Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Professor Zhou”

Plot and events

Zhang Ping realizes that the passages beneath the island form a spiraling underground fortress. Because the fortress’s runes suppress superpowers, he can no longer rely on his usual ability, Information Control, and becomes uncertain and mentally sluggish. His presence triggers the fortress’s security system. A half-human, half-mechanical guardian detects him and awakens Professor Zhou, the base’s ancient inhabitant.
Professor Zhou emerges from a nutrient tank and deliberately meets Zhang Ping in the corridor. Rather than attacking, he invites Zhang Ping to talk. He explains that the facility is called Seed Base, built to preserve the “seeds of humanity”: exceptional people from various fields and powerful superhumans who have been placed in suspended preservation. He then offers Zhang Ping four places among them, astonishing Zhang with the sudden recruitment. Professor Zhou begins to explain why humanity needs to be preserved, but the conversation is repeatedly derailed by Zhang Ping’s awkwardness and lack of questions.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping: Without Information Control, Zhang discovers how heavily he has depended on his superpower for analyzing information and making decisions. His intelligence has not actually declined, but his thinking has become slow from years of rarely using it. He remains physically powerful and cautious, but his social awkwardness and inability to formulate questions make him appear unintelligent. He also withholds his real name, calling himself “Captain Zhang.”
• Professor Zhou: Introduced as an ancient, long-lived scientist who has spent hundreds of millions of years in preservation, Professor Zhou is calm, polite, and eager to understand how the modern world has changed. He initially misjudges Zhang Ping’s mental state, even testing him with a simple math problem, but quickly realizes that Zhang is merely out of practice rather than unintelligent.
• The mechanical guardian: The half-mechanical man serves as the fortress’s security monitor, detecting intruders and awakening Professor Zhou according to a carefully calculated defense procedure.

Character interactions

Zhang Ping and Professor Zhou meet under controlled circumstances arranged by the fortress’s security system. Professor Zhou warmly invites Zhang to talk and offers him a place in Seed Base, while Zhang responds cautiously and evasively. Their conversation becomes comedic because Professor Zhou expects serious questions, but Zhang can think only of awkward small talk such as asking whether he has eaten. When Professor Zhou tests Zhang’s intelligence, Zhang takes offense, creating further tension before Professor Zhou apologetically returns to the explanation of Seed Base.

Significant themes

• Dependence on technology and powers: Zhang’s loss of Information Control exposes how much he has surrendered his independent reasoning to his ability.
• Preservation versus mortality: Professor Zhou’s immense lifespan and refusal to die contrast with the Seed Base’s attempt to preserve humanity against catastrophe.
• Humanity’s future: The base represents an effort to safeguard civilization by preserving its intellectual, physical, and superpowered elite.
• Misjudgment and communication: Both men misunderstand one another—Professor Zhou mistakes Zhang’s slowness for low intelligence, while Zhang struggles to interpret the significance of the base and the offer being made to him.

Chapter Summary: “Base Runes”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Professor Zhou explains to Zhang Ping that countless Parallel Worlds exist like rows of dominoes. Normally they do not interfere, but the collapse of one world can trigger a chain reaction threatening others.
• He reveals that a previous “Great Destruction” destroyed a Parallel World long ago. Professor Zhou’s institute was the only organization to detect the disaster and escape it.
• Professor Zhou believes another collapse will inevitably occur and that the institute’s mission is to preserve humanity and ensure the continuation of civilization.
• Zhang Ping questions why he is being invited to join the institute. Zhou explains that Zhang is exceptionally powerful: unlike ordinary Awakened, Zhang can still use supernatural abilities inside the base, where such powers normally fail.
• Zhou identifies the mysterious runes as Underlying Code, also called Base Runes. These symbols manipulate Vacuum Energy—the energy present even in empty space—and can alter reality by changing its properties.
• Base Runes only produce effects when observed, and their influence depends on how clearly they are understood by the observer. They are also embedded in human genes, usually in a dormant form called the Blind-Box Rune Group.
• Zhou explains that unrealistic desires or unstable thoughts can cause these runes to become recessive, preventing dangerous uncontrolled mutations or supernatural effects.
• He finally admits that the institute needs powerful Awakened like Zhang Ping to help maintain the base and provide energy during future transfers. Two Awakened died during the previous transfer while repairing the base’s outer shell.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates strong intelligence and caution by repeatedly questioning Zhou’s claims rather than accepting them blindly. His powerful Mental Strength allows him to process information rapidly.
• Zhang gains a deeper understanding of the structure of supernatural phenomena, learning that abilities and reality-distorting effects originate from Base Runes and Vacuum Energy.
• His exceptional abilities are formally recognized as valuable even within the institute’s restrictive environment.
• Professor Zhou is revealed to be both a scientist and a leader responsible for protecting the institute. Although initially presenting information indirectly, he eventually speaks honestly about his desire to recruit Zhang and the institute’s need for additional powerful Awakened.
• Zhou also shows flexibility as a teacher, adjusting his terminology and explanations to match Zhang’s limited scientific knowledge.

Significant Themes

• Survival and preservation of civilization: The institute exists to protect humanity from an inevitable cosmic-scale catastrophe.
• Interconnected worlds and inevitability: The domino metaphor suggests that seemingly separate worlds may still be vulnerable to a chain reaction.
• Science behind the supernatural: Supernatural powers are presented not as magic, but as consequences of manipulating Vacuum Energy through Base Runes.
• Knowledge and observation: Base Runes only become effective through observation, emphasizing the relationship between consciousness, understanding, and reality.
• Power and responsibility: Zhang’s strength makes him valuable, but it also places pressure on him to contribute to the survival of the institute.
• Human limitations and instability: The dormant nature of the Blind-Box Rune Group reflects the danger of unchecked desires, mutations, and uncontrolled power.

Character Interactions

• Zhou uses a domino demonstration to help Zhang understand the danger of Parallel World collapse.
• Zhang persistently challenges Zhou, asking whether the collapse is certain, why the institute needs him, and how supernatural abilities and Base Runes function.
• Zhou responds patiently, explaining advanced concepts such as Vacuum Energy, Base Runes, and genetic rune groups in increasingly accessible terms.
• Their conversation shifts from a scientific explanation to a recruitment discussion, with Zhou openly acknowledging that Zhang’s strength is essential to the institute’s future survival.

Chapter Summary: “Turning Hostile”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping refuses Professor Zhou’s invitation to join him, explaining that he still has other responsibilities.
• Professor Zhou reveals that his friendliness was conditional: he believes anyone who threatens the base’s security must be eliminated, including those who reject him.
• The two argue over the morality of murder. Both claim that the people they have killed deserved death, but Professor Zhou declares that Zhang Ping now deserves to die.
• Professor Zhou traps Zhang Ping in a room filled with golden threads. He explains that he has embedded special Base Runes into his superpowers, making them immune to the base’s restrictions and allowing him to suppress abilities without such modifications.
• Although Professor Zhou believes Zhang Ping is helpless, Zhang uses his Bioforce Field to create a Bagua-shaped barrier and resist the threads.
• Zhang combines psychokinesis with his Bioforce Field to form armor, then charges directly at Professor Zhou. He manages to strike Zhou repeatedly and uses Zhou’s own body to shield himself from attacks made by the golden threads.
• Professor Zhou is badly beaten, but before Zhang can finish him, a tall man named Lin Sheng arrives and kicks Zhang away.
• Lin Sheng helps Professor Zhou up. Enraged and humiliated, Zhou orders Lin Sheng to capture Zhang and make him suffer.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping remains morally cautious despite his violent past. He challenges Professor Zhou’s justification for murder and refuses to accept the idea that security excuses all actions.
• Zhang also demonstrates strong combat instincts and adaptability. Even while heavily restrained and unable to use most of his powers normally, he relies on his physical strength, Bioforce Field, and tactical thinking to turn the situation around.
• Professor Zhou is exposed as manipulative, authoritarian, and deeply paranoid. His concern for the base masks a willingness to kill anyone who disobeys him. His pride in his research also makes him boastful, causing him to underestimate Zhang.
• Zhou’s emotional instability becomes clear when Zhang questions whether he truly understands Zhou’s loneliness and suffering. Zhou reacts with anger, revealing that his supposed calm rationality is fragile.
• Lin Sheng is introduced as an apparent ally or subordinate of Professor Zhou. His intervention prevents Zhou’s defeat and shifts the fight back in Zhou’s favor.

Significant Themes

• Security versus morality: Professor Zhou treats the base’s survival as justification for absolute violence, while Zhang questions whether protecting humanity permits murder without moral limits.
• Power and control: Zhou’s Base Rune research gives him an advantage by allowing him to override the normal rules governing superpowers.
• Pride and underestimation: Zhou’s confidence leads him to reveal information and assume Zhang is defeated, giving Zhang the opportunity to counterattack.
• Isolation and resentment: Zhou’s comments about having no one to share his research with suggest that loneliness has contributed to his hostility and obsession with control.
• Adaptability versus rigid dominance: Zhou relies on superior control of the environment, while Zhang survives through improvisation, physical resilience, and tactical aggression.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Professor Zhou’s former respectful conversation deteriorates into open hostility after Zhang rejects Zhou’s invitation.
• Their debate over who deserves to die mirrors their opposing philosophies: Zhou prioritizes the “last spark of humanity,” while Zhang insists that individual responsibility and justice still matter.
• Zhou attempts to intimidate Zhang by explaining the superiority of his Rune-enhanced abilities, but Zhang turns Zhou’s arrogance against him.
• Zhang physically overwhelms Zhou despite being restrained, using Zhou as a shield against his own attack.
• Lin Sheng’s arrival establishes a new conflict dynamic, rescuing Zhou and carrying out his command to subdue Zhang.

Chapter Summary: “Turning the Tables in an Instant”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Professor Zhou, enraged after Zhang Ping severely injured him, orders Lin Sheng to kill him.
• Lin Sheng attacks with overwhelming speed and strength. Zhang Ping avoids his punches, but Professor Zhou’s golden threads bind him and disrupt his movements.
• Zhang Ping initially tries closing his eyes to avoid the Base Runes’ suppression, but quickly discovers that doing so does not help.
• Professor Zhou reveals Lin Sheng’s ability, “No More Than Three,” which causes any defensive ability to become ineffective after Lin Sheng lands three punches. One of Lin Sheng’s attacks breaks through Zhang Ping’s Bioforce Field.
• Believing his defenses have been completely neutralized, Zhang Ping summons Coiling Dragon Venerable.
• The weapon’s Light Cannon destroys Lin Sheng and cuts through the laboratory, while Professor Zhou survives only by fleeing around a corner.
• Professor Zhou begs for his life, offering Zhang Ping his research materials and information about the Great Destruction.
• Zhang Ping overpowers him, carries him out of the base, and escapes into the sky.
• Once outside the Base Runes’ range, Zhang Ping’s abilities return to normal. He knocks Professor Zhou unconscious and uses Information Control to copy and examine his memories.
• Zhang Ping discovers that Professor Zhou began as an ordinary, highly intelligent academic but became increasingly cruel after studying the Base Runes. He conducted extensive human experimentation, developed a method for enhancing superpowers, gained support from powerful conglomerates, and eventually acquired Ai Yin as a test subject.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates adaptability and tactical thinking despite being placed at a major disadvantage. When his usual defenses fail, he abandons direct combat and uses Coiling Dragon Venerable to reverse the situation instantly. He remains confident and merciless toward Professor Zhou, prioritizing useful information over simple revenge.
• Professor Zhou: His detached, godlike confidence collapses once he is injured and placed in mortal danger. His willingness to reveal information and beg for mercy exposes his cowardice and lack of combat experience. His memories also reveal his moral descent from a bookish scholar into a ruthless scientist who abuses human subjects.
• Lin Sheng: Functions as Professor Zhou’s enforcer and possesses a highly dangerous anti-defense ability. Although powerful and obedient, he is ultimately destroyed because he cannot withstand Coiling Dragon Venerable’s attack.
• Ai Yin: Does not appear directly, but is introduced as an important subject in Professor Zhou’s past experiments, suggesting a connection to future revelations.

Significant Themes

• Reversal of power: Professor Zhou and Lin Sheng initially control the battle through the Base Runes and Lin Sheng’s defense-breaking ability, but Zhang Ping rapidly turns the tables with a weapon that is less affected by suppression.
• Adaptation versus overconfidence: Zhang Ping survives by recognizing the limits of his defenses and changing tactics, while Professor Zhou’s arrogance leaves him unprepared for an unexpected counterattack.
• Abuse of knowledge and scientific corruption: Professor Zhou’s research begins with intellectual promise but becomes monstrous when he treats people as experimental materials.
• Power and vulnerability: The Base Runes suppress Zhang Ping’s abilities while enhancing his enemies, showing how dependent strength can be on circumstances. Once Zhang Ping escapes the base, his full power returns.
• Cowardice beneath authority: Professor Zhou presents himself as an all-powerful “god” over his subjects, but immediately collapses when he faces genuine danger.

Character Interactions

• Professor Zhou commands Lin Sheng and encourages him to kill Zhang Ping, revealing their hierarchical relationship.
• Lin Sheng attacks Zhang Ping while Professor Zhou supports him with golden binding threads and explains Lin Sheng’s ability.
• Zhang Ping responds to their apparent victory by summoning Coiling Dragon Venerable, killing Lin Sheng and forcing Professor Zhou into submission.
• Professor Zhou attempts to bargain with Zhang Ping by offering his research and Great Destruction data, but Zhang Ping mocks and intimidates him instead.
• After capturing Professor Zhou, Zhang Ping extracts and examines his memories, uncovering the scientist’s history and his connection to Ai Yin.

Chapter Summary: “Sequence Group”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Ain, codenamed Dreamwalker, became vegetative after an experimental accident but gained the ability Sleepwalking Log, which produced a bizarre diary whose entries gradually came true.
• Professor Zhou used the diary to discover the existence of countless parallel universes and a prophecy concerning an approaching Great Destruction. He and his allies survived by building bases, escaping doomed worlds, and eventually meeting Zhang Ping.
• Zhang Ping confirms that the Great Destruction is real and recognizes it as an unprecedented catastrophe. He begins considering ways to save life, including transforming the Mysterious Sewer into a “doomsday ark.”
• After completing the copying of Professor Zhou’s abilities and information, Zhang Ping kills him and burns his body. From the ashes, he obtains the golden Thread of Reason, Professor Zhou’s ability.
• Thread of Reason can pierce a person’s brain, drain their reason, and turn them into Professor Zhou’s puppet. Its Base Rune enhancement gives the threads extraordinary durability and, more importantly, strong resistance to other abilities.
• Zhang Ping learns about Foundational Rune Enhancement Sequences, which enhance superpowers at a rule-based level and allow them to overpower ordinary versions of abilities.
• Professor Zhou had mastered ten such sequences, though he implanted only Sequence 001: “I Think, Therefore I Am Free,” prioritizing resistance to mental control and self-preservation over combat strength.
• Zhang Ping investigates the requirements and dangers of implanting sequence groups. The necessary materials include Mental Strength fragments, liquid souls, and Ice Spirit Cores. Liquid souls are available to him, but Mental Strength fragments and Ice Spirit Cores are scarce.
• The chapter ends with Zhang Ping considering how many sequence groups he could implant across his many abilities and whether there are enough resources to equip the entire Rescue Team.

2. Character Developments

• Zhang Ping shifts from reacting to disasters to actively planning for the survival of all life across multiple worlds. His willingness to consider a massive ark shows his growing sense of responsibility.
• He also becomes more pragmatic and ruthless, killing Professor Zhou immediately after extracting the needed information and abilities.
• Professor Zhou is revealed as a cautious researcher rather than a frontline fighter. His choice of Sequence 001 reflects his fear of mental control and his preference for stability over dangerous power.
• Ain’s ability is established as the source of the warning about the Great Destruction, making her indirectly crucial to the survival plan.
• Zhang Ping’s interest in sequence implantation suggests that he is beginning to pursue systematic power enhancement, though he remains aware of the risks.

3. Significant Themes

• Survival against overwhelming catastrophe: The Great Destruction raises the stakes beyond individual worlds, forcing the characters to think on a multiversal scale.
• Knowledge versus morality: Professor Zhou’s research provides vital information, but his ability involves enslaving minds, and Zhang Ping must obtain that knowledge through violence.
• Power and control: Foundational Rune Sequences enhance abilities at a fundamental level, while Thread of Reason and Sequence 001 both center on resistance to mental domination.
• The danger of excessive power: Implanting multiple sequence groups can cause conflicts, mental collapse, or transformation into monsters, emphasizing that power carries severe risks.
• Scarcity and preparation: Even with the necessary knowledge, survival depends on rare materials and careful resource management.

4. Character Interactions

• Ain and Professor Zhou: Ain’s Sleepwalking Log provides the prophetic information that guides Professor Zhou’s research and survival efforts.
• Professor Zhou and Zhang Ping: Their meeting connects Zhang Ping to the truth about the Great Destruction. Zhang Ping later copies Zhou’s abilities and memories before killing him.
• Zhang Ping and Professor Zhou’s legacy: Through Thread of Reason, the sequence information, and the stored memories, Zhang Ping inherits both Zhou’s discoveries and the consequences of his morally questionable research.
• Zhang Ping and the Rescue Team: Although the team does not directly appear in major interactions, Zhang Ping considers sharing sequence enhancements with them, showing that his plans are becoming collective rather than personal.

Summary of “Kill and Save”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping reviews Professor Zhou’s memories and learns more about the Sequence Groups. He considers them useful but ultimately inferior to overwhelming power, while hoping to improve them through the Rescue Team’s research.
• Zhang Ping explains why he killed Professor Zhou: Zhou had committed countless atrocities by abducting people from different worlds for experiments, including a version of Zhang Ping from another parallel world whom he eventually murdered.
• Determined to rescue Zhou’s victims and destroy his operation, Zhang Ping attacks the base.
• In one parallel world, Zhang Ping destroys Mingzhu City and battles Apophis, a grotesque creature capable of reviving through multiple “seeds.” Zhang treats the fight as entertainment, easily annihilating Apophis’s manifestations.
• Zhang discovers an island base, declares it his own, and breaks inside. He disables the facility with black mist, killing many Awakened and people still inside life-support tanks.
• He confronts Professor Zhou, who accuses him of slaughtering innocents. Zhang rejects the accusation, claiming the base belongs to him, defeats Zhou effortlessly, alters his golden-thread Base Runes with black energy, and kicks him through a spatial rift into another world.
• Zhang continues through the base, killing both surviving Awakened and some experimental subjects. He eventually reaches the lowest level, where Ain is being held in a life-support tank.
• The chapter then presents contrasting versions of events across parallel worlds. In one, Zhang rescues Ain and leads the experimental subjects out of the base. In another, he kills her brutally by crushing her between enormous black hands.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates immense power, confidence, cruelty, and a volatile sense of humor. Although he claims to be rescuing victims and punishing Professor Zhou, his actions reveal that his morality changes drastically between parallel worlds. He is playful and theatrical when fighting, but also casually murderous.
• Professor Zhou: Is confirmed to be a brutal experimenter responsible for widespread suffering. Despite attempting to condemn Zhang’s violence, he is powerless against him. His defeat also shows Zhang’s ability to manipulate and alter Base Runes.
• Apophis: Serves as a powerful but ultimately helpless opponent. Its ability to revive makes the battle somewhat unusual, but Zhang still treats it as a game.
• Ain: Is portrayed as a captive whose existence is vital to the base’s ability to travel between worlds. Her fate differs sharply between parallel versions of Zhang Ping.
• The experimental subjects and Awakened: The rescued subjects emphasize Zhang’s apparent role as a liberator in one timeline, while the deaths of others expose the indiscriminate nature of his violence.

Significant Themes

• Moral ambiguity and hypocrisy: Zhang condemns Professor Zhou’s experiments and claims to save victims, yet he kills innocents and experimental subjects himself.
• Parallel-world divergence: Different versions of Zhang Ping make radically different choices, suggesting that identity and morality depend heavily on circumstance or individual decisions.
• Power and unchecked authority: Zhang’s overwhelming strength allows him to define reality and morality on his own terms. No one in the base can meaningfully oppose him.
• Rescue versus destruction: The chapter repeatedly contrasts liberation with annihilation, especially through the two opposing outcomes involving Ain.
• Dehumanization through experimentation: Professor Zhou’s victims are treated as objects, while Zhang’s casual violence suggests that even the supposed rescuer may reproduce the same disregard for human life.

Character Interactions

• Zhang studies Professor Zhou’s memories before confronting him and later mocks him for calling him an intruder.
• He offers Apophis the chance to become his subordinate, but destroys it when it refuses.
• Zhang treats the base as his personal property, ridiculing its alarms and systems when they resist his control.
• Professor Zhou attacks Zhang and accuses him of killing innocents, but Zhang defeats and humiliates him, then forcibly modifies his powers.
• Zhang encounters Ain as a captive in the base; depending on the parallel world, he either protects and carries her to safety or kills her without hesitation.

Chapter Summary: “Apophis and Professor Zhou”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Professor Zhou is unintentionally exiled, apparently because of Zhang Ping’s altered sequence group. During the process, his body begins grotesquely mutating: one arm becomes uncontrollable black threads, the other grows into a tree, and his legs and lower body undergo similar transformations.
• He falls into the sea and is discovered by a large group of Oceanfolk controlled by thin white threads connected to Apophis.
• Apophis appears in a larval form, using an Oceanfolk body while its true form seems to consist of the threads extending from its back. It initially intends to use Professor Zhou as a guide rather than kill him.
• When Apophis attempts to connect with Professor Zhou, Zhou instinctively attacks and destroys the Oceanfolk body Apophis was controlling. Furious, Apophis orders the Oceanfolk to kill him.
• Professor Zhou fights back despite his damaged and constantly mutating body. The Oceanfolk regenerate unless their heads are destroyed, and they gradually improve their combat tactics. After forming coordinated battle formations, they overwhelm Zhou.
• As Professor Zhou is about to die, Apophis pierces his brain and absorbs his memories. It learns about Zhang Ping, the Great Destruction, and the danger threatening all worlds.
• Apophis realizes that the Oceanfolk are too weak to survive and decides it must acquire more Landfolk—especially Awakened individuals and their abilities—in order to grow stronger and escape destruction.
• A black thread from Professor Zhou’s body enters Apophis, apparently poisoning or infecting it. Instead of dying, Apophis undergoes a dramatic transformation: its body becomes a monstrous sphinx with zebra-striped tentacles, bat-like wings, and Oceanfolk heads embedded in the wings. Professor Zhou’s head becomes embedded in the sphinx’s forehead.
• Empowered by the transformation, Apophis concludes that “mutual benefit” is the fundamental truth of the world.

Character Developments

• Professor Zhou: His body is progressively transformed by Zhang Ping’s influence, leaving him increasingly helpless but also granting him powerful thread-based abilities. Even while dying, he remains driven by hatred and a desire for revenge against Zhang Ping. His desperation and resistance allow him to damage Apophis and ultimately contribute to its evolution.
• Apophis: Initially appears as a young or larval version of the legendary sea tyrant. It begins as a calculating entity seeking cooperation, but Professor Zhou’s attack provokes its murderous rage. After absorbing Zhou’s memories, Apophis becomes more aware of the Great Destruction and shifts toward a survival-focused plan to obtain Awakened powers and strengthen itself. Its infection by Zhou results in a powerful new form.
• Oceanfolk: They are revealed to be controllable, semi-regenerative servants of Apophis. Though initially weak and reckless, they rapidly learn from combat, developing increasingly effective formations and tactics.

Significant Themes

• Unintended consequences: Exile, mutation, and transformation occur without full control, producing unpredictable results for both Zhou and Apophis.
• Survival and adaptation: The Oceanfolk improve through repeated combat, while Apophis evolves after absorbing Zhou and being infected by his threads.
• Mutual benefit versus exploitation: Apophis initially frames its relationship with Zhou as cooperation, but their encounter becomes a struggle in which both attempt to use or destroy the other. Apophis ultimately interprets its transformation as proof that mutual benefit drives survival.
• Knowledge as power: By obtaining Professor Zhou’s memories, Apophis learns about threats beyond the sea and gains a strategic understanding of the wider world.
• Revenge and desperation: Zhou’s refusal to die before taking revenge fuels his resistance, while Apophis’s fear of the Great Destruction creates a new sense of urgency and ambition.

Character Interactions

• Professor Zhou and Zhang Ping: Though Zhang Ping does not appear directly, his actions cause Zhou’s exile and mutations. Zhou remains consumed by hatred and vows revenge.
• Professor Zhou and Apophis: Their relationship shifts rapidly from possible cooperation to mutual hostility. Zhou destroys Apophis’s controlled body, prompting an attack, while Apophis later kills him to access his knowledge. Yet Zhou’s altered body ultimately empowers Apophis.
• Apophis and the Oceanfolk: Apophis commands the Oceanfolk through its threads, using them as extensions of its will. They obey its orders and sacrifice themselves in battle, though their increasing combat intelligence helps defeat Zhou.

Chapter Summary: “Realm”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Apophis prepares to test their newly acquired power when Zhang Ping suddenly appears.
• Apophis attacks him with numerous tentacles, but Zhang Ping effortlessly destroys them with black energy.
• Apophis proposes that they cooperate, but Zhang Ping mocks them and explains the true hierarchy of supernatural power.
• Zhang reveals that the supernatural systems of the Lashao Universe originated from his will and the True Meaning Script associated with him.
• He demonstrates his overwhelming strength by unfolding his Domain, temporarily altering space, time, and energy and making Apophis feel separated from the universe itself.
• Zhang outlines the progression beyond ordinary Awakened beings: Transcenders, Domain Adepts, Sacred Domain Adepts, Divine Domain Adepts, Dominators, and finally his own unnamed realm, which he jokingly calls “Zhang Ping.”
• He claims that his current strength is only a tiny fraction of his former power, emphasizing the enormous scale of existence beyond the Lashao Universe.
• Professor Zhou begs Zhang to explain how to become a Domain Adept, but Zhang refuses, criticizing Zhou for studying his True Meaning Script without understanding it.
• Instead, Zhang brands Apophis with a portion of the True Meaning Script, causing immense pain and forcibly increasing their power. He orders Apophis to destroy everything and “make a mess.”
• Zhang leaves after revealing that he originally appeared because he mistakenly believed another version of himself had killed Professor Zhou.
• Apophis undergoes a full-day mutation, becoming far more powerful and monstrous.
• After accepting their relative weakness, Apophis unleashes the Pale Domain—renaming it the Win-Win Domain—which transforms sea life into grotesque, predatory monsters.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping is established as an overwhelmingly powerful, detached, and increasingly bored existence. He treats cosmic power and the suffering of others as entertainment, though he also appears interested in provoking growth and chaos.
• Apophis shifts from arrogant confidence to humility and despair after witnessing Zhang Ping’s power. However, rather than surrendering, they accept their position as a weak being and embrace destruction as a means of growth.
• Professor Zhou is revealed to be effectively dead, existing only as a remnant or component within Apophis. His desperate desire to advance exposes both his ambition and his failure to understand the True Meaning Script.

Significant Themes

• Relative power and perspective: Even Zhang Ping, who appears invincible to Apophis, considers himself insignificant compared with greater beings.
• Limits of imitation: Most supernatural practitioners merely imitate Zhang’s will and therefore remain trapped within a limited level of power. True advancement requires integrating one’s own will with supernatural ability.
• Cosmic hierarchy and transcendence: The chapter introduces a vast progression of realms, suggesting that the known universe is only a small part of a much larger reality.
• Knowledge versus understanding: Professor Zhou has studied Zhang’s teachings for years but gains nothing because he lacks genuine comprehension.
• Destruction as forced evolution: Zhang deliberately empowers Apophis so that chaos and destruction will stimulate further growth in the world.

Character Interactions

• Apophis and Zhang Ping: Their attempted confrontation quickly becomes a lesson in powerlessness. Apophis tries negotiation, but Zhang responds with ridicule and a demonstration of superior strength.
• Professor Zhou and Zhang Ping: Zhou reacts with shock and begs for instruction. Zhang dismisses him as a fool, then uses Apophis as an experiment rather than helping him.
• Apophis and Professor Zhou: Although Zhou appears to remain alive, Zhang clarifies that he is essentially a corpse or fragment absorbed into Apophis, reinforcing Apophis’s transformation into something increasingly monstrous.

Chapter Summary: “Assault”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning to Mingzhu City, Zhang Ping discusses the Base Runes with Chen Weihua. They learn that Professor Zhou’s researchers frequently went insane while studying them, with fewer than one in ten remaining lucid.
• Realizing the Base Runes are far more dangerous than expected, Zhang Ping agrees to halt their research and keep the information restricted to himself and Chen Weihua. He also warns Chen not to study them alone.
• A sudden, violent wind and warning bells signal an approaching threat from the sea. Zhang Ping’s Sixth Sense detects extreme danger, prompting him to order Chen Weihua to evacuate the Rescue Team and as many civilians as possible.
• Zhang Ping travels to the coast while Chen begins organizing the evacuation. A massive tsunami soon surges toward the city, but Zhang realizes it is only a secondary threat—the true danger is approaching behind it.
• A flock of enormous seabirds attacks him. Their bodies split open into grotesque octopus-like monsters that fire white beams capable of turning objects into bone.
• Zhang defends himself with shields made from King’s Gems, though the beams rapidly ossify them. He attacks with psychokinetic spikes, but the creatures survive being pierced and cut apart, fusing together into larger monsters.
• Zhang then uses Nether Mist combined with the Glutton’s energy to wipe out the airborne creatures. However, tentacles emerge from the sea, revealing countless additional monsters beneath the water.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates caution and responsibility by abandoning the idea of openly researching the Base Runes after learning of their devastating psychological effects.
• His danger-sensing abilities become crucial. Rather than underestimating the threat, he immediately orders an evacuation despite his own immense power.
• Zhang also shows adaptability in combat, quickly testing the monsters’ durability and changing tactics when ordinary attacks prove ineffective.
• Chen Weihua accepts Zhang’s command without hesitation and takes charge of the city’s evacuation, reinforcing her reliability as a leader and her trust in Zhang’s judgment.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as a dangerous weapon: The Base Runes offer immense value but can destroy the minds of those who study them, emphasizing the cost of forbidden or incomprehensible knowledge.
• Preparation versus arrogance: Zhang’s instinct is not to fight recklessly but to evacuate civilians and assess the danger first.
• Escalating threats: The tsunami initially appears to be the main disaster, but it is revealed to be merely a prelude to a much greater assault.
• Adaptation and survival: The monsters’ regenerative abilities force Zhang to experiment and adjust his methods instead of relying solely on brute strength.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Chen have a cooperative, trusting relationship. They openly exchange information and make a joint decision to restrict Base Rune research.
• Zhang’s warning to Chen reflects his concern for her safety, while Chen’s immediate obedience to his evacuation order shows mutual respect and confidence in his instincts.
• Their separation at the moment of crisis establishes parallel roles: Chen protects the city and its people, while Zhang confronts the unknown enemy at the coast.

Chapter Summary: “That Lord”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A massive tsunami carrying countless mutated sea creatures approaches Mingzhu City. Zhang Ping realizes the danger is far greater than a natural disaster and decides to delay the monsters so civilians can evacuate.
• Zhang orders Coiling Dragon Venerable to fight at full strength. Its light cannon and Zhang’s Nether Mist blades destroy huge numbers of creatures, though waves of monsters continue to emerge from the sea.
• The creatures appear to have originally been ordinary fish and seabirds, but an unknown power has transformed them into grotesque forms filled with tentacles.
• Zhang concludes that the enemy is attempting to exhaust humanity’s strongest fighters before invading the land.
• Because he cannot stop every creature himself, Zhang relies on the powerful Awakened in Mingzhu City to handle those that slip through.
• He considers whether Professor Zhou’s faction or Apophis is responsible. The disaster strongly resembles the catastrophe described in Li Huatao’s dream, making Apophis especially suspicious.
• Apophis observes Zhang from the sea while controlling Professor Zhou. It remembers an entity known only as “That Lord,” but cannot recall the being’s name or appearance.
• Apophis feels an inexplicable fear of Zhang despite possessing greater apparent power. It struggles between the urge to kill him and an instinct warning that Zhang is extremely dangerous.
• Claiming it must obey That Lord’s orders, Apophis summons the Oceanfolk and activates its Win-Win Domain. The domain mutates seagrass into enormous serpents and creates weapons for the Oceanfolk.
• Zhang senses a distant observer but cannot see it, suggesting the enemy possesses extraordinary power. When the Oceanfolk finally appear, he realizes he has essentially identified the force behind the attack.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Shows responsibility and strategic judgment by prioritizing the evacuation of Mingzhu City. He recognizes the limits of his strength, adapts his tactics, and continues investigating the enemy despite the chaos.
• Coiling Dragon Venerable: Functions as Zhang’s primary weapon, using devastating light attacks to kill vast numbers of monsters and hold back the invasion.
• Apophis: Is revealed to have become far more powerful, apparently entering the realm of Domain Adepts through That Lord’s gift. Despite this power, it experiences irrational fear of Zhang, hinting at a forgotten connection or past trauma.
• Professor Zhou: Remains embedded in Apophis and is mentally tormented by his inability to remember That Lord’s identity. His hysterical reactions imply that the forgotten figure is deeply frightening.
• The Oceanfolk: Make their first appearance in the present attack, emerging as fanatical soldiers serving Apophis and That Lord.

Significant Themes

• Duty and sacrifice: Zhang accepts personal risk and exhaustion to protect civilians, even when he cannot guarantee victory.
• The limits of strength: Raw power is insufficient against an endless enemy force; Zhang must choose where to focus his efforts and depend on others.
• Hidden identities and erased memories: The inability to remember That Lord’s name suggests deliberate manipulation, supernatural suppression, or a dangerous connection to the past.
• Fear beyond reason: Apophis logically believes it should defeat Zhang, yet instinctively fears him, emphasizing that power and understanding do not always align.
• Mutation and corruption: Ordinary sea life is transformed into grotesque monsters, reflecting the destructive influence of supernatural forces on the natural world.

Character Interactions

• Zhang and Coiling Dragon Venerable coordinate their attacks to destroy the monsters in the tsunami.
• Zhang mentally weighs the threat posed by Apophis, Professor Zhou, and the mysterious That Lord.
• Apophis watches Zhang through the monster horde and orders the attack while struggling with its fear of him.
• Professor Zhou’s consciousness remains under Apophis’s control, repeatedly reacting to the forgotten identity of That Lord.
• Apophis commands the Oceanfolk, who respond fanatically and charge toward Zhang with weapons created by the Win-Win Domain.

Chapter Summary: “Battle Team Form”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping abruptly flees from the sea serpent and Oceanfolk after sensing the danger posed by their unseen master, leaving them confused before they pursue him.
• He returns to Mingzhu City, where evacuation efforts are progressing too slowly. Seawater has already flooded the city, and most residents remain behind.
• Using countless Storage Contract Gems, Zhang Ping rapidly evacuates thousands of people, storing them temporarily and transporting them to the Mysterious Sewer for safe relocation. The Rescue Team helps organize the displaced civilians.
• Some residents—including members of the Beast-Taming Zhu Family and elderly citizens—refuse to abandon the city, forcing Zhang Ping to prioritize the larger evacuation.
• Zhang Ping reports to Chen Weihua that the enemy is extremely dangerous. He provides data on the enemy’s seabirds, Oceanfolk, and sea monsters, revealing that they are technically Living Corpses despite appearing alive.
• The enemy is identified as Apophis, though Zhang Ping insists it is not identical to Zuo Xiangming’s Living Corpse ability. Apophis’s power is stranger, and its current strength exceeds what should have been possible after its original body was destroyed.
• Chen Weihua suggests abandoning the world if the enemy cannot be defeated, but Zhang Ping chooses to fight while promising to retreat if necessary.
• A highest-Level mission is issued to bring in the Rescue Team’s strongest Awakened. Zhang Ping requests Lin Renmei’s assistance, while deciding not to assemble the full Battle Team yet.
• Zhang Ping merges with Lin Renmei as King’s Blood, granting her access to his abilities and covering her in Nether Mist Battle Armor. Together, they prepare to investigate and probe Apophis’s strength.
• Lin Renmei, Bai Yating, Feng Laixian, and Shi Jun arrive. Lin Renmei moves toward the sea to confront the main enemy, while Bai Yating and the others prepare to handle its lesser forces.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Becomes more cautious and responsible, recognizing that the battle may genuinely threaten his life. He prioritizes evacuating civilians and acknowledges that, as the Rescue Team’s core, he cannot recklessly risk himself. His curiosity about Apophis’s abnormal growth also hints at his desire to understand and possibly exploit the secret behind its power.
• Chen Weihua: Demonstrates strategic judgment and concern for Zhang Ping’s safety. She recognizes that the Rescue Team depends heavily on him and is willing to abandon the world rather than let him die for it.
• Lin Renmei: Shows significant growth from her earlier inexperienced self. She is now confident, battle-hardened, and capable of taking command during a crisis. She calmly accepts the danger and leads the assault.
• Bai Yating, Feng Laixian, and Shi Jun: Reinforce their status as the Rescue Team’s strongest supporting combatants, prepared to handle the enemy’s subordinate forces.
• The Rescue Team: Acts with greater coordination, combining evacuation, logistics, intelligence gathering, and combat deployment in response to the crisis.

Significant Themes

• Responsibility versus personal survival: Zhang Ping must balance the need to protect civilians and his team against the danger of losing his own life.
• The cost of disaster: The chapter emphasizes how ordinary people’s hesitation and attachment to their homes can hinder evacuation during an overwhelming catastrophe.
• Trust and teamwork: The Rescue Team relies on specialized members working together, while Zhang Ping and Lin Renmei’s fusion symbolizes their strong combat partnership.
• The unknown enemy: Apophis’s unexplained evolution creates a sense of mystery and unease. Its nature seems connected to Living Corpses but is not fully understood.
• Power and restraint: Despite having immense abilities, Zhang Ping chooses to investigate and test Apophis rather than immediately commit to an all-out battle.
• Sacrifice and strategic withdrawal: The characters acknowledge that retreat is acceptable if victory becomes impossible, reflecting a more mature and pragmatic approach to warfare.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping’s silent departure confuses the sea serpent and Oceanfolk, who then pursue him.
• He works with Rescue Team members to evacuate Mingzhu City, while some residents resist leaving.
• Chen Weihua questions Zhang Ping about the enemy and challenges him to consider retreating from the world if necessary.
• Zhang Ping and Chen Weihua discuss mobilizing the Rescue Team’s strongest fighters, ultimately deciding to summon Lin Renmei and other elite members.
• Zhang Ping merges with Lin Renmei, linking their abilities and combat systems. He warns her to focus on reconnaissance and testing the enemy, while she notices and comments on his unusual nervousness.
• Lin Renmei assigns Bai Yating to deal with the smaller enemies while she confronts the main threat, demonstrating her confidence and leadership.

Chapter Summary: “Level Suppression”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Shi Jun, Feng Laixian, and Bai Yating arrive to support the defense of Mingzhu City. Shi Jun uses Sea of Earth to lift the entire city on a massive earthen hand, while Feng Laixian transforms into a phoenix and rains fire onto the surrounding sea monsters. Bai Yating prepares a powerful light sword to help eliminate a gigantic sea serpent attacking the city.
• At the same time, Lin Renmei confronts Apophis above the sea. Her initial punch creates a massive explosion, but Apophis remains unharmed—the first enemy to withstand one of her attacks.
• Apophis attacks through coordinated monster transformations, using swordfish, tentacles, Psychokinesis, and flames to pressure Lin Renmei. Professor Zhou’s golden threads also appear, raising questions about why a head resembling Professor Zhou remains attached to Apophis despite his apparent death.
• Lin Renmei destroys the attacks with ease, but Apophis engages her directly. Although Lin is physically much stronger, Apophis uses its ability to redirect most of the force into the surrounding space.
• Apophis activates the Win-Win Domain, altering the laws of the area and beginning to erode Lin Renmei’s defenses. It explains that her attacks are being weakened and that, once the domain overwhelms her abilities, she will become one of its controlled “Living Corpses.”
• Zhang Ping uses previously placed marks from Immortal Leopard Guidance to teleport Lin Renmei to safety before the domain can fully suppress her.
• Lin recognizes that she needs a weapon capable of harming Apophis’s enormous body. Zhang Ping forms an ultra-long halberd from Nether Mist, and Lin charges back into battle.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei encounters an opponent who can finally resist and reduce the effectiveness of her overwhelming physical strength. Though frustrated, she remains determined and quickly adapts by requesting a more suitable weapon.
• Apophis is established as a highly dangerous enemy whose strength lies less in raw power than in manipulating space, redirecting damage, and suppressing opposing abilities through its domain. Its confidence grows as it believes Lin is close to being converted.
• Zhang Ping acts as Lin’s support and escape route, demonstrating foresight by preparing teleportation marks in advance. He also responds immediately to Lin’s tactical needs by creating the halberd.
• Shi Jun, Feng Laixian, and Bai Yating function as a coordinated defensive team, protecting Mingzhu City while reducing the number of surrounding monsters.
• Professor Zhou’s apparent presence within Apophis creates a mystery, suggesting either an unknown connection, duplication, or some other unexplained aspect of Apophis’s abilities.

Significant Themes

• Level suppression: The chapter emphasizes that a lower-level ability user can be defeated even when possessing overwhelming strength. Apophis’s higher level allows it to distort local laws and weaken Lin’s otherwise nearly absolute defensive and offensive abilities.
• Adaptation over brute force: Lin’s raw power is insufficient against Apophis’s domain, so she changes tactics and chooses a specialized weapon suited to the enemy’s size.
• Teamwork and complementary abilities: The defense relies on different characters fulfilling distinct roles—lifting the city, destroying monsters, supporting attacks, teleporting allies, and producing weapons.
• Confidence versus strategic superiority: Apophis is physically weaker than Lin but gains the advantage through technique and battlefield control, showing that victory depends on more than strength.
• Mystery and transformation: The use of controlled monsters, converted living corpses, and Professor Zhou’s unexplained head reinforces the chapter’s themes of identity, corruption, and biological or supernatural transformation.

Character Interactions

• Shi Jun, Feng Laixian, and Bai Yating coordinate their efforts to preserve Mingzhu City and support Lin Renmei’s battle.
• Apophis repeatedly taunts Lin Renmei, presenting its domain as an unavoidable path toward “win-win” assimilation.
• Zhang Ping warns Lin about underwater attacks, helps her escape the domain, and provides the halberd she requests.
• Lin and Apophis exchange direct blows, with Lin relying on overwhelming force and Apophis neutralizing it through spatial redirection.
• Lin and Zhang work together tactically: she identifies the need for a better weapon, and he immediately creates one, allowing her to resume the fight.

Chapter Summary: The Invincible Apophis

Key Plot Points and Events

• Apophis and Lin Renmei continue their fierce battle. Lin uses Zhang Ping’s Nether Mist to form an Extra-Long Halberd, while Apophis relies on its mysterious domain and pale energy attacks.
• Apophis’s immense power causes even the normally stable Nether Mist to disperse under the force of their clashes. Lin is injured for the first time since gaining her abilities, though Zhang Ping quickly repairs her body and armor.
• Zhang Ping confirms that his Appraisal Technique and Information Control are nearly useless against Apophis. Apophis is far beyond the known King Beast or Transcender levels, and its body appears to function like a permanently active domain.
• Lin and Zhang Ping discover that the space around Apophis is abnormal. Nether Mist projectiles weaken and vanish before reaching it, while attacks launched by Apophis can distort distance and strike Lin before she has time to react.
• When Lin shifts from close combat to ranged attacks, Apophis taunts her for retreating. It then fires an energy projectile that tears apart both of Lin’s legs.
• Lin’s regenerative abilities allow her to recover almost immediately, and she escapes several more devastating attacks by using Nether Mist to propel herself away.
• Apophis releases a series of full-power energy spheres. One strikes the ground with catastrophic force, creating a massive explosion and shockwave.
• In Mingzhu City, Bai Yating and the others sense the danger and use gems to teleport back to Rescue Team headquarters. Their escape occurs just before the shockwave destroys the entire city, killing those who remained behind.
• The chapter ends by emphasizing that the destruction of Mingzhu City is only the beginning of Apophis’s devastation.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei: Experiences being genuinely injured for the first time, but remains calm and confident. Rather than becoming frightened, she views the battle as an exciting and novel challenge because Apophis is her first truly formidable opponent.
• Zhang Ping: Acts as Lin’s strategist and support system, repairing her injuries and armor while analyzing Apophis’s abilities. His usual information-gathering powers fail, leaving him frustrated and uncertain.
• Apophis: Reveals overwhelming strength and growing interest in Lin Renmei’s body. It deliberately prolongs the fight because it wants to understand and possess their unusual state of mutual benefit, but becomes more aggressive once Lin begins avoiding close combat.
• Bai Yating and the others: Demonstrate caution and practical judgment by retreating to headquarters as soon as they sense Apophis’s overwhelming aura.

Significant Themes

• The limits of invincibility: Lin, previously able to defeat every enemy with one punch, finally faces an opponent capable of injuring her.
• The unknown and the limits of knowledge: Apophis’s powers cannot be analyzed through normal techniques, showing how far it exists beyond established classifications.
• Adaptation and strategy: Lin and Zhang Ping shift from close combat to ranged attacks and evasive movement in response to Apophis’s spatial suppression.
• Destructive power and catastrophe: The destruction of Mingzhu City illustrates that the battle threatens far more than the combatants themselves.
• Mutual dependence: Lin and Zhang Ping continue functioning as a coordinated pair, combining her combat ability with his healing, analysis, and control of Nether Mist.

Important Character Interactions

• Lin and Zhang Ping communicate instantly during battle, jointly assessing Apophis and adjusting their tactics.
• Zhang reassures himself that Lin’s physical injuries are being repaired, while also checking whether her first defeat-like experience has affected her emotionally.
• Lin responds cheerfully that being injured is no different from falling down, demonstrating her resilience and carefree attitude.
• Apophis taunts Lin when she retreats and openly expresses its desire for her body, revealing both its arrogance and its fixation on their unusual abilities.
• The destruction of Mingzhu City indirectly affects Bai Yating and the others, forcing them to abandon the battlefield and flee to safety.

Chapter Summary: “Nobody”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Apophis unleashes a devastating attack that flattens villages, forests, and mountains, splits the earth, floods the fissures with seawater, and breaks the continental plate into four pieces.
• Lin Renmei is severely injured by the shockwave and subsequent energy blasts. Her legs are destroyed, one arm is annihilated, and the other is reduced to bone.
• Zhang Ping helps regenerate Lin Renmei’s body, but the surrounding space has become too distorted and violent for Spatial Transfer. Attempting to escape would likely kill them.
• Refusing to retreat, Lin Renmei prepares to continue fighting Apophis despite still recovering.
• Zhang searches through his vast collection of abilities and discovers Nobody, a power that sacrifices the user’s name in exchange for greatly enhancing their own or another person’s strength.
• He activates Nobody and layers numerous enhancement abilities onto Lin Renmei, allowing her body to regenerate faster and dramatically increasing her power.
• Zhang loses all memory of his original name and adopts the new identity Captain Nameless.
• Empowered by Zhang’s sacrifice, Lin Renmei launches herself at Apophis, destroys one of his energy spheres, breaks through the resulting explosion, and punches into his domain.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei displays extraordinary courage and determination. Even while being brutally injured, she refuses to flee and embraces the chance to fight Apophis to the end.
• Zhang Ping demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice his identity for the sake of saving others. Giving up his name causes him to feel as though he had never possessed one, but he accepts the loss without regret.
• Zhang’s transformation into Nameless represents both a literal loss of identity and the creation of a new one based on his role as a protector.
• Lin Renmei becomes even more motivated after receiving Zhang’s support and vows internally not to lose.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice for the greater good: Zhang willingly abandons his name, a fundamental part of personal identity, to give Lin Renmei a chance against Apophis.
• Identity and self-definition: Once Zhang loses his original name, he chooses “Nameless,” suggesting that identity can be created through action rather than inherited labels.
• Courage against overwhelming odds: Lin Renmei and Zhang continue fighting despite Apophis’s overwhelming power and the destruction of the surrounding world.
• Trust and cooperation: Lin Renmei depends on Zhang’s abilities, while Zhang trusts her strength and determination enough to empower her fully.
• Defiance against annihilation: The ruined landscape and shattered continent emphasize the scale of Apophis’s power, making Lin Renmei’s renewed attack a symbol of resistance.

Character Interactions

• Zhang explains to Lin Renmei why they cannot escape and urges her to remain calm while he searches for a solution.
• Lin Renmei insists on fighting rather than abandoning the battle.
• Zhang informs her that he will use every enhancement ability available, and she realizes the seriousness of his decision when she learns he is sacrificing his name.
• After the ability activates, Lin Renmei attempts to thank Zhang but discovers that she can no longer remember his original name.
• Zhang jokingly renames himself Captain Nameless, and Lin Renmei accepts the name, promising to remember it.
• Their renewed partnership culminates in Lin Renmei’s direct assault on Apophis, empowered by Zhang’s sacrifice.

Chapter Summary: “Curse”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Renmei surprises Apophis by meeting his attack head-on. Her strength, massively amplified by Nameless’s power, shatters Apophis’s chest and scatters his body across the sky.
• Although Apophis regenerates rapidly, Nameless commands the Coiling Dragon Venerable to bombard his scattered flesh. It wraps around Lin Renmei’s arm as armor and channels elemental flames into her attacks.
• Lin Renmei repeatedly destroys Apophis’s regenerating body, burning and reducing his flesh to ashes before he can fully revive. Apophis activates the Win-Win Domain to gather his remains, but Lin Renmei prevents his recovery.
• Realizing he is losing, Apophis calls for his “lord” to rescue him, but no one responds. Lin Renmei continues guarding the battlefield and eventually eradicates him completely after 5,110 hours.
• The enhancement from Nobody wears off midway through the battle, but Apophis has already been weakened beyond the ability to resist.
• Just as Lin Renmei and Nameless prepare to return home, a black rift opens and a mysterious man resembling Nameless appears. He reveals that Apophis was his “toy,” implying that he created or empowered him.
• The man cannot remember his own name—or the identity of someone he resembles—but adopts the title “Dark King.”
• After initially pretending to let them leave, the Dark King places a curse on Lin Renmei and Nameless. He forces Nameless back into blood form and seals him inside Lin Renmei.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei: Demonstrates overwhelming physical power and exceptional combat discipline. She recognizes that Apophis must be destroyed completely and patiently guards his remains for thousands of hours to prevent his escape.
• Nameless: Supports Lin Renmei through the Coiling Dragon Venerable and provides the elemental power necessary to finish Apophis. His sacrifice of his original name is revealed to be permanent for the time being, limiting his ability to use Nobody again. He also shows caution and insight when he realizes the Dark King could kill them instantly.
• Apophis: Shifts from confident aggressor to desperate survivor. His underestimation of Lin Renmei leaves him unable to recover, and his plea for help exposes his dependence on a greater master.
• The Dark King: Introduced as an immensely powerful, eccentric, and dangerous figure. His casual attitude contrasts with his ability to manipulate reality, erase concepts, and impose supernatural curses.

Significant Themes

• Power and sacrifice: Lin Renmei’s victory depends on Nameless sacrificing his name and using Nobody, emphasizing that extraordinary strength comes at a severe personal cost.
• The danger of underestimating opponents: Apophis’s defeat results from misjudging Lin Renmei’s enhanced power.
• Identity and names: The loss of names affects memory, power, and identity. Both Nameless and the Dark King are disconnected from their original identities, suggesting that names have profound metaphysical importance.
• Control and possession: The Dark King treats Apophis as a disposable creation and later reduces Nameless to a sealed force within Lin Renmei, reinforcing the theme of powerful beings controlling weaker ones.
• Victory followed by a new threat: Apophis’s defeat does not bring freedom. Instead, it immediately exposes Lin Renmei and Nameless to a more powerful enemy and a lasting curse.

Character Interactions

• Lin Renmei and Nameless cooperate closely, combining her physical strength with the Coiling Dragon Venerable’s attacks and elemental power.
• Apophis begs his unseen master for help, but his plea goes unanswered.
• The Dark King mocks and questions Lin Renmei, then demands that Nameless reveal his true form so he can inspect him.
• Lin Renmei challenges the Dark King’s arrogant title, while Nameless attempts to negotiate their escape.
• The Dark King ultimately turns their relationship into a curse: Nameless becomes Lin Renmei’s blood, and Lin Renmei becomes his shell, ensuring they can never be separated.

Summary: “Lin Renmei’s Expectations”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Dark King departs after terrifying Lin Renmei and Nameless, leaving them shaken but alive.
• Nameless discovers that he cannot escape from Lin Renmei’s body. Because he used his blood-like form, he has become mixed with her bloodstream, and repeated attempts to separate fail.
• Lin Renmei cuts her wrist to help him escape, but only her own blood emerges. Nameless concludes that they may remain connected until both his curse and Lin Renmei’s seal are resolved.
• They return to Rescue Team headquarters, which is overwhelmed with work because of the recent crisis.
• Lin Renmei and Nameless meet Chen Weihua, who learns what happened through Nameless’s Information Control ability. His name and identity remain corrupted within the recorded information because he sacrificed his name.
• Chen Weihua arranges medical examinations and brings in Awakened researchers to study the mysterious seal on Lin Renmei’s forehead. None of them can even properly detect the seal, much less remove it.
• With no immediate solution, Nameless decides to remain inside Lin Renmei and rest. He can still project his spirit, but in that form he cannot affect the physical world.
• Lin Renmei returns home, calls for Nameless, and, uncertain whether he is awake, goes to bathe and change clothes after her battle-damaged outfit becomes impractical.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei is relieved but deeply unsettled by her lack of control during the Dark King’s confrontation. She shows concern for Nameless, willingly injures herself to help him escape, and becomes increasingly self-conscious about sharing her body with him.
• Nameless remains calm and humorous despite being trapped in Lin Renmei’s bloodstream. He reassures her, accepts the situation pragmatically, and treats it as an opportunity to rest rather than panic.
• Chen Weihua demonstrates leadership by continuing to manage the Rescue Team’s emergency response while investigating Nameless and Lin Renmei’s condition. She is frustrated by the team’s inability to help but remains practical.
• Lin Renmei and Cheng Xuejie are established as close companions, with Cheng living next door, although Cheng does not directly appear in the chapter.
• Lin Renmei’s final actions suggest a mixture of embarrassment, resignation, and reluctant acceptance of her unusual new circumstances.

Significant Themes

• Powerlessness and vulnerability: Lin Renmei’s fear during the Dark King’s visit emphasizes how completely stronger beings can control her fate.
• The consequences of sacrifice: Nameless’s loss of his name and physical independence allows the Rescue Team to survive but leaves him trapped inside Lin Renmei.
• Limits of knowledge and technology: Even the Rescue Team’s doctors and seal researchers cannot perceive or understand the mark on Lin Renmei’s forehead.
• Trust and dependence: Lin Renmei and Nameless must now rely on one another physically and emotionally while searching for a way to break their curses.
• Humor amid crisis: Nameless’s relaxed attitude and Chen Weihua’s teasing lighten an otherwise frightening situation.

Character Interactions

• Lin Renmei and Nameless: They discuss their failed attempts to separate, with Lin Renmei actively trying to help and Nameless reassuring her.
• Lin Renmei and Chen Weihua: Lin Renmei reports the situation while Chen Weihua organizes examinations and seeks outside expertise.
• Nameless and Chen Weihua: Nameless explains the events through Information Control, while Chen Weihua evaluates the danger and admits the Rescue Team cannot currently remove the seal.
• Chen Weihua and Lin Renmei: Chen teases Lin Renmei about having a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to be alone with Nameless, increasing Lin Renmei’s embarrassment.
• Lin Renmei and Nameless at home: Lin Renmei becomes anxious about his presence during private moments, ending the chapter with the expectation that their forced intimacy will create further awkwardness.

Chapter Summary: “Long Xiu”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Damage-Control Group returns to its temporary camp after a day of reconstruction work. Explosions from the coast remind them that, although the land is secure, dangerous sea creatures and additional seeds of Apophis remain a threat.
• Lin Renmei has unexpectedly left the shoreline, where Bai Yating is now leading the defense against the sea monsters.
• Away from camp, Lin Renmei meets Long Xiu, an investigator from Dragonblood City who was sent to investigate the devastating battle between Lin Renmei and Apophis.
• Lin Renmei explains that a sea monster caused the destruction, while Nameless adds further information. Long Xiu is startled to discover Nameless, whose body is made from Nether Mist and resembles a shifting mass of skull-filled black fog.
• The three discuss Dragonblood City and Apophis. Lin Renmei and Nameless deliberately avoid revealing who defeated Apophis.
• Long Xiu invites them to visit Dragonblood City, and they accept, hoping to learn more about the city and possibly find a way for Nameless to escape the seal binding him to Lin Renmei.
• The next morning, they begin traveling to Dragonblood City by air.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei remains reserved and cautious, but shows interest in Dragonblood City and agrees to trust Long Xiu enough to accompany him.
• Nameless demonstrates a new ability: by using Nether Mist and Mental Strength, he temporarily creates an independent body. Though still limited by his seal and unable to travel far from Lin Renmei, he can now interact directly with others.
• Long Xiu is introduced as a mysterious and powerful Dragonkin investigator. His speed, concealed aura, and resistance to Appraisal suggest that he is at least a Top-Tier Awakened—or possibly something different. Despite his strength, he behaves politely and enthusiastically toward Lin Renmei and Nameless.

Significant Themes

• Lingering danger after catastrophe: The defeat of one Apophis seed has not ended the threat; others remain in the ocean, while displaced sea creatures continue attacking the land.
• Mystery and hidden power: Long Xiu’s origins, abilities, and protected identity remain unclear, while Nameless and Lin Renmei conceal the truth about Apophis’s defeat.
• Trust and potential alliances: The meeting marks the beginning of cooperation between the Rescue Team and Dragonblood City, though both sides remain cautious.
• Transformation and inheritance: Dragonblood City’s Dragonkin attribute their physical changes and enhanced strength to the “Blessing” of dragons that died there.

Character Interactions

• The camp members discuss Lin Renmei’s unexplained departure and the continuing coastal danger.
• Long Xiu initially speaks with Lin Renmei, then reacts with surprise and fear when Nameless suddenly reveals himself.
• Nameless and Lin Renmei question Long Xiu about Dragonblood City, while Long Xiu investigates the battle and Apophis.
• Their initially cautious conversation develops into a friendly exchange, culminating in Long Xiu inviting them to his city.
• During the journey, Nameless privately explains to Lin Renmei that Long Xiu may possess the power or knowledge needed to help him break free from his seal.

Chapter Summary: Dragonblood City

Key Plot Points and Events

• One day after leaving the devastated eastern region, Long Xiu, Lin Renmei, and Nameless reach the area beyond Black Mountain Prison. The eastern side remains ruined and filled with corpses, while the western side is lush and populated by Dragonblood Creatures.
• Lin Renmei kills a dragon-blooded Sabertooth Tiger after it attacks and kills a Five-Colored Deer. She cooks the tiger for breakfast, despite Long Xiu explaining that Dragonkin traditionally consider all Dragonblood Creatures their kin and do not hunt or eat them.
• Nameless becomes suspicious of Long Xiu’s excessive hospitality, reasoning that his kindness must conceal an ulterior motive.
• Long Xiu later asks for their help, revealing that he suspects Dragonblood City’s city lord has been replaced and that the real ruler is imprisoned in the City Lord’s Manor.
• Lin Renmei refuses to interfere in an internal power struggle. The Rescue Team only intervenes in conflicts involving large-scale danger to innocent lives, not political disputes or human infighting.
• The group reaches Dragonblood City, a magnificent settlement built across a river and surrounded by massive walls decorated with bones. Flying over the city is forbidden, so they land outside the gates and enter on foot.
• The guards recognize and defer to Long Xiu, allowing Lin Renmei and Nameless to enter without inspection because they are his guests.

Character Developments

• Lin Renmei remains decisive, practical, and uninterested in political intrigue. She acts quickly when necessary, kills the tiger without hesitation, prepares its meat, and firmly rejects Long Xiu’s request.
• Nameless continues to be wary and observant. He questions Dragonkin customs and senses that Long Xiu’s friendliness may be part of a larger scheme.
• Long Xiu is shown to be hospitable but possibly calculating. His concern for the city lord reveals that he has a personal stake in Dragonblood City’s internal situation. After Lin Renmei refuses, he regains his composure and apologizes.
• The chapter also establishes the Dragonkin’s unusual cultural relationship with Dragonblood Creatures: they regard them as kin, even though those creatures prey on one another naturally.

Significant Themes

• Suspicion and hidden motives: Long Xiu’s seemingly sincere behavior makes Nameless suspect that he has a plan.
• Cultural values versus natural behavior: Dragonkin avoid eating Dragonblood Creatures out of kinship, despite the creatures’ own violent predation.
• Neutrality and moral boundaries: Lin Renmei emphasizes the Rescue Team’s policy of avoiding political conflicts unless they threaten widespread civilian survival.
• Civilization amid destruction: The contrast between the devastated eastern land and the flourishing western forest highlights the uneven effects of the disaster.
• Power and hierarchy: Long Xiu’s status is evident from the guards’ respectful treatment, suggesting his influence within Dragonblood City.

Character Interactions

• Long Xiu explains Dragonkin customs to Nameless after Lin Renmei kills the tiger, leading Nameless to point out the contradiction between those customs and the tiger’s behavior.
• Nameless privately warns Lin Renmei that Long Xiu may be hiding a conspiracy, but she remains confident that their strength can handle any threat short of someone like the King of Darkness.
• Long Xiu asks both travelers to help rescue the imprisoned city lord, but Lin Renmei immediately refuses, establishing the group’s boundaries.
• At the city gates, the guards’ deference to Long Xiu grants the group easy entry and reinforces his authority.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Nameless and Lin Renmei explore Dragonblood City with Long Xiu, observing its rigidly organized streets, regulated routes, and dragon-based public transportation.
• Long Xiu introduces them to the Dragon-Power Cart, a fast metal carriage pulled by heavily draconified Dragonforce Beasts. During the ride, he enthusiastically describes the city’s noble houses, entertainment, food, and especially the enormous Silver-Scaled Fish.
• The group arrives at Long Xiu’s luxurious family estate in the city center. Long Xiu explains that he inherited the property and offers to arrange anything Nameless and Lin Renmei wish to see or learn about.
• While touring the estate, they discover that Long Xiu has eight wives, reflecting Dragonblood City’s polygynous social system. The number of wives a man may have depends on the supposed purity of his dragon bloodline.
• Long Xiu criticizes the bloodline hierarchy as an excuse used by nobles to control commoners. He fears that the city’s rigid class system will eventually cause a devastating civil war.
• Long Xiu leaves to report to his superiors, revealing that he is the second-in-command of Dragonblood City’s intelligence organization.
• Alone in the guest room, Nameless and Lin Renmei discuss Long Xiu’s trustworthiness. Lin Renmei suspects that parts of his story are true, false, or deliberately mixed together.
• They also notice unsettling details about the estate: despite its great size, there are no servants, and none of Long Xiu’s eight wives appear. After his departure, the house becomes unnaturally silent.

Character Developments

• Nameless: Shows curiosity about Dragonblood City, its transportation, architecture, and cuisine, though he remains emotionally detached from its political problems. He is particularly interested in tasting Silver-Scaled Fish and is cautious about interfering in the city’s internal conflicts.
• Lin Renmei: Acts as the more perceptive and suspicious of the pair. She recognizes inconsistencies in Long Xiu’s statements and notices the strange emptiness of the estate.
• Long Xiu: Appears sociable, generous, and knowledgeable about the city, but also politically concerned and somewhat critical of the ruling nobles. His position in the intelligence organization and the unexplained absence of his family suggest that he may be concealing important information.

Significant Themes

• Social control and class hierarchy: Dragonblood City’s order and blood-purity system create a highly structured society in which privilege is assigned by birth.
• Political inequality and coming conflict: Long Xiu warns that continued oppression may lead to civil war, while Nameless takes the view that the city’s people must resolve their own problems.
• Trust and deception: The chapter repeatedly raises questions about which parts of Long Xiu’s personality and statements are genuine.
• Appearance versus reality: The city appears orderly and prosperous, and Long Xiu seems welcoming, but the empty estate and his hidden circumstances hint at darker realities beneath the surface.
• Cultural difference: Dragonblood City’s transportation, marriage customs, food preferences, and rigid urban design contrast sharply with the freer atmosphere of Mingzhu City.

Character Interactions

• Long Xiu actively tries to make Nameless and Lin Renmei comfortable, especially by giving them a tour and explaining the city.
• He seems to find Nameless easier to approach than Lin Renmei, who remains more reserved and observant.
• Nameless questions Long Xiu about his wealth, status, and political views, while Long Xiu responds with modesty and criticism of the noble system.
• After Long Xiu leaves, Nameless and Lin Renmei privately analyze his behavior and the suspicious atmosphere of his home, strengthening the chapter’s sense of uncertainty and impending intrigue.

Summary of “Dungeon Beneath the Lake”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Long Xiu spends two days showing Nameless and Lin Renmei around Dragonblood City, but disappears every night. Although they sense something suspicious, they choose not to question him because he provides them with food and lodging and they assume he has personal secrets.
• Nameless and Lin Renmei decide to leave the city in two days, though they continue sightseeing. They observe that Dragonblood City is relatively ordinary technologically, but its Dragonkin inhabitants possess an innate ability to intimidate and control wild beasts.
• At night, they discuss the city’s uncomfortable atmosphere and an event called “Moonlike Night,” which Nameless failed to notice because he was distracted by the draconified snakes at Snake House.
• A strange noise awakens Lin Renmei. Nameless investigates and discovers a mutated girl emerging from the manor’s lake. Her body is covered in bony scales, and her head resembles a mixture of a dragon’s and turtle’s.
• Long Xiu appears and forcibly drives the girl back toward the lake. She attacks him repeatedly with enhanced speed and flames, but he easily subdues her and knocks her unconscious.
• Long Xiu carries the girl through a hidden underwater entrance into a secret prison beneath the lake. The chamber contains numerous imprisoned men and women suffering from severe mutations and mental instability.
• Long Xiu apologizes to the prisoners, explaining that they must remain confined until the situation is resolved. His sorrow suggests a personal connection to them.
• Nameless secretly follows Long Xiu into the dungeon and investigates after Long Xiu leaves. He counts eight adult women and two children, wondering whether they are Long Xiu’s family.
• A mentally unstable middle-aged prisoner notices Nameless and demands that he come closer. Nameless disguises himself as a tiny “resident of Lilliput” to test the man’s behavior, then deliberately keeps his distance. The prisoner reacts violently and tries to grab him through the bars.

Character Developments

• Nameless: Becomes increasingly suspicious of Long Xiu and takes the initiative to investigate the lake dungeon. His cautious, experimental approach is shown when he uses a Nether Mist disguise and deliberately provokes the prisoner to assess his mental state.
• Lin Renmei: Demonstrates strong observational skills, noticing the city’s unnatural seriousness and uneasy atmosphere. She remains practical and accepts that Dragonkin do not eat dragon-blooded creatures, despite Nameless’s enthusiasm about tasting Dragon Turtle.
• Long Xiu: His secretive nature is revealed to conceal a grim responsibility. He appears to be guarding and caring for mutated prisoners, possibly his own relatives, while being forced to restrain them for their safety and others’. His melancholy and apology reveal guilt, sadness, and emotional attachment.
• The Prisoners: Their mutations have severely damaged both their bodies and minds. They retain enough awareness to recognize Long Xiu, but their aggression and instability suggest they may no longer be able to control themselves.

Significant Themes

• Secrets and hidden truths: Long Xiu’s unexplained nightly disappearances lead to the discovery of the dungeon beneath the lake.
• Compassion versus confinement: The prisoners are locked away, but Long Xiu’s sorrow and concern suggest imprisonment may be an act of protection rather than simple cruelty.
• Mutation and loss of identity: The prisoners’ draconic transformations blur the line between human and beast, raising questions about whether they remain themselves after losing control.
• Trust and suspicion: Nameless and Lin Renmei sense that something is wrong but initially respect Long Xiu’s privacy. Once confronted with evidence, Nameless investigates cautiously rather than immediately condemning him.
• Family and responsibility: The possibility that the prisoners are Long Xiu’s family adds emotional weight to his actions and suggests that he may be sacrificing his own happiness to contain the crisis.

Character Interactions

• Nameless and Lin Renmei discuss their impressions of Dragonblood City and agree that its atmosphere is unsettling.
• Long Xiu and the mutated girl engage in a violent confrontation. She attacks him with fire and physical strength, while he repeatedly restrains her without killing her.
• Long Xiu addresses the imprisoned mutants apologetically, showing that he views their confinement as necessary but painful.
• Nameless interacts with the middle-aged prisoner through deception and psychological testing. The prisoner’s demand and violent reaction confirm the severity of the inmates’ instability.