Liu Chuan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Liu Chuan (柳川)
Alias(es)	Captain Liu 18 20
Species/Race	Human; Sequence Transcendent 9 33
Gender	Male; the Passive Gourd gradually feminizes him, but no completed transformation is documented 33 45
Affiliation	Safe Passage Convoy, formerly; Survival Rules Convoy 3 9
Occupation/Role	Founder and captain of the Survival Rules Convoy; navigator and danger detector 9 18
Sequence	[Watcher] 3 33
Status	Alive at his latest documented appearance 50
First Appearance	Chapter 3 3

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
[Watcher]	3	Already awakened when introduced; his awakening is not shown. Detects anomalous presences, with a demonstrated range of five kilometers 12.
[Watcher] — advancement training	22 23	Learns from Ji Qingcang that repeatedly watching other people can advance a [Watcher] to [Prophet], then secretly attempts the method. He still identifies himself as a [Watcher] afterward; no successful promotion is documented 33.

Background / History

Leaving the Safe Passage Convoy

Liu Chuan initially served under Xu Xiaohan in the Safe Passage Convoy, helping organize its members and using his [Watcher] ability to warn of approaching anomalies. At Zhenning County Town, he detected only one anomalous presence and correctly suspected that its apparent isolation signaled an unusually dangerous entity: the Corpse Tree 3 5.

When Xu Xiaohan chose to enter the town for supplies, Liu Chuan refused the risk and followed Lin Yi toward the expressway. He openly explained that survival mattered more to him than following a well-intentioned leader, and that he preferred relying on someone strong 6 7.

Founding the Survival Rules Convoy

Lin Yi encouraged Liu Chuan to lead, arguing that a [Watcher]'s ability to detect threats made him better suited to navigation than either Xu Xiaohan or himself. Liu Chuan subsequently recruited stranded survivors while Lin Yi named their group the Survival Rules Convoy. Their partnership was conditional: Lin Yi would support him, but retained the right to prioritize his own survival 8 9.

After Xu Xiaohan returned badly injured, Liu Chuan administered basic first aid and accepted her into the new convoy. She became his temporary driver, allowing him to concentrate on reconnaissance. During the approaching storm, he overruled her objections to leaving slower travelers behind, insisting that slowing down could kill everyone 10 11.

Guangming Town and the Burden of Leadership

At Guangming Town, Liu Chuan detected three anomalies and imposed a one-hour limit on scavenging because another presence—possibly Rain Man—was pursuing them. When Lin Yi returned without Xu Xiaohan, Liu Chuan ordered the convoy to leave rather than wait for missing survivors 13 16.

Xu Xiaohan's presumed death and the convoy's losses shook his confidence. Lin Yi urged him to continue leading and delegate the driving. Ji Qingcang subsequently joined their cooperative supply arrangement and recommended Wang Gui, whom Liu Chuan hired as his dedicated driver 17 18 20.

When more than six hundred people left with Zhou Haitao's Beast Convoy, Liu Chuan initially felt betrayed. Lin Yi and Ji Qingcang persuaded him that fewer, more committed members would be safer, and he promised the remaining 172 people that he would lead them north 22.

Cloudpan City and the Passive Gourd

Liu Chuan guided the convoy away from Cloudpan City's advancing floodwater and a pursuing Yellow-Mud Aberration. Afterward, he and Lin Yi discovered twenty-nine unexplained additions to the convoy's head count. His senses detected no Aberration among them, and even familiar survivors insisted that the newcomers had always been present 24 25 26.

The Queen Convoy's interference culminated in devastating losses, leaving only twenty-five survivors. Liu Chuan remained unusually composed afterward and read a recovered diary detailing the Queen Convoy's crimes 28.

While examining the defeated group's possessions, he found the Passive Gourd. Despite warnings that it would alter his body and sense of self, he chose to use it because he needed protection and feared becoming a burden to his companions. Its surveillance capabilities subsequently helped him avoid Rain Man by detouring through Guizhou Province 29 30.

The Trapped Service Area

The convoy entered a service area occupied by the Hope Convoy, only to discover that attempts to leave returned them to the same location. Liu Chuan blamed himself for leading everyone into a dead end 30 31.

He welcomed Shen Qingqing, Shen Chuchu, and Wang Meng after they left the Hope Convoy. Later, monitoring the service building through the Passive Gourd, he spotted an invisible Aberration behind Wang Xufei. His observation helped Lin Yi narrow the investigation to Wang Xufei, Minister Qian, and Minister Qian's girlfriend 33 37.

During the battle against the girlfriend's Aberration symbiote, Liu Chuan volunteered to act as a projectile while protected by the gourd. Wang Meng hurled him into the enemy, creating an opening for the fighters. Liu Chuan survived but became trapped when tentacles blocked the gourd's opening, preventing him from withdrawing its mist 39 40.

After the Hunting Domain broke, Liu Chuan detected six powerful Aberrations within five kilometers and immediately ordered an evacuation. He later agreed to let the Hope Convoy follow, while making clear that membership required self-reliance 41 42.

Peace Town

Liu Chuan led the convoy into Peace Town to seek fuel and other supplies. When a guard attempted to strike him with a machete, Lin Yi killed the attacker. Liu Chuan subsequently arranged a hospital stop and helped Ji Qingcang organize the collection of water and gasoline 44 45 47 48.

During a watch change, he learned that a morning sandstorm could bring Sandworms. He and Wang Meng immediately woke the convoy and ordered an early breakfast so everyone could prepare to leave 50.

Appearance

• Bespectacled and refined-looking: Lin Yi initially found his educated appearance difficult to reconcile with his shouted curses during an emergency 5.
• Thick hair: Made him a suitable user of the Amplifying Megaphone, which consumes one strand per use 21.
• Pink gourd at his waist: Carries the Passive Gourd there when not holding it; its pink mist can surround his body during use 30 37.
• Gradual feminization: By Peace Town, Lin Yi notices that he has lost much of his earlier masculine bearing. Complete transformation into a woman is described as an eventual consequence, not an accomplished change 33 45.

Personality

Liu Chuan is cautious and pragmatic rather than naturally ruthless. He admits that he dislikes taking risks and leaves Xu Xiaohan because he considers strength a more reliable basis for survival than kindness. Nevertheless, convoy members regard him as approachable and caring; he quietly checks on their condition and treats injured companions when he can 7 10 28.

His compassion coexists with increasingly firm command decisions. He orders departures despite missing survivors, refuses to let slower travelers endanger the entire convoy, and becomes more composed after catastrophic losses. These decisions do not eliminate his guilt: Xu Xiaohan's loss and the service-area trap both cause him to question his leadership 11 16 17 28 31.

His attempts to advance [Watcher] initially embarrass him because he fears being seen as a voyeur. After obtaining the Passive Gourd, however, he begins enjoying surveillance of the convoy's private conversations and activities. He resents Lin Yi and Ji Qingcang distancing themselves from him over the gourd's effects 23 30 33.

Abilities & Skills

[Watcher] Perception

Detects the presence and location of anomalies before the convoy encounters them 5.

• Range: Repeatedly surveys an area within five kilometers 12 23 41.
• Multiple targets: Identifies three separate presences in Guangming Town and six approaching Aberrations after the Hunting Domain collapses 13 41.
• Route planning: Uses detection to determine safe stops, monitor pursuit, and trigger emergency departures 17 24 25.
• Limits: Does not automatically explain an anomaly's nature or governing rules. He cannot resolve the mysterious extra convoy members through perception alone 26 31.
• Suppression: Lin Yi infers that the Queen Convoy's ability-nullifying white mist prevented Liu Chuan from sensing nearby Aberrations 27.
• Price: Ji Qingcang reports impotence among the costs paid by the convoy's Sequence Transcendents, identifying it as Liu Chuan's condition 49.

Convoy Leadership

Handles recruitment, navigation, departure timing, rest stops, and the group's overall decisions 9 13 18 33.

His convoy rules establish a cooperative rather than unconditional protective arrangement:

Rule	Practical meaning
Self-reliance	Members must take responsibility for their own survival; people may join or leave voluntarily 12 42.
Personal value	Sequence Transcendents receive greater influence and supply choices, but must demonstrate the abilities that justify them and disclose their Sequences 12 49.
Fair cooperation	Cooperating members pool collected supplies and divide them according to their needs 12 18.

• Keeps roads clear when parking for supply runs 13.
• Delegates driving to reduce the conflict between reconnaissance and vehicle operation 20.
• Privately asks fellow Transcendents about their Sequence costs under the Second Rule 49.

Basic First Aid

• Treats Xu Xiaohan's wounds using a borrowed first-aid kit.
• His treatment is explicitly limited to basic care, with preventing infection the immediate concern 10 11.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Amplifying Megaphone — No. 8655: His first personally obtained Anomalous Object, acquired from Zhou Haitao in exchange for two bags of rice supplied by Lin Yi. Amplifies projected volume fivefold and costs one strand of hair per use 20 21.
• Passive Gourd — ranked 1000: Recovered from the Queen Convoy's possessions. Produces pink mist displaying aerial views and detailed images of people in the convoy, enabling remote surveillance and detection of an invisible Aberration 29 30 37.
  • Provides powerful protection, allowing Liu Chuan to survive being thrown into the symbiote 39 40.
  • Its protective use leaves him unable to move. Withdrawing the mist can end that state, but a blocked opening prevents retrieval 39 40.
  • Gradually feminizes its user and carries the danger of losing their sense of self 29 33 45.
• Vehicles: Initially travels in his own sedan. After defeating the Queen Convoy, selects Zhao Xiaotong's black Land Rover and orders Wang Gui to transfer their supplies into it. He is later shown riding in the convoy's lead Buick 7 29 42.

Relationships

• Lin Yi — Founding partner, protector, and strongest fighter. Encourages Liu Chuan to become captain and repeatedly supports his leadership, while reserving independent judgment in crises. Liu Chuan credits him with keeping him alive 8 9 17 33.
• Xu Xiaohan — Former captain and later convoy member. Liu Chuan rejects her risky supply plan but treats her injuries and accepts her as his temporary driver. Her presumed death deeply troubles him 6 10 11 17.
• Ji Qingcang — Trusted teammate and adviser. Shares supplies, explains [Watcher] advancement, recommends Wang Gui, and helps Liu Chuan manage the convoy 18 20 22.
• Wang Gui — Dedicated driver, hired in exchange for supplies so Liu Chuan can focus on reconnaissance 20 23.
• Zhou Haitao — Trading counterpart and rival convoy captain. Sells the Amplifying Megaphone, then leads more than six hundred people away from Liu Chuan's convoy 21 22.
• Shen Qingqing and Shen Chuchu — Recruits from the Hope Convoy. Liu Chuan explains his convoy's rules and introduces them to its existing Transcendents 33.
• Wang Meng — Recruit and combat ally. Throws Liu Chuan at the Aberration symbiote and later shares a night-watch shift with him 33 39 50.
• Wang Xufei — Hope Convoy captain. Warns Liu Chuan about the service-area trap, later demands a share of his convoy's food, and becomes a temporary suspect in the Aberration investigation 31 34 37.

Notable Quotes

“If I want to survive, I have to choose between relying on someone strong and following a good person. I think you understand what I mean.” 7

“Rest assured, everyone. I'll definitely lead you to the North!” 22

“I know, but it can help me survive.” — On accepting the Passive Gourd's consequences. 29