Recaps

Himeko connected Shut Up to the local network, contacted Dan Heng, and dealt with the wanted thugs before her salvaged chip burned out. At the junkyard, Buer received a Brain-Computer Interface reward for Gaul, but Dan Heng warned him about the device and set out to find his companions.

• Himeko installed a secondhand chip in Shut Up and contacted Dan Heng, who said he was at the junkyard and that March 7th had hit him with a car.
• Himeko sent Dan Heng the Astral Express's location, but the chip burned out before she could finish messaging him.
• Himeko checked the wanted notices, killed Mohican and his accomplices, and claimed their bounties by uploading their Brain-Computer Interface serial numbers and photos.
• At the junkyard, Dan Heng told Buer not to touch Brain-Computer Interfaces, but Buer installed one and received a combat chip reward that unlocked interface technology for Gaul.
• WarGreymon noticed that Himeko and Dan Heng had Golden Tickets and concluded that Dan Heng's warning meant Brain-Computer Interfaces were genuinely dangerous.
• Dan Heng put on a mask and headed out to find his companions while Buer followed him.

Himeko explored Los Angeles and its black market while learning about the city’s cyberware and smart chips. After discovering a wanted criminal harassing her, she killed him in the crowded underground plaza and caused the market to panic.

• Himeko recorded what she had learned about Los Angeles, its Corporation, cyberware, and the scattered Astral Express crew, then headed for a nearby black market.
• On the way, Himeko tested how people with smart chips behaved and observed that poorer residents relied on modified or salvaged chips.
• In the underground passage, Himeko dealt with several people who tried to steal Shut Up and Himechi Cat.
• Himeko asked Shut Up to identify a man as Nailhead, a wanted criminal with a bounty of twenty-five thousand, then hurled him into the plaza and shot him with the Banner Spear.
• The crowd fled shouting that the killer had arrived, and Himeko unlocked the Cyberpsycho achievement.

Himeko wrecked the black market to draw out its owner, while Dan Heng cautiously made his way toward Los Angeles and stopped Taco’s runaway Go-Kart. The chapter left Himeko heading to meet the black market boss and Dan Heng introducing himself to Taco.

• Himeko destroyed valuables and beat black-market enforcers until Bastion emerged and invited her to meet his boss.
• Shut Up’s scan of Bastion’s military cyberware failed because it lacked chip permissions, and its combat system advised retreating from Himeko.
• Dan Heng avoided surveillance on the outskirts of Los Angeles and mistook an approaching engine for an enemy attack.
• Dan Heng stopped Taco’s Go-Kart, freeing him from the tiger that had bitten him.
• The tiger fled, crashed into a utility pole, and died, while Dan Heng introduced himself to Taco as the Astral Express’s guard.

Dan Heng encountered Taco and agreed to take him and Buer toward the Astral Express after Taco described looking for Himeko. The group headed toward the train in central Los Angeles, where Dan Heng warned Taco about the Brain-Computer Interfaces as Taco took in the vast city.

• Dan Heng set down the Go-Kart and explained that he had come to find his companions, while Taco searched for Himeko and described her unusual weapons and cooking.
• Dan Heng recognized that Taco knew Himeko and trusted him more, but Buer objected to bringing another contestant along.
• Taco activated Harden and threatened Buer, who backed down and urged Dan Heng not to risk exposing their movements.
• Dan Heng said Himeko had sent him the train’s location and invited Taco and Buer to follow him to the Astral Express.
• Dan Heng warned Taco not to touch cybernetic implants, especially Brain-Computer Interfaces, and Taco noticed Buer’s implant and marveled at the enormous city.

Taco joined Dan Heng and Bull as they headed toward central Los Angeles, while Bull hoped to exploit the city’s advanced technology and wealth. After learning that cybernetics could control their users and that Dan Heng was wanted, Bull received a message offering him part of Dan Heng’s bounty if he helped capture him.

• Taco accepted a call from Samba Country’s commentators, who urged him to install a Brain-Computer Interface and cybernetics to gain strength and technology for his country.
• The commentators warned Taco that Himeko was negotiating in the Underground Black Market, Weir was fleeing cannibals, and Dan Heng was a wanted criminal with a huge bounty.
• Taco asked Dan Heng why he had warned against cybernetics, and Dan Heng compared them to Demonic Swords that could erode their wielders’ consciousness.
• Bull received a message identifying Dan Heng as a high-threat wanted criminal and promising him part of the bounty if he stayed beside Dan Heng and helped the authorities capture him.

Buer used cyberware supplied by the Mobile Unit to track Dan Heng, but the advanced eye overloaded his brain. Meanwhile, Himeko negotiated with a black-market boss and demonstrated the military exoskeleton’s strength as she prepared to use more forceful diplomacy.

• Buer installed an advanced cybernetic eye and Intelligent Chip, then used them to find Dan Heng and Taco’s route before collapsing from brain overload.
• Buer learned that upgrading his Brain-Computer Interface and cyberware would cost 4.73 million, but resumed pursuing Dan Heng for the bounty.
• The Mobile Unit’s captain ordered the newly arrived outsiders without the power of [Trailblaze] placed on a watch list and reviewed Himeko’s group as a serious threat.
• Himeko met the black-market boss, who offered to trade money or chips for her talking fox or joke-telling machine.
• Himeko presented the military exoskeleton, and the boss connected it to his body and stopped Bastion’s heavy mechanical strike with one hand.

Himeko questioned the old man behind the Black Market about Dan Heng’s wanted status and the secrets of Brain-Computer Interfaces and prosthetics. She left with military-grade chips and money, then contacted Dan Heng, who said he was bringing Taco to meet at the Express.

• Himeko asked the old man why Dan Heng was being hunted, and he explained that Dan Heng had attacked company headquarters and killed the chairman’s son.
• Himeko told the old man that Dan Heng was family and asked what secrets lay behind Brain-Computer Interfaces and prosthetics.
• Himeko demonstrated a hand-cranked intelligent model, prompting the old man to give her three military-grade chips and transfer five hundred million to her account.
• Himeko asked who the old man was, and he identified himself as the boss profiting behind the Black Market or an old man nearing death.
• Himeko installed the chips in Shut Up and messaged Dan Heng, who replied that he had found Taco and would meet her at the Express.

Dan Heng told Himeko that the corporation's Intelligent Chips secretly exploited and could take over users' brains, and that a third party had caused the heir's death. On her way back to the Express, Himeko was declared a wanted criminal, escaped the Mobile Unit with Shut Up and Himechi Cat, and stole a flying car despite having no license.

• Dan Heng sent Himeko his findings that Intelligent Chips mined users' brains, learned from their memories, and sometimes took over their bodies.
• Dan Heng explained that the corporation's president planned to transfer his consciousness into the heir's body, but a third party had killed the heir and left Dan Heng wanted.
• Himeko headed back toward the Express with Shut Up and Himechi Cat, then noticed surveillance cameras watching them.
• A sniper and the Mobile Unit attacked Himeko after she was declared a maximum-threat wanted criminal, so she fled to avoid endangering civilians.
• Himeko leaped onto a Mobile Unit flying car, threw its occupants out, and drove away without a license.

Himeko fled a mobile unit pursuing her through the sky and raced toward Dan Heng, while Duncan secretly harvested a bystander’s cybernetic implants. Dan Heng met Himeko’s car on the outskirts and raised a dragon-shaped barrier as the pursuing officers identified him as a high-risk wanted criminal.

• Himeko drove the flying car through several lanes to escape the mobile unit and avoid fighting over a populated area.
• Shut Up accessed the mobile unit’s system, found Dan Heng’s location, and guided Himeko toward him as Himechi Cat returned fire.
• The mobile unit broadcast Himeko’s alleged crimes, while contestants and livestream viewers watched the chase unfold.
• Duncan killed a bystander, stole his Brain-Computer Interface and cybernetic implants, and planned to have the interface installed.
• Dan Heng told Taco to hide, then leaped onto Himeko’s car and surrounded it with a dragon-shaped barrier as the mobile unit flagged him as a high-risk wanted criminal.

Dan Heng and Himeko escaped the Los Angeles Special Task Mobile Force, with Dan Heng using two draconic spirits to drive back the captain and pursuing officers. They reached Dan Heng’s scrapyard hideout, where Himeko saw how crudely he lived.

• Himechi Cat appeared beside Dan Heng, offered him coffee, and was pulled back by Shut Up as Himeko drove through the pursuing police cars.
• The mobile force captain ordered an attack, but Dan Heng’s ocher dragon spirit knocked down the officers and disabled their hovercars.
• The captain activated his cybernetic implants and charged at Dan Heng, who summoned a second, blue-green dragon alongside the first.
• The captain flew into the sky after taking the full force of Dan Heng’s attack, while the remaining officers called for backup and watched Himeko escape.
• Himeko abandoned the hovercar at the edge of Dan Heng’s scrapyard and followed him to his makeshift hideout, asking if it was where he lived.

Himeko reunited with Dan Heng and discussed the factions and technology in Los Angeles, while Dan Heng became determined to stop her from serving him her dangerous coffee and cooking. Washana arrived in the city and found the badly injured mobile unit captain, hesitating over whether to kill him as she thought of Himeko.

• Himeko told Dan Heng that March 7th was far away and that Pom-Pom was the only one currently on the Express.
• Dan Heng tried Himechi Cat's coffee and feared Himeko's plans to make him more coffee and pork trotter rice, resolving to replace or destroy her recipe.
• Dan Heng explained the president's body-transfer plan, the third-party faction, and the risks posed by Brain-Computer Interfaces and cybernetic implants in Los Angeles.
• Himeko revealed that she had confirmed the company's president was behind the black market, but suspected he had another plan despite the heir's death.
• Washana entered Los Angeles on the Robot Vacuum and decided to find Himeko before pursuing technology for Bear Country.
• Washana found the badly injured mobile unit captain Dan Heng had sent flying and prepared to kill him, then wondered what Himeko would do.

Washana saved the injured Mobile Team Captain, who repaid her with money and help before taking her to the mobile force. As Dan Heng’s appearance stirred speculation in Huaxia, WarGreymon noticed clues that Himeko and Dan Heng had known each other before boarding the Astral Express and asked the authorities for all information about Himeko.

• Washana brought the unconscious Mobile Team Captain to a legitimate hospital, where staff confirmed his insurance and treated his injuries.
• After recovering, the Mobile Team Captain thanked Washana, gave her money, and offered to help her obtain a Brain-Computer Interface or Military Spine.
• Washana asked to explore Los Angeles, and the Mobile Team Captain took her to the mobile force while warning her about outside travelers and powerful wanted criminals.
• The Mobile Team Captain showed Washana Dan Heng’s photo and described him as a dangerous wanted criminal who had defeated him.
• WarGreymon compared photos of Himeko and Dan Heng, noticed their identical Train Tickets and absolute trust, and asked Chinese authorities for all available information on Himeko.

WarGreymon reviewed evidence suggesting Himeko and the Astral Express had existed before the National Destiny Instance, then chose to ignore the mystery and complained about his exhausting work schedule. In Los Angeles, Himeko and Dan Heng headed toward the Wild Dog Gang to investigate the city's conspiracies, but motorcycle gang members surrounded them.

• WarGreymon learned that Himeko had recently researched trains and tried to acquire one, while records of her earlier life showed no trace of her; he decided not to investigate further.
• WarGreymon proposed changing the guards' schedule from two shifts to three after nearly twenty hours without enough rest.
• Himeko and Dan Heng discussed their weakened abilities, the danger of returning to the Astral Express, and the need to raise Los Angeles's Exploration Progress by uncovering the city's hidden conflicts.
• Himeko and Dan Heng decided to visit the Wild Dog Gang's territory in search of information about the company's factions and the smart-chip crisis.
• A group of armed motorcycle gang members surrounded Himeko, Dan Heng, and Shut Up, mistaking them for wealthy targets without cybernetic implants.

Himeko and Dan Heng used Himeko’s wealth to get past the Wild Dog Gang’s guards and reach the gang’s underground workroom. There, they found Weir of the Sun-Setting Empire strapped to an operating table, and Dan Heng stopped the scalpel before it could cut him.

• Himeko and Dan Heng rode motorcycles toward the eastern city, with Shut Up driving Dan Heng’s bike and Himechi Cat cheering from Himeko’s back.
• The group found the abandoned stadium that served as the entrance to Wild Dog Gang territory, where Himeko paid a guard two hundred thousand to let them pass.
• Himeko and Dan Heng paid their way past more gang members as they headed underground, avoiding a fight while preparing to deal with them later.
• Himeko heard a commotion and followed a gang member into a workroom where the gang was dismantling captives.
• Dan Heng knocked away a scalpel just before it could cut Weir, who was strapped to an operating table and gagged.

Himeko rescued Weir and recruited him into the Astral Express team as they investigated the heir’s death and the crises in Los Angeles. Weir discovered Dan Heng’s extraordinary danger rating, while the Wild Dog Gang plotted to kill Himeko and steal her money.

• Himeko paid to rescue Weir, who met Dan Heng and Shut Up before agreeing to join her team.
• Weir used Box Opening on Dan Heng and learned that he was an SS-ranked wanted criminal classified as a Level Twelve Danger in his normal state.
• Weir told Himeko about his abilities and suggested attacking the Wild Dog Gang, while Himeko explained their investigation into the heir’s death and the threats facing Los Angeles.
• Shut Up revealed that he had planted viruses in the gang members’ Brain-Computer Interfaces, which would overheat their chips once activated.
• As Himeko, Dan Heng, and Weir headed toward the gang’s leaders, several Wild Dog Gang members plotted to separate Himeko from Dan Heng, kill her, and take her money.

Himeko’s group bought its way into the Wild Dog Gang’s upper ranks, while rumors about Dan Heng’s dragon heritage and immortality sparked intense interest in the studio and beyond. Zhang San refused the authorities’ request to probe Himeko about immortality, and the group reached a meeting with four of the gang’s five leaders.

• Himeko’s group browsed the Wild Dog Gang’s residential marketplace, where Shut Up repeated a dubious story about Yaoshi gaining authority over wild dog milk, and Dan Heng denied that the drink could grant immortality or that Vidyadhara nursed their young.
• Himeko took a case of pure wild dog milk to experiment with adding it to coffee after the group moved on.
• Zhang San concluded that Dan Heng belonged to the long-lived Vidyadhara dragon race, then rejected the authorities’ request to question Himeko about immortality rather than spend scarce outside-support resources for others’ selfish desires.
• Himeko’s spending made her a shareholder in the Wild Dog Gang, and several minor bosses escorted her group to the gang’s deepest meeting room.
• Four of the gang’s five leaders gathered to meet Himeko, and the lead man saw her wealth, Dan Heng’s bounty, and her apparent connections as signs of her influence.

Himeko questioned the Wild Dog Gang about the dead company heir and learned of a possible conspiracy involving the company's shares and an illegitimate son. After paying the gang to release its captives and clean up its territory, she sent Dan Heng ahead, only to be surrounded by gang members demanding more money.

• Himeko questioned the Wild Dog Gang executives, who revealed that the company heir had tried to recruit them and that someone had sabotaged his business ventures.
• The executives explained that the President owned 67 percent of the company and that his shares would be distributed among other shareholders if he died without an heir.
• The Wild Dog Gang disclosed that an illegitimate son outside the company had commissioned them to do dirty work.
• Himeko paid the gang tens of millions and ordered it to release its captives and clear its territory of criminal activity.
• Himeko sent Dan Heng ahead and took Weir to a safer spot, where several gang members surrounded her and complained that she had only given them two hundred thousand.

Himeko’s group fought off the Wild Dog Gang with Shut Up’s hacking, then learned that Lin En ran brothels and a business arranging legal killings. They set out to find him and uncover whether he killed the heir and framed Dan Heng.

• Wild Dog Gang members tried to attack Himeko and Weir, but Shut Up activated viruses in their Brain-Computer Interfaces and killed them.
• Weir tried to salvage the gang members’ implants, but Shut Up said they were worth less than selling himself.
• Dan Heng returned and told the group he had cleared out the Wild Dog Gang, though one leader remained missing.
• Himeko revealed that Lin En was the president’s illegitimate son and ran brothels as well as a service arranging paid killings and organ sales.
• Himeko’s group decided to find Lin En, while Himechi Cat charged ahead on Shut Up and Dan Heng wondered whether anyone would rein her in.

Himeko's group disguised themselves and traveled through Los Angeles, where Dan Heng explained the city's corporate-controlled happiness drugs and capsule apartments. They reached a members-only bar, and Himeko secured their entry by transferring five million to a hostess.

• Himeko used clothing from the corpses and coffee beans to disguise the group, while Dan Heng chose to wear a mask.
• Dan Heng explained that Los Angeles could not track them through Brain-Computer Interfaces because none of them had one installed.
• Dan Heng described how the corporation extracted and sold happiness, and explained that capsule apartments let a thousand people live in a building through virtual homes.
• Himeko's group reached a members-only bar, where the hostesses demanded proof of assets exceeding five million.
• Shut Up displayed Himeko's balance, but when the hostess could not verify it, Himeko transferred five million directly to her.

Himeko and her companions entered a Los Angeles club to learn more about its activities, with Himechi Cat curious about the adult entertainment and Himeko bribing a bartender for information. They reached an upper floor that housed a casino and wondered whether the company behind it operated any legitimate businesses.

• Himeko proved she could afford entry to the club, while Himechi Cat and Weir reacted to the hostesses’ advances.
• Himeko, Dan Heng, and Himechi Cat entered the club, where Dan Heng blocked Himechi Cat from watching the adults.
• Himeko bought Himechi Cat a Sprite and paid a bartender, who arranged for a waiter to take the group to other activities.
• The waiter sent them upward in a private room that functioned as an elevator, and Shut Up detected unusually high oxygen levels on the top floor.
• Himeko and her companions found a casino and questioned why the businesses controlled by the bastard son seemed so shady.

Weir took the Astral Express's four hundred million to challenge a casino and draw Lin En's attention, where he faced Duncan. The chapter revealed how Duncan had reached the casino after selling his horse to Lin En and then summoning it back.

• Weir claimed he had exceptional gambling skills, and Himechi Cat gave him the Astral Express's data chip containing over four hundred million.
• Weir took a seat at the gambling table and challenged the gambler opposite him, until Duncan stepped in to play.
• Himeko recognized Duncan as an Amerika contestant and noted that he had a Brain-Computer Interface installed.
• Earlier, Duncan escaped a giant worm with his horse, then decided to sell the horse for starting capital after learning it could be summoned again.
• Duncan led the horse to Lin En's secretary, sold it for five hundred thousand, and then summoned it back, making Lin En look foolish.

Duncan was captured by Lin En and persuaded him that Himeko could provide valuable technological knowledge, earning money and a mission to bring her in. After Duncan beat Himeko’s group at gambling, he agreed to take them to Lin En.

• Lin En’s private troops captured Duncan, and Lin En beat him before offering to forgive him if he shared useful knowledge.
• Duncan falsely claimed that Himeko possessed a weapon capable of bombarding a planet, and Lin En gave him three days to bring her in.
• Lin En gave Duncan a Brain-Computer Interface and chip, transferred him another million, and told his staff to assist him.
• Duncan met Weir at the gambling table, challenged Himeko’s party, and won all of their money.
• Himeko explained that Duncan’s appearance had already achieved their objective, despite the group losing over four hundred million.
• Duncan emerged from the club and offered to take the group to Lin En, claiming the gambling winnings as his commission.

Himeko and her companions met Lin En to discuss cooperation and the dead heir’s case, but Lin En denied killing the heir and said he, too, wanted to know who had done it. He revealed that the heir’s reckless public image had been an act and that he had pursued a secret goal, leaving the group with a new lead.

• Duncan brought Himeko, Himechi Cat, Weir, and Dan Heng to Lin En’s apartment after admitting he had sold information about them to survive.
• Lin En offered to help remove Dan Heng’s wanted notice and provide case files and street rumors in exchange for their advanced technology, but Himeko refused his terms.
• Lin En denied killing the old man’s legitimate heir, and Dan Heng questioned him about the murder.
• Lin En described the heir as a failed businessman who had concealed his ambitions and said the heir would not have died if not for a goal he was pursuing.

Himeko and Dan Heng secured Lin En’s support for their work in Los Angeles, then returned to the Express while Duncan went off on his own. At the Corporation’s headquarters, the Neon contestant Captivity woke under the watch of a frail old man.

• Himeko summoned the Pig Trotter Rice Spirit and explained how she had acquired it, but Lin En rejected it as a purchase.
• Himeko asked why Lin En and his companions were staying in Los Angeles, and he agreed to provide supplies, Mobile Unit assistance, and the forces under his command.
• Lin En warned Himeko that the old man at the Corporation was not as simple as he seemed and gave her access to his account for expenses.
• Himeko and Dan Heng left with Lin En’s data chip, while Himeko told Duncan he could leave but could not join them.
• Himeko and Dan Heng returned to the Express to rest, and Duncan set out to explore on his own.
• Captivity woke at the Corporation’s headquarters and saw a frail old man watching him through bulletproof glass.

After Neon resurrected Inukai, his newfound strength did little to protect him from a missile that pursued and blasted him. The company’s President rescued and rebuilt him with Cybernetic Implants and a Brain-Computer Interface, then introduced himself as Yamada.

• Neon resurrected Inukai, who discovered that the Amusement Park had left him with immense strength and blood energy.
• A missile with arms and legs chased Inukai for twenty kilometers into Los Angeles, where it announced that it wanted to blow him up because it was fun.
• Inukai stood his ground and took the missile’s explosion head-on, surviving with severe burns.
• The company’s people brought Inukai to the medical room, where the President replaced necrotic parts with Cybernetic Implants and installed a three-chip Brain-Computer Interface.
• Inukai woke with a renewed body, met the old man who had saved him, and learned that he was Yamada, the company’s President and controlling shareholder.