Chapter Summaries

Qin Yiguan buried the Core Aoke and concealed the traces of the battle while waiting for Jiu Zhengxuan to investigate the research center. Jiu Zhengxuan deduced that he was inside a fake base in the Experimental Zone, but Reality Enhancement suppressors left him powerless until a strange ring on his wrist moved; outside, Heavenly Eye located him and reported his odd behavior.

• Qin Yiguan buried 172 Core Aoke, AKI, and AKI's parents in Subquark Space, then returned to 053 High School to wait for Jiu Zhengxuan.
• Jiu Zhengxuan realized the research center was a replica and suspected it was hidden in the Experimental Zone to mislead the mole behind the attacks.
• Jiu Zhengxuan tried to use Reality Enhancement but failed, then spotted suppressor devices in the witness protection room and wondered whether they had weakened his ability.
• Jiu Zhengxuan noticed an unfamiliar black ring on his wrist, and it rose up with a smiling face that startled him.
• Zhao Huolong sent Heavenly Eye to observe the fake base, and Heavenly Eye found Jiu Zhengxuan acting strangely and reacting to his bracelet.

Qin Yiguan discovered that Xiao Ning had become the Tang Dynasty Squad’s captain, codename Queen Ning, and resolved to protect her. Meanwhile, Jiu Zhengxuan used the Smiling Face Cane to disable his suppressors and escape as a cloaked figure unleashed a devastating attack on the research center.

• Qin Yiguan recognized Xiao Ning among the youths gathered at the Experimental Zone research center and learned she led the Tang Dynasty Squad as Queen Ning.
• Jiu Zhengxuan asked the Smiling Face Cane to disable his suppressors, and it pierced the glass and switched off all four machines while he distracted the guard with martial arts.
• The Smiling Face Cane struck the alloy door, but Jiu Zhengxuan’s black-mist form slipped through its hole and escaped into a vent as Heavenly Eye realized he had made his move.
• A cloaked, mechanical-footed figure approached the research center from more than eighty kilometers away and fired a beam of destructive force at the building.

A black-cloaked figure destroyed Azure Sword with an invisible ripple while Long Huicheng visited Ou Country’s temporary base to investigate an assassination and challenge its officials. The chapter ended with Long Huicheng threatening to crush Ou Country in future simulated wars after Zhan Shi refused his visit.

• Xiao Ning, Jiu Zhengxuan, Heavenly Eye, and Qin Yiguan sensed something from the north as a black-cloaked figure’s attack engulfed and destroyed Azure Sword.
• Long Huicheng, Instructor Long, and Han Ming arrived at Ou Country’s temporary base in the Experimental Zone.
• Long Huicheng objected to Ou Country’s huge national flag, while Han Ming urged him to focus on investigating the Reality Enhancement squad’s assassination.
• Zhan Shi met Long Huicheng and refused to let him visit the base because he had arrived without notice or formal procedures.
• Long Huicheng ordered Han Ming to revise future simulated-war plans so China would use maximum firepower and reduce Ou Country’s weapon survival rate to zero.

Long Huicheng inspected Ou Country’s temporary base and discovered hidden combat robots, then assessed its Reality Enhancement team. Zhan Shi revealed that China’s three teams had been killed in an attack on a military research center, leaving Long Huicheng stunned.

• Zhan Shi welcomed Long Huicheng, Han Ming, and Instructor Long into the lavish base and tried to pass off a sealed alloy room as a storeroom.
• Instructor Long forced open the door, revealing rows of cloaked humanoid robots, and Zhan Shi claimed they were advanced machines received from an unregistered country for study.
• Zhan Shi showed Long Huicheng Ou Country’s Reality Enhancement team, whose members sensed Long Huicheng watching them through one-way glass.
• Long Huicheng doubted that Ou Country’s displayed team could have assassinated China’s teams and wondered whether another force was responsible.
• Zhan Shi told Long Huicheng that China’s military research center in the Experimental Zone had been destroyed and all three Reality Enhancement teams inside had been killed.
• Long Huicheng reacted with shock to Zhan Shi’s news.

Long Huicheng revealed that he had created 76 decoy Azure Sword bases to expose a mole after Reality Enhancement Squad members were assassinated. As Chinese forces cornered the cloaked attacker at Azure Sword No. 14, the robot struck through a live feed and grievously injured Zhan Shi.

• Zhan Shi reported that an Azure Sword base had been destroyed, and Long Huicheng learned that the target was No. 14.
• Long Huicheng explained that he had built 76 decoy bases and divided the people who knew the squad’s identities into pairs to uncover the mole.
• Han Ming said Chinese teams were monitoring foreign personnel, while Instructor Long revealed that the Yanhuang Special Operations Team had surrounded the suspected killer.
• The Yanhuang Squad attacked the cloaked figure with paralyzing beams and enclosed it in force fields, but the figure was a strange metal robot that resisted their fire.
• The robot fired white light at an unmanned probe, and the attack sliced away half of Zhan Shi’s face through the virtual projection before destroying the device.

Zhan Shi showed Long Huicheng that the robots he received were unfinished machines with no power sources, while Han Ming reported that several countries had received similar gifts from the mysterious Envoy of the Veil. As the Yanhuang Squad suffered heavy losses fighting one robot, its last two surviving soldiers destroyed it, leaving Instructor Long overwhelmed with grief and pride.

• Zhan Shi revealed that the robots had empty chests and that his technicians could neither decrypt nor activate them.
• Han Ming told Long Huicheng that other countries had received similar powerless robots from the Envoy of the Veil, whose materials and throat weapon exceeded known technology.
• Long Huicheng learned that the robot's energy level was 22, beyond China's level-19 Magnetic Pile Antimatter Giant Cannon, and warned that the Yanhuang Squad could not capture it.
• Instructor Long heard reports that nearly the entire Yanhuang Squad had been killed and tried to rush to the battlefield, but Long Huicheng stopped him.
• The squad's last two surviving soldiers reported that they had destroyed the robot; the returning projection showed them wounded but standing together beside its wreckage.
• Instructor Long praised the soldiers for their success.

Qin Yiguan spoke with reporter Mu Yun about the murder and the Reality Enhancement competition while Zhao Huolong relayed Jiu Zhengxuan’s discoveries through messages. The messages revealed the scale of the assassinations and suggested that surviving squad members were hidden in an Azure Sword at the Metaverse Experimental Zone.

• Instructor Long watched nearly a hundred black-cloaked robots surround two Yanhuang soldiers and engulf them in white light.
• Mu Yun introduced herself to Qin Yiguan and revealed that she was Chen Mudou’s older half-sister.
• Mu Yun questioned Qin Yiguan about the murder and Jiu Zhengxuan, while Qin denied knowing the captain or the deceased.
• Zhao Huolong told Qin that the dead man was Cheng Gao, commander of the Primordial Squad, and that eight Reality Squad members had been assassinated.
• Zhao relayed Jiu Zhengxuan’s theory that the military had built several Azure Swords as traps for a mole and that surviving contestants were likely hidden in one at B6 Sector of the Metaverse Experimental Zone.

Qin Yiguan revealed that foreign contestants planned to target China at the Reality Enhancement competition, while Jiu Zhengxuan investigated a decoy Azure Sword and discovered its personnel were under attack. After a cloaked robot destroyed Azure Sword No. 0 and blinded Heavenly Eye, a young man arrived and attacked it to avenge his friend.

• Qin Yiguan told Mu Yun the competition details and exposed the other countries' plan to challenge Chinese contestants until they were defeated.
• Long Huicheng watched projections show 78 Azure Swords destroyed by cloaked robots and frantically asked whether Azure Sword No. 0 was safe.
• Jiu Zhengxuan used his Black Room to search Azure Sword No. 0 and found 99 Reality Enhancement squad members gathered there.
• Jiu Zhengxuan noticed Queen Ning looking toward him, then saw a cloaked figure push down the facility's alloy doors.
• The cloaked robot destroyed Azure Sword No. 0 and blinded Heavenly Eye, while Zhao Huolong called Qin Yiguan for help.
• A young man with red neural-network wings landed near the robot and attacked it with black tentacles, vowing to avenge his friend.

Qin Yiguan destroyed Azure Sword No. 0’s attacking robot, then discovered Xiao Ning was alive and had used her new Reality Enhancement ability to take the Reality Enhancement squad after the culprit. Xiao Ning asked him to keep her whereabouts secret as she pursued the enemy, leaving Qin Yiguan relieved but deeply worried.

• Qin Yiguan used Gestalt Collapse to force the robot to self-destruct, while the Guardian protected him from the blast.
• Qin Yiguan returned to Rust City and found Xiao Ning alive in her Nutrient Pod, with her consciousness still active in the Gemini Metaverse.
• Qin Yiguan logged back into the Experimental Zone and saw Xiao Ning’s recorded viewpoint of the attack on Azure Sword No. 0.
• Xiao Ning revealed that her new ability let her perceive hidden details and that she had taken the Reality Enhancement squad to track the culprit.
• Xiao Ning told Qin Yiguan to keep her whereabouts secret and promised to return within twelve hours, leaving him relieved but worried.

After Azure Sword No. 0 was destroyed, Long Huicheng detained the surviving Youth Order Squad members while grieving the losses and doubting their chances in the upcoming competition. Qin Yiguan revealed that he could use [Shadow Syndrome] to simulate Long Huicheng, then walked out of questioning disguised as the commander.

• Long Huicheng and the arriving officers found the research site reduced to ash, while Jiu Zhengxuan emerged alive from AKI's Black Matter.
• The officers detained the Youth Order Squad, and Qin Yiguan told them he had no registered identity.
• Long Huicheng mourned the dead and hesitated to ask Jiu Zhengxuan to compete in place of the fallen squad members.
• Heavenly Eye read the officers' lips and told the squad that Long Huicheng had chosen to keep Jiu Zhengxuan under investigation.
• Qin Yiguan transformed into Long Huicheng and ordered Captain Luo to let him question Qin Yiguan himself.
• Qin Yiguan told Jiu Zhengxuan that he had simulated Long Huicheng after observing Heavenly Eye and the commander.

Qin Yiguan and Jiu Zhengxuan escaped the aircraft’s return to Core Earth after Jiu knocked out its military personnel. Qin’s hidden network captured the aircraft with a Breath of the Mute transport warship and headed for the Reality Enhancement competition venue.

• The officer realized Long Huicheng had left on another aircraft, and Jiu Zhengxuan knocked him unconscious after Qin Yiguan’s disguise vanished.
• The officer’s alarm summoned the aircraft’s military personnel, so Jiu used Reality Enhancement-Black Room to knock them all out.
• The aircraft’s autopilot turned it back toward Core Earth, but a giant warship seized it and brought it into its hangar.
• Qin explained that the AKI-253 Mecha Transport Warship belonged to the Breath of the Mute manufacturing plant and that he had secretly built up a network of power.
• The warship flew toward the international Reality Enhancement competition venue with Qin, Jiu, and the Order Squad aboard.

Qin Yiguan investigated the robot that attacked Azure Sword No. 0 and learned it resembled a hypothetical future model developed by the Breath of the Mute. At the international Reality Enhancement competition venue, a reporter complained that the Chinese contestants remained secret as the event drew near.

• Qin Yiguan introduced God's Abandoned, his personal AI in a mechanical body, and said he had to reach the competition venue before Xiao Ning's twelve-hour deadline.
• Qin Yiguan showed God's Abandoned the fragments from the self-destructing robot and used virtual reconstruction to examine it.
• God's Abandoned said the robot resembled Future-187, a hypothetical design in the Breath of the Mute's ongoing Future project.
• Qin Yiguan accepted God's Abandoned's explanation but remained deeply troubled by the resemblance.
• At the competition venue, a reporter for Surging Eye said the Chinese authorities had kept the contestants' identities secret less than ten hours before the event.
• A drunk propositioned the reporter, who rejected him and demanded that he pay attention to the Chinese contestants.

Jiu Zhengxuan and the Youth Order Squad hid aboard an AKI transport ship while China struggled to name contestants for the Reality Enhancement competition. As Zhan Shi prepared to use mysterious devices supplied by the Envoy of the Veil, Qin Yiguan planned to act after nightfall.

• Jiu Zhengxuan told the Youth Order Squad that their mission to find the hidden culprit mattered more than his wish to compete and prove himself.
• At He Shi Bi, Long Huicheng refused to declare that China had no contestants, but delayed submitting the list because he feared they would be assassinated.
• Qin Yiguan told Jiu Zhengxuan to wait until everyone was asleep, and Jiu Zhengxuan guessed what he intended to do.
• Zhan Shi told the Envoy of the Veil that his team had received the mysterious devices and would return them after the competition.
• The Envoy of the Veil refused to answer whether he had killed China's contestants and then vanished; Zhan Shi revealed twenty-seven Higher Selves behind him.

Qin Yiguan used his dream-peering ability to learn that the Envoy of the Veil had made secret deals with every participating country, whose contestants would carry mysterious devices into the arena. As dawn approached and Xiao Ning remained missing, Qin Yiguan prepared to fight and seize the devices.

• In Zhan Shi’s dream, a black-clad young man blew away his 27 imagined Higher Selves and kicked at him, waking Zhan Shi in terror.
• Aboard AKI’s transport ship, Qin Yiguan told Jiu Zhengxuan that Zhan Shi’s dream suggested the Envoy of the Veil existed and Ou Country’s contestants would carry devices meant to help kill the others.
• Qin Yiguan explained that Zhan Shi’s 100% Fusion Rate and 27 Higher Selves were fantasies, while his fear of the Envoy likely reflected real information.
• Qin Yiguan peered into Instructor Long’s dream and learned that every participating country had ties to the Envoy and unfinished mechanical beings at its bases.
• With dawn approaching and no word from Xiao Ning, Qin Yiguan stood and declared it was time to fight.

Lord Hoshino killed thirty-two women who had seen his face, then paid two pimps to keep quiet. Elsewhere, Big Gold Tooth turned into moths after an Indian contestant allegedly murdered him, as police responded to multiple crimes before the competition.

• Thirty-two women left Lord Hoshino’s private room with red strips around their necks, and the strips fell away, killing them all.
• Lord Hoshino’s message told the two pimps that he would not let anyone who saw his face live, and money poured into their accounts until they agreed to keep quiet.
• Two bartenders tried to move the drunk Big Gold Tooth, whose body turned into moths and left behind bloodied eyes and gold teeth.
• The bartenders blamed an Indian contestant for Big Gold Tooth’s death as police lights flashed near the competition area.

The international Reality Enhancement competition, He Shi Bi, opened with eight nations competing before a vast virtual audience. As the team representatives assembled, China’s contestants remained undisclosed, leaving Luo Lingjie wondering why Long Huicheng had not presented their roster.

• A host opened the He Shi Bi competition and welcomed a huge audience of virtual spectators.
• The host introduced the eight participating countries and their representatives gathered in physical observation rooms.
• Zhan Shi watched China’s delegation and grinned at Luo Lingjie, but he recoiled when she fixed him with a sharp look.
• Luo Lingjie surveyed the hostile-looking foreign delegations, then noticed Long Huicheng’s furrowed brow and wondered why he had not revealed China’s contestant list.

The host introduced the contestants from seven nations before preparing to reveal China’s lineup. As China’s room stayed shut and its projected roster remained empty, Long Huicheng feared the team was dead, while Zhan Shi suspected the Envoy of the Veil had wiped them out.

• The host openly defended China’s observation room standing two meters higher than the others, and the delegations stayed silent.
• Ou Country revealed twenty-nine motionless contestants from the Rubicon Squad, whose abilities remained classified until defeat.
• The Island Nation presented thirteen masked ninjas, and India revealed seven contestants dressed in elaborate, religiously inspired clothing.
• After contestants from seven nations were introduced, the host turned to China’s still-closed room and the projection showed no names.
• Long Huicheng believed the Chinese team had not returned, while Zhan Shi concluded that the Envoy of the Veil had killed them.
• Zhan Shi noticed the other nations’ representatives shared expressions of disdain and boredom, and wondered whether they also knew China’s contestants were gone.

Long Huicheng expected China’s contestant room to be empty and prepared to confess that the country had no participants, but the Youth Order Squad arrived at the venue. The screen then named Qin Yiguan as China’s second contestant, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Long Huicheng admitted he had been unable to reveal the truth and watched the alloy doors open onto an empty room.
• The screen listed Jiu Zhengxuan and the Youth Order Squad as China’s contestants, interrupting Long Huicheng’s confession.
• Jiu Zhengxuan and his squad members entered from a backup staircase, and Jiu Zhengxuan explained that they had missed the room entrance.
• Han Ming revealed that Long Huicheng had registered the squad, though Long Huicheng had no memory of doing so.
• Jiu Zhengxuan announced that China had two contestants, and the screen identified Qin Yiguan as the second.

With China’s original contestants dead, Jiu Zhengxuan and Qin Yiguan entered the competition as replacements, and Long Huicheng chose to support them rather than withdraw. The countries then all selected China as their opponent, with the Island Nation and India scheduled to challenge first.

• Spectators and officials questioned why Jiu Zhengxuan and the unknown Qin Yiguan had been chosen to represent China, while Officer Wang recognized Qin and rushed to the venue.
• Long Huicheng learned Jiu Zhengxuan had an 87% Fusion Rate and found no records for Qin Yiguan, so he prepared to withdraw China from the competition.
• Jiu Zhengxuan reminded Long Huicheng that China would rather die fighting than refuse to fight, then asked the host to begin the match.
• Long Huicheng reversed his decision and ordered his teams to analyze Jiu Zhengxuan’s abilities and prepare strategies to support him.
• The contestants selected their opponents, and all seven countries chose China; Zhan Shi angrily blamed his tech team for making his country the third challenger.

Qin Yiguan entered the arena as China’s first contestant and faced Island Nation ninja Hoshino Teruda. He swiftly killed Hoshino Teruda, took his black wristband, and challenged the next opponent.

• Heavenly Eye told Qin Yiguan that contestants from all seven countries wore black wristbands matching the Envoy of the Veil’s devices.
• China’s support team prepared four battle plans for Jiu Zhengxuan, but Long Huicheng realized Qin Yiguan had entered the arena instead.
• Hoshino Teruda introduced his Ninjutsu Enhancement and demonstrated his sword technique while threatening Qin Yiguan.
• Hoshino Teruda charged, but Qin Yiguan shattered his katana, broke his neck, and crushed his corpse.
• Qin Yiguan tore off Hoshino Teruda’s black wristband and called for the next opponent.