Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng met Song Yunzhong and a woman who hoped he had come with the military to retake the town, but he told them he was only an explorer. He learned about their fortified refuge and the dangers they faced, then gave a piece of candy to Song Yunzhong’s young daughter before returning indoors.

• Lu Heng left his room and met Song Yunzhong and a woman in the courtyard, where they asked if he was a military scout sent to retake the town.
• Lu Heng told them he was only an explorer, dashing their hopes that the military was coming.
• Song Yunzhong explained how they had reinforced their shelter and warned Lu Heng that a woman in the town center controlled a dangerous Zombie Cat.
• Lu Heng kept quiet about having already killed the woman and the Zombie Cat and cleared the town center.
• Song Yunzhong’s daughter asked Lu Heng for candy, and he gave her a piece before returning inside.

Lu Heng gave Song Yunzhong the Corpse-Control Ring and supplies to help his group survive, but refused to reveal his Shelter’s location. Despite not having fully recovered, he set out to find the Bone Demon after Song Yunzhong reported that a zombie was still waiting in the same place.

• Lu Heng gave Song Yunzhong the Corpse-Control Ring and promised to help him find a special zombie to bind.
• Lu Heng left food and water for Song Yunzhong’s group, while deciding not to bring them to his Shelter.
• Lu Heng told Song Yunzhong he had to leave to deal with the Bone Demon, despite Song Yunzhong urging him to rest.
• Song Yunzhong told Lu Heng that a zombie had stayed in the same place for days, apparently waiting for him.
• Lu Heng left the group and headed down the ruined street toward the Bone Demon.

Lu Heng returned to the underpass, ordered the Bone Demon to devour the Zombies and repair itself, then brought it back to the Shelter. He accelerated the Purifying Water Lotus’s ripening with Star Tear and obtained a flawless Lotus Seed to treat the Blood Beast Pill’s backlash.

• Lu Heng found the damaged Bone Demon guarding the underpass amid piles of Zombie corpses and ordered it to devour them.
• The Bone Demon repaired its body, and Lu Heng took it back toward the Shelter, noting that the Anomalous Supermarket was likely the area’s final boss stronghold.
• Lu Heng returned safely to the Shelter with the Bone Demon and went to the Planting Room to check the Purifying Water Lotus.
• Lu Heng poured Star Tear over the Purifying Water Lotus, accelerating its ripening until its seedpod opened.
• Lu Heng appraised the Lotus Seed with his Wristband and learned that it could repair his injuries from the Blood Beast Pill’s backlash.

Lu Heng consumed the Purifying Water Lotus seed, transforming his body and strengthening his attributes, then opened a Bronze-Tier Treasure Chest and learned Mind Spike. He left with the sinister supermarket’s Anomaly still undefeated and planned to use the Bone Demon to search underwater for another treasure chest.

• Lu Heng swallowed the Purifying Water Lotus seed and meditated with the Starlight Visualization Method as its energy reshaped his body.
• Lu Heng checked his Wristband and found that his Strength, Constitution, and Agility had risen to 29 and his Mental Energy to 20.
• Lu Heng learned Mind Spike from a scroll and stored an Origin Recovery Pill for emergencies.
• Lu Heng appraised a Weapon Modification Scroll and decided to consider its material and weapon pairing carefully before using it.
• Lu Heng remembered the likely treasure chest beneath the bridge and planned to have the Bone Demon search for it.
• Lu Heng set out with the sinister supermarket and its final boss still on his mind.

After recovering from battle, Lu Heng found that his Bronze Hunting Blade was badly damaged and could not safely withstand another close-quarters fight. He chose to use the Weapon Modification Scroll with the Rat King's entire body as fusion material, leaving the upgrade ready to begin.

• Lu Heng removed his damaged bronze armor and used the Purifying Water Lotus's Lotus Seed to recover from his injuries.
• Lu Heng inspected his Giant-Feather Crossbow and Bronze Hunting Blade, discovering that the blade was bent, chipped, and unsafe for another intense fight.
• Lu Heng reviewed the Weapon Modification Scroll's requirements and ruled out the Mutant King Cobra's materials as unsuitable.
• Lu Heng examined the Rat King's intact corpse and realized its fangs, claws, and skeleton could provide a wider range of traits for the blade.
• Lu Heng weighed the risk of using all the Rat King's materials, then decided to commit the entire body to the modification.

Lu Heng used a Weapon Modification Scroll and the Rat King's corpse to transform his Bronze Hunting Blade into the Rat King Bone Knife. He planned to search the King Cobra's lair, deliver supplies and clothes to the Shelter, and went to sleep.

• Lu Heng used the Weapon Modification Scroll to forge the Rat King's bones, claws, and hide into his Bronze Hunting Blade, creating the Rat King Bone Knife.
• Lu Heng examined the knife's armor-piercing and laceration traits, tested its balance with a swing, and stored it in his Wristband Space.
• Lu Heng decided to leave the Mutant King Cobra's corpse intact in case a Weapon Modification Scroll from its lair let him upgrade his Combat Suit.
• Lu Heng set aside five bags of flour and several packets of dehydrated vegetables to deliver to the Shelter the next day.
• Lu Heng planned to collect clothes from town stores on the way to the Shelter, then went to bed.

Lu Heng searched the ruined town, recovered snake eggs and a Bronze Treasure Chest from the Mutant King Cobra’s lair, and brought supplies to Song Yunzhong’s group. He left the Bone Demon to guard them and set off with Song Yunzhong to find the ability to control Zombies.

• Lu Heng collected warm clothes from a clothing store for himself and the children staying with Song Yunzhong.
• He sent the Bone Demon into the flooded lair, where it retrieved two snake eggs and a Bronze Treasure Chest.
• Lu Heng visited Song Yunzhong’s shelter, gave the children candy, and met Song Yunjing.
• He used his Wristband to provide five sacks of flour and warm clothes for the group.
• Lu Heng left the Bone Demon to guard the shelter and took Song Yunzhong deeper into town to find the Zombie-controlling ability.

Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong headed to the town hospital in search of medicine and zombies that might help unlock Song Yunzhong's Corpse-Control Ring. After Lu Heng rescued Song Yunzhong from a ghost's lure near a supermarket, they reached the hospital and entered its grounds.

• Song Yunzhong told Lu Heng that the town's largest zombie concentrations were in the apartment blocks, school, and hospital, and Lu Heng chose the hospital for its medicine supplies.
• Lu Heng stopped Song Yunzhong from approaching a small supermarket, then carried him away when the shop's ghost made Song Yunzhong walk toward it against his will.
• Lu Heng explained that a ghost inside the supermarket had affected Song Yunzhong's body and mind, and they continued toward the hospital.
• Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong approached the hospital through side streets and found a zombie trapped in the locked duty room.
• Lu Heng left the trapped zombie alone, and he and Song Yunzhong entered the hospital grounds.

Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong searched a hospital pharmacy and collected its untouched medicine supplies. As they prepared to leave, they sensed something approaching from behind a half-open door.

• Lu Heng followed Song Yunzhong's advice to move along the corridor walls and watch the dark gaps beneath patient room doors.
• Lu Heng broke a pharmacy window so he and Song Yunzhong could enter the chained-off pharmacy.
• Lu Heng stored rows of medicine in his Wristband Space while Song Yunzhong packed supplies into his backpack.
• Lu Heng heard muted footsteps behind a half-open door and signaled Song Yunzhong to stop.
• Song Yunzhong sensed danger and readied his knife as the door began to open.

Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong faced a Spiderified Zombie that used an ordinary zombie to probe the pharmacy before ambushing Lu Heng from above. Lu Heng identified the mutant and prepared to fight it while Song Yunzhong watched for other threats.

• An ordinary zombie was pushed through the pharmacy door, alerting Lu Heng that something outside was testing them.
• Lu Heng opened the inner door and was ambushed by a wall-climbing zombie that bit and clawed at his bracer.
• Lu Heng struck the attacker with his Ghost Claw and kicked it away, finding that his bracer had stopped its bite.
• Lu Heng used his Wristband to identify it as a Bronze Tier Mutant Spiderified Zombie with rudimentary intelligence and abilities including wall climbing, silk spitting, and venom.
• Lu Heng told Song Yunzhong to watch their surroundings while he prepared to test his abilities against the Spiderified Zombie.

Lu Heng defeated the Spiderified Zombie with Mind Spike and discovered that Song Yunzhong's Corpse-Control Ring could control it while retaining its mutant abilities. As approaching footsteps sounded outside the pharmacy, the group faced an emerging threat.

• Lu Heng fought the Spiderified Zombie, severed two of its legs, and dodged its sticky web before it escaped onto the ceiling.
• Lu Heng used Mind Spike to incapacitate the Spiderified Zombie, killing its consciousness without physically destroying its body.
• Lu Heng tested whether Song Yunzhong's Corpse-Control Ring could control the mutant, and Song Yunzhong successfully raised its corpse while preserving its abilities.
• Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong heard several sets of footsteps approaching the pharmacy from deeper in the corridor.

Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong tested the Spiderified Zombie’s strength, then followed the webs to a laboratory where they found a Bronze Treasure Chest. Seeing it, Song Yunzhong connected Lu Heng’s knowledge and equipment to the chest and asked whether their world was merely a game and its people NPCs.

• Lu Heng asked Song Yunzhong to test the Spiderified Zombie, which slaughtered the ordinary zombies flooding the corridor.
• Song Yunzhong felt mentally tired but insisted he could continue exploring with Lu Heng.
• Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong followed the spiderwebs to a laboratory and found the remains of a giant spider the zombie had likely devoured to mutate.
• Lu Heng uncovered a Bronze Treasure Chest in the laboratory, prompting Song Yunzhong to suspect Lu Heng came from another world.
• Song Yunzhong asked Lu Heng whether they were NPCs in a game and what their world really was.

Lu Heng explained to Song Yunzhong that he could not stay in Song Yunzhong’s world and gave him medicine for the children. After warning Song Yunzhong to remain vigilant, Lu Heng left the shelter to find a way to kill the danger in the supermarket.

• Lu Heng told Song Yunzhong that his own world had collapsed and that he would eventually leave, while Song Yunzhong’s world was real but undergoing unknown changes.
• Lu Heng and Song Yunzhong returned to the shelter with the Spiderified Zombie, which frightened Song Yunjing and the children until Song Yunzhong reassured them he could control it.
• Lu Heng warned Song Yunzhong that the Corpse-Control Ring could not protect him if a threat occupied the zombie, and Song Yunzhong said his military experience had taught him to stay alert.
• Lu Heng shared medicine with Song Yunzhong, telling him to take supplies the children might need.
• Lu Heng told Song Yunzhong he was leaving to find a way to kill the thing in the supermarket, and Song Yunzhong wished him well and offered help if he returned.

Lu Heng returned to the Shelter after settling his debt to Song Yunzhong and opened two Bronze Treasure Chests, gaining several useful items, including a reconnaissance drone and climbing boots. After equipping the boots, he looked at the bedroom wall and considered testing them.

• Lu Heng returned to the Shelter with Bone Demon after finally repaying his debt to Song Yunzhong.
• Lu Heng harvested the Star Tears in the Planting Room before opening the Bronze Treasure Chest from the snake nest.
• The snake nest chest contained an Equipment Modification Scroll, a Blood Beast Pill, and ingredients for snake bone salve.
• Lu Heng opened the hospital laboratory chest and found Spider-Shadow Climbing Boots, a Spider Reconnaissance Drone, and another Blood Beast Pill.
• Lu Heng put on the climbing boots and looked at the bedroom wall, wondering whether to test them.

Lu Heng dismantled the Mutant King Cobra, using its Energy Core to activate the Shadow Spider Reconnaissance Drone and its snakeskin to upgrade his Combat Suit. After replenishing his Geothermal Talisman's energy in the Geothermal Valley, he resolved to charge into the eerie supermarket that night.

• Lu Heng failed to climb the Shelter wall, then dismantled the Mutant King Cobra and fitted its Energy Core into the Shadow Spider Reconnaissance Drone.
• Lu Heng tested the drone's quiet, ground-level movement and night-vision feed, then used the cobra's snakeskin to create a Snake-Pattern Combat Suit.
• Lu Heng considered his previous encounter with the supermarket's butcher and cashier and suspected they might have been wary of him.
• Lu Heng left the Shelter with the Bone Demon and reached the Geothermal Valley, where his Geothermal Talisman began restoring its energy.
• Lu Heng weighed the unknown dangers inside the supermarket against his desire to explore it, then decided to charge straight in.

Lu Heng discovered that the Starlight Meditation Method could passively strengthen his mind while he slept beneath the stars. He then used a reconnaissance drone to map the supermarket’s monsters and uncovered a rune array that bound them to their posts.

• Lu Heng slept in Geothermal Valley beneath the stars, and the Starlight Meditation Method activated on its own.
• At dawn, Lu Heng found that his Mental Strength had risen from 20 to 22 and deduced that starlight had passively nourished his mind.
• Lu Heng left Geothermal Valley with the Bone Demon and went straight to the supermarket to scout it rather than enter recklessly.
• Lu Heng guided the Shadow Spider Reconnaissance Drone through the supermarket and observed monsters guarding the checkout, bulk weighing, and fresh produce areas, along with a patrolling monster.
• Lu Heng spotted hidden runes in the walls, floors, and pillars and concluded that a Rune Array bound the monsters as puppets within a prison.

Lu Heng entered the supermarket and fought the Cashier Wraith while taking care not to damage the Sealing Runes that restrained four wraiths. He killed the cashier without provoking the others, then remained alert as he prepared to face the danger still inside.

• Lu Heng studied the Sealing Runes and decided to fight the wraiths one at a time, retreating if the runes showed signs of damage.
• Lu Heng entered the supermarket and approached the entrance checkout, where the Cashier Wraith demanded, "Where are your goods?"
• Lu Heng attacked the Cashier Wraith as the supermarket’s surveillance cameras turned toward him.
• Lu Heng severed the wraith’s arm and struck its neck, killing it before it could finish speaking.
• Lu Heng saw that the Stocker Wraith, Greengrocer Wraith, and Patrolling Wraith had not reacted, but he continued monitoring the Sealing Runes.

Lu Heng killed the cashier creature and the butcher creature, acquiring Soul Crystals and equipment while the Sealing Runes’ energy continued to drain. He headed for the bulk goods section to confront the stock clerk creature, unaware that the store’s surveillance cameras had turned toward him.

• Lu Heng repeatedly cut down the cashier creature, then used Mental Energy to destroy it before it could revive again.
• Lu Heng collected the cashier creature’s Soul Crystal and Cashier’s Towel, then absorbed the Nightmare Chest it dropped.
• Lu Heng confirmed the other creatures had not reacted to the fight and hurried toward the meat section as the checkout Sealing Runes went dark.
• The butcher creature’s skilled attacks drove Lu Heng back until he infused his Miao Dao with the Geothermal Talisman’s energy and killed it with dark red flames.
• Lu Heng collected the butcher creature’s Soul Crystal and Boning Knife, then headed toward the bulk goods section to face the stock clerk creature.
• As Lu Heng left the fresh food section, the surveillance cameras turned toward him and eerie smiling faces appeared inside their lenses.

Lu Heng fought off the shelf stocker creature and the weighing clerk creature at the same time, then collected their drops. As he prepared to leave the bulk goods section, eerie laughter came from beyond a half-open iron door, and he sensed a far greater threat lurking in the darkness.

• Lu Heng found the shelf stocker creature ahead of him and the weighing clerk creature behind him, and realized they had trapped him between them.
• Lu Heng combined mental energy with the Geothermal Talisman’s power and killed the shelf stocker creature after dodging attacks from both enemies.
• Lu Heng turned to face the weighing clerk creature and destroyed it and its kitchen knife with his Miao Dao.
• Lu Heng collected the Bronze Tier Soul Crystals, the shelf stocker's glove, and the weighing clerk's apron, then sensed that the supermarket was not truly cleared.
• Lu Heng heard eerie laughter and saw darkness writhing behind a half-open iron door at the end of the bulk goods section.

Lu Heng discovered that the supermarket’s owner had arranged for the four Anomalies to be sealed there so he could use their resentment to break through his bottleneck. After Lu Heng eliminated them, the owner began absorbing their power and declared that Lu Heng had outlived his usefulness.

• After Lu Heng defeated the four Anomalies, a powerful presence emerged from behind the iron door, and the supermarket’s runes activated.
• The middle-aged man identified himself as the supermarket’s owner, and Lu Heng’s Appraisal classified him as an unknown Silver-rank entity.
• The owner overwhelmed the supermarket with mental pressure, but Lu Heng resisted with Starlight Meditation.
• The owner explained that he had imprisoned the four evil people as Anomalies and waited for an outsider to eliminate them so he could absorb their resentment.
• The supermarket’s binding runes converged on the owner as he prepared to absorb the resentment and kill Lu Heng.