Chapter Summaries

A Jun told Sandora and the others Father God’s theory that the Abyss originated from the Void’s process of returning things to zero. He then learned that Father God had identified him as a Void Creature, and Viska’s explanation left him wondering whether he was the consciousness of a world that had failed to form.

• A Jun repeated Father God’s theory that the Abyss arose from the Void’s drive to return everything to zero, shocking Sandora and Uncle Kuwa Yin.
• Sandora concluded that the Abyss could not be prevented or reduced as long as worlds continued to form.
• A Jun revealed that Father God had called him a Void Creature, prompting Sandora to scan him and the others to react with surprise.
• Viska explained that Void Creatures included Source Wills, such as Father God, and consciousnesses born from failed worlds that merged with the Void.
• A Jun considered whether he was the consciousness of an aborted world and ended the discussion unsure of what he was.

Unable to sleep after learning he was a Void Creature, the narrator met Lin Xue in the Shadow Garden, where she tried to reassure him but could not explain his condition. The two discovered and photographed Viska’s childhood graffiti on the garden pillars, leaving with a collection of her embarrassing history.

• The narrator wandered through the Obsidian Temple’s Shadow Garden because he could not sleep.
• He met Lin Xue by the fountain, and she asked whether he was troubled by learning he was a Void Creature.
• Lin Xue used her prophetic ability but could not make sense of his condition, and she advised him not to talk to strangers the next day.
• Lin Xue spotted carved writing on a stone pillar, and she and the narrator translated messages left by Viska as she grew up.
• The narrator and Lin Xue photographed Viska’s graffiti and found more of her childhood scribbles on nearby pillars.

The narrator spent a quiet day at Viska’s temple before taking Qian Qian, Lilina, and the Pandora sisters to visit Lin. They found Lin’s imposing castle and learned that its enormous road was a landing strip built because Lin could not land properly.

• Suigintou fought Lilina over a donut, got tangled in a chandelier, and finally called on the narrator for help.
• The narrator decided to visit the other God Race Cops Five-Man Team members, but only Qian Qian, Lilina, and the Pandora sisters joined him.
• After searching the God Realm Number Directory for Lin, Qian Qian suggested the phrase “can’t land,” which immediately located Lin’s temple.
• The group arrived at Lin’s castle, where Lin accidentally sent Lilina flying as she hurried out to welcome them.
• Lin explained that the long road beside her castle was for landing and told the group she had been busy handling a plague in a world under her care.

Chen and his companions visited Lin’s frozen homeland, where Lin explained why gods avoided interfering directly in mortal affairs. The group enjoyed the snow, while Lilina confronted her painful memories of winter by charging across the snowfield and repeatedly falling into hidden pits.

• Lin described her world’s people and explained that direct divine interference could stunt mortal development and leave a civilization vulnerable to disaster.
• Lin asked Chen for scientists so she could include advanced physics in her world’s religious canon and prevent her descent from hindering technological progress.
• Lin moved the temple to Icebound Valley and showed Chen, Qian Qian, Viska, Pandora, and Lilina the frozen Icebound Continent.
• Qian Qian and Viska played in the snow while Chen fell into a snow pit and Pandora pulled him out.
• Lilina admitted that snow reminded her of hungry, frightening days, but she refused to return to the castle and ran across the snowfield, repeatedly dropping into hidden ice caves.

While the others played in the snow on the Icebound Continent, Chen took Lilina for a drive and confided his worry that his existence had altered the fates of those around him. Lilina reassured him that their choices and happiness mattered more than fate, leaving Chen determined to protect them.

• Qian Qian and Viska built snow sculptures, while Pandora organized her soldiers and Combat Golems to make ice bricks for a house.
• Lilina found an Ice Crystal Grass flower, but Lin explained that it was used for cooking, and Lilina went back to helping Viska.
• Chen and Lilina set off in Seven Trillion to explore the snowy wilderness.
• Chen told Lilina that Father God had said Void Creatures could interfere with the fates of those closely connected to them.
• Lilina explained that Chen's presence had shaped their lives but had also brought her happiness, and she urged him to stop worrying about fate.
• Chen resolved to protect everyone around him, then asked whether Lilina had been secretly obsessing over his experiences.

I realized that, as a Void Creature, my choices could distort the fate of those around me, while Lilina reassured me that she was happy to have been saved. We discovered Heart Mirror Lake on the Great Ice Plains, and after Lilina chipped off a piece, someone wearing a red headband confronted us.

• I reflected on Father God's warning that my actions could affect countless lives and worlds, while Lilina asked me to hold her.
• Seven Trillion reached the Great Ice Plains, where the mirror-like surface revealed Lilina's former appearance and my Void Form.
• Lilina questioned the ice and discovered it was Heart Mirror Lake, a talkative creation of the Supreme Dragon God that reflected the truth of things.
• Lilina chipped off a piece of Heart Mirror Lake and named it a magic mirror, intending to test its connection across the Void.
• A voice called out to us, and the red-headband wearer arrived.

Chen Jun and Lilina encountered Qian Yuhao, the Supreme Dragon God, on the Icebound Continent, where his nonstop conversation nearly overwhelmed Chen Jun. Ran sent Qian Yuhao away on Father God's orders, and Chen Jun's group left the continent and headed back toward the castle.

• Lilina hid the magic mirror after a stranger called out, and Chen Jun introduced himself and Lilina as visitors admiring the snow.
• Qian Yuhao introduced himself as the Dragon God and talked at length while Lilina hid and Chen Jun struggled to escape the conversation.
• Ran arrived in dragon form, told Qian Yuhao that Father God wanted to see him, and sent him away after explaining she had been assigned to monitor him.
• Ran recognized Chen Jun as the Void Emperor and explained that the mirror fragment was harmless unless it touched water, while Lilina admitted she intended to use it for pranks.
• Chen Jun's group left in Seven Trillion with Lilina, the dazed cat angel, and Xiao Qi Jing, and the castle came into view as they returned.

After returning to Icebound Valley, A Jun and the others tested Lilina’s enchanted mirror and discovered that Pandora, Viska, Lin, and the soldiers had built a vast ice castle. Lilina’s chipped shard made the castle magically permanent, and Qian Qian stored it in her Personal Space before Xiao Qi Jing and Alaya added their snowmen as exhibits.

• A Jun returned to Icebound Valley with Lilina, while Xiao Qi Jing and Alaya got lost in the snow and Qian Qian helped uncover them.
• Qian Qian tested Lilina’s enchanted mirror, whose reflection turned into a question mark and drew a complaint from its artifact spirit.
• Qian Qian showed A Jun the enormous ice castle that Pandora had built with Viska, Lin, and the soldiers.
• Lilina chipped a shard from the mirror, named it the Eye of Absolute Zero, and had it placed atop the castle, where its magic made the structure crystal-clear and indestructible.
• Qian Qian moved the finished castle into her Personal Space, and Xiao Qi Jing and Alaya made rows of small snowmen to display inside it.

Chen and his companions returned from the Icebound Continent to Viska’s temple, where they tested Lilina’s magic mirror and helped advance plans for a direct passage between the God Realm and Shilin. After meeting Suo Wa Lei and finishing their work in the God Realm, they prepared to go home.

• The group left the Icebound Continent to avoid meeting the Supreme Dragon God again, and Lin sent them to Viska’s temple on the Main Continent.
• Viska teased Chen about surviving his encounter with the Dragon God, and Chen showed everyone Lilina’s magic mirror, which reflected their inner truths in strange ways.
• Sandora’s reflection displayed the character “eat,” and the group headed to the dining room while Chen spoke privately with the magic mirror.
• Sandora and Father God finalized plans for a direct God Realm-Shilin passage, with Siweisi, Artemis, Viska’s family, and Uncle Kuwa Yin handling construction and coordination.
• Chen met Suo Wa Lei, the diligent leader of the God of Light System, while Viska continued making trouble and Chen rejected her increasingly outlandish proposals.
• With the passage and information exchange nearly settled and no news expected soon from the Vanguard Team, Chen and his companions prepared to return home.

A Star Ring Fragment attacked within God Race territory, prompting the Dark Goddess to contain its Abyss power and the Empire and gods to investigate it together. Viska reactivated the fragment’s auxiliary system and discovered that Tawell might be able to use its backup data to restore the Inner Ring Belt.

• A Jun woke to find daylight missing from outside Obsidian Palace, and Viska explained that the Dark Goddess’s power had enveloped the area.
• Viska revealed that the God Race Vanguard Team had recovered a huge, still-operational Star Ring Fragment inside God Race territory.
• A Jun, Sandora, and the Pandora sisters went with Father God to Eternal Night Palace, where Father God said the fragment’s appearance was suspicious and might have been accidental.
• Father God brought them into a Different Dimension to inspect the fragment after the Dark Goddess had neutralized its Abyss power.
• Viska found an intact auxiliary system, reactivated the fragment, and said Tawell could use its backup data to restore the Inner Ring Belt.

Viska’s team discovered that the final major Star Ring Fragment had been repaired, deliberately sent to a low-value world, and altered before its arrival, leaving its purpose unclear. After bringing it to Shadow City for research, the group returned home, where Anweina revealed her loneliness at being left behind.

• Viska found repairs, added equipment, and traces of deleted information inside the Star Ring Fragment, while the group concluded that someone had sent it to the God Race world as a warning rather than to destroy it.
• Sandora said the fragment was likely the last significant piece of Viska's Inner Ring Belt, and a transport barge carried it and the group back to Shadow City.
• Monina showed the group remote prayer terminals that let the God Race members handle their duties while traveling, including Yiersen's automated response to a believer's prayer.
• Tawell took the inert fragment to the Research Center for disassembly and further analysis.
• Anweina admitted that Saeko had gone to the Empire Academy and that she had been left alone at home, while Lin Xue departed to return to her family.
• The God Race Cops Five-Man Team settled into Shadow City, and the narrator brought Suigintou's box to his room and rested.

The narrator visited the Imperial Military Academy, toured Medusa’s magic classes, and checked on Busujima Saeko as she adjusted to student life. Saeko was enjoying her studies and hoped to become useful enough to join the narrator on a future expedition.

• The narrator visited the academy with Medusa and watched Filia’s undead magic students demonstrate powerful but poorly tested spells.
• Medusa explained that the academy’s serious courses prepared students for service, while Saeko had chosen a wide range of combat, weapons, magic, and military classes.
• Medusa said she enjoyed her life and found the narrator reassuring, prompting the narrator to realize his worries about the giant fragment were showing.
• Saeko arrived with Misaka and a substitute Three-Headed Suigintou, and the narrator told Saeko not to call him Master at school.
• Saeko said she was happy to be back at school and wanted to become useful enough to join the narrator on a future expedition.

The narrator visited Silvia’s Shop and met Bellavella, who had awakened in Silvia’s body after resting and communicating with her Raven sisters. Bellavella revealed that the Fallen Apostles obeyed an unseen Old Empire figure called “That Lord,” who could sever their mental connection.

• The narrator visited Silvia’s Shop and found Raven 998 and two other Ravens working as clerks to help Silvia.
• Silvia emerged from the back, and Bellavella took control of their shared body and spoke with the narrator.
• The narrator told Bellavella about the God Realm and the Fallen Apostles’ possible goal of changing the structure of the void.
• Bellavella explained that all Fallen Apostles received orders directly from “That Lord,” whom she had never seen.
• Bellavella said “That Lord” could sever the Shilin Apostles’ mental power.

Bellavella revealed that the Fallen Apostles obeyed a hidden commander whose voice could sever their spiritual connections and whose mental suggestions suppressed their resistance and memories. After discussing how A Jun might have helped Bellavella break free, A Jun visited Cirno's Ice Drink Shop and discovered why it had no customers.

• Bellavella explained that the Fallen Apostles' commander could sever their spiritual connections and used mental suggestions to make them obey and forget secrets.
• Sandora ruled out the known Old Empire Mind Stealers as the commander, while Bellavella recalled that Yorgel had destroyed himself.
• Bellavella fell asleep after asking A Jun to stay by Silvia more often, and Silvia confirmed that helping Bellavella awaken was important to her.
• A Jun and Sandora suspected that A Jun's information disturbance had helped Bellavella recover from the commander's mental lock.
• A Jun found Cirno counting outside her shop, and Cirno realized she had no sales to calculate because she had no customers.
• A Jun saw that Cirno's shop was frozen solid, and Ding Dang crawled out of his pocket to seek warmth before greeting Cirno.

The narrator watched Cirno and Ding Dang turn Golden Apples into powerful frozen desserts before encountering Hercules and Ares, then learned that Shadow City’s Military Integration Department had begun reorganizing its armies. Siweisi outlined the department’s equipment plans and three levels of biochemical enhancement, leaving the narrator to consider whether the Empire should implement them.

• Ding Dang grew a Golden Apple Tree in Cirno’s shop, and Cirno made Golden Apple Popsicles and other desserts from its fruit.
• Cirno priced the new popsicles at two yuan fifty each, and the narrator left with one in hand.
• The narrator met Hercules and Ares, explained that the popsicle contained a Golden Apple, and gave it to Hercules, who shared it with Ares.
• Several days later, Shadow City residents saw the newly completed floating Military Integration Department command center above the city.
• Siweisi explained the department’s plans to standardize Minion Army equipment, including Powered Armor with stronger physical plating and logistics tailored to each race.
• Siweisi presented three tiers of biochemical enhancement technology and described the costs, benefits, and risks of each.

The narrator approved voluntary biological enhancements for Imperial soldiers and learned that Viska had calmed part of the Civilization Community’s storm-wracked universe. Back at home, Lilina’s ghost-story session collapsed amid interruptions, and Anweina noted that the tales resembled a cityscape Sylvanas had described in Undercity.

• The narrator told Siweisi to consult the leaders of every race about biological modifications and to make them voluntary for soldiers.
• Siweisi reported that Viska had rewritten some gravitational laws, calming a small region of the Civilization Community’s universe so it could rebuild near its star system.
• The narrator returned from his inspection to find Lilina leading a candlelit ghost-story gathering, where the others repeatedly interrupted her tale about an antique mirror and a collector trapped in a house filling with blood.
• Older Sister opened the curtains, the gathering broke up, and the narrator learned that Lin Xue had been sent on missions after her grandfather impeached her for neglecting her Esper Team duties.
• Anweina said Lilina’s ghost stories resembled the cityscape Sylvanas had mentioned in Undercity, and the narrator wondered whether Earth had supernatural incidents.

Lin Xue told A Jun that a wave of ghost-story-related supernatural incidents had spread through K City and nearby cities, with a faint connection to the Empire. Qian Qian revived Boundless Love to investigate, and its new headquarters received its first client, who claimed he had been cursed by The Ring.

• Lilina reported numerous recent supernatural incidents, and Ding Dang confirmed that their frequency far exceeded what Earth should normally experience.
• Lin Xue arrived with evidence of widespread hauntings and said her investigation pointed to a human trigger and a faint connection to the Empire.
• Qian Qian proposed restarting Boundless Love, and A Jun and Sandora agreed to investigate the incidents after Lin Xue warned they might involve the Shilin Apostles.
• Qian Qian reopened Boundless Love in a hidden Old City District building, and the team prepared to receive clients with help from Hakurei Reimu and other spirit experts.
• The office welcomed its first client, a troubled middle-aged man who said he had been cursed by The Ring.

A truck driver sought help after a tiny Sadako-like figure crawled out of an MP5 screen and haunted him. A Jun captured the strange energy lifeform for study, and Lin Xue later described an unresolved mirror case that her ability could not fully explain.

• A truck driver told Qian Qian and A Jun that a miniature female ghost had emerged while he watched The Ring on an MP5 player and had been tormenting him ever since.
• A Jun trapped the tiny figure in an energy sphere, and the driver left after Qian Qian and A Jun confirmed it would no longer haunt him.
• Reimu examined the figure and judged that it was neither an evil spirit nor a ghost, but a weak, unidentified spirit-like energy lifeform.
• The figure was sent to the Research Center, and Qian Qian arranged for Anweina to get a larger television screen, though Anweina still got stuck while crawling through it.
• Lin Xue told A Jun that a collector had gone mad after an incident involving an ancient mirror, and that her attempt to replay the event had stopped just as he woke in the night.

The narrator and Qian Qian met a client whose beloved porcelain dolls kept returning after he tried to get rid of them. They took the dolls for research, and Qian Qian’s attempt to reassure the client with a lineup of religious figures left him terrified.

• The narrator checked on the energy lifeform at the Research Center and learned that it showed little intelligence and had no known origin.
• The narrator, Qian Qian, Suigintou, and Lilina waited at Boundless Love for a client while Suigintou and Lilina fought over writing practice.
• A middle-aged man described how a pair of porcelain dolls returned home whenever he moved, sold, buried, or discarded them.
• The man explained that his mother had treasured the dolls, and that they had begun moving around his home after he relocated.
• The narrator sensed energy from the dolls and placed them in a special case to take them for research.
• Qian Qian called religious figures from the lounge to sing for the client, frightening him.

The group questioned a pair of conscious porcelain dolls and considered why paranormal incidents kept avoiding their attention, while Tawell continued analyzing and reassembling the Star Ring. Lin Xue then invited Wood to witness an ongoing haunting at City No. 2 High School, where Wood had studied.

• Lin Xue reported that paranormal outbreaks always occurred in her blind spots and warned that her prophecy offered either a harmless explanation or a coming war.
• The porcelain dolls revealed that they had awakened over a month earlier with teleportation abilities, but knew nothing about their origins, and Older Sister arranged for them to go to Shadow City for research.
• Sandora and Older Sister discussed possible causes of the hauntings, while Tawell reported that the final Star Ring Fragment had resisted Abyss control and continued work on rebuilding the ring.
• Lin Xue explained that an ongoing haunted house could be observed despite her prophetic blind spot and invited Wood to investigate City No. 2 High School.
• Wood realized that City No. 2 High School was the school he had attended and fell off the sofa in shock.