Chapter Summaries

Lin Nieran explored the newly updated system shop and bought limited-time persona cards, a System Mimicry, and supplies, while learning that the cards could be used only temporarily. He ended with most of his points spent and asked whether the card pool above the second-highest one was the highest-level pool.

• 007 explained that personas from other worlds could be purchased as single-use cards, then showed Lin Nieran the Seamstress card and its price.
• Lin Nieran complained about the high prices, and 007 told him a future upgrade would let him break down personas to sell as limited-time cards.
• Lin Nieran considered how temporary personas could support his claim of belonging to an organization beyond the local world and browsed the updated shop.
• Lin Nieran offered to buy 007 a body that could eat and drink, and 007 eagerly accepted.
• Lin Nieran bought four limited-time personas, including Seamstress, a System Mimicry: Fox, and other items, then asked whether the card pool above the second-highest one was the highest-level pool.

Lin Nieran explored the second-highest card pool, learned the costs and limits of specified cards, and used his free ten-pull. He drew several useful Weird Objects and two identity cards, ending as he recognized the person on the golden Double S-Rank card.

• Lin Nieran checked the second-highest card pool and discovered that a specified Blank Card cost 5 million Fame while Fate Seer cost 19.99 million.
• Lin Nieran learned that only draws from the second-highest pool counted toward exchanging limited-time cards for permanent ones, then decided to use his free ten-pull.
• Lin Nieran borrowed Cheng Shanshi's luck, used a Luck Card, and drew ten cards from the second-highest pool.
• Lin Nieran examined the S-Rank Anchor Point and Microcosmic Pot, along with several other useful Weird Objects.
• Lin Nieran revealed the A-Rank Poison Master card and worried that Gan Tian might combine forces with him.
• Lin Nieran turned over the golden Double S-Rank card and recognized the person shown on it.

Lin Nieran used Fox Mimicry to transform 007 into a little fox while the Boundless Land’s alternate identities celebrated the New Year. In Jiang City, Tao Yun warned that Weird Instances were expanding and entities at the border were rioting, prompting the Authorities to mobilize as Gan Tian watched from a rooftop.

• Lin Nieran used Fox Mimicry, and 007 became a fluffy white fox with a black ring on his tail before switching back and forth between forms.
• Lin Nieran took 007 out to find food as the alternate identities in the Boundless Land exchanged New Year gifts.
• Tao Yuan, Wang Ding, Cheng Shanshi, and Le Zhengyang went to inspect the Mulan Boat prepared for their team.
• Tao Yun told Director Chen that Peach Family members had reported simultaneous Weird Instance expansions and that entities at the border were rioting.
• Director Chen alerted the Authorities, which sent Purger teams to clear Weird Instances and organized defenses around the base.
• Gan Tian watched the teams mobilize from a rooftop.

Gan Tian and Wen Keke infiltrated the Discipline Office as weird entities across Jiang City suddenly went on a deadly rampage. Tao Yuan and the others realized Worship God had caused the chaos to target Qin Rang and hurried back.

• Wen Keke struggled to manage Gan Tian, who insisted they enter the Discipline Office before its defenses were fully set up.
• Gan Tian and Wen Keke headed stealthily to the Discipline Office after ten minutes.
• Weird entities across Jiang City rampaged, killing residents and causing heavy losses among the Purgers caught in Instances.
• Tao Yuan and the others escaped an Instance with Cheng Shanshi's help and learned from livestream comments that Jiang City was under attack.
• Wang Ding and An Ying concluded Worship God had caused the rampage to distract the Authorities and get to Qin Rang's Colorless Fire.

Wen Keke abducted Qin Rang from the Authorities and revealed how she had gradually taken control of him as part of a plan to divide the Calamity Crossing Squad. Gan Tian warned Wen Keke not to turn her ambitions against the organization.

• Wang Ding and the others returned to Qin Rang's room, where red gas had incapacitated the guards and Qin Rang had disappeared.
• Wen Keke and Gan Tian transported Qin Rang to Yangcheng, and Wen Keke said he was now loyal to her.
• Gan Tian questioned Wen Keke about her plans for Qin Rang, and Wen Keke explained that she had targeted him since the Residential Complex Instance and used Bai Yang and the Poppy Flower to take control.
• Wen Keke revealed that she intended to divide the Calamity Crossing Squad by turning Qin Rang into an undercover agent.
• Gan Tian warned Wen Keke that she would suffer worse than her Older Sister if she schemed against the organization, and Wen Keke promised she would not.

After failing to find Qin Rang, the Calamity Crossing Squad returned to Jiang City and prepared to search for him by boat. They found the Mulan Boat transformed into a fortified, two-story vessel, with Lin Nieran revealed as the skilled weaponsmith who had helped modify it.

• Wen Keke left with Qin Rang, believing she would eventually control him completely, while the Calamity Crossing Squad learned that Worship God had taken him.
• Minister Wen and Director Chen told the squad that Qin Rang's situation might buy time to suppress the Evil Ghost Mask, and urged them to focus on saving him and Sheng Qingqiao.
• The squad searched for Qin Rang for four days with Cheng Shanshi but found no trace of him, then returned to Jiang City as instructed.
• At the docks, Tao Yuan and the others saw that weaponsmiths had expanded and fortified the Mulan Boat with building, warning, and offensive Weird Objects.
• Cheng Shanshi introduced the weaponsmith who had helped modify the boat, and the squad recognized him as Boss Lin, Lin Nieran.

Lin Nieran and Tao Yuan’s group prepared to sail aboard the Mulan Boat, with Lin Nieran joining as its Artifact Forger. As the group set off, Tao Yun brought several teams of Peach Family Purgers bearing boxes of supplies aboard.

• Minister Wen told Tao Yuan’s group that the Mulan Boat had been stocked for two months and that they would sail with a crew of ordinary Logistics Department workers.
• Lin Nieran agreed to join the voyage as an Artifact Forger, and Tao Yuan’s group welcomed him aboard.
• Lin Nieran packed for the trip while 007 and Lin Yi reminded him to bring supplies.
• Lin Nieran met Wang Ding, Cheng Shanshi, An Ying, Tao Yuan, and Mi Chuchu at the dock, where he noticed they each wore a Sunny Doll given by Sheng Qingqiao.
• Tao Yun and Director Chen saw the group off, and Tao Yun sent Peach Family Purgers carrying large boxes onto the boat.

Lin Nieran boarded a ship with Tao Yuan and the Calamity Crossing Squad, then joined their mission after Tao Yuan offered him a million for accompanying them to a Weird Instance. The group planned to stop in Cloud City to investigate an out-of-control instance and find a Weird Object that could save someone.

• Tao Yun gave the departing group money, emergency medicines, and stored Weird Objects, and they set sail after saying goodbye to the people ashore.
• The group opened their supply boxes and found them packed with money, currencies, Weird Objects, and Weird Artifacts, which Tao Yuan asked Wang Ding to inventory and safeguard.
• Lin Nieran visited the Boundless Land to discuss plans with two new disguises, returned to the ship, and took a long nap while Lin Yi and 007 stared out over the water.
• At dinner, Tao Yuan offered Lin Nieran a million to accompany the squad to the outside of an instance, and he accepted the job.
• Tao Yuan explained that the squad would stop in Cloud City's Minchuan District to seek a Weird Object that could save someone, and Mi Chuchu later joined them after recovering somewhat from seasickness.
• Tao Yuan admired the view and hoped they would avoid trouble at sea, but Cheng Shanshi warned her not to say such things.

Lin Nieran and his companions traveled through the Zhixia and Lily Weird Zones to reach Cloud City, where they found the eerie castle had grown into a powerful instance. The group decided to enter cautiously, hoping to investigate the castle and find Wang.

• Lin Nieran learned that Tao Yuan and the others believed they were too weak to stop the coming disaster and could only delay it.
• Lin Nieran asked 007 whether it would remember him after its mission, and 007 explained that its data would be erased.
• The six travelers left the Mulan Boat and crossed the Zhixia Weird Zone, with Cheng Shanshi repeatedly collecting strange plants despite An Ying's warning.
• The group reached the Lily Weird Zone and Cloud City's gates, where they saw that the materialized castle had grown to an imposing size.
• Tao Yuan agreed to enter the castle and told everyone to bring their control-immunity Weird Objects and retreat if danger arose.

Tao Yuan and her group visited Wang at the castle to learn who caused Qin Rang to lose control. Wang admitted that he had initially controlled Qin Rang, but the Poppy Flower was responsible for his later loss of control, and the group left the castle.

• The group entered the transformed castle and met Wang and the butler, who invited them to stay and talk.
• Wang welcomed the group and had eerie servants serve them desserts, easing the tense atmosphere.
• Tao Yuan asked who had been responsible for Qin Rang losing control, and Lin Nieran deduced that Worship God and the Poppy Flower were involved.
• Wang admitted that he had controlled Qin Rang at first, but the Poppy Flower caused Qin Rang to lose control later.
• Tao Yuan thanked Wang, left him a ruby as a gift, and departed with the group; Wang told the butler to put the ruby away.

The Calamity Crossing Squad struggled through the Weird Zone toward Minchuan District, relying on Cheng Shanshi’s luck and Sheng Qingqiao’s guidance. After stopping at a candy shop to rest when Cheng Shanshi’s good luck ran low, Lin Nieran dreamed of a red-eyed child and urged him to return a beating heart.

• Lin Nieran asked Tao Yuan if he would still be paid if he quit, and Tao Yuan warned he would not survive the journey alone.
• The Sunny Doll appeared and pointed south, leading the Calamity Crossing Squad along a route toward Minchuan District.
• Cheng Shanshi said his good-luck energy was nearly exhausted, so Wang Ding and Tao Yuan decided the group should rest at a nearby D-Rank candy shop.
• Lin Nieran asked Wang Ding about Cheng Shanshi’s ability and learned that bad luck followed when his good luck ran out.
• Lin Nieran fell asleep and dreamed that he warned a red-eyed child he would soon become a man-eating weird entity, then asked him to give back his heart.

Lin Nieran’s group reached Chocolate Orphanage, where the others entered the Instance while a hostile personality took over Lin Nieran’s body and confronted Cheng Shanshi. Inside the Instance, An Ying awoke in the body of a frail child.

• Lin Nieran discussed his Fame shortage with 007 and kept watch with Lin Yi, who said the area felt familiar in a different way.
• The group reached the abandoned factory near Chocolate Orphanage, and Wang Ding’s positioning alarm went off.
• Tao Yuan and the others vanished into the Instance, while Cheng Shanshi stayed behind and recognized the figure wearing Lin Nieran’s face as Lin Yi.
• The Instance assigned the entrants the identities of orphans and warned them to survive at the orphanage.
• An Ying woke in a child’s body in a cramped bathroom and saw his reflection in the mirror.

Lin Nieran and 007 entered the Chocolate Orphanage Instance, where Lin Nieran appeared as an intangible presence connected to a boy named Lin Yi. Lin Yi could see and hear them, but 007 crashed shortly after they met.

• An Ying recalled losing his parents and sister after the Weird descended and interrupted his leukemia treatment.
• Lin Nieran and 007 appeared in a boys' dormitory, where Lin Nieran found he was intangible and 007 lost contact with its higher-ups.
• Lin Yi woke and thought about the mysterious friend in his head, whom he had kept secret to avoid being classified as sick.
• Lin Nieran and 007 received the Chocolate Orphanage Instance notification, which instructed the players to survive as orphans.
• Lin Yi revealed that he could see and hear them, and Lin Nieran introduced himself as Lin Yi's older brother and promised to protect him.
• 007 crashed and reverted to its original little ball form after Lin Yi asked whether it was a demon.

Lin Nieran recalled helping the young Lin Yi bind System 007 and learned that its offline task was to leave the orphanage safely for a reward of three drops of blood. In the orphanage, Lin Yi encountered Qin Rang and other members of the Calamity Crossing Squad, who appeared to have entered the same dangerous place.

• Lin Nieran remembered guiding young Lin Yi to bind 007 and sign the contract.
• 007 assigned Lin Yi the task of leaving the orphanage safely, with three drops of blood as the reward.
• At dawn, Lin Yi got up with the other children while Lin Nieran and 007 followed him through the orphanage.
• Lin Nieran noticed Qin Rang and other apparent outsiders among the children in the dining hall.
• Viewers watching the squad's livestream speculated that one child looked like Qin Rang.

Tao Yuan and the others suspected that a boy in the orphanage was Qin Rang, while Lin Yi faced strict Rules and punishment in the cafeteria. Lin Yi ended the chapter waiting by the wall, with Lin Nieran and the system promising to help him get food.

• Tao Yuan and her teammates spotted a boy who resembled young Qin Rang and wondered whether the Instance recreated the orphanage during the first descent of the weird.
• The director of instruction silenced the cafeteria, deducted ten points from Tao Yuan and the others, and moved them to grade D seats.
• A freckled boy grabbed Lin Yi and tried to bite him, so Lin Yi kicked the boy's shin and escaped.
• The director of instruction punished Lin Yi for dust on his tableware by making him face the wall for an hour.
• Lin Nieran promised to secretly bring Lin Yi food at noon, and the system offered to help too.

After the orphans’ morning prayers, Lin Nieran and Lin Yi watched the other children, while An Ying, Tao Yuan, Mi Chuchu, and Wang Ding regrouped after hearing Lin Yi’s name. Tao Yuan tried to befriend Lin Yi by offering him food and claiming he reminded her of her lost little brother, but Lin Yi remained wary of losing points.

• Lin Nieran realized he could no longer sense the alternate identities he had brought into the Instance because 007 had been disconnected.
• Mi Chuchu failed to recite the prayer correctly and lost three more points, while the other orphans finished prayers and went to their brief free time.
• An Ying heard children gossiping about Lin Yi, sent a regroup signal, and Tao Yuan, Mi Chuchu, and Wang Ding joined him.
• Tao Yuan offered Lin Yi a steamed bun, but Lin Yi warned her that eating it could cost her points because the director could smell it.
• Lin Yi recognized that Tao Yuan and An Ying seemed new to the orphanage and asked them to leave so they would not cause him to lose points.
• Tao Yuan claimed Lin Yi reminded her of her lost little brother and asked to be friends, while An Ying tried unsuccessfully to make himself cry.

Lin Nieran watched Lin Yi form an uneasy alliance with Tao Yuan and An Ying, then joined the others as they tried to understand the orphanage’s rules. The group began planning how to earn points and qualify for adoption, while Lin Nieran considered how to collect Qin Rang’s damaged remnant soul.

• Tao Yuan and An Ying persuaded Lin Yi to cooperate with them in earning points, and the three children agreed to be friends.
• Lin Nieran found Mi Chuchu and Wang Ding talking with young Qin Rang and saw a weak remnant soul clinging above Qin Rang’s head.
• Lin Nieran asked 007 how to collect the soul, but 007 admitted its shop was unavailable and offered no other solution.
• Wang Ding and An Ying quietly discussed the orphanage’s ranks and decided to test whether they could leave through its front gate.
• Lin Nieran encouraged Lin Yi to make friends and seek treatment someday, while Lin Yi insisted that his brother was enough for him.

Lin Yi and Qin Rang took the newcomers to the orphanage’s C- and D-Rank work area, where they processed Cocoa Pods. As Lin Nieran searched for his cards, he worried that Puppet was doing something elsewhere.

• Lin Yi asked whether Wang Ding and An Ying had been sent to investigate the orphanage, and the four newcomers lied that they had been abducted after sneaking out.
• Tao Yuan agreed that a reporter could help their parents find them, prompting Lin Yi and Qin Rang to react with delight and raising Wang Ding and Tao Yuan’s suspicions about the orphanage.
• Lin Yi explained that the group had to wait until the higher-ranked children left before attending their own class.
• Lin Yi led the group to the C- and D-Rank work area, where Qin Rang explained they had to process Cocoa Pods before dinner.
• An Ying, Tao Yuan, Wang Ding, and Mi Chuchu began cracking Cocoa Pods with Lin Yi and Qin Rang.
• Lin Nieran searched the work area for his cards, while 007 suggested they might not be there; Lin Nieran then worried that Puppet was up to something elsewhere.

Lin Nieran and Lin Yi watched the newcomers investigate the orphanage while Lin Nieran encouraged Lin Yi to stand up to a bully. Mi Chuchu intervened when the boy stole Lin Yi’s basket, and the chapter ended with Lin Yi and Qin Rang pulling her away from the fight.

• Lin Nieran asked Lin Yi to explore underground with him that night, while Tao Yuan, Wang Ding, and An Ying secretly left to investigate the orphanage’s Rules.
• Lin Yi and Qin Rang noticed the newcomers slipping away, then agreed to talk later about whether they could be trusted.
• A stronger boy took Lin Yi’s basket of Cocoa Pods, and Lin Yi explained that fighting him cost points because the boy was C-rank and he was D-rank.
• Lin Nieran showed Lin Yi a Weird Artifact dagger and agreed to help him teach the bully a lesson that night.
• Mi Chuchu confronted the boy, punched out several of his teeth, reclaimed the basket, and demanded an apology.
• Lin Yi and Qin Rang pulled Mi Chuchu off the boy, and Mi Chuchu urged Lin Yi to fight back when people bullied him.

Lin Yi, Qin Rang, and Mi Chuchu pretended to be injured to avoid the transformed teaching director, who punished the troublemaking boy instead. After she left, they resumed processing cocoa beans and learned they had to finish a grueling quota before their friends ran out of time and points.

• Lin Yi, Qin Rang, and Mi Chuchu staged injuries and lay still when the transformed teaching director entered the room.
• The teaching director blamed the boy for wasting resources, impaled him with a black nematode, and took him away while deducting ten points from the others.
• After the sky brightened, Mi Chuchu inferred that rank affected punishment and that everyone had to act normal when darkness fell.
• Lin Yi invited Mi Chuchu and Qin Rang to shell cocoa beans with him, and the three quickly filled another crate.
• Qin Rang told Mi Chuchu that the three of them had to process 1,500 jin of cocoa beans, and Lin Yi warned that their friends would lose dinner, points, and possibly their beds if they failed their quota.