Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• In Yero City’s Ninth Medical Security Center, Inspection Office commissioner Xin Ya questions Lu Zhan, a badly injured teenager. Two Public Security Office workers, Wesker and Wang Yang, observe and take notes.
• Lu Zhan says he is an alchemy apprentice who installs wheels on steam locomotives, not a Wutu Gang member. Though the gang raised him, its rules exclude those who do not become adult brawlers.
• Wang Yang explains that the Wutu Gang formed from survivors of Wutu City, destroyed during a monster crisis twenty years earlier. Lu Zhan’s parents died in that period, and the gang raised orphans before selling many of them to alchemy factories.
• Xin Ya warns that Lu Zhan’s costly treatment may leave him indebted for life unless he cooperates. He agrees to explain the incident from the night of the 23rd: he and others encountered a legendary Mutant Beast.
• Lu Zhan believes the beast is still at large. He suspects this is why authorities are questioning him and why he received unusually advanced care rather than being abandoned.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Zhan is frightened by the interrogation and medical debt, but becomes more forthcoming when he concludes cooperation is his best chance of survival. His thoughts reveal that he has transmigrated from another life and is still trying to understand this world.
• Xin Ya balances official pressure with reassurance. Her memories of the refugee crisis soften her tone toward Lu Zhan, though she remains focused on the investigation.
• Wesker is stern and emphasizes Lu Zhan’s gang background; Wang Yang provides context that clarifies Lu Zhan’s complicated ties to the Wutu Gang.

Significant themes

• Survival and exploitation: Refugees, orphans, and workers are treated as resources, while medical care can become lifelong debt.
• Class and belonging: Lu Zhan’s upbringing does not grant him lasting membership in the gang, and his low-status labor contrasts with the prestigious title “alchemy apprentice.”
• A world disguised by terminology: The society calls industrial technology “alchemy,” suggesting its familiar machinery exists within a different cultural or technological framework.
• Unresolved danger: The Mutant Beast’s apparent escape leaves the massacre—and the reason for Lu Zhan’s survival—an active mystery.

Lu Zhan recounted surviving the massacre to Xin Ya, but discovered he could not remember the mutant beast’s appearance. Just as Xin Ya prepared to end the interrogation, he recalled that it had two mechanical antennas on its head.

• Lu Zhan told Xin Ya how the blood-red monster attacked and killed his coworkers before leaving him badly injured.
• Xin Ya questioned Lu Zhan about why he believed the attacker was a mutant beast and learned that he could no longer remember its appearance.
• Xin Ya explained that other survivors and even the injured trainees had suffered similar memory disturbances after the attack.
• Xin Ya stopped pressing Lu Zhan when he grew frantic and told him the survivors’ medical fees would be waived if they kept quiet.
• Lu Zhan suddenly regained his composure and remembered that the monster had two mechanical antennas on its head.

Lu Zhan drew the mechanical antennae he remembered from the Mutant Beast, earning Xin Ya's approval and a chance to pursue becoming an Armored Warrior. After Xin Ya left, Lu Zhan discovered his body had fully recovered and had somehow spoken to him.

• Lu Zhan drew the Mutant Beast's two patterned antennae, and Xin Ya recognized them as a valuable new piece of information.
• Lu Zhan felt an unsettling itch in his skull and wondered why the antennae had lodged in his mind.
• Xin Ya told Lu Zhan that tests had found he had the talent to become an Armored Warrior, while warning that the path was dangerous.
• Xin Ya left after asking Lu Zhan to report any further memories of the Mutant Beast.
• Lu Zhan removed the monitoring devices after his body told him he had recovered and no longer needed them.

After hearing his body's cells hunger and fall silent, Lu Zhan tried to understand the strange ability and suspected it was connected to the blood-red antennae in his mind. He set aside his fears about infection and decided to enjoy his new status as a candidate Armored Warrior by demanding the hospital's best food.

• After the bodily voices subsided, Lu Zhan studied the lingering murmurs and concluded that he could hear information emitted by his cells.
• Lu Zhan suspected the hospital's treatment had overcharged his body and that the antennae he had drawn had awakened his ability to hear cellular signals.
• Lu Zhan feared the antennae meant he was infected by a Mutant Beast, but reminded himself that he had passed Xin Ya's genetic screening.
• Unable to investigate the antennae further, Lu Zhan chose to adapt to his new life and act excited about becoming an Armored Warrior.
• After three days without food, Lu Zhan called for a nurse and demanded the hospital's best food and premium service.

After leaving the Ninth Medical Security Center, Lu Zhan reflected on what he had learned about his treatment and his new world, then realized he had no money, nowhere to go, and rent waiting at his room. A passing steam locomotive stopped in front of him after he criticized its wheels.

• Lu Zhan left the Ninth Medical Security Center after learning that his accelerated recovery had cost him at least two years of cellular lifespan.
• He recalled that only a dozen or so of the more than fifty people brought in with him had survived, and that he lacked the status to access a possible treatment for his shortened lifespan.
• Lu Zhan realized he had no money, no way to contact anyone, and likely could not return to his rented room because he had not paid rent.
• He reminded himself that his twenty-year contract with the Black Star Steam Locomotive Factory guaranteed him work as long as the factory stayed open.
• A steam locomotive nearly brushed Lu Zhan, and after he criticized its wheels, it reversed and stopped in front of him.

Lu Zhan was intercepted by Lin Kexian and taken to meet Helmsman Ma of the Wutu Gang after the gang learned he had Armored Warrior talent. On the way, Lu Zhan revealed what the gang wanted, and Lin Kexian crashed the vehicle in surprise.

• Lin Kexian waited three days outside the hospital and told Lu Zhan that Helmsman Ma had summoned him.
• Lu Zhan suspected the Wutu Gang had learned about his Armored Warrior talent through a leak from the Public Security Office.
• Lin Kexian pulled Lu Zhan into the gang's steam-powered vehicle and urged him to answer Helmsman Ma's questions.
• Lin Kexian questioned Lu Zhan about why Helmsman Ma wanted to see him, and Lu Zhan said the gang had discovered his Armored Warrior talent.
• Lin Kexian slammed on the brakes in shock, and one of the vehicle's wheels came off.

Lu Zhan told Lin Kexian that the Inspection Office had confirmed his Armored Warrior talent, leaving Lin astonished and envious. As they drove through Yero City, Lin tried to ingratiate himself with Lu Zhan, who grew more interested in the city’s inner districts than in Lin’s chatter.

• Lu Zhan told Lin Kexian that Commissioner Xin had confirmed his Armored Warrior talent, and Lin reluctantly believed him.
• Lin congratulated Lu Zhan and proposed that they return to the Wutu Gang and face hardships together.
• Lu Zhan said that enduring hardship brought good luck, and Lin took the advice seriously enough to retrieve and reinstall the car’s runaway wheels.
• Lin resumed driving and pointed out Yero City’s new outer-city subway construction while introducing Lu Zhan to the city.
• Lu Zhan showed little interest in Lin’s recommendations and wondered whether Lin had ever entered the inner city.

Lu Zhan learned that Yero City's inner city was sealed off behind a massive wall, then met Wutu Gang Helmsman Ma Yancheng at his residence. As Ma played the role of a caring uncle, Lu Zhan sensed that Ma’s metal-covered left arm concealed the strength of a powerful creature, possibly an Armored Warrior.

• Lin Kexian told Lu Zhan that a hundred-meter-high wall barred outer-city residents from entering the inner city without special permission.
• Lin Kexian drove Lu Zhan to Ma Yancheng’s private compound, where gang members inspected them before admitting Lu Zhan.
• Ma Yancheng greeted Lu Zhan as his nephew and reminisced about his bond with Lu Zhan’s father.
• Lu Zhan played along with Ma’s show of affection and complained about his hardships while watching Ma’s metal-covered left arm.
• When Ma clasped Lu Zhan’s hand, Lu Zhan’s body reacted with fear, and he suspected Ma might be an Armored Warrior.

Ma Yancheng showed Lu Zhan his Growth Armor and offered him a gang-backed loan to attend the Armor Warrior Training Class. Lu Zhan challenged the contract’s terms and raised his involvement in the Mutant Beast case, so Ma Yancheng postponed the signing while promising to investigate Commissioner Xin’s interest in him.

• Ma Yancheng demonstrated how his Growth Armor transformed and explained that Lu Zhan needed to awaken his life ripple in the Armor Warrior Training Class to become an Armored Warrior.
• Ma Yancheng offered Lu Zhan a student loan for the hundred-thousand training fee, but the contract demanded one percent daily compound interest and twenty years of unpaid work for the Wutu Gang after repayment.
• Lu Zhan objected to the twenty-year work term, and Ma Yancheng reduced it to ten years, believing the clause would likely never matter.
• Lu Zhan prepared to sign but asked whether his involvement in the Mutant Beast case and Commissioner Xin’s attention could harm the gang or his admission.
• Ma Yancheng said the case should not affect Lu Zhan ordinarily, but postponed the signing and promised to investigate Commissioner Xin’s interest.

After refusing to sign the Wutu Gang’s contract, Lu Zhan left Ma Yancheng’s residence and reflected on the danger he had sensed. His Blood-Red Antenna had revealed that Ma Yancheng’s armored left hand craved human flesh, so Lu Zhan decided he could not risk joining the gang.

• Ma Yancheng invited Lu Zhan to stay, but Lu Zhan insisted on leaving, and Ma Yancheng did not stop him or serve the meal he had prepared.
• Lu Zhan found Lin Kexian’s old car completely broken down, borrowed a hundred from him, and took a steam car away.
• Lu Zhan recalled that Ma Yancheng had shown killing intent when Lu Zhan hesitated to sign the Wutu Gang’s contract, and he considered the danger of relying on his Inspection Office excuse.
• Lu Zhan remembered activating his Blood-Red Antenna to capture information from Ma Yancheng’s armored left hand.
• The Antenna revealed that Ma Yancheng’s left hand was made of ravenous cells that wanted to eat Lu Zhan’s flesh and blood.
• Lu Zhan concluded that he would not risk joining the Wutu Gang, since Ma Yancheng’s hunger suggested he had eaten people before.

Ma Yancheng explained why Lu Zhan’s encounter with the Mutant Beast had drawn the Inspection Office’s attention, but believed the Wutu Gang could keep him under its control. Realizing the gang would not let him go and offered no future he could accept, Lu Zhan chose to enlist in Yero City’s army.

• Lin Kexian questioned Lu Zhan’s refusal to sign the Wutu Gang’s contract, and Ma Yancheng told him to wait while the gang investigated Lu Zhan’s situation.
• Ma Yancheng revealed that the Mutant Beast attack had killed nineteen trainees and said the Inspection Office would investigate the unusual incident.
• Ma Yancheng reasoned that Lu Zhan had few alternatives because other factions would not invest in someone raised by the Wutu Gang.
• Lu Zhan considered his limited options and realized he could neither return to his old life nor escape the gang by giving up on becoming an Armored Warrior.
• Lu Zhan chose to enlist in Yero City’s army, the only faction that offered training to anyone with the talent to become an Armored Warrior.
• Lu Zhan told his driver to turn around and take him to enlist immediately so he could move into the barracks before the Wutu Gang changed its mind.

Lu Zhan traveled to Yero City’s Recruitment Office despite the driver’s warnings about the dangers and broken promises of enlistment. He remained determined to join the army, believing it was his best chance to survive and uncover why the city controlled information and differed so strangely from his previous world.

• The middle-aged driver warned Lu Zhan that enlistment could send him to the Wilderness and that most advertised benefits came with catches.
• Lu Zhan thanked the driver but insisted he would survive and rise through the ranks, and he continued toward the Recruitment Office.
• During the ride, Lu Zhan noticed Yero City’s low buildings, steam-powered vehicles, and limited access to telecommunication and broadcast technology.
• Lu Zhan concluded that Yero City deliberately restricted information and decided that joining the army was his only route into the city’s establishment and closer to the truth.
• The steam-powered vehicle reached its destination.

Lu Zhan arrived at the run-down District 13 recruitment office and discovered its director, Xu Dayong, was so desperate for recruits that he nearly arrested him as a trespasser. After agreeing to enlist there, Lu Zhan asked Xu to help him become an Armored Warrior, leaving his chances dependent on Xu’s willingness to bend the rules.

• Lu Zhan searched the deserted recruitment office, found its dusty rooms empty, and went outside to look for someone to ask for directions.
• Three armed soldiers stopped Lu Zhan at the entrance, and Director Xu Dayong accused him of trespassing until Lu showed his recruitment flyer.
• Xu Dayong ushered Lu into a cleaned office and explained that District 13 had recruited only fifteen soldiers in three years.
• Lu learned that recruits generally had to enlist in their own district, but Xu offered to seek special approval for him.
• Lu decided to enlist in District 13 and asked Xu to help him become an Armored Warrior, revealing his Wutu Gang background and involvement in the mutant beast incident.

Lu Zhan enlisted as an Armored Warrior trainee after Xu Dayong verified his talent and arranged for him to join a training class early. Meanwhile, the Special Task Force investigating the July 24 massacre found no foreign life elements in the victims and began debating whether the killer was human rather than a Mutant Beast.

• Xu Dayong verified Lu Zhan’s assessment record and pressed his fingerprint onto an enlistment contract for twenty years of service.
• Lu Zhan told Xu Dayong he had nowhere to stay and only fifty yuan, so Xu arranged for him to join an ongoing Life Alchemy class early.
• Lu Zhan left the fifty yuan behind at the Recruitment Office as a token of gratitude and went to the Training Center.
• Ouyang Hao questioned Liu Yiyang after three rounds of tests found no foreign life elements in the seventeen injured Armored Warrior trainees.
• Moros proposed that a human might have carried out the massacre, while Ellie objected that witnesses had seen a Mutant Beast.
• Moros argued that the witnesses could not remember the creature’s appearance and that the failed tests meant the presumed Mutant Beast might not have been one.

The Special Task Force investigated Xin Ya’s evidence that the attack involved a human and a rare Wide-Area Information Receiver, then decided the inner city connection was too dangerous to pursue. When Xin Ya learned Lu Zhan had been discharged and recruited, Ouyang Hao and the others planned to silence him before he entered the Training Center.

• Li Mingchuan reported that Xin Ya’s fragment of two mechanical antennas did not match any of the thirty-five Mutant Beast types identified from the other evidence.
• Xin Ya explained that Lu Zhan’s verified memory fragment supplied the drawing, and she showed the team his file confirming he had no known way to encounter the alchemical creation.
• Moros argued the antennas supported a human culprit, and Ouyang Hao ordered the team to restart the investigation on that assumption.
• Xin Ya identified the antennas as part of a rare Wide-Area Information Receiver manufactured only in the inner city, prompting Moros to urge the team to abandon that lead.
• Liu Yiyang proposed detaining Lu Zhan or having the Wutu Gang kill him, and Xin Ya learned he had already left the Ninth Medical Security Center and gone to the 13th Recruitment Office.
• Ouyang Hao said Lu Zhan would not enter the Training Center for seven days, and the others agreed they still had time to silence him.

Lu Zhan settled into the Armored Warrior Training Center and fell asleep, unaware that his arrival coincided with interference affecting Ajak, Zhou Qi, and Vikem’s underground radio. Vikem’s drop of blood cleared the signal, leaving Ajak and Zhou Qi astonished by the black-market radio’s supposed trick.

• Lu Zhan moved into a private dorm room, joined the Basic Class, and began anticipating his Life Alchemy classes despite his limited education.
• Lu Zhan fell asleep after a tiring day while Ajak, Zhou Qi, and Vikem struggled to receive an underground radio broadcast.
• Ajak and Zhou Qi tried adjusting the Ore Radio and acting as human antennas, but the signal remained unstable.
• Vikem bit his finger and dripped blood onto the radio’s Magnet, instantly clearing the signal so he could hear Avril sing.
• Ajak and Zhou Qi recalled the black-market vendor’s advice about using blood and were shocked that Vikem’s impulsive act had worked.

Lu Zhan adjusted to life at the Training Center and learned that Basic Class recruits were restricted to type C meals until their bodies qualified for [Life Essence] injections. His unusually sharp hearing let him overhear Liu Shuang and his classmates discussing the restrictions and the risks of banned drugs.

• Lu Zhan woke up missing his former life, got dressed, and went to Cafeteria Three for breakfast.
• Lu Zhan learned that Basic Class recruits could only eat type C meals because their bodies could not yet digest the higher-tier food.
• Lu Zhan chose eggs and roasted meat while five young men nearby ate bread and vegetables.
• Graham complained about the repetitive meals and suggested using banned drugs or eating [synthetic meat], but Liu Shuang warned him that banned drugs could get them expelled.
• Lu Zhan overheard Liu Shuang and the others clearly and realized his hearing had become several times sharper.

Lu Zhan tested his newly enhanced hearing, suspected the Blood-Red Antenna was responsible, and observed the divisions among the Basic Class students. Wen Shiyan introduced herself and began showing him around the Training Center, explaining that recruits from District 13 faced prejudice and were treated as the lowest-status group.

• Lu Zhan spent breakfast testing his hearing and noticed that the Basic Class students seemed divided into groups, with many reluctant to eat meat or eggs.
• Wen Shiyan introduced herself to Lu Zhan, explaining that Xu Dayong had asked her to show him around the Training Center.
• Wen Shiyan told Lu Zhan that faction-recommended trainees looked down on military recruits, whom they expected to be sent to the Wilderness.
• Wen Shiyan warned Lu Zhan that District 13 recruits faced contempt even within the military group because others assumed they had sold their blood.
• Wen Shiyan clarified that neither she nor Lu Zhan had sold themselves, joking that the rumor referred to selling blood.

Wen Shiyan explained to Lu Zhan that District 13's unusually lucrative blood trade had weakened military recruitment and was secretly controlled by the Bloodline Group. The chapter ended with Lu Zhan learning that people who sold blood thirty times received a free Talent Assessment.

• Wen Shiyan told Lu Zhan that poor people in District 13 could earn 600 yuan by selling 100 milliliters of blood, making enlistment and work less appealing.
• Lu Zhan questioned how District 13's enormous blood trade could continue despite Yero City's ban on buying and selling blood.
• Wen Shiyan explained that Yero City had expanded from twelve districts to thirty-six after a monster uprising drove survivors into the city.
• Wen Shiyan said the authorities had only superficial control over District 13, whose underworld was run by a gang alliance led by the Bloodline Group.
• Wen Shiyan revealed that the Bloodline Group restricted its blood-buying operations to District 13 and offered a free Talent Assessment to anyone who sold blood thirty times.

Lu Zhan learned that the Bloodline Group’s free Talent Assessments kept District 13’s talented people under its control, while the Training Center’s trainees treated him and Wen Shiyan as suspected Bloodline Group agents. As his new roommate’s arrival stirred alarm, Ajak dismissed the rumors and suggested watching Lu Zhan during class.

• Lu Zhan questioned why District 13 had so few trainees, and Wen Shiyan explained that independent factions like the Bloodline Group trained talented people themselves and that she had been ostracized despite paying for her own assessment.
• Wen Shiyan offered to show Lu Zhan around the Training Center after he worried that he would also be stigmatized for coming from District 13.
• Other trainees discovered that Lu Zhan had enlisted through the District 13 Recruitment Office and decided to report the second suspected defector to their backing organizations.
• Ajak and his companions learned that Lu Zhan had been assigned to Room 305, but Ajak dismissed Zhou Qi’s fears about contamination and proposed watching Lu Zhan in Life Alchemy class.