Chapter Summaries

Tsubaki Oni tried to kill Fang Li, but he outsped her and showed that he had taken her katana. He also stopped Yan’s powerful attack and defeated both Oni, leaving Sara to rescue them and face him with her bow.

• Tsubaki Oni rushed Fang Li and took his Glock, but Yan stopped her from killing him because Bami had ordered him brought in alive.
• Fang Li revealed that he had taken Tsubaki Oni’s katana and appeared before her faster than she could react.
• Yan attacked Fang Li with her iron rod, but he caught the blow with a hand surrounded by Star Pulse Energy.
• Fang Li struck Yan and Tsubaki Oni with Flash Sheath—Flower Mirror, blasting both out of the bomber.
• Sara used wind to carry Yan and Tsubaki Oni back into the bomber, then aimed her longbow at Fang Li.

Fang Li overwhelmed Yan and Tsubaki Oni, then agreed to go with them to meet their king, Bami. The bomber vanished into clouds and mist as it fled the fighter blockade, leaving the chaos around Gakuen Island unresolved.

• Sarah recognized how much stronger Fang Li had become since their fight three months earlier and asked what he had done.
• Yan said Bami had more than seven times her raw strength and confirmed that Bami had sent them to bring Fang Li to her.
• Fang Li dismissed his killing intent and agreed to meet Bami, while Yan warned him not to scheme.
• Fang Li boarded the bomber with Yan, Tsubaki Oni, and Sarah, and it accelerated away from the fighter jets.
• Dark clouds and mist concealed Fugaku from the pursuing fighters, which eventually returned toward the city.

Fang Li traveled aboard the bomber Fugaku toward its destination and was assigned Sara to watch over him. Curious about Sara’s Macroscopic Report, he took her into a room to test how it reacted to his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

• Fang Li discovered that Fugaku had been outfitted like a base, with corridors, rooms, and living quarters.
• Yan assigned Sara to watch Fang Li because neither she nor Tsubaki Oni could restrain him by force.
• Sara said Fang Li’s Death Date seemed condensed throughout his body, and Fang Li agreed to have her watch him.
• Fang Li pulled the frightened Sara into a room and activated his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception at close range.
• Sara’s Macroscopic Report reacted to Fang Li’s eyes, and she screamed in terror.

Fang Li and his companions landed on an island used as a temporary Key Point by the Oni and another Retainer force, whose leader was said to rival Sherlock Holmes. As Fang Li wondered whether he would face a battle of wits, a powerful newcomer appeared and identified herself as Sun Wukong.

• Fang Li, Yan, Tsubaki Oni, and Sara arrived at the island aboard the strategic bomber.
• Yan explained that the island served as a temporary base for the Oni and another Retainer force whose cunning leader was exceptionally powerful.
• Yan said that the other force's leader could stand shoulder to shoulder with Sherlock Holmes, prompting Fang Li to consider who it might be.
• A dense presence appeared, and Fang Li spotted a petite, tailed girl perched by a tree.
• Yan recognized the girl as Sun, and the newcomer declared that she was the Nine Dragon Monkey King—Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong confronted Fang Li, claiming he had nearly killed her before, and challenged him to reveal his strength. Their battle began with Sun’s devastating strike against Fang Li’s Moon Blade.

• Yan, Tsubaki Oni, and Sarah reacted in fear when Sun Wukong appeared on the island beach.
• Sun revealed her intense interest in Fang Li and said they had met before and that he had nearly killed her.
• Fang Li questioned Sun about her identity, and she demanded that he fight her before she would explain.
• Sun grabbed the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade and launched a rapid attack at Fang Li.
• Fang Li drew Moon Blade and blocked Sun’s strike with a clash of weapons.

Fang Li and Sun fought fiercely, with Fang Li mostly evading and defending against her attacks. When Sun threatened to kill Aria to make him fight seriously, Fang Li’s Ice-Blue Demon Eyes flickered to life.

• Sun and Fang Li exchanged rapid blows, but Fang Li calmly blocked and evaded her attacks.
• Sun used a feint and launched her Azure Dragon Crescent Blade at Fang Li, then caught it and attacked him in midair.
• Fang Li used Flash Run—Water Moon to evade Sun’s powerful slash.
• Sun accused Fang Li of not fighting seriously and threatened to kill Aria.
• Fang Li raised his head as his Ice-Blue Demon Eyes flickered to life.

Fang Li and Sun fought fiercely, and Sun escaped his killing strike with her Somersault Cloud before preparing to unleash the Ruyi Staff. Their duel was interrupted by gunfire just as they readied their strongest attacks.

• Fang Li cut through Sun’s Azure Dragon Crescent Blade and grabbed her by the throat with One Gale, but she teleported away before his Moon Blade could strike.
• Sun praised Fang Li’s strength, then gathered power and announced she would use her supposedly fatal Ruyi Staff.
• Fang Li sensed that Sun’s coming attack threatened his life, but calmly gathered all his Star Pulse Energy and accepted the challenge.
• As Fang Li and Sun prepared to unleash their strongest moves, gunfire forced them both to dodge, and a voice shouted, “Enough!”

Zhuge Jinghuan interrupted Fang Li and Sun’s battle, then invited Fang Li to become the Blue Gang’s honored guest. As Zhuge drove Fang Li into the forest, Fang Li asked him who Sun really was.

• Zhuge Jinghuan arrived by off-road vehicle and stopped Fang Li and Sun’s fight with a rifle shot.
• Zhuge Jinghuan identified Sun as one of the Blue Gang, and Sun promised to seek Fang Li out again before vanishing into the woods.
• Zhuge Jinghuan invited Fang Li and the Oni to ride with him, but Yan, Tsubaki Oni, and Sara refused and left on their own.
• Fang Li suggested Zhuge Jinghuan had arranged Sun’s attack to test him, but Zhuge neither confirmed nor denied it and invited Fang Li to be the Blue Gang’s honored guest.
• Zhuge Jinghuan drove Fang Li deeper into the forest, and Fang Li asked who Sun was.

Fang Li learned that Sun Wukong was the original Victorious Fighting Buddha and that Zhuge Jinghuan had anticipated their battle. Zhuge Jinghuan revealed that he was gravely ill and sought to recruit Fang Li and Aria for the Blue Gang, while hinting that Bami was somehow comparable to herself.

• Fang Li asked Zhuge Jinghuan whether Sun Wukong was the legendary figure herself, and Zhuge confirmed she was the Victorious Fighting Buddha who had lived for thousands of years.
• Zhuge Jinghuan praised Fang Li for forcing Sun Wukong to use the Ruyi Staff and Somersault Cloud, revealing that he had watched their fight and expected it.
• Fang Li questioned whether Bami could rival Sun Wukong, and Zhuge replied that the Oni King was an exception because comparing oneself to oneself would be strange.
• Zhuge Jinghuan asked about Aria and admitted that the Blue Gang wanted her because of her potential and the Scarlet Bullet.
• Fang Li told Zhuge Jinghuan that he had recognized his impending death, and Zhuge confirmed his incurable illness had left him unable to fight.

Zhuge Jinghuan explained that he wanted Fang Li to inherit the Hong Kong Blue Gang and preserve its mutual-aid ideals against the Shanghai Blue Gang. He brought Fang Li to the island’s mountaintop palace, where Fang Li was surprised to find four identical girls who looked like Keke.

• Zhuge Jinghuan reflected on Sherlock’s strength and explained why he needed a successor before his illness claimed him.
• Zhuge Jinghuan described the ideological divide between the Hong Kong and Shanghai Blue Gangs and asked Fang Li to take his place.
• Fang Li gave Zhuge Jinghuan no answer as they drove up the mountain to the island’s Key Points.
• Zhuge Jinghuan drove Fang Li into the palace, where Bami, Yan, Tsubaki Oni, and Sara had gathered.
• Fang Li saw four identical twin-tailed girls and realized they all looked like Keke.

Fang Li discovered that Keke was actually four sisters who shared the identity and reputation of Myriad Martial Arts. He then saw Bami at the center of the Oni gathering, and she excitedly noticed his arrival.

• Fang Li met four identical girls, and Zhuge Jinghuan revealed they were Sniper Sister, Cannon Girl, Fierce Girl, and Machine Girl, the quadruplets who acted together as Keke.
• The four sisters described their different specialties, while Zhuge Jinghuan explained that their combined skills had earned Keke the title of Myriad Martial Arts.
• The Keke sisters teased Zhuge Jinghuan over their ancestors' rivalry and argued that Cao Cao's descendants should lead Hong Kong's Blue Gang.
• Fang Li observed Bami surrounded by Oni attendants, who served her food and drink and held her battle axe and banner.
• Bami spotted Fang Li and happily announced that he had arrived, her cheerful expression accompanied by a suffocating pressure.

Fang Li asked Bami why she had joined the Retainers, challenging her claim that she sought strong opponents. Bami silenced her Oni followers and invited Fang Li to fight her, promising to answer afterward.

• Zhuge Jinghuan explained that Bami was a rare, exceptionally powerful Amakusa Oni who had targeted Fang Li, and offered to have Monkey fight her instead.
• Fang Li asked Bami why she had joined the Retainers, arguing that the Brigade might offer stronger opponents during the Far East Campaign.
• Yan and Tsubaki Oni objected to Fang Li questioning Bami, but Fang Li’s presence intimidated them.
• Bami ordered the Oni not to interfere, then invited Fang Li to fight her and promised to answer his question afterward.
• Fang Li walked toward Bami as she released a terrifying pressure.

Fang Li called off his fight with Bami, citing exhaustion and hunger, and Zhuge Jinghuan arranged for him to rest. In his room, Fang Li told Hilda he had withdrawn because Zhuge Jinghuan was planning to capture him after he was worn down.

• Zhuge Jinghuan told the Kekes to bring Sun over, but Fang Li stopped before fighting Bami and declared they would not fight that day.
• Bami accepted Fang Li’s explanation that he was tired and hungry, ended the confrontation, and returned to eating.
• Zhuge Jinghuan arranged a room and food for Fang Li, and the banquet continued until nightfall.
• Hilda emerged from Fang Li’s shadow and complained about hiding her aura while he confronted the Blue Gang and the Oni.
• Fang Li explained that Zhuge Jinghuan had planned to seize him after a fight with Bami left him exhausted, so he refused to follow the strategist’s scheme.

Fang Li suspected that Sun Wukong housed Scarlet Gold, whose consciousness controlled her body as the personality called Sun. Hilda explained that a heart bond could let Scarlet Gold take over its user, leaving Fang Li’s theory with a dangerous possible consequence.

• Fang Li told Hilda that Zhuge Jinghuan would use the Far East Campaign and Sun’s Ruyi Staff to pressure him into joining the Blue Gang.
• Fang Li reasoned that Sun’s teleportation and crimson glow suggested she contained Scarlet Gold, and recalled that he had nearly killed Scarlet Gold at I-U.
• Fang Li guessed that Sun Wukong had two consciousnesses: her original consciousness, Monkey, and Scarlet Gold’s consciousness, Sun.
• Hilda said Sherlock’s research described spell bonds and heart bonds, and warned that an unprotected Scarlet Gold user could be taken over and become a Scarlet God.

Fang Li learned that Scarlet Gold could turn its bearers into Scarlet Gods and realized Aria might be changing because her Shell Gold had been damaged. He suspected his actions at I-U had caused the damage and left the room after sending Hilda back into his shadow.

• Fang Li asked Hilda about Scarlet God, and she explained that Scarlet Gold’s bearers became beings driven by war and love.
• Hilda said that seven hundred years earlier, a Scarlet God had incited a worldwide war before being killed by a Toyama warrior and a Miko from St. Gala Shrine.
• Fang Li connected the Toyama family and St. Gala Shrine’s longstanding ties to their history with Scarlet Gold.
• Hilda explained that Aria’s Shell Gold might be failing, allowing Scarlet Gold to influence her and potentially turn her into a Scarlet God.
• Fang Li realized his actions at I-U might have damaged Aria’s Shell Gold, then sent Hilda back into his shadow and left the room.

Fang Li met Zhuge Jinghuan for a late-night tea conversation about the futures their choices could create. After Fang Li made clear that he saw himself only as a killer, Zhuge Jinghuan told him that Monkey was in the forest halfway up the mountain.

• Fang Li wandered through the quiet castle and addressed the unseen watcher he believed was following him.
• Zhuge Jinghuan greeted Fang Li in a courtyard pavilion and explained that he had arranged for watchers because Fang Li posed a danger if left unchecked at night.
• Fang Li and Zhuge Jinghuan drank tea and discussed the Three Kingdoms era, the world’s course, and whether choices created or killed possible futures.
• Fang Li told Zhuge Jinghuan that he was neither a leader nor a pillar and that slaughter was the only method he could use.
• Zhuge Jinghuan told Fang Li that Monkey was in the forest halfway up the mountain, then departed as Fang Li headed outside the palace.

Fang Li found Monkey, Sun Wukong’s timid second personality, being pestered by other monkeys and learned that Sun was an artificially created, incomplete Scarlet God. Monkey explained that she had failed to meet Scarlet Gold’s inheritance conditions, leaving the nature of Sun’s presence in her body uncertain.

• Fang Li found monkeys tugging at Monkey’s clothes and tail while she cried on their hillock.
• Monkey tried to flee when she saw Fang Li, but he appeared in her path and she ran into him.
• Fang Li comforted Monkey and learned that she did not know whether Sun was listening or what state Sun was in.
• Monkey explained that Sun was difficult to awaken and that she usually controlled their body.
• Monkey told Fang Li she had failed Scarlet Gold’s inheritance conditions and that a secret technique had made Sun an incomplete Scarlet God.

Fang Li learned that Sun was an incomplete, artificially created Scarlet God whose awakening had become more frequent, and Monkey revealed the Ruyi Staff’s near-unavoidable light-speed attack. The chapter left Fang Li wondering what single target had resisted it.

• Monkey explained that an emperor created her as an experiment in becoming a god, and Sun emerged when Scarlet Gold was implanted in her.
• Monkey told Fang Li that Tang Sanzang had once used the Golden Fillet Spell to awaken Sun, and that Sun had begun waking on her own three months earlier.
• Monkey feared Fang Li would kill her, but Fang Li said he would not attack because Zhuge Jinghuan had knowingly arranged their meeting alone.
• Fang Li asked about the Ruyi Staff, and Monkey described it as a light-speed laser that could pierce any target in its field of vision and never miss.
• Monkey recalled that the Ruyi Staff had once failed to pierce a single target.

Fang Li discovered snipers in the forest and confronted them, only to find that they were Shirayuki, Leiji, Aria, and Riko. The four explained that they had tracked his phone to the isolated island, and Shirayuki admitted she had secretly installed a tracker a year earlier.

• Fang Li spotted a scope's reflection and rushed into the forest, where he subdued Leiji and deflected the other snipers' shots.
• Shirayuki attacked Fang Li with a flaming katana, but he stopped her strike with Star Pulse Energy.
• Fang Li recognized Shirayuki, Leiji, Aria, and Riko as the four girls who had tracked him to the isolated island.
• Aria said Riko had installed a satellite tracker in Fang Li's phone to keep him from disappearing again.
• Shirayuki revealed that she had secretly installed a tracker in Fang Li's phone a year earlier.

Fang Li reunited with Aria, Shirayuki, Riko, and Leiji in a forest clearing and explained his plan to strike the Retainers’ Key Point. After deciding to return alone to avoid arousing suspicion, he left the others to wait for reinforcements before they attacked.

• Aria, Shirayuki, and Riko scolded Fang Li for infiltrating the enemy camp alone, while Leiji remained silent.
• Aria argued that some missions could not be handled by one person, and Riko teased her about how much she had changed.
• Aria explained that she, Shirayuki, Riko, and Leiji were an advance party, while Jeanne and Tamamo prepared reinforcements after locating the Retainers’ Key Point.
• Fang Li told the four girls to conceal themselves and wait for the follow-up forces so they could seize the Key Point together.
• Despite the girls’ concerns about his return to enemy headquarters, Fang Li insisted he would go alone and promised them to wait for the climax.