Chapter Summaries

After Mr. Jin’s death, Albert promised to protect Wen Xishu and hunt the would-be assassin while the Bunker mourned. Wen Xishu began another Strange Tower expedition, choosing a dice effect that could bypass defenses before entering the Underworld-themed Journey of Miracles mission.

• Wen Xishu told Albert that Xiao Jin could imitate people at the elders’ level and might have attacked him, though he had no proof; Albert judged the ability a serious threat and promised to find the assassin within three days.
• Albert and the elders mourned Liu Zizai, and Albert urged Luo Feng to train if he wanted to kill Sagittarius; the Bunker later held a funeral for Mr. Jin, prompting residents to wear white mourning flowers.
• Wen Xishu learned that Zheng Zai had obtained two orange items, then decided to seek Xiao Jin eventually while leaving the search to Albert and the elders.
• Wen Xishu began his fifteenth tower climb and chose the Safety Net effect from the Madman’s Dice, which guaranteed minimum damage against enemies.
• Wen Xishu reviewed the Journey of Miracles mission, which sent him to the Underworld to make crucial choices and return to the living, and wondered whether he might find someone he knew among the dead.

Wen Xishu spent more than a day wandering through a boundless, lightless space on the fortieth floor before using the Horn of Competition to create a Hero-versus-Demon King contest. Through Demon King Vision, he saw the Demon King trapped in Magma Hell and began investigating why the Demon King could reach the realm of the dead when he could not.

• Wen Xishu walked through the dark, viscous void for over twenty-seven hours, losing his sense of direction and struggling to stay calm.
• Wen Xishu used the Horn of Competition to start a contest in which he had to evade, imprison, or kill the Demon King.
• Wen Xishu activated Demon King Vision and saw the Demon King flying through a lava-filled Hell.
• The Demon King used Spatial Deconstruction, learned that he was in Lava Hell and infinitely distant from Wen Xishu, and was advised to escape by using blood.
• Wen Xishu reasoned that the void marked the boundary between life and death and wondered why the Demon King could enter Hell while he remained outside.

Wen Xishu used his connection to the fool’s grief over Wen Chaohua to manifest a summon and send his consciousness into the Netherworld. With help from the Rainbow Crow, he learned he could choose any soul to rescue and set out to find the Undead Coachman, unsure whom to save.

• Wen Xishu decided to spend Tower Power to create a summon that could enter the Netherworld.
• Wen Xishu stirred the fool’s grief by claiming Wen Chaohua had entered the world of the dead, and the fool’s desperate wish to save his brother fueled Wen Xishu’s Sequence Ultimate.
• Wen Xishu manifested a cold-white summon linked to his consciousness and entered the Netherworld while his living body remained outside.
• The Rainbow Crow sheltered Wen Xishu, gave him a feather that let him perceive the spirits’ flesh and blood, and explained that he could choose any soul to rescue.
• Wen Xishu left the alley and decided to find the Undead Coachman to travel to the timeline of his own era.

Wen Xishu explored the Upper Spirit World, spent merit to board the Time-Space Carriage, and learned how travel between its timeline regions worked. He arrived in a Bunker region three years after his death, where dead residents recognized him as a legend and leader of the Xishu Divine Church.

• Wen Xishu learned that souls in the Upper Spirit World ate desire and spent merit, then paid 648 Merit Coins to board the carriage immediately.
• The carriage driver explained that Netherworld regions were organized by the year people died and that travelers had to serve the lifespan time difference before visiting another timeline.
• Wen Xishu learned he could travel three years before or after his death, but had one special journey that bypassed the limit, and chose the Three Towers World three years after his death.
• Wen Xishu arrived in a modern city in a Bunker region, where passersby recognized him as a famous figure and the Church Leader of the Xishu Divine Church.

In the World of the Dead, Wen Xishu learned that Xun Hui and Wen Renjing had died on the Seventieth Floor and that he himself had disappeared three years earlier, then narrowly avoided drawing an enforcer’s attention. He traveled back three years to search for Mr. Jin and reached the Population Statistics Bureau, where he planned to check whether Mr. Jin was dead.

• Wen Xishu pretended to be a Church Leader Wen lookalike and persuaded Xishu Divine Church follower Huang He to talk with him over drinks.
• Huang He told Wen Xishu that Xun Hui and Wen Renjing had died on the Seventieth Floor, and that Wen Xishu had disappeared three years earlier after an assassination attempt.
• A Bull-Headed Monster attacked after Wen Xishu learned details that could disrupt causality, and Huang He’s death memories revealed how much the Xishu Divine Church had inspired people in the Bunker.
• Wen Xishu chose not to fight the Bull-Headed Monster, realizing he could return to the living world and prevent Huang He’s death, and concluded that he needed to rescue souls without attracting the enforcers.
• Wen Xishu used the Demon King’s shared vision to see an enforcer kill it, then traveled three years into the past to look for Mr. Jin.
• Wen Xishu visited the Population Statistics Bureau and asked to review the year’s death records from the Bunker world so he could find out whether Mr. Jin had died.

Wen Xishu found Jin Zhenyuan’s name in the Netherworld’s Death Register but realized Liu Zizai’s absence made the record suspicious, leading him to suspect Mr. Jin had orchestrated attempts to kill him for the Madman’s Dice. On the way to search for Jin Zhenyuan, he met Wen Tingyun, who revealed the Wen family’s grief and love for him; the chapter left Wen Xishu offering his other self a chance to see their family.

• Wen Xishu searched the Death Register, found Jin Zhenyuan listed, and noticed Liu Zizai’s name was missing.
• Wen Xishu theorized that Mr. Jin might have survived and targeted him to obtain the secret of Wen Chaohua’s Madman’s Dice.
• Wen Xishu rode the Elevator toward the lower floors and encountered Wen Tingyun, who recognized and confronted him.
• Wen Tingyun revealed that he resented Wen Xishu for being spared while the rest of the Wen family died for a plan, then broke down in grief and relief upon hearing of Wen Xishu’s success.
• Wen Xishu declined Wen Tingyun’s invitation to visit the Wen family gathering and asked his other self whether he wanted to see their parents and relatives.
• The other Wen Xishu refused to meet the family, fearing he would cry, but tears fell as he mourned them.

Wen Xishu arranged a dream visitation to make Albert Napolitano hold a public funeral for Liu Zizai and Jin Zhenyuan, hoping to draw Jin to the World of the Dead. Wen Tingyun received merit after meeting Wen Xishu and began to suspect that the man he had met was truly alive and pursuing a plan.

• Wen Xishu reasoned that he could combine Underworld Office services with the Madman's Dice to find Jin Zhenyuan, then stole Liang Qin’s merit by severely injuring him and promised to compensate him later.
• Wen Xishu paid for a dream visitation to Albert Napolitano, instructing him to hold a memorable funeral for Liu Zizai and Jin Zhenyuan and publicize their contributions to the Bunker.
• Wen Xishu waited at the downtown building for Jin Zhenyuan to collect the merit generated by people’s grief, worrying that Jin or Liu might be in the Lower Spirit District.
• Albert Napolitano arranged a grand farewell ceremony for Jin Zhenyuan and Liu Zizai, explaining that he wanted to avoid having regrets.
• Wen Tingyun received a call saying Wen Xishu’s grief had generated merit for him, connected it to his meeting with the supposed Xishu Divine Church follower, and told the Wen Family head that he suspected Wen Xishu was alive.

Wen Juanhai accepted Wen Xishu’s suspected arrival in the Underworld and urged Wen Tingyun to help him quietly. Wen Xishu confronted the spirit using Jin Zhenyuan’s face, discovered he was Liu Zizai, and began questioning him about Jin’s fate.

• Wen Tingyun told Wen Juanhai that Wen Xishu might have entered the Underworld alive, and Wen Juanhai recalled Wen Chaohua’s plan and trusted that the brothers could break the rules.
• Wen Juanhai told Wen Tingyun not to expose Wen Xishu and to give him merit discreetly while keeping the matter from the other Wen family members.
• On the third day, Wen Xishu spotted Jin Zhenyuan’s face in the elevator and called him Liu Zizai, startling him into revealing that the name was tied to a secret.
• Wen Xishu used a hidden force to overpower Liu Zizai and took him to a basement, threatening to shatter his Spirit Body unless he answered questions.
• Wen Xishu asked whether Jin Zhenyuan was dead, and Liu Zizai immediately claimed that Jin had gone to the Lower Spirit District; Wen Xishu then prepared to use his information-gathering techniques.

Wen Xishu beat Liu Zizai and used Tang Rui's Mixed Feelings Rune to enter memories that revealed Mr. Jin's power to imitate others and his plans for the Bunker. Wen Xishu began to suspect that Mr. Jin had remained loyal to Longxia and might have been trying to make its failing plan succeed, even at the Bunker's expense.

• Wen Xishu attacked Liu Zizai in the Upper Spirit District, where Liu's abilities could not harm him, and demanded information about Mr. Jin.
• As Liu Zizai neared death, his floating comments led Wen Xishu to use Tang Rui's Mixed Feelings Rune to enter his memories.
• Liu Zizai's memory showed Mr. Jin killing Slaughter · Von Neumann by turning Von Neumann's Scanning against him, then revealing that he could take other people's appearances.
• In another memory, Mr. Jin described the Hidden Dragon Plan and his wish that the Bunker’s most promising climbers were Longxians, while calling Albert a friend and a hero for the Bunker.
• Wen Xishu suspected that Mr. Jin's loyalty to Longxia had conflicted with his role as the Bunker's pioneer, and wondered whether he might have risked destroying the Bunker to save Longxia's plan.

Wen Xishu learned that Mr. Jin had arranged Miyamoto Yoshiki’s challenge to test him, then witnessed Liu Zizai destroy his Spirit Body and die. After Wen Tingyun warned him against taking anyone out of the World of the Dead, Wen Xishu chose to return, and the Rainbow Crow revealed that the journey had tested whether he would try to break the boundary between life and death.

• Wen Xishu saw Mr. Jin tell Liu Zizai that he had arranged for Miyamoto Yoshiki to challenge Wen Xishu and had used Liu Zizai’s appearance to investigate Miyamoto.
• Liu Zizai feared that he would ruin Mr. Jin’s plans and began destroying his Spirit Body, causing Wen Xishu to witness the memory of Liu Zizai’s death by a powerful arrow.
• Spirit Inspectors appeared around Wen Xishu, and their chill depleted his yang energy as a Seven-Colored Flower began counting down to his death.
• Wen Tingyun found Wen Xishu and urged him not to take anyone from the World of the Dead; Wen Xishu decided to leave without rescuing a dead person.
• Wen Xishu praised the Rainbow Crow to begin his return, and the Rainbow Crow explained that the journey had tested whether he would abandon his obsession with the dead.

Wen Xishu returned from the Netherworld after learning that Mr. Jin was not dead and seeing his family, then received a powerful feather from the Netherworld Sovereign. He prepared to return to the Bunker, where people were still mourning Liu Zizai and Mr. Jin based on his earlier message.

• Rainbow Crow explained the Netherworld’s districts and procedures, then agreed to send Wen Xishu back to the Netherworld Gate.
• Wen Xishu asked how time travel and the World of Obsessions affected life and death, and Rainbow Crow explained provisional deaths and warned him against abducting spirits.
• Rainbow Crow gave Wen Xishu a feather called Death Plan and sent him back to the Netherworld Gate.
• Wen Xishu used his Login Device and learned that Death Plan let him see people’s names and determine how at least seven people would die during his next Strange Tower journey.
• Wen Xishu considered the feather’s power and decided to return to the Bunker to tell the Old Principal what he had encountered.

Wen Xishu told Albert, Evelyn, Xun Hui, and Wen Renjing that he had visited the Netherworld and uncovered evidence that Jin Zhenyuan was alive and connected to Longxia’s Hidden Dragon Plan. Albert accepted Wen Xishu’s warning and ordered them to avoid the Seventieth Floor while the group investigated Old Jin’s motives and searched for Xiao Jin.

• Wen Xishu returned to the Bunker, discussed the Feather’s strict restrictions, and urgently summoned Albert, Evelyn, Xun Hui, and Wen Renjing.
• Wen Xishu recounted his journey to the Netherworld and concluded that the Jin Zhenyuan he met there was actually Liu Zizai, while the real Jin Zhenyuan was likely still alive.
• Wen Xishu warned that Xun Hui and Wen Renjing would die to Sagittarius on the Seventieth Floor and linked Old Jin’s abilities to Longxia’s failed plan to create a god from its people.
• Albert resisted the idea that Old Jin cared more for Longxia than the Bunker, but admitted that Old Jin had become unusually active and revealed that Xiao Jin was hiding in the Three Towers Academy.
• Xun Hui and Wen Renjing agreed not to climb the Seventieth Floor, and Albert assigned Evelyn to watch Luo Feng while he searched for Xiao Jin.

Wen Xishu and Albert tracked down Xiao Jin, whose attempt to kill Wen Xishu was driven by his desire to reclaim the Heart of Fusion rather than by Mr. Jin’s orders. After Albert defeated Xiao Jin, Wen Xishu prepared to climb the Strange Tower again and found a solution to the problem of needing seven companions.

• Wen Xishu and Albert organized a search of Three Towers Academy, and Albert located Xiao Jin in the Library.
• Xiao Jin attacked Wen Xishu using the forms and abilities of Luo Feng, Evelyn, and Xun Hui, but Albert subdued him with a punch.
• Wen Xishu explained that Xiao Jin wanted the Heart of Fusion so his evil will could control a fusion with his kinder half, clearing Mr. Jin of responsibility for the assassination attempt.
• Albert had Xiao Jin taken away for treatment and questioning, while Wen Xishu considered how to gather seven death-row inmates for his next tower climb.
• Wen Xishu thought of a solution to the companion problem, took out the Login Device, and began a new tower climb.

Wen Xishu entered floor forty-nine and was forced by Zoe to join a team of assassins tasked with killing the Saviors of several countries. After learning that the mission might conceal another purpose, he suggested that the assassins turn against Zoe and remove their explosive collars.

• Wen Xishu chose Three Phases instead of Triple High and entered the floor forty-nine mission, where he was assigned to assassinate the Saviors while surviving.
• A Free State guard led Wen Xishu to Zoe, who threatened the collared prisoners and promised them freedom and Ark access if they killed their targets.
• Cosmos refused the assignment until Zoe threatened his little sister, and the assassins reluctantly agreed to obey her.
• Zoe revealed nine targets, including Dmitri, Cain, and the mysterious Dragon, then sent the assassins to prepare their equipment and plans.
• Wen Xishu realized the mission's settings were connected through a door and suspected the Saviors might not be the team's true enemies.
• After the assassins voiced doubts about killing the Saviors and trusting Zoe, Wen Xishu proposed that she remove their bombs and atone by dying, prompting them to stare at him in disbelief.

Wen Xishu used the Seven-Colored Feather quill to make Zoe’s bodyguard reveal secrets and kill himself, convincing the captured assassins that he had a powerful ability. He then compelled Zoe to free them and erase their records, leaving them safe and ready to choose their next move.

• Wen Xishu introduced himself to the assassins as the Ultimate Killer King and wrote that Zoe’s bodyguard would arrive, reveal information, and kill himself.
• Zoe’s bodyguard entered the armory, disclosed secrets about Zoe and the Ark, and slit his own throat after Wen Xishu’s written command took effect.
• The assassins questioned Wen Xishu’s ability, while he claimed he could make people act and die through his quill.
• Wen Xishu promised that Zoe would remove the assassins’ bombs, protect them, and blame Zoe’s eventual death on God.
• Zoe arrived, ordered her agents to keep silent, removed the assassins’ bombs, and arranged to erase their bounty listings and criminal records.
• Wen Xishu told the freed assassins he would join them whether they chose to challenge the world’s strongest saviors or attack the Investigation Bureau.

Wen Xishu freed the assassins from their control collars, used Zoe to gather information, and joined them in choosing Cain as their next target. In Crystal City, the group searched an abandoned house, where a hidden creature attacked Canon in the darkness.

• Wen Xishu learned he could postpone Zoe's written death by adding instructions, and made her provide information about the Investigation Bureau and its detonator.
• Cannon, Shadow, Cosmos, Canon, and Night Demon agreed to challenge Cain, the Lionheart Kingdom's savior, and investigate the Bloodline Plan.
• Wen Xishu and the assassins entered Crystal City, which looked deserted despite being described as a refuge from the apocalypse.
• The group entered a gloomy house, and Night Demon warned Canon not to close the door.
• The door slammed shut, darkness filled the house, and a hidden creature bit Canon's neck.

Wen Xishu and the assassins fought the vampires of Crystal City after their attempt to find Cain failed, and the approaching night left them surrounded. Wen Xishu turned the vampire horde into allies, shifting the battle in their favor, but he had to keep writing commands to control them.

• Dave attacked Canon, but Canon's poisonous blood made Dave vomit, and Wen Xishu used his feather pen to force Dave to reveal what he knew.
• Wen Xishu made Dave kill his wife and daughter, then the assassins learned that Dave did not know Cain's name or location and decided to retreat.
• As night approached, thousands of vampires awakened and converged on the group, so Wen Xishu ordered the assassins to fight and searched the crowd for Cain.
• Cannon set Crystal City ablaze with rockets and flares while Canon prepared a formation, Cosmos spread his ability, and Night Demon defended the group.
• When the vampire assault overwhelmed them, Wen Xishu's commands made countless vampires swear to defend him and attack their own kind.
• Wen Xishu continued writing commands to control the new vampire army and complained that Brother Crow had not given him a Ten-Thousand Souls Banner.

Wen Xishu used the Scale of Chaos to summon werewolves, whose blood moon exposed the high-ranking vampires and helped him hypnotize Edward into attacking Dracula. Edward’s scripted fate depended on Cain’s intervention, and the chapter ended with Wen Xishu wondering whether Cain would appear.

• Wen Xishu directed Cannon to bombard the vampires while his hypnosis turned more of them into allies, stabilizing the battlefield.
• Seven vampire enforcers awoke and advanced, using Night Summoning to swallow Cannon’s attacks and extinguish the surrounding lights.
• Wen Xishu placed the Scorpion Dagger on the Scale of Chaos, summoning werewolves as a third-party faction with two hours of safety.
• The werewolves used Moonfall to bathe Crystal City in scarlet moonlight, exposing the vampires and forcing them to react.
• Wen Xishu wrote Edward’s name and scripted him to attack Dracula, shout “For the Ultimate Killer King,” and ultimately die under the moonlight.
• Edward attacked Dracula and dragged him into the moonlight while the werewolves fought the vampires, and Wen Xishu wondered whether Cain would appear.

Wen Xishu turned the vampire stronghold against itself, forcing its vampires and werewolves to attack Cain as he arrived in the Inverted Cross Coffin. The Wolf King opened the coffin and revealed Cain, but Cain killed him and broke Cannon’s weapon before Night Demon intervened.

• Wen Xishu controlled the werewolves, who overwhelmed Camilla’s Night Summoning and helped her bind the Wolf King Lycaon with the Bloodbound.
• Camilla, Dracula, and the other high vampires fell under Wen Xishu’s control, while he learned Dracula knew nothing about Cain.
• Cain arrived above the city in the Inverted Cross Coffin, and his bloodline presence forced thousands of vampires to kneel.
• Wen Xishu directed the Wolf King to attack Cain’s coffin, while the Seven-Colored Feather Pen caused the vampires to burst apart as Cain tried to command them.
• The Wolf King opened the coffin and exposed Cain under the moonlight, but Cain killed the Wolf King and swallowed Cannon’s bombardment in darkness.
• Cain appeared before Cannon and snapped his weapon, but Night Demon knocked Cannon aside and stepped between them, making Cain pause at a familiar power within him.

Wen Xishu scripted Cain’s defeat so the assassins could believe they had won, then interrogated the dying vampire king about his past and the Lionheart Kingdom’s Bloodline Plan. Cain revealed that Aries had devised the plan, leaving Wen Xishu questioning her role and preparing to ask what she had to do with his transformation.

• Cain invited Night Demon to join his Blood Clan, but Cannon fired an armor-piercing shot and Wen Xishu attacked him with the Scorpion Dagger.
• Night Demon restrained Cain long enough for Shadow to stab him through the heart, and the injured Cain collapsed after striking Cannon.
• Wen Xishu revealed that he had scripted Cain’s weakness and staged the battle so the assassins could share in the victory.
• Wen Xishu instructed Cain to answer questions, and Cain admitted that silver weakened him before describing how the Military Intelligence Bureau recruited him to lead the Lionheart Kingdom’s Bloodline Plan.
• Cain explained that the plan came from a woman carrying the Ram-Headed Staff, whom Wen Xishu recognized as Aries, and Wen Xishu asked whether she had caused him to become a vampire.