Chapter Summaries

Xu Shi learned that Inspection Bureau Director Tang Shuang was coming to discuss Spark’s armed conflict on the Huajin Plain and braced himself for a meeting with the woman he resented. After Tang Shuang demanded a fine and suggested voluntary aid for District Seven’s reconstruction, Xu Shi smashed his cup and ordered her out.

• Su Lin told Xu Shi that Director Tang Shuang might visit, and Xu Shi agreed to meet her despite his anger toward her.
• Xu Shi waited in his office the next morning and welcomed Tang Shuang when she arrived.
• Tang Shuang confronted Xu Shi about Spark’s unregistered heavy weapons and the damage the Huajin Plain conflict had caused District Seven.
• Tang Shuang said Xu Shi had to pay a fine and could choose whether to help with reconstruction.
• Xu Shi smashed his cup near Tang Shuang and told her to get out, refusing her demand for compensation.

Xu Shi rebuffed Tang Shuang’s attempt to question Serpent Coil over its heavy weapons, blaming the Inspection Bureau for neglecting Spark and humiliating her with evidence of Spark’s own armaments. Tang Shuang left furious, while Xu Shi explained to Su Lin that he had deliberately turned the confrontation against her and expected it to affect how she handled Spark.

• Xu Shi threw a cup near Tang Shuang and challenged her over the Inspection Bureau’s failure to protect Serpent Coil from threats in Sin City.
• Xu Shi accused Tang Shuang of targeting Serpent Coil while ignoring Spark, then showed her pictures of heavy equipment seized from Spark.
• Tang Shuang admitted she had been presumptuous and left after Xu Shi told her to see herself out.
• Tang Shuang encountered Su Lin, who questioned whether Xu Shi’s treatment of her was wise given his conflict with Lin Wenhua.
• Xu Shi told Su Lin he had refused to follow Tang Shuang’s line of questioning and hoped the confrontation would make her pursue Spark more aggressively.

Xu Shi ordered relief supplies for District Seven while continuing to target Spark, and Shen He learned that Shark Tooth would offer no help unless he stole Serpent Coil’s drone prototypes. The chapter ended with Shen He preparing Spark for another operation.

• Xu Shi told Su Lin to send relief supplies to District Seven in Serpent Coil’s name and have the media publicize it.
• Xu Shi explained that he intended to eliminate threats from Spark while also opposing Lin Wenhua.
• Xu Shi wondered whether Spark and Shark Tooth had decided on their next operation against him.
• A wolf-tailed Shark Tooth representative told Shen He to steal twenty Sea Crane drone prototypes stored by Serpent Coil in District 13 to prove Spark’s value.
• Shen He accepted the task, then called Spark’s members to prepare for their next operation.

Shen He rallied Spark for a raid on Serpent Coil’s drone warehouse, promising new equipment and reassuring his doubtful followers. During the assault, Lei Song led the diversion until the Inspection Bureau arrived, leaving the mission in jeopardy.

• Shen He assigned Lei Song to lead Spark’s attack on the warehouse and urged his followers to trust him despite their recent defeats and doubts.
• Lei Song defended Shen He when a Spark member questioned the plan, and Shen He calmed the group and promised that Mr. Luo would provide equipment before nightfall.
• At 16:30 the next day, Spark attacked Serpent Coil’s District 13 factory warehouse during a shift change, and Lei Song fought with two machine guns while enhanced by Ereks stimulant and his supernatural abilities.
• Team Three reached the titanium explosion-proof warehouse door and asked Lei Song to hold the defenders off while they broke in.
• Less than five minutes into the fight, the Inspection Bureau arrived and ordered everyone to drop their weapons and surrender.

Xu Shi called the Inspection Bureau to help Serpent Coil repel Spark’s attack, and Tang Shuang’s explosive ability overwhelmed Lei Song. As Tang Shuang tried to execute him, an armored stranger intervened and challenged her.

• The Inspection Bureau arrived, and Tang Shuang ordered Spark to surrender before opening fire when Lei Song insulted her.
• Tang Shuang’s Touch of Calamity bullets wounded Lei Song, while Serpent Coil guards discovered Spark’s third group was trying to blow up the warehouse.
• Xu Shi revealed that he had called Tang Shuang and had anticipated Spark’s attack on District 13 after learning its plans.
• Tang Shuang’s relentless assault left Lei Song badly injured and disoriented, and the drug he had taken wore off early.
• Tang Shuang fired at Lei Song’s head, but an armored stranger blocked the shot with an Alloy Battle Blade and challenged her.

Xia Wuyou intervened in the clash between Lei Song’s Spark team and the Inspection Bureau, defeating Tang Shuang and rescuing Lei Song before escaping. She later met Xu Shi on the Serpent Coil rooftop and asked why he had made her save the Spark members.

• Xia Wuyou used her armored suit and gravity-related ability to pin Tang Shuang and send the Inspection Bureau’s reinforcements flying.
• Xia Wuyou injected Lei Song with a stimulant, allowing him to escape with a surviving Spark member who carried one metal box.
• Tang Shuang ordered an S-class warrant for the fugitives and began trying to identify the armored Ascendant.
• Xia Wuyou escaped Tang Shuang, went to the Serpent Coil headquarters rooftop, and asked Xu Shi why he had made her save the Spark members.

Xia Wuyou learned that Xu Shi had arranged Spark’s rescue to put Shen He in a bind over the Sea Cranes, while he reassured her that she could keep visiting Xia Ke'an. Shen He received a single Sea Crane after Lei Song returned gravely injured, then got a call asking whether he had secured it.

• Xia Wuyou questioned Xu Shi’s order to rescue Spark, and he explained that giving Shen He only one Sea Crane would force him to choose between disappointing Shark Tooth and breaking their alliance.
• Xia Wuyou recognized Xu Shi’s reasoning, learned that Xia Ke'an’s treatment was working, and received permission to visit her aunt whenever she wanted.
• Xia Wuyou left after Xu Shi teased her, and he wondered what choice Shen He would make.
• At Spark’s base, Shen He rushed to help the badly injured Lei Song, who handed him a metal box containing the single Sea Crane before passing out.
• Shen He stared at the box after hearing that nearly forty lives had been spent to obtain it, then received a call asking whether he had gotten what the caller wanted.

Shen He ended Spark’s cooperation with Shark Tooth and kept the captured Serpent Coil drone so Spark could study it. Back at Serpent Coil headquarters, Xu Shi waited for someone to contact him, and an anxious caller immediately asked whether he was all right.

• Shen He lied to Young Master He that Spark had failed to obtain any drones, and Young Master He ended Shark Tooth’s support and cut ties with Spark.
• Shen He learned that one returning team member had died and Lei Song had survived but needed extensive Prosthetic Modification.
• Shen He ordered Spark to give the captured drone to Mr. Luo for secret analysis and replication.
• Su Lin returned to Serpent Coil headquarters and asked Xu Shi about the attack on the District 13 factory.
• Xu Shi told Su Lin to wait for someone to come to him, and an anxious caller contacted him to ask if he was all right.

Xu Shi fooled He Yuqiang into believing he knew nothing about the attack on Serpent Coil and used his anger to turn him against Shen He. After learning that Spark had taken ten Sea Crane drones, Xu Shi planned to use the stolen drones to draw Shen He and his engineer into his hands.

• He Yuqiang visited Xu Shi and told him that Serpent Coil had been attacked, while Xu Shi and Su Lin pretended the incident had been kept from him.
• Su Lin revealed that ten Sea Crane drones had gone missing, and Xu Shi feigned outrage as He Yuqiang tried to calm him down.
• He Yuqiang concluded that Xu Shi had not suspected him and realized Shen He had lied about the operation failing.
• After He Yuqiang left, Xu Shi revealed that he had amplified He Yuqiang's anger so he would turn against Shen He.
• Su Lin warned that Spark still had the drones, and Xu Shi said he intended to use them to lure Shen He and the engineer out.

Su Lin raided Spark's restaurant safe house and captured Luo Zhikang, a former Tianhe Consortium chief engineer, on the young master's orders. She drove him away pleased with how efficiently she had completed the job, while Spark's team concealed the attack.

• Luo Zhikang worked to dismantle and reproduce a precision device while Spark's server urged him to hurry.
• Su Lin entered the restaurant, killed the server, and defeated the Ascendant bodyguards guarding Luo Zhikang.
• Su Lin held Luo Zhikang at gunpoint, sedated him, took the Sea Crane, and carried him off in her car.
• Someone cleaned up the restaurant and posted a storefront-for-sale sign to cover up the raid.

Tang Shuang’s Ability Complication flared after days of exhausting work, while Xu Shi captured Luo Zhikang and offered him a game. The chapter left Luo Zhikang shackled before the Sea Crane, with his freedom promised if he could unlock it.

• Tang Shuang reviewed Xu Shi’s records but found no useful dirt on him, then went home to rest after her exhaustion overwhelmed her.
• Tang Shuang’s Ability Complication surged, and she drifted into a dream while thinking of Xu Shi.
• Xu Shi’s people abducted Luo Zhikang, who woke in a prison cell wearing electronic shackles.
• Xu Shi confronted Luo Zhikang over his attempt to alter research results and said he wanted to play a game.
• Xu Shi placed the Sea Crane before Luo Zhikang and offered his freedom as the prize for unlocking it.

Xu Shi gave Luo Zhikang a modified Sea Crane drone to crack, while privately admitting he had no intention of honoring the promise to release him. After reviewing Jiang Chengcheng’s impressive equipment analysis, Xu Shi praised her abilities, and Su Lin asked if she had met Jiang Chengcheng before.

• Xu Shi challenged Luo Zhikang to crack the Sea Crane drone in exchange for leaving, and Luo Zhikang reluctantly agreed to try.
• Jiang Chengcheng worried that Luo Zhikang might succeed, but Xu Shi revealed he had never intended to let the wager decide whether Luo would be released.
• Xu Shi took Jiang Chengcheng to his office to review the report on the equipment she had analyzed and upgraded.
• Jiang Chengcheng explained her plans clearly, impressing Xu Shi and Su Lin with how thoroughly she had improved equipment from Shark Tooth and Spark.
• Su Lin asked Jiang Chengcheng whether they had met before.

Xu Shi praised Jiang Chengcheng’s engineering talent and supported her plan to modify Shark Tooth equipment, while Su Lin wondered why Jiang Chengcheng seemed familiar. Jiang Chengcheng returned to Jiang Fengshan, who remained confident she was gathering intelligence for him, as Luo Zhikang grew increasingly frustrated over his failure to crack the drone.

• Su Lin said Jiang Chengcheng seemed familiar, and Xu Shi suggested they might have known each other at an orphanage.
• Xu Shi recognized Jiang Chengcheng’s skill at dissecting and rebuilding equipment, told her to modify it, and promised her support.
• Jiang Chengcheng said Jiang Fengshan had encouraged her to spend time with Xu Shi and learn about him, but assured Xu Shi she would keep her promise.
• Xu Shi asked Su Lin to investigate whether she and Jiang Chengcheng had known each other before, and Su Lin agreed.
• Jiang Chengcheng returned home, where Jiang Fengshan dismissed her report and told her to keep relaying information from Xu Shi.
• Luo Zhikang knelt beside the drone in the confinement room and raged that he still could not crack it.

Xu Shi exploited Luo Zhikang’s frustration at being unable to crack the modified Sea Crane drone and forced him to admit defeat in their bet. Xu Shi agreed to answer Luo’s questions in exchange for the research materials from Tianhe’s Beyond Limits project.

• Luo Zhikang struggled in confinement to dismantle and understand the modified drone, growing increasingly frustrated.
• Xu Shi visited Luo and explained one of the drone’s components, clearing up Luo’s confusion.
• Xu Shi refused to explain another component unless Luo admitted he had lost their bet.
• Luo overcame his pride and admitted defeat, then asked Xu Shi to reveal the drone’s remaining secrets.
• Xu Shi asked Luo to trade the research materials for Tianhe’s Beyond Limits project for the answers.

Xu Shi pressured Luo Zhikang into trading the Overlimit Project for access to the drone’s design principles, then brought Jiang Chengcheng to hear the old man’s explanation. Luo Zhikang agreed to reveal the project only to the drone’s designer, while Xu Shi considered how his capture would weaken Shen He and Spark.

• Xu Shi revealed that he knew about Tianhe’s Overlimit Project, which Luo Zhikang had secretly continued developing to help Shen He.
• Xu Shi offered Luo Zhikang information about Sea Crane’s design in exchange for the project, and Luo Zhikang eventually accepted but insisted on speaking only to the drone’s designer.
• Xu Shi summoned Jiang Chengcheng, and Luo Zhikang was surprised to learn that Jiang Fengshan had not designed the drone.
• Xu Shi left Jiang Chengcheng and Luo Zhikang to talk while he chatted with the guards outside.
• Xu Shi considered Luo Zhikang’s value to Shen He and how losing him could sharply weaken Spark.

With Spark weakened by repeated setbacks and attacks, Shen He learned that Lei Song had awakened and heard how an unidentified fugitive had saved him. The chapter ended as He Yuqiang arrived in a Gray Bear armored vehicle to confront Shen He.

• Shen He reflected on how Serpent Coil had repeatedly anticipated his plans, leaving Spark depleted and several of its key people dead or injured.
• Shen He visited the badly wounded Lei Song, who blamed Director Tang Shuang and said an unidentified wanted criminal had saved him.
• Lei Song’s account made Shen He suspect that Xia Wuyou had rescued him, though he wondered whether she was acting on Xu Shi’s orders.
• A bullet broke through the hospital window as gangs backed by Shark Tooth attacked Spark’s weakened territory.
• Shen He recognized the approaching Gray Bear armored vehicle, and He Yuqiang threatened to run him over.

Shen He tried to negotiate with He Yuqiang after Shark Tooth attacked Spark’s stronghold, but a sudden shot struck He Yuqiang and turned the confrontation violent. Meanwhile, Jiang Chengcheng finished discussing the Overlimit Project with Luo Zhikang and told Xu Shi she needed about a week to draft a plan, as Xu Shi prepared to make Luo Zhikang step down.

• He Yuqiang led Shark Tooth’s attack on Spark’s stronghold, and Shen He sent Lei Song and the others to escape to District Four while he stayed behind.
• Shen He denied keeping ten drones and persuaded He Yuqiang that Xu Shi might have misled him, prompting He Yuqiang to consider working with Spark again.
• A bullet passed Shen He’s cheek and pierced He Yuqiang’s left ear, and He Yuqiang accused Shen He of setting him up and ordered his men to kill him.
• Jiang Chengcheng left the holding room after discussing the Overlimit Project with Luo Zhikang and told Xu Shi she needed about a week to prepare a preliminary plan.
• Xu Shi took out a tiny chip and prepared to make Luo Zhikang step down.

Xu Shi prepared to take down Jiang Fengshan at the board meeting after promising Jiang Chengcheng that her long-awaited chance was near. The meeting ended with Tang Shuang arriving with an Inspection Bureau unit to arrest Jiang Fengshan for illegal detention and abuse.

• Xu Shi told Jiang Chengcheng that he would act against Jiang Fengshan at the board meeting two days later and hinted at additional surprises.
• Lin Wenhua planned to use Xu Shi’s spending of company reserve funds to undermine him, while Jiang Fengshan supported his effort.
• Xu Shi arrived at the board meeting as shareholders voiced mixed opinions about his recent performance.
• Lin Wenhua began raising concerns about Xu Shi, but Tang Shuang entered with an Inspection Bureau unit and presented an arrest warrant for Jiang Fengshan.

Tang Shuang tried to arrest Jiang Fengshan at Serpent Coil headquarters, using a recording of his abuse of Jiang Chengcheng as evidence. Pressure from Jiang Fengshan and Lin Wenhua’s connections forced Tang Shuang to consider withdrawing, but an unknown voice challenged their authority at the end.

• Tang Shuang entered the boardroom to arrest Jiang Fengshan, prompting Xu Shi to protest while Lin Wenhua suspected Xu Shi had arranged the move.
• Jiang Fengshan demanded evidence, and Tang Shuang showed a recording of him abusing Jiang Chengcheng.
• Lin Wenhua contacted an unknown person, and Tang Shuang received orders to stop the arrest and withdraw her team.
• Tang Shuang argued against the orders, then looked regretfully at Xu Shi, who calmly signaled her to wait.
• An unknown speaker asked whether they were qualified to take Jiang Fengshan away.

Xu Shi arranged for Feather Pen to expose Jiang Fengshan’s fraud, forcing Lin Wenhua to let him be taken away. The chapter ended with Xu Shi watching Lin Wenhua realize he had been outmaneuvered.

• Ning Wei arrived on behalf of Feather Pen and announced that Jiang Fengshan was accused of defrauding one of its foundations of approximately four million.
• Xu Shi agreed to let Feather Pen handle Jiang Fengshan, having discovered that Jiang Fengshan had traded stolen research materials for foundation rewards.
• Ning Wei asked Tang Shuang to help take Jiang Fengshan into custody, and she agreed.
• Lin Wenhua tried to intervene, but Ning Wei invoked Chairman Wen Shengkui’s personal order and silenced him.
• Tang Shuang and Ning Wei took Jiang Fengshan away while Xu Shi gave Lin Wenhua a smug, mocking look.