Chapter Summaries

Yang Fan and Qin Mao investigated a creature following the Hope Fleet after several people were lured into the sea, but speeding up failed to shake it off. When a black figure damaged Qin Mao’s ship, he repaired the leak with all his remaining Kill Points and searched for the intruder.

• Yang Fan stopped the rescue attempts and ordered everyone to stay out of the water after Wang Lao'er fell overboard.
• Qin Mao joined Yang Fan, Ye Xuanyin, and Yan Qi to investigate the deaths and learned that witnesses could not remember the victims’ companions.
• Yan Qi reported that Xuanxuan had gone out with his older brother Lele before falling into the sea, and Qin Mao asked Ye Xuanyin to question the boy with the Book of Answers.
• The Hope Fleet sailed at full speed for three hours, but Yang Fan confirmed that the creature was still following them.
• Qin Mao found a meter-long breach in his ship after Zhang Yu spotted a black figure, used all his Kill Points to repair it, and began searching for the intruder.

Qin Mao realized that Zhang Yu was a dead mental-type Transcendent being controlled by the Chang-Driving Pufferfish, and shot him after exposing him. As Zhang Yu began to die, he asked Qin Mao how he had uncovered the truth.

• After the Chang-Driving Pufferfish devoured another crew member, Yang Fan anchored the fleet and told everyone to stay together and watch for danger.
• The fleet made it through the day without another attack, but Qin Mao grew increasingly certain that his suspicions about Zhang Yu were correct.
• When the pufferfish returned after dark, Qin Mao confronted Zhang Yu and accused him of being a corpse controlled by the creature.
• Qin Mao said Zhang Yu had approached him to push him into the sea, then shot him in the chest with [Just Verdict].
• Zhang Yu admitted Qin Mao had exposed him and asked how Qin Mao had figured it out.

Qin Mao exposed Zhang Yu as a corpse and resisted his mind control by recognizing that his reaction to [Just Verdict] revealed the weapon's importance. Zhang Yu identified Qin Mao as a [Free Person], then introduced himself as Fu Qingshi, a Sequence 4 Heartmare, and asked Qin Mao to kill a rival and deliver an apology to Zhang Jiayi.

• Qin Mao explained that Zhang Yu could not be alive because his [Free Person] ability made him stronger when alone, and Zhang Yu realized Qin Mao had uncovered his true condition.
• Zhang Yu identified Qin Mao's Sequence as [Free Person], alarming Qin Mao, who raised [Just Verdict] to protect his secret.
• Zhang Yu tried to make Qin Mao believe [Just Verdict] was a toy, but Qin Mao resisted and used the blood-written word “gun” on the wheel to recall how he had countered the mind control.
• Qin Mao recognized that Zhang Yu's astonished expression had revealed the weakness in [Impression Replacement], and Zhang Yu admitted defeat.
• Zhang Yu asked Qin Mao to kill a [Free Person] with a mole on his eyelid and to tell Zhang Jiayi he was sorry.
• Zhang Yu revealed that his name was Fu Qingshi and that he was a scientist and a Sequence 4 Heartmare of the [Endless Heart Aspect].

Qin Mao killed Fu Qingshi, whose final words and a metal plate hinted at information about the apocalypse, and the gunshot broke the mental control affecting the fleet. Yang Fan explained how he had identified the other corpse impostors, but the Chang-Driving Pufferfish then began ramming the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance.

• Fu Qingshi realized he had been dead for over a year, gave Qin Mao a metal plate, and asked him to preserve it before Qin Mao killed him with a gunshot that shattered the fleet’s mental barriers.
• The disguise over two survivors on the Rose and the Hope fell away, and Qin Mao secretly pocketed the metal plate.
• Yang Fan deduced that Fu Qingshi’s mental abilities had suppressed the fleet’s thoughts and actions, while Ye Xuanyin and Yan Qi regretted overlooking the signs of interference.
• Yang Fan explained that he had identified two corpse impostors by noticing their clothes were wet in front but dry in back after they ran through the rain.
• The Chang-Driving Pufferfish rammed the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance, and Qin Mao and Yang Fan prepared for its attack.

Yang Fan, Qin Mao, and Yan Qi struggled to hit the Chang-Driving Pufferfish as it rammed the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance. When Yang Fan fell into the sea, Ye Xuanyin went in after him, leaving Yan Qi and Qin Mao to face the charging creature.

• Yang Fan used his sensitivity to seawater to locate the Chang-Driving Pufferfish, but Qin Mao's shot and Yan Qi's newly assembled Fish-Bone Skeleton both missed.
• The Chang-Driving Pufferfish repeatedly rammed the ship, then dove deeper and gathered strength for a stronger attack.
• A violent jolt broke the railing Yang Fan was holding, and he fell into the sea, where he struggled to swim.
• Ye Xuanyin dove in and dragged Yang Fan backward as the Chang-Driving Pufferfish charged toward them.
• Yan Qi steadied himself and focused on making his one remaining shot count.

Qin Mao killed the Chang-Driving Pufferfish with one shot from [Just Verdict], and the survivors recovered its hide as Curio Material. The group then faced the question of how to divide it, while Qin Mao quietly prepared for a possible fight.

• Yan Qi's Fish-Bone Skeleton wounded the Chang-Driving Pufferfish, but its inflated body resisted further attacks.
• Qin Mao fired [Just Verdict] and killed the pufferfish with a Fish-Bone Bullet that detonated inside it.
• Qin Mao led the others to retrieve the pufferfish's hide, which the system identified as Curio Material.
• Yang Fan asked the group to discuss how to divide the hide, and the four fell silent.
• Qin Mao kept a hand behind his back and readied himself to use [Just Verdict] if anyone attacked him.

Qin Mao established fair rules for distributing the Hope Fleet’s wondrous items after a battle, then learned that a child had pushed his brother overboard out of jealousy. The revelation left Qin Mao shaken by the boy’s chilling cruelty as his parents cried in grief.

• Ye Xuanyin, Yan Qi, and Yang Fan each offered to give up their share of the Chang-Driving Pufferfish’s loot, until Qin Mao teased them and insisted the fleet needed clear distribution rules.
• Qin Mao proposed rules based on contribution, including equal shares for joint kills and a share for Auxiliary Sequence members, and Yang Fan added that loot had to be allocated on the spot.
• Qin Mao found a Soul-Binding Evil Pearl inside the pufferfish skin and claimed first pick for his contribution, while the others agreed to split the remaining materials.
• Qin Mao wondered where the missing corpse had gone, and Ye Xuanyin revealed that no corpse had infiltrated the Yaximu: Red Scarf had pushed his older brother Xuanxuan overboard.
• Red Scarf calmly told Ye Xuanyin that he had also once killed his mother’s kitten to win her attention, leaving Qin Mao horrified as the boy’s parents wailed.

Su Miaomiao secretly fed blood to the Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut, hoping to claim Qin Mao’s ship, while Qin Mao watched and planned to make her suffer before killing her. After Red Scarf’s family tragedy, Qin Mao shot Red Scarf’s father for insulting him, and the Hope Fleet declared that the extraordinary must not be insulted.

• Su Miaomiao continued bleeding herself to feed the Thousand-Faced Eerie Coconut, unaware Qin Mao could see her and knew about her plan to take his ship.
• Qin Mao suppressed his hatred of Su Miaomiao and resolved to make her despair before killing her on the fifteenth day.
• The fleet set sail after sleeping late, and survivors panicked when they heard Red Scarf’s mother had jumped into the sea with him; Yang Fan said they had committed suicide.
• Red Scarf’s father blamed Qin Mao for his family’s deaths, and Qin Mao argued back before shooting him with a fishbone bullet.
• The Hope Fleet announced a third iron law, “the extraordinary must not be insulted,” placing it above the ships’ other rules.

Qin Mao upgraded his fishing rod but caught a five-headed mutated shark, then joined a fleet meeting where Yang Fan classified eerie sea creatures and the survivors discussed the falling rate of normal fish. Qin Mao suspected his Eerie Coconut was attracting creatures across the fleet and hid his concern as the meeting continued.

• Qin Mao spent 1,000 Kill Points to upgrade his fishing rod, then hooked and released a five-headed great white shark that bit the Ten-Thousand-Li Divine Radiance.
• Zhang Licheng summoned Qin Mao to a meeting with Yang Fan, Yan Qi, and Ye Xuanyin aboard the Hope.
• Yang Fan classified sea creatures as eerie beings, Eerie Mutation creatures, and Initial Mutation creatures, and reported that normal fish made up only three percent of catches.
• Yan Qi said the chance of catching normal fish had fallen to about one percent or less over the past four or five days.
• Ye Xuanyin noted that the decline began when Qin Mao rejoined the fleet, and Qin Mao concealed his suspicion that the Eerie Coconut was attracting creatures throughout the fleet.

Qin Mao and the others traced the skeletal attacks to an apocalypse that had begun unfolding years before its public arrival, then discussed staying in safer waters. Yang Fan handed Qin Mao a short, ominous note that left him terrified.

• Yang Fan identified the freshest remains as Wang Laosan and estimated that the other two skeletons had been dead for a year or two.
• Qin Mao explained that time flowed faster farther out at sea, and the skeletons’ account showed that people had sailed into danger by 2039, before the apocalypse fully descended in June 2040.
• Yang Fan connected the earlier preparations for navigation lessons and sailing supplies to signs that the apocalypse had begun as early as 2038.
• Qin Mao deduced that the Chang-Driving Pufferfish had used the skeletons to infiltrate the fleet and kill Wang Laosan and another person.
• Qin Mao noticed fresh blade wounds on Ye Xuanyin’s arm and suspected they were a cost of her Transcendent Sequence.
• Qin Mao suggested staying in the relatively safe waters, but Yang Fan gave him a note whose contents made his blood run cold.