Chapter Summaries

Captain Chu investigated the sudden deaths of six Taihao disease patients and learned from Yang Tianyou that Taihao had paid a price to avert a greater disaster. When Yang Tianyou refused to explain further, Captain Chu put on protective gear and went to confront him.

• Xu Chen hid his notes of meaningless circles and planned to seek help from his senior schoolmate Ouyang Xing.
• Captain Chu questioned Xiao Wu about six patients who had suddenly suffered brain death at Nanhua Military Region Hospital.
• Xiao Wu said Yang Tianyou had called the deaths a price, and Yang Tianyou told Captain Chu that Taihao had paid it to prevent a greater disaster.
• Yang Tianyou refused to explain what Taihao had done, despite Captain Chu demanding the information.
• Captain Chu put on a Level A hazmat suit and went upstairs to confront Yang Tianyou, while Xiao Wu warned that Yang Tianyou was emotionally unstable.

Captain Chu pressed Dean Yang for the truth about the supernatural entity, but hearing Cthulhu’s words left him terrified and unable to remember what he had learned. Dean Yang explained that the patients in the wards had paid the price for the disclosure, while Captain Chu accepted that he would face the danger despite its consequences.

• Captain Chu demanded that Dean Yang explain what he knew about the entity, and Dean Yang warned that learning the truth carried a price.
• Dean Yang recited words about Cthulhu as alarms sounded for patients in the wards, and Captain Chu’s memories shattered as terror overwhelmed him.
• Dean Yang sedated Captain Chu, then explained that two patients had paid the price and that Captain Chu had learned nothing because his inspiration was too low.
• Captain Chu declared that confronting the entity mattered even if he died, and Dean Yang confirmed that the entity had noticed him.
• Captain Chu asked about Taihao, Xu Chen, and the consequences of hearing the truth without a sacrifice, and Dean Yang warned that they would die for nothing.

Captain Chu learned more about Taihao and the mysterious being from Yang Tianyou, then planned how to protect Xu Chen and preserve their findings. Meanwhile, the government rapidly approved measures to respond to a global fungal emergency.

• Yang Tianyou told Captain Chu that invoking Taihao's name could protect him from the mysterious being, though it would come at a price.
• Captain Chu discussed Yang Tianyou's revelations with his Think Tank and ordered them to copy their records across multiple storage methods.
• The Think Tank analyzed the being's ability to suppress information and influence modern instruments, while Captain Chu refused to call on Taihao for protection.
• Officials gathered to address the global spread of fungi after the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency.
• The conference rapidly approved proposals for domestic medical guidance and support for the pharmaceutical industry.

Ouyang Xing showed Xu Chen how his group had reduced the kidney toxicity of the antifungal drug EXC07 and developed EXC08, though it was less effective and could not defeat the Mutant Aspergillus flavus. He then showed Xu Chen a photograph of a still-living person covered in a terrifying black-haired fungus, revealing another dangerous fungal infection.

• Ouyang Xing excitedly showed Xu Chen a notice about support for domestic research into fungal infection treatments.
• Ouyang Xing took Xu Chen to the laboratory, where he explained that the group had modified EXC07 into the less kidney-toxic drug EXC08.
• Ouyang Xing told Xu Chen that EXC08 was not effective enough against the Mutant Aspergillus flavus, which had been contained, though other dangerous fungal samples remained.
• Ouyang Xing showed Xu Chen a photo of a person covered in thick black fungal growth and said the person was still alive when the photo was taken.
• Xu Chen retched at the image and realized that some alarming information was kept out of the news to prevent panic.

Xu Chen learned that Aspergillus niger had evolved into weaker, long-distance-spreading strains outside a heavily infected zone, and that Ouyang Xing’s EXC08 drug could treat those strains but still needed work to reduce its toxicity. Xu Chen then asked Ouyang Xing to investigate why China’s medical system faced growing pressure, and received patient-origin reports from six hospitals.

• Ouyang Xing explained that Aspergillus niger became highly dangerous in dense populations but evolved weaker, long-distance-spreading strains after isolation.
• Xu Chen realized that EXC08 targeted the weakened strains rather than the original fungus, while Ouyang Xing said the drug still needed further toxicity reduction.
• Xu Chen asked Ouyang Xing why China’s medical system was under pressure despite the containment of Aspergillus flavus.
• Ouyang Xing called six hospitals connected to Dean Yang’s former students and gathered their patient-origin reports for Xu Chen.

Xu Chen reviewed hospital records and discovered an unusual surge in rare immune diseases and neonatal deformities, but the cause remained unknown. He ruled out obvious chemical pollution as he considered what might be behind the worsening hospital pressure.

• Xu Chen compared hospital statistics and found that oncology faced the greatest pressure, though cancer cases alone did not explain the surge.
• Xu Chen asked Ouyang Xing about many unfamiliar conditions, and Ouyang Xing learned that most were rare immune diseases appearing in unusual numbers.
• Xu Chen found that other minor illnesses were also rising and discovered thirteen cases of neonatal deformities, including a parasitic fetus attached to a baby's head.
• Xu Chen considered whether pollution or radiation could explain the deformities, then dismissed chemical pollution because the records listed the cause as unknown and the hospitals would likely have detected it.

Xu Chen linked the rise in illnesses to a possible connection with the mutant Aspergillus flavus and questioned Ouyang Xing about the fungus’s extraordinary behavior. He learned that researchers still did not know what made it so active, and that frontline scientists were investigating the original strain.

• Xu Chen noticed that several disease categories had recently increased abnormally and wondered how Cthulhu was causing so many people to fall ill.
• Xu Chen recalled Song Tian’s father’s case, the doctors’ meeting notes, and abnormally high Brc-Abl tyrosine kinase activity, then asked Ouyang Xing about the mutant Aspergillus flavus.
• Ouyang Xing explained that the mutant fungus grew one to two millimeters per hour, spread mycelium rapidly, and drew nutrients most efficiently from living mammals.
• Xu Chen asked why the fungus was so active, and Ouyang Xing said he and even Academician Qi did not know.
• Ouyang Xing explained that six institutions shared information and researched antifungal drugs, while frontline researchers focused on the original mutant fungus and its unexplained traits.

Xu Chen linked the fungi’s abnormal activity to a cancer patient’s unusually active Brc-Abl tyrosine kinase and hematopoietic stem cells, proposing that an unknown substance might affect both. Ouyang Xing doubted the idea but contacted Academician Qi at Xu Chen’s request, and Qi listened as Xu explained his conjecture.

• Xu Chen told Ouyang Xing that meeting materials about his roommate’s father described abnormally active Brc-Abl tyrosine kinase and hematopoietic stem cells, alongside rapid disease progression and severe drug resistance.
• Ouyang Xing urged Xu Chen to return to studying mycology and offered to find a way to bring him back into the research group working on EXC08.
• Xu Chen proposed that a common substance might cause both the fungi and the patient’s cells or Brc-Abl tyrosine kinase to become abnormally active.
• Ouyang Xing challenged Xu Chen’s theory, arguing that no known substance explained the fungi’s activity, but Xu Chen declined to reveal more and asked him to contact Academician Qi.
• Ouyang Xing called Academician Qi, who stayed on the phone while Xu Chen explained his conjecture about the fungi and the cancer case.

Zhuangzi and a chubby researcher called firefighters to force open the laboratory door, where they found Academician Tang dead. A veteran investigator searched the scene and found students’ ID cards on Tang, treating them as crucial evidence as night fell.

• Zhuangzi called the fire department after the chubby researcher realized his access card was with their teacher, Academician Tang.
• Firefighters cut through the shielding door and opened the laboratory, where Zhuangzi, the chubby researcher, and the captain found Academician Tang.
• A veteran criminal investigator entered the laboratory and examined Tang’s body, cigarette butts, and scattered papers covered in strange writing and circles.
• The investigator searched Tang’s clothes and found ID cards belonging to some of Tang’s students, which he considered crucial evidence for identifying who could access the laboratory.
• The investigator vowed to bring the culprit to justice as night fell outside.

After Academician Tang and Old Ge died from multiple organ failure, the national leadership approved retaliatory measures against the mysterious enemy known as “He.” A top-secret report laid out the evidence and proposed countermeasures, and the leader ordered the country’s agencies to unite and make Him pay.

• The leader recalled Old Ge and Academician Tang’s service to the country and called for a vote on retaliatory measures.
• Everyone at the conference table voted in favor, and the attendees began reading the top-secret report.
• The report described a toxic drug developed by Academician Qi’s team that could contain the mutant fungus, though its effect on Aspergillus niger remained unknown.
• The think tank concluded that supernatural factors had appeared and that He had killed the two academicians to silence them, with Old Ge’s student likely holding key information.
• The leader promised full support for the response and ordered the attendees to make Him pay a sufficient price.