Recaps

After thirty days in seclusion, Yang Yong accepted Curio Materials from nearly twenty convoy members, gaining a new supply to feed the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace. As the furnace’s Apertures continued to open, Yang Yong glimpsed a tiny figure with two little pigtails.

• Yang Yong emerged from seclusion after forging thirty portions of materials and handing over twelve extra Curio scopes.
• Lao Zhang told Yang Yong that other elders had recruited nearly twenty convoy members to bring him Curio Materials.
• Yang Yong agreed to forge Curios at a rate of three portions per Curio, taking only food as payment.
• Yang Yong returned to the greenery and fed the materials into the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace, while its Apertures continued to open.
• Cao Xianming came to the sealed greenery but left without entering, and Yang Yong later spotted a tiny figure with two little pigtails.

Yang Yong repeatedly saw a mysterious little girl inside Yezi’s Ten-Meter Ghost Domain, though Yezi and the ghosts could not detect her. He cautiously let her approach over several days and ended with the mystery unresolved: she stood plainly before him, yet remained absent from everyone else’s perception.

• Yang Yong saw the little girl again, but Yezi and his own search found nothing where she had stood.
• Yang Yong summoned the little girl ghost and the Red-Clothed Female Ghost to patrol, then learned that no one else in the Survival Convoy had encountered the child.
• Yang Yong considered whether the girl was an Eerie, a Sequence ability, or an artifact spirit connected to Mechanical City.
• Yang Yong saw the girl clearly beside a metal wall and pretended not to notice her, after which she vanished when he got up for food.
• The girl returned during Yang Yong’s cultivation and gradually moved closer each day, while Yezi and both ghosts remained unable to sense her.

Yang Yong’s cursed curios made the Survival Convoy wealthy, prompting ordinary members to venture outside. Thirty-one of thirty-two people who left were captured by mechanical soldiers and taken through the Light Gate to the zombie city below, and Mang Dabiao returned with Yang Yong’s response.

• Yang Yong sent out curios with increasingly punishing costs, and their owners paid him in precious materials, medicine, and food.
• The Survival Convoy became the richest convoy in Mechanical City’s Outer City, encouraging ordinary members to go outside in hopes of gaining wealth.
• Lin Huayong returned alone from an outing and told Cao Xianming that mechanical soldiers had captured the others and taken them through the Light Gate to the zombie city below.
• Lin Huayong said the soldiers took the convoy members’ Bone Daggers and left them in the city below, leading Cao Xianming to suspect a threat or lure targeting Yang Yong.
• Cao Xianming sent Mang Dabiao to inform Yang Yong, and Mang Dabiao returned with Yang Yong’s instruction: “Return.”

Cao Xianming refused to send the Survival Convoy out to rescue thirty-one trapped members, then announced that Yang Yong would no longer accept Curio crafting commissions. The announcement set Mechanical City ablaze with speculation about the Third Elder, while Cao Xianming considered why the city needed so many Curios.

• Cao Xianming realized Yang Yong had tampered with his Bone Daggers and decided the convoy should not risk rescuing the thirty-one people trapped in the Zombie city.
• Cao Xianming returned home, and Lin Huayong noticed him tapping his left hand before Convoy Assistant Xiao Ma gathered the convoy’s Sequence Transcendents.
• The Survival Convoy barred ordinary people from leaving Camp, shut its gates, and increased its sentries as the trapped group’s captors waited for the Third Elder’s plan to work.
• Cao Xianming posted an announcement on Mechanical City’s Mission Board that the thirty-one convoy members were trapped and Yang Yong would no longer take Curio crafting commissions.
• Mechanical City residents flooded the Discussion Forum with complaints and accusations against the Nine Great Elders and the Third Elder, while Cao Xianming considered whether Curios strengthened the city.

Cao Xianming pressured Mechanical City's elders to recover the thirty-one stranded Survival Convoy members, and they were brought safely back except for two who had been bitten by zombies. After Xiao Ying refused to save them, one of the doomed men began to turn and threatened the convoy.

• Cao Xianming used his refusal to craft more curios to pressure Mechanical City's elders into recovering the thirty-one stranded convoy members.
• Mechanical Soldiers escorted all thirty-one people back from the zombie city, including two who had been bitten.
• Cao Xianming brought everyone into the Camp and told the bitten men he could not save them, but suggested Xiao Ying might be able to.
• Xiao Ying refused to see the men and warned that she would eat them if they came closer.
• The two men returned to the convoy as the others avoided them, and one, now fully black-eyed, declared that if he could not live, neither would they.

Two convoy members who were nearly fully zombified were dragged into Yang Yong’s Ten-Meter Ghost Domain before Zhang Bihuang could kill them. Cao Xianming then learned that the Outer City was only one district in Mechanical City’s vast ring-and-district structure.

• The convoy members attacked two people who showed signs of zombification, stabbing them with Bone Daggers and beating them down.
• Zhang Bihuang’s holy light intensified the pair’s suffering, and she realized their infection had spread too deeply to cure them.
• As Zhang Bihuang prepared to kill the pair, Yang Yong’s Climbing Vine swept nearby people aside and dragged the two into the Ten-Meter Ghost Domain.
• Cao Xianming posted a Curio-refining task and received a flood of messages from people interested in his offer.
• Cao Xianming learned from Gaskako of Thunderfall Mountain that his Outer City was Third Ring, Thirty-Sixth District, one of many separate spaces in Mechanical City.

Yang Yong tested Yezi’s power against the Zombie virus and discovered that careful forging drew the mysterious little girl closer. The girl spoke to him for the first time, guided him through making a Curio, and a short blade emerged.

• Yang Yong used Yezi’s ability to fight the Zombie virus in two victims; one died, while the other recovered, proving the method could work at a high cost.
• Yang Yong noticed the little girl moved closer whenever he forged Curios and began deliberately demonstrating his work to her.
• Yang Yong suspected the girl was an Artifact Spirit and used a new forging session to try to communicate with her.
• The little girl told Yang Yong not to add the unidentified tears, then instructed him to adjust the temperature, quench quickly, and seal a node clockwise.
• Yang Yong followed her directions, and a short blade appeared in a flash of dark golden light.

Yang Yong forged the Shadow-Killing Blade with the little girl’s guidance and began communicating with her. Outside the Ghost Domain, Cao Xianming learned the Grand Elder wanted Yang Yong to visit the Core Area, then saw Ye Zhenwei emerge alive after recovering from a Zombie bite and hurried to keep the secret from the city.

• Yang Yong forged the Shadow-Killing Blade, learned its abilities and cost, and asked the little girl her name, but she vanished.
• Cao Xianming read the mission forum and realized the little girl might be Yang Yong’s weak spot.
• The Grand Elder messaged Cao Xianming that he knew who the little girl was and invited Yang Yong to the Core Area for answers.
• Ye Zhenwei emerged from the Ghost Domain apparently cured of his Zombie bite, and Cao Xianming blocked him from leaving to conceal the cure.
• Cao Xianming pulled Ye Zhenwei back into the Ghost Domain with the Bone Whip, then entered and found Yang Yong forging with the little girl’s guidance.

Yang Yong finished forging a butterfly knife as Cao Xianming delivered the Grand Elder of Mechanical City’s invitation and urged him to learn the origin of the ghost girl. Before they could leave, Mechanical City entered the Thunderstorm Cloud Cluster, forcing them to flee to a shelter; the Grand Elder would remain inaccessible until the Core Area reopened.

• Yang Yong completed a butterfly knife while Cao Xianming watched, then Cao told him the Grand Elder of Mechanical City wanted to see him.
• Cao said his divination showed Yang Yong would benefit from going and suggested the Grand Elder had been waiting for him.
• The ghost girl opened a gap in her Ghost Domain and announced that Mechanical City would enter the Thunderstorm Cloud Cluster in three minutes.
• Cao, Yang Yong, Ye Zhenwei, and the ghost girl rushed toward a shelter, and Yang Yong used a mask to conceal Ye Zhenwei’s identity.
• The group reached the shelter as lightning struck the arc shield, then watched Mechanical City absorb lightning from the storm.
• Yang Yong realized he would have to wait seven days for the Core Area to reopen before he could meet the Grand Elder.

After a zombie siege began and the Barbican fell, Cao Xianming led the Survival Convoy toward the Inner City, only to find its gates closed to everyone from the Outer City. With a Zombie King possibly directing the horde, Yang Yong chose to lead the convoy back to the Barbican to destroy the Light Gate.

• After the Mechanical City returned, an unnatural blast signaled a zombie siege, and Cao Xianming ordered the Survival Convoy to load supplies and head for the Inner City.
• When the Barbican was breached, Cao Xianming warned that zombies were pursuing them and urged the convoy to drive faster.
• The convoy reached the Inner City and found its gates shut, leaving them trapped in the Third Ring Thirty-Sixth District.
• Cao Xianming outlined two options: hold their ground or fight back to the Barbican and destroy the Light Gate.
• Qi Peiliang reported thousands of zombies approaching, nearly ten thousand more inside the Barbican, and warned that a Zombie King might be behind the attack.
• Yang Yong chose to return to the Barbican and destroy the Light Gate, and the convoy turned around.

The Survival Convoy discovered that the Third Elder had likely engineered the zombie siege in the Thirty-Sixth District, trapping more than two thousand people while the Core Area remained sealed. Cao Xianming chose to keep moving toward the Barbican, then found that the district’s residents could not get word of the attack beyond their blocked accounts.

• Qi Peiliang asked Cao Xianming why the Nine Great Elders had not left the Core Area, and Cao explained that only a full-scale siege could bring them out early, while the attack was confined to their district.
• Zheng Xiaofeng reported that Outer City patrol members were fighting zombies ahead, but Cao ordered the Survival Convoy not to intervene and to continue toward the Light Gate.
• Residents emerged to seek help as the convoy passed, and one woman’s cries attracted zombies that climbed into her building and killed her.
• Cao posted a warning about the attack on the mission interface, but the message was held back from approval.
• Cao asked Yang Yong whether his device could send messages, and Yang revealed that everyone’s accounts in the district had been blocked.

The Survival Convoy fought through growing Zombie hordes to reach the Barbican, where a wall of corpses blocked the gate. Yang Yong produced a flame-patterned Iron-Plate Token and ordered the Red-Clothed Female Ghost to place it in the gateway.

• Yang Yong and Cao Xianming cursed the Third Elder, then focused on reaching the Barbican and closing the Light Gate.
• Zheng Xiaofeng and Wang Ying cleared Zombies ahead of the convoy while Yang Yong used the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring and Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace to consume them and recover energy.
• Xiao Yuxia, the Monk, and Ma Xiaotong attacked the Zombie hordes, using holy light, Dragon-Shaped Qi Force, and lightning to clear the road.
• The convoy reached the Barbican, but a densely packed wall of Zombies blocked the gate and quickly re-formed after Wang Ying cut through it.
• Yang Yong pulled out a flame-patterned Iron-Plate Token, summoned the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, and told her to place the token in the gateway.

Yang Yong used an explosive token to blast open the city gate, letting the Survival Convoy enter a barbican packed with zombies pouring from the Light Gate. With the convoy trapped by the horde and no tokens left, he launched the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring into the zombies.

• The Red-Clothed Female Ghost planted Yang Yong’s token in the city gate, and it detonated, blowing a huge hole through the alloy wall.
• Cao Xianming cursed Yang Yong for destroying the gate, but Yang Yong ordered everyone to charge through the breach.
• The Survival Convoy drove into the barbican and found it packed with zombies, while more corpses emerged from the Light Gate.
• Wang Ying’s blade attack failed to clear a path, and Yang Yong told the others he had no more explosive tokens.
• Yang Yong removed the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring and sent it into the densest part of the zombie horde.

The Survival Convoy fought its way to the Light Gate, but every attack passed through it because it had entered combat mode. With Zombies closing in and no way to break the gate, Cao Xianming searched for a solution while Yang Yong and the others defended the convoy.

• Yang Yong used the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring to devour Zombies and clear a path, but the attack nearly drained his Supernatural Power.
• Wang Ying, Monk, Ma Xiaotong, Zhang Bihuang, He Jing, and Liu Hong fought alongside the convoy until it reached the Light Gate.
• Cao Xianming ordered everyone to attack the Light Gate, but their abilities passed through it without affecting it.
• Cao Xianming discovered that Mechanical City's Light Gates were immune to physical and energy attacks in combat mode, then searched the convoy's Data Model for another way to close it.
• As Zombies surrounded the convoy, Yang Yong summoned Yezi, whose Climbing Vines formed a defensive barrier around the vehicles.
• Heavy footsteps sounded from behind the Zombie horde.

Yang Yong and the convoy fought back the zombie horde while Cao Xianming searched for a way to escape the Light Gate. Yang Yong realized the Cause-and-Effect Scissors might cut the gate and that Xiao Ying’s endless lifespan could pair with Mang Dabiao’s lifespan-consuming Evil-Slaying Blade.

• Withered Wood Zombies shielded the horde, but Mang Dabiao cut them down with the Evil-Slaying Blade, which consumed his lifespan.
• Yang Yong sent the Red-Clothed Female Ghost and the Little Girl Eerie to help Wang Ying hold the Light Gate while Cao Xianming investigated the data model.
• Cao Xianming discovered that Yang Yong, Liu Hong, and Xiao Ying were connected to the escape solution and urged Yang Yong to think of their connection.
• Yang Yong realized the Cause-and-Effect Scissors could attack the Light Gate on the level of cause and effect, then gave them to Liu Hong and told him to cut it apart.
• Yang Yong concluded that Xiao Ying’s endless lifespan could offset the Evil-Slaying Blade’s lifespan cost, creating a powerful combination with Mang Dabiao.

Xiao Ying wielded the Evil-Slaying Blade to ease the pressure on the defenders while Liu Hong fought toward the Light Gate with the Cause-and-Effect Scissors. Cao Xianming ordered Wang Ying to cut off Liu Hong’s ear after calculating his likely death, and the Zombie King’s hand then drove the Barbican’s zombies into a frenzy.

• Yang Yong urged Xiao Ying to take Mang Dabiao’s Evil-Slaying Blade, and she accepted after Cao Xianming reminded her of the Corpse Ancestor’s orders.
• The blade turned golden in Xiao Ying’s hand, and she slashed through the zombie horde, relieving pressure on the rear defensive line.
• Cao Xianming ordered everyone to protect Liu Hong as he advanced toward the Light Gate with the Cause-and-Effect Scissors.
• Cao Xianming’s data model showed a 100% probability, so he ordered Wang Ying to cut off Liu Hong’s ear; Yang Yong caught the severed ear to preserve a piece of Liu Hong for regeneration.
• The Zombie King’s hand appeared beyond the Light Gate, and the zombies in the Barbican turned away from Liu Hong and charged toward Yang Yong.

Yang Yong fled a Zombie horde while Liu Hong used the Cause-and-Effect Scissors to shatter the Light Gate, but the backlash reduced him to ash. With the Zombie King fixing its gaze on him, Yang Yong reached the gate’s former location, where Yezi planted a seed that created a green domain.

• The Zombie King directed the Zombies to abandon the defensive positions and hunt Yang Yong, who fled through the Barbican in the Demoness Pickup Truck with his Supernatural Power nearly depleted.
• As Yang Yong drew most of the Zombies away, Liu Hong reached the Light Gate and cut its cause-and-effect threads, shattering it.
• The backlash from breaking the Light Gate covered Liu Hong in cracks and disintegrated his body into gray powder.
• Yang Yong saw Liu Hong’s death and clutched the piece of Liu Hong’s ear that he had kept as a hope for his resurrection.
• The Zombie King withdrew its hand and fixed its hollow gaze on Yang Yong as he sped back to the gate’s former location.
• Yezi planted a seed that rapidly grew into a green domain, which enclosed the group while Xiao Ying remained outside fighting Zombies.

Yang Yong and the Survival Convoy recovered after destroying the Light Gate, then used a makeshift laptop to contact survivors and map the zombie siege in the Outer City. As the survivors began coordinating a counterattack, Liu Yang and Wang Hongyu watched Yang Yong from a hidden room and identified him as their target.

• Yang Yong used the World Tree Sapling’s healing energy to recover while the Survival Convoy prepared to counterattack the zombies.
• Cao Xianming found that the Third Elder had blocked the convoy’s electronic devices, so Yang Yong had Mang Dabiao and Hu Xian'er dismantle Mechanical City’s communication system.
• Yang Yong forged a semi-curio laptop, and Cao Xianming used it to contact survivors and map the living and the zombies across District 36 of the Third Ring.
• Survivors reported their positions and began gathering strength to clear the Outer City while Xiao Ying continued fighting the zombies.
• A hidden observer identified Yang Yong as Li Zhi, and Liu Yang and Wang Hongyu discussed targeting him after the Zombie King failed to pass through the Light Gate.

Wang Hongyu and Liu Yang opened a Sequence door between Yang Yong and the Zombie King, hoping the two would weaken each other. As the Survival Convoy attacked the doorway and Liu Yang struggled to keep it open, Wang Hongyu told him to hold on while secretly waiting for something.

• Wang Hongyu learned that the Zombie King had not left and told Liu Yang to open a door between it and Yang Yong.
• Liu Yang opened the door, bringing Yang Yong face-to-face with the Zombie King, and both attacked through it.
• The Zombie King grabbed Yang Yong and dragged him toward the doorway until Yang Yong cut free from his Semi-Curio clothes and escaped its grasp.
• Cao Xianming ordered the convoy to attack the door, and Wang Ying and the others battered it while Yang Yong retreated.
• Liu Yang warned that he could not hold the door much longer, but Wang Hongyu told him to endure while a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

Wang Hongyu killed Liu Yang, absorbed his Void-Opening Sequence, and abducted Yang Yong. Inside Wang Hongyu’s hidden room, Cao Xianming’s offhand remark that Yang Yong would return soon made Wang Hongyu wary and ruined Yang Yong’s attempt to conceal his strength.

• The Survival Convoy destroyed Liu Yang’s Void Gate, and Cao Xianming’s Data Model reported that the person behind it was dead.
• Wang Hongyu killed Liu Yang, swallowed the light he pulled from his body, and used the Void-Opening Sequence to open a gate.
• Wang Hongyu captured Yang Yong with a chain and took him through the gate, while Mang Dabiao and Cao Xianming reassured the Survival Convoy.
• Yang Yong saw the convoy on a screen in Wang Hongyu’s dark room and tried to act helpless while assessing his captor.
• Cao Xianming said Yang Yong would return soon, prompting Wang Hongyu to retreat warily and exposing Yang Yong’s plan.

Wang Hongyu bound Yang Yong with talismans that suppressed his supernatural power, then removed his ghost-face mask and recoiled in terror at Yang Yong’s monstrous face. After restoring the mask and confirming Yang Yong was restrained, Wang Hongyu transformed his hand into a ghostly claw and reached for Yang Yong’s chest, while Yang Yong shifted to evade it.

• Wang Hongyu drew talismans in the air and pinned Yang Yong’s supernatural power down.
• Wang Hongyu remembered Little Fatty and laughed as he prepared to devour another Sequence.
• Wang Hongyu removed Yang Yong’s mask, saw his eye-covered and bone-masked face, and screamed that he was a ghost.
• Wang Hongyu put the mask back on and checked that the chains and talismans still restrained Yang Yong.
• Wang Hongyu turned his hand into a ghostly claw and reached for Yang Yong’s chest, and Yang Yong shifted aside.

Yang Yong’s bone armor and scarlet eyeball overwhelmed Wang Hongyu when he tried to devour Yang Yong’s sequence. Yang Yong broke free of his chains and talismans, while Wang Hongyu’s consciousness was dragged back into the terrifying vision.

• Wang Hongyu’s ghost claws struck Yang Yong’s exposed body, but a layer of bone armor beneath his robe stopped them.
• Wang Hongyu pressed his forehead against Yang Yong’s and used his sequence-devouring ability to find a scarlet eyeball in Yang Yong’s consciousness.
• The scarlet eyeball looked at Wang Hongyu, trapping his consciousness in a bizarre world where monsters painfully devoured him.
• Yang Yong shattered his chains and revealed that bone spikes had pierced the talismans, allowing his supernatural power to flow freely.
• Wang Hongyu briefly returned to awareness before his devouring ability pulled him back toward the scarlet eyeball, which looked at him again.

Yang Yong forced Wang Hongyu to reveal that He Jie had arranged the zombie attack to capture him and devour his sequence, then subdued Wang Hongyu and discovered a corpse in what appeared to be the Mechanical City's control room. The chapter left Yang Yong noticing a tiny girl standing behind him.

• Wang Hongyu emerged from the consciousness attack begging Yang Yong to kill him, and Yang Yong promised to do so if he answered questions.
• Wang Hongyu revealed that he could devour other people's sequences and that He Jie had ordered him to target Yang Yong's ten-thousand-forged primordial furnace sequence.
• Wang Hongyu admitted that He Jie had opened a light gate near Zone 36 of the Third Ring to let zombies into the Outer City and create a distraction for the capture.
• Yang Yong knocked Wang Hongyu unconscious, and the Little Girl Ghost's slap transformed him into a palm-sized doll that Yang Yong put away.
• Yang Yong searched the room, suspected it was the Mechanical City's Core Control Room, and devoured the corpse beside the seat with the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring.
• Yang Yong noticed a tiny girl with two horn-like pigtails standing behind him.

Yang Yong discovered that the little girl was a mental projection who could operate Mechanical City's central control room. She used the city's weapons and mechanical soldiers to crush the zombie outbreak in District 36, while Yang Yong was denied access to the controls.

• Yang Yong asked the little girl how she had entered the central control room, and the question triggered a painful reaction when he suggested she was the city lord.
• The little girl recovered and brought up District 36 of the Third Ring, revealing streets filled with zombies and corpses.
• The little girl activated the sun's laser cannon and the Blood Moon's tendrils to destroy and consume zombies.
• The little girl deployed mechanical soldiers and automated guns, surrounding and eliminating the ordinary zombies before defeating the mutated ones.
• Yang Yong tried to use the control screens, but the system rejected his commands for insufficient permissions.

Yang Yong asked the little girl to strip Third Elder He Jie of his position, and she used Mechanical City's authority to dismiss him and appoint Yang Yong in his place. The city’s elders and Yang Yong were stunned, while the little girl seemed bewildered by what had happened.

• Yang Yong realized the little girl had exceptionally high access privileges and asked her to remove Third Elder He Jie, who had repeatedly endangered him.
• The little girl accessed He Jie’s information and pressed a red button, cutting off most of his Supernatural Power and reducing his access to that of an ordinary member.
• Mechanical City announced that He Jie had abused his privileges by allowing Zombies to attack Zone 36 and dismissed him from all positions.
• The eight remaining Great Elders suspected that the city lord had returned, since only the Council of Elders or the city lord could dismiss an elder.
• Mechanical City announced that Yang Yong had been appointed the new Third Elder, leaving Yang Yong stunned and the little girl looking bewildered.