Chapter Summaries

Li Qing urged Feng Ling to prepare for the Players who had killed an Abyss, but she rejected turning Qingjiang City into a Maze. Feng Ling chose to strike first and sent Little Skeleton to infiltrate Star Society and identify its strongest Players.

• Li Qing told Huangfu Miaomiao he wanted to save Administrators, Players, and humans, and warned that Star Society might eventually target Feng Ling for Tickets.
• Li Qing proposed investigating the Players who killed the Abyss, while Huangfu Miaomiao refused to infiltrate Star Society because she feared for her life.
• Li Qing recorded their discussion and brought it to Feng Ling, who listened after Huangfu Miaomiao lured her to the door with a knock.
• Feng Ling rejected turning Qingjiang City into a Maze and decided to find and kill the Players who had killed the Abyss.
• Feng Ling told Li Qing to have Little Skeleton infiltrate Star Society and identify its strongest Players.

Feng Ling planned to send Huangfu Miaomiao undercover in the Star Society and sought support to investigate the group and its Abyss Forms. After learning that Abyss Form advancement required an Abyss Maze, Feng Ling asked Li Qing whether the Administrator he knew oversaw one, because she wanted to go.

• Feng Ling told the group she wanted Huangfu Miaomiao to infiltrate the Star Society, but Huangfu Miaomiao balked at going alone.
• Huangfu Miaomiao searched the Player Forum and found recruitment posts and teams seeking Star Society Leaders for Maze runs.
• Feng Ling told Ye Zheng and Ling Feiran that she wanted to identify and eliminate the team that had killed the Hive's Abyss Form.
• Ye Zheng urged Feng Ling to seek support from Headquarters and raised concerns about the risks of humans absorbing Abyss Cards.
• Li Qing explained that advancing to an Abyss Form required entering an Abyss Maze, and Feng Ling asked whether the Administrator he knew oversaw one.

Feng Ling’s group failed to find an Administrator and tried to get Huangfu Miaomiao into a Star Society dungeon team to gather information, but the available teams were full. While showing Ling Feiran around, Feng Ling worried that her Hive Card might be changing her, and Ling Feiran reminded her that the Star Society would be missing the Xenomorph Feng Ling had killed.

• Li Qing admitted that the Senior Administrators he contacted had not replied, so Feng Ling asked Huangfu Miaomiao to seek information by joining a Star Society dungeon team.
• Huangfu Miaomiao applied to two teams but was rejected because both were full, leaving her to keep watching the Forum for another chance.
• Feng Ling offered to help Ling Feiran settle in and discussed how the group handled meals, explaining that her Card let her absorb energy instead of eating.
• Feng Ling asked whether she had changed, and Ling Feiran said she was still the same as at the Orphanage.
• Ling Feiran reasoned that the Star Society would be left short-handed after fighting Feng Ling’s Abyss Form because the Xenomorph she killed could not return.

Feng Ling and Ling Feiran planted hibiscus in the Eco-Park while Huangfu Miaomiao prepared to join a team and travel to Mogu Country to gather intelligence on the Star Society. Miaomiao set off with a meeting plan in Guangshan City, and Ling Feiran reacted when she heard the city’s name.

• Ling Feiran explained why an Abyss Boss Card holder might disappear after leaving the Maze, and Feng Ling praised her perceptiveness.
• Feng Ling and Ling Feiran bought hibiscus plants and planted them in the Eco-Park.
• Su Yuqing coordinated Eco-Park construction and resident relocation while research teams studied the Maze Idol.
• Huangfu Miaomiao joined a team meeting in Sand City and packed excessive supplies before Feng Ling and Li Qing urged her to travel discreetly.
• Feng Ling advised Huangfu Miaomiao to contact the Star Society's Leader and report the group's location, while Miaomiao said her team would meet in Guangshan City and cross the Molian River by ship.
• Ling Feiran paused when she heard Huangfu Miaomiao mention Guangshan City.

Ling Feiran considered volunteering to help build the Quarantine Zone as Huangfu Miaomiao prepared to travel to Mogu Country on an infiltration mission. After seeing Huangfu off, Li Qing worried about the dangers ahead, and Ye Zheng urged him to find strength in ordinary moments of relaxation.

• Huangfu Miaomiao explained that she would travel by cargo ship through Guangshan City to reach Mogu Country and send intelligence as soon as she could.
• Feng Ling described how authorities were letting Xenomorphs leave through Guangshan City and Guangnan City, despite the crime and pressure their presence caused.
• Ling Feiran read the volunteer application and safety warnings for the Quarantine Zone, then returned upstairs without saying whether she would register.
• The group saw Huangfu Miaomiao off at the train station, where she clung to Feng Ling and cried before boarding.
• Feng Ling and Ling Feiran got out to shop during a traffic jam, while Li Qing returned alone to Hive Ecopark and worried about the coming dangers.
• Ye Zheng told Li Qing that relaxation and small joys in ordinary life could help them endure what lay ahead.

Huangfu Miaomiao met Xiao Shu at Guangshan City's port and paid for both of their passage to Mogu. As the Players were sealed inside a Container to be loaded onto a ship, she thought of Feng Ling and hoped her mission would go smoothly.

• Huangfu Miaomiao reached the port and met Xiao Shu, who was waiting for her near the yellow Containers.
• Xiao Shu told Huangfu Miaomiao that they were the last two teammates still traveling to Mogu and complained about how difficult it was to earn Points.
• Xiao Shu tried to bargain with the burly man for two ship spots, but the man demanded forty Points and refused to lower the price.
• Huangfu Miaomiao paid forty Points for both fares, and she and Xiao Shu entered the Container.
• The burly man warned the Players to stay quiet, then workers sealed the Container, leaving Huangfu Miaomiao to think of Feng Ling and pray her mission went smoothly.

Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu reached Mogu by lifeboat and began a quest to capture Golden Deer Stag Beetles. Meanwhile, Ling Feiran decided to volunteer at the Quarantine Zone, and Feng Ling planned to find her Cards to help her escape danger.

• Huangfu Miaomiao endured a rough, overcrowded lifeboat ride from the freighter to Mogu with Xiao Shu and the other Players.
• After landing, Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu received a Zone Quest to capture seven Golden Deer Stag Beetles and headed toward the woods.
• Ling Feiran told Feng Ling she planned to volunteer at the Quarantine Zone, and Feng Ling warned her about the dangers before supporting her decision.
• Feng Ling asked Li Qing about finding Ling Feiran low-Corruption escape Cards, then decided to apply to the Supervisor General Bureau for Cards.

Feng Ling negotiated with Su Yuqing for a Wraith Card, and he secured the Research Institute’s approval for a two-for-one exchange. Su Yuqing then recruited her as a Technical Advisor for an urgent international operation against a rapidly growing Locust Plague, leaving Feng Ling worried that she would have to postpone taking Feifei to the Quarantine Zone.

• Feng Ling proposed trading two Intermediate Cards or promising a future Labyrinth Boss Card for the Wraith Card, and Su Yuqing explained that the Research Institute controlled the Card supply.
• Su Yuqing contacted his superiors and Dou Shuran, who helped secure approval for Feng Ling’s two-for-one exchange, provided an Observer was present when she digested the Card.
• Su Yuqing visited Feng Ling at the Eco-Park and showed her documents about Locusts that had escaped the Maze and were migrating toward the country.
• Su Yuqing asked Feng Ling to join the international rescue operation as a Technical Advisor, and she agreed to the Wraith Card arrangement.
• Su Yuqing said the teams would leave that night and the Wraith Card would arrive by helicopter the next day, while Feng Ling worried she could not take Feifei to the Quarantine Zone.

Feng Ling left for Eshia as part of a multinational rescue operation, intending to find a place to build her own Maze. When the Locusts attacked the airport just as her plane arrived, the Hunters began their first battle, and Leland fled toward the rest area in alarm at the prospect of Feng Ling releasing her pressure.

• Feng Ling boarded a military transport plane with Ye Zheng, Li Qing, and her creatures, and Su Yuqing asked her to act carefully during the joint operation.
• Feng Ling told Ye Zheng she would return and planned to use the contaminated territory to establish her own Maze and forces.
• Hunters from several countries gathered at Eshia Military Airport while Huang Yi prepared them for the Locust threat.
• An alarm announced that Locust scouts had reached the airport, and Huang Yi ordered the Hunters to fight them.
• Leland transformed into a giant and battled the Locusts, but he panicked and ran toward the rest area when Feng Ling's plane came into view.

Feng Ling arrived in Eshia with Ye Zheng and Li Qing, where Leland’s prank and the locust attack brought the Tidal Wave Squad and Xu Yiming into the story. Captain Huang Yi called the Hunters to a meeting, warning that the locust swarm’s main force would arrive within twelve hours and had to be intercepted at Erge Pasture.

• Leland ordered the Hunters to drive the remaining locusts toward the plane, while Captain Huang Yi watched and learned their combat patterns.
• When the plane landed, Leland threw a locust at the figure he mistook for Aisha, but Ye Zheng’s Second Form revealed she was a Contaminant; the real Aisha then came out of the plane.
• Feng Ling recognized Xu Yiming, who explained that the rescue operation was the Supervision Bureau trainees’ final assessment and offered to take her to Captain Huang Yi.
• Feng Ling joined the meeting on the airport’s second floor while Ye Zheng and Li Qing waited below; Captain Huang Yi announced that the locust swarm’s main force could arrive within twelve hours.
• Captain Huang Yi said the Hunters had to intercept the swarm at Erge Pasture before it arrived.

Huang Yi assigned Hunters to defend eight positions against the approaching locust swarm, while Feng Ling was made a Technical Advisor free to act wherever needed. The convoy entered the Pastoral Area, where the locusts were already approaching across the plain.

• Huang Yi divided the Hunters into groups based on their abilities and assigned Feng Ling to act freely as the operation’s Technical Advisor.
• Feng Ling traveled with Ye Zheng, Li Qing, Cat Owl, Cat Spider, and the Human-faced Crows as the convoy headed toward the Pastoral Area.
• Feng Ling and Ye Zheng discussed the Hive’s possible advancement and the threat of Xenomorphs, while Li Qing asked about contacting Miaomiao.
• Huang Yi warned that the convoy would meet the locust swarm in twenty minutes and ordered the groups to prepare for battle.
• The convoy passed herders and farmhouses before reaching an open plain where a dense locust swarm approached through billowing dust.

Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu completed their quests and traveled through the contaminated outskirts toward Sand City, where they hoped to join their teammates and enter the Maze. They found the teammates’ car at a gas station and knocked on its door.

• Huangfu Miaomiao struggled to catch one last Golden Deer Stag Beetle, and Xiao Shu caught it for her so she could claim her quest reward.
• Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu entered the deserted, heavily contaminated city and rode a motorcycle toward Sand City until it broke down.
• As they neared Sand City, they passed Players selling Golden Deer Stag Beetles and Patterned Pythons, but Xiao Shu refused to spend their Points on the pythons.
• Xiao Shu and Huangfu Miaomiao used the license plate number their teammates had sent to find the right car at a gas station and knocked on its door.

Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu joined a Star Society team entering the Abyss Labyrinth, and Miaomiao alerted Li Qing to its location. Li Qing went to find Feng Ling, only to discover her making music with a Locust alongside the Cat Spider.

• The Star Society Leader arrived carrying a caged Senior Labyrinth Administrator, and Xiao Shu and Huangfu Miaomiao rode in the vehicle’s trunk.
• The team reached a lake at night, where Huangfu Miaomiao recognized the Maze entrance and sent Li Qing her location.
• The Leader accepted the Maze mission and led the team onto a dark forest path into the Abyss Labyrinth.
• Li Qing read Miaomiao’s messages and left the Military Truck to find Feng Ling and tell her about the Labyrinth.
• Ye Zheng took Nutrient Paste from Li Qing, who then spotted Feng Ling and the Cat Spider playing a Locust-wing duet.

Feng Ling considered hatching stronger Contaminants to take on the Abyss and the Star Society while the Rescue Team rested after fighting the Locusts. Meanwhile, Huangfu Miaomiao and her teammates faced floating fanged heads in the Maze.

• The Eshia Army burned the dead Locusts overnight as Feng Ling and Li Qing discussed the Abyss Administrator’s capture and the Star Society’s power.
• Feng Ling decided she might need to hatch stronger creatures, then scolded Third Child for eating too many Locusts and pulling scraps from its body.
• Feng Ling went to sleep in the truck beside Ye Zheng, while Li Qing messaged Huangfu Miaomiao to stay hidden and reply when safe.
• Huangfu Miaomiao and her teammates encountered floating fanged human heads that Whiskers called the Maze’s easiest monsters.
• Whiskers smashed two heads into the ground, and Xiao Shu handed Huangfu Miaomiao a branch before attacking the monsters.

Xiao Shu and Huangfu Miaomiao earned Points by hunting Head Monsters in the Abyss Labyrinth, then returned to the Safe Zone exhausted. They asked the Leader about future Maze visits and the Star Society, but he warned them that their strength limited which Mazes they could enter.

• Xiao Shu and Huangfu Miaomiao trapped and killed Head Monsters together, earning enough Points to pay the two-hundred-Point head fee.
• The Players hunted Head Monsters through the night, and Xiao Shu and Huangfu Miaomiao earned over six hundred Points before returning to the Safe Zone at dawn.
• The Leader pointed out a nearby lake where Manola could be hunted, and Whiskers agreed to rest for half an hour before leading the Players there.
• Xiao Shu asked to book another visit, but the Leader said the week's slots were full and told him to try again next week.
• Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu added the Leader as a friend and asked about other Abyss Labyrinths, but he said they were full and warned they were only strong enough to grind monsters.
• Xiao Shu asked whether they would need to become very strong to join the Star Society.

Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu hunted Manola Fairies in the Maze, then struggled to decide what to do next after leaving. At the Gas Station, Huangfu Miaomiao saw a one-eyed Elite Monster who seemed familiar and panicked that he might recognize her.

• The Leader said Star Society favored Players with control- or parasitic-type abilities and Squirrel Cards, and the group left the Safe Zone to hunt monsters.
• Whiskers and the other Players criticized Star Society’s fees and motives while Huangfu Miaomiao suggested it wanted to fight the system.
• The group hunted Manola Fairies by the lakeshore, earned only a few hundred Points each, and paid the Leader before leaving the Maze.
• Huangfu Miaomiao and Xiao Shu returned to the Gas Station, where Xiao Shu considered joining an open-world team and the two looked for somewhere to rest.
• Huangfu Miaomiao saw a one-eyed Elite Monster repairing a car, hid behind Xiao Shu, and worried that the man recognized her.

Huangfu Miaomiao worried that One-Eye might recognize her, but learned he had lost his memory and was connected to the Star Society. Meanwhile, Feng Ling’s team faced a worsening Locust outbreak and was ordered to destroy Egg Sacs in the town.

• Huangfu Miaomiao complained to Li Qing about her undercover mission and feared One-Eye might expose her identity.
• Huangfu Miaomiao learned that White Cat had brought One-Eye to the Gas Station and that he had lost his memory.
• Huangfu Miaomiao saw the Leader leave with One-Eye and the caged Abyss Administrator, then decided to get a car and follow them.
• Feng Ling’s team struggled against agile Locusts as wind weakened the Drone’s anesthetic spray and buildings limited the Airdrop Bombs.
• Huang Yi ordered the team to equip Flame Guns and eliminate the Egg Sacs in the town ahead.

Feng Ling’s team continued clearing locusts in Eshia as the swarm drove some insects across the border into Grulu. Leland openly declared his admiration for Feng Ling, while bedraggled local Hunters watched the Rescue Team from a hillside.

• Feng Ling spotted Blue Dots near the border and learned from Huang Yi that they were likely Grulu Hunters, whose country had collapsed amid the Locust Plague.
• Feng Ling reached the border and saw that locusts were fleeing through the Containment Net into Grulu.
• Leland followed Feng Ling in his Second Form, scattering locusts and Egg Sacs while explaining Card advancement and asking her to consider partnering with him.
• Feng Ling rejected Leland’s advances, and Huang Yi reminded him that the Public Channel was open.
• Gene pointed out local Hunters on a hillside, where the poorly equipped group watched Feng Ling and the Rescue Team.

Feng Ling prepared to guard a valley where uninfected Grulu residents sheltered underground while the Locust Plague spread above. After hearing about Miaomiao’s lead on the Star Society, Feng Ling suggested that underground might be a safer place to investigate.

• Feng Ling noticed four Grulu Hunters disappear from her Third Perspective and inferred that they had entered a cave underground.
• Huang Yi asked Feng Ling to guard the valley entrance during the next day’s operation, and she agreed to assign her two Mental Power Field Contaminants if needed.
• Huang Yi explained that workers and their families were sheltering in the mine, but Eshia could not easily relocate them or confirm they were uninfected.
• Feng Ling heard the residents singing underground and reflected that they had little choice but to endure the contaminated world above.
• Li Qing told Feng Ling that Miaomiao had found Blind Man, a human connected to the Star Society, and wanted to follow him to locate its headquarters.
• Feng Ling warned that Little Skeleton might be discovered if she searched aboveground and suggested investigating from underground instead.

Feng Ling tasked Huangfu Miaomiao with gathering intelligence while undercover in Paradise, and Li Qing told her to stay hidden for at least another week. After Huangfu Miaomiao learned that Xiao Shu needed treatment at a distant Star Society clinic, she seized on the trip as a chance to begin her mission.

• Feng Ling gave Huangfu Miaomiao three levels of intelligence-gathering tasks and warned her to escape underground if she encountered a Player with search abilities.
• Li Qing told Huangfu Miaomiao to remain undercover and contact them if an emergency arose, prompting her to angrily complain that they had not planned her rescue.
• Huangfu Miaomiao decided to start with the easiest task of gathering information on Paradise and its Players, but planned to warn Xiao Shu before Feng Ling arrived.
• Xiao Shu returned to the Coffee Shop with a badly injured leg after temporary teammates abandoned him, and Huangfu Miaomiao urged him to seek treatment.
• When Xiao Shu said the Doctor was at a Star Society clinic more than eighty kilometers away, Huangfu Miaomiao insisted they go and told him to arrange an appointment.