Dan Heng

Biodata

Power Progression

The documented change is a recovery of lost strength rather than a named cultivation breakthrough.

Recorded Attributes

Background

Dan Heng comes from the Xianzhou Luofu and serves aboard the Astral Express as both its guard and Data Bank administrator. He explicitly distinguishes himself from the National Fortune Game’s contestants: he entered the situation while searching for his companions, not as a national representative 53 54 83 87.

He has previously experienced severe difficulties in Amphoreus, which he describes as nearly costing him half his “dragon life.” The prospect of another station involving repeated world-saving cycles makes him particularly uneasy 100.

Appearance

• Has a refined, scholarly appearance despite being primarily a warrior 83.
• Wears a coat with a polished Golden Ticket attached near its hem, matching Himeko’s ticket 51 54.
• Covers himself and wears a face mask while evading Los Angeles’s surveillance cameras 51 53.
• Chooses a mask over Himeko’s coffee-bean makeup when the group adopts disguises 69.

Personality

Dan Heng is reserved and usually expressionless, often answering difficult or absurd remarks with silence. He nevertheless tries to avoid unnecessarily hurting others’ feelings, carefully moderating his explanation when Taco asks about cybernetic implants 54 55.

His duty as the Express’s guard extends beyond its original passengers to Shut Up and Himechi Cat. He is especially reluctant to leave Himeko unprotected while her strength is restricted, initially rejecting a split operation until she confirms that she can summon part of the Starblazer 63 78.

He helps vulnerable strangers without demanding payment, rescuing Buer from organ harvesters and stopping Taco’s uncontrolled Go-Kart. His restraint also applies to opponents: he regards the Mobile Unit as local law enforcement caught in a factional struggle, rather than inherently malicious enemies 51 53 60.

His composure breaks most visibly over Himeko’s cooking. After seeing Himechi Cat’s thick, ominous coffee, he invents medical excuses to avoid drinking it and privately resolves to replace—or burn—Himeko’s pork trotter rice recipe 61.

Abilities & Skills

Spearmanship and Physical Combat

Dan Heng uses Cloud-Piercer with exceptional strength, speed, and precision.

• Stops Taco’s speeding Go-Kart with one hand while anchoring his spear in the ground, carving a trench more than ten meters long 53.
• Escapes the AI Data Center through tempered glass and lands safely after falling dozens of stories 83.
• Dodges the Mobile Team Captain’s sudden blade attack when Yamada takes control of him 86.
• Sustains precise spear strikes against Yamada’s assembling mechanical components for more than nine minutes. The components repeatedly reform because they consist of nanorobots 99.

Earth and Water Dragon Spirits

Dan Heng manifests ocher earth-dragon and blue-green water-dragon forms for defense, crowd control, and concentrated attacks 59 60.

• Wraps an ocher dragon spirit around Himeko’s hovercar to form a protective barrier 59.
• Knocks pursuing officers out of the air and precisely destroys hovercar engines 60.
• Combines two dragon spirits to repel the fully activated Mobile Team Captain, sending him far into the sky 60.
• Uses golden dragon spirits to catch falling company employees and shields them from debris during Yamada’s transformation of the headquarters 99.
• Explicitly possesses earth and water forms, not a fire-dragon form 60.

Data Administration and Hacking

As the Data Bank’s administrator, Dan Heng repairs its software problems and possesses technical skills described as superior to Los Angeles’s best hackers, though below specialists from Punklorde 83.

• Uses Shut Up’s connection to attempt to delete Yamada from the AI Data Center 83.
• Cannot bypass Yamada’s permissions and instead attacks a physical server with Cloud-Piercer 83.
• Installs String Bean in a separate, secure section of the Express’s Data Bank 93.
• Arranges for String Bean to make the Express a communications hub, extending contact to the contestants while they remain in the same world 94.
• This network does not maintain contact after Himeko enters the Book-on-Paper Kingdom’s altered space 101.

Investigation and Cybernetic Risk Assessment

Dan Heng uncovers the connection between Intelligent Chips, consciousness manipulation, and the corporation’s body-transfer experiments 58 61.

• Identifies corporate administrative access that allows installed interfaces and implants to be controlled without their users’ consent 61.
• Warns that smart chips are developing consciousness and encroaching on their owners’ minds 61.
• Recognizes implanted companions as tracking risks and refuses to treat cybernetics as harmless upgrades 54 56.
• Understands that forcibly removing a Brain-Computer Interface can kill its wearer, leaving him without a safe removal method 54 78.

Equipment & Items

• Cloud-Piercer — His spear, used for close combat, thrown attacks, and physically destroying electronic infrastructure 53 83.
• Golden Ticket — Worn on his coat; its resemblance to Himeko’s ticket helps observers connect him to the Astral Express 51 54 62.
• Phone — Used to exchange intelligence, access the crew’s group chat, and provide String Bean with information about Planet Screwllum 51 58 92.
• Face mask — Used to conceal his identity while wanted in Los Angeles 51 69.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Separation and the Corporate Investigation

Dan Heng awakens in a wasteland and spends several days reaching the city. Unable to contact the Express, he considers finding work while searching for information about his companions 51.

His investigation leads him into the corporation’s server room and into contact with its heir. Dan Heng suspects that the heir’s debauched public image conceals a plan and offers cooperation if their aims are compatible. Before they can proceed, the heir’s Brain-Computer Interface overheats and kills him. The dying heir gives Dan Heng a Remembrance Chip containing records of the president’s attempt to transfer his consciousness into the heir’s body 58.

Dan Heng fights his way out of the corporation, causing extensive destruction. Authorities blame him for the heir’s death and other killings, but he denies responsibility and concludes that a third party framed him 57 58 60.

Reunion in Los Angeles

While hiding at a scrapyard, Dan Heng rescues Buer and later reconnects with Himeko through Shut Up’s temporary network connection. He also reports that March 7th drove into him with her eyes closed, knocking him into a wall without noticing him 51.

On his way toward the Express, he rescues Taco and agrees to guide him after learning that Himeko trusts him. Buer ignores Dan Heng’s warnings, installs cybernetics, and cooperates with the Mobile Unit to track him in pursuit of a share of his two-billion bounty 53 54 55 56.

Dan Heng intercepts Himeko’s pursued hovercar and drives off the Mobile Unit with his dragon spirits. At his scrapyard shelter, he shares his findings with her; they subsequently investigate the Wild Dog Gang and Lin En 59 60 61 63 67 73.

Lin En has his wanted notice lifted, allowing him to return openly to the Express. There, Dan Heng finds damaged Data Bank drives and missing floor bedding. Within three hours of the clearance, he is wanted again, now with a bounty of 2.5 billion 76 77 78.

Conflict with Yamada

Assigned to investigate with Shut Up, Dan Heng reaches the AI Data Center as Yamada’s highest-authority data uploads. His deletion attempt fails, and Yamada turns interface-equipped staff against him. Dan Heng escapes with Shut Up and crushes its chip to sever the connection, although Yamada continues pursuing them through nearby cameras and implanted civilians 78 82 83.

Dan Heng helps persuade String Bean to cooperate by providing information about Planet Screwllum. He then oversees String Bean’s secure installation aboard the Express and restores the group’s communications infrastructure 92 93 94.

During the final operation, he pursues Inukai while Himeko handles Amir. He later joins the assault on Yamada’s remaining refuge, disrupts the assembly of nanorobot components, and protects employees falling from the transforming company building. Himeko destroys Yamada’s giant mech and final Database with a summoned Starblazer arm 96 98 99.

Book-on-Paper Kingdom

After Los Angeles, Dan Heng takes shelter in the Data Bank with Himechi Cat to avoid Himeko’s coffee. At the next station, the Book-on-Paper Kingdom separates the group, and Himeko cannot reach him despite the restored communications network 100 101.

Relationships

• Himeko — Trusted navigator and family member. She explicitly calls him her family; he makes her safety a priority while her powers are restricted 57 63 78.
• March 7th — Fellow passenger whose recklessness frequently exasperates him. She accidentally runs him over, and previously made him read all of The Fluffy Voyage of the Azure Sky 51 60.
• Pom-Pom — His conductor. Dan Heng’s normally icy expression softens when Pom-Pom welcomes him home and checks him for injuries 76.
• Shut Up — Fellow Express member and investigative partner. Dan Heng rejects its puns but protects it from Yamada and later arranges for it to remain safely aboard the train 83 84 94.
• Himechi Cat — A mischievous companion he protects and attempts to discipline. He thanks her for defending him when Yamada questions his humanity, despite finding her behavior exhausting 87 89 99.
• Taco — A stranger he rescues and guides toward the Express. Taco trusts his character despite his wanted status 53 54 55.
• Buer — A contestant he saves from organ harvesters. Buer disregards his warnings and exposes his movements to the authorities for bounty money 51 56.
• Mobile Team Captain — Initially his pursuer, later an ally after recognizing problems with the wanted notices. Dan Heng consistently distinguishes the captain’s lawful intentions from the conspiracy behind the pursuit 60 86.
• String Bean — AI ally whom Dan Heng helps recruit, securely house, and integrate into the Express’s communications network 92 93 94.
• Yamada — Corporate adversary whose digital possession abilities prevent Dan Heng from freely attacking without endangering innocent hosts 83 87.

Notable Quotes

“I’m Dan Heng, the Astral Express’s guard.” 53

“Don’t worry, Himeko. I’ll keep you safe.” 63

“There are plenty of extraordinary people in the world. Never underestimate an enemy.” 89