Recaps

Gao Zisheng called Second Master Jun to complain about Elder Xu, expecting his father to punish the old man. When Gao Zisheng revealed Elder Xu's surname, Second Master Jun suddenly became panicked.

• Gao Zisheng accused Elder Xu of lying and challenged him to say his insults to Gao Zisheng's father in person.
• Elder Xu said he would curse Jun Xiao'er to his face and claimed Jun Xiao'er would fall to his knees upon hearing his voice.
• Yue Xiaofei worried about Elder Xu, but Lin Tiejun assured him that Four-Nine City would be turned upside down.
• Gao Zisheng called his father and falsely portrayed Elder Xu as an arrogant old man who had attacked Wang Hongtao.
• Second Master Jun threatened to send men to kill Elder Xu after Gao Zisheng reported the insults to him.
• Gao Zisheng told Second Master Jun that the old man's surname was Xu, and Second Master Jun abruptly grew frightened.

Elder Xu revealed himself to Second Master Jun and rebuked him for letting Gao Zisheng terrorize the descendant of a decorated veteran. The chapter ended with Second Master Jun admitting over the phone that he was kneeling before Elder Xu.

• Second Master Jun dismissed the possibility that the old man at the Modu dock was Elder Xu and accused him of impersonating the famous elder.
• Elder Xu took Gao Zisheng's phone and addressed Second Master Jun as Jun Xiao'er, making him recognize his old mentor.
• Elder Xu recalled Second Master Jun's past disgraces and condemned him for backing Gao Zisheng after the young man burned a veteran's family home and insulted the dead.
• Gao Zisheng urged his father to have Elder Xu arrested, unaware that Second Master Jun had been shaken by the elder's reprimand.
• Second Master Jun admitted to Elder Xu that he was on his knees before him.

Elder Xu forced Second Master Jun to kowtow and apologize after revealing Gao Zisheng’s crimes. Terrified of the consequences, Second Master Jun disowned Gao Zisheng, leaving him collapsed and stripped of his Jun Family status.

• Second Master Jun kowtowed, apologized, and slapped himself while Elder Xu refused to accept his apology easily.
• Gao Zisheng collapsed as the people on the dock watched Second Master Jun beg for mercy.
• Elder Xu told Second Master Jun that Gao Zisheng had burned the Yue Family ancestral home, defiled the [Pillar of the Country] plaque, and framed Yue Qinhu's grandson.
• Second Master Jun blamed Gao Zisheng for deceiving him and furiously denounced him over the phone.
• Second Master Jun expelled Gao Zisheng from the Jun Family and declared that his fate no longer concerned them.

Elder Xu forced Second Master Jun to disown Gao Zisheng, leaving Gao without protection and begging everyone for mercy. Yue Xiaofei asked for a private meeting with Gao Zisheng, and Elder Xu ordered Ouyang Jian to find them a secluded room.

• Gao Zisheng tried to stop Elder Xu from taking the phone, but Second Master Jun insulted him and disowned him to save himself.
• Elder Xu told Second Master Jun he would settle his account when he returned to Longdu, then challenged Gao Zisheng to reveal any other backers.
• Gao Zisheng collapsed and kowtowed to Elder Xu, Yue Xiaofei, Jin Dapao, Ouyang Jian, Lin Xiaolu, and Chen Mo, begging them to spare him.
• Yue Xiaofei asked Elder Xu to arrange a private chat with Gao Zisheng, and Gao screamed and tried to crawl away.
• Elder Xu approved Yue Xiaofei's resolve, then ordered Ouyang Jian to find a storage room without surveillance cameras and take Gao there.

Yue Xiaofei confronted Gao Zisheng in a locked storage room, confronting him over years of crimes and the destruction of the Yue Family’s ancestral home. Yue Xiaofei overpowered Gao Zisheng after he tried to stab him, then began beating him as he named the people and harms behind his revenge.

• Chen Mo captured Gao Zisheng and handed him to the naval soldiers.
• Yue Xiaofei took Gao Zisheng to a storage room and asked Chen Mo and the others to lock them inside alone.
• Gao Zisheng begged for his life and offered money, women, and obedience, while Yue Xiaofei recalled Gao’s past crimes.
• Yue Xiaofei proposed a one-on-one fight, but Gao Zisheng secretly drew a switchblade and lunged at him.
• Yue Xiaofei dodged the knife, broke Gao Zisheng’s wrist, struck him in the abdomen, and punched him while listing his grievances.

Yue Xiaofei finished taking revenge on Gao Zisheng and emerged feeling as if he had been given a new lease on life. Meanwhile, the Xu Family’s powerful relatives searched Jiangcheng for Xu Anbang, while a crowd of influential guests waited at Jade Spring Mountain to celebrate his hundredth birthday.

• Yue Xiaofei beat Gao Zisheng until he was unconscious and barely breathing, then washed the blood from his hands and left the room where Chen Mo stood guard.
• Xu Sanjiang, Xu Sihai, Qin Qianshan, and Xu Jingtao gathered in Jiangcheng to search for Xu Anbang and Lin Tiejun, who had vanished without a trace.
• Xu Jingtao said Xu Anbang might have gone to see Yue Qinhu, and Xu Sanjiang explained that Yue Qinhu was staying at the Provincial Military Region’s sanatorium with dementia.
• A guard commander called Xu Sanjiang to report that a vast crowd of dignitaries had gathered at Jade Spring Mountain to celebrate Xu Anbang’s birthday, though Xu Anbang was missing.

Xu Sanjiang organized a citywide search for his missing father while Hou Liangbing flew to Modu with Smith, who revealed why Eagle Country wanted Yue Xiaofei. Smith identified Yue Xiaofei as the son of the Black Emperor Yue Changlong, whose value he claimed surpassed even a hundred Zhao Families.

• After learning that Xu Jue had gone missing before his birthday banquet, Xu Sanjiang postponed the event and ordered a sweeping search of Jiangcheng.
• Xu Sanjiang flew to Longdu while his sons and other Xu family members began searching Jiangcheng; unbeknownst to them, Xu Jue was relaxing at the Modu docks.
• Aboard a private jet to Modu, Hou Liangbing asked Smith why Eagle Country wanted Yue Xiaofei captured.
• Smith revealed that he belonged to Skull and Bones and told Hou Liangbing that Yue Xiaofei was the son of the Black Emperor Yue Changlong.

Hou Liangbing agreed to help Smith capture Yue Xiaofei in exchange for favors from Eagle Country, then led Bureau 7 operatives toward the dock. Meanwhile, Yue Xiaofei emerged from the storage room as Wang Hongtao fled the scene and requested a week of leave.

• Smith told Hou Liangbing that Yue Xiaofei was a valuable target and offered him benefits for handing Yue over.
• Hou Liangbing called Zhong Zhenguo, who angrily hung up while waiting at Jade Spring Mountain to visit a military elder on his hundredth birthday.
• Hou Liangbing vowed to gain power over the Zhong Family and ordered Bureau 7 operatives to capture Yue Xiaofei at the dock.
• Yue Xiaofei left the storage room with Chen Mo and approached Elder Xu and the others.
• Wang Hongtao fled the dock and called Modu's secretary-general to request a week off, claiming he had suffered a heart attack.

Yue Xiaofei asked Elder Xu to investigate his father Yue Changlong’s secret imprisonment, and Elder Xu used his authority and an old debt to obtain access to the classified case. The investigation revealed that Yue Changlong had been imprisoned for treason.

• Yue Xiaofei thanked Elder Xu for protecting him and his companions, and Elder Xu explained that he had acted for his old comrade Yue Qinhu.
• Yue Xiaofei told Elder Xu that his father, Yue Changlong, had vanished into Yanshan Prison five years earlier under an SSS+ classified file and asked him to uncover the truth.
• Elder Xu called Xiao Ma and ordered him to investigate Yue Changlong, reminding him that he had once saved his life.
• Xiao Ma called back and revealed that Yue Changlong's charge was treason.

Elder Xu learned that Yue Changlong was accused of treason, but the evidence had been erased, prompting him to vow to investigate whether Yue Changlong had been framed. Before a lead in the file could be revealed, Hou Liangbing stormed in with armed operatives and ordered Yue Xiaofei arrested.

• Jin Dapao and Yue Xiaofei protested that Yue Changlong was a loyal hero who could not have betrayed the country.
• Elder Xu learned from Xiao Ma that the treason records had been erased by someone with high-level clearance.
• Elder Xu ordered a full investigation and vowed to fight anyone responsible if Yue Changlong had been framed.
• Xiao Ma began to reveal the presiding officer's signature, but Hou Liangbing and dozens of armed operatives burst into the office.
• Hou Liangbing ordered his operatives to arrest Yue Xiaofei.

Hou Liangbing ordered Bureau 7 operatives to aim their guns at Yue Xiaofei, but Jin Dapao drew his pistol and pressed it to Hou Liangbing’s forehead. Ouyang Jian challenged Hou Liangbing’s authority in the naval port, and Hou Liangbing displayed his Bureau 7 credentials and claimed he could arrest anyone in the name of national security.

• Hou Liangbing ordered dozens of Bureau 7 operatives to point their guns at Yue Xiaofei.
• Jin Dapao drew his service pistol and aimed it at Hou Liangbing, threatening to shoot him.
• Hou Liangbing dismissed Jin Dapao’s threat and asserted his authority as Bureau 7’s deputy chief.
• Ouyang Jian identified himself as captain of the Sea Dragon and warned Hou Liangbing that the port was navy territory.
• Hou Liangbing showed his Bureau 7 credentials and claimed national security gave him the authority to enter and arrest anyone.

Hou Liangbing used a Bureau 7 Special-Class Arrest Warrant to declare Yue Xiaofei a Class-A Suspect and threatened to arrest anyone who resisted. When Yue Xiaofei demanded evidence, Hou Liangbing accused his brother Yue Feng of treason and claimed Yue Xiaofei had colluded with him.

• Hou Liangbing revealed his Bureau 7 credentials and produced a Special-Class Arrest Warrant for Yue Xiaofei.
• Hou Liangbing warned Jin Dapao, Ouyang Jian, and the others that interference would make them accomplices to obstructing national security.
• Yue Xiaofei challenged Hou Liangbing to state the charges and provide evidence.
• Hou Liangbing accused Yue Feng of stealing national secrets, founding Asura Hall, and returning to Dragon Kingdom to attack Modu.
• Hou Liangbing claimed Yue Xiaofei had aided Yue Feng from inside the country and was part of a greater conspiracy.

Yue Xiaofei confronted Hou Liangbing for twisting Yue Feng’s actions into crimes, then learned Hou Liangbing believed Yue Feng had died at Cloudtop Heavenly Palace. Hou Liangbing claimed the Yue Family had no one left to protect them, and challenged Yue Xiaofei to find a backer stronger than Yue Feng.

• Yue Xiaofei exposed Hou Liangbing’s past public humiliation, revealing that he had knelt and begged the [Reverse Scale] squad for mercy.
• Hou Liangbing threatened Yue Xiaofei, then told him he had received confirmed information that Yue Feng had gone to Cloudtop Heavenly Palace on Changbai Mountain and was likely dead.
• Yue Xiaofei realized that Hou Liangbing knew about Yue Feng’s secret mission to find their mother, Ye Qingmei, and suspected there was more to the revelation.
• Hou Liangbing taunted Yue Xiaofei about his grandfather, father, and supposedly dead brother, and dismissed Jin Dapao, Ouyang Jian, and Elder Xu as protectors.
• Yue Xiaofei accused Hou Liangbing of acting only because Yue Feng was absent, while Hou Liangbing declared himself the victor and challenged Yue Xiaofei to produce a backer more powerful than Yue Feng.

Hou Liangbing ordered Bureau 7 agents to seize Yue Xiaofei and anyone who resisted, and Jin Dapao fought them to protect him. With the office cut off from outside communication, Ouyang Jian defied Hou Liangbing and vowed to protect Yue Xiaofei, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Hou Liangbing ordered Bureau 7 agents to arrest Yue Xiaofei and anyone who obstructed them.
• Jin Dapao charged the agents, but they subdued him with stun batons and handcuffed him.
• Hou Liangbing accused Jin Dapao of harboring a Class-A suspect and ordered the agents to take him away.
• Ouyang Jian tried to summon reinforcements, but Hou Liangbing revealed that he had jammed nearby signals.
• Ouyang Jian refused to yield and declared that he would protect Yue Xiaofei.

Hou Liangbing’s Bureau 7 guards overpowered Ouyang Jian and arrested him, leaving Yue Xiaofei with few allies. Lin Tiejun stepped forward to defend Yue Xiaofei, but Hou Liangbing dismissed him as a retired officer and challenged his authority.

• Hou Liangbing ordered Bureau 7’s elite guards to arrest Ouyang Jian, and Ouyang fought them until their numbers overwhelmed him.
• The guards handcuffed Ouyang Jian, and Hou Liangbing had him taken away.
• Hou Liangbing taunted Yue Xiaofei after his remaining allies were removed and moved to cuff him.
• Lin Tiejun rose and declared that he would protect Yue Xiaofei because Yue Qinhu had saved his life.
• Hou Liangbing identified Lin Tiejun as a retired one-star general and mocked his medals and ability to stop the arrest.

Hou Liangbing ordered Yue Xiaofei and everyone who had defended him arrested, but Elder Xu finally stood up and challenged Hou Liangbing’s authority. The chapter ended with Elder Xu declaring that Hou Liangbing was not qualified to investigate him.

• Hou Liangbing ordered the Elite Guards to arrest Yue Xiaofei, Ouyang Jian, Jin Dapao, Lin Tiejun, and Lin Xiaolu.
• An Elite Guard shoved Lin Xiaolu to the floor, and Yue Xiaofei demanded that Hou Liangbing leave the others alone.
• Elder Xu rose from the sofa and rebuked Hou Liangbing for acting like a king in the tiger’s absence.
• Hou Liangbing threatened Elder Xu and demanded his name and position, while Ouyang Jian and Lin Tiejun recognized the danger Hou Liangbing was inviting.
• Elder Xu calmly told Hou Liangbing that someone at his level was not qualified to investigate him.

Elder Xu challenged Bureau 7 deputy chief Hou Liangbing over his ignorance of the bureau’s founder and condemned his abuse of authority and reliance on the Zhong Family. The chapter ended with Elder Xu declaring that the people—not noble families—were the only ones who mattered.

• Hou Liangbing threatened to investigate Elder Xu, but Elder Xu mocked his rank as a “little position,” making Lin Xiaolu laugh.
• Elder Xu asked Hou Liangbing who founded Bureau 7, and Hou Liangbing realized the founder’s identity was hidden behind the bureau’s highest security clearance.
• Elder Xu recalled that Yue Qinhu had founded Bureau 7 under orders from the highest authority and revealed that Hou Liangbing was trying to arrest Yue Qinhu’s grandson.
• Hou Liangbing demanded Elder Xu’s name and rank, but Elder Xu gave only his surname, Xu.
• Hou Liangbing invoked his father-in-law and the Zhong Family, prompting Elder Xu to denounce great clans and affirm that the people were what mattered.

Hou Liangbing ordered Elder Xu and Yue Xiaofei’s allies arrested after Elder Xu challenged him, then had them taken from Modu Naval Port to Bureau 7. Elder Xu remained confident that Hou Liangbing would soon face consequences.

• Hou Liangbing accused Elder Xu of being a spy and ordered the Elite Guards to arrest him, despite Ouyang Jian’s warnings.
• Elder Xu calmly agreed to be arrested and warned Hou Liangbing that his actions could lead to his father-in-law’s death.
• Hou Liangbing ordered Elder Xu, Yue Xiaofei, Lin Tiejun, Chen Mo, Ouyang Jian, and Lin Xiaolu handcuffed and taken away.
• As Yue Xiaofei and Elder Xu were driven from Modu Naval Port, Elder Xu reassured him that someone would soon teach Hou Liangbing how to behave.

Xu Sanjiang told Zhang Beihai that Elder Xu had gone missing with retired general Lin Tiejun, then gave Bureau 7 three hours to find him before he mobilized the North Sea Theater. Zhang Beihai declared the highest-level alert and ordered a nationwide search for Elder Xu and Lin Tiejun.

• At Jade Spring Mountain, Xu Sanjiang delayed Elder Xu’s birthday banquet for three hours while claiming his father had caught a chill.
• Xu Sanjiang told Zhang Beihai that Elder Xu had left with Lin Tiejun to find Yue Qinhu, but Yue Qinhu had not seen him.
• Xu Sanjiang demanded that Zhang Beihai find Elder Xu within three hours or face a blanket search by the North Sea Theater.
• Zhang Beihai activated Bureau 7’s highest-level red alert and ordered all personnel to return and search for Xu Anbang and Lin Tiejun.
• Zhang Beihai ordered Bureau 7 to activate the Sky Eye system and warned that everyone in the bureau would lose their jobs if they failed to find Elder Xu.

Hou Liangbing ignored Bureau Chief Zhang Beihai’s order to help find missing Founding Hero Xu Anbang, choosing instead to pursue his plan to hand Yue Xiaofei over to Eagle Country. He switched off his phone, convinced Zhang’s crisis could clear his path to becoming Bureau Chief.

• Hou Liangbing rode with Bureau 7’s convoy, celebrating the capture of Yue Xiaofei’s powerful backers and imagining the rewards and authority he would gain from Eagle Country.
• Zhang Beihai called Hou Liangbing and urgently told him that Xu Anbang had gone missing in Longdu, ordering him to stop his mission and use every available resource to find him.
• Zhang Beihai said he had pledged to the Xu Family that Xu Anbang would be found within three hours or he would resign as Bureau Chief.
• Hou Liangbing refused to help, claiming that his international-relations mission was more important and would earn him tremendous credit.
• Hou Liangbing hung up and switched off his phone, dismissing Xu Anbang’s disappearance and hoping Zhang Beihai’s failure would create an opening for him to become Bureau Chief.

After Zhang Beihai begged [Man-Rat] to find Xu Anbang, she discovered that Hou Liangbing had arrested him and Yue Xiaofei in Modu. She hid the discovery from Zhang and secretly informed Xu Wanqing that Xu Anbang was in Modu.

• Zhang Beihai asked [Man-Rat] to use her hacking skills to find Xu Anbang.
• [Man-Rat] traced Xu Anbang to Modu Naval Port, where Hou Liangbing had put him and Yue Xiaofei into a car.
• [Man-Rat] shared the satellite image with the [Reverse Scale] squad, whose members were stunned that Hou Liangbing had arrested the man he was supposed to find.
• [Man-Rat] told Zhang Beihai that she could not find Xu Anbang while continuing to recover the data.
• [Man-Rat] broke into a military communications channel and told Xu Wanqing that Xu Anbang was in Modu.

Xu Wanqing learned that her great-grandfather was in danger in Modu, so her family rushed to reach him. Qin Qianshan secured a cleared route, and the Xu family sped off in a gold-plate Red Flag Limousine.

• Xu Wanqing received an untraceable call warning that her great-grandfather was in danger in Modu.
• Xu Wanqing told her family, and military technicians failed to trace the caller.
• Xu Sanjiang urged the family to leave for Modu, while Xu Jingtao warned that travel would take too long.
• Qin Qianshan ordered traffic control across the route and secured green lights all the way.
• The Xu family set off in a gold-plate Red Flag Limousine, whose absolute right of way astonished drivers.

Yue Xiaofei and the others were brought in handcuffs to Bureau 7’s Modu headquarters, where Yue was struck by a statue that reminded him of his grandfather. Hou Liangbing praised the statue as a symbol of Bureau 7’s legacy, but Elder Xu interrupted to ask if he knew why it had been designed that way.

• Hou Liangbing’s convoy brought Yue Xiaofei, Lin Tiejun, Jin Dapao, Ouyang Jian, and the old man to Bureau 7’s Modu headquarters.
• Yue Xiaofei noticed a statue of a warrior with a glowing red heart-shaped hollow in its chest and thought it resembled his grandfather, Yue Qinhu.
• Yue Xiaofei read the inscription on the statue: “Our cause may not shine for a moment, but it will endure forever!”
• Hou Liangbing told Yue Xiaofei that identical statues across Bureau 7 represented the organization’s spirit and legacy.
• Elder Xu asked Hou Liangbing why the statue had been designed that way.

Elder Xu explained the Bureau 7 statue’s pose and hollow heart as symbols of agents awaiting orders and pledging themselves to the country and its people. His knowledge and conviction stunned Hou Liangbing and the others, and he left them with a question about the statue’s model.

• Hou Liangbing claimed the statue symbolized Bureau 7’s readiness to sacrifice for the country, but Elder Xu replied with quiet disappointment.
• Elder Xu explained that the statue’s pose had once signaled that an intelligence agent was in position and awaiting orders.
• Elder Xu said the statue’s hollow, illuminated heart represented an oath to set aside one’s life and serve the country and its people.
• Elder Xu called on Bureau 7 agents to offer their hearts for the Dragon Kingdom, freedom, and a new era, leaving the square stunned.
• Elder Xu asked Hou Liangbing who the statue had been modeled after.

Elder Xu revealed that the statue was modeled on Bureau 7’s legendary first agent, codenamed Old Farmer, and challenged the agents to remember their origins. As he began telling the agent’s wartime story, Yue Xiaofei suspected that Old Farmer might have been his grandfather.

• Hou Liangbing claimed the statue had no individual model and threatened Elder Xu to prove otherwise.
• Elder Xu identified Bureau 7’s first agent, Old Farmer, as the statue’s model, shocking the crowd.
• Hou Liangbing dismissed Elder Xu’s claim, but Elder Xu said part of Old Farmer’s file had recently been declassified.
• Yue Xiaofei connected the Old Farmer codename and the statue’s appearance to his grandfather, who had once refused a general’s rank to return to farming.
• Elder Xu began the story of Old Farmer, starting with the war that founded the nation.