Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Luo Shiyu’s Ridiculous Luck”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After fully taking control of the Coiling Dragon Venerable, Zhang Ping’s combat strength greatly surpasses Situ Shibai’s. The Venerable retains its original power and becomes even stronger when Zhang Ping equips it with gemified abilities through the King’s Gem.
• Zhang demonstrates the enormous amplification of his abilities: his Laser Eye, which could normally cut through a mountain, can split the moon when cast through the Coiling Dragon Venerable.
• Rather than immediately returning to headquarters, Zhang Ping completes Immortal Leopard Guidance’s fishing task, emphasizing his leisurely and somewhat irresponsible attitude.
• The Rescue Team has expanded to more than a dozen members. Zhang Shouzhong and Cheng Xuejie spar in front of the recruits, displaying their Nanorobots and Bioforce Field abilities.
• Zhang Shouzhong acknowledges that Cheng Xuejie would likely have won their battle if she had used her invisible Bioforce Field effectively. Their exchange also shows mutual respect and friendly rivalry.
• Zhang Shouzhong reminds Zhang Ping that the Rescue Team now has members but no worlds to rescue. Zhang Ping promises to search for a suitable world the following day.
• Cheng Xuejie volunteers to accompany him, and Zhang Shouzhong jokingly supports the idea, believing Zhang Ping needs someone to keep him focused.
• The chapter then shifts to Pearl Ability Academy, where Luo Shiyu begins her morning routine and walks to the cafeteria wearing filthy, dog-shit-covered shoes.
• Luo Shiyu encounters Su Jingyao, whose unsettling presence makes her uncomfortable. Su pointedly asks when Luo plans to wash her shoes, prompting Luo to realize that her own strange reluctance to clean them may be connected to an abnormal influence or “luck.”

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Becomes vastly more powerful through his control of the Coiling Dragon Venerable, though his personality remains relaxed and easily distracted. He accepts responsibility for finding worlds in need of rescue.
• Zhang Shouzhong: Emerges as a respected leader among the new recruits. He trains seriously, understands the team’s mission, and teases Zhang Ping while also pressing him to act responsibly.
• Cheng Xuejie: Demonstrates strong combat ability and confidence. She willingly takes responsibility for accompanying Zhang Ping and acts as a practical counterbalance to his casual behavior.
• Luo Shiyu: Remains cheerful and socially popular despite her bizarrely filthy shoes. Her failure to wash them, even after recognizing the problem, hints at the mysterious effects of her abnormal luck.
• Su Jingyao: Continues to appear unsettling and possibly connected to Luo Shiyu’s strange behavior. Her attention to the shoes suggests she may understand or sense something unusual about Luo’s condition.

Significant Themes

• Power amplification and versatility: Zhang Ping’s abilities become dramatically more effective when transferred to the Coiling Dragon Venerable, showing that strength depends not only on raw power but also on adaptability and available techniques.
• Responsibility versus leisure: Zhang Ping’s habit of fishing and delaying important work contrasts with the Rescue Team’s growing expectations and mission.
• Leadership and teamwork: The sparring match and the recruitment of new members emphasize training, mutual respect, and the need for coordinated action.
• Absurdity and supernatural luck: Luo Shiyu’s inability to clean obviously disgusting shoes is treated as a bizarre but potentially meaningful phenomenon, reinforcing the chapter’s comedic yet mysterious tone.
• Hidden influence: Luo’s behavior suggests that luck or an external force may be subtly affecting her choices and perceptions.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Shouzhong and Cheng Xuejie spar competitively but respectfully, each recognizing the other’s strengths.
• Zhang Shouzhong lectures Zhang Ping about the Rescue Team’s purpose, while teasing him for fishing instead of finding worlds to save.
• Cheng Xuejie joins the discussion and commits to accompanying Zhang Ping, creating a small team for the next mission.
• Luo Shiyu is warmly welcomed by her classmates, highlighting her popularity and friendly nature.
• Her interaction with Su Jingyao is markedly different: Luo feels uneasy, while Su focuses on the suspicious condition of Luo’s shoes, hinting at a deeper connection between them.

Chapter Summary: “Sudden Shift in Style”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Pearl Ability Academy’s first lesson establishes that students must report unusual phenomena or signs of Mutated Beasts to teachers or the Patrol Team.
• Luo Shiyu discovers that one of her teachers appears to be a Heavenly Fox. Distrusting the teachers, she decides to report the matter directly to the Patrol Team.
• Su Jingyao confronts Luo Shiyu, claiming she “stinks,” creating an intimidating atmosphere. Luo Shiyu remains outwardly calm but is internally frightened. Su eventually lets her go, merely telling her to wash properly.
• Luo Shiyu cautiously leaves for Patrol Unit Headquarters. Upon arriving, she sees several Patrol Team members eating human body parts and realizes they are also Heavenly Foxes.
• She attempts to flee but collides with Zhang Ping and Cheng Xuejie. The Patrol members surround her, but Zhang Ping intervenes and brings everyone back inside.
• Zhang Ping exposes the Patrol members as Heavenly Foxes by removing the human skin disguising their faces. He introduces himself and Cheng Xuejie as the “Rescue Team,” travelers from parallel worlds who have come to save Mingzhu City.
• After briefly joking with Luo Shiyu, Zhang Ping immobilizes the Heavenly Foxes and extracts two ability gemstones from one of them, killing or disabling it. He mocks the creature for possessing only two abilities.

2. Character Developments

• Luo Shiyu: Demonstrates courage and quick judgment by refusing to trust suspicious teachers and seeking outside help. Although inexperienced and frightened, she maintains composure and recognizes the danger around her. She begins to trust—or at least engage with—Zhang Ping and Cheng Xuejie after their intervention.
• Zhang Ping: Shows his playful, theatrical personality by inventing the dramatic “Rescue Team” title and teasing the Heavenly Foxes. Beneath the humor, he is alert, powerful, and determined to protect people. His mood improves after meeting Luo Shiyu.
• Cheng Xuejie: Acts as the practical and mission-focused member of the group, urging Zhang Ping to eliminate the Heavenly Foxes quickly. She also recognizes Zhang Ping’s use of humor to recover from his earlier low spirits.
• Su Jingyao: Reveals herself as a threatening Heavenly Fox while maintaining a convincing teacher persona. Her casual dismissal of Luo Shiyu suggests confidence and possibly that she does not yet view Luo as an immediate threat.
• The Heavenly Foxes: Their infiltration of both the academy and Patrol Unit Headquarters reveals the extent of the city’s danger and the corruption of trusted institutions.

3. Significant Themes

• Betrayal and distrust: Authorities and institutions that should protect students—the teachers and Patrol Team—are secretly controlled by Heavenly Foxes.
• Courage under pressure: Luo Shiyu’s decision to act despite fear highlights bravery that comes from recognizing danger rather than lacking fear.
• Appearance versus reality: The Heavenly Foxes use human skin and false identities to hide their true forms, emphasizing deception and the difficulty of knowing whom to trust.
• Humor amid danger: Zhang Ping’s absurd performance and banter provide comic relief while also helping ease tension and restore morale.
• Heroism and responsibility: Cheng Xuejie and Zhang Ping are motivated by the desire to save people throughout the city, even though they are outsiders from another world.

4. Character Interactions

• Luo Shiyu and Su Jingyao: Their exchange is tense and psychologically threatening. Luo suspects Su’s true nature, while Su appears to toy with her before letting her leave.
• Luo Shiyu and the Patrol Team: Luo initially seeks their help but discovers they are enemies, forcing her to retreat and reassess everyone around her.
• Luo Shiyu, Zhang Ping, and Cheng Xuejie: Zhang protects Luo and draws her into the confrontation. His exaggerated self-introduction makes Cheng and Luo laugh, creating an early bond between them.
• Zhang Ping and the Heavenly Foxes: Zhang deceives and then exposes them, using psychokinesis to neutralize them before extracting their ability gemstones.
• Zhang Ping and Cheng Xuejie: Their teasing relationship shows familiarity. Cheng criticizes his dramatic behavior but understands that his humor reflects his concern for others and his emotional recovery.

Chapter Summary: “An Unintentional Remark”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping extracts the abilities of the remaining Heavenly Foxes without killing them immediately. He plans to capture and eventually slaughter all of them, preparing their bodies as food for families whose loved ones were killed by Heavenly Foxes—a brutal form of revenge and consolation for Mingzhu City’s residents.
• Luo Shiyu realizes that the human skins Zhang Ping recovered belonged to Patrol Team members she had recently seen. Cheng Xuejie explains that Heavenly Foxes can kill someone, peel off their skin, and attach it to their foreheads to perfectly impersonate them.
• Cheng clarifies that most victims are effectively dead, although exceptionally rare Awakened individuals with abilities such as Skin-Shedding Double may survive.
• Luo Shiyu infers that Su Jingyao was likely killed and replaced by a Heavenly Fox. Her remark deeply affects Zhang Ping, who had hoped that Su Jingyao might still be alive in this world.
• Zhang Ping changes his plan. Rather than personally handling all of Mingzhu City’s threats, he decides to give the Rescue Team the opportunity to save the city and become strong enough to rescue other worlds.
• He opens the Mysterious Sewer and spends an hour preparing the Rescue Team. Zhang Shouzhong and Cheng Xuejie then lead their respective teams into the operation.
• Zhang Ping remains behind to eliminate two especially dangerous enemies—Prince Yue and the Moon King—before allowing the Rescue Team to face the remaining threats.
• At Pearl Ability Academy, Zhang Ping finds Prince Yue eating a female student who is already dead but still wears a faint smile. Prince Yue taunts Zhang Ping by offering him the girl’s hand. Enraged, Zhang Ping slaps and immobilizes him with Psychokinesis, then carries him out of the cafeteria.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: His anger over Su Jingyao’s death exposes the emotional toll of repeatedly witnessing similar tragedies across countless worlds. He recognizes that his greatest danger is not corruption or the Lost State, but emotional numbness and losing his compassion. He therefore chooses to empower the Rescue Team rather than solving everything himself.
• Luo Shiyu: She becomes more perceptive, correctly connecting the disguised Patrol Team members to the Heavenly Foxes. Her innocent but unintentional remark about Su Jingyao reveals important information and triggers Zhang Ping’s emotional crisis.
• Cheng Xuejie: She serves as the knowledgeable intermediary, explaining the Heavenly Foxes’ abilities and supporting Zhang Ping’s revised plan.
• The Rescue Team: Despite understanding the danger of their mission, the members accept the responsibility of protecting Mingzhu City, marking an important step toward their maturity and independence.
• Prince Yue: His cruel, cannibalistic behavior remains unchanged, emphasizing his status as one of Zhang Ping’s most hated enemies.

Significant Themes

• Repetition and emotional exhaustion: Zhang Ping is haunted by the endless recurrence of familiar deaths across different worlds.
• Compassion versus numbness: He fears becoming indifferent to suffering more than he fears personal danger. Maintaining his ability to care becomes part of his moral struggle.
• Responsibility and empowerment: Zhang Ping realizes that saving everyone personally is unsustainable. The Rescue Team must grow into a force capable of saving entire worlds.
• Justice and revenge: The planned Heavenly Fox feast reflects the residents’ desire for revenge, while Zhang Ping’s decision to strengthen the Rescue Team suggests a more lasting form of protection.
• Identity and disguise: The Heavenly Foxes’ use of human skin raises questions about death, imitation, and the fragility of personal identity.

Important Character Interactions

• Luo Shiyu and Cheng Xuejie: Cheng explains the truth about the Heavenly Foxes after Luo notices the connection between the skins and the Patrol Team members.
• Luo Shiyu and Zhang Ping: Luo’s suggestion that Su Jingyao is dead unintentionally reveals Zhang Ping’s emotional attachment and causes him to reassess his plan.
• Zhang Ping and the Rescue Team: He gives Zhang Shouzhong and Cheng Xuejie the responsibility of leading the city-saving operation, trusting them to develop through the crisis.
• Zhang Ping and Prince Yue: Prince Yue’s grotesque provocation causes Zhang Ping to lose his composure. Zhang immediately retaliates, immobilizing and abducting him in preparation for their confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “New Ability—Dream City”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping escapes Mingzhu City with Prince Yue, but the Dreamscape begins to collapse when the Coiling Dragon Venerable splits the moon with laser beams.
• He awakens while falling and quickly subdues Prince Yue with Psychokinesis.
• Zhang Ping retrieves the unconscious Moon King from the City Lord’s Manor and restrains both royal foxes.
• He extracts five gems from the Moon King, containing:
  • Cognitive Distortion
  • Conventionality Reversal
  • Kin Sense
  • Apex Strength
  • Evermoon Feigned Sleep
• Recognizing that Evermoon Feigned Sleep contains part of the Moon King’s spirit and could possess a new host, Zhang Ping feeds it to the Glutton instead of allowing anyone to contract it.
• The Glutton absorbs the King-Level ability and transforms its energy into Zhang Ping’s new ability, Dream City.
• Overflowing energy from the Glutton passes into Zhang Ping’s Proof of Kingship, causing the previously dormant seed to crack and gain a trace of silver. Zhang Ping realizes that consuming more King-Level abilities may cause it to mature.
• Zhang Ping tests Dream City by constructing a dream-based city modeled partly on Mingzhu City and Neuschwanstein Castle. The ability consumes a massive amount of Mental Strength, leaving the city incomplete and half-real, half-illusory.
• The chapter ends with Zhang Ping exploring the strange castle and wondering what practical purpose Dream City serves.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates increased confidence and control, effortlessly suppressing Prince Yue and the Moon King while carefully analyzing the dangers of the extracted abilities.
• He becomes more cautious and strategic, refusing to let Evermoon Feigned Sleep endanger a Rescue Team member through possible possession.
• Zhang Ping gains a new ability but learns that it has severe Mental Strength costs and requires deliberate mental guidance to function properly.
• His understanding of the Proof of Kingship advances: he discovers that King-Level energy can stimulate its growth, though fully maturing it may require defeating many powerful enemies.
• Prince Yue is reduced to helpless rage after Zhang Ping captures and restrains him.
• The Moon King is left unconscious and stripped of his abilities, while part of his spiritual essence survives within Evermoon Feigned Sleep before being consumed by the Glutton.
• The Glutton shows significant growth after devouring the King-Level skill, though it struggles to digest the enormous energy immediately.

Significant Themes

• Power and risk: Strong abilities often carry hidden dangers, particularly the possibility that Evermoon Feigned Sleep could allow the Moon King to possess another body.
• Controlled growth: Zhang Ping’s power increases, but every advancement demands resources, Mental Strength, or dangerous battles.
• Transformation and consumption: The Glutton’s ability to devour powerful skills allows Zhang Ping to convert threats into new capabilities.
• Uncertainty and incomplete knowledge: Zhang Ping gains Dream City without immediately understanding its function, emphasizing that power does not automatically bring mastery.
• Ambition and perseverance: Although the Proof of Kingship’s requirements seem overwhelming, Zhang Ping accepts that he must continue forward step by step.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping taunts and restrains Prince Yue, treating him and the Moon King as captives he can deal with at his leisure.
• Prince Yue struggles violently upon seeing the Moon King, suggesting concern for or attachment to his family.
• Zhang Ping interacts indirectly with the Moon King’s spirit through the Evermoon Feigned Sleep gem, ultimately preventing it from possessing another person by feeding it to the Glutton.
• Zhang Ping’s connection with the Glutton and Contract Gem allows him to manage the dangerous energy and redirect it into the Proof of Kingship.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping discovers that his consciousness can exist simultaneously in the real world and Dream City through a special Dream Body.
• He realizes Dream City has two major abilities:
  • Storage: He can transfer objects into Dream City, making it a nearly indestructible alternative to spatial equipment.
  • Dream occupation: All of his future dreams will become lucid dreams within Dream City, allowing it to resist or even eventually destroy the Moon King’s dream-based abilities.
• Zhang Ping moves all his equipment—including the Sun-Moon World-Illuminating Mirror and his belt—into Dream City for safekeeping. He then experiments by placing the Awakening Ring on his Dream Body.
• The narrative shifts to a parallel world where Zhang Ping is attacked by Captain Situ Shibai. Situ has apparently turned against him and is slaughtering the residents of Mingzhu City.
• Zhang desperately confronts Situ, accusing him of being controlled and begging him to stop. Situ explains that the world is doomed and suggests that some sacrifices are unavoidable.
• A mysterious man named Zhong Dian appears and takes responsibility for explaining the situation to Zhang. Situ leaves to deal with other Awakened individuals.
• Zhong Dian reveals that the world is like a pull-whistle, composed of countless separate “metal plates,” or worlds. The universe is currently expanding, but in roughly one hundred years it will begin contracting.
• During the coming Great Contraction State, worlds will collide, either merging or being destroyed. Situ’s actions appear connected to this impending catastrophe and the belief that the current world cannot be saved.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Gains a deeper understanding of Dream City and its strategic value. He becomes more secure in his ability to protect his equipment and resist dream manipulation. In the parallel-world sequence, he remains compassionate and idealistic, insisting that everyone should be saved rather than accepting utilitarian sacrifices.
• Situ Shibai: Appears emotionally broken and resigned. Although he massacres civilians, his sorrow suggests he believes he is acting out of necessity rather than cruelty. His conflict with Zhang reflects a loss of faith in the possibility of saving everyone.
• Zhong Dian: Introduced as a powerful, calm, and somewhat mocking figure. He dominates Zhang physically and psychologically, claiming that Zhang deserves to understand the truth before making his own choice.
• Zhang and Situ’s relationship: Their former trust has been shattered. Zhang still considers Situ a mentor or ally and believes he may be controlled, while Situ seems convinced that Zhang must be forced to accept a harsh reality.

Significant Themes

• The nature of reality: Dream City blurs the boundaries between consciousness, dreams, and physical existence.
• Security and preparedness: Zhang’s ability to hide his belongings in Dream City gives him a new strategic advantage and symbolizes his growing independence.
• Idealism versus necessity: Zhang believes sufficient strength can save everyone, while Situ represents the painful belief that impossible choices and sacrifices are sometimes unavoidable.
• Cosmic impermanence: The pull-whistle analogy presents the universe as a cycle of expansion, contraction, collision, destruction, and possible rebirth.
• Truth and free will: Zhong Dian insists that Zhang must hear the full explanation before deciding what to do, emphasizing the importance of informed choice even in a doomed situation.

Character Interactions

• Zhang experiments with Dream City independently, treating it as both a sanctuary and an extension of himself.
• Situ attacks Zhang but speaks to him with sorrow rather than hatred, revealing a tragic emotional conflict between them.
• Zhang repeatedly tries to reason with Situ, urging him to explain his motives and suggesting they solve the crisis together.
• Zhong Dian interrupts the confrontation, restrains Zhang, and takes over the explanation. His dismissive attitude contrasts sharply with Zhang’s emotional outrage.
• The chapter ends with Zhang learning that the destruction of his world may be part of a vast, inevitable cosmic process rather than an isolated tragedy.

Chapter Summary: “His Choice”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhong Dian reveals that his group is destroying parallel worlds to prevent them from colliding with the world they have chosen to protect. He admits that this world is targeted because it closely resembles their own, including a counterpart of Mingzhu City and its inhabitants.
• He offers Zhang Ping a choice: die with his world or join Zhong Dian’s world, provided Zhang Ping proves his sincerity. Zhang Ping learns that the people in the other world are all Infinite-Tier Awakened, and that the alternate Zhang Ping would replace him if he accepted.
• Zhang Ping struggles with the decision. Refusing means certain death, while accepting would allow him to live but leave him burdened by guilt over abandoning his own world.
• Seeing Liu Sishan gravely wounded forces Zhang Ping to confront the cruelty of his situation. Instead of accepting Zhong Dian’s logic, Zhang Ping challenges him by asking how he would respond if his own protected world were eventually threatened.
• Zhong Dian claims such a fate is impossible because his organization releases Heavenly Foxes specifically designed to eliminate every newly discovered Infinite-Tier Awakened before they can grow strong. Zhang Ping realizes that the Heavenly Foxes attacking his world were deliberately sent by Zhong Dian’s group.
• Zhang Ping silently makes his choice, after which the story shifts to the aftermath of the battle in Mingzhu City.
• Zhang Ping has killed the Moon King and Prince Yue, eaten some of their flesh, and returned to the city. Using Psychokinesis, he had prevented powerful humans from interfering with the Rescue Team’s mission to exterminate the Heavenly Foxes.
• The Heavenly Foxes have been defeated, though Zhang Shouzhong and others were injured. Zhang Ping heals Zhang Shouzhong and orders him to seize the City Lord’s Manor and gather the city’s authorities to determine who will control Mingzhu City.
• Zhang Ping prepares to confront the local Situ Shibai if necessary, confident that he can negotiate or fight depending on Situ’s stance. He also recognizes that the Rescue Team needs more capable healers, since medical support—not combat strength—is becoming their greatest weakness.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping becomes more resolute and morally defiant. Although Zhong Dian’s offer exposes the impossible cost of survival, Zhang Ping refuses to accept the invaders’ worldview without question. His challenge to Zhong Dian shows that he is beginning to think beyond immediate survival and recognize the hypocrisy and vulnerability of those who claim absolute control.
• Zhong Dian is revealed to be a confident agent of a powerful organization that manipulates parallel worlds and breeds or deploys Heavenly Foxes as counters to Infinite-Tier Awakened. He views mass destruction as a necessary strategic sacrifice and pressures Zhang Ping to conform.
• Situ Shibai remains an uncertain but important figure. His actions suggest that he has already chosen a side, though Zhang Ping does not yet know whether he supports Zhong Dian’s agenda or has another motive.
• Zhang Shouzhong survives a dangerous battle with a Heavenly Fox and continues to support Zhang Ping’s authority. Their interaction reflects mutual trust and practical cooperation.
• Liu Sishan’s devastating injury serves as an emotional turning point for Zhang Ping, reminding him of the personal cost of the conflict.

Significant Themes

• Moral choice and sacrifice: The chapter questions whether sacrificing one population to save another can ever be justified, especially when the decision is made by the powerful.
• The cruelty of survival: Zhang Ping recognizes that every available choice carries unbearable consequences—death, guilt, or complicity.
• Power and authority: Those with greater strength decide which worlds survive, leaving weaker people unable to control their own fate.
• Fate versus resistance: Zhong Dian believes Infinite-Tier Awakened can be erased before they become threats, while Zhang Ping’s defiance suggests that predetermined control can still be challenged.
• Parallel identities and individuality: The existence of countless versions of the same people raises questions about whether one world’s inhabitants can truly replace another’s.
• Leadership after catastrophe: Once the immediate battle ends, Zhang Ping must determine who will govern Mingzhu City and how to rebuild a society damaged by war.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping and Zhong Dian: Their conversation is the chapter’s central conflict. Zhong Dian attempts to justify genocide and recruit Zhang Ping, while Zhang Ping questions his assumptions and exposes the possibility that Zhong Dian’s own world may someday face the same dilemma.
• Zhang Ping and Zhang Shouzhong: Zhang Ping treats Zhang Shouzhong’s injuries and assigns him responsibility for taking control of the City Lord’s Manor, showing both personal concern and growing leadership.
• Zhang Ping and Situ Shibai: Though they do not meet directly in this section, Zhang Ping anticipates a confrontation and makes clear that he is prepared either to negotiate or fight.
• Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan: Their interaction is indirect, but Liu’s wounded state profoundly affects Zhang Ping and helps determine his response to Zhong Dian.

Chapter Summary: “Crimson Key”

Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping and the Rescue Team spend the night at the City Lord’s Manor after a long day restoring order in Mingzhu City and meeting representatives of various factions.
• While sleeping, Zhang Ping explores Dream City, continuing to strengthen it with Mental Strength. Within the dream world, he can move instantly and create convincing but nonfunctional objects from his former life.
• He discovers that Dream City can connect to other people’s Dreamscapes. By linking his Mental Strength to Zhang Shouzhong, he creates a suspension bridge into Zhang’s nightmare and witnesses him being chased through a ruined city by desiccated corpses and Heavenly Foxes.
• Zhang Ping chooses not to interfere, fearing that altering another person’s Dreamscape might cause harm.
• A mysterious red key enters Dream City. Appraisal reveals that it is an encrypted message sent through dreams by an unknown being. Because dream information usually disappears when people awaken, the key has drifted through countless Dreamscapes until reaching Zhang Ping.
• When Zhang Ping uses the key, his bedroom door transforms red and opens into a blood-filled chamber containing a slowly rotating crimson, six-sided crystal. Suspecting that the room may contain dangerous or contaminating information, he closes the door instead of entering.
• To test the danger, Zhang Ping connects to a sleeping Corpse-Eating Hound and forcibly captures its dream body, bringing it into Dream City.
• The hound’s real body begins disappearing and eventually collapses, suggesting that Dream City retains the Moon King’s ability to reflect dream injuries or deaths into reality.
• Zhang Ping concludes that capturing dream bodies is primarily a contest of Mental Strength and will only work reliably against much weaker targets. He then throws the hound’s dream body into the red chamber to observe what happens.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping becomes more confident and experimental with Dream City, discovering new applications of his Mental Strength and testing its limits.
• He also demonstrates caution and strategic thinking: he avoids interfering with Zhang Shouzhong’s nightmare, refuses to enter the blood-pool room immediately, and uses a weaker creature as a test subject.
• His discovery that dream actions can kill or erase real beings increases the potential danger of Dream City, even though he views the ability as limited against powerful opponents.
• Zhang Shouzhong is shown to be psychologically affected by the day’s battles, experiencing a nightmare in which he is hunted by corpses and Heavenly Foxes.
• The unknown sender of the red key is introduced as a new mystery, suggesting the existence of other beings capable of communicating through dreams.

Significant Themes

• Dreams as a second reality: Dream City is not merely an illusion; it can connect to minds, alter dream experiences, and affect the physical world.
• Power and responsibility: Zhang Ping’s growing abilities force him to consider whether experimentation in dreams can harm others.
• Information as danger: The red key demonstrates that knowledge can be encrypted, transmitted, and potentially contaminated, making curiosity risky.
• Limits of power: Although Zhang Ping gains an apparently lethal ability, it is effective mainly against weaker targets and offers little advantage against equals or superiors.
• Psychological consequences of conflict: Zhang Shouzhong’s nightmare reflects how battle and trauma continue to affect people after the fighting ends.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping observes Zhang Shouzhong’s nightmare but deliberately avoids intervening.
• The red key acts as an indirect form of communication from an unknown dream-based sender to Zhang Ping.
• Zhang Ping uses the Corpse-Eating Hound as an experimental subject, capturing its dream body and testing the effect of the crimson chamber.
• The chapter ends as Zhang Ping places the hound’s dream body into the mysterious room, leaving the result unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Nine-Person Body Snatching Group”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Corpse-Eating Hound is drawn into a blood-filled Dreamscape after Zhang Ping uses the Reincarnation Key.
• Instead of Zhang Ping entering the Dreamscape, the key unexpectedly allows the hound, Tian Hao, to enter and inherit the dream body. Tian Hao realizes that the plan has malfunctioned because the key was intended to target humans, not animals.
• Zhang Ping confronts Tian Hao and learns that the Reincarnation Key was created by nine people working together. Their combined abilities allow them to invade Dreamscapes, seize dream bodies, and eventually take over victims’ physical bodies.
• Tian Hao reveals that the group has already used the key to body-snatch several people and admits that Zhang Ping was intended to be their next target.
• Zhang Ping deduces that Tian Hao can truly die and kills him with his scythe.
• Suspecting that the remaining members are nearby, Zhang Ping uses another Corpse-Eating Hound to locate them. The second hound becomes the next member of the group, Chen Wu, also called “Fifth Chen.”
• Chen Wu confirms that several victims have already had their bodies taken over. Although he initially appears resigned to death, he suddenly attacks Zhang Ping alongside eight spirit bodies.
• Zhang Ping realizes the attack is a deception meant to distract him from the Reincarnation Key. He removes the key from the door, causing Chen Wu and the other spirits to dissolve into blood mist and be absorbed by it.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates increased caution and ruthlessness. He recognizes the danger posed by the Reincarnation Key and refuses to trust the group’s apparent surrender or cooperation.
• He also shows strong analytical ability, correctly interpreting Tian Hao’s fear, Chen Wu’s behavior, and their attempts to manipulate his attention.
• Tian Hao is revealed to be cowardly and desperate to survive. He willingly betrays information about his comrades and begs Zhang Ping for protection, but attempts to flee once he realizes death is possible.
• Chen Wu initially appears calm and fatalistic, contrasting with Tian Hao, but is ultimately shown to be equally deceptive and willing to attack when given an opportunity.
• The nine-person group is presented as a coordinated but morally corrupt body-snatching organization whose members combine specialized abilities for survival.

Significant Themes

• Survival versus morality: The group justifies stealing bodies as necessary for survival, but Zhang Ping rejects this excuse because their survival depends on killing and dispossessing innocent people.
• Deception and mistrust: Both Tian Hao and Chen Wu attempt to manipulate Zhang Ping, reinforcing the danger of taking appearances at face value.
• Power and vulnerability: Despite Zhang Ping’s strength, unusual abilities such as Dreamscape invasion and Information Overwrite can bypass conventional defenses and threaten him directly.
• Identity and bodily autonomy: The Reincarnation Key raises the threat of losing control of one’s dream body, mind, and physical form.
• Predator and prey dynamics: Zhang Ping turns the group’s own method against them, using their pack behavior and reliance on the key to track and destroy them.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping interrogates Tian Hao about the Reincarnation Key and the group’s structure, using intimidation to force him to cooperate.
• Tian Hao attempts to bargain for his life by offering Zhang Ping a place within the group, but Zhang Ping sees through his desperation and kills him.
• Zhang Ping questions Chen Wu about the group’s victims and motives. Chen Wu’s apparent acceptance of death shifts into a coordinated attack.
• Zhang Ping recognizes that both men are trying to distract him from the key, allowing him to counter their strategy and eliminate the remaining spirits.

Chapter Summary: “A Morning Encounter”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tian Hao and Chen Wu realize they cannot defeat Zhang Ping inside his Dreamscape and attempt to escape.
• Tian Hao fakes his death to create an opening for Chen Wu to flee with the Reincarnation Key. If Chen Wu escaped with it, Tian Hao’s information—and potentially the lives of all nine people—could be preserved.
• Zhang Ping sees through the plan, retrieves the Reincarnation Key, and brings Glutton into Dream City from the real world.
• Concerned about the key’s danger, Zhang Ping feeds it to Glutton rather than keeping or using it himself.
• Glutton transforms the key into a diamond-like sphere, causing Dream City to expand and become a vast diamond structure.
• Zhang Ping gains three abilities:
  • Superpower Combination, which creates new effects by combining abilities.
  • Dreamscape Orb, which generates a defensive shield and strengthens Dream Bodies within its range.
  • Dream Key, which can open another person’s deep dream and alter their subconscious.
• Zhang Ping considers Dream Key morally troubling and practically inconvenient, while recognizing that many of his abilities are situational rather than regularly useful.
• He reflects on his own vulnerabilities, noting that even immense strength does not make him invincible. Time, space, fate, lifespan-reduction, and similar powers could still kill him if they successfully struck.
• The next morning, Zhang Ping goes running through Mingzhu City, using the routine to preserve his sense of humanity and reflect on whether his actions have been morally correct.
• During the run, he encounters Liu Tiefeng—or someone impersonating him. The man reveals that he knows Zhang Ping is not the Zhang Ping native to this world and asks where he came from and why he is there.
• Zhang Ping attempts to appraise the mysterious man but fails. He distances himself and demands to know the stranger’s true identity.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates strategic awareness by recognizing and stopping Tian Hao and Chen Wu’s escape plan.
• He becomes more cautious about dangerous powers and artifacts, choosing to destroy or absorb the Reincarnation Key rather than risk using it.
• His new abilities significantly strengthen Dream City’s defenses and expand his control over dreams, though he remains skeptical of the usefulness of some powers.
• Zhang Ping shows growing self-awareness and humility. He deliberately maintains ordinary habits, such as running, to avoid becoming arrogant or losing his humanity.
• His reflections reveal that he understands the responsibility attached to overwhelming power and fears the consequences of making mistakes.
• Tian Hao and Chen Wu are shown to be resourceful but ultimately outmatched by Zhang Ping.
• The disguised or false Liu Tiefeng appears highly informed, perceptive, and potentially dangerous. His ability to evade Zhang Ping’s Appraisal Technique suggests an unusual or superior power.

Significant Themes

• Power and vulnerability: Even an extremely powerful Awakened remains vulnerable to rare or specialized abilities.
• Responsibility of the strong: Zhang Ping recognizes that powerful individuals can cause devastation through careless decisions.
• Maintaining humanity: His morning runs and self-reflection symbolize his effort to remain human rather than become arrogant, detached, or “lost.”
• The danger of knowledge and artifacts: The Reincarnation Key is too dangerous to use casually, reinforcing the risks associated with powerful supernatural objects.
• Morality and restraint: Zhang Ping questions whether certain powers, particularly those that alter another person’s subconscious, should be used even when available.
• Identity and deception: The chapter ends by challenging Zhang Ping’s understanding of whom he is speaking to and suggesting that another world-traveling or disguised entity may be operating nearby.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping, Tian Hao, and Chen Wu: Their conflict centers on escape and the Reincarnation Key. Zhang Ping outmaneuvers their coordinated deception.
• Zhang Ping and Glutton: Zhang Ping summons Glutton from reality into Dream City and feeds it the Reincarnation Key, resulting in Glutton’s transformation and the creation of new abilities.
• Zhang Ping and the false Liu Tiefeng: Their seemingly casual morning run becomes an interrogation. Liu Tiefeng probes Zhang Ping’s origins, while Zhang Ping becomes suspicious and defensive after realizing that Appraisal Technique cannot identify him.

Chapter Summary: “Grand Feast of Consumption”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Tiefeng reveals that he is a version of Liu Tiefeng from another world and claims to be the “true” one, while the other Liu Tiefengs are merely phantoms or impostors.
• Zhang Ping realizes that the Liu Tiefeng native to this world has likely been killed. Liu Tiefeng clarifies that he consumed and assimilated his counterpart rather than simply murdering him.
• Liu Tiefeng attacks Zhang Ping, hoping to capture and interrogate him about the force supporting him and the number of other Infinite-Tier Ability Users involved.
• The two engage in a prolonged aerial battle. Liu Tiefeng uses stone constructs, light swords, lightning, thunderous sound attacks, clouds, dust, and other abilities, while Zhang Ping counters with Psychokinesis, Nether Mist, and laser vision.
• Zhang Ping discovers that Liu Tiefeng possesses highly specialized “absolute-effect” abilities. A multicolored barrier completely nullifies Psychokinesis, while dust neutralizes Zhang Ping’s lasers.
• Neither fighter gains a decisive advantage. Zhang Ping survives Liu Tiefeng’s attacks and converts the emotions he absorbs into Nether Mist, while Liu Tiefeng continually tests Zhang Ping for weaknesses.
• Liu Tiefeng explains his ability, Grand Feast of Consumption: he can create a cauldron to cook and consume blood relatives, absorbing and stacking their potential onto himself. The closer the blood relationship, the greater the benefit.
• He boasts that he has already consumed many alternate versions of himself and threatens to eventually find and devour a version of someone important to Zhang Ping. Zhang Ping refuses to let the provocation affect his composure.

2. Character Developments

• Zhang Ping remains cautious and analytical despite learning that an alternate version of an acquaintance has become a powerful enemy. He recognizes Liu Tiefeng as an Infinite-Tier opponent and adapts his tactics accordingly.
• Zhang Ping’s understanding of combat deepens as he distinguishes between relative-effect abilities, which scale with the user’s power, and absolute-effect abilities, which directly counter specific powers regardless of strength.
• Liu Tiefeng is established as ruthless, manipulative, and predatory. He treats alternate-world relatives as resources to consume and seeks information from Zhang Ping before killing or subduing him.
• Liu Tiefeng deliberately uses disturbing revelations and threats to destabilize Zhang Ping, but Zhang Ping’s emotional discipline prevents the tactic from succeeding.

3. Significant Themes

• Identity and authenticity: Liu Tiefeng claims to be the only “true” version of himself, raising questions about whether identity is determined by origin, continuity, or personal actions.
• The danger of power without restraint: Liu Tiefeng’s ability turns kinship into a source of strength and transforms family bonds into opportunities for exploitation.
• Limits and weaknesses of power: Even Infinite-Tier Ability Users are not omnipotent. Victory depends on matching abilities, discovering weaknesses, and possessing suitable counters.
• Humanity amid transcendence: Zhang Ping reflects that Awakened individuals remain fundamentally human because they retain limitations and vulnerabilities. Absolute power has not eliminated the possibility of weakness.
• Psychological warfare: Liu Tiefeng’s threats are intended to provoke emotional instability, but Zhang Ping demonstrates that maintaining control can be as important as physical strength.

4. Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping questions Liu Tiefeng about his origins and the fate of the local version of himself.
• Liu Tiefeng responds dismissively, attempts to intimidate Zhang Ping, and attacks him while demanding information about Zhang Ping’s allies.
• During the battle, both continuously probe the other’s abilities and defenses, creating a tactical contest rather than a one-sided confrontation.
• Liu Tiefeng tries to unsettle Zhang Ping by describing the consumption of alternate relatives and threatening to eat someone from Zhang Ping’s world, but Zhang Ping remains silent and emotionally controlled.

Chapter Summary: “Get in My Bowl!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng face off in a cautious battle among clouds and mist. Neither approaches because both fear the other may possess a close-range, instant-kill ability.
• Liu Tiefeng tries to provoke Zhang Ping into anger, hoping to exploit an ability connected to rage or disrupt his judgment. Zhang Ping remains completely calm, recognizing the tactic.
• Liu Tiefeng then attempts to persuade Zhang Ping to reveal who supports him and join his organization. Zhang Ping counters by offering Liu Tiefeng a “quick death” if he reveals the forces behind him.
• Liu Tiefeng attacks with Yin-Yang Thunder Orbs created by his Yin-Yang Annihilation Hammers. Zhang Ping opens a Key Gate, redirecting the lightning back at Liu Tiefeng.
• To counter Zhang Ping’s spatial abilities, Liu Tiefeng drives a Space-Locking Nail into his chest. The nail restricts spatial manipulation around him, though repeated spatial clashes gradually consume its durability.
• Both combatants begin preparing multiple abilities and weapons. Zhang Ping deploys Floating Cannon Gems, Contract Energy-infused keys, and a large arrangement of Bomb Gems activated by Subsidiary Spores.
• Liu Tiefeng brings out a black stone bowl and ivory chopsticks. The bowl acts as an extremely powerful shield, while the chopsticks can strike targets with an invisible force.
• Shouting, “Zhang Ping, get in my bowl!”, Liu Tiefeng attacks. Zhang Ping attempts to dodge, but the invisible chopstick force pierces his abdomen twice, leaving him badly wounded and unable to move.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates exceptional emotional discipline and tactical awareness. He realizes Liu Tiefeng’s provocation is deliberate and refuses to give his opponent emotional leverage.
• Zhang Ping also shows creativity by turning Liu Tiefeng’s own lightning attack against him through the Key Gate and by preparing a layered combination of traps, explosives, and ranged weapons.
• Liu Tiefeng proves himself highly calculating rather than merely powerful. When provocation fails, he shifts to psychological manipulation and then to carefully planned attacks.
• His history is revealed: after his son’s death, Liu Tiefeng forged the corpse into spiritual equipment and killed those responsible. He later joined Zhong Dian’s organization, Infinity, after offering the lives of everyone in Mingzhu City as his “admission gift.”
• Liu Tiefeng is also shown to be cautious and adaptable. He recognizes Zhang Ping’s ability to absorb anger and deliberately suppresses his own emotions.

Significant Themes

• Intelligence versus raw power: The battle emphasizes that evenly matched Ability Users must rely on strategy, deception, and psychological warfare.
• Emotional control: Anger is treated as a potential weapon or weakness. Zhang Ping’s calmness prevents Liu Tiefeng from exploiting him, while Liu Tiefeng learns not to become angry himself.
• Adaptation and countermeasures: Both fighters continually modify their tactics—Zhang Ping counters lightning with spatial redirection, while Liu Tiefeng uses the Space-Locking Nail to restrict spatial abilities.
• Corruption and twisted justice: Liu Tiefeng’s tragic grief and sense of justice have transformed into extreme violence and mass murder.
• Uncertainty and hidden abilities: Neither fighter knows the full extent of the other’s powers, creating constant tension and forcing them to avoid direct risks.

Character Interactions

• Liu Tiefeng repeatedly tests Zhang Ping psychologically through insults, offers of recruitment, and threats.
• Zhang Ping responds with sarcasm and counter-threats, refusing to reveal fear or disclose his allies.
• Their verbal exchange mirrors their combat: both attempt to make the other reveal information while concealing their own intentions.
• The chapter ends with Liu Tiefeng gaining the immediate advantage, as his chopstick attack pierces Zhang Ping and immobilizes him.

Chapter Summary: “Bowl and Chopsticks Combo”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Tiefeng reveals the terrifying synergy between his two spirit artifacts: the Livelihood Stone Bowl and People’s Food Jade Chopsticks. The chopsticks can immobilize and seize a target, while the bowl traps anything placed inside it, creating an almost inescapable containment loop.
• The stone bowl was forged through the destruction of Mingzhu City, which Liu Tiefeng systematically massacred over a month. Its immense power makes it nearly impossible to destroy.
• Liu Tiefeng successfully captures Zhang Ping and places him inside the bowl, shrinking him to the size of a peanut.
• However, Zhang Ping had anticipated the attack. He used his Pure Water Body and Pure Blood Body to create a decoy from the surrounding clouds while transferring his consciousness elsewhere.
• Liu Tiefeng mistakes the decoy for the real Zhang Ping. Zhang Ping then launches a barrage of Floating Cannons, forcing Liu Tiefeng to use multiple defensive abilities and exhausting his stamina.
• Zhang Ping notices that Liu Tiefeng’s defensive barrier weakens after sustained attacks, leading him to conclude that Liu’s stamina is inferior to his own.
• Zhang Ping summons Arthur, an activated life-form made from Bomb Gems, while creating multiple apparent versions of himself to confuse Liu Tiefeng about which target is genuine.
• While Liu hesitates over which Zhang Ping to attack, Zhang opens a previously prepared Gem Gate beneath him. A giant made of Explosive Gems emerges and detonates, producing a massive explosion.
• Liu survives by using the stone bowl as a shield, but Zhang Ping follows the explosion with an attack from mysterious green strands that invade and immobilize Liu’s body.
• Liu realizes that Zhang Ping is launching a full assault rather than merely testing him. He is forced into a severely disadvantageous position.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates that his greatest advantage is not just overwhelming power but tactical creativity, deception, and preparation. He deliberately allowed himself to be captured to study Liu’s artifacts and then exploited the surrounding clouds to create a decoy.
• He also shows greater confidence in evaluating an opponent’s weaknesses, particularly Liu Tiefeng’s stamina limitations.
• Liu Tiefeng is established as an extremely dangerous and experienced combatant, possessing powerful artifacts and numerous abilities. However, his reliance on identifying the real Zhang Ping becomes a weakness when faced with Zhang’s clones, transformations, and layered attacks.
• Liu’s past is further darkened by the revelation that he personally slaughtered Mingzhu City’s population to forge the Livelihood Stone Bowl.
• Despite his experience, Liu becomes increasingly reactive and uncertain as Zhang Ping’s unpredictable strategy overwhelms him.

Significant Themes

• Intelligence versus raw power: The battle is described as an information war, emphasizing deception, observation, and the ability to identify an enemy’s true position.
• Preparation and adaptability: Zhang Ping’s pre-positioned Gem Gate and use of the clouds show how preparation can counter even an apparently unbeatable ability.
• The cost of power: Liu’s artifacts were created through mass slaughter, linking his strength directly to atrocity and sacrifice.
• Explosive growth among powerful beings: The chapter notes that Infinite-Tier Ability Users all experience periods of rapid advancement, drawing parallels between Liu, Zhang Ping, and other major figures.
• Unfair but effective combat: Zhang Ping rejects conventional fairness, combining distractions, clones, explosions, and immobilization attacks to overwhelm Liu before he can properly respond.

Character Interactions

• Liu Tiefeng initially dominates Zhang Ping by trapping him in the stone bowl, confidently mocking him as inexperienced.
• Zhang secretly turns the encounter around by deceiving Liu with a decoy and attacking from multiple directions.
• Liu is forced to defend against Zhang’s Floating Cannons while trying to determine which of several apparent Zhang Pings is real.
• Zhang’s summoned Arthur taunts Liu, intensifying the confusion.
• Zhang ultimately combines an explosive assault with the green-strand attack, catching Liu off guard and wrapping him in a helpless, zongzi-like cocoon.
• The confrontation ends with Liu Tiefeng trapped and struggling to respond, while Zhang Ping gains the upper hand.

Chapter Summary: “Feast and Rebirth”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping defeats Liu Tiefeng in battle, severely crippling his body. However, Liu Tiefeng activates Feast and Rebirth, an escape ability that causes his original body to collapse and leaves behind an almost undetectable portion of Origin Liquid.
• Zhang Ping searches the area but cannot find Liu Tiefeng and assumes that the Infinite-Tier Awakened has escaped.
• Liu Tiefeng’s Origin Liquid is later swallowed by a hunting dog. He possesses the dog, reviving himself inside its body and inheriting its enhanced sense of smell.
• Liu Tiefeng explains that possession requires a significant recovery period before he can use the technique again. He views his retreat not as a defeat, but as a tactical decision to preserve his life and abilities.
• Back at the City Lord’s Manor, Zhang Ping relaxes with Little Sairon, Fat Cat, and the Healing White Tiger. He jokes about Fat Cat being overweight and threatens to have it “fixed,” frightening the cat into running away.
• Zhang reviews a replay of his battle with Liu Tiefeng using his Information Control ability. Through careful analysis, he realizes that Liu Tiefeng seemed more interested in capturing him and investigating his background than simply killing him.
• Zhang concludes that Liu Tiefeng may belong to, or lead, a larger organization. He begins to suspect that Liu Tiefeng could have ambitions involving the conquest or control of multiple parallel worlds.

Character Developments

• Liu Tiefeng demonstrates extreme survival instincts and strategic judgment. Rather than continue fighting with a damaged body, he sacrifices his physical form to escape and possess another creature. His hatred of Zhang Ping intensifies, and his actions suggest that he is connected to a larger plan.
• Zhang Ping becomes more aware of the danger posed by other Infinite-Tier Ability Users. He feels pressure and self-doubt, realizing that his abilities may not be as unique or advantageous as he once believed. Nevertheless, he responds by carefully reviewing his actions and using analysis to uncover hidden clues.
• Fat Cat continues to serve as comic relief, resentfully tolerating Zhang’s teasing before escaping to seek protection from the young miss.
• Little Sairon remains close to Zhang during his recovery, while the Healing White Tiger provides both physical healing and emotional comfort.

Significant Themes

• Survival over pride: Liu Tiefeng’s escape emphasizes that living to fight another day is more valuable than pursuing a doomed battle.
• Strategy and timing: Victory depends not only on strength and abilities but also on intelligence, timing, and knowing when to retreat.
• The burden of power: Zhang’s encounter makes him realize that Infinite-Tier opponents may be more common and formidable than he previously thought, increasing his anxiety about the Rescue Team’s future missions.
• Reflection and self-improvement: Zhang uses his Information Control ability to review his mistakes and search for overlooked evidence, showing the importance of learning from experience.
• Hidden organizations and larger threats: Liu Tiefeng’s unusual interest in Zhang’s background hints that the conflict may involve organized forces and ambitions extending across parallel worlds.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Liu Tiefeng clash in a high-level battle, with Zhang gaining the advantage but failing to eliminate his opponent.
• Liu Tiefeng’s possession of the hunting dog creates a contrast between his terrifying power and his temporarily helpless, animal form.
• Zhang teases Fat Cat about its weight and neutering, prompting the cat to flee angrily.
• Zhang’s quiet time with Little Sairon, Fat Cat, and the Healing White Tiger provides emotional relief after the battle.
• Through analyzing their confrontation, Zhang reassesses Liu Tiefeng’s motives and recognizes that their conflict may be part of a much larger struggle.

Chapter Summary: “A Ruckus”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping is occupied with hard labor and meetings, leaving Fat Cat and Little Sairon bored at the City Lord’s Manor.
• Little Sairon summons Big Yellow through a sewer entrance, and the three companions leave the manor to wander around the city.
• Big Yellow is drawn by the smell of roasted meat to a small wooded area, where they encounter Liu Tiefeng disguised or appearing as a dog.
• Big Yellow’s Beast’s Friend ability immediately detects Liu Tiefeng’s dangerous nature. Fat Cat also senses the threat, and the three creatures flee.
• Liu Tiefeng pursues them using Psychokinesis and other abilities. Fat Cat creates a Star Track, allowing them to run through the air and briefly evade him.
• Liu Tiefeng knocks the Star Track down with a giant psychokinetic hand, forcing the group to escape through city streets and alleys.
• When Big Yellow tires, Little Sairon uses Nanorobots to create skateboards for all three, enabling them to continue fleeing.
• Liu Tiefeng realizes that Little Sairon possesses a rare spatial ability and becomes even more determined to capture and consume them so he can acquire it.
• Fat Cat detects an unusual life force and leads the group into an abandoned underground prison.
• They hide inside the long hair of a chained, pale woman in the final cell. Liu Tiefeng follows them into the prison and believes they have trapped themselves because there is only one exit.

Character Developments

• Fat Cat demonstrates strong instincts, quick judgment, and leadership under pressure. It recognizes Liu Tiefeng’s danger almost immediately and directs the escape.
• Little Sairon shows increased strength and preparation. Their expanded Dimensional Abdomen contains food, equipment, and Nanorobots, which become crucial during the chase.
• Big Yellow remains timid and easily frightened, but its Beast’s Friend ability proves valuable by identifying Liu Tiefeng as a dangerous individual. Its exhaustion also highlights its physical limitations.
• Liu Tiefeng is revealed as predatory and opportunistic. His interest shifts from simply capturing the creatures to obtaining Little Sairon’s rare spatial ability, intensifying the threat.
• The chained woman is introduced as a mysterious figure. Though apparently asleep or unconscious, her vitality is unusual enough for Fat Cat to seek refuge near her.

Significant Themes

• Survival through cooperation: The three creatures escape by combining their distinct abilities—Fat Cat’s Star Track, Little Sairon’s Nanorobots, and Big Yellow’s danger-sensing instincts.
• Predation and greed: Liu Tiefeng’s pursuit is driven not only by hostility but also by his desire to gain a rare ability, portraying power as something ruthlessly coveted.
• Instinct versus calculation: Big Yellow reacts through moral instinct, while Fat Cat assesses danger strategically; together, their different forms of perception help them survive.
• Hidden danger beneath ordinary surroundings: A peaceful city park conceals a deadly pursuer, while an abandoned prison contains an enigmatic woman who may be even more significant.
• Power and status within relationships: Fat Cat’s dismissive attitude toward Big Yellow establishes a playful hierarchy, with Big Yellow repeatedly recognizing that its standing has declined.

Character Interactions

• Fat Cat treats Big Yellow with condescension, while Big Yellow tries to remain submissive and gain approval.
• Little Sairon acts as a practical provider, summoning Big Yellow and supplying the equipment needed for escape.
• The three companions cooperate instinctively once Liu Tiefeng attacks, despite their earlier casual behavior and Fat Cat’s reluctance to include Big Yellow.
• Liu Tiefeng views the creatures as prey and focuses particularly on Little Sairon after discovering the value of their spatial ability.
• Fat Cat leads the others to the chained woman, and all three hide together in her hair, creating a temporary refuge from Liu Tiefeng’s pursuit.
• The chapter ends with Liu Tiefeng confident that he has cornered them, while the presence of the mysterious prisoner suggests that the situation may not be as secure as he believes.

Chapter Summary: Lin Renmei

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Tiefeng seals the prison exit with an earthen wall, trapping everyone inside and preventing escape.
• Starving prisoners attack or attempt to lure Liu Tiefeng, but he kills one who insults him by impaling him with an earthen spear.
• Liu discovers Fat Cat, Theron, Little Sairon, and Big Yellow hiding in the final cell with a mysterious chained woman.
• He tries to remove the woman using psychokinesis and massive earthen hands, but she cannot be moved and effortlessly resists his attacks.
• When the woman awakens, her hunger triggers Liu’s danger instincts. He immediately flees through the wall.
• The woman, later identified as Lin Renmei, mistakes Fat Cat for food. Theron and Little Sairon feed her large amounts of meat until she is finally full.
• Big Yellow asks for food, but Theron angrily beats him for recklessly running around and leading them into danger.
• That evening, Zhang Ping notices that the three young creatures are missing and follows their trail to the prison.
• He finds them sleeping safely beside Lin Renmei and appraises her, revealing her extraordinary potential and abilities.

Character Developments

• Liu Tiefeng is shown to be ruthless and confident in his powers, but Lin Renmei’s inexplicable strength forces him to retreat in fear.
• Lin Renmei is introduced as a mysterious, perpetually starving woman whose physical strength vastly exceeds Liu Tiefeng’s expectations. Despite her frightening power, she behaves innocently and politely, asking permission before eating.
• Fat Cat demonstrates good instincts by finding Lin Renmei and using her presence as protection.
• Theron and Little Sairon show compassion by sharing their food with Lin Renmei, though Theron also scolds Big Yellow for causing trouble.
• Big Yellow remains impulsive and mischievous but quickly apologizes after being punished.
• Zhang Ping acts cautiously and responsibly, tracking down his companions and appraising Lin Renmei before interacting with her.

Significant Themes

• Survival and desperation: The prison’s starving inmates resort to horrifying measures, emphasizing the collapse of civilization and the brutality of extreme hunger.
• Hidden power and mistaken appearances: Lin Renmei looks like a helpless prisoner but is physically immovable and powerful enough to terrify an Infinite-Tier ability user.
• Compassion amid danger: Although Lin Renmei could potentially eat the others, the group chooses to feed her rather than attack her, creating an unexpected alliance.
• The limits of confidence: Liu Tiefeng’s powers dominate ordinary opponents, but his encounter with Lin Renmei demonstrates that strength and rank can be misleading.
• Mystery and potential: Lin Renmei’s appraisal reveals infinite potential and lifespan, suggesting that she may become extraordinarily powerful as her abilities develop.

Character Interactions

• Liu Tiefeng kills a prisoner who calls him a dog, establishing his arrogance and cruelty.
• He confronts Lin Renmei and attempts to move her, but her immovability and dangerous hunger drive him away.
• Lin Renmei asks whether she can eat Fat Cat, prompting Theron and Little Sairon to distract her with meat.
• Theron reprimands and beats Big Yellow for his reckless behavior, while Big Yellow apologizes.
• Zhang Ping later reunites with the sleeping group and studies Lin Renmei through his appraisal ability, learning that her talent converts potential into lifespan and uses lifespan to strengthen her body permanently.

Chapter Summary: “Lin Renmei’s Past”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping examines Lin Renmei’s attributes and is shocked to discover that, despite her relatively weak abilities, she possesses infinite potential and an infinite lifespan. These attributes make her far more dangerous and powerful than she appears.
• He wakes briefly to the danger surrounding her and considers whether he could survive an attack from her, ultimately deciding not to test it.
• Lin Renmei awakens after Zhang Ping enters her cell. Zhang thanks her for protecting Little Sairon, Fat Cat, and Doggie from whatever had been hunting them.
• Lin explains that she was imprisoned after accidentally killing her father. As a child, she excitedly hugged him, but her overwhelming strength caused his body to explode into red mist. The resulting shockwave also destroyed her home and residential complex.
• Zhang offers to extract her ability so she can become a normal person and leave prison. Lin agrees, but he is unable to penetrate or affect her body because her strength is far beyond his.
• Zhang realizes that her chains are meaningless restraints. Since Lin is afraid to remove them herself in case she uses too much force, he dissolves them with his golden energy.
• He provides her with food from Dream City and explains the situation outside. Lin learns that the prison guards disappeared because they were killed by the Heavenly Fox, while the prisoners were abandoned and left to starve.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping becomes wary of Lin Renmei after discovering her terrifying potential, but he still treats her with compassion. Rather than fearing or exploiting her, he tries to help her regain a normal life.
• Lin Renmei is revealed to be emotionally vulnerable, timid, and deeply traumatized despite possessing overwhelming power. She fears hurting others and has deliberately restrained herself for years.
• Her past shows that she is not malicious: the death of her father was an accidental consequence of her uncontrolled strength.
• Lin also demonstrates resilience and self-control. When a prison guard acted improperly toward her, she carefully used only minimal force to defend herself, though even that caused devastating damage.
• Zhang’s inability to extract her ability emphasizes the enormous gap between their powers and establishes that her abilities cannot easily be removed or controlled.

Significant Themes

• Power and responsibility: Lin’s immense strength makes ordinary affection and self-defense potentially catastrophic, forcing her to live in fear of harming others.
• Isolation and imprisonment: Lin has been confined since childhood, not because she is evil, but because society has no safe way to handle her abilities.
• Compassion despite fear: Zhang is frightened by Lin’s potential but continues to communicate with and care for her.
• Trauma and innocence: Lin remains emotionally childlike and ashamed of her hunger and past, highlighting the tragedy of someone innocent being treated as a dangerous monster.
• The limits of control: Even with Lin’s consent, Zhang cannot alter her power, showing that intention alone is insufficient when there is an overwhelming difference in strength.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Lin begin with an awkward but gentle exchange, made more humorous by Lin’s repeated hunger-induced stomach growls.
• Zhang reassures Lin that she is not to blame for his questions about her father and listens to her tragic confession.
• Their conversation builds trust: Lin agrees to let Zhang attempt to remove her ability, and Zhang responds by helping her eat and freeing her from her chains.
• Zhang also interacts indirectly with his sleeping companions, whose survival was made possible by Lin’s protection.
• The chapter ends with Zhang and Lin sharing food and information, marking the beginning of a more sympathetic relationship between them.

Chapter Summary: “Decisively Taking Her Away”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After eating with Lin Renmei, Zhang Ping tells her that Rescue Team now controls Mingzhu City and that, as captain, he can correct wrongful convictions.
• Because Lin Renmei was only nine when she accidentally killed her father, and because she has already spent twenty years in prison despite likely deserving a much shorter sentence, Zhang declares her free.
• Lin Renmei refuses to leave at first, fearing that her overwhelming strength may cause her to kill or injure others. Zhang offers to let her stay with him so he can help her control her power.
• Zhang encourages her to view her ability as a tool that can be used for protection rather than destruction. He reminds her that she saved Theron, Fat Cat, and Big Yellow, even if she acted instinctively.
• Moved by Zhang’s kindness and longing to experience the outside world and form genuine friendships, Lin Renmei agrees to leave prison with him.
• Liu Tiefeng, who had been planning to abduct Theron, witnesses Zhang leaving with Lin Renmei. Realizing he cannot defeat them, he abandons the plan and investigates Lin’s background at the newly occupied Patrol Unit Headquarters.
• Liu discovers that Lin’s official record reveals little about her abilities. He worries that she may be an Infinite-Tier Ability User and considers requesting reinforcements from his organization.
• Before he can leave the area, Liu is captured by Dog King, who uses his power over canine creatures to immobilize him. Since Liu’s current body is that of a dog, Dog King’s ability completely counters him.
• Dog King puts a collar on Liu and takes him away, unaware that Liu is actually intelligent and furious. Thus, both Lin Renmei and Liu Tiefeng are removed from the conflict that night.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei: Begins to overcome her fear, guilt, and self-imposed isolation. Zhang’s acceptance gives her hope that she can live freely and use her strength responsibly.
• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates compassion, leadership, and confidence. He recognizes that Lin needs guidance before her immense power grows further and takes personal responsibility for helping her adjust.
• Liu Tiefeng: Shows caution by abandoning an unwinnable confrontation and attempting to gather intelligence. However, his strategic retreat fails when Dog King exploits his vulnerable dog-like form.
• Dog King: Is established as a dangerous and resourceful underworld figure whose ability allows him to track, restrain, and control canine creatures.

Significant Themes

• Redemption and second chances: Lin is released after serving far more time than her accidental crime warranted.
• Fear of one’s own power: Lin’s greatest obstacle is not her strength itself but her belief that she cannot control it.
• Compassion as transformation: Zhang’s kindness gives Lin the confidence to choose freedom and connection.
• Power as a neutral tool: Zhang compares ability to a knife—capable of harming or protecting depending on how it is used.
• Strategic advantages and weaknesses: Liu’s powerful abilities are ineffective against Dog King’s specialized control over dogs, emphasizing the importance of matchups and preparation.
• Fate and inevitability: Liu’s capture is presented as the result of Dog King’s persistent search rather than mere coincidence.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Lin share the chapter’s central interaction: he patiently persuades her to leave prison, while she expresses fear and uncertainty about harming others.
• Lin responds emotionally to Zhang’s unusual kindness after years of being feared and isolated.
• Liu observes Zhang and Lin from the shadows, choosing investigation over confrontation.
• Dog King treats Liu like an ordinary dog, unknowingly humiliating and terrifying him while completely neutralizing his powers.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The morning after Lin Renmei’s arrival, Zhang Ping finds her sitting nervously in the makeshift living room. He reassures her that she can treat the Rescue Team’s base as her home.
• Zhang Ping notices that Lin remains extremely cautious, afraid of accidentally using too much strength. He decides to take her to an empty parallel world to test her abilities.
• Zhang Shouzhong joins them, but concerns arise over the danger of Lin’s immense power and the possibility of destructive recoil. Zhang Ping uses his Blood Splitting ability to enter Lin’s body, allowing him to monitor and protect himself while Zhang Shouzhong waits elsewhere.
• Lin unleashes a single, partially restrained punch. The attack creates a massive explosion, flattens mountains, forms an abyss, kills nearby Mutated Beasts, and leaves the land covered in lava.
• Frightened by the destruction she caused, Lin suggests returning to her cell. Zhang Ping instead encourages her to continue learning to control her abilities.
• Lin tests her speed by running at full power. Her movement destroys everything along her path and creates dangerous, chaotic environments across the region. Zhang Ping realizes her power may be beyond his ability to counter or even evade.

Character developments

• Lin Renmei is shown to be kind, timid, and deeply afraid of harming others. Despite possessing seemingly limitless strength, speed, and potential, she lacks confidence and control over her abilities.
• Zhang Ping acts as a reassuring leader and mentor. His initial confidence is shaken when he witnesses the true scale of Lin’s power, prompting him to question how such an anomaly can exist and whether he needs a think tank to understand her.
• Zhang Shouzhong remains curious and practical, helping assess the dangers of Lin’s abilities. His concern about force and recoil demonstrates the team’s awareness that even testing her powers could be fatal.

Significant themes

• Power versus control: Lin’s overwhelming abilities are less dangerous because of malice than because she cannot yet regulate them.
• Fear of harming others: Lin’s anxiety and desire to return to confinement reflect the psychological burden of possessing uncontrollable power.
• Trust and rehabilitation: Zhang Ping encourages Lin to confront and understand her abilities rather than remain imprisoned, suggesting that guidance and trust may help her integrate into society.
• Limits of human understanding: The scale of Lin’s strength—described as having infinite potential and lifespan—leaves even Zhang Ping unable to explain or properly measure her.

Character interactions

• Zhang Ping gently tries to make Lin feel at home, asking her to call him “Zhang Ping” instead of the formal “Captain Zhang.”
• Lin responds shyly and respectfully, revealing her continued discomfort and lack of familiarity with freedom.
• Zhang Ping and Zhang Shouzhong work together to devise a safe testing method, though Zhang Shouzhong ultimately withdraws when the danger becomes too great.
• After witnessing Lin’s destructive punch, Zhang Ping reassures her and urges her not to retreat into imprisonment, taking on the role of mentor and emotional support.

Chapter Summary: “Huang Huanzhen”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Three days after Lin Renmei demonstrated her strength, Zhang Ping decides to recruit an intelligent “think tank” for the Rescue Team.
• Recruitment is difficult because the Rescue Team offers poor benefits, and candidates must swallow a Contract Gem. Intelligent Awakened are especially reluctant to surrender their freedom without trusting Zhang Ping.
• Zhang Ping chooses to personally approach the most intelligent Awakened in Mingzhu City, Huang Huanzhen.
• Before leaving, Zhang Ping discusses Bioforce Fields with Cheng Xuejie. She believes Lin Renmei’s immense physical power could be controlled if she awakened one, and Zhang Ping asks her to help him awaken one as well.
• Zhang Ping travels to Huang Huanzhen’s heavily defended manor. The residence is guarded by numerous mechanical puppets, which reject all visitors and attack intruders.
• Ignoring the warnings, Zhang Ping floats over the wall and races through the grounds. The mechanical puppets pursue him, but his speed, Psychokinesis, and durability allow him to evade their attacks.
• Huang Huanzhen activates a series of traps, including a powerful Yin Thunder landmine. Although the explosion sends Zhang Ping flying, it cannot injure him or even damage his clothes.
• Realizing that his traps are ineffective, Huang shuts them down and retreats to a secret chamber containing mechanical puppets modeled after himself, preparing to confront Zhang Ping.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates initiative and leadership by personally solving the Rescue Team’s recruitment problem rather than relying on others. His confidence and physical abilities are emphasized as he effortlessly survives Huang’s defenses.
• Lin Renmei shows concern about controlling her overwhelming strength and eagerly accepts Cheng Xuejie’s offer to help her awaken a Bioforce Field.
• Cheng Xuejie acts protectively toward Lin Renmei and reveals her willingness to help develop both Lin’s and Zhang Ping’s abilities.
• Zhang Shouzhong remains somewhat timid around Lin Renmei but contributes humorously to the scene, even asking Zhang Ping to bring back meat buns.
• Huang Huanzhen is portrayed as brilliant, isolated, suspicious, and deeply hostile toward outsiders. His intelligence is reflected in his inventions, potions, mechanical guardians, and elaborate traps, though he is surprised by Zhang Ping’s resilience.

Significant Themes

• Trust and control: The Contract Gem creates a barrier between the Rescue Team and potential recruits, highlighting the difficulty of building cooperation when both sides fear betrayal.
• The value of intelligence: The chapter establishes that scientific and strategic talent is as important as combat strength, especially in a dangerous post-apocalyptic society.
• Power versus restraint: Lin Renmei’s strength is useful but dangerous without control, while Zhang Ping seeks additional abilities to improve his own effectiveness.
• Isolation and paranoia: Huang Huanzhen’s fortress and defensive machines reflect his distrust of society and desire to avoid interacting with others.
• Adaptability and overwhelming power: Zhang Ping’s ability to overcome sophisticated traps shows how extraordinary abilities can render conventional defenses useless.

Character Interactions

• Cheng Xuejie reassures Lin Renmei that a Bioforce Field can help restrain her strength, strengthening their friendly and supportive relationship.
• Zhang Ping jokes with Cheng Xuejie about obtaining a Bioforce Field himself, showing his confidence and familiarity with her.
• Zhang Shouzhong’s nervous behavior around Lin Renmei contrasts with Cheng’s casual protectiveness and adds comic relief.
• Zhang Ping attempts to communicate with Huang Huanzhen’s mechanical guardians, but their rigid programming prevents meaningful dialogue.
• Huang and Zhang never speak directly in the chapter, but their actions form a contest: Zhang forces his way through Huang’s defenses, while Huang observes, tests, and prepares a more serious confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “A Bird in Hand”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping visits Huang Huanzhen to recruit him for the Rescue Team, hoping he will help establish a strategic think tank and research institute.
• He easily bypasses Huang’s elaborate traps, enjoying them like a game of Temple Run. Huang opens the gate but refuses to meet Zhang seriously, instead speaking through a humanlike puppet.
• Huang rejects the Rescue Team outright and shows little apparent concern when Zhang mentions that his granddaughter, Huang Zhenru, has disappeared.
• Realizing Huang cannot be persuaded, Zhang decides that another intelligent Awakened person might be better suited to convincing him or recruiting similar talent.
• Zhang visits Chen Weihua in the Mysterious Sewer. She has become severely overweight because her ability constantly forces her to hear someone crying for help, causing insomnia and stress.
• Chen explains that the Rescue Team has already struggled with its growing responsibilities and that recruiting high-IQ Awakened people for a think tank has been difficult.
• Although Chen cannot help directly due to her weakened condition, she suggests that Zhang contact the Chen Weihua from his original world. She reveals that she can sometimes sense alternate versions of herself across different worlds.
• Zhang returns to World Zero while concealing his identity, since most people believe he is dead and the Cleanup Team must not discover that he survived.
• Using the blood connection he left inside Chen Weihua, Zhang locates her home and reveals himself. Chen excitedly embraces him, having suspected he was alive because the blood within her remained warm.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates his expanding responsibilities as he attempts to improve the Rescue Team’s organization. He recognizes that intelligence and strategic ability are essential but difficult to recruit. He also remains cautious about his survival, hiding his identity in World Zero.
• Huang Huanzhen: Is portrayed as highly private, hostile, and unwilling to cooperate with institutions. His puppet and automated defenses suggest considerable technical skill, though his cold dismissal of Huang Zhenru’s disappearance makes his true feelings difficult to judge.
• Chen Weihua: Her physical and emotional condition has deteriorated because of her ability, which continually exposes her to a desperate voice calling for help. Despite this, she remains perceptive and helpful, offering Zhang insight into the existence of alternate selves.
• World Zero’s Chen Weihua: Her strong emotional reaction shows her deep gratitude and attachment to Zhang, whom she believed had died.

Significant Themes

• The difficulty of recruiting talent: Intelligence alone does not make someone willing to serve an organization; personality, trust, and personal values are equally important.
• Responsibility and institutional growth: The Rescue Team is becoming too large and influential to operate without specialized planners and advisors.
• Parallel worlds and identity: Chen Weihua’s awareness of alternate versions of herself reinforces the chapter’s focus on interconnected realities and differing possibilities.
• Hidden survival and secrecy: Zhang must balance reconnecting with allies against the danger of exposing himself to enemies.
• Emotional cost of power: Chen Weihua’s ability gives her awareness of suffering but offers no way to resolve it, leaving her psychologically and physically damaged.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Huang clash over the recruitment attempt: Zhang is polite and persistent, while Huang is dismissive and deliberately ends the conversation.
• Zhang questions Huang about Huang Zhenru’s disappearance, testing whether concern for his granddaughter might motivate him, but Huang refuses to show emotion.
• Zhang apologizes to Chen Weihua for neglecting her condition and learns that his failure to review her medical memo contributed to misunderstanding her situation.
• Chen refuses to join the think tank herself but advises Zhang to seek another version of her, demonstrating both her limitations and her willingness to help.
• Zhang’s reunion with the World Zero Chen Weihua is warm and emotional, revealing the trust created by their past experiences.