Chapter Summaries

Wang Hai fought a Fourth Tier Calamity Beast while Shen Heng and the others guarded the perimeter. When a new Tier 3 beast appeared in Jiangning District, Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan went to confront it, arriving at a plaza where an armored figure was already fighting a guinea-pig-like Calamity Beast.

• Wang Hai battled the flaming ape-like Fourth Tier Calamity Beast and damaged its left arm with Fivefold Force · Dragon Spear.
• Fan Hong reported that a new Tier 3 Calamity Beast had appeared on Tianyuan Middle Road in Jiangning District, and said it was absent from the bestiary.
• Shen Heng sent Le Gu Nan with him to investigate while the others stayed to hold off the Fourth Tier beast.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan drove through fleeing crowds to a commercial plaza strewn with blood and corpses.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan saw a dark-red bone-armored figure wielding a greatsword fighting a guinea-pig-like Calamity Beast.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan treated survivors while a mysterious sword-wielding figure fought a Calamity Beast outside. Yu Chunhe revealed that the figure was her brother, Yu Jingming, who had transformed after being badly injured, leaving Shen Heng to question what had happened to him.

• Shen Heng watched the sword-wielding figure battle the rotting guinea pig Calamity Beast and decided to observe rather than intervene.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan entered a damaged restaurant and began helping the wounded survivors.
• Fan Hong told Shen Heng that the second Calamity Beast had appeared inside the restaurant before being knocked outside to fight the first beast.
• Shen Heng found Yu Chunhe beside her injured brother and recognized the sword-wielding figure’s moves as familiar.
• Yu Chunhe told Shen Heng that Yu Jingming had tried to stop the Calamity Beast, been sent flying, and then transformed despite lying bloodied on the ground.

Shen Heng confronted Yu Jingming, who had mutated after a failed awakening, and killed him when he could no longer be saved. After Yu Chunhe mourned her brother, she asked whether she could join the Supervision Bureau if she awakened an ability.

• Yu Chunhe begged Shen Heng to save Yu Jingming, but Shen Heng apologized and said nothing could be done.
• Shen Heng explained to Le Gu Nan that Yu Jingming had forced an awakening to protect his family and had lost control of his Origin Power.
• Shen Heng drew Yu Jingming away from the Rotting Guinea Pig and fought him, recognizing that Yu Jingming's body still remembered its sword techniques.
• Shen Heng disarmed Yu Jingming and drove his saber into his skull, ending the savage cries and revealing Yu Jingming's peaceful face.
• Yu Chunhe knelt beside her brother and asked Shen Heng whether she could join the Supervision Bureau if she awakened an ability.

After Yu Jingming’s death, Yu Chunhe resolved to join the Supervision Bureau and continue the path he had wanted to follow. Shen Heng and the others reflected on the world’s cruelty and their duty to protect people, while Wang Hai reminded Shen Heng that the world also held gentleness and goodwill.

• Yu Chunhe told Shen Heng that her brother had wanted to join the Supervision Bureau and decided to continue the road he had left unfinished.
• Shen Heng encouraged Yu Chunhe to do her best, then returned to the Supervision Bureau and confirmed the captain’s group had dealt with its Calamity Beast.
• Shen Heng described Yu Jingming’s mutation and death, and admitted that the loss had reminded him how cruel the world was.
• Wang Hai told the team to remember their grief because protecting others kept the world from becoming worse.
• Wang Hai told Shen Heng that the world was cruel but also gentle, sunny, and full of goodwill.

After her brother’s death, Yu Chunhe left for a three-month teaching assignment at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau, while her grieving father could only tell her to stay safe. In a separate incident, Old Wang found Old Li’s bloodied hard hat in the sewer and came face-to-face with three enormous, single-horned rats.

• Yu Chunhe practiced the saber-withdrawing form her brother had taught her and prepared to leave home.
• Yu Chunhe told Yu Zhenzhong she was leaving to teach at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau, and he quietly wished her safety.
• Old Wang and Old Li found another section of sewer cable torn apart and began repairing it.
• Old Li went to investigate a faint rustling sound while Old Wang finished the repairs.
• Old Wang found Old Li’s bloody hard hat and discovered his corpse beside three enormous, single-horned rats.

Fan Hong investigated a suspected Calamity Beast attack that killed two electricians, but the creature had left no trace. Lin Xiaoyu visited the Martial Arts Association and found a crowd gathered around a newly pinned mission.

• Police officers found dried blood in an underground passage and reported the suspected Calamity Beast attack.
• Tian Xiangwen gave Fan Hong the police report, which estimated that the two electricians died around three twenty the previous afternoon.
• Fan Hong learned that officers had searched the underground passage but found no information about the Calamity Beast.
• Lin Xiaoyu reflected on her cultivation progress and her abandoned hope of joining the Supervision Bureau.
• Lin Xiaoyu arrived at the Martial Arts Association and saw a crowd gathered around a newly pinned mission on the screen.

Lin Xiaoyu heard about a new mission to search Linhai City’s underground passages for a Calamity Beast and discussed joining Mei Duo’s Thorn Squad. Mei Duo planned to take the mission and revealed she had secretly prepared explosives in case the team encountered a dangerous beast.

• Martial artists discussed the underground inspection mission, its rewards, and why the search had been assigned to association members.
• Lin Xiaoyu considered the value of mission points but worried about her thin wallet.
• Mei Duo asked Lin Xiaoyu again to join the Thorn Squad, but Lin Xiaoyu declined because she did not know how to fight.
• Mei Duo confirmed that the Thorn Squad would take the mission and said the tunnels could make searches more efficient than wandering the streets.
• Mei Duo told Lin Xiaoyu she had secretly prepared explosives to help the squad escape if they encountered a Tier 3 Calamity Beast.

Lin Xiaoyu joined Mei Duo’s hunting squad after learning it would train her in combat and help her get started. At the Martial Arts Association, two sharp-horned rats were reported from nearby underground passages, leading Lin Xiaoyu to conclude the mission was complete.

• Mei Duo offered Lin Xiaoyu combat training, a weapon, and financial support, and Lin Xiaoyu agreed to join her squad.
• Several days later, Lin Xiaoyu and Mei Duo went to the Martial Arts Association to collect Lin Xiaoyu’s custom weapon.
• They saw the Dawn Squad present a sharp-horned rat, and Deng Ming said they had found it in an underground passage beneath Sanli Street.
• Lin Xiaoyu collected her longsword and worried that she was already in debt before earning any points.
• Outside the association, another squad unloaded a sharp-horned rat found near Jianning Street, and Lin Xiaoyu thought the mission was complete.

Mei Duo brought Lin Xiaoyu to join the Thorn Squad’s search for more Sharp-Horned Rats in the underground passages, after explaining that the beasts were appearing in numbers and could offer valuable rewards. The discovery drew growing attention at the Linhai Martial Arts Association, where the Dawn Squad later returned with a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat.

• Mei Duo told Lin Xiaoyu that squads had found at least four Sharp-Horned Rats in the underground passages and invited her to hunt with the Thorn Squad.
• Lin Xiaoyu worried that her presence would reduce the others’ shares, but Mei Duo reassured her that the squad treated her as one of their own.
• Mei Duo redeemed healing and blood-clotting potions at the Martial Arts Association, where Lin Xiaoyu noticed people gathering to join or form hunting squads.
• The Grey Falcon Squad and the Steel Bastion Squad each brought back a first-tier Sharp-Horned Rat in the following days.
• The Dawn Squad returned with a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat, stirring up the Linhai City Martial Arts Association.

After a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat appeared, Linhai Martial Arts Association leaders warned martial artists to prioritize safety and decided to report the incident to Wang Hai. Meanwhile, Shen Heng and the others watched Dahuang spar until they were summoned to a meeting because Wang Hai had returned.

• Lei Zhijian and Ma Weizhi inspected the Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat and warned everyone to act within their abilities, especially those who had not entered a tier.
• Lei Zhijian and Ma Weizhi agreed to report the seven Sharp-Horned Rat sightings, and Lei Zhijian said he would inform Wang Hai.
• Shen Heng, Han Ling, Le Gu Nan, and Wu Cheng watched Dahuang spar against Wei Leyang and discussed how the dog might learn to fight.
• An announcement said Wang Hai had returned and called everyone to the conference room for a meeting.
• Dahuang stopped sparring, ran to Le Gu Nan, and ate the peach she gave it.

Wang Hai briefed the team on seven Sharp-Horned Rats killed in Linhai and raised the possibility that the current incident was connected to an encounter from more than two years earlier. He ordered the team to investigate the underground passages and capture a Sharp-Horned Rat.

• Wang Hai reported that hunting patrol teams had killed seven Sharp-Horned Rats after two electricians died in an underground passage.
• Wang Hai asked Tianshu to display the file for Linhai's first Sharp-Horned Rat encounter, recorded more than two years earlier.
• Shen Heng suggested the current incident might be connected to the earlier encounter.
• Le Gu Nan outlined possible explanations, including a pack, young rats, or a pregnant female having overlapped into their world.
• Wang Hai said the connection was only a hypothesis but could pose a serious danger, so the team needed to investigate.
• Wang Hai told the team to search the underground passages and capture a Sharp-Horned Rat rather than kill it.

Shen Heng organized a search for Sharp-Horned Rats, while Han Ling brought Wang Hai coffee at the Supervision Bureau. Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoyu and her companions fought a Mid Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat in the underground passages, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Wang Hai agreed to Shen Heng's plan to capture a Sharp-Horned Rat and use Shen Heng's ability to find its home.
• Shen Heng chose Wei Leyang and Dahuang to join him, and they searched the city from a vehicle rather than entering the underground passages.
• Two days later, Han Ling brought Wang Hai coffee while he dictated a report about the previous night's Tier 2 Kuku Bird mission to Tianshu.
• Lin Xiaoyu fought a Mid Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat as Mei Duo restrained it with thorny vines and another attacker struck at its eye.
• The Sharp-Horned Rat hit the shadowy attacker into a pipe wall, then tore free of Mei Duo's vines.

Mei Duo’s patrol fought a Sharp-Horned Rat in an underground passage until Shen Heng, Wei Leyang, and a village dog arrived. The rat cowered in fear as they passed, and Shen Heng continued deeper into the passage toward another approaching target.

• Mei Duo’s squad surrounded the Sharp-Horned Rat and wore it down with coordinated attacks.
• Mei Duo heard footsteps approaching and ordered her squad to ease off their attacks while keeping the rat contained.
• Shen Heng and Wei Leyang arrived with a village dog, and the Sharp-Horned Rat trembled and hid in a corner at their presence.
• Mei Duo’s squad attacked the rat again after the three had passed, while Wang Kai wondered whether Shen Heng belonged to the Supervision Bureau.
• Wei Leyang asked Shen Heng why they had not helped finish the fight, and Shen Heng said the squad could handle the Tier 2 rat themselves.
• Shen Heng recalled that Mei Duo had once been an ordinary person he saved, then spotted another target hurrying toward them.

Shen Heng and Wei Leyang captured a Sharp-Horned Rat that seemed to know about a matriarch, and Shen Heng suspected it was connected to an earlier incident. After regrouping with Wang Hai, Shen Heng learned how they planned to interrogate the creature using his ability to hear its inner thoughts.

• Shen Heng used Origin Power to make the fleeing Sharp-Horned Rat turn back and attack Wei Leyang, who knocked it out and tied it up.
• Shen Heng told Wei Leyang to contact the captain, suspecting the Sharp-Horned Rat and its matriarch might be connected to the previous incident.
• Shen Heng, Wei Leyang, and Dahuang returned to the patrol squad, where Mei Duo noticed they had captured the Sharp-Horned Rat alive.
• Wang Hai asked Shen Heng whether he knew interrogation techniques, and Shen Heng admitted that he did not.
• Wei Leyang explained that they would pressure the Sharp-Horned Rat into focusing its thoughts on Shen Heng, who could hear them, then question it.

Shen Heng interrogated a captured Sharp-Horned Rat, using its thoughts to learn that the creatures were remnants from three years ago and that their colony had grown. He narrowed down the colony’s likely location to an underground site southwest of Linhai, outside the city, but the chapter ended before he determined the distance.

• The Sharp-Horned Rat woke bound in the underground passage and tried unsuccessfully to break free as Shen Heng restrained it.
• Shen Heng questioned whether the rat had recently arrived, long lived in this world, or been born there; its thoughts confirmed it was not recent, indicating it was a remnant from three years ago.
• Shen Heng learned through the rat’s thoughts that its colony had grown, food underground was running low, and the matriarch had forbidden the rats from coming out yet.
• The rat’s thoughts revealed that disobedient members had emerged to find food, leading to its capture.
• Shen Heng reasoned that the colony was underground southwest of Linhai and likely outside the city, while the captured rat stared at him as he began considering the distance.

Wang Hai’s team used Shen Heng’s interrogation of a Sharp-Horned Rat to investigate its matriarch and the colony’s hidden purpose. Shen Heng’s probing triggered the rat to realize he had been asking about thoughts it had never spoken aloud.

• Le Gu Nan proposed that the Sharp-Horned Rat colony was waiting for its matriarch to grow stronger or for a plan to be completed, and the team decided to track the colony rather than risk a deeper interrogation.
• Wang Hai directed Shen Heng to ask about the colony’s leadership and compare its structure with other rat colonies.
• Shen Heng provoked the captive into revealing that its colony was ruled by a female matriarch, whose power would soon increase.
• Shen Heng’s questions about the colony’s return drew out thoughts of destroying Linhai and a plan involving explosions, smoke, and death.
• The Sharp-Horned Rat realized that Shen Heng was responding to thoughts it had never voiced and became alarmed.

After the Sharp-Horned Rat died, Shen Heng sensed that its matriarch could use dead subordinates to observe what they had seen and learned that it planned to relocate its nest. Wang Hai activated the Scavenger Protocol, and the chapter ended as missiles approached the Sharp-Horned Rat swarm’s position.

• The Sharp-Horned Rat recognized that Shen Heng could read its thoughts and destroyed itself to avoid revealing more information.
• Shen Heng sensed the matriarch observing through the Sharp-Horned Rat’s corpse, decapitated it, and returned to report what had happened.
• Shen Heng told Wang Hai that the matriarch knew they had discovered the swarm and was planning to move its hiding place.
• Wang Hai activated the Scavenger Protocol and relayed the swarm’s threat and approximate location to the authorities.
• Reconnaissance units located the fleeing swarm, and Wang Hai’s team watched missiles approach its position.

Shen Heng watched missiles devastate the Sharp-Horned Rats’ gathering area, while the matriarch survived and ordered the remaining rats to flee toward the sea. After the strike, Shen Heng detected another group of Sharp-Horned Rats near the road and warned Wang Hai.

• Shen Heng watched missiles strike the distant mountains and trigger a series of powerful explosions.
• The Sharp-Horned Rat matriarch saw the incoming missiles and raised the alarm, but the bombardment devastated the rat gathering and killed many of its members.
• The wounded matriarch fired dark-gold beams at the missiles, then ordered the survivors to take the stones and run toward the sea.
• Wang Hai learned that the strike had destroyed over ninety percent of the target area, with about 70–90 Sharp-Horned Rats fleeing toward the coast.
• Shen Heng detected twenty or thirty more Sharp-Horned Rats near the road, including one that appeared to be Third Tier, and reported their location to Wang Hai.

Shen Heng and the others realized the Sharp-Horned Rats had used a fake nest to mislead them, then confirmed that the survivors had escaped into the sea. Wang Hai urged the team to consider what the Calamity Beasts might do beyond rebuilding, and Shen Heng began to suspect their next move was driven by hatred and their plans against Linhai.

• Shen Heng concluded that the group of Sharp-Horned Rats was a decoy meant to keep the Supervision Bureau from finding the real nest.
• Wei Leyang left the cars, and the others reached the bombed site, where they found craters and the remains of Sharp-Horned Rats.
• The Military Department confirmed that the surviving Sharp-Horned Rats had fled into the sea, where their heat signatures could no longer be tracked.
• Shen Heng considered how the rats had escaped surveillance and recalled an earlier incident involving a rat-like creature and Shadow Erosion.
• Wang Hai asked the team to consider what the Sharp-Horned Rats might do instead of hiding and rebuilding, prompting Shen Heng to suspect they would act on their hatred of humans and their plans against Linhai.

Wang Hai’s team realized the Sharp-Horned Rats’ swarm may number around two hundred and warned coastal cities to prepare for an attack. As they drove back toward Linhai, rats began coming ashore, and Fan Hong reported multiple coastal landings.

• Le Gu Nan estimated that 10 to 15 percent of the Sharp-Horned Rats had been away foraging, putting the total swarm at around two hundred.
• Wang Hai ordered the team back to Linhai and said he would alert coastal cities and ask the Military Department to monitor the coast.
• At a harbor outside Linhai, Old Zhang saw a gray-furred, horned Sharp-Horned Rat emerge from beneath the dock.
• While Shen Heng drove Wang Hai and the others toward Linhai, Fan Hong reported that large numbers of Sharp-Horned Rats were coming ashore at several points along the coast.