Chapter Summaries

Su Cheng completed the Mermaid Sacrifice instance and returned to her apartment, where she prepared for another journey. She entered the normal instance Wasteland and found herself in a scorching, sand-blown landscape with a seven-day survival quest.

• The priest ordered the mermaids to strengthen their defenses and watch for humans carrying cursed algae, while Su Cheng escaped the cavern and completed the Mermaid's Secret quest.
• Su Cheng sent Eck and Rio toward the Blue Count Ship, then vanished as the instance ended; Eck and Rio found that Modeya had gone mad and agreed to keep the mermaids secret.
• Su Cheng returned to her apartment, checked her messages, replenished her supplies, and reflected on her family and the danger awaiting the real world.
• Su Cheng entered a new instance, changed into a protective suit against the scorching sun and blowing sand, and received the Wasteland quest to survive for seven days.

Su Cheng entered a contaminated desert, rescued Lin Xi and Li Cheng from infection spores with her blue ghostly flames, and agreed to protect them in exchange for information. They explained that meteorites had caused an apocalypse three years earlier, and the chapter left Su Cheng traveling with them toward the survivors’ shelters.

• Su Cheng crossed the desert and found Lin Xi and Li Cheng fighting a bandaged mutant that released green infection spores when they killed it.
• Su Cheng burned the spores with her blue ghostly flames before they could infect Lin Xi and Li Cheng.
• Su Cheng offered to protect Lin Xi and Li Cheng if they told her about the world, and they accepted the deal.
• Lin Xi and Li Cheng gave Su Cheng a spare protective mask and explained that meteorites had brought radiation, contaminated sunlight, mutated plants, and mutants three years earlier.
• Lin Xi and Li Cheng told Su Cheng that survivors had built underground shelters and developed protective suits and N92 fuel to destroy spores.

Su Cheng returned from the desert with Lin Xi and Li Cheng and entered their official level-four underground shelter, where her ability to burn spores was set to be reviewed. Lin Xi took her toward the seventh-floor office, explaining that the shelter had 358 residents and was managed by a leader and team leaders.

• Lin Xi and Li Cheng explained the shelter system to Su Cheng, who invented a story about waking from a vegetative state after her family disappeared.
• The three encountered a bandaged mutant; Lin Xi shot it, and Su Cheng burned its spores as its body rapidly rotted.
• Lin Xi warned Su Cheng that greenery could contain dormant spores, then noticed the cooling effect of Su Cheng's ice stone and accepted her claim of having a naturally cold constitution.
• The group crossed the ruined outskirts and reached the shelter, where Lin Xi verified her identity and reported Su Cheng's ability to the people inside.
• Su Cheng, Lin Xi, and Li Cheng passed identity checks and contamination scans, removed their protective suits, and descended to the shelter's residential area.
• Lin Xi took Su Cheng toward the seventh-floor office and explained that the shelter housed 358 people under a leader and several team leaders.

Su Cheng traded ten ice stones to the shelter leader, Yu Wenzhe, for a hundred protective suits and agreed to join a mission to Green Vine City to search for meteorite fragments. After collecting the suits, she toured the shelter with Lin Xi, who asked where she planned to store them.

• Lin Xi introduced Su Cheng to Ye Zi, who asked her to demonstrate her spore-burning ability and questioned her about her past.
• Su Cheng asked to speak with the person in charge, and Ye Zi brought her to meet shelter leader Yu Wenzhe.
• Su Cheng traded ten ice stones to Yu Wenzhe for a hundred protective suits, and Yu agreed to keep Su Cheng's ability confidential for now.
• Yu Wenzhe asked Su Cheng to lead a team to Green Vine City to search for meteorite fragments, and Su Cheng accepted after activating the system's Recovery Mission.
• Lin Xi accompanied Su Cheng to collect the suits and tour the shelter, then asked where she planned to put them.

Su Cheng joined Leader Yu’s planned expedition team after arriving at the shelter, while Zhang Yuwen returned as the lone survivor of his squad. The mission was set to depart at dawn, but Zhang Yuwen confronted Su Cheng over why she had not used her ability to save people sooner.

• Su Cheng inspected her private room, stored the protective suits in her Smart Bag, and toured the shelter with Lin Xi, who explained the cafeteria, contribution points, and spore incineration.
• Lin Xi received word that Zhang Yuwen had returned alone, and she and Su Cheng went to the seventh-floor office.
• Leader Yu introduced Su Cheng to six former squad captains and proposed making her captain; Su Cheng declined, so Zhang Yuwen remained captain and Su Cheng became vice-captain.
• Zhang Yuwen and the others finalized their expedition plan and chose to leave at daybreak before the forecast rainstorm; Leader Yu hoped the mission would secure supplies and future N92 Fuel for the shelter.
• Yu Wenzhe told Ruolin that Su Cheng seemed like a promising leader for the shelter, while Zhang Yuwen later thanked Su Cheng for saving Lin Xi and Li Cheng before angrily asking why she had not saved more people sooner.

Su Cheng joined Zhang Yuwen’s team for the journey to Green Vine City, while tension over his failure in the previous operation continued to trouble him. The team set out equipped for the mission, and as they traveled, Su Cheng’s ice stone helped keep the passengers cool.

• Su Cheng rejected Zhang Yuwen’s implication that she should have saved his lost teammates, and he withdrew, struggling with guilt over the Yellow Sand Operation.
• Su Cheng considered seeking N92 Fuel as payment for the Green Vine City mission and decided to focus first on retrieving the meteorite fragment.
• The next morning, Leader Yu warned Zhang Yuwen to listen to Su Cheng and offered to let him sit out, but he insisted on joining the operation.
• Su Cheng and the seven other team members put on protective gear, boarded a truck, and departed for Green Vine City.
• Xuewen explained how to use the spore collector, and the team traveled along an abandoned highway as the morning haze cleared.
• The team members praised the ice stone that kept the truck’s rear compartment cool, unaware that it came from Su Cheng.

Su Cheng led Xuewen and Liu Yu through Green Vine City after the system’s navigation pointed her toward the meteorite fragment. She reached a ruined residential area overrun by spore-producing vines and pressed inside alone, leaving Liu Yu and Xuewen to seek reinforcements.

• The team entered Green Vine City and split into three squads to search before rain and nightfall.
• Su Cheng followed the system’s arrow deeper into the city, with Xuewen and Liu Yu choosing to stay with her despite Liu Yu’s objection.
• At a collapsed residential neighborhood, clouds of spores swarmed the trio and overwhelmed Xuewen’s and Liu Yu’s collectors.
• Su Cheng told Liu Yu and Xuewen that the meteorite fragment was inside and sent them to find reinforcements, then continued into the ruins alone.
• Su Cheng burned the spores with blue flames and used a laser cannon to cut through the vine mesh, which caused more flower buds to open and release spores.

Su Cheng recovered the meteorite fragments from the pit and escaped the skeletons and spore-covered vines. After learning that Xuewen and Liu Yu had lost contact, she found them trapped in an alley and cut them free.

• Su Cheng fought through the skeletons and vines, reached the meteorite fragments, and sealed them in the shelter-issued bags.
• Su Cheng escaped the pit and returned toward the truck, then discovered messages saying Xuewen and Liu Yu had gone missing.
• Su Cheng turned her communicator back on, told the others to regroup at the truck, and followed the navigation prompt to the area where Xuewen and Liu Yu were last seen.
• Su Cheng cut through the branches covering an alley and freed Xuewen and Liu Yu from the vines holding them in midair.

Su Cheng rescued Xuewen and Liu Yu from Green Vine City and treated them for parasitic spores, while Tang Jia’s team escaped the changing streets and returned to the truck. As rain and sunset approached, Zhang Yuwen led Yi Ze and Deng Yun toward a meteorite fragment, and the others finally started to leave without them.

• Su Cheng carried Xuewen and Liu Yu out of Green Vine City, removed the spores from their bodies, and told them the mission was complete.
• Xuewen contacted the others, and Tang Jia’s team used Su Cheng’s warning about the changing plants to find their way out and reach the truck.
• With Zhang Yuwen’s team still missing and heavy rain approaching, Liu Yu prepared to drive away from the city.
• Zhang Yuwen decided to search nearby ruins for another meteorite fragment, and Yi Ze and Deng Yun chose to accompany him.
• As the sky darkened, Liu Yu started the truck because Zhang Yuwen’s group had not returned.

Su Cheng returned to the shelter after Zhang Yuwen's team failed to come back, then continued completing missions until she disappeared during a rescue. She exited the instance safely and learned that others suspected dangers were emerging in the real world and wondered whether apartment items could be taken there.

• After two hours without a response, Tang Jia's team left without Zhang Yuwen, Yi Ze, and Deng Yun and returned to the shelter through heavy rain.
• At the shelter, Li Chenwen took the meteorite case, and Yu Wenzhe asked Su Cheng to become security captain; Su Cheng refused and asked to inspect N92 Fuel instead.
• Su Cheng avoided Yu Wenzhe, completed meteorite-search missions with exceptional success, and earned the field teams' admiration.
• Wu Linlin and Gao Yu reported that Su Cheng had not returned from a mission after saving Gao Yu from a mutated plant's trap.
• Su Cheng received 1,700 points and exited the instance, then posted in the group chat that the world might be advancing toward supernatural conditions.
• Su Cheng read Xu Shaowei's message about a veteran saving points to prepare for possible dangers in the real world, while Yan Yu questioned whether supermarket items could be taken outside the apartment.

Su Cheng entered the special instance Soul Heart Lotus with seven other apartment residents, including Hao Ruoxue, and learned they had missions tied to a red lotus and a worship ceremony in Red Lotus Village. The group boarded an old boatman’s vessel to reach the village, and as fog closed over the river, they introduced themselves and began forming alliances.

• Su Cheng considered Xu Shaowei’s warning that classes, Gene Locks, and items might persist in the real world, then felt the system preventing her from thinking about the unknown danger and resolved to earn points and leave the apartment sooner.
• Su Cheng arrived at the Soul Heart Lotus instance with seven others and received a basic mission to find the blooming red lotus and a side mission involving a ceremony of worship.
• Su Cheng recognized Hao Ruoxue, who had changed considerably since their last meeting, and learned this was Hao Ruoxue’s second special instance.
• An old boatman arrived and offered to take the group to Red Lotus Village, prompting Wang Zhichao and the others to board.
• White mist covered the river as the boat departed, and the eight participants introduced themselves, with the newcomers gathering around experienced participant Li Ren.

Su Cheng and the other visitors arrived at Red Lotus Village, where invisible red threads descended over everyone who crossed into the village. After Yulian challenged Wei Guhua about his knowledge of the village’s famous lotuses, Su Cheng realized the threat was triggered by behavior that contradicted their supposed identities as tourists.

• Su Cheng noticed dense black energy over Red Lotus Village and suffered pain when she tried to examine it, then sensed an invisible presence watching her after she stepped ashore.
• The group met Yulian and her son Heilian, who led them toward lodgings beside the village chief’s home and mentioned that he was at the lotus pond.
• Li Ren gave Heilian candy and built rapport with Yulian as the group heard villagers discuss red lotuses and supreme-grade lotus seeds.
• Yulian challenged Wei Guhua when he asked about the village’s lotus seeds, and the villagers turned their attention toward him until he improvised an answer.
• Su Cheng saw the red thread above Wei Guhua lengthen around his neck and pierce his head, then concluded that Yulian had questioned whether he truly fit the role of a tourist.

Su Cheng discovered that villagers’ red threads attacked them when they acted against their assigned identities, then investigated the guest rooms and joined Yaya to face the village’s suspicious hospitality. At lunch, several guests avoided drinking the fish soup by breaking their bowls, but their actions triggered the red threads.

• Su Cheng warned Hao Ruoxue that the red threads could attack anyone who acted out of character and found death qi around the water vats in two rooms.
• Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue inspected Yaya’s room and found no death qi; Yaya invited Su Cheng to visit the lotus pond.
• Village Chief Bai arrived with his sons and insisted that the guests drink the village’s fish soup.
• Su Cheng secretly poured her soup into her Smart Bag, while Li Ren and Yaya drank theirs.
• Wang Zhichao, Aunt Jin, Yao Yue, and Wei Guhua dropped their bowls to avoid the soup, and red threads pierced Wang Zhichao, Aunt Jin, and Yao Yue.

Su Cheng realized the red threads could turn people into obedient versions of their assigned identities, then set out with Hao Ruoxue and Yaya to investigate Red Lotus Village. At the lotus pond, she found a mud-filled excavation site where the villagers urged her to dig for lotus seeds.

• Wei Guhua was pierced by a red thread, drank all the fish soup, and acted as though he had become a tourist.
• Village Chief Bai gave the group a map after Su Cheng asked for one and told her the River God ceremony would take place in three days.
• Su Cheng shared the map but required an exchange of information for other findings; she and her companions split up to investigate while Yao Yue stayed with Wei Guhua.
• Yao Yue decided to wait in the courtyard and planned to trade or plead with Su Cheng for information, unaware that red threads were slowly piercing him.
• Su Cheng, Hao Ruoxue, and Yaya reached the lotus pond and found villagers searching its deep mud for lotus seeds.
• Su Cheng stepped into the mud and began digging as the villagers watched and encouraged her to go deeper.

Su Cheng resisted the red thread’s rules in the mud pool and uncovered that the supposed top-grade lotus seeds contained human-faced skulls and Vengeful Ghosts. She returned to the courtyard with Hao Ruoxue and Yaya, where they waited for Li Ren and the others.

• Su Cheng resisted the urge to keep digging, destroyed a Vengeful Ghost inside a lotus seed, and told the unseen questioner that she had found a lotus seed.
• Su Cheng left the mud pool with an ordinary lotus seed while Yaya found nothing and Hao Ruoxue found a top-grade red lotus seed containing a human-faced skull.
• Su Cheng realized the red thread enforced identity rules and that denying a discovered lotus seed could provoke an attack.
• Su Cheng refused to lend Yaya her boning knife, then sent White Qi into Hao Ruoxue to ease the chill and black resentment around her heart meridians.
• Su Cheng, Hao Ruoxue, and Yaya returned to the courtyard, found Wei Guhua and Yao Yue missing, and waited for Li Ren and the others.

Su Cheng and the others compared clues about Red Lotus Village, its lotus seeds, and the red threads controlling some guests. After Village Chief Bai said that attending the sacrificial ceremony required a lotus flower they had cultivated themselves, Li Ren, Aunt Jin, Wang Zhichao, and Yaya set out for the lotus pond to get seeds.

• Su Cheng found her lotus seed absorbing water and swelling in a vat, while Mu Ling warned that the instance’s mixed auras and red threads were dangerous.
• Su Cheng discovered that Hao Ruoxue’s lotus seed had formed a black resentment link with her, and her white qi could not sever it.
• Li Ren shared what he had learned from Yulian and her son about Green Mountain Village’s transformation into Red Lotus Village and its River God ceremonies.
• Wang Zhichao and Aunt Jin reported that a supernatural item had failed near the ancestral hall, where they heard Village Chief Bai discussing something being ready and eaten.
• Wei Guhua and Yao Yue returned from the lotus pond as red-thread puppets with supreme-grade lotus seeds, and Village Chief Bai explained how to cultivate them and required a home-grown flower to attend the ceremony.
• Li Ren, Aunt Jin, Wang Zhichao, and Yaya went to the lotus pond to obtain seeds before the sacrificial ceremony.

Su Cheng investigated the lotus seeds while Hao Ruoxue tried to guard her vat, but a Vengeful Ghost hidden in a supreme-grade seed drained Hao Ruoxue’s blood and began transforming into her. Su Cheng drove it back, and Hao Ruoxue survived, though the ghost remained inside the seed.

• Su Cheng inspected Wei Guhua's and Yao Yue's vats and found that their supreme-grade lotus seeds had drained half the water and grown to the size of human heads.
• Li Ren, Aunt Jin, Wang Zhichao, and Yaya returned; Li Ren and Aunt Jin had supreme-grade seeds, Wang Zhichao had an ordinary seed, and Yaya had found none.
• Su Cheng reviewed what she knew about Red Lotus Village and planned to investigate the ancestral hall, while Hao Ruoxue filled her vat and kept watch overnight.
• A Vengeful Ghost emerged from Hao Ruoxue's lotus seed, drained her blood through its roots, and tried to replace her as the seed's face grew to resemble her.
• Su Cheng sensed the ghost aura, broke into Hao Ruoxue's room, and used White Qi against the ghost, but golden runes on the vat protected it and it hid deeper inside the seed.
• Su Cheng helped the weakened Hao Ruoxue onto the bed and told her to rest in Su Cheng's room while she checked on the others.

Su Cheng rescued several villagers from lotus seeds that drained their blood and gathered the survivors to discuss the danger. She refused Aunt Jin’s request to borrow her red-thread-seeing ability, then left with Hao Ruoxue as Aunt Jin realized she was the only one unfamiliar with gene locks.

• Su Cheng drove the black mist away from Aunt Jin and found Li Ren fighting a vengeful ghost in his room.
• Su Cheng discovered Wei Guhua and Yao Yue unconscious, with lotus roots draining their blood, and forced the roots back.
• Su Cheng told the group that the lotus seeds would feed for two days and might lure their victims back through a contract-like black thread.
• Aunt Jin asked to borrow Su Cheng’s ability to see red threads, but Su Cheng refused and said it was her gene lock skill.
• Li Ren and Wang Zhichao discussed gene locks, and Aunt Jin learned that Su Cheng had likely unlocked the second tier.

Su Cheng and the others avoided Village Chief Bai’s fish soup after realizing it preyed on those weakened by the lotus seeds. As Su Cheng set out to investigate Red Lotus Village, Li Ren gained a supernatural folding fan from Yulian that could protect him from the lotus seeds.

• Su Cheng observed that the lotus seeds had changed overnight and restrained Hao Ruoxue when Village Chief Bai’s fish soup compelled her to leave the room.
• Village Chief Bai served soup in the courtyard; Aunt Jin drank it, while Li Ren resisted the temptation and Su Cheng kept Hao Ruoxue safe.
• After the courtyard fell quiet, Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue left to seek information, planning to visit a special villager and the ancestral hall.
• Wang Zhichao woke late and accepted Yaya’s invitation to go out with him.
• Li Ren visited Yulian, won her trust by playing with Heilian, and received a supernatural folding fan that Yulian said would protect him from the lotus seeds.

Su Cheng learned the village’s story from the boatman and discovered that Daochenzi had protected the lotus seeds and was seeking to exploit her. After distracting Daochenzi, she entered his quarters and found a chained, talisman-sealed well, which she left untouched as she headed for the building.

• The boatman told Su Cheng that a university student had drowned his girlfriend, become Village Chief, and helped bring a curse upon the village; he said the expert who stopped the ghost lived in the ancestral hall.
• Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue visited the ancestral hall, where Daochenzi welcomed them and offered to tell Su Cheng’s fortune; Hao Ruoxue was overwhelmed by his Pressure.
• Su Cheng took Hao Ruoxue away and sent her to watch Village Chief Bai, Aunt Jin, Wei Guhua, and the others, then asked Mu Ling to help lure someone away.
• Daochenzi realized Su Cheng had avoided the fish soup and lotus seeds and admitted that he wanted to use her for possession or refinement; he left the ancestral hall after sensing a powerful ghostly aura.
• Su Cheng slipped into Daochenzi’s rear quarters and found a dry well sealed with a huge rock, iron chains, and yellow talismans; she refrained from touching it and went toward the locked building.