Chapter Summaries

Jiang Shengnan told Luo Fan that more than a hundred survivors from Eastern Japan had entered the Seven Cities by sea, mostly near Fuyuan City, and warned that their growing numbers seemed suspicious. The two discussed their arrival’s implications but had not yet investigated them.

• Jiang Shengnan met Luo Fan and said strange newcomers had been arriving in the Seven Cities, speaking the language of Eastern Japan.
• Luo Fan recalled Tomeko’s account of Eastern Japan’s survivors fleeing by sea after most of the country’s citizens died.
• Jiang Shengnan said the arrivals had drawn little attention because few people nearby spoke their language, while she and Luo Fan traded jokes about Japanese media.
• Jiang Shengnan revealed that over a hundred Eastern Japanese survivors had arrived by the previous day, apparently by sea and mainly around Fuyuan City.
• Jiang Shengnan showed Luo Fan a map locating Fuyuan City at the edge of the Seven Cities’ territory.

Jiang Shengnan told Luo Fan that Master Wen Hao had paid little attention to a problem involving people from Eastern Japan, and she questioned why Luo Fan seemed unconcerned with the councilors’ power struggle. Luo Fan agreed to meet the visitors but kept his reasons and new thoughts to himself, leaving Jiang Shengnan aware that he was hiding things from her.

• Jiang Shengnan said she had already told Master Wen Hao about the matter, but he was focused on stability and rebuilding in the Seven Cities Territory.
• Jiang Shengnan observed that Luo Fan and An Xiaoran were exceptions among the councilors, and that Luo Fan effectively controlled two council votes.
• Luo Fan called the councilors’ power struggles children playing house, while privately considering the threat posed by the Weird Bride and choosing not to explain it.
• Luo Fan proposed meeting the people from Eastern Japan, and Jiang Shengnan suggested asking Tomeko to help communicate with them.
• Luo Fan paused at Tomeko’s name, thought of something he did not share, and told Jiang Shengnan that some things were not yet right to say aloud.

Luo Fan and Jiang Shengnan visited Fuyuan City and confronted Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users who had settled there. Luo Fan exposed their double standards about national unity, and the encounter ended with him calling them despicable.

• Luo Fan and Jiang Shengnan flew to Fuyuan City, where a group of Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users approached them.
• An onmyoji challenged Luo Fan’s presence, and Luo Fan argued that the city was Chinese territory before pretending to welcome the newcomers.
• The group revealed that over a hundred and sixty people from Eastern Japan Island had arrived, with more expected.
• Luo Fan joked that he wanted to marry several Eastern Japan women and have children, provoking angry objections from the men.
• Luo Fan accused the Eastern Japan Sequence Users of hypocrisy for rejecting national boundaries only when it suited them and called them despicable.

Luo Fan confronted Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users who intended to settle in the Seven Cities, easily overpowering one attacker and demanding to meet their leader. After revealing himself as a councilor of the Sequence Alliance and China’s strongest Sequence User, he waited with Jiang Shengnan for someone with authority to arrive.

• Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users grew furious at Luo Fan’s insults and threatened to kill him.
• An Lv35 samurai attacked Luo Fan, but Luo Fan caught his sword between two fingers, sent him flying, and embedded the weapon in the ground.
• Luo Fan accused the group of trying to claim the Seven Cities without helping secure the land and demanded that they bring someone with authority.
• The Onmyōji recognized Luo Fan, apologized, and led the others to withdraw.
• Luo Fan and Jiang Shengnan brewed tea and waited for the Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users’ representative.

Luo Fan questioned Minako, the leader of the Eastern Japan Island Sequence Users, about their survivors settling in China. Minako offered herself and other women as his wives in exchange, but Luo Fan rejected the proposal as shameless.

• Minako introduced herself as an LV51 Exorcist and explained that survivors from Eastern Japan Island had fled to sea after the Weird Apocalypse overwhelmed their homeland.
• Luo Fan said their hardship did not entitle them to settle in China and asked what price they could pay.
• Minako offered to become Luo Fan’s wife and said she could agree to the other Eastern Japan survivors marrying Chinese men.
• Luo Fan rejected her offer, pointing out that letting her people settle while marrying her would benefit them rather than cost them.

Minako’s offer to marry Luo Fan triggered a terrifying reaction that he attributed to the Weird Bride, convincing Minako that the words could put her life in danger. Luo Fan then rejected the Eastern Japan survivors’ request to settle in China, and Tarō challenged his authority, leaving Luo Fan suspicious of their intentions.

• Jiang Shengnan laughed at Luo Fan’s accusation that Minako was trying to take advantage of him by offering to marry him.
• When Minako insisted she genuinely wanted to marry Luo Fan, she sensed a deadly presence and froze until the danger passed.
• Luo Fan said the Weird Bride had likely noticed Minako because marrying him was connected to her, and Minako believed his warning.
• Luo Fan told Minako that China had too little land to accommodate large numbers of Eastern Japan survivors and refused their settlement request.
• Tarō challenged Luo Fan’s authority to decide the matter, while Minako rebuked Tarō and apologized.
• Luo Fan noted Tarō’s level and suspected that Minako and Tarō were playing good cop and bad cop.

Luo Fan killed Tarō after using Petrification Bait to disable him, then rejected Minako's request to let Eastern Japan settle in China. He declared that he alone could decide and that they were not welcome.

• Luo Fan used Petrification Bait to make Tarō swallow it and turn to stone, then fired Triple Shot despite Minako trying to shield him.
• The bullets killed Tarō and badly wounded Minako, whose unusual healing ability quickly repaired her injuries.
• Jiang Shengnan and Luo Fan's Beast Spirit Doppelgänger prepared to fight the Eastern Japan Sequence Users, but Minako ordered them to stop.
• Minako argued that the Eastern Japan group wanted to settle in China and that the Sequence Alliance councilors should decide the matter together.
• Luo Fan said he could decide alone and told Minako that the Eastern Japan group was not welcome.

Luo Fan barred the Eastern Japan survivors from settling in the Seven Cities Territory and arranged for Chinese survivors to move into Fuyuan City. Minako rejected an attack on him and planned to exploit the other councilors’ resentment of his unilateral decision.

• Luo Fan told Minako that the Sequence Alliance would not let Eastern Japan survivors settle in the Seven Cities Territory, and dismissed her warning about acting without the other councilors’ approval.
• Luo Fan asked Jiang Shengnan to seek approval to settle more Chinese survivors in Fuyuan City, then left with her.
• Minako returned to the Eastern Japan survivors and described Luo Fan’s decision, prompting one Sequence User to suggest assassinating him.
• Minako ruled out attacking Luo Fan because he had slain several Ninth Tier Weird Shadows and said they would have to outwit him instead.
• Minako argued that Luo Fan’s unilateral decision could anger the other councilors and said she would find someone to talk to.

Luo Fan assured Jiang Shengnan that he would deal with the Eastern Japan survivors according to their actions, then returned to the Sequence Alliance headquarters and learned the Hope Convoy planned to leave and train. When Luo Fan said he would train outside as well, Zhao Chunfeng concluded that he had a powerful trump card and did not rely on the Sequence Alliance or his councilor status.

• Luo Fan told Jiang Shengnan the Eastern Japan survivors were unlikely to leave, but said his next move depended on what they did, then flew to the Sequence Alliance headquarters.
• Luo Fan found the Hope Convoy sharing a meal, and Han Shanzhong explained they planned to leave the territory to fight Weird and Fierce Beasts and strengthen themselves.
• Luo Fan reassured An Xiaoran that some people would stay, then clarified that he himself planned to go out and train.
• Luo Fan told Niu Dagang he did not think highly of the Sequence Alliance or his status as one of its thirteen Councilors.
• Zhao Chunfeng inferred that Luo Fan had an extraordinary trump card, leaving the Hope Convoy wondering whether he could face the entire Sequence Alliance alone.

Luo Fan told the Hope Convoy that survivors from Eastern Japan had arrived near Fuyuan City and assured them they would not be able to settle in the Seven Cities Territory. Afterward, Minako approached a figure standing on a seaside cliff at night.

• Zhao Chunfeng inferred that Luo Fan had a hidden trump card capable of taking on the Sequence Alliance, and Luo Fan avoided confirming his guess.
• Mo Yuling said she would go with Zhao Chunfeng, Niu Dagang, and the others to raise her Sequence Level.
• Luo Fan told Niu Dagang and the convoy that more than a hundred survivors from Eastern Japan had landed near Fuyuan City, with more likely to follow.
• Niu Dagang, Lin Feifei, and the others joked about the newcomers, while Han Shanzhong questioned why Luo Fan was not angry.
• Luo Fan said the Eastern Japanese survivors would not be able to settle in the Seven Cities Territory, and the convoy trusted him.
• After night fell, Minako approached a figure standing on a seaside cliff overlooking the sea.

Tomeko met with Minako, who asked for help finding a safe place in Heilongjiang Province for the survivors of Eastern Japan after the original plan failed. Tomeko warned her not to challenge Luo Fan through the other Councilors and left promising to seek another solution.

• Tomeko told Minako that some of her human nature remained, though she did not know how long it would last.
• Minako explained that Tomeko's plan to secure Heilongjiang Province for Eastern Japan's survivors had failed, and Luo Fan had refused their request to settle there.
• Tomeko said her friendship with Luo Fan was too weak for her to persuade him to accept all the survivors.
• Minako proposed using the human Councilors to restrain Luo Fan, but Tomeko insisted that this was impossible.
• Tomeko withheld the reason for Luo Fan's influence, warned Minako not to provoke him, and left to consider another way to help the survivors.

Minako returned to the Eastern Japan survivors and told them she would seek other Sequence Alliance councilors’ support to overturn Luo Fan’s opposition to their settling in Fuyuan City. She planned to offer high-tier Weird crystals and exploit divisions in the Alliance, even if that meant weakening it before more survivors arrived.

• Minako decided the survivors could not be sent back to sea and returned to their gathering place in Fuyuan City.
• The Eastern Japan survivors confronted Minako about Luo Fan’s demand that they leave, while more survivors continued arriving by boat.
• Minako told them her older sister, now a Weird, could not help them, but argued that Luo Fan could not decide for the entire Sequence Alliance alone.
• Minako proposed winning support from the other councilors and offered high-tier Weird crystals as gifts.
• Minako announced that she would visit the Sequence Alliance headquarters the next morning and use the councilors’ infighting to weaken Luo Fan’s position.

Zhang Xinlong reflected on how battlefield heroism had brought him wealth and power, and decided he no longer wanted to risk his life. Minako visited him and flattered him, and he carried her into his bedroom.

• Zhang Xinlong enjoyed his comfortable home and wine while recalling how he had become one of the Sequence Alliance's Thirteen Councilors after surviving the Har City War.
• Zhang Xinlong decided that his new status made it foolish to risk his life again and accepted that he had become the kind of person he once fought against.
• Zhang Xinlong received Minako, a Fifth-Tier Sequence User leading survivors from Eastern Japan, and offered her red wine.
• Minako praised Zhang Xinlong's battlefield deeds and gentlemanly bearing, winning his favor.
• Zhang Xinlong lifted Minako and carried her into his room, where the door closed and the curtains were drawn.

Minako seduced Zhang Xinlong and told him that Luo Fan had barred Eastern Japanese survivors from settling in the Seven Cities Territory without consulting the other Councilors. Zhang Xinlong became angry at Luo Fan, while Minako left her larger goal of bringing all Eastern Japanese survivors to the territory unstated.

• Minako pretended to admire Zhang Xinlong after they were intimate, and Zhang asked what she wanted.
• Minako said that a little over a hundred Eastern Japanese survivors had come ashore, but denied that she was asking Zhang to approve their settlement.
• Minako told Zhang that Luo Fan had forbidden Eastern Japanese survivors from settling in the Seven Cities Territory without consulting the other Councilors.
• Minako called Luo Fan arrogant and urged Zhang to be on his guard against him.
• Zhang grew angry at Luo Fan for making the decision unilaterally and losing face in front of Minako.

Luo Fan reached LV57 while absorbing a ninth-tier Weird Crystal, then attended a council meeting called by Zhang Xinlong. The meeting focused on the Eastern Japanese landing in the Seven Cities Territory, a topic Luo Fan had expected.

• Luo Fan absorbed a ninth-tier Weird Crystal and advanced to LV57.
• A Sequence Alliance staff member told Luo Fan that Zhang Xinlong had called a council meeting, and Luo Fan decided to attend.
• An Xiaoran chose to stay behind and absorb her Weird Crystal, while Luo Fan went to the meeting to represent her.
• Luo Fan asked Zhang Xinlong for the meeting’s agenda, and Zhang Xinlong said it concerned the Eastern Japanese landing in the Seven Cities Territory.
• Several councilors questioned why the Eastern Japanese landing warranted a meeting, while Luo Fan recognized the topic as expected.

At a Sequence Alliance council meeting, Zhang Xinlong challenged Luo Fan over the growing number of Eastern Japan survivors near Fuyuan City. The dispute left Zhang isolated as the other councilors backed Luo Fan, and Zhang claimed Luo Fan thought little of his supporters.

• Master Wen Hao explained that Jiang Shengnan had reported 80 to 100 Eastern Japan survivors landing near Fuyuan City, and Zhang Xinlong said their number had grown to nearly 200.
• Zhang Xinlong said the meeting also concerned Luo Fan and demanded that he confess, but Luo Fan mocked Zhang for delaying the point.
• Zhang Xinlong argued that they were both councilors, and Luo Fan replied that he held the position as the Sequence Alliance's strongest member while Zhang barely qualified.
• Master Wen Hao, Mr. Mo Mo, and leaders of other bases urged Zhang Xinlong to state his accusation, openly siding with Luo Fan.
• Zhang Xinlong saw that Luo Fan, An Xiaoran, and the seven base leaders had support among the councilors, then claimed that Luo Fan thought nothing of them.

Zhang Xinlong accused Luo Fan of deciding without the council to bar survivors from Eastern Japan from settling in the Seven Cities Territory, but other councilors defended the decision. The meeting ended with Master Wen Hao questioning Zhang Xinlong’s motives.

• Zhang Xinlong claimed Luo Fan had excluded survivors from Eastern Japan without consulting or notifying the council.
• Mr. Mo Mo and Master Wen Hao challenged Zhang Xinlong, and Master Wen Hao asked him to explain what had happened.
• Zhang Xinlong recounted the survivors’ arrival and accused Luo Fan of making a diplomatic decision alone.
• Mr. Mo Mo argued that survivors from Eastern Japan should be refused entry, and his analogy drew laughter from the councilors.
• Master Wen Hao defended Luo Fan’s decision as obvious, and several councilors agreed.
• Master Wen Hao confronted Zhang Xinlong and asked what he was trying to accomplish.

Mr. Mo Mo persuaded the council to investigate Zhang Xinlong for colluding with survivors from Eastern Japan, and Luo Fan forced him to submit to Leng Xiangning’s divination Skill. The investigation began as Leng Xiangning spent a fifth-tier weird crystal to reveal the relevant scenes.

• Mr. Mo Mo accused Zhang Xinlong of trying to drive a wedge between Luo Fan and the council and proposed investigating his possible collusion with people from Eastern Japan.
• The council voted to investigate Zhang Xinlong, with the Seven Great Bases’ leaders ensuring the proposal passed while three independent convoy leaders abstained.
• Mr. Mo Mo brought in Leng Xiangning of Greenedge Base and explained that her Time Reverser Sequence could review a target’s past experiences.
• Zhang Xinlong resisted the investigation, but Luo Fan threatened him and Mr. Mo Mo urged him to cooperate.
• Leng Xiangning asked whether Zhang Xinlong had colluded with survivors from Eastern Japan, and Luo Fan supplied a fifth-tier weird crystal so she could manifest the scenes.

Luo Fan exposed Zhang Xinlong’s relationship with a woman from Eastern Japan and led the Councilors to remove him from office. As the Alliance began discussing the Eastern Japanese residents, a familiar figure appeared and asked to speak with Luo Fan alone.

• A holographic projection revealed Zhang Xinlong’s relationship with Minako, and Master Wen Hao asked him to defend himself.
• Luo Fan proposed removing Zhang Xinlong as a Councilor for failing to put the Alliance’s interests first.
• Luo Fan and the other Councilors voted unanimously to remove Zhang Xinlong, who was escorted from the conference room.
• Luo Fan proposed finding a replacement Councilor and raised the question of driving the Eastern Japanese residents out of China.
• A familiar figure appeared through a rift in space and asked Luo Fan to talk alone.

Tomeko asked Luo Fan to let some survivors from Eastern Japan settle in Heilongjiang Province, explaining that she had promised her younger sister Minako she would help them. Luo Fan agreed to consult the other Councilors about Tomeko’s proposal to expel the men and let the women stay.

• Tomeko arrived at a meeting with the Councilors and asked to speak with Luo Fan alone.
• Tomeko told Luo Fan she had originally sought a place for the Eastern Japan survivors because she had promised her younger sister, Minako, she would help.
• Luo Fan warned Tomeko that he would not help Minako, but let Tomeko explain her proposal.
• Tomeko proposed expelling all male survivors from Eastern Japan while allowing all the female survivors to remain.
• Luo Fan said he would discuss the proposal with the other Councilors before answering, and Tomeko vanished from the conference room.