Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “I’m Liu Zheng”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng confronts the deputy director with Deadly Delivery’s delivery slip, threatening revenge against anyone who plotted against him. The deputy director responds with dark humor, revealing that Liu Zheng’s reputation and connections are taken seriously.
• To help Liu Zheng leave the Pink Panther Nightclub without attracting the waiters’ attention, the deputy director ties his tentacles together with elastic rope and pretends they are engaging in a bondage game. The nightclub’s rules protect customers, so the waiters ignore him.
• Liu Zheng reaches the 777 Private Room and discovers insects engaged in a violent, depraved frenzy. Several employees with paper bags over their heads are trapped inside, while Wang Manni uses insecticide to keep the attackers at bay.
• Wang Manni initially assumes Liu Zheng has been captured, but he orders her and the surviving employees to move toward him. The insects recognize him as the deliveryman who destroyed the Eleventh Floor and attack him, hoping to earn promotions.
• Liu Zheng quickly overpowers the insects, discovering that their strength is greatly reduced outside the office building. Wang Manni explains that the management’s power depends on its territory.
• Liu Zheng orders Wang Manni to evacuate the employees, then releases expired large-area insecticide inside the room and seals himself in with the weakened insects. He prepares to finish them while protecting the others from the gas.
• Wang Manni successfully leads the survivors through the nightclub. The waiters initially notice them, but her Chaos Club Membership Card is verified, forcing them to let her pass.
• At the exit, Black Chimpanzee prevents Leopard-Leopard from interfering. Wang Manni and the employees escape the nightclub.
• Outside, the employees discuss Liu Zheng’s reputation and the rumors portraying him as a goat-headed demon covered in explosives. Wang Manni defends him, but when one employee begins repeating dangerous rumors about him, she beheads her and threatens the rest into silence.
• Wang Manni makes clear that she saved the employees only because Liu Zheng wanted them alive. She warns that if Liu Zheng dies, they will die as well, then orders them to wait for further instructions.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng: Demonstrates extreme caution, intimidation, strategic thinking, and overwhelming combat ability. He tests the deputy director’s rope before trusting it, exploits the nightclub’s rules, and willingly traps himself with the insects to give the others time to escape. His declaration—“I’m Liu Zheng”—emphasizes his confidence and growing notoriety.
• The deputy director: Reveals himself as a calculating, pragmatic figure with access to unusual tools and knowledge of the nightclub’s rules. Though he jokes about Liu Zheng’s threats, his cooperation suggests he recognizes Liu Zheng as a dangerous and valuable person.
• Wang Manni: Shows loyalty and emotional attachment to Liu Zheng, while also remaining ruthless and ambitious. She is prepared to avenge him, but she is not sentimental about the employees and kills anyone who might endanger the group through careless speech.
• The employees: Begin as frightened victims but remain suspicious and influenced by rumors about Liu Zheng. Their fear of both the insects and Wang Manni emphasizes their vulnerability.
• Black Chimpanzee and Leopard-Leopard: Black Chimpanzee acts responsibly and understands the danger of the situation, while Leopard-Leopard appears foolish but is actually shrewd, exploiting the situation to gain food and favors.

Significant Themes

• Rules as both protection and weakness: The nightclub’s regulations prevent the waiters from interfering, even when they clearly observe suspicious behavior. Liu Zheng reflects on how rigid rules can undermine an organization, while constantly changing rules can destroy its stability.
• Power depends on territory: The insects are much weaker outside the office building, suggesting that supernatural entities draw strength from their domains and institutional authority.
• Reputation versus reality: Liu Zheng is described through exaggerated rumors as a monstrous, explosive-wielding demon, but his actual behavior is more controlled and strategic. His reputation nevertheless becomes a weapon against his enemies.
• Loyalty and exploitation: Wang Manni protects the employees because Liu Zheng commands it, not because she values them. Her loyalty to Liu Zheng coexists with a willingness to kill or manipulate others.
• Violence and survival: Nearly every character operates according to self-preservation, ambition, or predation. Trust is rare, and survival depends on strength, cunning, or knowledge of the rules.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the deputy director exchange veiled threats and sarcastic humor, establishing mutual caution and respect.
• The deputy director assists Liu Zheng by disguising his escape as a private, customer-protected activity.
• Liu Zheng and Wang Manni coordinate during the attack: he holds off the insects while she escorts the employees away.
• Wang Manni’s concern for Liu Zheng becomes clear when she promises that anyone responsible for his death will share his fate.
• The nightclub waiters remain passive because of institutional rules and Wang Manni’s verified membership.
• Wang Manni dominates the rescued employees after the escape, killing one for repeating rumors and forcing the others to obey while they await Liu Zheng’s outcome.

Chapter Summary: “Your Defenses Are a Little Lax”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After escaping the disaster, Wang Manni and the employees wait outside the nightclub, anticipating Liu Zheng’s actions.
• An explosion erupts from the fifth floor, confirming that Liu Zheng has begun fighting. Wang Manni quickly orders the employees to leave so they will not hinder him.
• Inside private room 777, Liu Zheng survives an attack by fire-spitting bugs. He uses expired insecticide, which weakens and frightens the bugs, causing them to panic and accidentally trigger an explosion that kills them and destroys the room.
• Liu Zheng emerges injured but immediately treats the incident as a delivery-related dispute. He convinces the club servers to take him to private room 666, where the Sheep Supervisor and Deputy Director Li are waiting.
• The Sheep Supervisor confronts Liu Zheng over the destruction and deaths. Liu Zheng insists that he acted in self-defense and claims the bugs attacked him first.
• He uses a mixture of shamelessness, technicalities, threats, and humor to shift responsibility:
  • He claims he “fell” into the room through an “on-purpose accident.”
  • He argues that the dead guests had delayed his delivery and therefore deserved punishment.
  • He presents his delivery slip and three Outstanding Employee Memorial Medals as proof that he can avoid penalties for a failed delivery.
• Liu Zheng also implies that he has powerful enemies and extensive preparations, warning that stopping him would be troublesome. The Deputy Director silently confirms that Liu Zheng is dangerous and well-connected.
• To settle matters, Liu Zheng offers compensation. He cuts a piece of flesh from his own body and gives it to the Sheep Supervisor, who accepts it as sufficient payment.
• The Sheep Supervisor refuses to let Liu Zheng leave through the front door and directs him to a window protected by White Magic defenses supposedly equivalent to 800 millimeters of armor.
• Liu Zheng shatters the reinforced window with one slash, mocks the club’s defenses as inadequate, and escapes. The Sheep Supervisor tests another window and realizes that Liu Zheng’s strength is genuinely extraordinary.
• Once outside, Liu Zheng admits that his confident performance was partly an act. He is badly wounded and recognizes that he is not yet strong enough to leave openly without relying on intimidation and deception.
• He calls Wang Manni, who confirms that the employees survived except for one woman she killed for insulting him. Liu Zheng approves of her action, reassures her that his injury is minor, and refuses her offer to come help him before walking toward his sports car.

Character Development

• Liu Zheng demonstrates exceptional combat ability, resourcefulness, and psychological manipulation. He survives the explosion, exploits loopholes in the club’s rules, and intimidates the Sheep Supervisor despite being injured.
• His confidence is partly revealed to be performative. Privately, Liu Zheng acknowledges that he is still too weak to rely solely on force and must compensate with preparation, bluffing, and negotiation.
• Liu Zheng also shows a ruthless but practical attitude toward violence. He treats the deaths as justified by the delayed delivery and remains focused on completing his job.
• Wang Manni acts decisively and responsibly by evacuating the employees once Liu Zheng starts fighting. Her concern for him becomes clear during their phone call, and her willingness to kill someone who insulted him suggests growing loyalty and protectiveness.
• Sheep Supervisor shifts from irritation and hostility to wary respect. It recognizes Liu Zheng as a dangerous elite Deliveryman and chooses compromise over escalation.
• Deputy Director Li remains calm and pragmatic. He accepts responsibility for compensation and appears to understand Liu Zheng’s reputation better than the Sheep Supervisor does.
• The employees survive the incident, reinforcing Liu Zheng and Wang Manni’s success in protecting them despite the chaos.

Significant Themes

• Strength hidden beneath performance: Liu Zheng’s outward confidence conceals real physical weakness and injury, showing how reputation and acting can be as valuable as power.
• Negotiation through intimidation: Liu Zheng repeatedly turns a disastrous situation to his advantage by exploiting rules, invoking his reputation, and making others fear the consequences of opposing him.
• The importance of preparation: His delivery slip, medals, tools, and knowledge of institutional loopholes allow him to escape situations that raw strength alone might not resolve.
• Violence treated as ordinary business: In this world, murder, compensation, deliveries, and workplace disputes are merged into a bizarre but accepted social system.
• Loyalty and protection: Wang Manni’s actions and concern for Liu Zheng show a deepening bond, while Liu Zheng’s approval of her retaliation reinforces their mutual loyalty.
• Reputation and survival: The Sheep Supervisor’s final respect reflects the chapter’s emphasis on elite survivors being judged by both their power and their intelligence.

Character Interactions

• Wang Manni coordinates the employees’ retreat and later checks on Liu Zheng by phone.
• Liu Zheng manipulates the servers by invoking the Sheep Supervisor’s name and forcing them to treat him as a legitimate guest.
• His verbal sparring with the Sheep Supervisor changes from mutual hostility to a pragmatic alliance, culminating in exchanged phone numbers and a warning to keep the incident secret.
• Liu Zheng and Deputy Director Li negotiate responsibility for the deaths and compensation, with Li quietly supporting the Sheep Supervisor’s assessment of Liu Zheng’s danger.
• Wang Manni reveals that she killed an employee who insulted Liu Zheng; instead of objecting, Liu Zheng praises her, strengthening their bond.
• The chapter ends with the Sheep Supervisor recognizing Liu Zheng’s elite status while Liu Zheng privately acknowledges the limits of his current strength.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng confronts Yaksha, a powerful Dark Elf witch and leader, outside his car. Their exchange begins with mutual mockery, as Yaksha accuses him of provoking her and Liu Zheng ridicules the Dark Elves’ worship of the war god Bloodhand Kane.
• Yaksha explains that the Dark Elves in Metropolis suffer from a severe shortage of sacrificial victims. Unlike in Naggarond, their activities and sacrifices are restricted by City Hall, and their declining population makes it difficult to satisfy their god’s demands.
• Liu Zheng reminds Yaksha that he has not yet fulfilled his promise to take the Dark Elves to Mount Oe. He also threatens to use his connections with City Hall, the Market Supervision Bureau, and Public Security to expose their slave-trading and tax-evasion practices.
• He strengthens the threat by revealing that he rescued Mermaid Princess Kova and possesses information about a mermaid-trafficking ring. He could trade this information to City Hall in exchange for a joint operation against the Dark Elves.
• Rather than fight, Yaksha weighs the risks. Liu Zheng proposes that she become his “friend” by escorting him safely back to the Bloodstained Restaurant.
• As payment, Liu Zheng offers fragments of a monk’s Golden Body, hoping they can serve as a sacrifice to Bloodhand Kane. Yaksha initially criticizes the offering but implicitly accepts that it may be usable.
• Yaksha formally declares a friendship—or, more accurately, a truce—by performing a Dark Elf blood oath. Liu Zheng reluctantly drinks blood from her dagger, then cuts his own chest so she can drink his blood.
• After the oath, Yaksha joins Liu Zheng in the passenger seat and escorts him to the Bloodstained Restaurant. Liu Zheng reiterates that he will take the Dark Elves to Mount Oe within the week.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates increasing confidence, cunning, and shamelessness. Despite his weakened condition, he relies on political leverage, threats, humor, and negotiation rather than brute force.
• He shows that he understands how to exploit Metropolis’s bureaucratic systems and rival factions. His rescue of the Mermaid Princess gives him influence far beyond that of an ordinary resident.
• Liu Zheng also reveals his willingness to use dangerous or morally questionable methods, including trading information, threatening government action, and treating the remains of a powerful monk as a commodity.
• Yaksha is established as both violent and highly intelligent. Although she wants to kill Liu Zheng and sees him as a potential sacrifice, she recognizes the strategic danger of doing so.
• Her decision to accept a truce shows pragmatism and restraint. She prioritizes the survival and political security of her people over her personal desire for revenge.
• Yaksha’s envy of Liu Zheng’s position at the Bloodstained Restaurant also reveals the Dark Elves’ precarious status in Metropolis. However, she refuses to risk her people by sending them to work at the Restaurant.

3. Significant Themes

• Power through connections rather than strength: Liu Zheng is physically vulnerable, but his relationships with City Hall, the Restaurant, and other factions give him substantial leverage.
• Civilization versus barbarism: The Dark Elves retain their violent religious customs, but in Metropolis they must obey taxes, population regulations, bureaucracy, and municipal law.
• Pragmatism over hostility: Both characters are willing to suppress hatred when cooperation is more beneficial than conflict.
• Bureaucratic modernization: Even divine commands and ancient customs must be adapted to Metropolis’s legal and administrative systems.
• Trust, promises, and coercion: Their “friendship” is not based on affection but on mutually enforced promises, threats, and a ritualized blood oath.
• Cultural misunderstanding and satire: The chapter humorously contrasts Dark Elf traditions—sacrifices, blood oaths, and slavery—with Liu Zheng’s modern ideas about taxation, business, driving, and government agencies.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Yaksha constantly insult and challenge each other, creating a hostile but witty dynamic.
• Yaksha threatens Liu Zheng with violence, while he counters with sarcasm and political blackmail.
• Liu Zheng uses his knowledge of the Dark Elves’ illegal activities to make Yaksha take him seriously.
• Their negotiation shifts from confrontation to reluctant cooperation when Liu Zheng offers the Golden Body fragments and proposes a truce.
• The blood oath transforms their relationship from open hostility into an uneasy alliance. Yaksha agrees to escort Liu Zheng, while he promises to fulfill his obligation to take the Dark Elves to Mount Oe.
• The final car ride emphasizes their new dynamic: Yaksha assumes the role of passenger and protector, while Liu Zheng remains the irreverent, controlling negotiator.

Chapter Summary: “Cow-Horse: Don’t Mess with My Wife!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng encounters Cow-Horse leaving the restaurant to deliver a late-night order. They exchange their usual sarcastic banter, while Cow-Horse notices Yaksha accompanying Liu and becomes suspicious of their relationship.
• Liu and Yaksha debate the differences between short-lived and long-lived species, with Liu mocking the supposed wisdom of long-lived beings. Yaksha gives him her contact information before disappearing into darkness using her mysterious ability.
• Liu considers asking Yaksha to help oppose the Jorden Family but decides against it, fearing she might betray him for the favor of a powerful family connected to a former Councillor and possibly the Dark Elves.
• Exhausted after recent battles and deliveries, Liu sleeps in Cow-Horse’s haystack and dreams of taking over the Delivery Department. The next morning, Cow-Horse catches him, leading to more comedic threats and arguments.
• Ghost Hand arrives, and Liu feeds him dried fish while checking the next delivery order: a Magma Strawberry Cake for Workers’ New City.
• Cow-Horse recognizes the destination and secretly reveals that his wife lives there. He takes the order initially, but when summoned to a department-head meeting, he reluctantly entrusts the delivery to Liu.
• Cow-Horse gives Liu instructions to visit his wife at Building 8, Room 404, bring fruit from the Busy Hours shop, and identify himself as the bearer of Cow-Horse’s Paradise Island Vacation Voucher. He warns Liu not to pursue his wife and asks him to help her if trouble arises.
• After Cow-Horse leaves, Liu examines two useful items: Longjing Shrimp with Pig Heart, which doubles the effectiveness of aggressive rhetoric, and the Swearword Compendium, which generates race-specific insults. He realizes that combining them could turn any argument into a deadly confrontation.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues adapting to his monstrous new form and dangerous life in Metropolis. Though he dislikes becoming less human, he is increasingly practical about survival and more confident in handling supernatural situations.
• Liu demonstrates loyalty to Cow-Horse despite their constant insults. He refuses to pry into Cow-Horse’s secrets and accepts responsibility for visiting and protecting his wife.
• Cow-Horse is shown to be fiercely protective, secretive, and deeply attached to his wife. His aggressive threats conceal embarrassment and genuine concern. He also implicitly acknowledges Liu as a brother who has shared life-and-death experiences with him.
• Yaksha remains mysterious and cautious. She forms a tentative friendship with Liu but is still viewed by him as potentially opportunistic and untrustworthy.
• Ghost Hand remains a quiet, strange presence in the Delivery Department, participating mostly through silent actions.

Significant Themes

• Friendship expressed through conflict: Liu and Cow-Horse constantly insult and threaten each other, but their behavior reveals mutual trust and brotherly loyalty.
• Trust and secrecy: Liu chooses not to question Cow-Horse’s private affairs, while also withholding his plans against the Jorden Family from Yaksha because political alliances are uncertain.
• Identity and humanity: Liu’s discomfort with his altered body and repeated transformations reflects his fear of losing his human nature, even as he becomes more accustomed to his new abilities.
• Power versus style: Liu envies Yaksha’s elegant shadow ability and worries that his own powers are crude and explosive, highlighting his desire not only for strength but also for supernatural sophistication.
• Comedy amid danger: Threats of murder, marital jealousy, workplace rivalry, and potentially lethal magical items are treated as ordinary workplace interactions, creating a darkly comic tone.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu and Cow-Horse trade insults about delivery work, authority, sleeping in the haystack, and Cow-Horse’s inability to defeat Ghost Hand.
• Liu and Yaksha argue over the intelligence of different species before exchanging contact information.
• Liu reassures Cow-Horse that he respects him and treats him like a brother, forcing Cow-Horse to soften briefly before returning to his usual bluster.
• Cow-Horse awkwardly asks Liu to visit his wife and protect her if necessary, then immediately threatens him over the possibility of romantic interest.
• Liu’s discovery of the rhetoric-enhancing food item and the Swearword Compendium adds a comic but potentially dangerous new tool to his arsenal.

Chapter Summary: The Hard Thing in the Delivery Passage

Key Plot Points and Events

• After retrieving the two divine artifacts, Liu Zheng opens the meal box from the food cart and finds a Magma Strawberry Cake. Although labeled “Excellent,” it only inflicts the negative Burn status when eaten. Liu Zheng decides to keep it as a possible weapon and stores it in his Legendary Delivery Box.
• While returning through the Delivery Passage, Liu Zheng notices it is unusually narrow and contracting around him. Rather than attacking, he uses his tentacles to search the walls and discovers a hidden object.
• He extracts a small porcelain jar with a golden scholar figurine on its lid. The passage relaxes after he removes it, confirming that it deliberately wanted him to take the jar.
• A pickup truck arrives, provided by the driver known as the Colonel. The Colonel jokingly scolds Liu Zheng for failing to inform him about the previous day’s explosion, revealing his enthusiasm for explosions and his desire to be included in future incidents.
• Liu Zheng drives to Nile Doctor’s clinic, bringing dried fish for the Sphinx guarding the entrance.
• At the clinic, Nile Doctor is treating a dwarf whose enormous genital organ has grown parasitically, draining his vitality. The doctor plans to remove it and replace it with a much smaller one. The absurd discussion becomes darkly humorous when the dwarf faints after learning the replacement’s size.
• Liu Zheng shows Nile Doctor the porcelain jar. The doctor identifies it as a medicine jar for Diyega, a drug made primarily from Toothbird Opium and various additives.
• Nile Doctor identifies several likely ingredients—birthwort, asphalt, rue, and vetch—but cannot determine the complete formula. He gives Liu Zheng an address for an expert who can identify it, warning that the person is greedy and will charge heavily.
• The chapter ends as Nile Doctor asks about Liu Zheng’s second reason for visiting.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to demonstrate caution, resourcefulness, and politeness even in bizarre or dangerous situations. He avoids wasting the Magma Strawberry Cake, solves the Delivery Passage’s obstruction without violence, and carefully investigates the porcelain jar.
• He also shows growing awareness of social and political relationships. He avoids bringing Niu Daji along because Cow-Horse does not yet trust him, indicating that Liu Zheng is mindful of how trust must be built.
• The Colonel is characterized as an eccentric explosion enthusiast. His complaint that Liu Zheng excluded him from the previous explosion suggests he values their relationship and views destructive incidents as enjoyable opportunities.
• Nile Doctor remains pragmatic, morally flexible, and grotesquely inventive. He treats dangerous body conditions without concern for conventional ethics and is already considering how the removed organ might be repurposed medically.
• The dwarf patient’s condition reveals the extreme biological abnormalities common in Metropolis and reinforces Nile Doctor’s willingness to perform drastic procedures.
• Liu Zheng briefly considers obtaining the parasitic organ for Britannia but rejects the idea, showing restraint and an awareness of the dangers of involving powerful people in unpredictable schemes.

Significant Themes

• Absurdity and dark humor: The chapter repeatedly contrasts medical danger and bodily horror with comedic dialogue, especially the dwarf’s treatment and Nile Doctor’s casual attitude toward the enormous organ.
• Utility in dangerous objects: Liu Zheng evaluates even harmful items for possible practical uses. The Magma Strawberry Cake, despite its purely negative effect when eaten, might serve as a weapon.
• Trust and relationships: The conversation about Niu Daji emphasizes that alliances in Metropolis depend on repeated interaction and earned trust rather than simple associations.
• Morality versus pragmatism: Nile Doctor’s approach treats dangerous substances and body parts as tools that can be repurposed. Liu Zheng questions the ethics of this but often admits the logic behind it.
• Mystery and obligation: The Delivery Passage’s gift of the porcelain jar suggests that supernatural or semi-sentient forces are directing Liu Zheng toward a task. He suspects he must identify the medicine inside to satisfy the being that provided it.
• The gap between appearance and reality: The ordinary-looking jar contains traces of a complex narcotic formula, while the seemingly healthy dwarf is actually being slowly killed by a parasitic growth.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the Delivery Passage: Their silent exchange functions almost like a negotiation. The passage traps him, but releases him once he retrieves the hidden jar.
• Liu Zheng and the Colonel: Their teasing conversation establishes mutual familiarity. The Colonel’s exaggerated anger reflects affection and a desire to participate in Liu Zheng’s dangerous activities.
• Liu Zheng and the Sphinx: Liu Zheng feeds it dried fish and restrains himself from petting it, showing the casual routines and unusual creatures that have become part of his life.
• Liu Zheng and Nile Doctor: Their relationship is based on practical cooperation, sarcasm, and mutual tolerance. Liu Zheng trusts the doctor’s expertise while frequently challenging his questionable medical ethics.
• Nile Doctor and the dwarf: The doctor treats the dwarf’s life-threatening condition bluntly, while the dwarf reacts with fear and embarrassment to the planned replacement. Their interaction highlights the chapter’s blend of grotesque medicine and comedy.
• Liu Zheng and Nile Doctor regarding Diyega: Nile Doctor provides crucial information and a referral, while Liu Zheng seeks to uncover the jar’s full formula without personally experimenting with the drug.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng decides that his next task is to find Xiaomei and asks the cleaner to help him clean the Bloodstained Restaurant’s elevator.
• The cleaner is initially frightened by the idea of entering the Restaurant, but agrees because of her loyalty to Liu Zheng and her belief that he saved her life. Liu Zheng promises to protect her and provide for her two sons if she dies.
• Nile Doctor offers her a room, but Liu Zheng jokes that it should be reserved for Sesha’s boyfriend. The doctor becomes annoyed, and Liu Zheng suspects that he has bet on Xiaomei in an ongoing wager.
• Liu Zheng gives the cleaner an elevator button and money to purchase supplies, instructing her to remind the elevator that it is replaceable if it causes trouble.
• On his way to Workers’ New City, Liu Zheng is stopped by a large group of City Hall Green Vests. Unlike his previous encounter, he cannot simply evade them, so he cooperates and uses money, flattery, and his official connections to avoid serious trouble.
• The Green Vest discovers that Liu Zheng lacks a driver’s license and issues him fines. Liu Zheng willingly pays and presents himself as a model citizen and cooperative business employee.
• During the inspection, Liu Zheng refuses to reveal his delivery destination, claiming it is a trade secret, but praises the Green Vest’s “law enforcement with strength and warmth.”
• Impressed by Liu Zheng’s eloquence and writing ability, the Green Vest asks him to write the brigade’s annual work summary. Liu Zheng agrees in exchange for the Green Vest remembering him and helping if possible.
• The Green Vest gives Liu Zheng their identification number and contact information, warning him not to pick up suspicious people or objects because the roads have recently become dangerous.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to demonstrate resourcefulness, confidence, and social adaptability. He combines threats, money, flattery, professional knowledge, and humor to navigate dangerous or bureaucratic situations.
• He shows genuine responsibility toward the cleaner by promising to protect her and care for her children if she dies.
• Liu Zheng’s extensive network across Metropolis becomes clearer, including connections to City Hall, the Bloodstained Restaurant, the Sewer, the Cemetery, the Red Witch Board-Game Hall, and Bathhouse Street.
• The cleaner reveals strong loyalty and emotional dependence on Liu Zheng. Though afraid, she insists on accepting the dangerous assignment because she trusts him and does not want him to replace her.
• Nile Doctor appears protective of his hospitality and irritated by Liu Zheng’s teasing references to Sesha.
• The Green Vest shifts from suspicious inspector to friendly acquaintance. Their admiration for Liu Zheng grows after seeing his cooperation, eloquence, and practical skills.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and dependence: The cleaner’s willingness to risk her life for Liu Zheng shows how deeply she trusts him, while Liu Zheng accepts responsibility for her safety and family.
• Power through relationships: Liu Zheng survives because of his connections and his ability to create new alliances, rather than relying only on force.
• Bureaucracy and social performance: The traffic inspection becomes a satire of official procedures, paperwork, hierarchy, and favoritism. Liu Zheng succeeds by performing the role of an exemplary citizen.
• Pragmatism and moral flexibility: Bribery, flattery, threats, and genuine kindness all coexist in Liu Zheng’s methods. He is willing to exploit the system while also cooperating with it.
• Humor amid danger: Serious threats involving the Restaurant, death, and official punishment are undercut by jokes about cleaning, paperwork, family connections, and exile to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the cleaner share an awkward but affectionate exchange, with her expressing both embarrassment and devotion. Their relationship becomes more emotionally intimate when she asks him to care for her sons.
• Liu Zheng and Nile Doctor trade sarcastic remarks, especially over the doctor’s offer of lodging and his daughter Sesha.
• Liu Zheng and the Green Vest gradually move from an official inspection to mutual exploitation and friendship: Liu Zheng pays fines and offers praise, while the Green Vest provides contact information and informal assistance.
• Their conversation reveals Liu Zheng’s talent for manipulating social dynamics. He flatters the Green Vest’s future prospects, while the Green Vest praises Liu Zheng as humble, capable, and unlike a typical Bloodstained Restaurant employee.
• The chapter ends with Liu Zheng leaving the inspection successfully, having gained both freedom of movement and a potentially useful new City Hall connection.

Chapter Summary: “Demon Fruit?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng reflects on the increasingly tense and lively atmosphere in the Metropolis, wondering whether Cow-Horse’s meeting and the arrival of players are connected.
• He travels through several inspection checkpoints. Thanks to JJ577’s influence and Liu Zheng’s money, he passes without trouble and arrives at Workers’ New City.
• Liu Zheng visits Busy Hours Fruit Shop, a chain store marked by a flaming-pineapple emblem, to buy food suitable for female livestock—particularly Female Cow-Horse.
• His first interaction with a durian-headed clerk becomes confrontational when the clerk makes a dismissive remark about his species. Liu Zheng demands an apology, but the manager explains that apologies are reserved for “customers,” prompting Liu Zheng to make a purchase so he can qualify as the shop’s “dad.”
• The manager introduces Liu Zheng to three grades of unusual fruit:
  • Oil-Tank Pineapple: A cheap, foul-tasting fruit that causes the eater’s pores to secrete protective oil, shielding the body from toxic gases and liquids. Liu Zheng buys a box.
  • Dream Cucumber: A hammer-shaped fruit with a mild, pleasant flavor that improves sleep and promotes good dreams. Liu Zheng buys one hundred, anticipating that Cow-Horse and Female Cow-Horse will have large appetites.
  • Angel Fruit: A rare, expensive-looking black-purple fruit with spiral patterns. It improves female creatures’ physical constitution and nutrition, lowers the risk of abnormal embryos, enhances offspring talent, and may remove hereditary diseases or inherited curses during pregnancy.
• The chapter ends with Liu Zheng shocked by the Angel Fruit’s effects and questioning why Cow-Horse never mentioned such an extraordinary product.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates resourcefulness, generosity, and practical concern for Cow-Horse and Female Cow-Horse. He is willing to spend heavily on useful food, even when he does not know whether they will enjoy it.
• His personality remains sarcastic and confrontational. He challenges the clerk’s attitude and openly mocks the shop’s bizarre fruit names, especially the “Dream Cucumber” and “Angel Fruit.”
• Despite his complaints, Liu Zheng is fair-minded: he agrees to pay after sampling the Dream Cucumber and considers how different creatures might benefit from each fruit.
• The fruit-shop manager is revealed as commercially aggressive but competent. He quickly defends the store’s interests, reprimands his nephew, and shifts smoothly into enthusiastic salesmanship.
• The durian-headed clerk, apparently the manager’s nephew, is reprimanded for antagonizing a potential customer and sent to clean the storeroom.
• Cow-Horse and Female Cow-Horse do not appear directly, but their needs motivate Liu Zheng’s entire visit and purchases.

Significant Themes

• Commercial absurdity and social satire: The fruit shop treats racial discrimination, customer service, family favoritism, and salesmanship in exaggeratedly casual ways, reflecting the Metropolis’s normalized inequality.
• Racial hierarchy and discrimination: The narration emphasizes that the Metropolis openly classifies species into social ranks and does not legally prohibit discrimination.
• Practical value over appearance or taste: The fruits are bizarre, unattractive, or unpleasant, yet their special effects make them valuable. Liu Zheng judges them primarily by usefulness.
• Care and responsibility: Liu Zheng’s purchases suggest concern for the health, comfort, and possible offspring of Female Cow-Horse, even though he approaches the matter with humor.
• Mystery and foreshadowing: The exceptional properties of the Angel Fruit raise questions about Cow-Horse’s knowledge, the fruit’s rarity, and why such an important item was not previously mentioned.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the inspection groups: He passes through the checkpoints by invoking JJ577’s name and using money, highlighting the importance of influence and wealth in the Metropolis.
• Liu Zheng and the durian-headed clerk: Their exchange escalates from a sales inquiry into a dispute over disrespect and species-based discrimination.
• Liu Zheng and the manager: The manager alternates between defending his employee, explaining the shop’s cynical “customer is your dad” policy, and aggressively promoting products. Their interaction is tense but commercially successful.
• The manager and his nephew: The manager scolds the clerk for driving away potential customers, reminds him that family ties are the only reason he remains employed, and orders him to clean the storeroom.
• Liu Zheng and the fruits: Through tasting and questioning, Liu Zheng evaluates each product carefully before making increasingly larger purchases, culminating in his strong interest in the Angel Fruit.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng visits a Busy Hours fruit store to investigate the newly launched Angel Fruit, which is advertised as having remarkable effects.
• He calls Silver Wolf to confirm whether the product has passed official testing. Silver Wolf confirms that it is legal and safe, but its effects are exaggerated and become weaker for more extraordinary races.
• Liu Zheng uses this information to pressure the store manager into compensating him with a Chaos Club Membership Card. He also purchases one hundred Angel Fruits for 50,000, enough to supply Female Cow-Horse for some time.
• The store manager waives the cost, presenting the purchase as a personal gesture. Liu Zheng accepts while recognizing the manager’s clever, flexible business style.
• While waiting, Liu Zheng samples a complex fruit juice and gives honest feedback, saying its flavor is too complicated.
• The store manager gives Liu Zheng a Chaos Club Membership Card and explains that it can be shared by up to three people. He also agrees to deliver the fruit to Workers’ New City, despite Liu Zheng not being a resident.
• The manager brings out Durian Head, who previously offended Liu Zheng, and offers him a dangerous supernatural fruit knife so Liu Zheng can punish him.
• Liu Zheng slices off a small piece of Durian Head’s flesh with exceptional precision, demonstrating his confidence in his knife skills. He warns Durian Head not to disrespect the Bloodstained Restaurant’s uniform again.
• The store’s clerk drives Liu Zheng and the fruit toward the residential complex. A guard initially refuses entry, but the clerk uses bribery and threats to get them inside.
• Liu Zheng has the clerk unload the fruit near Building 6, then secretly transports it to Building 8, Room 404.
• At the apartment, he meets Female Cow-Horse, who is dressed casually after showering. She welcomes him inside and pulls the heavy cart into the room herself with her hoof.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Zheng shows increasing caution and responsibility, especially because the Angel Fruit may affect his pregnant boss and her child. He verifies the product’s safety before buying it.
• He also displays his usual boldness and shrewdness, exploiting the store’s incomplete advertising disclosure to negotiate valuable compensation.
• Liu Zheng’s confidence in his knife skills is reinforced when he effortlessly cuts Durian Head’s flesh with exact precision. He remains intimidating but limits the punishment to a single slice.
• The store manager is revealed to be highly adaptable and commercially clever. He avoids direct accountability, quickly offers compensation, flatters Liu Zheng, and manipulates situations to preserve the store’s reputation.
• Durian Head becomes frightened and submissive after being punished. His hostility toward Liu Zheng is replaced by reluctant obedience.
• The orange-headed clerk proves resourceful and shameless, using money, bluffing, and quick thinking to overcome the residential guard.
• Female Cow-Horse appears comfortable and welcoming toward Liu Zheng. Her willingness to handle the cart herself also highlights her physical strength and considerate nature.

3. Significant Themes

• Caution and responsibility: Liu Zheng refuses to trust advertising when the Angel Fruit could affect an important pregnancy, so he confirms its safety through official channels.
• Commerce and manipulation: The store manager uses partial truths, exaggerated claims, compensation, and customer service tactics to retain Liu Zheng as a high-value customer.
• Power and intimidation: Liu Zheng’s uniform and association with the Bloodstained Restaurant give him authority, allowing him to pressure the store and intimidate Durian Head and the security guard.
• Humor through absurdity: The chapter combines dangerous supernatural objects, severe flesh-cutting punishments, bribery, and ordinary retail interactions for comedic effect.
• Skill and precision: Liu Zheng’s confidence in his knife technique becomes a literal display of competence, contrasting his casual attitude with the deadly nature of the weapon.
• Social flexibility: Characters navigate problems through bargaining, flattery, threats, and bribery rather than straightforward rules.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the store manager engage in a negotiation built on mutual calculation: Liu Zheng exposes the fruit’s exaggerated claims, while the manager compensates him to prevent complaints.
• Liu Zheng’s call with Silver Wolf provides an outside verification of Angel Fruit’s legality and limitations.
• The store manager uses Durian Head’s punishment to flatter Liu Zheng and reinforce the store’s relationship with him.
• Liu Zheng intimidates Durian Head but gives him a controlled punishment, establishing dominance without causing excessive damage.
• The clerk and residential guard clash over delivery rules, with the clerk successfully using bribes and bluffing to gain entry.
• Liu Zheng’s arrival at Female Cow-Horse’s apartment is warmer and more cordial. He presents the fruit as a polite gift, and she welcomes him as a guest, creating a contrast with his confrontational interactions at the store.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng visits Female Cow-Horse, the wife of his colleague and friend Cow-Horse, bringing valuable Oil-Tank Pineapples, Dream Cucumbers, and Angel Fruits as thanks for Cow-Horse’s help.
• Female Cow-Horse initially refuses the gifts, comparing Liu Zheng to a powerful general whose kindness might eventually place her husband in deadly danger. She believes Liu Zheng is ambitious, capable, and destined to surpass Cow-Horse.
• Liu Zheng reassures her that Cow-Horse is brave and will continue risking himself regardless of whether she accepts the fruit. He also argues that becoming a hero may be worthwhile in Metropolis, especially because Cow-Horse is trying to pay the Household Registration Tax and protect their future child.
• Female Cow-Horse eventually accepts the fruit but warns Liu Zheng not to interfere in a work-related problem she is handling herself. She gives him a strange item, Dog-Fart Plaster, which absorbs damage and releases it as poison-element area damage.
• Liu Zheng exchanges contact information with her and gives her a Busy Hours membership card, promising to help if she encounters serious trouble.
• He leaves with thirty minutes remaining on a delivery and heads to Building 6, Room 202. When the occupant refuses to accept the delivery, Liu Zheng uses deception, disguising his voice and pretending to be a fruit-store promoter offering free samples.
• The occupant opens the door and is revealed to be a Mountain Ogre, who immediately recognizes Liu Zheng as a Bloodstained Restaurant deliveryman and attacks him.
• Liu Zheng attempts to pacify the Mountain Ogre by offering the expensive fruits. After handing them over, he jokingly threatens to blow up the ogre’s factory if he refuses to sign for the delivery.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates generosity, strategic thinking, boldness, and a willingness to use deception rather than violence when convenient. He also shows concern for Cow-Horse’s family and a growing sense of responsibility toward his friends.
• Female Cow-Horse is revealed to be perceptive, intelligent, protective, and skeptical of Liu Zheng’s motives. She understands both her husband’s limitations and his loyalty, while worrying that Liu Zheng’s influence may draw him into dangerous struggles.
• Cow-Horse, though absent, is characterized as hardworking, loyal, courageous, and determined to support his family despite lacking ambition and academic interest.
• The Mountain Ogre appears suspicious, aggressive, financially practical, and protective of his household. Despite his hostility, his interest in the valuable fruit gives Liu Zheng leverage.
• Female Cow-Horse’s unnamed spouse/household member shows a gentler contrast to the Mountain Ogre’s rough behavior, though the ogre treats her harshly.

Significant Themes

• Power and destiny: Female Cow-Horse fears that Liu Zheng’s abilities will elevate him and pull Cow-Horse into increasingly dangerous situations.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Cow-Horse’s willingness to endure hardship for Liu Zheng and his family reflects the strength of brotherhood and obligation.
• Survival in a harsh society: The discussion of heroes, villains, taxes, and abnormal children emphasizes how difficult life is in Metropolis.
• Pragmatism versus idealism: Liu Zheng advocates taking risks and pursuing a heroic path, while Female Cow-Horse focuses on survival and family security.
• Humor amid danger: Absurd items, exaggerated threats, deceptive sales tactics, and the Dog-Fart Plaster provide comic relief within a violent and precarious world.
• Violence as a last resort: Liu Zheng prefers manipulation, negotiation, and bribery when possible, though he remains fully prepared to use force.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Female Cow-Horse have a respectful but cautious conversation. She challenges his intentions, while he tries to reassure and persuade her.
• Their exchange reveals mutual concern for Cow-Horse, though Female Cow-Horse remains wary of Liu Zheng’s calculating nature.
• Female Cow-Horse’s gift of the Dog-Fart Plaster reflects reluctant acceptance and familial concern.
• At Room 202, Liu Zheng and the Mountain Ogre engage in a battle of suspicion and bargaining. The ogre attacks him, but Liu Zheng shifts the confrontation toward negotiation by using the fruit as an incentive.
• The chapter ends with Liu Zheng combining generosity and intimidation, offering gifts while threatening the Mountain Ogre’s factory to ensure the delivery is properly accepted.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng confronts the Mountain Ogre at the factory and intimidates it into accepting its delivery. He gives the ogre two thousand yuan, warning that refusing the delivery after taking the money would result in its home being destroyed.
• During their conversation, Liu Zheng learns that the Mountain Ogre’s damaged hat—the Weft Hat—is the source of its clan’s strength. For other races, the hat can grant invisibility, but only Mountain Demons can use its full power.
• The Mountain Ogre explains that its hat might be repaired with immense amounts of Flesh, greater strength, or the assistance of the Weaver-Spider Clan. Liu Zheng offers to have Weaver Lady examine it.
• Instead of demanding money for information, Liu Zheng asks the Mountain Ogre to investigate a Female Cow-Horse working at a tutoring center in the residential complex. The ogre agrees and exchanges contact information with him.
• Back at the Bloodstained Restaurant, Liu Zheng reports that he has identified the medicine in a jar and found possible ingredients, though his version of the formula may not be exact. He also notices that the usual meeting in the lounge is still ongoing, suggesting that something serious may be happening.
• Liu Zheng summons Weaver Lady and asks her to repair both the Weft Hat and the damaged coat fragments. She agrees, provided he obtains special thread from one of her relatives.
• Weaver Lady requests an All-Insect Banquet as payment, but Liu Zheng refuses because the only one available has already been eaten. Instead, she creates a large Yarn Ball in exchange for Liu Zheng helping her track down and kill an enemy who once chased and nearly dismembered her.
• Liu Zheng commissions three additional Yarn Balls—one large and two small—for a lesser insect-based reward. The items are revealed to attract cats, with the large ball also reducing feline hostility.
• He plans to give the small Yarn Balls to the Calico Cat and Fool, and the large one to the Sphinx, hoping they will become easier to approach and pet.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to demonstrate his unusual blend of generosity, intimidation, opportunism, and shamelessness. He pays the Mountain Ogre generously but threatens it at the same time, treating coercion and bribery as equally natural tools.
• He becomes increasingly skilled at turning routine deliveries into opportunities for gathering intelligence, acquiring useful items, and forming temporary alliances.
• Liu Zheng shows practical interest in supernatural objects, especially the Weft Hat’s invisibility ability, but remains unwilling to sacrifice valuable resources merely to repair it.
• The Mountain Ogre shifts from defiance to reluctant cooperation. Though suspicious of Liu Zheng, it accepts his money, hands over the Weft Hat, and agrees to investigate the Female Cow-Horse.
• The ogre’s history is expanded: it was once a powerful street fighter, but entered factory work after its hat was damaged by betrayal from one of its own kind.
• Weaver Lady is shown to be physically capable but socially awkward and difficult to communicate with. She is eager to obtain food, especially insects, yet is willing to trade her abilities for suitable compensation.
• Her past victimization is revealed when she explains that an unknown enemy chased her along her own silk and nearly tore out her organs. Her desire for revenge motivates the Yarn Ball request.

Significant Themes

• Coercion mixed with generosity: Liu Zheng repeatedly combines threats, gifts, and business-like transactions, blurring the line between kindness and intimidation.
• Trade and mutual exploitation: Nearly every interaction functions as a negotiation. Money, food, repairs, information, and violence are treated as exchangeable services.
• Human adaptability: The chapter emphasizes Liu Zheng’s ability to improvise and exploit situations. The Mountain Ogre’s comment about “humans” highlights how strange and unpredictable his behavior seems to nonhumans.
• Trust and suspicion: The Mountain Ogre distrusts Liu Zheng even while accepting his help, while Liu Zheng remains willing to cooperate with dangerous beings as long as the arrangement benefits him.
• Communication across species: Liu Zheng struggles to understand Weaver Lady’s “chittering,” forcing them to use gestures and writing. Despite this barrier, they develop an effective commercial relationship.
• Absurdity and dark humor: Threatening to destroy homes, bargaining over money, eating supernatural food, and commissioning assassination through a ball of spider silk are presented as ordinary business matters.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the Mountain Ogre: Their exchange is adversarial but transactional. Liu Zheng intimidates the ogre, pays it, obtains its hat, and recruits it to gather information about the Female Cow-Horse.
• Liu Zheng and Weaver Lady: Their relationship is based on repeated deals. He asks her to repair supernatural objects, while she demands food or assistance with revenge. Their inability to communicate directly creates comic misunderstandings, but Liu Zheng successfully interprets her gestures.
• Weaver Lady and her enemy: Through written explanation, Weaver Lady reveals a personal grudge against someone who pursued her and nearly killed her, setting up a possible future conflict.
• Liu Zheng and the cats: Although the cats do not appear directly, Liu Zheng plans to use the Yarn Balls to reduce their hostility and gain greater freedom to pet and handle them.

Chapter Summary: “Calico Cat: Liu Zheng, I Want It!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng makes a yarn ball for Weaver Lady’s cat-related request. Cow-Horse returns and mocks him for “playing with a yarn ball,” prompting Liu Zheng to explain that it is meant for Calico Cat and the other cats.
• Liu Zheng tells Cow-Horse that he visited Cow-Horse’s wife, bringing fruit and a fruit-shop membership card. He also investigated whether she needed help and learned about her work. Cow-Horse is shocked by Liu Zheng’s excessive generosity, comparing his gifts to the methods used to create loyal followers.
• Cow-Horse reluctantly permits Liu Zheng to investigate the matter, but warns him not to overreact or turn a small issue into a major disaster. Liu Zheng acknowledges that he must now act more carefully because he is helping a friend rather than simply causing chaos for his own benefit.
• Cow-Horse reveals the Restaurant’s latest mission: an employee who went beyond the Borderlands to gather ingredients disappeared after the exit “door” malfunctioned. The Restaurant must send one person from each of its three departments to recover the employee, alive or dead.
• Liu Zheng learns that the mission will likely occur within the week and begins planning extensive preparations, including defensive, controlling, disguising, and life-saving items.
• Liu Zheng asks Cow-Horse to arrange for the Customer Service Department to send the Mummy, whom Nile Doctor wants Liu Zheng to kill for betraying him. Cow-Horse considers helping because of his long friendship with Nile Doctor.
• Liu Zheng worries that Britannia might send Ottawa, whose hidden motives and connection to Legendary Deliveryman make him dangerous outside the Borderlands. Cow-Horse agrees to try to prevent that possibility.
• Cow-Horse and Liu Zheng visit the Kitchen to retrieve Liu Zheng’s cat items and obtain alcohol from Napoleon. Cow-Horse and Napoleon immediately argue over the upcoming mission, blaming each other’s departments for past failures and nearly challenging one another to a fight.
• Liu Zheng mediates between them, apologizing for Cow-Horse’s harsh language.
• Liu Zheng finally finds Calico Cat working seriously in the cat nest. After she finishes expertly cleaning and cutting up a huge fish, he gives her the yarn ball. She becomes instantly obsessed with it and eagerly cries, “I want it!”

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues expanding his role as the Restaurant’s unofficial problem-solver and errand-runner. Though still mischievous and shamelessly opportunistic, he shows increased maturity by recognizing that reckless methods could harm the people he is now trying to help.
• Cow-Horse acts as Liu Zheng’s supervisor and reluctant protector. He criticizes Liu Zheng constantly but trusts his abilities enough to let him investigate sensitive matters. His willingness to help Nile Doctor also reveals his loyalty to longtime friends.
• Nile Doctor remains offscreen but influences the plot through his request for revenge against the Mummy.
• Calico Cat displays an unexpectedly fierce and professional side while preparing fish. Her normal playful laziness disappears during work, replaced by focus, precision, and restrained killing intent. Once she sees the yarn ball, however, she immediately returns to her cute, excitable nature.
• Napoleon is shown to be proud, hot-tempered, and highly competitive. His feud with Cow-Horse reflects longstanding departmental tensions.
• Ottawa/Big White Goose becomes a source of suspicion for Liu Zheng. Liu Zheng no longer trusts strength alone and is increasingly alert to hidden political schemes.
• Weaver Lady’s situation continues indirectly through Liu Zheng’s efforts to make the yarn ball and investigate Cow-Horse’s family affairs.

Significant Themes

• Trust and hidden motives: Liu Zheng is wary of Ottawa’s ambiguous behavior and understands that alliances in the Restaurant may conceal competing agendas.
• Responsibility and maturity: Liu Zheng’s move from reckless manipulation toward more careful action shows his growing sense of responsibility.
• Workplace politics and departmental rivalry: The Restaurant’s departments blame one another, compete for influence, and protect their own interests despite sharing the same institution.
• Loyalty and friendship: Cow-Horse’s relationship with Nile Doctor motivates him to assist with the Mummy’s possible assignment, while Liu Zheng’s actions show loyalty toward Cow-Horse and his family.
• Comedy amid danger: Serious threats involving the Borderlands, missing employees, betrayal, and political intrigue are constantly undercut by absurd arguments, insults, errands, and Calico Cat’s obsession with a toy.
• Contrasting identities: Calico Cat’s transformation from adorable pet to deadly worker mirrors the Restaurant’s broader nature, where seemingly comic or eccentric figures possess frightening abilities.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse: Their boss-subordinate relationship is affectionate but antagonistic. Cow-Horse threatens to hit Liu Zheng, while Liu Zheng flatters, teases, and repeatedly asks favors. Despite their bickering, they cooperate closely.
• Cow-Horse and his wife: Liu Zheng’s visit reveals that Cow-Horse’s wife is cautious and perceptive, recognizing the manipulative implications of Liu Zheng’s gifts. Their similar reactions reinforce their relationship as a married couple.
• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse regarding the mission: Cow-Horse assigns Liu Zheng to the dangerous Borderlands recovery mission, while Liu Zheng attempts to influence who else will be sent.
• Cow-Horse and Napoleon: Their exchange is openly hostile and comedic. They trade accusations over departmental failures and nearly turn their argument into a physical contest.
• Liu Zheng and Napoleon: Liu Zheng acts diplomatically, apologizing for Cow-Horse and preventing the conflict from escalating.
• Liu Zheng and Calico Cat: Their interaction is affectionate and playful. Liu Zheng admires both her cuteness and her combat-like work ethic, while Calico Cat responds fondly to his praise before becoming completely captivated by the yarn ball.

Chapter Summary: The Identity of the Calico Cat’s Owner

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng gives the Calico Cat the Yarn Ball he originally intended for it. The cat happily plays with it, creating a humorous contrast between its innocence and Liu Zheng’s inappropriate amusement.
• He asks whether the Calico Cat dealt with two other cat-related items. The cat reveals that it combined them after forcing them to fight, transforming the Black Tabby and Silver Shaded into a single perfect-quality consumable: a three-second “Laser Dick” capable of piercing the heavens. Although bizarrely named, the item gives Liu Zheng another powerful trump card.
• Human Face bites Liu Zheng and drags him into an illusion involving fish worshippers and sacrifices. This grants Liu Zheng the permanent dungeon-long status “Chumming Immortal,” which provides a random blessing after each chumming attempt. The blessing’s quality depends on the bait and the fish school.
• Liu Zheng realizes that the Calico Cat’s owner was likely an obsessive fisherman, based on the fishing-related abilities and items he has received. He asks Human Face whether he knows Fisherman.
• Human Face explains that he once held a position related to Sewer before Fisherman arrived. His former name was Pond Master, though he now insists on being called Master of Salmon. He reveals that escaping Sewer was extremely difficult and likely came at the cost of his current form.
• Liu Zheng discusses a job offered by Sewer: finding one of its escaped avatars. Human Face confirms that the avatar has been missing for a long time and explains that Sewer’s “smartest” will has repeatedly tried to escape. Sewer tolerates its schemes because they motivate it to continue working.
• Human Face gives Liu Zheng a treasure-hunting clue. Using the Enhanced Heart of the Ocean, Liu Zheng can dive into the Sewer River and bait an unusual entity with nine kinds of liquor, nine kinds of worms, and Salmon’s cat feces. The creature is an embodiment of a fish’s resentment and can greatly strengthen or restore souls, though it causes them to develop fish-like traits.
• Liu Zheng imagines Red Pig becoming part fish and laughs, while Human Face warns him that the creature is powerful but can be subdued with sufficiently strong, sleep-inducing liquor.
• After Human Face disappears and the Calico Cat returns to work, Liu Zheng reflects that the cat may have come to the Bloodstained Restaurant to help its owner evade Sewer’s pursuit.
• Cow-Horse interrupts him and reminds him to purchase supplies. Liu Zheng orders liquor and worms from the White-Feather Chicken, specifically requesting strong alcohol with sedative properties.
• The White-Feather Chicken unexpectedly cooperates and directs Liu Zheng to drink from a soup pot containing poison. Liu Zheng jokingly accepts, claiming that poisoned soup might taste even better. The chapter ends as he opens the pot and sees an item description.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng gains a powerful single-use weapon, the Chumming Immortal status, and a major clue leading to a potential soul-enhancing treasure. His habit of questioning NPCs repeatedly proves useful, reinforcing his RPG-like approach to the dungeon.
• The Calico Cat is shown to be both mischievous and genuinely loyal. Though embarrassed about destroying two items, it accidentally produces a stronger combined artifact. Its relationship with Liu Zheng becomes increasingly affectionate and trusting.
• Human Face reveals more of his history and his former identity as Pond Master. He remains hostile and sarcastic, but his willingness to share information suggests that Liu Zheng’s bond with the Calico Cat has earned him limited cooperation.
• The White-Feather Chicken briefly becomes unusually agreeable, though it remains sharp-tongued and tests Liu Zheng with poisoned soup.
• Liu Zheng continues to develop a deeper interest in the Calico Cat’s mysterious owner and suspects that the cat’s employment may be connected to protecting or hiding that owner.

Significant Themes

• Power emerging from chaos: The Calico Cat’s destructive behavior unexpectedly creates a perfect-quality item, showing how bizarre dungeon events can produce valuable results.
• Fishing as obsession and identity: Fishing-related items, blessings, and titles point toward the unusual history of the Calico Cat’s owner and link different characters through the institutional world of Sewer.
• Escape and captivity: Human Face’s past and Sewer’s escaped avatar emphasize the difficulty of breaking free from powerful supernatural systems.
• Corruption and transformation: The soul-restoring fish offers immense benefits but alters those who consume it, reflecting the danger of gaining power through unnatural means.
• Humor amid danger: Liu Zheng repeatedly responds to grotesque or threatening situations with irreverence, using jokes and teasing to maintain control and build relationships.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng comforts the guilty Calico Cat and reassures it that the fused item is useful, strengthening their affectionate bond.
• Human Face alternates between threatening Liu Zheng and giving him valuable information, creating a hostile but increasingly productive relationship.
• Liu Zheng teases Human Face about his former title, eventually adopting “Master of Salmon” to avoid angering him.
• The White-Feather Chicken and Liu Zheng exchange sarcastic remarks while negotiating supplies, ending with the chicken challenging him to drink poisoned soup.
• Cow-Horse acts as the practical intermediary who brings Liu Zheng back to business after his conversations and speculation.

Chapter Summary

Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng receives Champion Cow-Horse’s Filial Offal Soup, made from Champion Cow-Horse’s organs and blood. The soup grants +5 Strength, +5 Constitution, and a temporary random skill.
• Cow-Horse mysteriously disappears before Liu Zheng can question it about the soup.
• Liu Zheng consumes the soup and obtains Bucking Kick, a stamina-based backward kick that scales with Strength. The skill lasts only for the current dungeon.
• Liu Zheng proposes a revenge plan to White-Feather Chicken: have a former Special Operations Team member sent to the Sewer, where he would mutate and suffer a miserable fate. White-Feather Chicken accepts the idea, provided Liu Zheng can arrange it.
• To help carry out the plan, White-Feather Chicken agrees to obtain a cosplay outfit for Liu Zheng. Liu intends to imitate White-Feather Chicken and use the disguise for future missions and attacks.
• White-Feather Chicken orders Calico Cat to provide Liu Zheng with strong alcohol and various bugs. Liu will pay using Sewer Fish, which has become valuable because of White-Feather Chicken’s popular fish dishes.
• Liu Zheng collects the supplies but wisely refuses to open the enormous box containing the bugs after White-Feather Chicken warns him of the danger.
• Back in the Delivery Department, Cow-Horse returns to pretending to sleep while Liu Zheng contacts Big White Goose to ask whether makeup can improve the accuracy of a cosplay disguise.
• Big White Goose confirms that makeup can significantly improve the transformation and offers to apply it for free once Liu obtains the costume.
• Big White Goose reveals that another employee, a centipede with comparable makeup skills, was killed through one of its schemes involving a customer.
• Big White Goose attempts to lure Liu Zheng into transferring to the Customer Service Department, but Liu declines, recognizing the department’s dangerous internal politics.
• During the call, Big White Goose manipulates the conversation so that Minister Britannia overhears Liu praising him. Liu realizes that Big White Goose is highly dangerous and becomes even more determined to avoid working with it.
• Immediately afterward, Wang Manni calls to relay a message from her deputy director, setting up the next plot development.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng gains a new combat skill and continues adapting creatively to the dungeon’s rules and resources. He remains opportunistic, using cosplay, disguise, barter, and manipulation to advance his plans.
• He demonstrates caution when he refuses to open the bug container, showing that his survival instincts can override his curiosity.
• Liu also becomes more wary of the Restaurant’s power structure, especially Big White Goose’s schemes, and reaffirms his preference for the relatively cooperative Delivery Department.
• White-Feather Chicken develops a grudging working relationship with Liu Zheng. Though it distrusts and criticizes him, it accepts his revenge plan and provides resources and assistance.
• Big White Goose is revealed as charming but deeply calculating. It mixes apparent goodwill with threats, recruitment attempts, and covert manipulation.
• Cow-Horse remains silent and enigmatic, cooperating with Liu Zheng but also hinting at the possibility that their partnership could eventually be tested.
• Calico Cat continues acting as a helpful assistant in the Kitchen and remains affectionate toward Liu Zheng.

Major Themes

• Survival through adaptability: Liu Zheng relies on disguises, temporary skills, alliances, barter, and unconventional tactics rather than brute force alone.
• Trust versus self-interest: The chapter questions whether relationships can survive when people’s positions or interests conflict. Big White Goose warns that even close allies may become enemies.
• Political manipulation and power struggles: The Customer Service Department is portrayed as a world of hidden motives, rivalry, and strategic deception.
• Chosen cooperation: Liu Zheng believes his partnership with Cow-Horse is based on mutual support rather than competition, contrasting it with the Restaurant’s more hostile workplace relationships.
• Humor amid danger: Threats of being turned into soup, mutated in the Sewer, or killed by colleagues are presented through banter and absurdity, maintaining the story’s darkly comic tone.
• Identity and transformation: The cosplay outfit and makeup represent Liu Zheng’s continuing use of altered appearances to infiltrate dangerous situations and exploit the Restaurant’s supernatural rules.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and White-Feather Chicken: Their exchange combines threats, bargaining, and mutual exploitation. Liu offers a revenge strategy, while White-Feather Chicken supplies the costume and ingredients he needs.
• Liu Zheng and Calico Cat: Liu orders supplies through Calico Cat and pets it before leaving, reinforcing their friendly relationship.
• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse: Cow-Horse avoids discussion of the soup and simply returns to the Delivery Department, maintaining their quiet but functional partnership.
• Liu Zheng and Big White Goose: Their conversation shifts from practical advice to psychological maneuvering. Big White Goose offers help while simultaneously trying to recruit and intimidate Liu.
• Big White Goose and Britannia: Big White Goose deliberately draws Britannia into the conversation, using Liu’s flattering words to demonstrate its own influence and control.
• Liu Zheng and Wang Manni: Wang Manni contacts him at the end to deliver an official message, ending the chapter with a new external request or complication.

Chapter Summary: “Liu Zheng, Don’t Push Me!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Manni tells Liu Zheng that her company is angry because he has repeatedly blown up and killed members of its management. The company considered hiring an assassin but abandoned the idea after one director warned them against it.
• Instead, the company wants Liu Zheng to destroy a rival business, hoping this will prove that his attacks were not specifically aimed at them. The rival was founded by a former shareholder who poached employees, stole clients, and caused major losses.
• Liu Zheng agrees to consider the job, provided the company:
  1. Gives him a delivery time limit of at least two hours and a more expensive food order.
  2. Supplies powerful explosives.
• His reward would include cancellation of past conflicts, a base payment of 200,000, and up to five million if he kills the rival company’s chairman. He is willing to accept partly because the job will help Wang Manni’s career and give him more influence within her company.
• Wang Manni reveals that successfully arranging the operation could earn her a promotion to senior manager. Liu Zheng encourages her to work hard, openly viewing her increased status as useful to him.
• Liu Zheng jokes and argues with Cow-Horse, then distributes bugs to Weaver Lady. He also prepares bait for a rare fish using worms, strong liquor, and Salmon’s cat feces. Cow-Horse refuses to lend him a cooking pot for this disgusting mixture.
• Ghost Hand is tempted by the worms and liquor but is given dried fish instead.
• Liu Zheng receives a delivery order for deluxe Warship Sushi at Yakuza Sento. The customer is “Garlic Head,” someone he knows, which makes him suspect the Bloodstained Restaurant is deliberately targeting him.
• He contacts Guokou Tangzi to confirm whether Garlic Head ordered the food. She initially knows nothing, but after investigating, confirms that Garlic Head did not place the order.
• Liu Zheng decides to proceed and handle the situation when he arrives. Guokou Tangzi warns him not to harm Garlic Head, declaring that Garlic Head and the others are her family and that she will fight anyone who threatens them.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains ruthless, irreverent, and opportunistic, but he is not entirely motivated by money. He refuses to kill indiscriminately and weighs whether the target deserves death. He also shows practical concern for Wang Manni’s future and recognizes the value of cultivating her influence.
• Wang Manni becomes increasingly devoted to Liu Zheng, admiring his domineering attitude and eagerly cooperating with his demands. Her willingness to negotiate with the company shows growing confidence, while her possible promotion gives her a more important role in the company’s power structure.
• Cow-Horse continues serving as Liu Zheng’s sarcastic foil, mocking his emotional awkwardness and rejecting his disgusting plans. Its reactions also provide comic relief and reveal that, despite its monstrous nature, it has its own boundaries.
• Weaver Lady is shown as shy and socially anxious but extremely enthusiastic about food. Her irritated response to Liu Zheng’s question about spider silk reinforces their playful but abrasive relationship.
• Guokou Tangzi reveals strong protective feelings toward Garlic Head and the others. Her final threat shows that beneath her impatience, she possesses fierce loyalty and the resolve to confront even overwhelming enemies.
• Ghost Hand is portrayed as simple, food-motivated, and dependent on Liu Zheng, becoming visibly disappointed when denied the worms and alcohol.

Significant Themes

• Corporate conflict and moral ambiguity: Companies in the Metropolis routinely use violence, assassination, poisoning, and sabotage as business tools. Liu Zheng’s willingness to attack does not make him uniquely evil in this setting; rather, he operates within an already corrupt system.
• Manipulation and power: The company attempts to manipulate public interpretation of Liu Zheng’s attacks, while Liu Zheng manipulates the company’s needs to gain money, explosives, extra time, and greater influence through Wang Manni.
• Loyalty and chosen family: Guokou Tangzi’s declaration that Garlic Head and the others are her family contrasts with the cold, transactional behavior of the corporations. Personal bonds are presented as stronger and more meaningful than institutional allegiance.
• Dark humor and grotesque absurdity: Conversations about sewer food, explosive assassinations, spider silk, worms, liquor, and cat feces combine horror with comedy. The characters treat disturbing situations as routine, emphasizing the bizarre nature of the Metropolis.
• Fate and the danger of delivery: The Bloodstained Restaurant’s delivery orders are not merely ordinary jobs; they may place customers in mortal danger. Liu Zheng’s suspicion that the Restaurant is targeting him adds tension and suggests that his profession is tied to forces beyond his control.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Wang Manni: They negotiate the corporate assassination mission while mixing business with flirtation and mutual dependence. Wang Manni admires Liu Zheng, while he values her usefulness and career advancement.
• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse: Their insults and arguments display a familiar, almost companion-like relationship. Cow-Horse mocks Liu Zheng’s emotional detachment, while Liu Zheng treats its complaints and disgusting habits as ordinary.
• Liu Zheng and Weaver Lady: He controls her food portions but also supplies her with the bugs she wants. Their exchange highlights his casual authority and her timid but easily provoked nature.
• Liu Zheng and Guokou Tangzi: Their phone call begins with teasing but quickly becomes serious. Once Tangzi realizes Garlic Head may be in danger, she forcefully challenges Liu Zheng and makes clear that her loyalty will not be compromised.
• Liu Zheng and Ghost Hand: Liu Zheng prevents Ghost Hand from consuming valuable ingredients but softens the refusal by giving it dried fish, showing a small degree of care beneath his harshness.

Chapter Summary: “The Most Succubus Episode Yet”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng argues with Guokou Tangzi over a warning she secretly gave him. She apologizes after he berates her, and he agrees to wait for her arrival so they can deal with the situation together.
• Liu discovers that his Three-Time Outstanding Employee Memorial Medal has been taken. He asks Cow-Horse to lend it to him, but Cow-Horse refuses, reminding him that its previous help has already been generous and that it does not trust his associates.
• Liu accepts the refusal and prepares to deliver a bizarre dish: Warship Sushi, designed as a deliberately ridiculous model battleship covered with sushi. He hires a sports car and speeds through the Delivery Passage, which appears to be operating unusually quickly.
• Before completing his delivery, Liu stops at the clinic to visit the Sphinx, whom he now calls Androsphinx or “Sphinx.” He offers it Da Mao’s Yarn Ball in exchange for permission to use its name.
• The Sphinx refuses to reveal its true name, explaining that true names are especially important to mythological beings with authority over language. However, it accepts the less formal name “Sphinx,” indicating a limited but genuine acceptance of Liu as a friend.
• The Sphinx unexpectedly tears out Liu’s tongue and consumes it, strengthening the language-based spell it previously placed on him. The enhancement allows Liu to draw on the Sphinx’s power when using linguistic abilities, while the Sphinx promises to cut off the power if the ability becomes too dangerous for it.
• The Nile Doctor restores Liu’s tongue using a magical dung-based remedy. Liu then asks about Xiaomei, who has returned from working at the Bloodstained Restaurant severely injured and covered in bandages.
• The chapter ends with Liu becoming angry and suspicious. Xiaomei denies that the Elevator injured her, but Liu refuses to accept the explanation. He blames himself for sending her and vows to uncover who harmed her and make them pay—even if the Restaurant itself is responsible.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains abrasive, theatrical, and opportunistic, but his actions reveal strong loyalty and responsibility. He respects Cow-Horse’s boundaries, worries about the risks his allies face, and becomes fiercely protective of Xiaomei.
• Guokou Tangzi is shown to be willing to take risks to warn Liu, though their relationship remains dominated by insults and aggressive banter.
• Cow-Horse demonstrates its distrust and ruthlessness by refusing to lend Liu the Memorial Medal. Its refusal also establishes that Liu cannot always rely on borrowed power or favors.
• The Sphinx shifts from hostility toward a reluctant friendship with Liu. It remains proud and manipulative, but its willingness to give him access to its power suggests growing trust and attachment.
• Xiaomei has become physically vulnerable after carrying out Liu’s request, highlighting the consequences of his decisions and increasing his sense of personal responsibility.
• The Nile Doctor continues to act as a bizarre but dependable healer, treating Liu and Xiaomei while using humor to defuse tense situations.

Significant Themes

• Trust and boundaries: Liu’s relationships depend on favors, secrets, and negotiated access to power. Cow-Horse’s refusal and the Sphinx’s restrictions emphasize that trust must be earned.
• Responsibility for others: Liu recognizes that sending Xiaomei into danger makes him accountable for her injuries, prompting a stronger, more serious resolve.
• Friendship across species and identities: Liu’s exchange with the Sphinx shows that friendship can develop despite cultural differences, hostility, and the importance of names.
• Power and sacrifice: The Sphinx’s spell requires a painful and grotesque sacrifice, but it also demonstrates mutual concern by promising not to overextend its power.
• Comedy amid danger: Ridiculous imagery—such as Warship Sushi, the Sphinx’s catlike behavior, and magical dung medicine—contrasts with genuine threats, injuries, and Liu’s growing anger.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu and Guokou Tangzi trade insults before settling into a temporary agreement.
• Liu and Cow-Horse clash over the Memorial Medal, revealing both Cow-Horse’s mistrust and Liu’s willingness to acknowledge its right to refuse.
• Liu bargains with the Sphinx using the Yarn Ball, turning a hostile encounter into a strange friendship.
• The Sphinx strengthens Liu’s language spell while teasing and physically tormenting him, blending affection, cruelty, and supernatural intimacy.
• Liu confronts the Nile Doctor about the treatment and asks after Xiaomei, then questions Xiaomei directly about her injuries.
• Liu’s final reaction to Xiaomei’s condition marks a shift from comic irritation to determined protectiveness.

Chapter Summary: “Nile Doctor, Forever a God!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng discusses disciplining Mr. Elevator for disrespecting him, while the cleaner advises restraint and maintaining harmony among colleagues.
• Nile Doctor pays the cleaner, Xiaomei, the promised 500,000, deliberately providing it in small-denomination bills because she enjoys spending money.
• Nile Doctor fulfills his other promise to Liu Zheng by helping him obtain Ra’s Grace. Liu enters the stone coffin, endures a ritual of searing sunlight, and silently prays to Ra-Atum.
• The ritual succeeds. Ra’s Grace grants Liu a one-time automatic resurrection: if he suffers fatal damage, the injury is negated and his body is restored to perfect condition.
• Liu is delighted by the blessing and jokingly calls Nile Doctor his “god forever.” Nile Doctor insists that the power belongs to Ra, though he is clearly pleased by Liu’s gratitude.
• Niu Daji returns with royal jelly and Coiling Dragon dung, which Nile Doctor intends to feed to the Sacred Scarab so it can transform the material into medicine. Liu becomes interested in testing the resulting medicine.
• Nile Doctor gives Liu permission to take Niu Daji with him. Liu decides to confront the Ultimate Flavor Group over the forced food deliveries imposed by the Bloodstained Restaurant.
• On the way, Liu and Niu Daji discuss their conflict with the Restaurant. They agree that negotiation should come first, though Liu admits they may resort to force if no agreement can be reached.
• The group arrives at Yakuza Sento, where Jinzi welcomes Liu warmly and reveals that the Ultimate Flavor Group representatives are waiting in the dojo.
• Before Liu can begin the negotiations, Jinzi flirtatiously suggests that he spend time with her first, delaying the meeting.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng gains a powerful defensive advantage through Ra’s Grace, making him far more difficult to kill. He also becomes more confident and assertive, taking on the role of a leader toward Niu Daji.
• Liu continues balancing pragmatism with humor. He is sincerely grateful to Nile Doctor but expresses that gratitude through exaggerated jokes and playful “worship.”
• Nile Doctor demonstrates generosity and trust by rewarding the cleaner, granting Liu access to Ra’s Grace, and allowing Niu Daji to accompany him. His pride in serving Ra remains strong, though he is embarrassed by Liu’s overly enthusiastic praise.
• Niu Daji shows loyalty to Liu, immediately taking his side in the dispute with Ultimate Flavor Group. He is eager for action but tries to follow Liu’s instruction to prioritize negotiation.
• The driver is characterized as an immortal or long-lived being who values amusement above morality. He treats his past suffering and destruction as entertaining experiences, contrasting sharply with Liu’s more grounded attitude.
• Jinzi displays increasing familiarity and physical intimacy with Liu, openly attempting to distract him from business.
• The cleaner, Xiaomei, is portrayed as appreciative of Liu and Nile Doctor’s protection and generosity.

Significant Themes

• Survival and preparation: Ra’s Grace gives Liu a crucial extra life, emphasizing the brutal danger of the Restaurant and the importance of accumulating safeguards.
• Faith and divine power: Liu’s improvised prayer is enough to earn Ra’s blessing, suggesting that sincere—or flattering—devotion can influence divine forces. The chapter also explores the relationship between gods, priests, and mortals.
• Debt and gratitude: Liu acknowledges Nile Doctor’s favor and promises not to forget it, while Nile Doctor downplays his personal role as merely Ra’s servant.
• Loyalty and changing alliances: The Restaurant’s coercion has damaged Liu’s relationship with Ultimate Flavor Group. Even though they were once allies, Liu recognizes that their cooperation may not recover.
• Humor amid violence: The characters use jokes, teasing, and absurdity to cope with grotesque injuries, death threats, divine rituals, and political conflict.
• Individual agency versus coercion: Liu wants to negotiate with Ultimate Flavor Group, but the Bloodstained Restaurant’s rules force both sides into conflict. The chapter highlights how outside systems damage personal relationships.
• Different views of existence: The driver sees entertainment as the only meaningful purpose beyond survival, while Liu rejects becoming similarly detached and cruel.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu and Nile Doctor strengthen their bond through the Ra’s Grace ritual. Their exchange mixes sincere appreciation with teasing about religion and divine authority.
• Liu and Niu Daji establish a clearer boss-underling relationship. Liu enjoys giving orders, while Niu Daji loyally supports him despite his initial eagerness for violence.
• Liu and the driver discuss the Restaurant’s power over its servants. The driver’s cynical philosophy clashes with Liu’s refusal to become emotionally numb.
• Liu’s arrival at Yakuza Sento renews his flirtatious relationship with Jinzi. She warmly welcomes him, physically clings to him, and tries to postpone his negotiations for a more personal encounter.
• Liu’s planned meeting with Ultimate Flavor Group remains unresolved, setting up the next conflict: whether the two sides can negotiate despite the Restaurant forcing them into opposition.

Chapter Summary: Liu Zheng, You’re Playing with Fire

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng accepts Jinzi’s invitation to eat and drink before confronting the Ultimate Flavor Group. The feast helps him replenish the strength needed for Flesh Rebirth while making the waiting group lose momentum.
• Jinzi reports that her clan has begun searching the Bathhouses for information about the Legendary Deliveryman’s items, which Liu Zheng urgently wants as trump cards for another journey beyond the Borderlands.
• Liu Zheng jokes with Jinzi, Jingzi, Little Wan, and Niu Daji before going to meet the Ultimate Flavor Group. His affectionate treatment of Little Wan shows that he continues to look after her welfare.
• At the dojo, Liu Zheng meets the five members of the Ultimate Flavor Group. He declares that he will complete the delivery of Garlic Head, despite their opposition.
• Liu Zheng argues that Garlic Head may survive the delivery and promises various forms of support if he dies, including a good grave, a powerful soul treasure, and assistance to his relatives.
• Guokou Tangzi reveals Garlic Head’s tragic history: he once possessed nine cloves and was exceptionally intelligent, but sacrificed six cloves to save her from a hostile gang. She insists that he should not be the one to die.
• Garlic Head decides to let a die determine whether he obeys Tangzi or Liu Zheng. The die lands on two, meaning he must follow Liu Zheng.
• Before accepting the delivery, Tangzi declares that she will marry Garlic Head after death. Garlic Head accepts her feelings, and then takes the delivery.
• The Restaurant immediately intervenes, separating Liu Zheng and Garlic Head from everyone else. A terrifying entity warns Liu Zheng that he is “playing with fire” by trying to use rhetoric and loopholes to interfere with the Restaurant’s rules.
• The entity compares Liu Zheng to the Legendary Deliveryman, warning that even the Legendary Deliveryman failed to oppose the Restaurant and that Liu Zheng will fail even more quickly.
• Garlic Head is swallowed by the Restaurant’s manifestation, apparently completing the delivery and sealing his fate.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates strategic caution rather than arrogance. He prepares himself before the confrontation, uses negotiation and emotional appeals, and tries to protect Garlic Head without directly violating the delivery order.
• He also reveals a growing sense of responsibility toward those connected to him, particularly Little Wan and the Ultimate Flavor Group, while still masking his concern with humor and bravado.
• Jinzi openly chooses Liu Zheng’s interests over those of the Ultimate Flavor Group, showing her loyalty to him. Her crude, flirtatious behavior contrasts with her willingness to support him materially.
• Little Wan has become healthier and larger from imitating Liu Zheng’s appetite and lifestyle. Her playful embarrassment and attachment to him reinforce their affectionate, quasi-familial relationship.
• Guokou Tangzi is revealed to be fiercely protective of Garlic Head. Her guilt over his sacrifice drives her refusal to accept his death, even though she understands the danger.
• Garlic Head appears obedient and self-sacrificing, but the dice game gives him a small measure of personal agency. His acceptance of Tangzi’s declaration suggests that he reciprocates her feelings.
• The Restaurant’s entity treats Liu Zheng as a potentially dangerous anomaly. Although it acknowledges his intelligence and past achievements, it makes clear that the Restaurant considers him replaceable and will suppress him if necessary.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus personal choice: Garlic Head uses a die to decide his fate, but the outcome still leads him toward the Restaurant’s predetermined delivery.
• Self-sacrifice and guilt: Garlic Head previously sacrificed six cloves for Tangzi, while Tangzi now struggles to prevent him from sacrificing himself again.
• The limits of cleverness: Liu Zheng’s arguments can exploit or partially navigate the Restaurant’s rules, but they cannot truly overturn its authority.
• Power and survival: Liu Zheng’s preparations, alliances, and promises reflect the need to build strength before challenging overwhelming forces.
• Love expressed through sacrifice: Tangzi and Garlic Head’s relationship is conveyed through loyalty, guilt, obedience, and their final exchange about marriage after death.
• The Restaurant’s absolute authority: The final intervention emphasizes that even powerful figures such as the Legendary Deliveryman could not ultimately defy the Restaurant.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Jinzi share a teasing, flirtatious relationship, with Jinzi acting as both ally and provocateur.
• Liu Zheng’s interactions with Little Wan and Jingzi are playful and affectionate, while Jingzi and Little Wan bicker like siblings.
• Liu Zheng confronts Chili Head by forcing him to clarify whether he speaks as a friend or an enemy, establishing the power imbalance between them.
• Liu Zheng and Tangzi debate Garlic Head’s fate: he offers practical posthumous protection, while she argues emotionally that his life cannot be replaced by such promises.
• Tangzi and Garlic Head’s final exchange transforms their relationship from implied affection into an open acknowledgment of mutual romantic feelings.
• Liu Zheng’s last interaction is with the Restaurant’s manifestation, which shifts the chapter from negotiation and humor into a direct warning about the consequences of challenging the Restaurant.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Ultimate Flavor Group rescues Garlic Head after the barrier disappears, discovering that only one of his three brains remains. He is alive but severely mentally damaged.
• Liu Zheng brings Garlic Head to the Nile Doctor for treatment. The doctor explains that Garlic Head can be restored because he is living, unlike the Dead, whose conditions are much harder to cure.
• The required medicine is Sacred Scarab dung, but the Nile Doctor directs Liu Zheng to obtain feces from Dai Lego, the intelligent French Plane Tree on Rose Street.
• Liu Zheng and the group visit Dai Lego, finding it angrily forcing Ginseng Baby to practice court ballet. Dai Lego is obsessed with French nobility and treats Ginseng Baby as its maid.
• Liu Zheng flatters Dai Lego and explains Garlic Head’s condition. Dai Lego agrees to provide several pieces of its feces because Garlic Head once helped protect it.
• In exchange, Liu Zheng gives Dai Lego three bottles of liquor. The feces is revealed to be a rare item capable of improving plant-bloodline players, granting skills, or even bestowing part of Dai Lego’s bloodline.
• Niu Daji and Chili Head return the feces to the Nile Doctor while Liu Zheng continues negotiating with Dai Lego for rare collectibles.
• Dai Lego refuses to trade away more of its valuable collection, complaining that Liu Zheng has already obtained nearly half of its best items. It warns that even extremely powerful collectibles are not necessarily unique in Metropolis and predicts that Li’s skeleton may eventually return to Liu Zheng.

Character Developments

• Garlic Head: Suffers catastrophic brain loss, leaving him barely alive and mentally impaired. His survival becomes the group’s immediate priority.
• Liu Zheng: Demonstrates loyalty and responsibility by seeking treatment for Garlic Head. He also continues to rely on humor, manipulation, and flattery when dealing with dangerous figures such as the Nile Doctor and Dai Lego.
• Nile Doctor: Shows confidence in his medical abilities and explains the difference between treating the living and the Dead. His eccentric methods and morbid humor remain intact, but he is genuinely willing to help.
• Dai Lego/French Plane Tree: Reveals more of its arrogant, aristocratic personality, its attachment to its collectibles, and its fear of losing control over them. Despite its hostility, it honors past favors and agrees to help Garlic Head.
• Ginseng Baby: Is forced into ballet training and becomes terrified by Dai Lego’s harsh criticism, emphasizing her subordinate position and Dai Lego’s domineering behavior.
• Ultimate Flavor Group: Their concern for Liu Zheng becomes apparent when they insist on accompanying him, fearing that his many enemies may ambush or betray him. Guokou Tangzi also takes on a more authoritative leadership role.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and mutual obligation: Dai Lego helps because Garlic Head once protected it, showing that past favors can create powerful alliances.
• The value of life and intelligence: The group considers Garlic Head’s survival worthwhile even if he remains mentally damaged, while the treatment seeks to restore both his body and mind.
• Humor amid danger: Absurd medical ingredients, feces-based medicine, ballet training, and sarcastic exchanges provide comedy within a potentially deadly situation.
• Trade and exploitation: Liu Zheng repeatedly acquires rare objects through clever bargaining and flattery, while Dai Lego becomes increasingly wary of being taken advantage of.
• Power and rarity: The chapter emphasizes that valuable or even god-level collectibles may be common in Metropolis, hinting at a much larger and more powerful world beyond the current setting.
• Nature and transformation: Dai Lego’s feces carries the power of its unusual bloodline, suggesting that intelligent or mutated plants can pass on abilities and potentially create new competitors.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the Nile Doctor trade insults while negotiating Garlic Head’s treatment, with the doctor using bizarre humor and Liu Zheng responding sarcastically.
• Liu Zheng and the Ultimate Flavor Group show mutual trust: the group follows him to Rose Street because they fear for his safety, while he accepts their support despite initially dismissing their concerns.
• Dai Lego bullies and commands Ginseng Baby, treating her as an incompetent servant while obsessing over aristocratic standards.
• Liu Zheng uses exaggerated praise to appease Dai Lego, successfully turning a potentially hostile encounter into a favorable trade.
• Dai Lego and Liu Zheng maintain a transactional but increasingly familiar relationship. Dai Lego complains about Liu Zheng’s “swindling,” yet still trusts him enough to provide rare materials and discuss its collection.

Chapter Summary: “996 Was the Universal Law of the Multiverse”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng discusses a troubling premonition with the French Plane Tree, who warns that powerful beings’ rare premonitions are usually accurate and frightening. Liu jokes that, as a mixed-blood, the prophecy can only be “half right.”
• He confirms that the auction will take place the next day and asks to attend. The French Plane Tree explains that it is a barter auction rather than a cash auction, meaning Liu must provide valuable supernatural items to participate.
• The French Plane Tree agrees to bring Liu, provided he arrives before 8 p.m. Liu also asks her to order a delivery from him because he is afraid to travel through Metropolis at night without the Legendary Disguise. She angrily throws him away, but Niu Daji catches him with his belly.
• The Ultimate Flavor Group escorts Liu back to Restaurant after their previous transaction is considered complete. Once there, Liu begins gathering items for the auction.
• Cow-Horse reluctantly lends him two supernatural items in exchange for either a better replacement or repayment at a markup:
  • Shepherd Boy’s Bone Flute: A single-use item that lures and taunts nearby carnivorous creatures.
  • Cursed Horseshoe: Increases Strength by 100, but limits the wearer’s total Strength to 100 and cannot normally be removed.
• Liu contacts the Nile Doctor, who agrees to provide a limited number of supernatural items, though he warns that items belonging to his kind cannot safely appear at auction.
• Liu also asks the Fisherman for supernatural items or magical fish. The Fisherman refuses to lend his reserve items and explains that supernatural fish are scarce, especially after many died during the previous surgery. However, he agrees to provide up to two unusual fish and fulfills part of Napoleon’s fish order.
• Wang Manni calls to arrange Liu’s requested transaction. Liu chooses Rose Street as the meeting place and schedules it for before 8 p.m., leaving him free to attend the auction afterward.
• The chapter closes with a joke about Metropolis employees also suffering under “996” work schedules—working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—apparently even bosses enjoy making employees work overtime.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains opportunistic, shameless, and resourceful. Faced with the barter requirement, he immediately considers borrowing or “fleecing” supernatural items from acquaintances. He also continues exploiting his deliveryman identity to secure favors and arrange transportation.
• French Plane Tree continues to be hostile and impatient toward Liu, but still agrees to take him to the auction. Her relationship with Liu mixes mutual usefulness, insults, and reluctant cooperation.
• Niu Daji demonstrates loyalty and quick thinking by catching Liu after the French Plane Tree throws him away. His pride in his physically useful belly reinforces his comedic but dependable role.
• Cow-Horse shows its characteristic stinginess, but its willingness to lend two items indicates some trust in Liu. It also makes clear that the Legendary Delivery Box is more valuable to it than the Legendary Disguise.
• The Nile Doctor is cautious but cooperative, offering limited assistance while emphasizing the danger of exposing his group’s supernatural artifacts.
• The Fisherman maintains emotional and practical boundaries. He refuses to lend important supernatural items but agrees to help with deliveries and provide a small number of fish. His comments suggest that his relationship with Sea Woman is slowly improving.
• Wang Manni acts as a professional intermediary for Liu’s upcoming transaction and reveals that the company’s targets may disappear if the exchange is delayed too long.

Significant Themes

• Resourcefulness and opportunism: Liu’s ability to solve problems depends less on personal wealth than on his network of bizarre allies and his talent for bargaining.
• The value and danger of supernatural items: Objects are scarce, highly specialized, and often carry severe drawbacks. The cursed horseshoe embodies the chapter’s recurring idea that every advantage comes with a cost.
• Transactional relationships: Most interactions are based on exchange, debt, or mutual utility, though loyalty and affection gradually develop beneath the bargaining.
• Risk and preparation: The auction forces Liu to gather resources while preserving the items he personally depends on. His preparations also reflect his awareness of the danger of nighttime travel and uncertain future events.
• Dark humor and absurdity: The grotesque item descriptions, the Bone Flute’s origin, Liu’s fall onto Niu Daji’s belly, and the casual discussion of supernatural body parts maintain the story’s macabre comedic tone.
• Overwork as a universal condition: The title and final joke satirize the “996” work culture, suggesting that even a supernatural metropolis is governed by familiar modern workplace exploitation.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the French Plane Tree: They exchange insults while negotiating Liu’s attendance at the auction and his request for delivery protection.
• Liu Zheng and Niu Daji: Niu Daji saves Liu from injury, reinforcing his loyalty and physical usefulness.
• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse: Their negotiation highlights Cow-Horse’s greed and Liu’s willingness to accept unfavorable but useful deals.
• Liu Zheng and the Nile Doctor: Their conversation establishes cautious cooperation and the Doctor’s limits regarding supernatural relics.
• Liu Zheng and the Fisherman: Liu tries to obtain both supernatural items and fish, while the Fisherman balances refusal with limited support and hints at his improving family relationships.
• Liu Zheng and Wang Manni: They finalize the timing and location of a separate transaction, which Liu coordinates around the auction schedule.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng confirms with Wang Manni that a bomb-related item has been checked and is safe. Although he already possesses escape items and extra lives, he appreciates her carefulness and praises her.
• Cow-Horse comments that Wang Manni’s survival odds are improving, implying that it is monitoring or adjusting her chances. Liu Zheng also wonders about the current situation of the Round God Sect, but recognizes that investigating them directly would be dangerous.
• Ghost Hand arrives at the Bloodstained Restaurant with a delivery order. Before accepting it, Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse manipulate the conversation to suggest that Liu needs supernatural items as trade goods for an upcoming auction.
• Ghost Hand produces an Indestructible Beer Bottle, a perfect-quality miscellaneous item that cannot normally be destroyed. Liu trades away his remaining alcohol in exchange for it.
• Cow-Horse tests the bottle by stomping on it. The impact cracks the floor and damages Cow-Horse’s hoof, but the bottle remains intact. Liu stores it in his system space.
• Liu accepts a delivery order for an exquisite abalone destined for a tentacle monster in Room 501 of Green Laurel Garden Crazy City. The abalone restores stamina and temporarily increases Charisma when consumed with essence.
• He also examines the previously obtained Magma Strawberry Cake, discovering that it restores stamina but simultaneously causes the Burn status while granting Cold Resistance.
• Before leaving on the delivery, Liu worries when Nightingale and Sea Woman fail to answer their phones. Vampire Girl eventually explains that they are occupied running games, reassuring him that nothing is wrong.
• Liu promises Vampire Girl a strawberry cake, then travels to Nile Doctor’s clinic.
• At the clinic, Nile Doctor reveals that the Ultimate Flavor Group has been sent away to eat more until they defecate, because he wants to study their excrement for medicinal properties. He also suggests it could be used as seasoning, prompting Liu’s horrified objection.
• Nile Doctor justifies the idea by recalling that Bloodstained Restaurant once served parts of supernatural beings—including the large intestine of a descendant of Ra—as expensive delicacies.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to balance caution, opportunism, and sarcasm. He recognizes the danger of confronting the Round God Sect directly but remains interested in their condition and possible future dealings.
• His cleverness is evident in the staged conversation with Cow-Horse, allowing him to acquire a rare item from Ghost Hand without openly violating the Restaurant’s rules.
• Liu also shows growing concern for his associates. His anxiety when Nightingale and Sea Woman do not answer reveals that he is emotionally invested in their safety, despite his usual irreverent attitude.
• Cow-Horse displays both suspicion and cooperation. It sees through Liu’s scheme but plays along, while also showing curiosity about the beer bottle and becoming comically frustrated when it cannot break it.
• Ghost Hand remains mysterious and powerful, casually producing a perfect-quality item. Its silent contempt toward Liu and Cow-Horse suggests that it recognizes their manipulation but tolerates it.
• Vampire Girl remains affectionate and playful toward Liu. Their exchange highlights her fondness for him and his somewhat guilty awareness that he may be encouraging her feelings.
• Nile Doctor is portrayed as eccentric and morally unrestrained, treating supernatural biology—including excrement—as a legitimate medical or culinary resource.

Significant Themes

• Absurdity and dark humor: The chapter repeatedly contrasts mundane concerns—phone calls, food delivery, auctions—with bizarre supernatural materials and grotesque medical practices.
• Resourcefulness and exploitation: Liu and Cow-Horse use loopholes, negotiation, and social manipulation to obtain valuable items and survive within the Restaurant’s dangerous system.
• Moral normalization of the grotesque: In this world, things normally considered disgusting or forbidden—such as supernatural organs and feces—can become valuable ingredients, medicine, or luxury food.
• Danger beneath comedy: Liu jokes constantly, but the threats from City Hall, the Round God Sect, bombs, and supernatural customers remain serious.
• Relationships and responsibility: Liu’s concern for Wang Manni, Nightingale, Sea Woman, and Vampire Girl shows that his network of relationships is becoming increasingly important, even as he maintains an emotionally evasive, sarcastic persona.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Wang Manni: Their phone call reflects mutual cooperation and growing trust. Wang Manni thoughtfully checks a dangerous item for him, while Liu acknowledges her effort.
• Liu Zheng and Cow-Horse: Their relationship is based on teasing, bargaining, and mutual manipulation, but also practical cooperation. Cow-Horse acts as both employer and accomplice.
• Liu Zheng, Cow-Horse, and Ghost Hand: The pair attempt to influence Ghost Hand into lending supernatural items. Ghost Hand responds by silently offering the indestructible bottle, seemingly aware of their scheme.
• Liu Zheng and Vampire Girl: Their conversation is affectionate but awkward. Vampire Girl openly expresses attachment, while Liu responds with bluntness, a gift of strawberry cake, and concern about her companions.
• Liu Zheng and Nile Doctor: Their exchange centers on the disturbing use of supernatural waste as medicine or seasoning. Liu reacts with disgust, while Nile Doctor treats the practice as ordinary and supports it with examples from the Restaurant’s history.