Chapter Summaries

After refusing to join the Phantom Troupe, Qi Zhou was forced by Shalnark’s Nen-controlled antenna to kill the surviving witnesses. He unleashed a violent Nen Ability at Chrollo and tried to escape, leaving Chrollo intrigued by the secret behind his power.

• Qi Zhou reached the exhibition hall and found the Phantom Troupe had killed the attendants and taken everything from the display cases.
• Chrollo ordered Qi Zhou to kill the witnesses as his final test, but Qi Zhou refused and declared he would never join the thieves.
• Shalnark used an antenna to control Qi Zhou, forcing him to kill the witnesses while the troupe watched.
• After removing the antenna, Shalnark left, and Chrollo told Qi Zhou the troupe’s name and his own identity as its leader.
• Qi Zhou attacked Chrollo with an explosive Nen Ability and tried to escape, but collapsed as Chrollo realized the boy’s power held a more interesting secret.

After witnessing the Phantom Troupe’s massacre, Qi Zhou chose death rather than kill again, but Chrollo instead offered him a chance to survive in Meteor City for six months. With his Nen Ability taken, Qi Zhou left the Spiders’ hideout, determined never to return.

• Locked in a box for nearly ten days, Qi Zhou relived the massacre and concluded he could not bear to kill innocent people again.
• When Chrollo asked whether he would join the Phantom Troupe as number eight or die, Qi Zhou chose to die.
• Chrollo cut Qi Zhou’s neck, then changed his mind and had Machi mend his broken limbs.
• Chrollo took Qi Zhou’s Nen Ability and offered to let him go if he survived in Meteor City for six months.
• Qi Zhou left the hideout and vowed to repay what he owed, saying he would rather die outside than return.
• Chrollo told the Spiders that Qi Zhou’s survival was an experiment and that the prey would never escape the spider’s web.

After collapsing in the desert, Qi Zhou woke to find Kerien draining his blood and trying to kill him. Qi Zhou used a fireball to burn Kerien’s arm, then frightened him into fleeing, before collapsing from exhaustion.

• Qi Zhou wandered through the desert until he collapsed from hunger, pain, and exhaustion.
• Qi Zhou woke on a rock as Kerien cut into his arm to collect his blood, and he escaped Kerien’s attack.
• Qi Zhou summoned a fireball that charred Kerien’s arm, then retched from the smell of burning flesh.
• Qi Zhou realized Kerien saw people as food and water, and Kerien recognized the value of Qi Zhou’s ability to summon fireballs.
• Kerien became terrified by Qi Zhou’s changed eyes, dropped his stick, and fled.
• Qi Zhou watched Kerien disappear, sank to the ground, and clenched the hand that could summon fireballs.

After awakening Noah’s power, Qi Zhou realized the original owner of his body had welcomed his soul and had been warning him of danger. He left the blood-soaked desert settlement after setting its tent ablaze, carrying on toward an unknown destination.

• Qi Zhou dreamed of carrying Noah away from a laboratory, then woke and understood that Noah’s soul had let him inhabit the body and lent him its power.
• Qi Zhou recalled repeatedly rescuing Noah from visions of an endless cycle of torment and death, though each time Noah returned to the laboratory.
• Qi Zhou summoned the weakened Imaginary Musician, confirmed that the Song of Taboo and flute remained, and used Gyo to stop his arm from bleeding.
• Qi Zhou surveyed the bloodstained yard and slaughtering stone near the desert’s edge, then left the settlement without entering the tent.
• Qi Zhou set the tent ablaze and continued his journey as the sun rose.

Qi Zhou followed a wary child to Meteor City’s garbage mountains, where people scavenged amid untreated medical and toxic waste. After finding expired biscuits and fighting off attackers, he confronted the child, who agreed to lead him somewhere safer in exchange for his knife.

• Qi Zhou followed a protective-suit-clad child through the settlement toward the garbage mountains.
• Qi Zhou saw residents scavenging among heaps of untreated medical waste and toxic refuse, and the fumes briefly knocked him unconscious.
• Qi Zhou found two sealed packs of expired compressed biscuits in a discarded medical waste bin.
• Two scavengers tried to take the biscuits, but Qi Zhou evaded them and ran toward the child nearby.
• The child stole the biscuits and attacked Qi Zhou with a blade, but Qi Zhou restrained him and offered to trade the knife for answers.
• The child agreed to talk elsewhere, warning Qi Zhou that the area was unsafe, and led the way.

Qi Zhou learned about Meteor City’s districts, scarce food and water, and the ways to leave from a child scavenger. After thanking the child and walking away, Qi Zhou left him watching with a sharpened gaze.

• The child led Qi Zhou behind a dirt mound and identified their location as District Five of Meteor City.
• The child drew a map and explained the city’s regions, the dangerous outer districts, and the Council of Elders’ control.
• Qi Zhou gave the child a compressed biscuit and returned his knife, then asked how he could leave Meteor City.
• The child explained that Qi Zhou needed an ID card to function outside, could seek a hundred wins at the T Arena, or could go to the church.
• The child told Qi Zhou that drinking water could be traded for in Beierhan and that District Twelve’s river was contaminated by chemical waste.
• Qi Zhou thanked the child and walked away, while the child watched him with a sharpened gaze.

Qi Zhou traveled to District Twelve to find water and test whether he could create it with Nen, but a gunshot interrupted him just after he drank the fresh water he produced. The chapter left him lying on the ground after narrowly dodging a bullet.

• Qi Zhou ate his second expired compressed biscuit and decided to head south toward District Twelve to look for water and verify what the boy had told him.
• Qi Zhou reached District Twelve and crossed into its polluted containment zone after protecting himself with Ten and a biscuit wrapper.
• Qi Zhou found the nearly dried, blackened river and used his Nen Ability to gather clear water from the faint water vapor.
• Qi Zhou drank the water he had created, then dropped to the ground as a gunshot rang out and a bullet grazed his cheek.

Qi Zhou survived an ambush in Meteor City, then arranged a water-for-food trade with A-Wu as he worked to secure the necessities for survival. A suited man killed the two fleeing attackers, while Qi Zhou returned to District Nine hopeful that he could survive long enough to leave the bet behind.

• Qi Zhou used Gyo to spot four attackers, knocked one unconscious, dodged a bullet, and blinded the gunman with a water arrow before the remaining two fled.
• A suited man found the two fleeing attackers near the border between District Twelve and District Eight and killed them.
• Qi Zhou walked through the night while practicing Water Condensation and planning how to find food and escape Meteor City.
• A-Wu warned Qi Zhou that water was controlled by a small number of people, then agreed to trade food for Qi Zhou’s water.
• Qi Zhou introduced himself to A-Wu and headed deeper into the garbage mountain, encouraged by the prospect of surviving for half a year.

Qi Zhou experimented with Nen and learned that entering a closed-off state helped him recover after exhausting himself. After A-Wu warned him that Kerien’s group was searching for him, Qi Zhou suspended their deal and returned to the garbage mountain in District Nine to keep training.

• Qi Zhou practiced drawing in his Nen and releasing it in a burst, blasting apart the peak of a garbage mound.
• Qi Zhou discovered that staying closed off while exhausted helped him recover his Nen and physical strength faster.
• A-Wu told Qi Zhou that people had been looking for a white-haired, blue-eyed child and connected him to Kerien’s missing men.
• A-Wu advised Qi Zhou to run because the hall master might retaliate, and Qi Zhou agreed to pause their deal until it was safe.
• Qi Zhou returned to the garbage mountain in District Nine and resumed training while reflecting on the deaths linked to Kerien’s group.

Qi Zhou used a trap to kill the Nen user who tracked him to his hiding place. After confirming the man was dead, Qi Zhou wondered why killing someone had left him feeling neither disgusted nor upset.

• A Nen user attacked Qi Zhou and said he had killed Old Ghost and the others.
• Qi Zhou failed to hurt the faster, more experienced man with his Nen attacks and fled while setting garbage heaps ablaze.
• Qi Zhou tricked the pursuer into grabbing a Nen-coated plank and landing on a garbage heap rigged with a methane-filled container.
• Qi Zhou ignited the container, blasting the garbage heap apart and killing the man.
• Qi Zhou checked the corpse and found no sign of Ten, then reflected that he felt no disgust or sorrow about killing him.

After killing a man who attacked him, Qi Zhou decided to leave Meteor City rather than keep playing the survival game. When A-Wu revealed the dead man’s identity and offered intelligence in exchange for help learning Qi Zhou’s ability, Qi Zhou agreed to target the White Eagle Society’s president, though he could not promise to succeed.

• Qi Zhou reflected on killing the stranger, rested while maintaining his Nen, and decided to seek a way out of Meteor City after his next trade with A-Wu.
• A-Wu identified the dead man as Kelirui, a hall master of the White Eagle Society and an enforcer who monitored smaller gangs for the elders.
• A-Wu said Kelirui’s death would reach the elders and suggested Qi Zhou either flee Meteor City or kill the White Eagle Society president, Suoerzite.
• A-Wu offered intelligence in exchange for Qi Zhou helping him learn Qi Zhou’s ability.
• Qi Zhou struggled with his willingness to kill in order to survive, then agreed to target Suoerzite after handling the immediate situation, while warning he might fail.

Qi Zhou infiltrated Suoerzite’s residence to poison him, but discovered the bartender mixing a blood-red drink. The chapter ended with Qi Zhou realizing the drink contained blood.

• Qi Zhou entered District One and headed for Suoerzite’s home, using A-Wu’s information about the president’s routine and security.
• Qi Zhou worried about the limits of his Nen knowledge, then suppressed his Nen and slipped past the guards into the residence.
• Qi Zhou entered through an open second-floor window and followed the sound of glassware to a cocktail room.
• Qi Zhou watched the bartender mix a drink with crimson liquid from a small bottle and recognized the smell of fresh blood.

Qi Zhou poisoned Suoerzite and killed him, but Suoerzite’s posthumous Nen ability trapped Qi Zhou in a euphoric vision and left him suffering a severe bodily reaction. When guards reached the bedroom, Qi Zhou had vanished, slowly walking through District One beneath the night sky.

• Qi Zhou slipped a tablet into Suoerzite’s blood-red drink and followed the bartender to the bedroom.
• After Suoerzite collapsed, Qi Zhou knocked out two maids and entered the room.
• Suoerzite recognized Qi Zhou as Kelirui’s killer and unleashed his Nen ability, Poison Wine’s Land of Tenderness, as Qi Zhou cut his throat.
• Qi Zhou fought through Suoerzite’s Nen, but a pale red mist enveloped him and induced an overwhelming euphoric vision.
• Qi Zhou experienced intense cravings and pain, then guards entered the bedroom and found Suoerzite dead.
• Qi Zhou appeared on a District One street, walking slowly with silver-blue eyes.

After surviving Suoerzite’s attack, Qi Zhou discovered that Noah had taken control of his body and brought him back to District Five. He met A-Wu to learn about the Stock Solution poisoning his arm, but A-Wu said information about its source would require another deal.

• Qi Zhou woke after Noah used his body to escape and return to District Five, and wondered what Noah had endured.
• Qi Zhou examined the red line on his arm and realized Suoerzite’s Nen Ability had poisoned him.
• Qi Zhou met A-Wu, who confirmed the mark came from the Stock Solution and explained Suoerzite had modified and sold it.
• A-Wu said the Stock Solution was addictive and that he had never seen anyone survive with a mark extending as far as Qi Zhou’s forearm.
• Qi Zhou asked where the Stock Solution came from, but A-Wu made the information a new deal and reminded him their previous deal remained unfinished.

Qi Zhou explained Nen to A-Wu and reluctantly used Nen pressure to awaken his Aura. A-Wu learned to control the Aura as Ten, then thanked Qi Zhou and said he owed him a favor.

• Qi Zhou described Nen as controlling the Aura that constantly flowed out of the body, while admitting he knew little about how to develop an ability.
• A-Wu asked Qi Zhou to attack him with Nen so he could experience it, and Qi Zhou warned that the pressure could kill him.
• Qi Zhou intensified his Nen pressure until A-Wu's pale-gold Aura burst out of his body.
• A-Wu redirected his uncontrolled Aura through his body and, following Qi Zhou's guidance, formed Ten around himself.
• A-Wu thanked Qi Zhou and reluctantly said he owed him a favor.

A-Wu explained that finding the inhibitor meant investigating the families on Spicy Fragrance Mountain and suggested starting with the White Eagle Society. After A-Wu killed a man who came to threaten him, Qi Zhou confronted him about being manipulated, then agreed to join forces with him.

• A-Wu told Qi Zhou about Spicy Fragrance Mountain, the families profiting from Spice Stone, and the difficulties of finding the inhibitor there.
• A-Wu suggested investigating the White Eagle Society and explained how Meteor City’s rulers traded fighters for arms and heavy metals.
• Qi Zhou and A-Wu sensed someone approaching, and Qi Zhou hid while a man confronted A-Wu in the tent.
• A-Wu stabbed the man through the heart and killed him before he could leave.
• Qi Zhou pieced together how A-Wu had watched and guided him, then agreed to partner with him; they shook hands and formed the Wu-Zhou Alliance.

Qi Zhou and A-Wu planned to infiltrate the White Eagle Society and find a suppressant for Qi Zhou’s poison, which gave him roughly three months. After A-Wu urged him to use Wennide to gain influence, Qi Zhou refused to kill anyone who had not attacked him, and set out to approach Wennide on different terms.

• A-Wu told Qi Zhou they would target the White Eagle Society and suggested tracking the timing of his poison episodes; he also revealed his full name was Wu Eros.
• They moved to Qi Zhou’s garbage nest, where A-Wu observed Qi Zhou endure a poison episode lasting a little over three hours and estimated he had about three months to find a suppressant.
• A-Wu explained that the White Eagle Society was vulnerable after losing its president, hall master, and two strongest Nen users, and told Qi Zhou to find the ambitious boss Wennide.
• A-Wu proposed that Qi Zhou use Kerien’s weakness to recruit Wennide and, if necessary, kill him, but Qi Zhou refused to kill someone who had not provoked him.
• A-Wu advised Qi Zhou to persuade Wennide by showing his Nen ability and promising to help him rise in the society; Qi Zhou left to find Wennide and agreed to return before midnight.

Qi Zhou infiltrated the White Eagle Society headquarters and watched the vice president appoint Wennide as acting division head while maneuvering against the other division heads. After Wennide learned that Kerien’s men were dead, Qi Zhou offered to help him secure his position, and Wennide decided to act.

• Qi Zhou slipped into the White Eagle Society headquarters and overheard its leaders arguing over Kelirui’s absence and territory.
• The vice president appointed Wennide acting division head and ordered him to hold the line in the eastern district, while announcing that he would handle dealings with the Bancro Family.
• Qi Zhou memorized the name Bancro and followed Wennide out of the hall.
• Wennide cursed the vice president’s decision in an alley, then stopped when Qi Zhou confronted him.
• Qi Zhou told Wennide that Kerien’s men were dead and urged him to deal with Kerien first.
• Wennide recognized Qi Zhou as a potentially powerful ally and decided to suppress his rivals and secure his position.

Qi Zhou pressured Wennide into pursuing the hall master position and helped him subdue the rival bosses in Meteor City. After Kerien killed himself, Wennide’s new allies gathered under the fearsome force of Qi Zhou, leaving them waiting obediently until sunset.

• Qi Zhou demanded unlimited free Stock Solution from Wennide and told him to prove he could become hall master by dealing with Kerien.
• Wennide went to Kerien’s hideout, where he found his wounded rival had stabbed himself rather than fall into his hands; Qi Zhou appeared and ordered Wennide to bury him.
• Qi Zhou offered to help Wennide deal with disobedient subordinates, and Wennide agreed to work with him under the name Noah.
• Wennide summoned the minor bosses and their men, but they openly challenged him and arrived with his messengers beaten.
• Qi Zhou unleashed crushing pressure on the gathered bosses, forcing them into silence while Wennide asserted his authority and made them wait for the remaining people.

Wennide took control of the bosses and planned to head to the East District, while Qi Zhou learned that A-Wu was Kadis Eros’s younger half-brother and uncovered the danger behind his return. A-Wu revealed that his brother would send killers after him, leaving Qi Zhou and A-Wu to face the threat together.

• Wennide ordered the bosses to accompany him to the East District and asked Qi Zhou to join them.
• Wennide explained that Kadis Eros was the West District elder, prompting Qi Zhou to realize A-Wu was maneuvering to return to the East District.
• Qi Zhou returned to the trash mountain and asked A-Wu whether his real goal was to reach the East District.
• A-Wu admitted that Kadis Eros was his older half-brother and said he had killed three people who had been watching him.
• A-Wu explained that Kadis Eros would send people to kill him if he resisted, and that he had escaped the T Arena despite being a ten-year-old without Nen.
• Qi Zhou offered to make do together with A-Wu, then gave him water as A-Wu soaked his bloodied shirt.