Recaps

Han Xiao finished building his First-Generation Ranger and another Light Power Arm while preparing for the next stage of his mechanical development. After learning that pursuers were targeting his bounty, he accepted a mission to escape them and chose Klo Scrap Station as the battlefield.

• Han Xiao earned money making guns for Raccoon Cat, bought materials at a machinery market, and completed the First-Generation Ranger and a Light Power Arm.
• Han Xiao received 24,000 experience for manufacturing the Ranger and 2,500 experience for making the Light Power Arm.
• An intelligence agent questioned Lü Qian about Han Xiao, and she teased him about the attention he was getting from men.
• Han Xiao accepted the E-rank [Pursuit] mission, suspecting the Thirteenth Bureau had arranged the pursuers to test his combat ability.
• Han Xiao decided to leave the repair shop and draw the pursuers to Klo Scrap Station.

Han Xiao went to Klo Scrap Station, where the Thirteenth Bureau monitored the mercenaries pursuing him and Raccoon Cat hosted him as an honored guest. The chapter ended with Ma Jie being summoned to meet Raccoon Cat after revealing that he had encountered Han Xiao before.

• Han Xiao took a day off, packed his mechanical arm and First-Generation Ranger, and headed to Klo Scrap Station while the Stinging Bee Squad and the Thirteenth Bureau followed him.
• The Stinging Bee Squad planned to kill Han Xiao for the bounty, while Li Hui and Feng Jun observed the pursuit as part of the bureau’s test.
• Han Xiao arrived at the scrap station, accepted Raccoon Cat’s invitation to eat, and discussed the guns he had made for him.
• After a subordinate summoned Raccoon Cat away from the meal, Ma Jie arrived at the station with his cousin and recognized Han Xiao as someone he had met while sneaking across the border.
• Raccoon Cat’s subordinate learned that Ma Jie knew Han Xiao and ordered Ma Jie to come with him to see the boss.

Ma Jie betrayed Han Xiao’s background to Raccoon Cat, who decided to seize Han Xiao’s gunmaking techniques and kill him. Han Xiao sprang into action when Raccoon Cat’s men aimed their guns, flipping the table and charging toward the guarded door as gunfire erupted.

• Ma Jie told Raccoon Cat that Han Xiao was a penniless wanderer with no family or friends in West Capital, and Raccoon Cat recruited him.
• Yellow Hair asked Ma Jie to look after him, while one of Raccoon Cat’s men explained that they planned to torture Han Xiao for his gun blueprints and then kill him.
• Raccoon Cat confronted Han Xiao and demanded his gunmaking techniques, while six gunmen surrounded him.
• Han Xiao warned that his backpack contained explosives and tried to make Raccoon Cat hesitate, but Raccoon Cat ordered him to surrender.
• Han Xiao activated his mechanical arm, flipped the table into the four gunmen across from him, and charged toward the two guards by the door as Raccoon Cat shouted for them to fire.

Han Xiao fought his way through Raccoon Cat’s junkyard gang before the Stinging Bee Squad arrived to kill him. He lured the mercenaries into an ambush with his First-Generation Ranger, which opened fire and killed three of them.

• Han Xiao broke out of Raccoon Cat’s compound, fought through reinforcements, and used a pistol to kill more than twenty thugs.
• The Stinging Bee Squad attacked the junkyard, routed Raccoon Cat’s men, and then turned their guns on Han Xiao.
• Han Xiao fled under fire until he returned within range of the First-Generation Ranger’s remote controller.
• Han Xiao piloted the Ranger into a blind spot between car shells and waited for the squad to approach.
• The First-Generation Ranger ambushed the Stinging Bee Squad with its finger barrels and killed three mercenaries.

Han Xiao killed the six mercenaries who pursued him, completed his mission, and was taken into custody by the Thirteenth Bureau. Meanwhile, Raccoon Cat realized the bureau was arresting him to silence witnesses after learning Han Xiao was a Germinal Organization bounty target.

• The First-Generation Ranger ran out of ammunition, then Han Xiao detonated it, killing the long-haired man and another mercenary while Kaili escaped.
• Han Xiao intercepted Kaili, dodged his gunfire, and killed him with an Overload-powered punch before Li Hui's agents arrived.
• Han Xiao completed the Pursuit mission and its hidden condition, then surrendered to the Thirteenth Bureau agents, who took him away.
• Raccoon Cat found the Germinal Organization's bounty on Han Xiao and realized his attack had targeted a dangerous figure.
• The police arrested Raccoon Cat on the Thirteenth Bureau's orders, and he concluded Han Xiao's identity had made him a witness to be silenced.

Han Xiao negotiated with the Thirteenth Bureau by claiming Germinal had contacted DarkStar and offering locations of secret bases. The intelligence chief agreed to consider cooperation, but Han Xiao remained detained while Stardragon checked his claims.

• Li Hui and Feng Jun interrogated Han Xiao about the bounty on his head, but he demanded to speak with someone more important.
• The Thirteenth Bureau’s intelligence chief questioned Han Xiao, who claimed he had defected from Germinal and revealed an alleged communication with DarkStar.
• Han Xiao used his supposed knowledge of DarkStar to persuade the intelligence chief that cooperation against Germinal could benefit Stardragon.
• Han Xiao marked three alleged Germinal sub-bases on a map and offered to reveal more after the Bureau verified his information.
• The intelligence chief ended the call to report Han Xiao’s situation, leaving him in custody as Han Xiao warned them not to keep him waiting.

The Thirteenth Bureau debated how to handle Han Xiao and decided to recruit him into the Secret Operations Department after verifying his intelligence about Germinal bases. The bureau examined his Light Power Arm but failed to crack its security measures, while Old Man Gao told the director that Han Xiao could be valuable beyond the intelligence he provided.

• The Thirteenth Bureau's department heads argued over whether to detain Han Xiao or cooperate with him, and the director pushed through a vote to recruit him.
• The director decided Han Xiao would join the Secret Operations Department once the bureau confirmed that his intelligence about Germinal's branch bases was accurate.
• Luo Xuan tried to dismantle the Light Power Arm but found four layers of security measures and could not make progress.
• The head of Intelligence took the Light Power Arm to be tested in the field during the planned attacks on three Germinal strongholds.
• The director told Old Man Gao that he had recommended Han Xiao for Secret Operations, and Old Man Gao said Han Xiao would be an important asset against Germinal.

Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao infiltrated a Germinal Organization branch base during a military assault to steal intelligence, but the base’s defenses and self-destruct procedures put their mission at risk. They escaped after Li Yalin used the Light Power Arm to break into the server room, while the chapter left unclear how much information Lin Yao had managed to save.

• Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao entered the branch base through a side entrance and made their way toward the server room.
• Li Yalin and Lambert killed a squad of guards, but the base raised the alarm and began formatting its systems as more enemies closed in.
• Li Yalin activated the Light Power Arm and smashed open the server room door while Lin Yao worked to back up data and access the Germinal Organization’s database.
• Li Yalin and Lambert fought off guards pouring into the server room until the system finished formatting and the base lost power and network access.
• Li Yalin led the group through the darkened base as Lambert escorted Lin Yao, and all three escaped after a fierce battle.
• Li Yalin admired the Light Power Arm, and she and Lin Yao wondered whether Luo Xuan had invented it.

After Stardragon destroyed a Germinal Organization base, Li Yalin tried to find the maker of the Light Power Arm while the Germinal leader suspected an internal leak. Meanwhile, Lü Qian persuaded Old Man Lü to pressure Old Man Gao into bringing the missing Han Xiao back.

• Li Yalin praised the Light Power Arm and went to the logistics department to find its inventor, but Luo Xuan admitted he had not made it and Feng Jun said the inventor's identity was classified.
• The Germinal leader learned Stardragon had destroyed sub-base forty-five, suspected a traitor among the organization's upper ranks, and ordered a purge without suspecting Han Xiao.
• Lü Qian worried because Han Xiao had been missing for three days and pressured Old Man Lü to help find him by threatening to sell his hidden liquor.
• Old Man Lü called Old Man Gao, learned that his people had taken Han Xiao to work with him, and demanded that he send Han Xiao back.

Han Xiao improved his skills, developed two new blueprints, and learned that the Thirteenth Bureau’s campaign against Germinal had advanced his mission. After joining the Bureau’s Secret Operations Department, he secured permission to make machinery for agents’ private orders and left headquarters.

• Han Xiao used a Skill Upgrade Card to raise Basic Combat to its level cap, then fused knowledge to develop the Folding War Blade and High Combustion Ammunition.
• Han Xiao saw that his mission progress had risen to 1.6% and considered Germinal’s Dead Hand System as a major obstacle to completing it.
• The head of the Intelligence Department accepted Han Xiao into the Thirteenth Bureau and assigned him to the Secret Operations Department, while Feng Jun became his contact.
• Han Xiao refused to hand over his mechanical blueprints but confirmed that agents could place private orders with him.
• Han Xiao received a black phone and left Thirteenth Bureau headquarters with his cooperation agreement in place.

After returning to the repair shop, Han Xiao learned he had been assigned to the Thirteenth Bureau’s Secret Operations Department, while his arrival stirred uncertainty among West Capital’s district bosses. He made new ammunition and a folding knife as he waited for his credentials, then received orders to report to the Bureau.

• Han Xiao returned to the repair shop after three days away, where Lü Qian scolded him and Old Man Lü mistook his presence for romantic interest in Lü Qian.
• The head of the Logistics Department told Luo Xuan that Han Xiao had been specially recruited into the Secret Operations Department, leaving Luo Xuan angry and shocked.
• The bosses of West Capital’s six other districts declined to take over Raccoon Cat’s vacant Seventh District territory and planned to wait for a newcomer to make a move.
• Han Xiao used materials from the Thirteenth Bureau to make High Combustion Ammunition and a folding combat knife, improving his Basic Mechanical Affinity.
• Feng Jun messaged Han Xiao that his credentials had been approved and ordered him to report that day.

Han Xiao joined the Thirteenth Bureau’s Secret Operations Department as a mechanic assigned to Li Yalin’s squad, where he met his new teammates and learned his logistics duties. The squad received a mission to capture Black Spider, and Han Xiao accepted it as his first operation.

• Han Xiao followed Feng Jun to the Thirteenth Bureau headquarters, refused to wear a joke mask, and covered his face with torn cloth instead.
• Han Xiao met Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao in the squad’s conference room and kept his identity concealed.
• Li Yalin recognized Han Xiao as the maker of the Light Power Arm and offered to back him if he made her a mechanical arm.
• Lin Yao explained that the squad’s captain was recovering from food poisoning and that Han Xiao would handle equipment, supplies, and intelligence support.
• Lin Yao announced a mission to capture Black Spider in West Capital, and Han Xiao accepted the mission.

Han Xiao equipped Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao with folding sabers and remotely coordinated their operation to capture Black Spider. The team entered the slums at night to search for him, while Han Xiao monitored them from the Secret Operations Department.

• Han Xiao realized the mission’s hidden reward required capturing Black Spider and believed his knowledge of Black Spider’s weakness gave the squad a strong chance.
• Han Xiao sold Li Yalin a folding saber and accepted orders from Lambert and Lin Yao for more weapons.
• Han Xiao made eleven custom folding sabers before the operation and earned money and crafting experience.
• Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao set out to pursue Black Spider while Han Xiao monitored their cameras and headsets and handled command.
• The three agents moved through the dark, crime-ridden slums of the Eighth District, where intelligence reports placed Black Spider.

Li Yalin, Lambert, and Lin Yao fought Black Spider and his armed backup, but Han Xiao warned them that the supposedly dead assassin was still alive. The team was left to investigate the strange claim that Black Spider was an esper.

• Han Xiao warned Li Yalin that Black Spider had spotted the team, and Black Spider's masked gunmen ambushed them.
• Li Yalin led the team through the alleys before drawing the gunmen into a dead end and launching a counterattack.
• Lambert killed four gunmen with throwing knives while Li Yalin used her folding combat blade to defeat the rest.
• Lambert shot Black Spider in the head after the wounded assassin claimed Li Yalin could not kill him.
• Han Xiao said Black Spider was still alive and told the team to inspect a masked corpse, but Li Yalin and Lin Yao doubted him.

Han Xiao helped Lambert, Li Yalin, and Lin Yao expose Black Spider’s clone-based immortality and capture him alive. After the team’s successful first operation, Han Xiao faced a hostile review by Internal Affairs, which left their conflict unresolved.

• Han Xiao guided Lambert, Li Yalin, and Lin Yao through identifying Black Spider’s faceless clones, and they captured Black Spider by crippling his final body instead of killing it.
• Han Xiao revealed Black Spider’s limits to Li Yalin, who warned him that the team could keep him imprisoned; reinforcements took Black Spider away.
• Han Xiao completed the mission, chose 40,000 experience over the Mind Stabilizer, and learned Black Spider would be confined at Death Knell Island Prison.
• Feng Jun told Han Xiao that Internal Affairs had requested a second review and that hardliners in the department opposed cooperating with him.
• Han Xiao mocked the reviewer during the investigation, answered the psychological assessment at random, and left after the reviewer warned that Internal Affairs would watch him.

Han Xiao expanded his workshop and earned money and experience by selling folding battle blades while stockpiling high-combustion ammunition. The Research and Development Department demanded his blade blueprint under the pretense of inspecting it, but Han Xiao refused, and Old Man Gao became furious on his behalf.

• Han Xiao persuaded Li Yalin to promote his work, then arranged for the Thirteenth Bureau to build him a larger workshop with a basement.
• Li Yalin brought Han Xiao a flood of orders, and he sold dozens of folding battle blades, maxed out [Basic Mechanical Affinity], and began stockpiling high-combustion bullets.
• Han Xiao visited Old Man Gao and discussed his prosthetic and his work with the Thirteenth Bureau.
• Feng Jun told Han Xiao that the Research and Development Department wanted his folding battle blade blueprint for an inspection, though it intended to claim the design as its own.
• Han Xiao refused to hand over the blueprint, and Old Man Gao learned of the demand and angrily condemned the Research and Development Department.

Li Yalin and Lambert worried about the Research and Development Department targeting Han Xiao, while Di Susu provoked Li Yalin and drew Lin Yao’s admiration. The department moved ahead with plans to copy Han Xiao’s folding battle blade, and its head asked Luo Xuan if he could reconstruct the blueprints.

• Li Yalin, Lin Yao, and Lambert discussed how to help Han Xiao after the Research and Development Department tried to obtain his blueprints, and Lambert suggested they wait.
• Di Susu visited Li Yalin’s team to taunt them about Han Xiao’s troubles and mock his absence.
• Li Yalin grew jealous when Lin Yao admired Di Susu, then threw him across the room while Lambert called for an orthopedic specialist.
• The Research and Development Department sought to buy folding battle blades and split over whether to pressure Han Xiao for his blueprints or preserve him as an ally.
• Krat sold his folding battle blade to the department for thirty thousand, and the department head asked Luo Xuan whether he could work out the blueprints.

Han Xiao learned that the Research and Development Department had copied his Folding War Blade blueprint and begun production, costing him orders. He planned to use the dispute to demand advanced knowledge, while Luo Xuan believed Han Xiao would stay silent.

• Luo Xuan agreed to reverse-engineer the Folding War Blade in hopes of joining the Research and Development Department.
• Han Xiao produced a batch of Folding War Blades using a stamping machine and improved the blueprint to level 2.
• Li Yalin told Han Xiao that agents were canceling their orders because the Research and Development Department had copied the blueprint and announced mass production.
• Han Xiao learned from Feng Jun that Krat and Luo Xuan were involved, then decided to use the department's actions to seek compensation and advanced knowledge.
• The Research and Development Department's secretary told Luo Xuan he would be transferred, promoted, and given higher clearance, and assured him Han Xiao would not cause trouble.

Han Xiao sold a batch of Folding War Blades and their blueprint to arms dealer Matthews, then set events in motion against the Research and Development Department. The department chief learned that he was being accused of reselling arms.

• Han Xiao made a hundred Folding War Blades and brought them to Matthews, an arms dealer backed by the Farian Group.
• Han Xiao sold Matthews the blades for five thousand each and the blueprint for one million, then received a Farian Group VIP card.
• Han Xiao planned to use the sale to put pressure on the Research and Development Department and relied on Old Man Gao to help.
• The Research and Development chief boasted to the Intelligence Department head that Han Xiao had backed down and suggested taking him into custody.
• The bureau chief told the Research and Development chief that the Folding War Blade report had been approved, then accused him of abusing his authority to resell arms.

The higher-ups backed Han Xiao after he framed the Research and Development Department, forcing its head to take responsibility and offering mediation to restore their cooperation. At the mediation meeting, Han Xiao discovered that Old Man Gao had influence over the Thirteenth Bureau and was asked how he wanted to settle the dispute.

• The higher-ups approved the accusation against the Research and Development Department head, who was suspended without pay and placed on probation.
• Rumors about the department head spread through the Thirteenth Bureau, while Luo Xuan lost his promised clearance increase and was relegated to ordinary research work.
• Feng Jun told Han Xiao that the higher-ups wanted to mediate, and Han Xiao recognized the meeting as a chance to demand compensation for the Folding War Blade blueprints.
• Feng Jun led Han Xiao to the director's office, where Gu Hui introduced himself as an executive director of the Stardragon Homeland Strategic Defense Bureau.
• Old Man Gao revealed that he could influence the Thirteenth Bureau's decisions and asked Han Xiao how he wanted to resolve the matter.

Han Xiao negotiated with the Thirteenth Bureau to prevent future blueprint disputes and gained permission to view Stardragon's Mechanic advanced knowledge. He reached the secured mainframe and began searching its contents, with only an hour to access them.

• Han Xiao demanded that the Thirteenth Bureau avoid future blueprint disputes, and Gu Hui accepted his condition.
• Han Xiao asked to view the Mechanic Class's advanced knowledge, and Old Man Gao agreed despite the department head's objections.
• Gu Hui limited Han Xiao's access to one hour, while Han Xiao privately planned to learn the knowledge quickly with potential points.
• Gu Hui escorted Han Xiao through the heavily guarded corridor to Stardragon's mainframe and unlocked access to the advanced knowledge.
• Han Xiao searched the mainframe and saw several advancement options for Esper and Pugilist Classes.

Han Xiao learned Advanced Material Synthesis and advanced into the Mechanic Apprentice class, choosing the manufacturing-focused Mechanic path. His advancement awakened Magnetic energy and granted new talents, skills, and a blueprint, leaving him newly empowered and with further class knowledge to pursue.

• Han Xiao learned Advanced Material Synthesis, completing his level 20 advancement mission and unlocking the advanced Armament branch.
• Han Xiao chose the Mechanic path over Gunner and Mechanical Pugilist, then advanced to Mechanic Apprentice Lv1.
• Han Xiao's body changed as his energy attribute became Magnetic, and he gained the Geometric Thinking talent, Energy Refinement Method, Intermediate Mechanical Affinity, Sliding Continuous Fire, and the Taibo Alloy blueprint.
• Han Xiao checked his updated attributes and skills, seeing that he had reached Grade E superhuman status and had 16 Potential Points.

Han Xiao completed his first advancement, spent experience improving his skills, and began training his new energy method. After returning to the Secret Operations Department, he met the newly discharged squad captain, Zhang Wei, who warned that he would judge Han Xiao's abilities for himself.

• Han Xiao advanced as a Mechanic, gained new skills and magnetic energy, and canceled his Civilian class.
• Han Xiao raised Agent and Basic Shooting to level ten, then saved the remaining experience for training and future needs.
• Han Xiao told Feng Jun to spread the word that he would no longer sell anything to Krat.
• Han Xiao trained Energy Refinement Method and prepared to sell High Combustion Ammunition, but Li Yalin summoned him to meet the captain.
• Han Xiao met the recovered captain, Zhang Wei, who said he distrusted Han Xiao's blank record and might remove him from the squad if his abilities fell short.

Han Xiao joined Zhang Wei’s team as they rushed to rescue Ma Qingyang’s squad, which had been ambushed by the Germinal Organization. The team reached the desert and opened fire on the pursuers, beginning the rescue operation.

• Lin Yao announced an emergency mission after Ma Qingyang’s squad was ambushed at a Germinal base, and Zhang Wei ordered Han Xiao to observe and assist.
• Han Xiao gave Li Yalin four magazines of high-incendiary bullets before the team departed, and Lin Yao monitored the agents’ cameras and communications.
• The team landed in the Gobi desert, where Han Xiao recognized Zhang Wei’s Warrior Armor prototype and considered, then dismissed, trying to derive its blueprint.
• Lin Yao directed the team to intercept the pursuers near a hill, and Zhang Wei led them there with a twelve-person field squad.
• Zhang Wei ordered the team to open fire on the Germinal Organization’s armored vehicles as they pursued Ma Qingyang’s squad, forcing the leading vehicles to swerve.

Han Xiao led the retreating team as they fought off Hila and Germinal's pursuit, using special incendiary ammunition to disable the helicopter and escape by aircraft. Hila survived and reported that she had found Zero's whereabouts.

• Zhang Wei and Lambert attacked Germinal's convoy, but Hila's mental assault incapacitated several field operatives and forced the team to retreat.
• Han Xiao took command and identified Hila as Germinal's combat executive, while Li Yalin engaged her in close combat.
• Li Yalin broke Hila's guard with the Light Power Arm, and Lambert wounded Hila with a sniper shot before Zhang Wei carried Li Yalin back to Ma Qingyang's vehicle.
• When Germinal's helicopter attacked the fleeing vehicle, Lambert used Han Xiao's high-incendiary ammunition to set it ablaze, and Li Yalin's shots ignited the pursuing SUVs.
• Lambert damaged the helicopter's rotor, allowing Ma Qingyang to drive into the aircraft's rear hold and escape with the team.
• Hila watched the aircraft disappear and told the leader over communications that she had found Zero's whereabouts.