Chapter Summaries

Xu Le discussed protecting the Furnace during the coming Black Tide with Li Wen and proposed a sweeping energy-pricing plan based on Guyinduo technology. After Li Wen invited him to dinner, Xu Le declined so he could return home and look after Xiaobei.

• Xu Le deliberately bumped into a woman, then accused her of trying to scam him when she fell.
• Xu Le told Li Wen that the Furnace’s performance against powerful Oddities during the Black Tide was uncertain and requested three squads equipped with Guyinduo Technology Weapons and some of Moen’s products.
• Li Wen agreed to provide the equipment and said Zion would publicize Xu Le’s achievements while keeping him largely out of public appearances.
• At Li Wen’s request, Xu Le outlined free basic energy, low-priced consumption tiers, and Guyinduo energy blocks priced far below Moonstone.
• Xu Le declined Li Wen’s invitation to dinner because he needed to return home to look after Xiaobei.

Xu Le secured Wang Qing’s offer to provide intelligence on Wang Xi and became the public face of Zion’s new energy source as the Black Tide approached. On May 30, three Enforcer squads arrived at the Bright Soap Factory under Xu Le’s command, led by his eldest uncle Xu Weiwen, with the Red Moon Calamity only hours away.

• Xu Le and Wang Shu confronted Wang Qing, who agreed to hand over intelligence on Wang Xi and his family’s airship business in exchange for joining them.
• Xu Le saw Zion’s campaign praising his energy research and promoting his candidacy for Councilor, while Ai Li packed to move in with him and declined Li Qingcheng’s dinner invitation because she had to care for Xiao Qian.
• As the Black Tide neared, Xu Le trained in his Demon Eye disguises and helped Ai Li cultivate sha and use her Guyinduo Mark while staying inside the Furnace.
• On May 30, three Enforcer squads entered the Bright Soap Factory and reported to Xu Le, with his eldest uncle Xu Weiwen leading Black Tide Special Squad 123.
• Xu Le checked the visible moon and saw that the Red Moon Calamity would begin in less than five hours.

Xu Le equipped Xu Weiwen’s Law Enforcer squad with Guyinduo weapons and explosives for the coming Black Tide, insisting on discipline and warning them that their new armor offered limited protection. After leaving Ding Ke in Yan Luo’s care, Xu Le joined Ai Li and Wang Shu and rallied the defenders.

• Xu Le secured Xu Weiwen’s promise that his squad would obey orders and led the soldiers to the Furnace Technology Equipment Room.
• Xu Le demonstrated the Aidida Warblade’s destructive power and introduced the squad to its other weapons and protective equipment.
• Xu Le reprimanded Xu Weiwen for interrupting him and stressed that the squad’s new protection could not save them from powerful Oddities.
• Xu Le demonstrated the Dice explosive, then issued each soldier two bars of soap and thirty Dice for the Black Tide.
• Xu Le left Ding Ke with Yan Luo and rallied the defenders with Ai Li and Wang Shu.

Xu Le directed Zion’s defenses to funnel the Black Tide through Area 3’s open gate and used the Furnace and new weapons to destroy the advancing Oddities. After a Level 4 Black Knight was killed by a branch from the Furnace, a giant appeared near Urban District 4 and an identical Xu Le confronted him.

• Xu Le ordered the guards to let Level 3 and lower Oddities pass through gate 3-2 while the Furnace drew them in and destroyed them with Golden Thunder, Red Sha, and Black Flame.
• Xu Le’s elite troops fired their Guyinduo-powered Aidida battle blades into sectors 3-1 and 3-3, devastating the low-level Oddities.
• Xu Le told the troops to leave one Level 4 Black Knight alive, and the Furnace’s blue branch pierced and consumed it before it reached the core chamber.
• Ai Li sensed a huge presence approaching from the direction of No. 4 Urban District, and Xu Le spotted a giant on the strategic plain.
• A little girl’s voice asked Xu Le whether he was looking at her, and Xu Le found an identical version of himself pointing an identical Black Staff at him.

Xu Le and his allies fought the Mirror Twins, whose mimicry and mirror abilities made her difficult to harm, and drove her away from the wall. As another Giant approached Area 3, the Mirror Twins appeared inside the Furnace Core Room behind Yan Luo, who asked whether she had betrayed them too.

• Ai Li shot a fake Xu Le, and Xu Le and the others realized the Mirror Twins could copy their appearances.
• Xu Le spotted the Mirror Twins on the Flesh Giant and attacked her after she appeared on the wall and unleashed ghosts.
• Xu Le ordered Ai Li and Wang Shu to draw the Mirror Twins away from the wall, and Wang Shu fought her after she copied his bear form.
• Xu Le and Ai Li used their Dice to blast apart the Mirror Twins' copied bear body, but she vanished and said she would return after visiting an old acquaintance.
• Xu Le saw another Giant heading toward Area 3, while the Mirror Twins appeared behind Yan Luo in the Furnace Core Room and he asked whether she had betrayed them too.

Yan Luo defeated Mirror Twins in the Furnace Core while Zion’s defenders repelled successive Black Tide attacks. As Area 4 came close to being overwhelmed by coordinated Oddities and multiple giants, Xu Le requested the Orbital Cannon, which began charging overhead.

• Mirror Twins questioned Yan Luo’s loyalty to Guyinduo, but Yan Luo declared that protecting its lord was its duty and cut Mirror Twins down with a warblade.
• Xu Le handed command of Area 3’s defense to Xu Weiwen, whose artillery and Furnace Squad destroyed the Level 5 Blood Giant.
• Ai Li detected surging Moon Spirit as Red Roars, Triangle Ironheads, and Ghost Demons attacked Zion, with Area 4 suffering heavy pressure from their coordinated assault.
• Xu Le and the others watched more than a dozen Rock Giants and Grass Giants approach while Ghost-Type Oddities swarmed around them, threatening Area 4’s defenses.
• Xu Le used his authority to request the Orbital Cannon with the password Heavenly Justice, and an Airship deployed the weapon as blue energy gathered in its barrel.

After Zion’s Orbital Cannon devastated the giant Oddities, Xu Le returned to the Furnace to check on its condition and warn Xia Libo about Mirror Twins. Mirror Twins trapped him in Mirror Water, but Xu Le used Underwater Breathing and an unknown ability to counterattack as she grabbed him.

• Zion’s Orbital Cannon destroyed the center of the Oddity horde and crippled the giants attacking District 4, while Mirror Twins watched the weapon’s power in surprise.
• Xu Le left Ai Li and Wang Shu to defend the wall, then used Boundary-Crossing Gate to return to the Bright Soap Factory.
• Xu Le told Xia Libo that the Black Tide had brought many Level 5 Oddities and warned him about a blue-skinned Level 4 Polluter who had likely reached the Furnace.
• Xia Libo asked whether there would be another Furnace, and Xu Le assured him that Zion’s progress would continue.
• Xu Le entered the Furnace Core chamber and found himself trapped in Mirror Water, where he recognized Mirror Twins and used Underwater Breathing to stay composed.
• Mirror Twins approached to seize Xu Le’s leg, but another creature grabbed hers and revealed a gaping maw and steel fork.

Xu Le defeated Mirror Twins in the mirror water and returned to the Furnace, then crossed a Spatial Gate to confront her again outside the city. Mirror Twins pleaded for his recognition as lord, but Xu Le left her fate to Toad.

• Xu Le and Toad fought Mirror Twins in the mirror water, interrupting her Mirror Copy and draining her power with a Forbidden Summoning Array.
• Xu Le's summons turned on Mirror Twins, and Toad and the living corpses overwhelmed her before Xu Le cut off her head and shattered it.
• The mirror water disappeared, and Xu Le returned to the Furnace, where Yan Luo confirmed Mirror Twins had come there and Ding Ke rested on the Guyinduo Soul Tree.
• Xu Le used a Boundary-Crossing Gate to reach a barren cliff, where a red Mirror Twins was recovering and declared that he had passed the Guyinduo's test.
• Xu Le summoned living corpses and sent Toad to handle Mirror Twins as she begged him to let her go.

During the Black Tide, Xu Le returned to the Furnace and told Yan Luo he would use Guyinduo power to advance humanity rather than become a Guyinduo leader, persuading Yan Luo to join his plan. Elsewhere, Wang Xi watched the Orbital Cannon’s power and continued supervising a mysterious search beneath the Guyinduo Black Trees.

• Xu Le left the Mirror Twins’ battle, returned to the Furnace, and comforted Ding Ke beneath the Soul Tree.
• Xu Le explained to Yan Luo that he was human, intended to become a Zion councilor, and wanted to usher in an era of human coexistence with Guyinduo energy and some Oddities.
• Yan Luo agreed to help Xu Le begin the Guyinduo Technology Era, and Xu Le left the Furnace with Yan Luo’s support.
• Wang Xi watched the Guyinduo Black Trees’ roots search underground while a cloaked figure warned him not to lose focus after seeing the Orbital Cannon.
• Wang Xi asked what they were searching for, then changed the subject by criticizing a girl for staying up late, prompting the cloaked figure to explain why people resist sleep.

Wang Xi and the Guyinduo Offspring searched among the withered roots while discussing Xu Le and the Red Moon Calamity. Meng Po attacked Wang Xi, but Ai Li and Xu Le intervened; Xu Le then shot Wang Xi after reassuring him that they would talk.

• Wang Xi told the cloaked Guyinduo envoy that Xu Le’s weapons had made Zion’s defenses formidable, and the envoy called Xu Le an obstacle while ordering the search to continue.
• Old Man Wu arrived on the River of Souls with Meng Po, who warned Wang Xi to be quiet and attacked him when he questioned her intentions.
• Wang Xi’s Level 4 bodyguard fought Meng Po, but she shattered his rock-form body and seized his soul.
• Ai Li struck Meng Po with lightning while branches from the Golden Radiance Tree restrained Old Man Wu’s oar, and Xu Le arrived beside Wang Xi.
• Wang Xi begged Xu Le for help and offered information, but after Xu Le promised they would talk, he pressed a gun to Wang Xi’s forehead and shot him.

Xu Le fought Meng Po with help from Ai Li, Wang Shu, and Toad, then used a Guyinduo Branch to see memories hidden in her. The memories revealed Bai Ye’s destruction of the Gundo Mother Tree’s soul world and the ferryman’s search for Lightforging, leaving Xu Le with new clues about Night Fiend and the vanished world.

• Xu Le rebuked Ai Li for killing an attacker, then sent her to help Wang Shu fight the ferryman while he faced Meng Po.
• Xu Le evaded Meng Po’s attacks and Soulless People, escaped with Substitute Life, and summoned Toad to batter and pin her down.
• Xu Le touched the contents of Meng Po’s shattered skull with a Guyinduo Branch and saw memories of the soul world’s collapse.
• Xu Le witnessed Bai Ye kill Yan Luo, leave the Gundo Mother Tree, and become Night Fiend as the soul world perished.
• Xu Le saw the ferryman ask Meng Po to use her Soulless People to find Lightforging, the thing Night Fiend had torn apart.

Xu Le discovered that a glowing blue crystal buried beneath the rotten Black Tree roots was a left ventricle, suggesting something important remained underground. He requisitioned the site for the Zion Progressives and left Li Wen and Xia Libo to help investigate.

• Xu Le recalled Meng Po’s memories that Night Fiend had torn apart Lightforging, whose head Lighthouse used as a light source and whose torso had become the Sun.
• Xu Le, Ai Li, and Wang Shu killed Wang Xi and Meng Po and struck the fleeing ferryman with a coin, causing him to fall into the Soul River.
• Ai Li detained Wang Xi’s workers and confronted a Law Enforcer captain, but Xu Le requisitioned the excavation site and sent the patrol away.
• Xu Le connected his Guyinduo Branch to the Black Tree roots and asked Wang Shu to summon Xia Libo and Li Wen with trusted workers.
• Xu Le dug beneath the roots and revealed a blue crystal that he identified as a glowing heart’s left ventricle.

Xu Le identified the excavated Glowing Left Ventricle as part of a child of Guyinduo and proposed extracting its energy for Zion, while Li Wen backed his commitment to humanity. The Black Tide surged but was defeated by Zion’s Orbital Cannons, and two elderly Temple agents watched as the Lightforging Heart remained in Zion.

• Li Wen ordered Secretary Liu to secure the excavation site with guards from the Council, while Xu Le explained that the heart belonged to a child of Guyinduo and could provide energy.
• Xu Le argued that humanity should lead Zion and proposed extracting Ancient Yin Duo Energy from the heart rather than turning it into equipment; Li Wen agreed that humanity, not the Red Moon or Guyinduo, should be master of the world.
• Xu Le used the Guyinduo Black Tree’s roots to lift out the Glowing Left Ventricle, and the gathered people heard oddities howling as the Black Tide stopped and began to pile up.
• Li Wen ordered the Orbital Cannons prepared, and Zion’s airships annihilated the Black Tide before dawn, prompting cheers and a broadcast praising Xu Le and Guyinduo Technology Core.
• After Xu Le and the others left, an elderly man questioned an elderly woman about allowing the Lightforging Heart to be taken; she said the Temple’s requirements were met because the heart remained in Zion and its energy would be extracted.

After Zion’s victory over the Black Tide, Xu Le rested before meeting the others in the Mother Tree Realm to choose Guyinduo Fruits. He secured a deal for a Longevity Fruit for Moen and received several Relics, then found five valuable Fruits offered for his own selection.

• Yi Xiaoya dismissed an old man’s warnings about the Children of Guyinduo and defended their research into Ancient Yin Duo Energy.
• Zion gathered and sorted Oddity corpses after the Black Tide, while Xu Le and Wang Shu left Ai Li to supervise.
• Xu Le returned to the Bright Soap Factory, asked Yan Luo to watch over him, and entered the Mother Tree Realm.
• Chi Xiao introduced Duo Lei as the new member and explained why the group needed to cultivate Xu Le’s favor.
• Xu Le offered three times the market price for a Longevity Fruit, and the fat man sold him one while the others gave Xu Le Relics.
• Xu Le approached the Gundo Mother Tree and received five possible Fruits: Longevity, Lesser Element-Earth, Mystic-Yellow Springs, Intermediate Element-Evil Flame, and Superior Creature-Qilin.

Xu Le received five Fruits after the Red Moon Calamity and chose the mysterious Yellow Springs Fruit over the reliable Qilin Fruit. After learning that Lighthouse’s Lower City had fallen while its Upper City stayed out of the battle, he left the gathering and Yan Luo urged him to eat the Fruit so they could go somewhere.

• Xu Le used Guyinduo Vision to identify the Qilin Fruit as a powerful Canine Type origin and the Yellow Springs Fruit as a Mystery Fruit extended from Guyinduo.
• Xu Le chose the Yellow Springs Fruit, concealing its identity from the others by calling it an ordinary Longevity Fruit.
• Chi Xiao and the others discussed how the Red Moon Calamity had gone in their cities, including the Red Moon Holy Temple’s victory, Tianrui Lifeng’s defense, and Zion’s perfect defense.
• Luo Juya said Lighthouse’s Lower City had fallen to the Black Tide while the Upper City had not joined the battle, leaving the Night Watchers to fight outside the High Tower.
• Xu Le left the Mother Tree Realm, and Yan Luo recognized the Yellow Springs Fruit as a key and told Xu Le to eat it so he could take him somewhere.

Xu Le ate the Yellow Springs Fruit and followed Yan Luo into Yellow Springs, where he discovered the Gundo Mother Tree’s decaying roots and learned that his pheromones could renew them. Through the Mother Tree’s memories, he saw how it once sustained life on Deep Blue Star and learned that the cycle changed when Red Moon appeared.

• Xu Le ate the Yellow Springs Fruit, and Yan Luo drew energy from the Furnace Core Room to form the River of Souls and take him into Yellow Springs.
• Xu Le used the Black Staff to illuminate Yellow Springs, crossed the Bridge of Naihe, and saw the dried-out pool and the Gundo Mother Tree’s decaying roots.
• Yan Luo said the Mother Tree existed across reality, illusion, and time, and told Xu Le to approach her.
• The Mother Tree touched Xu Le with a rotting root, drew pheromones from him, and grew a fresh root in its place.
• The Mother Tree showed Xu Le memories of a sunless Deep Blue Star where she gave life light and warmth, while the dead nourished her through the Soul Mother River, until Red Moon appeared.

Xu Le learned that the Gundo Mother Tree had given him Yellow Springs Reincarnation and asked him to restore her roots by bringing back the Children of Guyinduo. After opening a path out of Yellow Springs, he arrived at the Multicolored Land of Fate, where Wang Qing was ready to serve him after believing a report that Wang Xi had died.

• Xu Le learned Bai Ye had once been an abandoned puppy, and that Puppet had been her filthy doll companion.
• The Gundo Mother Tree gave Xu Le Yellow Springs Reincarnation and told him to bring the Children of Guyinduo back, warning that the world would rot if she died.
• Xu Le promised to offer the Mother Tree the remaining half of Lightforging's heart after draining it, then left Yellow Springs with Yan Luo.
• Xu Le used Yellow Springs Reincarnation to open a path through the River of Souls to the normal world.
• Xu Le traveled to the Multicolored Land of Fate, where Wang Qing welcomed him and believed the notice claiming Wang Xi had died fighting the Ghost Ferryman alongside Xu Le.

Xu Le used the Reincarnation of Yellow Springs to secretly exchange Sean’s Gaseous Water fruit for a Lust fruit while helping the group choose their rewards. After everyone collected their fruits, Sean described the level 7 evil god the Red Moon Holy Temple had killed, and Xu Le began questioning him about its classifications.

• Xu Le examined Sean’s four Guyinduo Fruits and discovered he could use the Reincarnation of Yellow Springs to trade one fruit for another.
• Xu Le transformed Sean’s Gaseous Water fruit into a Lust fruit, then let Sean take the Sky Serpent fruit and accepted a Gundo Relic from him.
• Xu Le secretly swapped other members’ fruits while helping them choose; Wang Shu obtained a Pterosaur fruit, and Wang Qing received a Heart Energy Fruit of Fear.
• Xu Le led the group into discussing the Red Moon Calamity, and Sean said the Red Moon Holy Temple had killed a level 7 evil god named Death’s Nail.
• Sean explained that Death’s Nail was a legendary titan entity from the Void Wanderers and that its legendary trait was called Death Sting.

After learning that Xu Le could inspect and replace Guyinduo Fruits, Chi Xiao revealed that she had killed the Evil God Death's Nail. Xu Le left with a Death's Nail fruit, while his new understanding of desire and his ability to trade fruits raised questions about what he might do next.

• At the Multicolored Land, Wang Qing asked whether other cities would buy Zion's Guyinduo Technology Cores and whether Moonstone prices would crash.
• Xu Le returned to the Mother Tree Realm and overheard Duo Lei questioning Chi Xiao, who remained restrained despite her irritation.
• Chi Xiao removed her damaged Prosthetic Limb and summoned five powerful fruits, including Karmic Flame and Death's Nail.
• Xu Le struggled with overwhelming greed, and Chi Xiao explained that suppressing Heart Energy could make him lose track of his desires.
• Xu Le demonstrated his fruit-replacement ability to Chi Xiao, exchanging the Death's Nail fruit for a lust fruit and claiming the Death's Nail fruit for himself.
• Chi Xiao told Xu Le that she had killed Death's Nail.

Xu Le and Chi Xiao used fruit substitution to claim rewards from the Gundo Mother Tree, and Chi Xiao revived the defeated Death's Nail as its new guardian. Chi Xiao then told Xu Le how her childhood ended in betrayal and how she survived alone in the wilderness, leaving her rescue unexplained.

• Chi Xiao revealed that she had killed Death's Nail, then directed Xu Le to substitute several valuable fruits, including Karmic Flame, Mystic Fruit-Candle, and Longevity.
• Chi Xiao ate the Karmic Flame Fruit and proposed accumulating future fruit rewards; she and Xu Le agreed to settle their shares as they went and counted the Death's Nail Fruit toward Xu Le's debt.
• Chi Xiao offered the Death's Nail Fruit to the Gundo Mother Tree, which transformed it into Death's Nail-Luo Qi, a Level 7 Guyinduo legendary Oddity bound to the Mother Tree's energy.
• Xu Le asked about Chi Xiao's missing limbs and eyes, and she said she had been a happy child in Lighthouse before political violence killed her parents and a Night Watcher captain cut off her right hand when she was ten.
• Chi Xiao said she killed the Night Watcher squad, fled into the wilderness, and survived alone for more than twenty days despite Oddities tearing at her body.