Chapter Summaries

After Su Miaomiao betrayed him and fed him to the Eight-Eyed Ice Weird Spider, Qin Mao used his [Upgrade] System to escape the creature’s stomach and flee the island. He survived at sea in an upgraded dugout canoe and vowed to take revenge on Su Miaomiao and grow stronger.

• Su Miaomiao shoved Qin Mao into the Eight-Eyed Ice Weird Spider’s mouth, and he resolved to make her pay if he survived.
• Trapped in the spider’s icy stomach, Qin Mao upgraded his lighter into a Three-Minute-Heat Lighter and melted a tunnel through the ice.
• Qin Mao escaped through the tunnel while the spider attacked the fleeing survivors, leaving the old woman trapped behind.
• Qin Mao upgraded rotten wood into a Rotten Dugout Canoe and rowed toward the sea as the spider lunged at him.
• After escaping the island, Qin Mao vowed to live for himself, seek revenge on Su Miaomiao, and awaken the supernatural.

Qin Mao rescued Uncle Zhang while trying to catch up with the Hope Fleet, but the pair were taken aboard a damaged ship where its crew killed Uncle Zhang. Qin Mao saved himself by claiming he was a shipwright and was welcomed aboard the Hope, while secretly vowing revenge.

• On the Yaximu, Su Miaomiao pretended to mourn Qin Mao and accepted food and attention from survivors.
• Qin Mao found Uncle Zhang adrift and brought him aboard his canoe as he continued across the sea.
• In the fog, Qin Mao reached a damaged sailing ship and was hauled aboard with the unconscious Uncle Zhang.
• Wang Tai ordered Zhang Qing to kill both newcomers, and Zhang Qing stabbed Uncle Zhang before turning on Qin Mao.
• Qin Mao claimed he was a shipwright who could repair the hull, prompting Wang Tai to stop the killing and welcome him aboard the Hope.
• Qin Mao concealed his hatred as he looked at Uncle Zhang's corpse and silently resolved to seek revenge.

Qin Mao joined Wang Tai’s Hope and learned that the fleet’s rules and talk of ammunition concealed something dangerous. After four escapees were captured, one woman warned that everyone aboard would die in seven days.

• Qin Mao told Wang Tai that his former fleet had about a hundred people and eight or nine Transcendents, and Wang Tai complained about missing out on free ammunition.
• Zhang Qing welcomed Qin Mao aboard the Hope, explained Wang Tai’s Curio, and warned him not to leave the fleet.
• Qin Mao slept in the second-level cabin and dreamed of upgrading his ship and becoming a Transcendent.
• Noise woke Qin Mao as the Hope changed course, and he found three men and a woman bound on the deck after trying to escape in a canoe.
• The woman called the survivors lackeys and ammunition, then declared that everyone aboard would die in seven days.

Qin Mao was forced by Wang Tai to execute four people who had tried to leave the Hope, then discovered their deaths supplied ammunition for Wang Tai’s Flintlock. Fearing he would be killed next, Qin Mao declared himself a transcendent Sequence-[Apocalypse Shipwright] and challenged the assumptions governing his place aboard the ship.

• Wang Tai invoked the Hope’s rule that anyone who left the fleet had to die, and ordered Qin Mao to execute the four would-be deserters.
• Qin Mao killed all four with a saber, and Wang Tai absorbed eerie lights from their bodies into his Flintlock.
• Qin Mao received 2,000 Kill Points from the system for killing the four people.
• Qin Mao realized he might become ammunition himself and decided he needed to escape the Hope.
• Qin Mao addressed Wang Tai as Captain Wang Tai and introduced himself as a transcendent Sequence-[Apocalypse Shipwright].

Qin Mao convinced Wang Tai that he was an Apocalypse Shipwright and used materials from the Hope to upgrade his canoe. As the upgrade began, Wang Tai and Zhang Qing grew suspicious of him.

• Qin Mao claimed to be an Apocalypse Shipwright, prompting Wang Tai to welcome him enthusiastically and invite him to join the fleet.
• Wang Tai explained the Hope's rules and questioned Qin Mao about his Sequence, while Qin Mao said he had only recently awakened and could not fight well.
• Qin Mao invited Wang Tai to watch him work on his canoe and used the materials Wang Tai supplied to reduce the upgrade cost.
• Qin Mao spent 800 Kill Points to begin upgrading the canoe, while Zhang Qing accused him of being a fraud and Wang Tai threatened him if that proved true.
• A strong gust swept across the ship as Qin Mao finally moved on the canoe.

Qin Mao impressed the Hope’s crew with his Shipwright ability, and Wang Tai made him First Mate and his sworn brother. Qin Mao repaired the ship’s breach, but Wang Tai noticed something unusual about the repair.

• Qin Mao rapidly transformed his canoe into a large raft, convincing Wang Tai that he was a supernatural Shipwright.
• After waking aboard the Hope, Qin Mao was named First Mate, and Wang Tai announced they would become sworn brothers.
• Qin Mao agreed to repair the Hope’s breach and used his system to fix it for 400 Kill Points.
• Wang Tai rewarded the crew with extra fruit, then examined the repair and questioned why it looked unusual.

Qin Mao settled into life aboard the Hope, learned about its scarce supplies and dangerous waters, and watched Wang Tai kill a Rotgill Corpse with a single shot. He ended the night longing for the strength to survive the uncanny apocalypse.

• Qin Mao dismissed the rough hull repairs as part of his supposed Apocalypse Shipwright style, while he and Wang Tai privately assessed each other.
• Wang Tai moved Qin Mao into a private cabin and explained the Hope’s rationing, limited fresh water, and dangerous supply runs.
• Zhu Yu offered Zhang Qing his Green Fruit ration in hopes of helping Qin Mao and improving his own chances of survival.
• A Rotgill Corpse climbed aboard the Hope and killed a survivor before Wang Tai shot it dead with his skull-marked gun.
• Qin Mao compared Wang Tai’s effortless kill with Yan Qi’s earlier struggle against Rotgill Corpses and went to bed wishing for greater strength.

Qin Mao learned that the Hope’s survivors served as ammunition for Wang Tai’s gun, while the mystery of the seven-day deadline remained unanswered. As he explored the ship and collected Kill Points by killing fish, the crew began to fear him and gave him a grim nickname.

• Qin Mao pressed Zhu Yu to explain the fleet’s ammunition, and Zhu Yu revealed that each bullet in Wang Tai’s gun cost a human life and the crew were its ammunition reserve.
• Qin Mao asked Zhu Yu about the seven-day deadline, but Zhu Yu became alarmed and left without explaining it.
• Qin Mao inspected the Hope, learned about its rooms and supplies, and confirmed that the ship needed no urgent repairs.
• The crew began saving live fish for Qin Mao to kill so he could earn Kill Points, while they handled the cleaning and preparation.
• Qin Mao eagerly went to collect Kill Points from the day’s fish, unaware that the crew had nicknamed him Blood-Hand Qin Tu.

Qin Mao learned that Sequence Transcendents gained powers at the cost of distinct side effects, then listened as Wang Tai recounted the Hope Fleet’s destruction in the Blood Moon Sea. Wang Tai revealed that he had inherited the Curio [Just Verdict] and leadership of the surviving crew, while Qin Mao questioned the timeline of his account.

• Qin Mao killed fish and sang, and Wang Tai asked whether his behavior was a side effect of the [Apocalypse Shipwright] Sequence.
• Wang Tai explained that different Sequences imposed different prices, and Qin Mao claimed his required him to kill as much as possible each day.
• Wang Tai described the anomalies that drove survivors to sea and the Hope Fleet’s journey into the Blood Moon Sea.
• Wang Tai recounted how two enemies joined forces against the Hope Fleet, destroying its three large ships and leaving only the Hope and a few dozen survivors.
• Wang Tai said the last surviving Sequence Transcendent had given him [Just Verdict] before dying, and Qin Mao challenged the timeline of the voyage.

Qin Mao learned that time flowed at different speeds across the seas and heard Wang Tai explain the dangerous Sound Charm and the curio rankings. After Wang Tai drove the Sound Charm off with his curio, [Just Verdict], Qin Mao learned how curios and curio materials worked.

• Wang Tai told Qin Mao that time passed more slowly the farther fleets traveled into the sea, reaching an eightfold differential in the deepest Azure Moon Sea.
• Qin Mao told Wang Tai about becoming stranded on Lonely Island, awakening a Sequence, building a canoe, and eventually joining the Hope, while both men privately doubted the other's sincerity.
• Qin Mao returned to his cabin and began falling into a deathlike sleep as eerie violin music played aboard the Hope.
• Wang Tai fired [Just Verdict] at a Sound Charm, breaking its hold over the survivors and explaining that it could lure listeners into dying in their dreams.
• Wang Tai explained how curios were ranked, what powers and costs they had, and how dangerous curio materials could be.

Qin Mao admired Wang Tai’s anomalous gun, grew increasingly uncomfortable with the scrutiny aboard the Hope, and caught Zhu Yu attempting to kill him in his cabin. Zhu Yu confessed that Wang Tai had sent him, and Qin Mao’s anger mounted as he heard the full story.

• Wang Tai showed Qin Mao the rank and abilities of Just Verdict, then encouraged him to build an anomalous-object ship someday.
• Qin Mao spent his fifth day aboard the Hope killing fish and repairing the ship while resenting the people who watched him.
• Zhu Yu brought Qin Mao Tranquility Water, which Qin Mao poured out before going to sleep.
• Zhu Yu entered Qin Mao’s cabin and stabbed a coconut hidden beneath a towel, but Qin Mao caught him with a screwdriver and hammer.
• Qin Mao questioned Zhu Yu, who claimed Wang Tai had ordered him to kill Qin Mao because the Hope could have only one boss and one Sequence Transcendent.
• Zhu Yu agreed to explain what had happened, and Qin Mao grew furious as he listened.

Qin Mao questioned Zhu Yu about his attack, then killed him after learning that the Hope's survivors feared an approaching fourteen-day deadline. The next day, Wang Tai led the fleet to Stone Ape Island to gather food, where a strange figure approached the group with coconuts.

• Qin Mao learned that Zhu Yu attacked him because he blamed him for extending the survivors' suffering by repairing the Hope, and Zhu Yu warned him that the fourteen days were nearly up.
• After Zhu Yu left, Qin Mao killed him with the screwdriver and returned to bed, pondering the fourteen-day warning.
• The next morning, the survivors avoided Qin Mao as rumors spread that he had tortured and murdered Zhu Yu.
• Wang Tai identified Stone Ape Island from the fleet's logbook and brought the survivors ashore to gather mulberry stalk while warning them not to interact with uncanny beings.
• Qin Mao worked out plans to escape before the next morning, and a strange figure approached the survivors offering fresh coconuts.

Liu Qiang was killed by an anomaly selling coconuts while he gathered mulberry stalks, and the creature attacked the other survivors as they fled. Wang Tai covered their retreat, but the anomaly regrew its head as a boy and lunged at him when he tripped near the ship.

• Liu Qiang encountered a woman offering coconuts, and the coconut bit off his head when she forced it into his arms.
• Wang Tai ordered the survivors to retreat to the ship as the coconut-selling anomaly pursued them and forced a coconut on another man, killing him.
• Wang Tai shot the woman with [Just Verdict], but the anomaly regrew its head in about ten seconds as a teenage boy holding the coconut.
• The boy pursued the survivors while Wang Tai used gunfire to hold him back as the others boarded the ship.
• Wang Tai tripped over a bundle of mulberry stalks and fell in front of the boy, who lunged at him with delight.

Wang Tai and Qin Mao escaped the coconut eerie entity on Stone Ape Island and brought its Curio Material aboard the Hope. After the ship left, Wang Tai tortured a survivor he suspected of luring the entity, while Qin Mao recognized signs of a plot by Zhu Yu’s group.

• Qin Mao pulled Wang Tai out of danger and told him to shoot the coconut, destroying the boy-shaped eerie entity.
• Wang Tai and Qin Mao retrieved the coconut Curio Material and sailed away from Stone Ape Island aboard the Hope.
• Wang Tai angrily blamed an unknown person for dropping Mulberry Stalks, while Qin Mao hid that he had dropped them.
• Wang Tai had a bound survivor brought before him and accused him of luring the eerie entity, but the man denied it.
• Qin Mao noticed the survivor exchanging glances with others and suspected Zhu Yu’s group had planned to use the entity to kill someone.
• Wang Tai tortured the survivor to establish his authority, then told Qin Mao to finish things up.

Qin Mao learned that Wang Tai planned to risk drinking a damaged, contaminated Sequence Potion at sunrise, trusting a Diviner’s prediction that it would guarantee his awakening. After secretly copying the keys with his system, Qin Mao connected the potion to the 14-Day Curse and refined his escape plan.

• Qin Mao calmly executed the gaunt man, gaining 500 Kill Points as Wang Tai’s crew watched.
• Wang Tai showed Qin Mao a hidden compartment containing Curio Material and a damaged, contaminated Sequence Potion.
• Wang Tai explained that a Diviner had predicted he would awaken if he drank the potion at sunrise the next morning, and he resolved to take the risk.
• Qin Mao copied the key to the compartment and the Captain’s Quarters door by upgrading wood blocks with his system.
• Qin Mao connected the potion to the 14-Day Curse and decided to rely on his own escape preparations rather than Wang Tai’s survival.

Qin Mao used the feast aboard the Hope to steal an oval bone fragment, a parchment scroll, and a damaged Sequence Potion from Wang Tai’s hidden compartment, while Wang Tai spoke openly about the ship’s divided loyalties and his plan to become a Sequence Transcendent. Qin Mao left the coconut and ship’s log behind, and Zhang Qing approached the sleeping Wang Tai with a blanket, unaware of Qin Mao’s scheme.

• Wang Tai explained that the Hope had no cannons because no one could repair ships, then helped Qin Mao inspect unused iron and the ammunition store so Qin Mao could install cannons.
• Wang Tai held a feast for the survivors, then told Qin Mao that some people aboard wanted him dead but that he needed them, and said they would support each other after he took a Sequence Potion the next morning.
• Qin Mao slipped away from the feast, unlocked Wang Tai’s hidden compartment, and stole an oval bone fragment, a parchment scroll, and the Sequence Potion; he left the coconut and ship’s log behind.
• Qin Mao hid the stolen items in his clothes and returned to the deck, while Zhang Qing picked up a blanket and tiptoed toward the sleeping Wang Tai.

Wang Tai woke from a dream of becoming a legendary transcendent and discovered that Qin Mao had taken the wondrous materials from the Captain’s Quarters. He confronted Qin Mao, who said staying aboard the Hope made him uncomfortable, and demanded that he return the Sequence Potion.

• Wang Tai dreamed that he took the Sequence Potion, became a powerful transcendent, and built a vast Hope Fleet and survivor base.
• Zhang Qing told Wang Tai that Qin Mao had gone to the Captain’s Quarters to fetch a blanket, prompting Wang Tai to investigate.
• Wang Tai found the hidden compartment empty except for the large coconut and realized Qin Mao had taken the materials.
• Wang Tai searched the ammunition magazine, found nothing amiss, and then spotted Qin Mao hiding in the shadows.
• Qin Mao said he was leaving because staying on the Hope made him uncomfortable, while Wang Tai demanded the Sequence Potion and threatened to let him remain first mate if he returned it.

Qin Mao confronted Wang Tai over the contaminated potion and exposed his plan to destroy the Hope if his attempt to awaken failed. When Wang Tai threatened to detonate the bombs, Qin Mao escaped aboard his raft just before the ship exploded, leaving him free on the sea.

• Qin Mao refused to return the potion and accused Wang Tai of manipulating conflicts aboard the Hope and preparing to blow up the ship.
• Qin Mao revealed that he had discovered Wang Tai's hidden explosives and understood his plan to either awaken or kill everyone in fourteen days.
• Wang Tai drew [Just Verdict], but Qin Mao revealed he had replaced the real gun with a replica and stolen the potion.
• Wang Tai threatened to detonate the bombs, while Qin Mao waited for the countdown and knocked loose the panel securing his raft.
• Qin Mao escaped beneath the raft as the Hope exploded, then said goodbye to the people aboard and welcomed his freedom.

After destroying the Hope and its people, Qin Mao gathered wreckage to upgrade his raft into a ship, but Wang Tai ambushed and wounded him. Qin Mao completed the upgrade, leaving Wang Tai stranded in the water and begging for help.

• Qin Mao collected wreckage from the destroyed Hope to use as materials for upgrading his raft.
• Wang Tai attacked Qin Mao with a wooden spike, wounded his shoulder, and declared that he intended to kill him.
• Qin Mao spent 10,000 Kill Points to upgrade the raft and gathered ship materials while fending off Wang Tai.
• The upgrade transformed the raft and wreckage into a twenty-meter-long wooden sailboat.
• Wang Tai, left bobbing in the water, realized Qin Mao's shipbuilding ability was extraordinary and pleaded for a chance to be saved.

Qin Mao upgraded and drank the contaminated Sequence Potion, awakening as a Free Person while Wang Tai died in the sea. Qin Mao learned his new abilities and the sequence’s costs, then faced the need to keep moving and obey a rotating taboo.

• Qin Mao upgraded the damaged Sequence Potion with 10,000 Kill Points and drank the perfect potion as Wang Tai watched from the water.
• Wang Tai realized Qin Mao had taken the potion he wanted, then died from the wooden plank lodged in his body as dawn broke.
• Qin Mao received 500 Kill Points for Wang Tai’s death, pulled the spike from his shoulder, and bound the wound.
• Qin Mao discovered he had awakened as a Sequence 1 Lone Walker in the Free Person sequence, gaining abilities that improved his physique, running, escape, and resistance to mind control.
• Qin Mao learned that he could not stay in one place for more than 24 hours and must obey a new taboo every three days; his current taboo was not to eat his fill.