Recaps

After undergoing surgery to receive the Second Heart, Xia Xu explained its functions and tested its safe modes while recovering in the hospital. He joked that its gradual enhancement mode was like cyberpunk martial arts, while the more dangerous modes remained untested.

• Chen Leyao scolded Xia Xu for undergoing the operation without telling her, then left to handle group business.
• Zou Jin, Guo Feilong, and the group's managers visited Xia Xu before he was left with Cui Xinghua and Gu Haiming.
• Xia Xu learned that the Second Heart could filter and store K protein, then release it in reserve, enhancement, berserk state, or emergency modes.
• Xia Xu tested reserve mode and enhancement mode but avoided the dangerous modes while his surgical wounds healed.
• Xia Xu compared the Second Heart's gradual enhancement to internal cultivation and called it cyberpunk martial arts.

After recovering from surgery, Xia Xu returned to Star Sea Biotech and learned that Gu Haiming could clone the Giants gland from the sample he had brought back. Xia Xu rejected human testing and asked whether the materials also contained epiphysis reactivation technology.

• Xia Xu recovered from his surgery in sixteen days and was discharged, though he planned to rest in De City for another half month.
• Xia Xu returned to Star Sea Biotech and asked Gu Haiming about research on the Giants gland.
• Gu Haiming said the altered gland could likely be cloned, but studying it further would require experiments because the available research data was incomplete and uncertain.
• Xia Xu refused to conduct human experiments with the unknown gland and suggested researching it slowly or seeking more complete technology.
• Xia Xu asked whether the materials included epiphysis reactivation technology.

Xia Xu discussed Epiphysis Reactivation Technology with Gu Haiming and ordered Star Sea Security to prepare for Second Heart modifications. He planned to obtain K Protein from suitable employees by offering them Enhanced Dog partners.

• Gu Haiming explained that Epiphysis Reactivation Technology depended on a substance from a Mutant Werewolf and had sent the materials to Dr. Feng Wenbin for analysis.
• Gu Haiming suspected Andra had conducted the Werewolf’s illegal bone-cell modification and suggested investigating its hidden bases or controlled companies.
• Xia Xu said he would pursue the lead but cautioned that the Werewolf had been shipped from America.
• Xia Xu ordered Star Sea Security to test its personnel and have suitable K Protein carriers used as templates for Second Hearts.
• Xia Xu explained that modified employees could provide K Protein and receive Enhanced Dogs as partners, prompting Gu Haiming to call him a ruthless capitalist.

Xia Xu formally delivered a hundred doses of Werewolf Enhancement Serum to Luo Hongyun and the Special Department, which planned to use them to enhance military dogs. As the armored vehicle departed, Xia Xu considered how the dogs would improve the department’s response capabilities and saw an opportunity for Star Sea Industrial to sell protective equipment.

• Xia Xu left the Underground Laboratory with Guo Feilong to meet Luo Hongyun and the Nanhu Province Special Operations Team for the serum handover.
• Xia Xu greeted Luo Hongyun and joked with him and the team about their nicknames while Ghost Face eagerly approached A Tuo.
• Xia Xu handed Luo Hongyun a case containing a hundred doses of Werewolf Enhancement Serum, and the team loaded it onto their armored vehicle and departed.
• Xia Xu reflected on how enhanced dogs could help the Special Department respond quickly to unusual incidents while limiting collateral damage.
• Xia Xu decided Star Sea Industrial should prepare equipment that protected against electricity, heat, poison, and stabbing so it could pursue future government orders.

Xia Xu learned that the Epiphysis Reactivation Technology had produced promising early animal-test results and assigned Feng Wenbin to investigate the Maasai secret medicine believed to enhance eyesight. Feng agreed to go to Maasai territory with Xinghai Security protection, where he would verify the formula and identify its ingredients.

• Feng Wenbin told Xia Xu that the Epiphysis Reactivation Technology had a preliminary synthesis plan and showed significant effects in animal tests, though growth hormone and nutrition might be needed.
• Xia Xu left mass production of the technology to Feng Wenbin's team and assigned him a new investigation.
• Xia Xu explained that Maasai people had exceptional eyesight and that a traditional childhood medicine might account for some of it.
• Feng Wenbin worried that acquiring the formula would be difficult and that traveling in Africa would be dangerous.
• Xia Xu promised an elite Xinghai Security escort and told Feng Wenbin to focus on verifying the secret medicine and identifying its ingredients.

After recovering and overseeing Star Sea’s rapid expansion, Xia Xu visited Zou Jin before surgery to remove his brain tumor. He stopped Zou Jin from risking an experimental giants gland implant and reassured him that loyalty mattered more than competing with enhanced subordinates.

• Xia Xu recovered while Feng Wenbin and Cui Xinghua performed epiphyseal reactivation modifications on him and A Tuo, and his nutrition plan strengthened his Second Heart.
• Star Sea expanded its investments, acquired the developer of Hero Glory, began producing its Type I Combat Uniform, and deployed personnel to establish a Black Continent branch.
• K Protein testing identified Zhou Mingjie, Cheng Hui, and Meng Ji as carriers, and Xia Xu arranged for them to receive accelerated Berserk Heart cultivation and epiphyseal modifications.
• Xia Xu visited Zou Jin at the hospital as he prepared for surgery to remove a brain tumor, after Cui Xinghua had treated members of Zou Jin’s family.
• Xia Xu rejected Zou Jin’s request to have a giants gland implanted during surgery, reassured him that trustworthy service was valuable, and told Cui Xinghua to proceed with the tumor operation.

After arriving in Magic City, Xia Xu learned there were no new leads on Gardner Psychiatric Hospital or Hong Yan, then discovered and bought the entire ten-kilogram supply of Hite alloy from a Deep Web black market for eighty million yuan. The purchase left him resolved to find new ways to make money without taking the Star Sea Group public.

• Xia Xu arrived in Magic City and told He Qing to drive him to the university while asking about local developments.
• He Qing reported that Gardner Psychiatric Hospital was empty, Hong Yan had not appeared, and Bochao and Old Yang were watching Hong Yan’s aunt and uncle.
• He Qing told Xia Xu about an unusually strong, heat-conductive alloy being sold on a Deep Web black market.
• Xia Xu examined the Hite alloy listing, judged its properties and potential valuable, and bought all ten kilograms for eighty million yuan.
• Xia Xu reflected on the expense and considered raising money from the Special Department and the Andra Group instead of taking the Star Sea Group public.

Xia Xu returned to university and agreed to have Grant teach him archery, then handed Grant a Werewolf Enhancement Serum while jokingly charging him forty million. Grant learned the serum only worked on specific creatures and realized Xia Xu was teasing him about being a dog.

• Xia Xu ran into Grant after returning to university and agreed to practice archery with him in the evenings, paying him a million for lessons.
• Xia Xu offered Grant a Super Enhancement Agent and jokingly charged him forty million, leaving Grant confused and indebted.
• Xia Xu explained that the agent was a genetic serum that only worked on specific creatures and hinted that it was meant for A Tuo.
• Grant accused Xia Xu of calling him a dog, and Xia Xu laughed and ran off.

Xia Xu returned to the Star Sea Research Group and inspected the completed Web Weaver, a modified spider-shaped robot equipped to spray spider silk protein and deliver electric shocks. After Zhou Ji pointed out its battery and programming limitations, Xia Xu brought Tang Youxin, Song Yu, Luo Lin, and Ge Qingyan to help with programming, stunning the group.

• Xia Xu visited the Star Sea Research Group and found the activity room cluttered, while Yang Xiaoshuang coordinated technical work with the team.
• Zhou Ji showed Xia Xu the finished Web Weaver, which had a spider silk protein spraying module and electric-shock Chelicerae designed by Walker Houseman.
• Walker Houseman explained that the Web Weaver could use replaceable canisters for spider silk solution, fuel, anesthetic, or poisonous mist, among other liquids.
• Zhou Ji warned that the robot's battery lasted only about half an hour and that the group lacked the programming skills for more complex controls.
• Xia Xu took Tang Youxin, Song Yu, Luo Lin, and Ge Qingyan from the School of Information Engineering to the activity room, where the group reacted with surprise.

Xia Xu announced that the research group’s long-term goal was powered exoskeleton armor, but set passive exoskeletons as their short-term project. He wanted lightweight protective equipment he could carry or wear to guard against retaliation from Gardner’s people.

• Xia Xu finished handing the Web Weaver module and program optimization to Youxin and the others, then introduced the group’s future research plans.
• Xia Xu named exoskeleton armor as the group’s main objective, and Zhou Ji, Walker, Zhang Meng, and Lü Dong reacted enthusiastically.
• Xia Xu explained that powered exoskeletons would take a long time to develop given the current industrial foundations.
• Xia Xu set passive exoskeletons as the short-term goal because their lightweight structures could improve protection and reduce strain without powered components.
• Xia Xu said he needed wearable protective equipment because Gardner’s people might retaliate after the destruction of Gardner Psychiatric Hospital.

Xia Xu and the Star Sea Research Group planned a concealed, lightweight bulletproof suit to protect him from the Andra Group. Zhou Ji proposed magic-angle bilayer graphene, and Xia Xu urged him to recruit the researcher who had discovered its insulating properties.

• Xia Xu rejected using an ordinary bulletproof vest because he wanted protection he could wear discreetly beneath everyday clothes.
• Lü Dong suggested using thin bullet-resistant materials that would reduce the risk of fatal wounds, and Xia Xu agreed that stopping penetration mattered most.
• Zhou Ji proposed graphene, and Xia Xu approved the costly material despite Jiang Yuanyuan's concerns about expense and mass production.
• Zhang Meng raised graphene's electrical conductivity, and Zhou Ji explained that twisting two layers at a specific angle could make it insulating.
• Xia Xu told Zhou Ji to contact his researcher friend immediately and invite him to join the group.

Cao Yuan joined the Xinghai Research Group’s discussion and revealed Zhejiang University’s graphene sponge breakthrough. The group realized the material could form a lightweight, energy-storing skeletal layer for a passive exoskeleton, and they began envisioning a complete protective suit built around it.

• Cao Yuan arrived at the Xinghai Research Group’s activity room, and Xia Xu checked his attributes, finding his four-star physics potential.
• Cao Yuan joined the group’s brainstorming and shared news that Professor Gao’s team at Zhejiang University had developed graphene sponge.
• Cao Yuan explained that graphene sponge was exceptionally light, elastic, and able to harden under compression, making it promising for protective clothing.
• Zhou Ji, Walker, and the others proposed using graphene sponge as an energy-storage structure and a flexible skeleton that could harden under impact and distribute weight.
• The group envisioned a lightweight passive Exoskeleton Armor that could provide protection, enhance strength, bear loads, and transmit mechanical energy without extra mechanical components.

Xia Xu used the newly arrived Hite alloy to design a high-temperature Thermal Knife, keeping the graphene Combat Uniform research separate from his project. After printing a titanium alloy hilt, he prepared to assemble it with the batteries, circuitry, and forged blade.

• The Hite alloy Xia Xu ordered arrived by courier, and he took it to an empty workshop without explaining his plans to Walker and the others.
• Xia Xu tested the alloy and confirmed that it was primarily tungsten, then sent it to a Star Sea Industrial foundry to be forged into a blade.
• Xia Xu designed a heating assembly and a hollow titanium alloy hilt to hold the circuitry and batteries, accepting that the blade could stay at high temperature for only two or three minutes.
• Xia Xu borrowed the laboratory's Laser 3D Metal Printer and made a titanium alloy hilt in under half a day.
• Xia Xu prepared to assemble the hilt with the battery pack, circuitry, and blade from the foundry.

Xia Xu finished a retractable Miao Dao made from hite alloy and demonstrated its weight, martial skill, and heated blade to his friends. After he cut down several campus trees during the demonstration, an unknown person shouted in anger.

• Xia Xu completed the retractable Miao Dao and showed Zhang Meng how heavy it was.
• Xia Xu demonstrated a fierce blade routine, astonishing Zhang Meng, Lü Dong, Zhou Ji, Walker, and the others.
• Xia Xu activated the Thermal Knife, turning the blade orange-red, and warned everyone to keep their distance.
• Xia Xu reshaped his routine around the heated blade and cut down several camphor trees.
• An unknown person shouted angrily about someone chopping down and burning the trees.

Xia Xu and Grant struggled to teach each other close combat and marksmanship before Xia Xu took Tang Youxin to dinner. Their peaceful evening was interrupted by a distant explosion that the news later attributed to fire hazards at a factory.

• Xia Xu trained Grant in close combat, but Grant’s instinct to retreat kept him on the defensive.
• Grant tried to teach Xia Xu to shoot by relying on feel and instinct, frustrating Xia Xu’s preference for logical techniques.
• Xia Xu ended their training when Tang Youxin arrived, then left with her for dinner while Grant was left alone.
• A powerful explosion sounded in the distance as Xia Xu and Tang Youxin walked with A Tuo, but they continued their evening.
• The next day, a brief news report said fire hazards at a city factory had caused the explosion and a series of fires.

A month and a half after Xia Xu’s life settled into a steady routine, he grew wary of a recent uptick in local accidents and asked Old Yang and the others to keep watch. At the Xinghai Research Group, he saw that the graphene Combat Uniform was nearly complete, with its faceplate awaiting electronic systems and its many features ready for testing.

• Xia Xu noticed several recent reports of fires, leaks, and disturbances in Magic City and decided to ask Old Yang and the others to keep an eye on them.
• Xia Xu brought lunch to the Xinghai Research Group, teased Tang Youxin and the other girls, and then went to the assembly workshop.
• Xia Xu found Zhou Ji and the team working on a black, muscle-shaped graphene Combat Uniform and a silver-white faceplate with a dark-red visor.
• Zhou Ji told Xia Xu that the uniform was nearly finished but still needed practical testing of its force-transmission network and artificial muscles.
• Lü Dong defended his Wind-Breaking Suit, while the group described additions such as graphene-sponge muscle support and a pseudo-vacuum system for quickly putting on the uniform.

Xia Xu discovered that Tang Youxin had built a shooting-assistance module for the Bai Ze System and tested it at the archery range. He left Grant thoroughly defeated and Tang Youxin vindicated.

• Xia Xu found Tang Youxin's development log and learned that she had created a shooting module to help him improve his aim.
• Tang Youxin caught Xia Xu reading her private log, and he teased her before taking her to the archery range.
• Xia Xu activated the Bai Ze System's shooting module and began testing it with his bow while Grant mocked his early misses.
• Xia Xu calibrated the module and soon hit the bull's-eye with every arrow, astonishing Grant.
• Xia Xu credited his little wife for writing him a cheat, and Tang Youxin proudly confronted Grant about calculating trajectories.

An armed force pursued a frail young man who escaped from an unfinished building while a savage beast attacked the personnel, as other groups investigated beastmen and mutated rabies cases. Three days later, Xia Xu saw a video of a huge creature rampaging through a street, and an incoming call interrupted his attempt to learn where it was.

• A frail young man fled an unfinished building after hearing someone approach, and armed squads pursued him while a savage beast attacked their personnel.
• Other teams reported that the beastmen they found were ordinary and that mutated rabies cases appeared to be a deliberate distraction.
• Three days later, Xia Xu urged Lü Dong and Zhang Meng to return to the dorms after class, but Zhang Meng showed them a video of a huge creature rampaging through a street.
• Xia Xu questioned whether the video was real and asked Zhang Meng where it had been filmed.
• Xia Xu's phone rang, and he stepped aside to answer before Zhang Meng could contact his friend.

Xia Xu agreed to help the Magic City Branch stop a rampaging Giant Werewolf in exchange for its corpse and freedom to retaliate against Gardner if necessary. He donned the Graphene Combat Uniform and activated its systems before heading to the scene.

• Liu Quande asked Xia Xu to help stop a Giant Werewolf rampaging on Jinnan Road because local responders were tied up.
• Xia Xu agreed on the conditions that he could keep the Werewolf's corpse and act against Gardner to prevent retaliation, and Liu Quande accepted.
• Xia Xu drove to the Mechanical Engineering Department's laboratory building to put on the Graphene Combat Uniform before confronting the Werewolf.
• Xia Xu fitted the faceplate, and the uniform's systems began their self-check as its crimson V-shaped eyepiece lit up.

A berserk Werewolf Giant rampaged through Jinnan Road while armed personnel used the destruction to try to draw out a fugitive young man hiding in a trash can. After a child’s severed head fell onto him, the young man snapped, but fled in the opposite direction from the monster.

• The Werewolf Giant tore through Jinnan Road, killing and injuring fleeing crowds while police officers could do little to stop it.
• Armed personnel in silver cargo vans discussed using the Fenrir Prototype’s rampage to force their target to reveal himself.
• The frail young man hiding in a trash can blamed himself for bringing the pursuit and the Werewolf Giant to the city, but feared that confronting it would kill him.
• A child’s severed head fell onto the young man, and he erupted in rage before freezing at the sight of the Werewolf Giant.
• The young man climbed out of the trash can and fled in the opposite direction, stumbling and crawling away.

Yang Xiaoshuang and the fleeing crowd faced renewed danger when the Werewolf Giant caught up, but the scrawny young man transformed into a giant and fought to protect them. His repeated defeats bought the crowd only a short head start, and the silence of the battle left them fearing the Werewolf Giant would resume its slaughter.

• Yang Xiaoshuang fell toward the back of the fleeing crowd as the Werewolf Giant closed in.
• The scrawny young man appeared as a muscular giant and knocked the Werewolf Giant away from the crowd.
• The Werewolf Giant pinned the young giant, battered him, and hurled him into a building, causing the crowd's hopes to collapse.
• The young giant repeatedly rose to attack the Werewolf Giant, buying the crowd time to flee.
• The sounds of the battle stopped, and the crowd feared the young giant had been defeated and the Werewolf Giant would catch up again.

Xia Xu advanced against the fleeing crowd to confront the wolf giant, using the Bai Ze System and his combat equipment to prepare for battle. The chapter ended as he activated Berserk State Mode and the Mechanical Centipede Spine at maximum output.

• Yang Xiaoshuang noticed the Hooded Man walking against the fleeing crowd and stumbled, but he caught her and urged her to escape.
• The Hooded Man revealed a blade and continued toward the pursuing wolf giant as Yang Xiaoshuang fled.
• Xia Xu used the Bai Ze System to scan the battlefield, take control of surveillance cameras, and analyze the wolf giant.
• Xia Xu extended the Thermal Single-Edged Saber and activated Second Heart's Berserk State Mode and the Mechanical Centipede Spine at maximum output.

Xia Xu confronted the Werewolf Giant and carved a deep wound into it, but its fused, armor-like ribs kept the strike from being fatal. As the giant healed and charged again, Xia Xu realized Gardner’s experiments had created a monster that might keep growing and be nearly impossible to kill.

• Xia Xu sidestepped the Werewolf Giant’s charge and cut a deep gash around its abdomen and back with his thermal Single-Edged Saber.
• Xia Xu recognized that the Werewolf Giant’s fused ribs had stopped the blade from reaching anything vital.
• The Werewolf Giant turned on Xia Xu, healed rapidly, grew larger, and lunged at him again.
• Xia Xu dodged the attack and struck the Werewolf Giant once more, but the wound closed almost instantly.
• Xia Xu concluded that the giant’s transformation, Giants Gland, and Steel Bone experiment had made it nearly unkillable and capable of continued growth.

Xia Xu assessed Mogol Harlan, a powerful Fenrir Prototype whose strength and regenerative abilities made capturing him alive difficult. While searching for help and the Giants protagonist, Xia Xu found the badly weakened Hong Yan nearby.

• Xia Xu examined Mogol Harlan’s status and recognized that his implanted glands, steel bones, and werewolf transformation made him grow stronger during combat.
• Xia Xu dodged Mogol Harlan’s attacks and weighed using his Thermal Single-Edged Saber, but prioritized capturing him alive to avoid triggering the beastmen’s postmortem genetic encryption.
• Xia Xu scanned nearby faces for the Giants protagonist and detected Yang Xiaoshuang, Pacey, and Victor Spot.
• Xia Xu’s recognition module identified Hong Yan, the escaped Gardner test subject, but Hong Yan was emaciated and close to death.

Xia Xu abandoned his plan to use the protagonist as a shield and fought the Werewolf Giant seriously, relying on his combat uniform and thermal saber while trying to avoid revealing more of his capabilities. He nearly severed the Giant’s leg, but withdrew when it counterattacked, and the battle continued as it began throwing debris at him.

• Xia Xu activated brainwave control mode and focused on fighting the Werewolf Giant without yet deploying his distinctive units.
• Xia Xu dodged the Giant’s attacks and slashed its neck, but the wound missed its vital structures and began healing.
• Xia Xu activated heat boost mode on his thermal saber and cut deeply into the Giant’s calf, burning through flesh and reaching bone.
• Xia Xu pulled away before the Giant’s claw could strike him, realizing the saber needed more time to transfer heat and sever the leg.
• The enraged Werewolf Giant scooped up bricks, stones, and roadside stone posts and hurled them at Xia Xu.