Chapter Summaries

He Ao confronted Colin near Weng City and exposed his plan to use Kai Luo and a dark lizard riot to frame K’s believers while concealing the Kwott Group’s secrets. He Ao presented a communication device as evidence, but Colin saw through his attempt to stall and prepared to fight as He Ao’s advancement neared completion.

• Colin emerged from the sandstorm and revealed that he had never been Kai Luo’s captive.
• He Ao explained how Colin had manipulated Kai Luo into displaying devotion to K, seeking the Underground Vault’s contents, and provoking a dark lizard riot that could be blamed on K’s believers.
• Colin challenged He Ao’s deduction, but He Ao clarified that he had not accused Colin of turning the Aines investigators into Human Skin Puppets.
• He Ao explained that Colin needed Kai Luo to act independently so the riot could be tied to the President’s assassination and used to smear K’s believers.
• He Ao showed Colin the Coffee Shop Boss’s communication device and argued that it could connect Colin to the conspiracy, though he had not actually sent a message.
• Colin recognized that He Ao was stalling while advancing and raised his cane; He Ao gripped his blade as flames ignited along it.

He Ao fought Colin, who used a wish-granting flower to draw terrifying power from the Abyss and nearly overwhelm him. He Ao killed Colin and returned to the city gate, where his B-rank advancement continued as a small flower appeared in his palm with three petals remaining.

• Colin transformed into a giant and attacked He Ao, but He Ao’s blade cut through his arm and nearly reached his head.
• Colin tore off the flower’s yellow petal and wished for power close to an angel’s, allowing an Abyssal force to possess and empower him.
• Colin trapped He Ao in a sphere of distorted power and rose into the sky, while He Ao unleashed Brilliant Purple Radiance to resist.
• He Ao disrupted Colin’s thoughts, escaped the sphere, took the flower, and split Colin’s body in two with his blade.
• He Ao returned to the city gate, leaned against the wall, and continued his advancement as a three-petaled flower emerged from his palm.

He Ao learned from Colin’s memories that the President’s assassination was ordered by a hidden superior connected to an organization based in Aines, and that Colin’s wish with the Seven-Colored Flower had bound him to an abyssal existence. After defeating Colin, He Ao walked unchallenged through the City Defense Army and entered the ruins, leaving the soldiers to explain why they had let him pass.

• He Ao examined Colin’s memories and learned that Colin had arranged the assassination, while his unidentified superior had erased or concealed their identity from Colin’s memory and soul.
• He Ao discovered that Colin had learned about the Seven-Colored Flower from his superior, and that Colin’s wish had left him as a permanent anchor for an abyssal existence.
• He Ao concluded that the organization’s headquarters and the hidden mastermind were likely in Aines, where the injured Old President was also receiving treatment.
• He Ao pocketed the Seven-Colored Flower and turned to face the City Defense Army gathered outside the damaged gate.
• A voice ordered the soldiers to kill He Ao, but they parted to let him pass; an officer’s attempted charge ended with He Ao taking his Gauss Rifle battery to light a cigarette.
• The soldiers watched He Ao enter the ruins and explained that their homes and families were nearby, while the powerful lived safely in the city center.

Wei Jinna arrested Kai Luo and learned from Pa Xiu that Colin had orchestrated the incident, while the city began recovering after the dark lizards were driven away. The next morning, Wei Jinna cared for the rescued Little Girl as a news broadcast began explaining the attack.

• Wei Jinna shot the dangerous item from Kai Luo’s hand, restrained him with electromagnetic handcuffs, and arrested him at the Kwote Building vault.
• Wei Jinna collected Kai Luo and the other agents, learned that people believed K had driven away the dark lizards, and spoke with Pa Xiu, who said Colin had been behind the incident.
• Wei Jinna invited Pa Xiu to rest at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building, and they remarked on the bright stars above the darkened city.
• The next morning, Wei Jinna brought the rescued Little Girl nutritional food and left her watching television while she took a call.
• The news broadcast reported that the dark lizard had caused the strange sky phenomenon and linked it to the Great Wasteland Massacre seven years earlier.

A tavern crowd rejected a report blaming K’s followers for the Dark Lizard attack after a witness defended K’s apostle and the evacuation. Deputy Director Ross pressured Wei Jinna to close the President Assassination Case in exchange for a path to investigate her brother’s death, and she left for the Federal Bureau of Investigation without answering him.

• A Gaunt Man challenged the tavern’s belief in K, but a burly man defended K and described how K’s apostle stopped the Dark Lizards and helped evacuate his family.
• A young man and many other patrons stood with the burly man as the Gaunt Man’s supporters prepared to use violence.
• Deputy Director Ross offered Wei Jinna a staff position in Aines and suggested she could rise to Deputy Chief of Staff and investigate her brother’s death if she earned merit.
• Ross urged Wei Jinna to quickly close the President Assassination Case, calling it a simple matter involving a Wilderness Wanderer, and reminded her that he had intercepted complaints against her.
• After Ross ended the call, Wei Jinna composed herself, declined the Little Girl’s Small Cake, and left for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Kai Luo confessed to helping orchestrate the Dark Lizard attack, though he continued blaming Colin, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced arrests of people implicated in the conspiracy. As agents moved against a gang, Wei Jinna went to check on someone who had apparently awakened in the Bureau’s medical room.

• Kai Luo admitted that he had used a sound-wave device to provoke the Dark Lizards and had tried to enter the Kwott Group vault, while claiming Colin had manipulated him.
• The interrogator told Kai Luo that Colin was dead, killed outside the city gates by the person who protected De Nuo City, and Kai Luo collapsed into sobs.
• A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent announced that Colin, Kai Luo, and other officials and organizations had been implicated, and credited Pa Xiu with driving away the Dark Lizards.
• A tavern confrontation over the broadcast nearly turned violent, but the tavern Boss revealed a hidden machine gun before Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived and detained the armed group for questioning.
• Wei Jinna arrived at the Federal Bureau of Investigation medical room after an agent told her that the patient there seemed to have awakened.

He Ao woke after completing his Rank B promotion to Honorary Noble, discovered his injuries were healing and learned how its Authority and Honor abilities worked. After Wei Jinna brought him food and learned he had used promotion to recover, He Ao asked what the interrogation had revealed about the Dark Lizard.

• He Ao checked his condition and Attribute Panel, found his Physical Fitness had risen to 3172, and confirmed that his injuries were naturally healing.
• He Ao examined Honorary Noble's Authority, which let him command people, and Honor, which strengthened or weakened him according to the respect of those nearby.
• Wei Jinna entered the infirmary with food and told He Ao that the doctor had thought he should have died.
• He Ao explained that his promotion had restored his body, and Wei Jinna realized he had advanced to Rank B.
• He Ao cautioned Wei Jinna that promoting in dangerous conditions would mean certain death for most people, then asked whether the interrogation had uncovered a trace of the Dark Lizard.

He Ao and Wei Jinna analyzed where the Dark Lizard might have fled and discussed the campaign to smear K, while He Ao suspected the rumors were part of a larger plot involving the President. The chapter ended as young agents confronted Wei Jinna about her suspension.

• Wei Jinna told He Ao that the Dark Lizard's tracks had vanished after leading east, and they reasoned that its injuries and fear of K made an immediate return to De Nuo City unlikely.
• He Ao used the Dark Lizard's habits, preferred climate, and the terrain to identify possible routes south toward Lava Canyon or north toward Aines.
• Wei Jinna explained that authorities had arrested people hired by Colin to spread rumors targeting K, and He Ao considered how the smear campaign might connect to the President's supposed assassination.
• A group of young agents entered the infirmary and protested to Wei Jinna that she had been suspended.

After being suspended, Wei Jinna stopped her agents from leaking Bureau information and learned that they still supported her. He Ao concluded that her position had been suspended while her Federal Bureau of Investigation permissions remained active, suggesting someone was secretly helping them.

• Young agents and older officials gathered to protest Wei Jinna’s suspension and threatened to expose Aines online.
• Wei Jinna persuaded the agents to remain at their posts and continue the investigation rather than violate confidentiality rules.
• After the crowd dispersed, Wei Jinna thanked He Ao for helping her find allies and explained that she had refused to frame him despite the chance to investigate her brother’s death.
• He Ao deduced that Aines had forced Wei Jinna to choose between arresting him as a scapegoat and accepting suspension, and she confirmed that she had chosen to protect him.
• At He Ao’s suggestion, Wei Jinna checked her Federal Bureau of Investigation app and discovered that her permissions were still active despite her position being locked.
• He Ao concluded that someone was pushing events in their favor.

He Ao and Wei Jinna figured out that her suspension was deliberately arranged to hide her identity while leaving her Federal Bureau of Investigation permissions intact, likely as part of a plan by the Director-General. After discovering that she had secretly been given Temporary Regional Director permissions, they concluded that the arrangement was a warning: it was time to leave De Nuo City.

• He Ao explained that Wei Jinna's suspension without revoked permissions had likely been intentional, and Wei Jinna considered who in Aines could have arranged it.
• He Ao suggested the Director-General had placed Wei Jinna in De Nuo City because her conflict with the Kwott Group could make her useful in a future crisis.
• He Ao guided Wei Jinna through the permissions system, where she discovered she had held Temporary Regional Director permissions since last September.
• He Ao explained that her retained permissions let her request Federal Bureau of Investigation support and act on her own, subject to later approval by the Upper Layer.
• Wei Jinna wondered why the Director-General had allowed her suspension, and He Ao said the arrangement was a message that they should leave De Nuo City.

He Ao and Wei Jinna planned to travel from De Nuo City to Aines, where the people connected to her brother’s death and the Director-General were gathered. After learning the airport was sealed by Kwott Group mercenaries, they decided to use an FBI Floating Fighter, while He Ao agreed to meet the city’s police director.

• Wei Jinna learned that the temporary supervisor had placed her in a work group where agents continued reporting FBI operations directly to her.
• He Ao connected Wei Jinna’s likely decision to investigate her brother’s death in Aines with the Kwott Group executive director and other key figures being there.
• Wei Jinna discovered Kwott Group mercenaries had sealed De Nuo City’s airport, so she and He Ao planned to leave by FBI Floating Fighter under the pretext of escorting a witness.
• Wei Jinna received an invitation from the Municipal Police Department Director, and He Ao chose to meet him immediately despite her concerns about his political ambitions.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna split up at the FBI building: she went to requisition a Floating Fighter, while he headed out alone to meet the director.

He Ao met with De Nuo City police director and mayoral candidate Si Lant, learning about his finances, supporters, and pressure to withdraw from the election. He Ao suggested Si Lant could use a compelling bargaining chip to win the Kwott Group’s backing, and Si Lant recognized what he meant.

• He Ao entered Si Lant’s apartment and noticed a Stray Children Relief Association doll and a black-and-white mask pendant.
• Si Lant welcomed He Ao, introduced himself, and explained that his modest home and limited savings reflected his mortgage and family expenses.
• Si Lant said the doll had been made by a child he helped through the relief association.
• He Ao asked about pressure to withdraw from the mayoral race, and Si Lant described receiving a letter from the incumbent mayor’s Election Committee.
• He Ao said Si Lant’s support made him pivotal in the close election and proposed using a bargaining chip to secure the Kwott Group’s support.
• Si Lant’s expression changed as he understood He Ao’s suggestion.

He Ao confronted Si Lant about his choice to resist the Kwott Group and gave him a way to contact the Radiant Palace. Si Lant called and reached Christos, while He Ao left to meet Wei Jinna about a new situation.

• He Ao explained that Si Lant could gain the Kwott Group's favor by targeting Pa Xiu, but asked why Si Lant had chosen not to betray him.
• Si Lant admitted he was tired and believed he had reached the limit of what he could do against the Kwott Group.
• Si Lant asked whether K truly existed, and He Ao replied that everyone could be K before giving him K's mask pendant.
• He Ao revealed that the pendant carried a phone number for the Radiant Palace and told Si Lant to call if he needed help.
• Si Lant called the number and reached Christos.
• He Ao received Wei Jinna's message about the deployed Floating Fighter and an additional situation, then headed to the marked location.

He Ao and Wei Jinna left De Nuo City with an FBI investigation team, avoiding a City Defense Army attempt to keep them from departing. Their Floating Fighters cleared the South City Gate and headed toward the rising sun.

• Wei Jinna found an FBI investigation team bound for the Kwott Group mine, and He Ao chose to leave with them through the South City Gate.
• At the Mayor’s Residence, a military officer pressured the mayor into ordering checks and interception of suspicious people, and the mayor passed the order to his secretary.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna joined the FBI convoy at the South City Gate, where Wei Jinna recalled the South City Defense Army’s corruption and He Ao described how quickly the Dark Lizards had killed its former officer and soldiers.
• A guard at the South City Gate received orders to intercept listed people, but his superior rejected the unauthorized list and let the FBI team proceed under the valid paperwork.
• The guard recorded the departure as the two Floating Fighters left De Nuo City and flew toward the rising sun.

He Ao and Wei Jinna flew from De Nuo City toward Aines by crossing the dangerous southern wilderness and discussed how the Kwott Group’s temporary restraints gave them a narrow chance to act. They reached Slokes Grand Canyon, where He Ao spotted the ruins of the prison that had held the Dark Lizard.

• Wei Jinna and the other agents left to seal the Kwott Group’s mine equipment and seize stimulants for testing.
• He Ao chose a direct route across southern Slokes Grand Canyon instead of the safer air route, and Wei Jinna piloted the Floating Fighter after him.
• Wei Jinna reasoned that public scrutiny, the upcoming mayoral election, and changes in the South City forces kept the Kwott Group from openly stopping them for now.
• He Ao reassured Wei Jinna that the situation was not impossible, and they looked down on the wilderness scarred by the Dark Lizard’s massacre.
• He Ao directed Wei Jinna to land on a canyon slope near the ruins of the prison where the Kwott Group had held the Dark Lizard.

He Ao and Wei Jinna searched the ruins of Kwott Group’s Dark Lizard control site and recovered a damaged Storage Chip that might contain special audio data. As they crossed Slokes Grand Canyon, they spotted a flock of Iron Beak Birds behaving strangely, and He Ao decided to follow them.

• He Ao explained that the shattered rock structures were speakers used to control the Dark Lizards and searched the destroyed control console for music chips with Wei Jinna.
• He Ao used Eve’s scan and his knowledge of the console’s layout to find a damaged Storage Chip, then put it away for a possible repair attempt in Aines.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna flew across Slokes Grand Canyon, where electromagnetic interference distorted the Floating Fighter’s displays and forced Wei Jinna to take manual control.
• Wei Jinna realized the canyon was temporarily safe because the Dark Lizards had driven other extraordinary beasts away from their former territory.
• Wei Jinna spotted a large flock of Iron Beak Birds over the canyon and began to change course, but He Ao stopped her and chose to follow the birds.

Iron Beak Birds nearly destroyed a Federal Bureau of Investigation team’s Floating Fighter before He Ao drove them away and saved the agents. He Ao identified an attractant on the aircraft, and the team captured the Kwott Group mine supervisor as he arrived, leaving Wei Jinna to ask whether he was responsible.

• Iron Beak Birds attacked the investigative team’s damaged Floating Fighter until an unseen force drove the birds away and He Ao set the aircraft safely on a cliff platform.
• Wei Jinna and He Ao met the rescued agents, who said they had inspected the Kwott Group mine, confiscated illegal stimulants, and been attacked on their return.
• He Ao found an Iron Beak Bird attractant on the fighter and suspected someone familiar with the canyon had placed it to provoke the attack.
• A dark-skinned man in a tailored blue suit approached the aircraft, but an agent ambushed and shackled him after recognizing him as the mine supervisor.
• The agent invoked the massacre of compatriots by the Dark Lizard before the supervisor lost consciousness, and Wei Jinna asked He Ao whether the captive was the Kwott Group mine supervisor.

He Ao and Wei Jinna discovered that a mine supervisor had secretly refined stimulant into the contraband drug White Ghost and attacked the investigation team to conceal his operation. They set out to return to De Nuo City, while in Aines two senators were refused entry to visit the recovering President.

• He Ao told Wei Jinna that the captured mine supervisor was a Wilderness Wanderer and an old enemy whose tribe had been destroyed by the Dark Lizards.
• He Ao identified one confiscated powder as White Ghost and concluded that the supervisor had refined it from stimulant for a private operation, possibly involving Trade Caravans from Aines.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna boarded the Floating Fighter to take the investigation team back along a safer route, and He Ao said the supervisor would cooperate.
• Two senators tried to visit the recovering President at the Starlight Building, but the Black Clothed Man refused them entry without official documents.

Wei Jinna and He Ao entered Aines after the city checkpoint cleared Pa Xiu's identity without finding any warrants. He Ao revealed they had crossed dangerous areas safely by using his aura, then set out to find the President.

• Wei Jinna registered herself and He Ao at Aines's west gate, where the soldier let them enter after the system found no criminal record or active warrants for Pa Xiu.
• The soldier dismissed a colleague's concern that Pa Xiu was the assassin who had tried to kill the President, relying on the clean result from the Federal Bureau of Investigation network.
• In the inner-city passage, Wei Jinna wondered why the Federal Bureau of Investigation had not issued a warrant for He Ao, and he explained that her presence kept him classified as a witness.
• He Ao said he had frightened ordinary Exotic Beasts with his aura as they crossed dangerous regions, though only an Angel or someone with an Angel-level Item could safely follow that route.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna entered Aines in the rain, and He Ao announced that they would find the President.
• A television reported that the President had completed emergency treatment and was temporarily out of life-threatening danger.

He Ao and Wei Jinna investigated how to reach the hospitalized President and traced the contraband stimulant to a likely city factory, while considering how to gain leverage with the Director-General. After buying food, they approached local criminals abusing a father and son, and He Ao politely asked them for directions.

• Wei Jinna questioned whether they could use the voter representatives’ visit to meet the President, and He Ao said they only needed to reach the relevant circles.
• Wei Jinna received confirmation that stimulants seized from the Kwott Group mine contained high-purity White Ghost IB-Ⅰ, and He Ao explained how Kai Luo had found the Aines caravans through the supplier database.
• He Ao inferred from the stimulant’s purity and composition that it likely came from an advanced city factory whose packaging and license had been removed to hide the manufacturer.
• He Ao bought beef wraps for himself and Wei Jinna, then said they should find a local and ask for directions.
• A burly man and his companions beat a debt-ridden father and threatened to take his son while preparing to inject the father with IB-Ⅱ.
• He Ao and Wei Jinna arrived, and He Ao’s gentle question for directions stopped the men in their tracks.