Chapter Summaries

A boy named Youji brought home a damaged, half-human head that awoke with no memories, and the mayor installed a driver chip so it could function. The man accepted the temporary name Yawg but sensed that Yawg belonged to his enemy, and ended the chapter realizing he was a rebel without knowing what he opposed.

• Youji found a damaged head in the garbage heap, believed it was alive, and brought it home so he could have a dad.
• Yulia and the mayor examined the head, and the man awoke with no memories and was temporarily named Yawg.
• The mayor installed a driver chip, while Yawg refused to sell his eyes because they might hold clues to his past.
• Youji went to sleep hugging Yawg's head as Yulia worried about affording an adult prosthetic body for her son.
• Yawg decided that the name belonged to his enemy and remembered only that he was a rebel.

Yawg struggled to rebuild a body from scrap while trying to make sense of a world where people ate copper-rich Copper Sugar. After Enoch threatened him over his stay at Yulia’s son’s home, Yawg’s mind filled with combat tactics he could barely control.

• Yawg reflected on the strange world and its silver-black Copper Sugar plants as Youji helped him gather scrap for a new body.
• Over the following month, Yawg added shoulders and a battery, then repaired and upgraded his arms with salvaged parts.
• Enoch nearly hit Yawg with his truck and demanded that he leave Yulia’s son’s home within two months, before the next Gene Tax.
• As Enoch threatened him, Yawg involuntarily calculated ways to attack the truck, while Enoch backed off because the Dyson Principles prohibited killing humans.

The amnesiac man and Youji scavenged while wondering about the powers and rules governing their world, and the man suspected he might be a Vagrant. After earning money repairing machines, he built himself a crude body just as the Gene Tax officials were due to arrive.

• The man questioned who issued currency, why the Gene Bank existed, and who created the Dyson Principles, while Youji explained that the Paralympics were the world's main sporting competition.
• The man learned that Vagrants were considered enemies of human civilization and worried that his forgotten past might make him one, putting Yulia and Youji in danger.
• The man and Youji spent more than ten days collecting parts, and the man earned money by repairing machines for townspeople.
• The man and Youji argued with Yulia about whether his repair earnings should go toward Youji's adult cybernetic body, and the man promised to repay her for saving him.
• The man assembled a crude body with hands and feet, and the mayor warned that the Gene Tax officials would arrive soon and might take an interest in him.

Scrapheap Town’s new tax officer, Ya Ningping, arrived to collect infants for the Human Gene Bank and challenged the residents to prove their population quality by surviving five minutes against his dog. As the first worker entered the arena, the man recognized the dog’s evasive move as Bionic Fist Technique.

• The man learned that Scrapheap Town had to surrender nineteen infants as Gene Tax, while failure to pay could leave the settlement exposed to Vagrants.
• Ya Ningping arrived with modified soldiers, introduced himself as the new tax officer after his predecessor Bernini was killed, and demanded that the townspeople kneel.
• Ya Ningping questioned the town’s population quality, fired around the mayor without harming him, and ordered the residents to fight his dog for five minutes to qualify for tax payment.
• The mayor consulted the town elders, while Ya Ningping’s secretary secretly signaled the dog not to kill too many people and to prolong the fight.
• A four-meter-tall worker entered the arena and attacked, but the dog dodged his strike; the man identified its movement as Bionic Fist Technique.

A man’s buried memories of the Bionic Fist Technique awakened as Ya Ningping’s dog attacked the townspeople. After the man stepped into the circle to fight, he survived the dog’s first assaults and moved toward a stun baton.

• Ya Ningping sent the dog to attack workers, and it tore open the throats of the first two within five seconds each.
• The dog killed a third worker by crushing his cervical vertebrae, and the man remembered that the true Bionic Fist Technique was meant to help the weak resist tyranny.
• After the fourth worker fell, the man stood up and was pushed into the circle while Youji tried to hold him back.
• The man approached a stun baton as Ya Ningping started the fight, and the dog’s jaws snapped shut beneath his empty ribcage.
• The dog kicked the man’s battery pack, but he drove his elbow down and slammed the dog to the ground before continuing toward the baton.
• The dog bit the man’s lower leg, and Ya Ningping questioned whether his crude prosthetic legs were solid.

A battered cyborg named Xiang Shan fought Will Grand Dog, whose prosthetic dog body concealed a human face, and recovered memories of his old identity and Bionic Fist techniques. After Will damaged his battery, Xiang Shan drove a shock baton into the dog’s air intake and electrocuted them both.

• The man used his prosthetic body and Newtonian mechanics to trap Will Grand Dog and strike back, but Will damaged his wrist and kept attacking.
• The man recalled the Bionic Fist Technique’s Beast Mimic Way and used a ground-braced kick to send Will flying and knock a shock baton into his hand.
• Will’s skull opened to reveal a human face, and the man remembered his name as Shan, the Xiang Shan of Xiang Shan Nan Yue.
• Will activated his cooling system and attacked Xiang Shan, breaking through his guard and damaging his battery.
• Xiang Shan thrust the shock baton into Will’s air intake as Will bit down on his arm, and electric light engulfed them both.

Xiang Shan defeated Will Grand Dog but was overwhelmed by memories of an ancient loss and could not explain what he meant. After Ya Ningping killed Will and collected the Gene Tax, Xiang Shan took the dog’s prosthetic body and returned to town, where Youji came to see him.

• Xiang Shan’s shock baton incapacitated both him and Will Grand Dog, and the shock triggered memories of Xiang Shan’s defeat and his lost past.
• Ya Ningping decided Xiang Shan was unfit to recruit, killed Will by piercing his Biological Brain, and took eighteen infants as the Gene Tax.
• Xiang Shan reconnected his battery, took Will’s corpse, and walked back toward town as the crowd argued over who deserved the prosthetic body.
• Scrapheap Town celebrated Tax Day, and residents fought over whether Xiang Shan deserved to keep the valuable prosthetic body.
• Youji went to Xiang Shan’s home, and Xiang Shan told him not to call him Yawg because that was not his name.

Xiang Shan told Youji that he had remembered his name and identity as a formidable Vagrant, but still lacked most of his memories and wanted to learn what had happened while he slept. He and Youji visited Dr. Schultz to seek prosthetic parts, and Xiang Shan offered to teach Youji skills in return for his help.

• Xiang Shan revealed his name to Youji, who had never heard of him or Yogmov Voigt.
• Xiang Shan learned that the current year was 209 and that people used a new calendar, leaving him to wonder how long he had been asleep and what the Sublimation War had changed.
• Xiang Shan concluded that his enemy might still be alive and vowed to discover his identity and what had happened to Earth.
• Xiang Shan told Youji that he was a formidable Vagrant, not the athlete Youji had admired.
• Xiang Shan and Youji visited Dr. Schultz to find prosthetic parts, and Xiang Shan offered to teach Youji skills in exchange for his help.

Xiang Shan traded Will Grand Dog’s metal-based vertebra to Doctor Schultz for parts and tools to work on his prosthetics, while probing what he could about the era’s technology. The mayor later revealed that he suspected Xiang Shan was a Vagrant and hoped to use his strength against the tax collector.

• Xiang Shan decided Youji could be trusted and brought him to Doctor Schultz to obtain parts and tools for restoring his martial arts.
• Xiang Shan offered Will Grand Dog’s vertebra in exchange for the parts and asked about an anti-rejection treatment called Anti-Messenger Immersion Agent.
• Doctor Schultz offered Xiang Shan access to his private network, but Xiang Shan refused and accepted the parts and surgical tools instead.
• After Xiang Shan left, Doctor Schultz disconnected the network and asked the mayor why he had urged him to invite Xiang Shan online.
• The mayor told Schultz that he had once summoned a Vagrant to assassinate an official and described relying on Vagrants as survival wisdom.
• The mayor suspected Xiang Shan was a Vagrant because he avoided casual network use and could fight, and he hoped the town might rely on him against the tax collector.

After discovering that someone had deliberately shoved him toward a deadly fight, Xiang Shan took Youji outside town and built a crude Turing Machine from scrap. He began teaching Youji how the machine related to Inner Power, though Youji still did not understand its significance.

• Youji complained after Xiang Shan gave new parts to the scrap-bin maintenance workers, but Xiang Shan said the gifts were no great loss.
• Xiang Shan asked Youji who had pushed him before his fight; Youji admitted he had not seen the person, and refused to go home when Xiang Shan set out to investigate.
• Xiang Shan took Youji outside town with the scrap parts and noticed a faint ring and a line on the moon.
• Xiang Shan assembled the scrap into a crude Turing Machine and told Youji to remember its structure and name.
• Xiang Shan explained that the Turing Machine was the origin of computers and Inner Power, and began recounting its mathematical significance.

Xiang Shan explained that Inner Power let a human brain command computers and resist their control, then taught Youji to use the Turing Halting Problem as a way to test whether they were trapped in a simulation. The test confirmed that the machine, Youji, and Xiang Shan were real, and Xiang Shan turned to rebuilding his prosthetic body.

• Xiang Shan contrasted the limits of computers with the human Biological Brain and described the computational problems machines could not solve.
• Xiang Shan told Youji that Inner Power used the brain to command computers, resist hackers, and escape the control of those in power.
• Xiang Shan made a mechanical Turing Machine from perforated metal strips and instructed Youji to turn its handle.
• The machine halted, and Xiang Shan explained how the Turing Halting Problem could be used to cut through illusions generated by a Turing Machine.
• Xiang Shan concluded that he and Youji were real, rubbed Youji's head, and resumed his plans to rebuild his prosthetic body.

Xiang Shan taught Youji how visualization and Inner Power could help a Vagrant resist virtual reality, then began explaining why Vagrants existed. The chapter left Xiang Shan introducing Mozi’s principle of Universal Love, Mutual Benefit.

• Xiang Shan used a mechanical Turing Machine and visualization to awaken a seed of Inner Power, then concluded that the task was finished.
• Youji asked Xiang Shan to teach him how to become a Vagrant, explaining that he wanted freedom and the chance to live differently.
• Xiang Shan warned Youji that learning about Vagrants could make peaceful ignorance impossible, but Youji chose to hear more.
• Xiang Shan told Youji that Vagrants existed for everyone’s freedom, not so they could do whatever they wanted.
• Xiang Shan described Mozi’s teaching of Universal Love, Mutual Benefit, and Youji was surprised that Mozi had been a real person.

Xiang Shan explained to Youji how Universal Love, law, and martial arts related to the weak resisting the strong. He revealed that cyber martial arts were assassination techniques preserved through decentralized networks, then prepared to teach Youji Inner Power.

• Xiang Shan explained that Universal Love urged Vagrants to help everyone live better, while law could protect people but also serve the ruling class.
• Xiang Shan told Youji that martial arts gave the weak a way to threaten tyrants, though anyone could use the technology.
• Xiang Shan explained that cyber martial arts evolved from Chasseur Tactics and encoded combat algorithms in files stored through blockchain.
• Xiang Shan said that Inner Power and decentralized information technology kept martial arts beyond the strong's control, then announced that Youji would begin learning Inner Power.

Xiang Shan learned how Recycling Station Town’s baby-based welfare system worked and heard that the town might lose Civilization Protection because it had not paid its full tax. The mayor offered to make him a protective shell, while Xiang Shan tried to understand the harsh rules governing the world.

• The mayor visited Xiang Shan, learned he needed a shell, and offered to make one from leftover materials at the town’s 3D furnace.
• Xiang Shan told the mayor he was grateful but asked him to state his purpose directly.
• The mayor explained that a welfare officer would arrive within half a month and that welfare meant babies released from the Human Gene Bank and given to guardians.
• The mayor said the tax officer had not collected the full tax payment, so the town might temporarily lose Civilization Protection.
• Xiang Shan considered how people without Civilization Protection could be treated at the lord’s discretion.

Xiang Shan learned that the town could lose its protection and face attacks from wilderness gangs, then began dismantling Will Grand Dog’s prosthetic body to build a new one. After reading one of its chips, he was surprised to find that he could understand all its data.

• The mayor explained that losing the town’s Civilization Protection would leave its residents vulnerable to bandits, and asked Xiang Shan to help defend them.
• After the mayor left, Xiang Shan called Youji back and began salvaging Will Grand Dog’s prosthetic body for parts.
• Xiang Shan examined the body’s electronic muscles, chips, storage devices, battery, and ethanol-powered internal combustion engine, while Youji explained the rules for disposing of its organic components.
• Xiang Shan removed the repair terminal’s network card and used it to read a driver chip from the prosthetic body.
• Xiang Shan realized that he could understand all the data on the chip, though he thought it should not be possible.

Xiang Shan found that the prosthetic body's drivers were crudely written and lacked proper encapsulation, leaving their users vulnerable to control by those with inner power. He began reprogramming the chips while Yuki disposed of the dog martial artist's brain, leaving Yuki hopeful about becoming a knight-errant.

• Xiang Shan realized that he could understand the advanced-era code, which was still based on C, and wondered whether foundational sciences had stagnated.
• Xiang Shan found no traps or viruses in the drivers and concluded that their lack of encapsulation left the dog martial artist weak and easy for others to control.
• Xiang Shan told Yuki to handle the brain according to local customs and began backing up the medical terminal and entering its operating system.
• Yuki walked through town, imagined becoming a knight-errant, and bumped into Vili, who scolded him before letting him go.
• Yuki threw the wrapped brain into the organic waste recycling tank and left without ceremony.

Vili sought Enoch’s protection after fearing Youji had witnessed his role in pushing Yawg, and Enoch took him toward the city. Meanwhile, Xiang Shan rewrote a terminal’s compiler using an obscure unnamed language that restored more of his knowledge and gave him a way to survive.

• Vili stopped Enoch on the road and begged him not to abandon him after Youji bumped into him.
• Enoch dismissed Vili’s fears about Youji, then offered to take him into the city to keep him from acting against the child.
• Xiang Shan recalled how mathematics, linguistics, and programming shaped the secret languages Vagrants used to strengthen their Inner Power.
• Xiang Shan replaced the terminal’s compiler and realized his Inner Power relied on a difficult unnamed language known to very few people.
• The rewrite unlocked more knowledge, and the terminal restarted as Xiang Shan gained a likely means of survival.

Enoch took Vili to a service station, where Vili became delirious after receiving a brain injection. On the road, outlaw Leif stopped Enoch at gunpoint and said he had heard something interesting about Enoch’s town.

• Enoch recalled his own intense reaction to testosterone injections while Vili lay in the truck bed laughing deliriously.
• A pulley rider latched onto Enoch, and Enoch braked and swerved, throwing Vili onto the road.
• Leif, an outlaw who had lost civilization’s protection, attached himself to Enoch and aimed an electromagnetic gun at Enoch’s brain.
• Enoch recognized Leif and nervously tried to explain that he had not recognized him.
• Leif reassured Enoch that speaking with him was harmless, then asked about Enoch’s hometown, the recycling station town, after mentioning that he had heard something interesting.

Leif coerced Enoch into revealing what he knew about Yawg, then planned to monitor Yawg while waiting for the lord to announce Scrapheap Town’s punishment. Meanwhile, Xiang Shan continued rebuilding a machine from scratch and began teaching Youji programming, while Apennine explained that he wanted Xiang Shan to face the wasteland bandits and prove himself.

• Leif shot Vili dead, threatened Enoch into describing Yawg, and asked him for visual records of Yawg’s past.
• Leif learned that Yawg had been rescued from a junkyard by a child and said the organization would watch him while awaiting the lord’s announcement about Scrapheap Town’s inadequate Gene Tax.
• The secretary told Apennine that Leif’s encounter with Enoch was complete, and Apennine said he wanted Xiang Shan to fight the wasteland bandits so he could judge his growth and performance.
• Xiang Shan rewrote a terminal’s code, tested a canine prosthetic body, and wondered why he had retained so much technical knowledge despite losing his memory devices.
• Youji asked Xiang Shan to teach him programming, and Xiang Shan began explaining that lesson by discussing machines, Turing machines, and mathematics.

Xiang Shan taught Youji Boolean operations as the foundation of cultivating Inner Power, then inspected Youji’s brain chip and found hidden surveillance protocols. He installed defenses and tested the chip, leaving Youji’s prosthetic working normally as he prepared to secure his own.

• Xiang Shan explained to Youji how Boolean operations underlay computers and why mastering them was necessary to cultivate Inner Power.
• After Youji finished the exercises, Xiang Shan examined his brain chip and discovered hidden protocols that could transmit audio or images to the rulers.
• Xiang Shan backed up the chip, blocked remote access through one port with a firewall, replaced its surveillance feed with fabricated images, and erased other protocols.
• Youji tested his prosthetic under Xiang Shan’s instructions and found that its driver chip still worked normally.
• Xiang Shan planned to have Youji help remove and inspect the chip controlling his own prosthetic.