Chapter Summaries

Xia Xu used Spider-Shaped Predators to find Zhao Ming, a fifteen-year-old giant who had escaped from Gardner Psychiatric Hospital. Zhao Ming revealed that he had fled with others and Dr. Cui, prompting Xia Xu to urgently ask where Cui was.

• Xia Xu spotted what looked like eyes in a treetop and sent Spider-Shaped Predator 08 to investigate.
• Spider-Shaped Predator 08 found Zhao Ming hiding in the tree, and Xia Xu gathered the other units, Grant, and A Tuo to intercept him.
• Xia Xu examined Zhao Ming's status and learned that Gardner had implanted him with an experimental giant gland that caused abnormal growth and brain deformities.
• Xia Xu questioned Zhao Ming, who said he was fifteen and had escaped with Hong Yan, Xu Zhaoxin, others, and Dr. Cui.
• Zhao Ming explained that Dr. Cui had helped remove the devices controlling them, and Xia Xu pressed him for Dr. Cui's whereabouts.

Xia Xu, Grant, and A Tuo fought through Gardner's searchers and infiltrated Gardner Psychiatric Hospital to investigate the escape of Cui Xinghua and the Giants Test Subjects. Xia Xu suspected that Cui Xinghua had helped the subjects escape, but found no sign of him as they approached the underground facility.

• Xia Xu left Zhao Ming behind and hurried up the mountain with Grant, A Tuo, and twelve Spider-Shaped Predators.
• Grant and the Spider-Shaped Predators ambushed and killed searchers who spotted them, and Xia Xu continued without hesitation.
• The group broke through the searchers' blockade and reached Gardner Psychiatric Hospital without finding Cui Xinghua or the Giants Test Subjects.
• Xia Xu sent Spider-Shaped Predators to scout the hospital, studied patrol routes, and slipped inside with Grant.
• Xia Xu deduced that Cui Xinghua had removed the control devices from Zhao Ming and the other subjects, enabling them to escape, and suspected Hong Yan was the Giants storyline's protagonist.
• Xia Xu led Grant toward the entrance to the underground experimental facility where the subjects had escaped.

Xia Xu and Grant infiltrated Gardner Psychiatric Hospital to find Cui Xinghua, while Xia Xu used his Spider-Shaped Predators to scout the underground base. Grant envied the robots but balked at their cost, then eagerly renewed his deference to Xia Xu after learning he had made a billion.

• Xia Xu and Grant entered Cui Xinghua's ransacked ward without alerting the hospital's guards.
• Xia Xu had A Tuo memorize Cui Xinghua's scent, surprising Grant with the dog's apparent intelligence.
• Xia Xu waited for the Spider-Shaped Predators to map the underground base before following Cui Xinghua's trail.
• Grant asked to buy a Spider-Shaped Predator, but Xia Xu said it cost eight hundred thousand to produce.
• After Xia Xu reminded Grant that he had recently made a billion, Grant enthusiastically offered his services again.

Xia Xu used the Spider-Shaped Predators to map and infiltrate Gardner's underground base, then led Grant and A Tuo inside. They reached the Central Laboratory and discovered the horrifying experiments conducted there.

• Xia Xu used the Spider-Shaped Predators to map the base, locate its guards, and deploy the machines throughout the complex.
• A Spider-Shaped Predator brought Xia Xu an Identity Card taken from a researcher, allowing the group to ride the elevator underground.
• Xia Xu revealed that the Spider-Shaped Predators had already subdued the guards and staff in the surveillance room and at the entrance.
• Xia Xu and Grant entered the base, where Grant used his bow to take down guards as they passed through security doors.
• Xia Xu and Grant reached the Central Laboratory and saw grotesque experiments involving organs, deformed people, and restrained giants, enraging Grant.

Xia Xu and Grant discovered that Andra Group’s elite Special Security Force guarded the laboratory, but they infiltrated the base before the guards could raise an alarm. They seized the central laboratory and subdued its researchers, leaving Cui Xinghua and the experimental data still to be secured.

• Xia Xu identified the guards and equipment as belonging to Andra Group’s Special Security Force, and Grant warned that fighting them in the enclosed base would be deadly.
• Xia Xu decided to rescue Cui Xinghua and obtain the experimental data before the guards could assemble, while Grant agreed to proceed despite the risk.
• Xia Xu and Grant took down scattered personnel and guards by surprise as they advanced toward the central laboratory.
• Xia Xu used twelve Spider-Shaped Predators to surround the researchers while Grant aimed his bow, and the researchers surrendered.

Xia Xu took control of the central laboratory and demanded its research materials while racing against the chance that the Special Defense Force would discover the breach. He found Deputy Director James pressuring Cui Xinghua to join the experiments and confronted him, offering to help James prove his convictions with his death.

• Xia Xu forced the laboratory researchers to identify Deputy Director James and ordered a young Black man to gather whatever research materials he could find.
• The young Black man explained that the sealed archives required several administrators’ keys and passcodes, so Xia Xu told him to collect the materials already in the laboratory.
• Grant questioned Xia Xu about taking the research, and Xia Xu said he would not conduct illegal human experiments before leaving Grant and the Spider-Shaped Predators to guard the researchers.
• Deputy Director James tried to persuade Cui Xinghua to join the laboratory’s human experiments, while Cui refused and challenged James to sacrifice himself instead.
• Xia Xu entered Isolation Observation Room Seven, where Cui Xinghua recognized him, and confronted James over his talk of proving his convictions through death.

Xia Xu rescued Cui Xinghua from the underground laboratory and escaped with Grant, a dog, and the stolen research materials. When they reached the surface, a towering masked giant blocked the elevator exit.

• Xia Xu killed Deputy Supervisor James, opened Cui Xinghua's isolation room, and told him he had come to rescue him.
• Cui Xinghua accepted Xia Xu's offer to escape, and Xia Xu gathered the remaining research materials and a sample of the Giants gland.
• Xia Xu threatened the laboratory staff with remote-controlled bombs as he, Cui Xinghua, Grant, and the dog left with the Spider-Shaped Predators.
• Grant complained that Xia Xu had tricked him into helping for free, while Cui Xinghua saw the corpses left along their route and wondered about the spider robots.
• The group rode the elevator to the surface and found an enormous masked giant waiting outside, leaving Xia Xu and Grant facing a new threat.

Xia Xu, Grant, Cui Xinghua, and A Tuo fought the armored giant in the hospital corridor after escaping the elevator. When the giant broke free of their restraints and charged Xia Xu, Xia Xu drew the Miao Dao and slashed into his neck, stopping his attack.

• The armored giant smashed the elevator wall, but A Tuo knocked him down and Xia Xu led the others into the corridor.
• A Tuo kept the giant occupied while Xia Xu's Spider-Shaped Predators bound him and Grant shot an arrow into his left eye.
• The giant tore up the cracked floor around the Spider-Shaped Predators, freed himself, and charged at Xia Xu.
• A Tuo leaped between Xia Xu and the giant's punch as Grant tried to warn them.
• Xia Xu flipped past A Tuo, drew the Miao Dao from his back, and slashed the giant's neck, halting his movements.

Xia Xu and Grant escaped Gardner Psychiatric Hospital after Xia Xu unleashed a burst of strength and helped defeat the armored giant. He then reported Gardner to Luo Hongyun, hoping the Special Department would disrupt the base before its personnel could retaliate.

• Grant confirmed that Xia Xu had defeated the armored giant, and Xia Xu explained that an emergency injection of Original SB-13 had triggered his berserk state.
• Xia Xu, Grant, and A Tuo fought through Gardner's patrols and Special Defense Force, abandoning the Spider-Shaped Predators to delay their pursuers.
• The three people and A Tuo reached the Venom Car and escaped through the mountain forest, ending Gardner's pursuit.
• Xia Xu called Luo Hongyun to report Gardner Psychiatric Hospital and provide information for credit.
• Xia Xu considered using the Special Department's investigation to hinder Gardner's relocation and possibly find Hong Yan.

Xia Xu recruited Cui Xinghua for Star Sea Biotech’s clinical trials and explained the growing threats facing the world. Cui agreed in principle but worried that nerve damage had ruined his ability to perform surgery, so Xia offered a way to temporarily suppress his hand tremors.

• Xia Xu returned Cui Xinghua home after rescuing him from Gardner Psychiatric Hospital, then visited him again the next day to discuss recruitment.
• Cui investigated Xia Xu’s public reputation and, reassured by what he found, thanked him for saving his life and listened to his proposal.
• Xia Xu asked Cui to join Star Sea Biotech and help conduct legal trials with volunteers, explaining that the work would support personal defense and the Official’s Special Department.
• Cui learned that Gardner was not an isolated threat, as Xia described Giants, Werewolves, Bat-Men, and other advanced experiments and creations.
• Cui warned Xia that nerve damage made his hands shake, though he had removed the implanted controllers from the test subjects with a scalpel held in his mouth.
• Xia explained that Cui’s role would involve an unusual heart transplant and offered to suppress his tremors temporarily using a Mechanical Centipede Spine.

Xia Xu brought Cui Xinghua to Star Sea Biotech to join Gu Haiming’s Second Heart research, while the Special Department’s raid on Gardner destroyed the experimental base and left Hong Yan missing. At Star Sea Biotech, Cui Xinghua began discussing a surgical plan, and Guo Feilong’s security team had earned a fearsome reputation.

• Cui Xinghua agreed to join Xia Xu on the condition that he could resign if he encountered something unacceptable.
• The Special Department raided Gardner, arrested researchers, killed many armed personnel, and shut down the hospital, but the Andra Special Defense Force destroyed the underground base and its evidence.
• Authorities found Zhao Ming, Xu Zhaoxin, and other escaped test subjects, but Hong Yan remained missing.
• Xia Xu brought Cui Xinghua to Star Sea Biotech, where Gu Haiming welcomed him and discussed the Second Heart research and its needed surgery.
• Xia Xu checked in with Feng Wenbin and learned that Guo Feilong had trained Team One and dealt with troublemakers, giving the company’s security force a strong reputation.

Xia Xu visited Security Group Two and asked its members whether they still intended to leave after weeks of training and support from Star Sea Biotech. He dismissed eight men he did not trust and told the rest they would be treated as trusted employees and the company’s core security force.

• Zou Jin reported that he had worked to address the group members’ problems, though he could not guarantee their loyalty.
• Xia Xu asked the assembled spies whether they still wanted to resign and assured them that he trusted his own judgment when choosing whom to employ.
• Xia Xu called out eight members by name and approved their resignation requests, offering each a full month’s salary.
• The dismissed men protested, but Xia Xu explained that he was approving their own resignations because he did not trust them.
• The remaining members recognized suspicious traits in the dismissed men and wondered whether Xia Xu could see into people’s hearts or had an extensive intelligence network.

Xia Xu removed the remaining unsuitable guards and organized the others into the Star Sea Security Company, while promising Zou Jin that a surgeon could help his family. Five days later, the new company was operational, and Xia Xu checked on Star Sea Group’s expanding businesses and its new network technology venture.

• Xia Xu decided that Security Group Two’s former spies, alongside Guo Feilong’s team, would transfer to a newly established security subsidiary led by Zou Jin.
• Xia Xu told Zou Jin that he had brought back a top-notch surgeon and would arrange operations for Zou Jin’s family, moving Zou Jin to tears.
• Within five days, the Star Sea Security Company received approval and began operating with Zou Jin, Zhou Mingjie, and Guo Feilong’s teams.
• Xia Xu returned to Star City, checked on Chen Leyao’s management of the group, and learned that Hong Bo was in America negotiating rights for "Hero Glory."
• Xia Xu saw that Chen Leyao had kept the group’s subsidiaries expanding smoothly and admired her work while he relaxed with coffee.

Xia Xu visited Chen Leyao at Star Sea Venture Capital and told her about his recent discoveries before inspecting Star Sea Industrial. After Cui Xinghua and Gu Haiming devised a workable Second Heart transplant plan, Xia Xu returned to De City to review it.

• Chen Leyao complained that Xia Xu had left her overloaded with work and asked him to find capable assistants.
• Xia Xu told Chen Leyao about his discoveries in Magic City, including the doctor he had brought to Star Sea Biotech and the giants gland technology data.
• Xia Xu briefly recounted his experiences at the International Scientific Research University and Gardner, then left when Chen Leyao's secretary brought her more documents.
• Xia Xu inspected Star Sea Industrial that afternoon and returned to De City by train after Star Sea Biotech called with news of the transplant plan.
• Cui Xinghua and Gu Haiming presented Xia Xu with a plan to integrate the Second Heart into the body's circulation while allowing it to be isolated or removed if needed.

Xia Xu chose to undergo the first Second Heart surgery himself rather than risk Gu Haiming’s health. The procedure succeeded, and a woman entered his room as he joked about having two hearts.

• Xia Xu asked Cui Xinghua about the surgery’s risks, and Cui warned that Gu Haiming’s age and condition could complicate recovery.
• Xia Xu overruled Gu Haiming and volunteered to receive the Second Heart, reasoning that his own recovery prospects were better.
• Xia Xu arranged for the surgery at De City’s best hospital, with elite medical staff and Star Sea Security guarding the procedure.
• Cui Xinghua completed the surgery successfully, and Xia Xu woke up about two hours later.
• Xia Xu joked that having two hearts might let him get another wife, and a woman entered and asked whom he had in mind.

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.