Chapter Summaries

Hela called Xing Lan for New Year, but Xing Lan was away on a dangerous mission, so Hela agreed to spend the holiday with Keke instead. As the recruits left camp, Ye Yiqing asked Instructor Li Hu about his blade, but Li Hu said he could not receive it until he became a Night Star.

• Hela called Xing Lan, who said she would be away on a month-long mission and could not spend New Year with her.
• After Hela told Xing Lan that she missed her, Xing Lan broke down in tears, then learned from Si Xiaobei that they suspected a City Destruction-level Variant was involved in their mission.
• Hela turned down the idea of going home and agreed to spend New Year with Keke, who had booked a hotel and planned to make New Year's Eve dinner.
• Li Hu said most instructors had to stay at the training camp over New Year as the recruits left for their holidays.
• Ye Yiqing asked Li Hu for his blade, but Li Hu refused because Ye Yiqing was not yet a Night Star and could not legally carry one.

After leaving the training camp, Hela and Keke arrived in City A, exchanged contact information with Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing, and went out to explore the city. Keke shared her painful family history before she and Hela entered a bar, where a wealthy young man began buying them drinks.

• Hela and Keke said goodbye to their instructor and ran into Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing, who received a call from their mother and then gave the girls their contact information.
• Keke wondered why the brothers' mother sounded so young, then told Hela that her own mother had died and her father had abused her.
• Hela and Keke checked into a hotel, bought groceries, and went sightseeing in City A.
• Keke asked Hela to go to a bar, and the two entered after showing the receptionist their IDs.
• A wealthy young man sat with Hela and Keke, ordered expensive liquor, and got them to drink several glasses with him.

Hela carried the drunk Keke from a bar and accepted a ride from Yellow Hair, who abducted them and brought them to Brother Long. After Keke woke in a locked room and learned what had happened, she broke down crying while Hela struggled to understand her reaction.

• Hela finished drinking at the bar, carried the unconscious Keke outside, and left without realizing the enormous bill had been charged to the rich young man.
• Hela accepted Yellow Hair's offer of a ride because she was unsure how to get back to the hotel.
• Yellow Hair stopped the van and, with several burly men, forced Hela and Keke to a nightclub to meet Brother Long.
• Brother Long chose Hela for himself and Keke as an appetizer, and Yellow Hair locked them in a decorated room.
• Keke woke beside Hela, mistakenly thought Hela had taken her innocence, and cried after Hela explained that Yellow Hair had brought them to Brother Long.

Keke used the Minecraft Steve figurine’s metal head to break Hela out of the locked room, then fought off the men pursuing them. Qin Gucheng arrived and attacked Brother Long after confirming Keke and Hela were unharmed.

• Keke realized her phone was missing, then found the Minecraft Steve figurine and used its enlarging metal head to smash open the security door.
• Keke and Hela fled, but a blond man and several burly men charged after them on Brother Long’s orders.
• Keke expanded Steve’s head into a moving iron wall, knocking down the pursuers and trapping the blond man beneath the pile.
• Brother Long burst through a wall and threw concrete bricks at Keke and Hela, but four straight sabers cut them apart before they could hit.
• Qin Gucheng appeared, fought Brother Long with the sabers, and asked Keke and Hela what had happened.
• After Keke said they were unharmed, Qin Gucheng called his sabers back and charged at Brother Long.

Qin Gucheng and Brother Long fought fiercely, with Keke using her metal cube to intervene and save Qin from several attacks. After Keke exhausted her mental power and fainted, Brother Long turned on her while Qin, badly wounded, could only call out to stop him.

• Brother Long collapsed the floor, then fought Qin Gucheng through the ruins as Qin struck him with blades and Brother Long trapped one in his muscles and knocked Qin into the air.
• Keke used a metal cube to block Brother Long's midair attack and catch Qin, who told her to take Hela and escape.
• Qin and Keke faced Brother Long again, and Keke dropped a massive metal cube on him, pinning him to the ground.
• Brother Long lifted the cube, while Keke shrank it and fainted from exhaustion, giving him the chance to dodge Qin's blades and kick Qin into the ruins.
• Brother Long charged at the unconscious Keke despite Qin's desperate warning.

Li Hu defeated Brother Long, who fled into City A, while Qin Gucheng and Hela called an ambulance for the injured. In a dark alley, Brother Long tried to attack a mother and her children but was impaled by bone spikes and died.

• Li Hu used Flowing Water to absorb and redirect Brother Long's attacks, then stopped Brother Long from hitting unconscious Keke with a billboard.
• Brother Long fled into City A after Qin Gucheng threw a saber into his arm, and Li Hu chased after him.
• Qin Gucheng found Hela in the ruins and asked her to call 120; she figured out the number and summoned an ambulance for them.
• Brother Long spotted a mother and her children in an alley and prepared to attack them, but bone spikes pierced him and he slowly died.

Keke woke in the hospital and learned that Qin Gucheng was leaving despite his serious injuries. She and Hela accompanied him, and he invited them to spend the New Year at his home; a retired soldier gave them a free taxi ride.

• Ye Ciqing walked with his mother and Ye Yiqing to buy ingredients for dumplings.
• Keke woke in the hospital, asked about Qin Gucheng, and learned he planned to leave that afternoon despite his injuries.
• Keke told Hela she wanted to see Qin Gucheng off, and Hela agreed to go with her.
• Doctor Qian tried to persuade Qin Gucheng to stay, but Qin Gucheng left and rebuked him for judging his family.
• Keke and Hela caught up with Qin Gucheng, and he invited them to spend the New Year at his home.
• A retired soldier driving a taxi refused Qin Gucheng's fare and praised the group as the country's future hope.

Qin Gucheng brought Hela and Keke to his apartment, where Liu An, his fiancée, attacked Hela before he explained how they had met. He began recounting the incident that led to Liu An being mistreated by a customer, leaving their past unexplained.

• Qin Gucheng brought Hela and Keke into his apartment, where Liu An jumped out from behind the curtains and bit Hela's ear.
• Qin Gucheng pulled Liu An away, and Hela's bite marks healed quickly as Keke checked on her.
• Auntie Liu left for the New Year after Qin Gucheng introduced Hela and Keke as his recruits.
• Qin Gucheng apologized to Hela and revealed that Liu An was his fiancée.
• Qin Gucheng explained that he met Liu An two years earlier while she worked as a waitress, and that a customer had berated and slapped her after she spilled soup.

Qin Gucheng recounted how he met and fell in love with Liu An, then broke down over her capture and suffering before Liu An comforted him. The group shared New Year's Eve dinner, while Hela received greetings from her teammates and hid from the fireworks; elsewhere, Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing celebrated with their mother, and Han Xiaoxiao toasted her deceased brother.

• Qin Gucheng told Keke how he met Liu An, supported her, and accepted her confession after she declared her love for him.
• Qin Gucheng explained that becoming a Night Star separated him from Liu An, and he wept as he recalled her torture by the people who captured her.
• Liu An embraced Qin Gucheng and wiped away his tears, while Keke came to understand his grief and volunteered to help prepare dinner.
• Hela read New Year messages from Xing Lan and her other teammates, and Qin Gucheng explained that the bell on her wrist had helped him track her and Keke.
• Qin Gucheng, Keke, Liu An, and Hela shared New Year's Eve dinner, but Hela crouched beneath the table when fireworks burst outside.
• Ye Yiqing and Ye Ciqing celebrated with their mother, while Han Xiaoxiao toasted her deceased brother at his gravestone.

During training, Ye Yiqing explained the Limit Line and discussed Han Xiaoxiao’s progress with his saber forms. After Li Hu announced the latest practical training assignments, Han Keru and Hela were selected to stay behind.

• Ye Yiqing comforted Ye Ciqing after Hela hit him during training, and Ye Ciqing went off to vent by attacking other recruits.
• Han Xiaoxiao told Ye Yiqing she had mastered only the first four saber forms and could use each only once before her body gave out.
• Ye Yiqing explained that breaking through the Limit Line let ordinary people become Superhumans and greatly increased their physical abilities.
• Li Hu announced that recruits’ practical training missions would determine whether they could become Night Stars, with nearly a third expected to be eliminated.
• Li Hu called Han Keru and Hela to stay behind after dismissing the other recruits.

Keke, Hela, and Yan Wusheng were sent with Qin Gucheng to Guangshen for practical training against a High Rank insect-type Variant. After reaching the city, they met their local contact, who began driving them to their hotel and the target’s location.

• Keke objected to being paired with Hela, but Li Hu explained that the training was mainly meant to help Keke improve and added Yan Wusheng to the team.
• Li Hu told the three recruits to change into civilian clothes and meet Qin Gucheng at the camp gate, where Qin Gucheng drove them away in a jeep.
• Qin Gucheng explained that their target was a centipede-shaped Variant suspected of using an unfinished building in City C, Guangshen as its base.
• The group flew to Guangshen, where Yan Wusheng acted uncomfortable and denied feeling sick after the flight.
• Qin Gucheng introduced a middle-aged man in sunglasses as their local contact, and the group got into his car.

Qin Gucheng and his team searched an unfinished construction site for a Variant, which Hela sensed rising from underground at dusk. Yan Wusheng attacked the giant centipede but was thrown back by its unexpected powers, and Qin Gucheng prepared to join the fight.

• Lei Yong introduced himself to Qin Gucheng and offered to be friends before driving away.
• Hela told Qin Gucheng that the Variant was not at the site because she could not smell it, so the team scouted the unfinished buildings while they waited.
• Hela sensed a giant centipede approaching from underground, and Yan Wusheng blasted it out of the ground.
• Yan Wusheng struck the centipede with sonic blasts, while Hela cut its scales with her bone whips before stopping when he protested.
• The centipede used a shock wave to send Yan Wusheng flying, then attacked him with a blue-green blade that Qin Gucheng sliced apart with his sabers.

Yan Wusheng fought the Variant alone and defeated it in an underground cavern filled with human remains. As he tried to tear off its head, a girl in a white hoodie appeared behind the group.

• The Variant attacked Qin Gucheng and Yan Wusheng with venom and a barrier, but Yan Wusheng stunned it with a piercing noise and brought it down by breaking its support pillar.
• Yan Wusheng pinned the Variant and struck it with sonic blows until they fell through the ground into a cavern, where Qin Gucheng, Hela, and Keke found piles of bones and corpses.
• The Variant unleashed venom, shockwaves, and blades, but Yan Wusheng met its attack with sonic waves and left it unconscious.
• Yan Wusheng declared that he had beaten a Homicide-realm Variant at the High Rank realm and tried to wrench off its head.
• A girl in a white hoodie and denim shorts appeared behind the group, praised Yan Wusheng, and tossed a skull into the air.

A strange girl controlled the centipede-shaped Variant and attacked Yan Wusheng, Qin Gucheng, Hela, and Keke. After revealing monstrous features and abilities unlike an Awakened or Symbiote, she wounded Qin Gucheng as he struggled to evade her.

• The girl awakened the centipede-shaped Variant, which calmed at her touch and obeyed her.
• The girl kicked Yan Wusheng unconscious and resisted Qin Gucheng’s attempt to knock her out.
• The girl attacked Hela and Keke, while the Variant fought Qin Gucheng.
• The girl grew a black tail, claws, and bone spikes, then threw Keke’s cubes at Qin Gucheng and Keke.
• The girl charged at Qin Gucheng like a beast and slashed his cheek as he dodged her claws.

Qin Gucheng and Keke fought the striped girl while Hela attacked the Variant. The girl remained dangerous despite being wounded, and Qin Gucheng and Keke continued their assault.

• Qin Gucheng lost radio contact with the chief instructor as the girl overpowered him and drove him against a stone wall.
• Hela stopped the Variant from attacking Qin Gucheng, broke its barrier, and shattered its weakened shell before charging at it with bone blades.
• Keke threw metal pieces to interrupt the girl, letting Qin Gucheng slash her back and use a cube to evade her tail.
• The girl caught Qin Gucheng's blade and tried unsuccessfully to break it, while Qin Gucheng and Keke prepared another attack.

The girl transformed into the Variant [Night Kill] and attacked Qin Gucheng and Hela, who proved to be [Life]. As Keke called for backup, [Night Kill] seized Qin Gucheng and burst from the cave with him.

• Hela killed the centipede-shaped Variant, prompting the girl to transform into [Night Kill], which spoke and vowed to kill her.
• Qin Gucheng told Keke to evacuate Yan Wusheng and call for backup, then charged [Night Kill].
• Hela refused to leave and attacked [Night Kill], which recognized her as [Life] and cut her apart at tremendous speed.
• [Night Kill] knocked away Qin Gucheng’s sabers, seized him, and climbed toward the cave opening as Keke called for help.
• A dark figure burst from the cave clutching Qin Gucheng.

Qin Gucheng fought [Night Kill] in an unfinished building to keep her away from Keke and Yan Wusheng, but she overpowered him. After Hela regenerated inside the sealed cave, [Night Kill] crushed part of the building with Qin Gucheng beneath her and stood in the ruins holding him.

• Qin Gucheng decided he had to kill [Night Kill] and lured her into an unfinished building so the fight would not endanger Keke and Yan Wusheng.
• Hela regenerated inside the cave, chose not to pursue [Night Kill] because she had used too much energy, and approached the centipede Variant's corpse.
• Qin Gucheng and [Night Kill] exchanged attacks on the building's second floor, but [Night Kill] seized him by the throat and repeatedly slammed him into the ground.
• Keke tried to rescue Qin Gucheng with a cube, but [Night Kill] cut it apart; Keke then reached for the cube dragging Yan Wusheng.
• [Night Kill] carried Qin Gucheng high above the ground and plunged down with him, collapsing the unfinished building before standing in the ruins with him in her grip.

Qin Gucheng died after blinding [Night Kill] and trying to stab her, leaving Keke helpless. Hela emerged and fought [Night Kill], transforming into a giant wolf and trapping her as the battle continued.

• [Night Kill] strangled the bloodied Qin Gucheng and demanded he bark to earn his freedom.
• Qin Gucheng spat blood into [Night Kill]'s eyes and tried to stab her, but she knocked off his head, killing him.
• [Night Kill] shoved Keke against a wall, forced a kiss on her, and began reaching for her clothes.
• Hela emerged from the blocked opening and attacked [Night Kill] with a bone whip.
• [Night Kill] cut Hela in half, but Hela bit her neck and transformed into a giant wolf.
• Hela's wolf form bound [Night Kill] with tentacles and bit her right hand, drawing blood.

Night Kill fought Hela’s monstrous tentacle forms and the giant wolf through a collapsing building, but was eventually overwhelmed by the creatures’ relentless attacks. As Hela prepared to devour Night Kill, it pleaded for its life and warned that the Light God Society would retaliate, but Hela bit into its neck.

• Night Kill escaped the giant wolf’s jaws, then fought off Hela’s tentacle monster as it linked their bodies and dragged her into the wolf’s reach.
• Night Kill cut through Hela’s tentacles and attacked her main body, but the severed pieces transformed into smaller monsters that surrounded and wounded her.
• The giant wolf demolished the unfinished building, burying Night Kill in rubble before pulling her free and continuing the fight.
• Night Kill and the giant wolf fought amid Hela’s attacking flesh, until Night Kill was exhausted and the pieces of Hela reassembled around her.
• Hela restrained Night Kill as it warned that the Light God Society would avenge it, then tore a chunk from its neck.

Hela rescued Night Kill from Hela's attack, but he and a black-clad figure withdrew after learning the mission had failed. Qin Gucheng was buried with military honors, and Keke mourned him with Hela and Ye Yiqing.

• A black-clad figure severed Hela's hands, rescued Night Kill, and withdrew with him after he reported Prayer Bead Worm dead and claimed he had found Life.
• Hela held Qin Gucheng's head and felt an emptiness inside, while Keke answered a call from Qin Gucheng's family and realized he was dead.
• Qin Gucheng received third-class merit and a military funeral for protecting the recruits, and his survivor benefits were assigned to support Liu An.
• Keke blamed herself for Qin Gucheng's death, but Hela told her it was not her fault and admitted she should have helped sooner.
• Ye Yiqing brought Keke Qin Gucheng's saber, and she cried when she saw his name engraved on the blade.