Chapter Summaries

Qin Siyang learned from Yu Yongyou that Wang Xugong might benefit from Wang Xuzuo’s poor leadership and arranged for him to manage mines in Sigma District. The chapter ended with Yu Yongyou letting Qin Siyang keep the mines’ income as a gift for establishing his unit.

• Qin Siyang returned to the Zhao Merchants' Association's Clubhouse after speaking briefly with Wang Xugong.
• Yu Yongyou criticized Qin Siyang for encouraging Wang Xugong to seek help, then explained that Wang Xuzuo was an incompetent and shortsighted family head.
• Yu Yongyou predicted that Wang Xuzuo would soon lose control of the Wang Family, leaving Wang Xugong a possible chance to rise.
• Qin Siyang asked Yu Yongyou to send Wang Xugong to run his Sigma District mines and help manage Qin Siyang’s mines there.
• Yu Yongyou said Qin Siyang could keep the mines’ income as a congratulatory gift for establishing his unit.

Qin Siyang returned to Area No. 7 with Zhao Longfei after a month in Zone 5, reflecting on the district’s decline and the political upheaval that had shaken it. Zhao Longfei told him the Three Major Merchants' Associations wanted to hold the Vine Heart Trade Fair in Area No. 7, and the chapter ended with Zhao rejecting the Bright Sun Merchants' Association’s offer rather than asking Qin Siyang to compromise.

• Qin Siyang traveled with Zhao Longfei and the others from Zone 5 to Area No. 7, noticing shuttered shops and the city’s subdued mood.
• Zhao Sifang and Hu Chan discussed Zone 5’s steep housing-price drop after the World-Destroying Church’s attack and Yan Mohui’s defection.
• Qin Siyang considered how the United Government’s seizure of mines and Joint Mining’s cost-cutting had damaged Zone 5’s prosperity.
• Zhao Longfei told Qin Siyang that the Three Major Merchants' Associations wanted to hold the Vine Heart Trade Fair in Area No. 7, at the Bright Sun Merchants' Association’s suggestion.
• Qin Siyang refused to reconcile with Jiang Hao or handle the proposal, and Zhao Longfei decided to turn it down despite the potential revenue.

After returning to Southern Glory, Qin Siyang planned to visit the Sigma District to learn about the [Apocalypse Fragment] and reunited with Wen Shu over dinner. Wen Shu refused to give him information for now, and the meal ended with her leaving in a jealous mood after mentioning Sally.

• Qin Siyang learned that the World-Destroying Church would reveal the first part of the [Apocalypse Fragment] in the Sigma District on December 31, and decided to go there after the [Vine Heart Trade Fair].
• Qin Siyang returned to Southern Glory, caught up on university lecture videos, and met Wen Shu for dinner after a month apart.
• Wen Shu praised Qin Siyang’s achievements and said she could not answer his questions, but would offer help if she could resolve a problem for him.
• Qin Siyang accepted Wen Shu’s explanation and thanked her for helping him kill Zhou Yang.
• Wen Shu told Qin Siyang that Sally had visited and promised to make him see her beauty; after Qin Siyang spoke in Sally’s defense, Wen Shu left dinner in a jealous mood.

Qin Siyang tested his limits in the God Arena, then investigated why the primordial starshine no longer appeared. After discovering that Doom Octopuses barely improved him at origin sequence level two but a Ghost-Faced Heron helped more, he concluded he needed to hunt a variety of medium gods.

• Qin Siyang fought the Sacrificial Giant Vine in the God Arena, but its lash killed him despite his origin sequence level two strength.
• Qin Siyang counted his white orbs and suspected that one had become his primordial starshine, leaving 192 orbs behind.
• Qin Siyang stopped risking his life after his intuition warned him that the primordial starshine would not appear again, and he reasoned that he needed more growth first.
• Qin Siyang piloted the Drill Pod underground and ate a Storage Box full of Doom Octopus corpses, gaining almost nothing beyond two meters of range for Feast Kingdom.
• Qin Siyang ate a Ghost-Faced Heron and felt a greater improvement, so he concluded that he had developed a tolerance to Doom Octopuses and needed to hunt different medium gods.

Zhao Sifang and Gu Yunxuan struggled with the postponement of their wedding while their families handled business amid rising tensions. Qin Siyang ordered Chu Baxing to join him in Area No. 4444 to establish a unit, and Chu Baxing reluctantly agreed.

• Zhao Sifang angrily drank over his wedding to Gu Yunxuan being postponed by six months, while Gu Yunpeng said he had not seen his sister since she learned the news.
• Gu Yunpeng explained that he was helping manage the Zhao Merchants' Association and Xuanxuan Clothing City's new supply partnership with the Warren Merchants' Association.
• Hu Chan told Qin Siyang he was working to repel the Three Harmonies Church and secure internal stability amid the church's decline and Jin Shengyu's betrayal.
• Qin Siyang told Chu Baxing to bring Commander Huo Dangkou to Area No. 4444 to help establish the unit.
• Gu Yunpeng and Hu Chan backed Qin Siyang's demand, and Chu Baxing reluctantly agreed to go.

Qin Siyang sought advice from Chu Baxing and Hu Chan on how to build support before recruiting ordinary people for the Qin Character Special Brigade. He planned to target remote State No. 14, and Hu Chan suggested distributing grain to attract public attention.

• Qin Siyang asked Chu Baxing how the Chu Character Legion recruited soldiers, and Chu advised him to build awareness before recruiting in Area No. 4444.
• Qin Siyang decided to promote the Qin Character Special Brigade to ordinary people and train recruits into Sequence Ability Users.
• Qin Siyang told Hu Chan he wanted to build a real military force rather than another security team.
• Hu Chan advised Qin Siyang to use the popular title [Little King Qin] and explain himself in terms ordinary people could relate to.
• Qin Siyang said State No. 14 was his main recruitment target, and Hu Chan recommended distributing grain.

Hu Chan explained to Qin Siyang that Yu Ziying’s food distributions had saved him as an orphan and inspired him to help people in remote regions. Reminded of his own hunger, Qin Siyang considered Hu Chan’s proposal as the Safe Zone approached renewed chaos, but he had not yet agreed.

• Hu Chan recounted how Yu Ziying’s food distributions and care for orphans changed his life and inspired his own relief efforts.
• Qin Siyang remembered relying on free school meals and seeing people collapse from hunger in Zone 14121.
• Qin Siyang suspected Hu Chan was trying to manipulate him, and Hu Chan admitted he needed Qin’s means, standing, and motive to distribute food.
• Hu Chan warned that the Safe Zone was about to descend into chaos, and Qin Siyang recognized that opportunities to act might soon disappear.
• Qin Siyang dismissed Hu Chan to think and later admitted to himself that Hu Chan’s appeal was starting to sway him.

Qin Siyang asked Gu Weiyang for permission to distribute food in State No. 14 and recruit soldiers for his special brigade, while Gu questioned his motives and warned him about breaking the Safe Zone's Red-Line Laws. Qin Siyang explained that he wanted to help people because he wanted to remain human, and Gu granted permission.

• Qin Siyang called Gu Weiyang to request permission to distribute food and recruit soldiers from among the people he helped.
• Gu Weiyang warned Qin Siyang not to reveal how ordinary people could awaken sequence abilities and questioned why he planned such a large food distribution.
• Gu Weiyang cautioned Qin Siyang that privately expanding his unit violated the Safe Zone's Red-Line Laws and could bring serious consequences.
• Qin Siyang admitted that he wanted to help the hungry because he had once suffered the same misery.
• Qin Siyang told Gu Weiyang that he did not want to be a saint but just wanted to be human, and Gu gave him permission.

Xiao Zhigang, Jiang Hao, and Guo Jiuxiao played Fight the Landlord while discussing Qin Siyang’s plan to distribute free food across State No. 14. Their opposition to Qin Siyang’s growing influence sparked a quarrel, which Jiang Hao interrupted as the chapter ended.

• Xiao Zhigang, Jiang Hao, and Guo Jiuxiao played cards beside Choi Chan-hoon’s memorial portrait and discussed honoring the dead.
• Xiao Zhigang showed them Qin Siyang’s application to buy food from Kav and distribute it free across State No. 14, with Gu Weiyang’s approval.
• Xiao Zhigang explained that Qin Siyang planned to fund most of the food purchase with his Joint Mining dividends.
• Guo Jiuxiao urged Xiao Zhigang to warn Gu Weiyang, but Xiao Zhigang refused, recalling Gu Weiyang’s recent warning after Choi Chan-hoon’s murder.
• Xiao Zhigang accused Guo Jiuxiao of being a mole, and Jiang Hao stopped their argument by telling them to calm down and burn incense for Minister Choi.

Jiang Hao, Xiao Zhigang, and Guo Jiuxiao considered using food to undermine Qin Siyang’s relief operation, while Qin struggled to fund and organize its distribution. The chapter ended with Lü Boming asking to discuss black sweet potatoes as a possible solution to Qin’s budget problems.

• Jiang Hao urged Xiao Zhigang and Guo Jiuxiao to set aside their anger and work together against Qin Siyang and the Zhao Family.
• Xiao Zhigang proposed disguising his side’s food as Qin Siyang’s by passing it off as his distribution, and Jiang Hao and Guo Jiuxiao agreed to try.
• Qin Siyang weighed the many logistical decisions involved in distributing food and realized the accumulated costs might prevent him from sustaining the plan for three months.
• Qin Siyang told Jonathan, Kav, and Lü Boming that he feared the relief effort would lose momentum because he lacked funds.
• Jonathan suggested distributing cheaper black sweet potatoes, and Lü Boming asked Kav for permission to speak about them.

Lü Boming told Qin Siyang and the governors that black sweet potatoes, dismissed as an unpalatable crop, yielded far more than other staple foods and were secretly being grown as pig feed in State No. 12. Qin suspected officials had concealed the crop’s potential to protect grain profits and decided to distribute it as food to demonstrate its value.

• Kav introduced Lü Boming as the newly appointed director of State No. 12's Agriculture Office and invited him to share his findings about black sweet potatoes.
• Lü explained that black sweet potatoes were grown by pig-feed mills and produced yields around ten times higher than other staple crops.
• Lü suggested that his attempted murder might be connected to the crop, and Qin, Kav, and Jonathan reasoned that State No. 12 officials may have hidden it to protect grain sellers’ profits.
• Kav and Lü noted that both the current and previous governors had been kept unaware of the black sweet potatoes, suggesting lower-ranking officials had concealed the matter.
• Qin decided not to take the unproven case straight to Secretary-General Gu and instead planned to distribute black sweet potatoes for free to show their value.

Qin Siyang devised layered safeguards for distributing free food in State No. 14, thwarting Guo Jiuxiao and his allies’ plan to poison it. Guo Jiuxiao then resolved to target the Crystal Coins used to authenticate the shipments.

• Qin Siyang chose to secretly distribute pig feed made from black sweet potatoes while publicly claiming he would provide long-haired red rice, and he planned identity checks for the workers.
• Qin Siyang and his allies arranged to open sealed food containers in public and verify each shipment with a Crystal Coin’s serial number.
• Guo Jiuxiao, Jiang Hao, and Xiao Zhigang realized Qin Siyang’s precautions had ruined their plan to mix poisoned flower red rice into the food.
• Guo Jiuxiao decided to steal the Crystal Coins used to authenticate the containers.

Jiang Hao stopped Guo Jiuxiao and Xiao Zhigang from stealing Qin Siyang’s Crystal Coins, explaining that the coins could be invalidated and replaced. As Qin Siyang’s other moves derailed their plans, Jiang Hao warned that his power was rapidly growing and hinted that history offered a way to oppose him.

• Jiang Hao explained that Crystal Coins had recorded serial numbers and could not be spent without United Government records, so stealing them would be pointless.
• Jiang Hao said Qin Siyang could report stolen coins and have them replaced, while the thieves risked falling into a trap involving Gu Weiyang.
• Jiang Hao confirmed that black sweet potatoes cost a fraction of long-haired red rice and were safe, prompting Xiao Zhigang to tell Guo Jiuxiao to discard the poisoned rice.
• Jiang Hao told Guo Jiuxiao and Xiao Zhigang that Qin Siyang already commanded money, resources, and soldiers, and that his influence would keep growing.
• Jiang Hao said people in the past had faced a similar problem and that the solutions could be found in history books.

Jiang Hao and Guo Jiuxiao plotted to kill Qin Siyang in the Sigma District, while Xiao Zhigang declined to help and learned that others were targeting Qin Siyang’s Crimson Crystal. At Safe Zone 114514, Qin Siyang’s free food distribution drew a large crowd, but the hungry residents barely noticed the announcement that he would recruit soldiers.

• Jiang Hao argued that Qin Siyang’s limited experience with sequence abilities made him vulnerable to a direct attack, and Guo Jiuxiao insisted they had to kill him.
• Xiao Zhigang said he was not strong enough to help, while Guo Jiuxiao named the Sigma District as the place where he would kill Qin Siyang and Li Tianming.
• Jiang Hao agreed to help Guo Jiuxiao and explained that Kyle and Zoff had chosen Area No. 7 for the Vine Heart Trade Fair, leaving his Jiang Family with little say.
• Xiao Zhigang received a message asking him to join a plan to rob Qin Siyang of his Crimson Crystal, and he and Jiang Hao decided to let the plotters test Qin Siyang’s connections.
• A United Government of State No. 14 and Zhao Merchants’ Association distribution point began handing out free Black Sweet Potato porridge in Qin Siyang’s name at Safe Zone 114514.
• The Zhao Merchants’ Association announced that Qin Siyang would recruit soldiers, but the crowd focused on the steaming porridge and paid little attention.

Qin Siyang’s workers handed out black sweet potato porridge in State No. 14, and their lethal power crushed attempts to rob them. The distribution continued in order, while the starving residents began to consider Qin Siyang’s recruitment after receiving food.

• A group of starving residents tried to rob the food chest, but a worker killed them with golden-red fire.
• The line watched in terror as Sequence Ability Users distributed porridge without demanding anything from the recipients.
• After the workers left, news of Qin Siyang’s free food spread across State No. 14 and inspired more people to consider robbery.
• Similar attacks broke out across the zones, but workers killed the attackers and ended the schemes.
• Residents collected their portions respectfully and guarded their food as order took hold around the distribution points.

Qin Siyang monitored the first day of free food distribution in State No. 14 while waiting for his trap to catch whoever was behind the attacks on his plans. Zhao Longfei reported that the theft had been stopped, but the captured mercenary could not identify her anonymous employer, and Qin Siyang learned his old adversaries were unlikely to be involved.

• Qin Siyang watched the food distribution feeds as Chu Baxing pressed him to begin recruiting soldiers.
• More than thirty surveillance feeds went dark, and Qin Siyang revealed that he had baited the attackers with Crystal Coins.
• Qin Siyang learned from Zhao Longfei that the staff had evacuated safely and the vehicles were intact.
• Zhao Longfei reported that the Crystal Coins had been recovered and the leader, Janet Seth, had been caught.
• Zhao Longfei explained that Janet Seth knew only that an anonymous intermediary had paid her, and the operation was too crude to implicate Qin Siyang's old adversaries.
• Qin Siyang accepted that his trap had not exposed Xiao Zhigang or the other old adversaries and felt dejected.

Qin Siyang investigated the raids on his grain trucks and helped the governors identify and remove government moles without stopping the food distribution. The next day, the convoy returned safely, and people across State No. 14 began recognizing Qin Siyang and spreading word of his food relief and recruitment.

• Jonathan suspected a State No. 14 government mole had revealed the grain trucks' routes, while Kav and Lü Boming discussed a connected mole in State No. 12.
• Kav and Jonathan agreed to arrest their suspects, but Qin Siyang refused to let them take on legal blame and sent the list to Sun Linshou for evidence.
• Sun Linshou uncovered extensive financial crimes and other illegal activity among the suspects, and Qin Siyang forwarded the findings to Kav and Jonathan.
• Qin Siyang continued the food distribution in State No. 14, where the repaired grain trucks arrived on schedule despite the previous day's raid.
• Residents praised Qin Siyang's free food and began associating him with military recruitment, while a rhyme about him spread through the state.

Qin Siyang uncovered Shao Xiaozhan’s role in suppressing black sweet potatoes and sabotaging food distribution. Then feed factories across State No. 12 exploded, leaving more than a thousand casualties feared and Lü Boming trapped inside one of them.

• Shao Xiaozhan called Qin Siyang, who rebuffed him and told Kav and Jonathan to question suspects about Shao Xiaoju.
• Kav and Jonathan’s statements revealed Shao Xiaozhan had bribed officials to suppress black sweet potatoes, arranged the robbery of Qin Siyang’s Crystal Coins, and helped leak food-truck routes.
• Kav told Qin Siyang that all State No. 12 feed factories using black sweet potatoes had exploded, apparently in an attack by a high-level Sequence Ability User.
• Qin Siyang learned that casualties might exceed a thousand and that Lü Boming had been inside one of the factories without the protective gear Qin Siyang had sent.
• Kav prepared to direct rescue efforts, and Qin Siyang promised to find help and urged him to save the victims and rescue Lü Boming.

After Shao Xiaozhan was blamed for blowing up Qin Siyang’s feed factory, Qin Siyang assembled allies and prepared to attack the Shao Family in Area No. 32. As the group traveled, Zhao Longfei called angrily because Qin Siyang had left without picking him up.

• Qin Siyang told Zhao Longfei that Shao Xiaozhan had caused the feed factory explosion and asked him to help Kav rescue the workers.
• Qin Siyang decided to kill Shao Xiaozhan rather than rely on a public accusation, and asked Zhao Longfei for information on the Shao Family.
• Qin Siyang ordered Hu Chan to send Yu Ziying to join him, then recruited Duan Chongfang and asked Hao Liang to help break through the Shao Family’s defensive artifact.
• Qin Siyang picked up Yu Ziying, Duan Chongfang, and Hao Liang and drove toward Area No. 32, sharing Zhao Longfei’s intelligence and outlining their plan.
• Zhao Longfei called Qin Siyang and cursed him for driving off before picking him up.

Qin Siyang and his companions infiltrated the Shao Family estate in Area No. 24 to take out Shao Xiaozhan, finding the compound astonishingly unguarded. They cut through the mansion’s security and confronted Shao Xiaozhan, Shao Xiaogong, and Shao Yanhu in the main hall.

• Qin Siyang and his companions disguised themselves and traveled from the No. 19 Hidden Warehouse to the Shao Family estate.
• Hao Liang found no active large-area defenses around the estate, and Qin Siyang told him to stay outside and watch for trouble.
• Qin Siyang knocked aside the guards at the gate, and the group entered the mansion without raising suspicion at first.
• Duan Chongfang used his shotgun to make seven or eight Sequence Ability User bodyguards vanish, and the butler collapsed in fear.
• Shao Xiaozhan, Shao Xiaogong, and Shao Yanhu appeared in the main hall, where Shao Xiaogong challenged the intruders.