Chapter Summaries

Wang Huai experienced Lu Xiu’s Titanfall dungeon, adapting to its weapons, Jump Kit, and Titan combat before discovering a wrist device that let him switch between the ruined present and the intact past. As he continued Colonel Anderson’s investigation into The Ark, he realized Lu Xiu’s dungeons offered people more than survival: they gave them a reason to want to live.

• Li Shengkai and Yan Fushou discussed training selected frontline soldiers in the dungeon and considered having Jian Li learn from Lu Xiu.
• Wang Huai used battlefield tactics to defeat enemy Titans, mastered the Jump Kit, and grew attached to BT as a dependable comrade.
• Wang Huai entered a research facility where time rifts shifted him between its ruined present and intact past, then found Colonel Anderson dead and took over his investigation.
• Wang Huai retrieved Anderson’s wrist device and used it to switch between time periods, bypassing hazards and attacking enemies from unexpected angles.
• Wang Huai uncovered clues about The Ark and reflected on how Lu Xiu’s imaginative dungeons gave people courage, skills, excitement, and a reason to keep living.

After clearing Lu Xiu’s Titanfall instance, Jian Li is troubled by BT’s death and asks Yan Fushou to experience the story himself. Wang Huai also seeks answers about the ending, leaving Yan Fushou curious about the instance’s plot as well as its rewards.

• Jian Li clears the later stages of the instance, enjoys BT’s companionship, and is deeply unsettled by the story’s ending.
• Unable to sleep, Jian Li returns to the Coordination Bureau and tells Yan Fushou that she cannot understand why a machine would sacrifice itself.
• Jian Li reports receiving a Jump Kit, a rifle, and attribute points, then agrees to ask Lu Xiu for help mastering the Jump Kit.
• Wang Huai brings Yan Fushou his Jump Kit and R-97, and they discuss the instance’s rewards and plans to teach soldiers how to use the equipment.
• Wang Huai asks Yan Fushou to find out whether a hidden clear condition could have changed the ending, prompting Yan Fushou to investigate the instance’s story.

After finishing the Titanfall instance, Lu Xiu felt aimless as she read players’ reactions on the forum. Jian Li arrived at her apartment asking to learn how to use the Jump Kit, and Lu Xiu agreed, then embarrassed herself by misunderstanding Jian Li’s safety shorts.

• Lu Xiu considered contacting the Coordination Bureau about her SSS-rank reward and borrowing a sniper rifle, then browsed forum posts about the difficult Titanfall instance.
• Lu Xiu reflected that smaller, cheaper instances like Resident Evil might suit more players than Titanfall.
• Jian Li visited Lu Xiu wearing the Jump Kit and asked her to teach her how to use it.
• Lu Xiu agreed to teach Jian Li immediately, but warned that her skirt might be impractical for jumping and climbing.
• Jian Li revealed her safety shorts, and Lu Xiu slapped her hand before realizing she had misunderstood the situation.

Lu Xiu trained Jian Li to use the Jump Kit at an abandoned residential complex, and Jian Li quickly mastered it before revealing she had another question for Lu Xiu. Meanwhile, Yan Fushou entered the Titanfall dungeon to investigate Jian Li and Wang Huai’s concerns, but he found its action-packed stages thrilling.

• Lu Xiu realized she had mistaken Jian Li’s clothing and invited her to change before they went out to train.
• At the Abandoned Residential Complex on Changfeng Road, Lu Xiu explained the Jump Kit and demonstrated how to use it.
• Jian Li struggled with the Jump Kit at first, but Lu Xiu caught her when she nearly fell and encouraged her to keep practicing.
• After training, Jian Li landed beside Lu Xiu on a rooftop and said she had another question to ask her.
• Yan Fushou entered the Titanfall dungeon, cleared its early stages, and adapted to the Jump Kit while completing the Effect and Cause obstacle course.
• Yan Fushou finished the course excited by the dungeon and could not understand why Jian Li and Wang Huai had reacted negatively to it.

Yan Fushou became increasingly attached to BT as they fought together, repaired the signal tower, and pursued the IMC flagship carrying The Ark. After BT protected him in a devastating crash, Yan Fushou discovered that BT was prepared to sacrifice itself rather than lose another Pilot.

• Yan Fushou traversed the Signal Tower's deadly ruins, retrieved a device, and helped the Militia restore the tower's connection.
• BT threw Yan Fushou across a chasm and later caught him when he fell from the tower, deepening Yan Fushou's trust in the mech.
• Yan Fushou fought through the IMC airbase and disabled the flagship's defenses before battling Viper alongside BT.
• Yan Fushou killed Viper, then helped BT retrieve The Ark from the crashing flagship.
• An explosion trapped Yan Fushou and BT in the ship's passages, and BT shielded him while refusing to remove The Ark because it would not lose another Pilot.

Yan Fushou completed the Titanfall dungeon alongside BT, but BT sacrificed itself to destroy the Ark and save him. After clearing the dungeon, Yan Fushou and Wei Yidong grieved the ending and angrily demanded answers from Lu Xiu.

• Blisk forced BT to open its hatch, but BT attacked the Apex Predators before another Titan destroyed it and took the Ark.
• BT gave Yan Fushou its SERE Kit and smart core, and Yan Fushou fought through the IMC troops until he reached a new Titan and restored BT.
• Yan Fushou and BT fought their way to the Fold Weapon, where they learned the Ark could only be stopped by destroying it from within.
• BT threw Yan Fushou clear and sacrificed itself to destroy the Ark, completing the mission and ending the dungeon.
• Yan Fushou cleared the SS-rank dungeon and was left devastated, while Wei Yidong burst into his office demanding permission to confront Lu Xiu.

On the rooftop, Lu Xiu explained to Jian Li why BT’s sacrifice moved her and why she had kept Titanfall’s tragic ending, despite the pressure survival points placed on players. As Lu Xiu and Jian Li discussed Sequence and their feelings, a system notice announced the upcoming “Iron and Blood” expansion.

• Lu Xiu explained that BT protected the Pilot because of its protocol, its bond with Cooper, and the Militia’s view of Titans as comrades, then told Jian Li not to resist her sadness over BT’s sacrifice.
• Lu Xiu said she had kept BT’s death because changing the ending would betray the story and because she wanted players to experience more than survival in the gamified world.
• Lu Xiu explained that Titanfall would be her last such dungeon attempt, since survival-point pressure made it difficult for players to enjoy dungeons, and she could not change the world’s underlying logic.
• Jian Li told Lu Xiu that her dungeon had been interesting, and Lu Xiu asked her about Sequence, learning that Jian Li was Sequence 14.
• Lu Xiu reassured Jian Li that her quiet, expressionless manner was not a bother, then a system notice announced the upcoming “Iron and Blood” expansion.

Yan Fushou read players’ emotional reactions to Lu Xiu’s Titanfall instance and unexpectedly praised it on the forum, then learned that constructors had received an update notice. At a meeting of major guild leaders, Zhao Qingdai suggested Titanfall’s Jump Kit might change the need to send more elites to the front line.

• Yan Fushou browsed forum posts mourning BT’s sacrifice and replied that Titanfall was wonderful, drawing a flood of shocked responses.
• Li Shengkai called Yan Fushou to report that constructors had received a notification about a version update.
• Jiang Qiu arrived at a Coordination Bureau meeting where major guild leaders gathered after staying up to clear Titanfall.
• Li Zhong reminded the guild presidents that they had to confirm their front-line rotation slots before the deadline.
• Zhao Qingdai argued that Titanfall’s Jump Kit might offer a solution to the front-line problem, prompting the leaders to reconsider sending more people.

Major guild leaders debated the Coordination Bureau’s new regulations and the frontline rotation, while Zhao Qingdai proposed approaching Lu Xiu to offer her alternatives. The Coordination Bureau discussed the vague upcoming update and plans to protect Lu Xiu as it prepared to use her dungeons to strengthen frontline soldiers.

• Zhao Qingdai argued that Director Li Bao’s regulations were meant to weaken major guilds and suggested recruiting Lu Xiu to their side, but Jiang Qiu condemned the idea as dangerous and selfish.
• Wei Zhe angrily protested the regulations, while Jiang Qiu warned the guild leaders that their members might turn against them if they put guild interests above the safe zones.
• Jiang Qiu announced that Longsword Guild would take one-tenth of the frontline rotation slots and left; Xiao Chi made the same commitment for Whistling Arrow Guild before following her out.
• Yan Fushou and Li Shengkai confirmed that constructors had received only a vague update notice and discussed watching for guilds that might target Lu Xiu.
• Yan Fushou considered assigning Jian Li or Shen Nian to live with and protect Lu Xiu, but said he would respect her wishes before deciding.
• Yan Fushou and Li Shengkai planned to have frontline personnel clear Sekiro and Titanfall to improve their strength.

After receiving notice of the Iron and Blood update, Lu Xiu chose an SSS-rank halberd and requested a sniper rifle from the Coordination Bureau. She then learned that her instance had earned her secret Constructor authority, revealing that the update would pit regional players against otherworld opponents and make her constructed instances strategically crucial.

• Lu Xiu returned to her apartment, saw the Iron and Blood update notice, and decided to choose equipment from the Coordination Bureau’s list.
• Lu Xiu selected the SSS-rank Loathing Halberd and emailed the Bureau to request it along with a sniper rifle.
• Lu Xiu planned to rest before constructing another instance, then noticed cement dust on her sofa and cleaned it.
• As Lu Xiu changed in her bedroom, a high-authority system notification startled her and announced that she had gained Specific Constructor authority.
• The system revealed that instances would close temporarily, a cross-realm PVP arena would open, and Constructors’ scene libraries could shape its battlefields.
• Lu Xiu realized the update meant she could no longer afford to slack off.

Lu Xiu realized the Cross-Realm Arena would make private instances battlefields and planned to create more punishing role-playing scenarios to prepare players and earn rewards. At Huai Seven Camp, more than five thousand frontline soldiers prepared to enter Sekiro and Titanfall to gain skills, equipment, and psychological relief.

• Lu Xiu considered how private-instance rules might shape cross-realm battles and saw difficult instances as training and potential arena advantages.
• Lu Xiu decided to expand her map pool with torturous role-playing instances and hoped frequent use would bring her greater rewards.
• At Huai Seven Camp, Yan Fushou and Li Shengkai discussed sending nearly six thousand frontline soldiers into Sekiro and Titanfall to strengthen them and ease battlefield stress.
• More than five thousand soldiers stood at attention as the camp prepared to send them into the instances.

Tao Sixi entered the Titanfall instance expecting only a mission and rewards, but his bond with BT-7274 reopened the grief he had buried over fallen comrades. The returning veterans reacted with similar grief, while Lu Xiu considered making more instances.

• Tao Sixi entered the Titanfall instance alongside Ye Chi and the other soldiers, treating it as another routine mission.
• Tao Sixi mastered the firearms and BT-7274, but gradually came to regard the Titan as more than equipment as BT repeatedly protected him.
• BT-7274 sacrificed itself at the end of the instance to send Tao Sixi to safety, and Tao Sixi cleared the mission.
• After returning to the square, Tao Sixi realized BT was gone and silently broke down as memories of his fallen comrades resurfaced.
• Ye Chi and many veterans also stood in silence, and Yan Fushou and Li Shengkai hoped the experience would help the soldiers recover their will to survive.
• Lu Xiu considered creating horror or online-game instances next.

After spending hours designing in the construction space, Lu Xiu received equipment from Shen Nian and questioned her about what players wanted in a dungeon. Lu Xiu mistook Shen Nian’s answers for requests and left to build several punishing dungeon concepts, while Shen Nian realized she had accidentally inspired them.

• Lu Xiu spent three hours working in the construction space while Shen Nian waited outside her home to deliver a sniper rifle and Loathing Halberd.
• Lu Xiu accepted the equipment and listened as Shen Nian explained its precautions, then recognized her as the Wolf she had once fought in Sekiro.
• Lu Xiu asked Shen Nian what ordinary players wanted from dungeons, and Shen Nian mentioned Resident Evil-style powerlessness, hand-to-hand combat, and enormous aberrant monsters.
• Lu Xiu interpreted Shen Nian’s comments as ideas for an inescapable survival dungeon, a revenge journey marked by aging through repeated deaths, and a mortal fight against a giant dragon.
• Lu Xiu thanked Shen Nian, said she would remember her name, and returned to the construction space to begin building while Shen Nian realized she had helped inspire the dungeons.

Lu Xiu planned three new dungeons and began testing a colossal dragon encounter, while Shen Nian was recruited to evaluate dungeons built to imitate Resident Evil. The Coordination Bureau then learned that three A-rank and one S-rank civilian dungeons had appeared, all made by unknown builders, setting off a frenzy among players.

• Lu Xiu chose Outlast, Sifu, and a large-monster encounter as the bases for future dungeons, then constructed a ruined underground arena and charged a four-winged dragon with her twin weapons.
• Shen Nian returned to the Coordination Bureau and agreed to test Sun Yi and Feng Yan's private A-rank dungeons, [Stealth Crawl] and [Haunted House], alongside Jian Li.
• Sun Yi and Feng Yan claimed their dungeons captured seventy percent of Lu Xiu's skill, and Li Shengkai waited for Shen Nian and Jian Li to assess them.
• Lin Xiao reported that three A-rank and one S-rank civilian dungeons had appeared at once, all made by unfamiliar builders from the Builder Group rather than Lu Xiu.
• Players flooded the forums with speculation and celebrated the arrival of a new era of civilian dungeon builders.

Several builder groups released four cheap dungeons to prepare for the upcoming Iron and Blood update, hoping sheer quantity would help their region. Players discovered that every dungeon was a poor Resident Evil imitation, leaving the builders’ leaders stunned and furious.

• Players attributed the sudden arrival of highly rated civilian dungeons to builder groups changing course after Lu Xiu’s success.
• Li Shengkai learned from his informant that the Spirit Pivot Construction Group had built its new dungeons after Lu Xiu appeared, and he suspected the Iron and Blood update involved constructors.
• The Spirit Pivot Construction Group leader told five other group leaders they had released four dungeons to build up their scene libraries for the upcoming event.
• A player’s review revealed that all four new dungeons copied Resident Evil, with repetitive stories, poor scares, and disappointing rewards.
• The six group leaders realized they had independently imitated Resident Evil, and the female leader condemned them as vermin.

Shen Nian and Jian Li condemned Sun Yi and Feng Yan’s Resident Evil imitation, prompting Li Shengkai to tell the constructors to rethink their work. Unaware of the criticism, Lu Xiu built Outlast and discovered that several poor imitations of Resident Evil had appeared, making her rush to finish her horror dungeon.

• Jian Li called Sun Yi and Feng Yan’s dungeon garbage, and Shen Nian explained that it lacked the themes and emotional impact of Lu Xiu’s instances.
• Li Shengkai challenged Sun Yi’s defense of the dungeon and told him to redo it after considering Shen Nian’s criticism.
• Lu Xiu tested a battle against an ancient dragon, then set aside the Dark Souls dungeon and began constructing Outlast.
• While resting, Lu Xiu read forum posts about new dungeons imitating Resident Evil and feared they would spoil players’ appetite for horror instances.
• Lu Xiu decided to finish Outlast as quickly as possible.

Lu Xiu finished building Outlast, sealing off ways for players to fight its monsters, and submitted the survival-horror instance for verification. After preparing for a fast escape, she entered as Miles Upshur and began sprinting through Mount Massive Asylum.

• Lu Xiu refined Outlast’s asylum setting and added restrictions to prevent players from fighting or exploiting loopholes.
• Yan Fushou prepared the Coordination Bureau’s Strategy Group for Lu Xiu’s new instance, while Shen Nian reacted strangely to the news.
• Lu Xiu submitted Outlast under the theme “Survival,” and the System set its Rule Stabilization Cost at 2,500 Survival Points.
• Lu Xiu changed into athletic clothes, entered Architect Verification Mode as Miles Upshur, and arrived at Mount Massive Asylum.
• Lu Xiu took out the night-vision camcorder and charged into the dark hospital, relying on speed to escape its monsters.

The Spirit Pivot Construction Group's leader raged over the players' rejection of his imitation dungeon and argued that horror dungeons had reached their limit, just as Lu Xiu announced Outlast, another horror instance. Lu Xiu cleared her own instance at a sprint, earning an SSS evaluation while the system mocked her speed.

• The Spirit Pivot Construction Group's leader blamed players for criticizing his dungeon and insisted that Resident Evil had exhausted the horror framework.
• Sun Yi and Feng Yan struggled to improve their imitation dungeons and wished Lu Xiu would release another horror instance to demonstrate the genre's limits.
• Lu Xiu's Outlast preview appeared, surprising the Coordination Bureau, Shen Nian, and players who took it as a direct response to the Builder Groups.
• Players waited for footage of Lu Xiu's verification clear, but the system had none because she ran through the instance too quickly.
• Lu Xiu completed Outlast with 100% completion and an SSS evaluation, then defended her decision to run from its enemies.

Lu Xiu received the SSS clear rewards for Outlast, including the Extreme Speed skill and Cat Step footwear, then launched the dungeon as players waited eagerly. The Spirit Pivot Construction Group leader entered Outlast and recognized its opening setup as similar to Resident Evil, laughing that Lu Xiu had used the same formula.

• Lu Xiu received the Extreme Speed skill, attribute points, and the SS-rated Cat Step shoes for clearing Outlast with an SSS evaluation.
• Lu Xiu equipped Cat Step, tested its light, silent movement, and returned to the forum to find players discussing her upcoming dungeon.
• Lu Xiu launched Outlast after seeing players eagerly await its release.
• The Spirit Pivot Construction Group leader entered Outlast and saw himself driving toward a remote mental hospital.
• The leader recognized the dungeon's opening as resembling Resident Evil and laughed that Lu Xiu had repeated the same formula.

Jin Yi entered the psychiatric hospital expecting Lu Xiu’s Outlast instance to repeat Resident Evil’s routines, but its darkness, sound cues, and carefully timed scares unsettled him. After a corpse startled him outside a room, he recognized how deliberately the instance had manipulated his sense of safety, though he still refused to accept Lu Xiu’s superiority.

• Jin Yi entered the psychiatric hospital, found its main door locked, and climbed through a broken window into an auxiliary building.
• When the lights failed, Jin Yi used the DV’s night vision to navigate the pitch-black room and found a corridor with flickering lights.
• A sudden inhuman shriek startled Jin Yi in a furnished room, and he collected a battery for the DV from an office.
• Jin Yi crawled through a dark ventilation duct, then emerged in a corridor where a door opened onto a room containing a hanging corpse that abruptly fell.
• Jin Yi realized the earlier rooms and duct had lulled him into lowering his guard before the scare, but he shook off the thought that Lu Xiu had outdone him.