty and mental complications. Xia Wuyou passed Serpent Coil’s deployment details to Shen He, leaving her devastated by the memories he brought up.

• Xu Shi explained that Xia Wuyou was the right person to lead the escort mission, and Su Lin asked how he knew her background.
• Xu Shi’s persecutory delusions surfaced, but Su Lin gave him an inhibitor and explained how she managed her own manic complications by listening to music.
• Xu Shi recognized Su Lin’s longstanding loyalty and offered to order her black coffee, making her smile.
• Xia Wuyou logged into Divine Arrival and sent Shen He the details of Serpent Coil’s forces and cargo for the next day’s operation.
• Shen He assigned Chen Fang to lead the operation, while Xia Wuyou broke down in despair over the memories Shen He had recalled.

Chen Fang led Spark's rebels to defeat Serpent Coil's apparent escort force, only to discover that the trucks held Serpent Coil's hidden Type V Heavy Assault Unit. He escaped the slaughter and encountered Xia Wuyou on the plain.

• Chen Fang ordered Spark's rebels to ambush the Serpent Coil convoy, and the two sides fought across the plain.
• Spark's coordinated attack overwhelmed the visible Serpent Coil forces, whose commander ordered a retreat.
• Chen Fang told his people to seize the supplies, but opening the trucks revealed four cargo loads of concealed Type V Heavy Assault soldiers.
• The heavy assault unit opened fire and slaughtered most of Spark's rebels, while Chen Fang realized Serpent Coil had lured them into a trap.
• Chen Fang used his Berserk ability and warhammer to break through the encirclement, then encountered Xia Wuyou and roared her name.

Xia Wuyou killed Chen Fang after Xu Shi’s lingering influence drove her to fight, while Xu Shi celebrated Serpent Coil’s victory over Spark and Shark Tooth. He ordered the defeated enemies’ bodies displayed and deliberately let one or two survivors escape to carry word back to Shen He.

• Chen Fang accused Xia Wuyou of betraying Shen He, but Xu Shi’s lingering influence led her to draw her blade and fight him.
• Xia Wuyou used her gravity manipulation to immobilize Chen Fang and kill him with a single strike, then apologized.
• Xu Shi watched the drone footage with Su Lin and discussed Xia Wuyou’s ability and their contrasting combat styles.
• Xu Shi explained that Spark’s defeat also cost Shark Tooth weapons and equipment, threatening their partnership and leaving them vulnerable to other gangs.
• Xu Shi ordered the corpses displayed publicly and told Su Lin to make the battle a major news story.
• Xu Shi stopped Su Lin from investigating the missing two enemies, intending for survivors to tell Shen He about the defeat and Xia Wuyou’s role.

Xu Shi delivered Prism’s shipment safely and secured medical care for Xia Wuyou’s seriously ill family member. Xie Qingyan learned that Xu Shi had thwarted a threat to the shipment and asked Ye Shanshan to report on his unexpected change in person.

• Xu Shi delivered four trucks of weapons and equipment to Prism’s industrial park, where Ye Shanshan arranged an inventory and payment.
• Ye Shanshan teased Xu Shi about Xie Qingyan avoiding him, while Xu Shi reflected on their childhood engagement and his plans to keep their companies cooperating.
• Xu Shi asked Ye Shanshan to arrange intensive care for Xia Wuyou’s sick family member and explained how Xia had helped protect the convoy.
• After Prism confirmed the shipment was intact, Xu Shi collected payment and left with Xia Wuyou.
• Ye Shanshan told Xie Qingyan that Xu Shi seemed more reliable than before, and Xie Qingyan asked her to return and report on him in person.

Xu Shi brought Xia Wuyou to Hualan Public Hospital to visit her aunt, Xia Ke'an, and arranged to help her. At Spark's base, Shen He learned that his operation had been wiped out and that Xia Wuyou had killed Chen Fang, leaving him devastated and newly focused on Xu Shi.

• Xu Shi took the exhausted Xia Wuyou to Hualan Public Hospital, where his bodyguards guarded Xia Ke'an's room.
• Xia Wuyou reunited with her ill aunt, and Xu Shi introduced himself and offered assistance before suggesting they leave.
• Shen He learned that nearly his entire force had been wiped out and that Xia Wuyou had killed Chen Fang.
• Shen He dismissed the surviving soldiers, struggled with Xia Wuyou's apparent betrayal, and began taking Xu Shi seriously.
• Shen He's communicator rang, and he reluctantly answered it.

Xu Shi transferred Xia Ke'an to a private hospital, where she and Xia Wuyou spoke privately about Wuyou's deal with Spark and the dangers surrounding them. Xia Ke'an urged her niece to give Xu Shi the inhibitor Shen He had provided, while acknowledging that their lives were now entangled with powerful forces.

• Xu Shi arranged Xia Ke'an's transfer to his personal ward at Prism's private hospital and chatted with her before leaving Xia Wuyou alone with her.
• Xia Ke'an revealed that she had deduced Xia Wuyou used Spark as a token of allegiance and explained that she had investigated the organization years earlier.
• Xia Ke'an asked Xia Wuyou to recount recent events, then told her that making the deal had been the right choice given the threat of Serpent Coil and her need for support.
• Xia Ke'an told Xia Wuyou to offer Xu Shi the inhibitor Shen He had given her, saying that showing the right attitude mattered even if Xu Shi refused it.

Xu Shi gave Xia Wuyou time off and planned to draw her and Xia Ke'an away from Shen He and into his control. After Su Lin reported that Serpent Coil’s equipment and Engineering Department were lagging, Xu Shi decided to visit the department the next day.

• Xia Wuyou offered Xu Shi a suppressant as a sign of loyalty, but he refused it and granted her several days of paid leave.
• Xu Shi suspected Xia Ke'an had prompted Xia Wuyou’s offer and considered winning over both aunt and niece, especially because of Xia Ke'an’s SS-class Future Sight ability.
• Xu Shi recalled that Xia Ke'an’s ability had caused seventeen serious medical conditions and had left her too ill to use it.
• Su Lin showed Xu Shi a report describing outdated equipment and stagnation in Serpent Coil’s Engineering Department.
• Xu Shi blamed the department’s decline on problems dating back to his father’s final years and decided to visit it the next day.

Xu Shi confronted Jiang Chengcheng after her adoptive father, Jiang Fengshan, avoided their meeting, and discovered that she had written a report he submitted under his own name. He uncovered Jiang Fengshan’s years of stealing her research and abusing her, then asked Jiang Chengcheng whether she wanted to keep living as his puppet.

• Xu Shi arrived for a meeting with Jiang Fengshan, but Jiang Chengcheng appeared in her adoptive father’s place and said he had suddenly fallen ill.
• Xu Shi realized Jiang Chengcheng had written an equipment usage feedback report signed with Jiang Fengshan’s name, and questioned her about it.
• When Jiang Chengcheng flinched and pleaded not to be hit, Xu Shi inferred that Jiang Fengshan had been abusing and exploiting her.
• Jiang Chengcheng recalled how Jiang Fengshan had stolen her research for five years, beaten her when she resisted, and left her dependent on medication.
• Xu Shi asked Jiang Chengcheng what she wanted to do about remaining under Jiang Fengshan’s control.

Xu Shi won Jiang Chengcheng’s trust and learned that she had secretly done nearly all of Jiang Fengshan’s research work while gathering evidence of his threats. Impressed by her engineering talent, Xu Shi assigned her to analyze seized devices and turned his attention toward the Cybersecurity Department and the captured Miss Black Rabbit.

• Jiang Chengcheng agreed to trust Xu Shi, who used Malice Entropy to learn that she had ghostwritten Jiang Fengshan’s research for five years and helped him even earlier.
• Jiang Chengcheng said Jiang Fengshan had inflated budgets by about fifty percent and gave Xu Shi a chip containing surveillance evidence of his threats.
• Xu Shi recognized that Jiang Chengcheng had designed the upgraded equipment and facilities, then asked her to analyze seized devices discreetly.
• After Jiang Chengcheng left, Xu Shi considered recruiting her more fully and decided not to confront Jiang Fengshan yet.
• Xu Shi chose to visit the Cybersecurity Department and check on the captured Miss Black Rabbit.

Xu Shi visited Gu Yi in her staff dorm, saw how comfortably she had settled into Serpent Coil, and asked her to attend a board meeting with him in five days. He left her an expensive box of strawberry lollipops, while Gu Yi remained wary of him but secretly enjoyed the gift.

• Xu Shi found Gu Yi's dorm in disarray, and she admitted she had been eating away her grief while enjoying the dorm, meals, and generous salary.
• Xu Shi asked whether Gu Yi had considered removing her bomb, and she decided that escaping might leave her in even greater danger.
• Xu Shi praised Gu Yi's cooperation and noted that she had helped restructure Serpent Coil's security system and identify former electronic kidnappers.
• Xu Shi told Gu Yi to attend a board meeting with him in five days and asked her to clean up her appearance.
• Xu Shi wiped crumbs from Gu Yi's mouth and left her a box of expensive strawberry lollipops, which she found delicious despite her irritation with him.

Xu Shi attended Serpent Coil’s board meeting and moved to remove Xu Anbang as head of the Technical Department after the department failed to stop a hacker attack. He introduced Gu Yi as Xu Anbang’s replacement, and Lin Wenhua unexpectedly supported the change.

• Xu Shi attended a board meeting for the first time and recognized Lin Wenhua as a rival with a history of undermining Serpent Coil.
• Xu Shi announced that Xu Anbang would be removed from his post because he had failed to stop the hacker attack targeting Serpent Coil’s deal with Prism.
• Xu Anbang protested, but Xu Shi introduced Gu Yi as the new head of the Technical Department and cited her hacking ability and contributions to company security.
• Xu Anbang objected that Gu Yi had once infiltrated the company, while Xu Shi defended her skills and called for a vote.
• Lin Wenhua raised his hand first and approved Xu Shi’s decision.

Xu Shi appointed Gu Yi head of the Technical Department and persuaded her to accept the position, while warning that the company’s senior figures might target her. He moved her away from the staff dormitory to keep her safe.

• Xu Shi secured approval for Gu Yi’s appointment as head of the Technical Department, with Lin Wenhua among the first to support it.
• Gu Yi asked Xu Shi why he had chosen her, and he praised her hacking ability and said he trusted her not to betray him.
• Gu Yi reflected on her wanted identity and agreed to try not to cause Xu Shi trouble.
• Xu Shi used Malice Entropy to influence Gu Yi, while Su Lin watched their playful exchange from the driver’s seat.
• Xu Shi told Gu Yi the staff dormitory was no longer safe and said he was moving her elsewhere because the senior executives might try to kill her.

Xu Shi’s faction killed Xu Anbang after Lin Wenhua abandoned him, and Xia Wuyou carried out the assassination. Xu Shi brought Gu Yi to his villa as a safe house, where she discovered Su Lin lived with him too.

• Lin Wenhua and Jiang Fengshan suspected Su Lin had warned Xu Shi, while Lin Wenhua told Xu Anbang to wait for a chance to reclaim his position.
• Xu Anbang realized Lin Wenhua had abandoned him and returned home, where Xia Wuyou attacked and killed him.
• Xia Wuyou cleaned up the evidence, while Xu Shi and Su Lin discussed why he had assigned the killing to Xia Wuyou.
• Xu Shi brought Gu Yi to his villa, calling it the safest place in District 18.
• Gu Yi learned that Su Lin lived with Xu Shi and was shocked to realize she was not his only housemate.

Xu Shi settled Gu Yi into his mansion and reflected on his long bond with Su Lin before learning that the Inspection Bureau wanted to meet him. After receiving proof that Lin Wenhua had sent an assassin, Xu Shi planned to deal with him and use the coming news of Xu Anbang’s disappearance to intimidate Serpent Coil.

• Gu Yi chose Xu Shi’s basement gaming room as her quarters, hoping to stay far from him.
• Su Lin told Xu Shi they had known each other for twenty years, four months, and sixteen days, and promised to stay by his side.
• Xu Shi asked whether Su Lin could bark like a dog, then asked about the arrangements at Gu Yi’s old dormitory.
• Su Lin received photos and an interrogation recording confirming that Lin Wenhua had sent an assassin, and Xu Shi decided to save the evidence and settle the score later.
• Su Lin told Xu Shi that the Inspection Bureau had emailed to request an in-person meeting.