Chapter Summaries

Su Cheng met Yan Yu and Xu Shaowei to trade supplies and share news about their instances, where she learned that Shen Ying, leader of the Toward the Moon Society, had targeted Xu Shaowei. Su Cheng recognized Shen Ying from the Plague instance, and the chapter ended when a clock chimed above the auction building.

• Su Cheng bought inexpensive poison needles, expanded her Smart Bag, and planned to save points for a pass.
• Su Cheng met Yan Yu, received medical supplies, and traded information about ammunition and the effects of rule powers in instances.
• Xu Shaowei revealed that Shen Ying, first place in her competitive match and leader of the Toward the Moon Society, had tried to recruit her and nearly gotten her killed.
• Xu Shaowei showed Su Cheng and Yan Yu a portrait of Shen Ying, whom Su Cheng recognized as the woman who had massacred a village in the Plague instance.
• Xu Shaowei named Lu Heng as the second-place contestant, and Su Cheng and the others realized they had all encountered him.
• Su Cheng, Yan Yu, and Xu Shaowei collected the medical supplies, ate lunch together, and heard a clock chime from the auction building.

Su Cheng, Xu Shaowei, and Yan Yu visited the auction house, where Su Cheng bought useful items and sold her talisman and pills for points. After returning home, Su Cheng accepted a heated shawl from Hai Lu and prepared her supplies for entering another instance the next morning.

• Xu Shaowei took Su Cheng and Yan Yu to the auction house, where they registered as members by submitting special items.
• Su Cheng bought a grappling hook and Tribute, sold her talisman and pill assortment, and listed more pills for auction.
• Su Cheng, Xu Shaowei, and Yan Yu bought Ice Stones before leaving the auction house and trading for a few supplies at the warehouse.
• Yan Yu taught Su Cheng to drive, and she learned the basics on the road home.
• Hai Lu gave Su Cheng a bag of supplies, and Su Cheng accepted a heated shawl before returning to her apartment.
• Su Cheng organized her Smart Bag and planned to enter an instance the next morning.

Su Cheng entered the Civilization Rebuilding instance, found an empty cabin in a vast forest, and prepared to endure the night. The instance’s weather swung from extreme cold to warm, humid conditions, leaving her certain that its climate was abnormal.

• Su Cheng entered the normal instance Civilization Rebuilding, where her mission was to survive for five days.
• Su Cheng explored the oversized forest, offered Mu Ling a white candle, and found a cabin with traps nearby.
• Su Cheng chose to shelter in the cabin and waited through the night as the temperature plunged to around -30°C.
• Su Cheng watched frost form on the window and dry snow crystals pass outside before the temperature began rising after three in the morning.
• Su Cheng experienced a sudden sunshower after sunrise, then removed her winter clothing as the temperature climbed to 26–28°C.

Su Cheng met Laobo in the forest, learned about the world’s extreme weather and zombie-virus apocalypse, and left his cabin to explore the nearby area. She avoided going deep into the woods because of the danger from mutated insects.

• Laobo returned to his cabin with a felled tree, mistook Su Cheng for a threat, and aimed his gun at her.
• Su Cheng explained that she had appeared in the forest, and Laobo suspected she was a transmigrator before offering her shelter and information.
• Laobo explained that green rain caused plants and plant-eating insects to grow, while extreme temperatures and dangerous insects made the forest hazardous.
• Laobo told Su Cheng that a virus had turned people into zombies before mutating to spread through the air, and that survivors were asymptomatic carriers.
• Su Cheng left five heat patches for Laobo and went to explore near the cabin, careful not to venture deep into the woods.

Su Cheng accepted Moya and Laobo’s invitation to shelter from an expected rainstorm and learned that her resemblance to their dead daughter Lili had drawn their attention. As Moya prepared dinner with her, Su Cheng shared food from her backpack, and Moya warned that those supplies could attract danger.

• Su Cheng gathered poisonous-looking mushrooms and other varieties in the forest, then returned to the cabin to escape the heat.
• Laobo invited Su Cheng to his underground shelter because he expected a heavy rainstorm, and she went with him.
• At the shelter, Su Cheng recognized her strong resemblance to the young girl in a family photograph and learned she was Moya and Laobo’s daughter Lili, who had been shot six years earlier.
• Moya explained that Laobo had been a physicist who believed in parallel dimensions and that she had hoped Su Cheng might be Lili returned.
• Moya prepared to make dinner with soaked bracken and mushrooms, while Su Cheng offered jam, luncheon meat, and instant noodles.
• Moya warned Su Cheng that those foods had disappeared from the world long ago and that showing them outside could invite danger.

Su Cheng stayed with Moya and Laobo, learned about the infected survivors, and went into the forest to gather poisonous plants. She intervened when Shen Ying attacked Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu, forcing Shen Ying to flee, then reunited with Lu Heng.

• Moya told Su Cheng about other survivors nearby and taught her to identify poisonous mushrooms.
• Laobo warned Su Cheng about infected survivors’ physical side effects and advised her to stay cautious around other people.
• Su Cheng followed human voices into the forest and saw Shen Ying exchanging gunfire with Lu Heng and the wounded Song Tangqiu.
• Su Cheng attacked Shen Ying with her electronic cannon while Lu Heng provided cover, and Shen Ying fled after being shot in the shoulder.
• Su Cheng asked Mu Ling to mark Shen Ying with Ghost Mark, then joined Lu Heng in treating Song Tangqiu, who recognized Su Cheng’s name.

Su Cheng helped Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu secure shelter and exchanged information and medicine with Lu Heng, learning that the authorities knew about the apartment and that some people had entered it deliberately. Shen Ying treated her wounds and unleashed a blood butterfly against a giant python, while Su Cheng remained wary that Shen Ying might return.

• Su Cheng led Lu Heng and the wounded Song Tangqiu to a cabin, where Lu Heng arranged a stay by offering medicine for pneumonia.
• While fleeing through the forest, Shen Ying healed her infected bite and gunshot wound, then sent a blood butterfly to attack a giant python.
• Lu Heng turned five jin of poisonous mushrooms into medicine for Su Cheng and revealed that he and Song Tangqiu were with the military and that authorities knew about the apartment.
• Lu Heng explained that some people had deliberately entered the apartment and that questions about the real world's research were muted when he asked Song Tangqiu.
• Su Cheng and Lu Heng agreed to split the medicine he made in exchange for her protection of him and Song Tangqiu.
• After returning to the cabin, Su Cheng noted that Shen Ying might still return and remembered that Mu Ling had placed a Ghost Mark on her.

Su Cheng collected green rain and received poisons and extracted medicines from Lu Heng, then spent two days learning to shoot and trading supplies with Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu. On the day she was due to leave the instance, snakes appeared in the forest, and Su Cheng’s group faced an enormous black python.

• Su Cheng warned Laobo and Moya to be wary of outsiders after Moya smelled blood near the river.
• After green rain caused rapid plant growth, Su Cheng borrowed Moya’s water collector and gathered a bucket to test for possible auction-house value.
• Lu Heng gave Su Cheng extracted mushroom poisons and medicines, and she traded a Spirit Talisman with him for bullets and shooting lessons.
• Su Cheng spent the next two days with Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu, learning to shoot while Shen Ying remained missing.
• Laobo warned Su Cheng after nearly being bitten by a snake, and Su Cheng stayed with Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu to investigate.
• The three entered the forest and found many snakes before Su Cheng shot toward a rustling bush and revealed a gigantic black python.

Su Cheng fought Shen Ying while Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu battled a giant python and a swarm of snakes. Shen Ying escaped the instance with her blood butterfly, leaving Su Cheng to regroup with the others after they killed the python.

• Su Cheng sensed Shen Ying was controlling the snakes and left Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu to keep the giant python occupied while she pursued Shen Ying.
• Su Cheng wounded Shen Ying with the Thousand-Machine Umbrella, but Shen Ying used a blood butterfly to restrain her until Mu Ling intervened.
• Su Cheng released the boning knife against the butterfly, forcing Shen Ying to retreat behind a cubic barrier before she vanished from the instance.
• Su Cheng struggled to restrain the increasingly rebellious boning knife with help from the Twin Fish Jade Pendant and Mu Ling.
• Su Cheng found Lu Heng and Song Tangqiu beside the dead python, and they warned her that Shen Ying would relentlessly pursue anyone whose possessions she wanted.

Su Cheng returned from an ordinary instance, collected her auction earnings, and prepared for another trip. In the special instance Mermaid Sacrifice, she appeared aboard the Stealth and joined a crew searching for mermaids, though they suspected she was sent by their employer, Victor.

• Su Cheng finished dealing with the snakes, returned to her apartment, and received 500 points for completing the survival mission.
• Su Cheng told her friends about Shen Ying, collected 2,698 auction points, and restocked her supplies before entering another instance.
• Su Cheng arrived on the Stealth in the special instance Mermaid Sacrifice, whose missions involved discovering the deep sea's secret and finding the sunken Blue Count.
• Modeya and the crew confronted Su Cheng, but she demonstrated her strength and said she was looking for mermaids.
• Captain Eck introduced himself and let Su Cheng into the cabin, while Modeya and the crew suspected Victor had secretly sent her to supervise their search.

Su Cheng spotted a black fog barrier ahead of the Stealth and warned Eck, but the crew dismissed her until the ship crossed into a violent storm. The ship struggled against towering waves, lightning, and reefs as Su Cheng and Modeya worked to cut down the sails.

• Eck told Su Cheng that the crew had not found the merfolk and forbade her from interfering with their plans.
• Su Cheng used Shared Senses with Mu Ling and saw a black barrier ahead that ordinary people could not see.
• Su Cheng warned Eck about the approaching fog, but he refused to believe her, so she prepared emergency supplies and survival measures.
• The Stealth passed through the black curtain, and Eck ordered the crew to cut the main halyard and seal the hatches as the storm hit.
• Su Cheng caught Modeya when he lost his footing and cut the taut rope; she and Modeya then headed for the remaining mast amid the storm.

Su Cheng survived the Stealth’s destruction in a whirlpool and built a raft from the wreckage. After finding Eck and heading toward Modeya, she learned they had reached the Tranquil Blue Sea, the merfolk’s habitat, and heard what Eck knew about earlier expeditions and the dead merfolk they had captured.

• A whirlpool dragged the Stealth apart and threw Su Cheng and the crew into the sea.
• Su Cheng escaped the whirlpool’s pull, built a small raft from barrels and planks, and asked Mu Ling to search for survivors.
• Mu Ling found Eck, and Su Cheng paddled to him before learning that Modeya was also nearby.
• Su Cheng and Eck reinforced the raft with wreckage as Eck identified the waters as the Tranquil Blue Sea and described the route map Victor had purchased.
• Su Cheng questioned Eck indirectly and learned that a captured merfolk had been nearly two meters long, mostly fish in appearance, and dead when it reached human hands.

Su Cheng and Eck rescued Modeya and two other sailors, then discovered that Modeya had noncontagious Spiral-Type Kro Fungus and had joined Victor's search for a mermaid to obtain medicine. They reached the long-missing Blue Count Ship and found its chaotic, bloodstained hall, where Su Cheng glimpsed a fleeting shadow.

• Su Cheng noticed green pustules on Modeya's collarbone, and Eck identified them as noncontagious Spiral-Type Kro Fungus.
• Modeya told Su Cheng and Eck that he had drunk contaminated water before setting sail and sought Victor's help to obtain expensive medicine.
• Mu Ling found two more surviving sailors, and Su Cheng and Eck rescued them before spotting a light on the horizon.
• Eck recognized the brightly lit vessel as the Blue Count Ship, which had vanished with more than a hundred people five years earlier.
• Su Cheng used a grappling hook to board the ship, then entered its dusty communal hall and found overturned furniture, bloodstains, and scratch marks.
• Su Cheng saw a faint silhouette flash past, but Mu Ling said she had seen nothing.

Su Cheng found a silent female ghost in a cabin aboard the Blue Count, then examined Captain Ross’s notebook and learned that he had planned to kill the passengers with something in the cargo hold. Ross’s account suggested the ship was trapped in looping waters before violence broke out, and Su Cheng and Eck suspected something underwater was keeping the ship from moving.

• Su Cheng found a woman’s skeleton beneath the bed in a locked cabin and encountered a pale female ghost who told her to get off.
• Su Cheng could not target the ghost with Soul Attraction, so she left the cabin and continued searching the Blue Count with Mu Ling.
• Su Cheng found Eck reading Captain Ross’s notebook, which described his plan to sink the ship, the vessel becoming trapped in unfamiliar waters, and the passengers turning on one another.
• Su Cheng concluded that Ross’s account might be true and that an item in the cargo hold was meant to kill the passengers.
• Eck said the ship should be moving but remained still despite not being anchored, and Su Cheng suggested something underwater was holding it back.

Su Cheng discovered that something beneath the sea was trapping the Blue Count Ship in a loop and driving its crew to kill each other. With help from the female ghost, she acquired a sapphire ring that protected her underwater and jumped into the sea, where a force began pulling her downward.

• Su Cheng and Eck found Modeya and a crewman fighting in the cargo hold and tied them up after recognizing the behavior from Ross's notes.
• Su Cheng questioned the female ghost about the danger beneath the water and learned that underwater equipment was in the ghost's room.
• The female ghost gave Su Cheng her sapphire pendant, the Heart of Sea Blue, which could create a protective space and conceal its holder's presence.
• After Eck was affected and Mu Ling restrained him, Su Cheng took Mu Ling and jumped from the deck into the sea.
• The ring formed a breathable membrane around Su Cheng underwater, but she and Mu Ling felt something pulling them down beneath the ship.

Su Cheng found the sealed flood dragon beneath the sea and realized it was using the Blue Count to gather resentful souls and break free. She cut off its head, absorbed its pearl into the Twin Fish Jade Pendant, and the pendant evolved into a stronger paranormal weapon.

• Su Cheng descended into the dark depths, endured growing panic and false visions, and found the Demon-Suppressing Stones, chains, and human bones around the sealed flood dragon.
• Su Cheng concluded the flood dragon had been using the Blue Count to lure people and gather resentful souls, and that she had to destroy it to complete the side quest.
• Su Cheng approached the flood dragon, but the jade pendant shielded her from its resentment and she forced the reluctant boning knife to strike its neck.
• The flood dragon's stone head fell, and its phantom attack injured Su Cheng before the jade pendant and boning knife absorbed her blood and the dragon's body collapsed.
• The Twin Fish Jade Pendant absorbed the flood dragon's pearl and evolved into the Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl Jade Pendant, gaining stronger protective abilities.

Su Cheng destroyed the stone flood dragon, escaped the seabed, and helped the Blue Count resume sailing. After learning the ship was tied to a merchant association plot involving the Kro Fungus, she joined Eck’s plan to search for merfolk, while Modeya revealed he had a secret weapon.

• Su Cheng’s Dragon-Patterned Jade Pendant gained a powerful Dragon’s Roar ability, and the boning knife formed a connection with her.
• Su Cheng escaped the seabed after destroying the stone flood dragon and received 1,000 points for completing the side quest.
• Alisha told Su Cheng that the merchant association planned to spread the Kro Fungus and gave her notebook to Eck through a deal.
• Su Cheng replenished her energy and cultivated while the Blue Count sailed toward merfolk waters.
• After waking, Su Cheng joined Eck, Modeya, and Rio on deck, where Modeya said he had a secret weapon for catching merfolk.

Su Cheng fought off the sharks and resisted the merfolk’s mind-controlling song, then discovered that Modeya’s secret weapon was a bottle of Kro Fungus-bearing algae meant to infect the tribe. After Modeya threw it, Su Cheng caught and sealed it, wounded a merfolk that attacked her, and returned to the deck as the merfolk recognized her strength.

• Eck ordered the crew to slow the Blue Count as sharks encircled and attacked the ship, and Su Cheng killed several with a harpoon.
• The merfolk emerged and sang, leaving Eck, Modeya, and the other crewman entranced while Su Cheng resisted with her white Qi.
• Su Cheng pulled the entranced men away from the sea and questioned Modeya about his secret weapon as the merfolk advanced to attack.
• Modeya revealed a bottle of living algae containing Kro Fungus and threw it toward the sea, but Su Cheng caught and sealed it in her Smart Bag.
• A merfolk lunged at Su Cheng, who wounded it with her boning knife and returned to the deck as it called her strong.

Su Cheng let the mermaids capture her so she could follow them to their lair, where she discovered they used human bodies to incubate their eggs. Through Mu Ling, she learned the mermaids planned sacrifices to bring back their queen’s reincarnation.

• Su Cheng pretended to succumb to the mermaids’ song and was carried in a sealed container to their underwater lair, while Mu Ling followed unseen.
• The mermaids left Su Cheng and two other humans in a cavern before going to report to their priest.
• Su Cheng found a man on a stone platter with mermaid eggs developing inside his abdomen and discovered that his soul was gone.
• Mu Ling watched the priest say the mermaids needed sacrifices to find the queen’s reincarnation and restore their race’s power.
• Mu Ling followed two mermaids past piles of human skulls as they went to fetch pots and basins for the ritual.

Su Cheng rescued Eck and Rio from the mermaid nest, destroyed its altar and statue, and negotiated their escape by returning the eggs and Algae of the Curse. She left the nest while the mermaids let her go, though their priest believed humans would bring them more sacrifices.

• Su Cheng woke Eck and Rio, explained the mermaids’ sacrificial ritual, and stopped Rio from crushing the eggs.
• Su Cheng put two eggs in a bag, sent Eck and Rio through the water membrane in their containers, and blew up the mermaid statue.
• The mermaid priest confronted Su Cheng, who offered the eggs and threatened to release the Algae of the Curse unless the mermaids let them leave.
• Su Cheng swam to the cave entrance with the mermaids following, pushed Eck and Rio outside, and returned the eggs and algae before leaving the nest.
• The priest refused Li’s request to pursue Su Cheng and recognized the algae as a dangerous fungus that could stop mermaids from breathing underwater.