Chapter Summaries

Qiu Tu learned that Director Liu’s hatred of Yan Chen stemmed from Yan Chen’s role in reducing the sentence of the cadet who murdered Director Liu’s son. The revelation completed Qiu Tu’s plan, and he headed to Tang Feifei’s office to meet the Supervisory Committee Superiors.

• Tang Feifei warned Qiu Tu that Jia Shu’s powerful backer could still affect the case, and Qiu Tu considered seeking the Right of Interpretation to deal with Jia Shu.
• Qiu Tu pulled Liu Fuping into an Empty Conference Room and asked about Director Liu’s grudge against Yan Chen.
• Liu Fuping explained that Yan Chen had led the review of a cadet who murdered several investigators, including Director Liu’s son, and later changed the death sentence to exile.
• Qiu Tu realized Director Liu’s hatred completed the last piece of his plan, kissed Liu Fuping, and left the room.
• Qiu Tu went to the 9th Floor and openly walked toward Tang Feifei’s office, surprising the officials waiting outside Yan Chen’s office.

Qiu Tu captured a Yellow Charm with Shen Ling Shuang’s upgraded Soul Shackles and wrote a report about the feat. He arrived late to a meeting with the Investigation Department’s senior officials, where he revealed that his service had already earned the Shelter’s commendation.

• Shen Ling Shuang finished the Soul Shackles, adding soul-nourishing and soul-roasting functions, and Qiu Tu took it to the Boundless Mind Sea with La Riluo.
• Qiu Tu used a Fifth Order Boundless God Crystal to lure a Yellow Charm near the fog and captured it inside the Soul Shackles, though sensing it cost him some Mental Power.
• Qiu Tu returned to the Real World, wrote a report, and slept until after the scheduled time for his meeting with the senior officials.
• While Qiu Tu was absent, Ji Qinglin took charge of the meeting and proposed ways for the Investigation Department to earn merit.
• Qiu Tu arrived and announced that he had rendered a great service the previous night and that the Shelter’s commendation should arrive soon.

Qiu Tu refused Tang Feifei’s offer to cooperate over control of the Boundless Mind Sea Area, and the two fought before spending the night together. The next morning, Tang Feifei secretly told her family that Qiu Tu had agreed to help her, while Qiu Tu learned that Speaker Liu was heading to New Realm City after Deputy Director Lai’s death.

• Qiu Tu told Tang Feifei he wanted control of the Boundless Mind Sea Area, and she realized he had a way to enter it despite not being Third Order.
• Tang Feifei accepted that they would compete for control of the area, but attacked Qiu Tu after he tried to leave; she defeated him and claimed him as her spoils of war.
• Qiu Tu and Tang Feifei spent the night together, and she gave him white training clothes and a booklet titled "War Step" the next morning.
• Tang Feifei told her Second Uncle that Qiu Tu had agreed to help her and asked him to keep the Deputy Director position open, concealing her lie from her family.
• Tan Huimin told Qiu Tu that Speaker Liu was heading to New Realm City after Deputy Director Lai’s death, and Qiu Tu asked who had told her.

Qin Shuman proposed secretly capturing the weakened La Riluo to protect New Realm City and give the Eighth Shelter a chance to study the Boundless Mind Sea. Qiu Tu agreed to help the operation by arranging Zheng Tao’s release, then received an unexpected dinner invitation from Fang Tangtang.

• Qin Shuman submitted a secret plan to Director Dai Yukang and Qiu Tu to find and capture La Riluo before she could recover or die.
• Qin Shuman told Qiu Tu that Dai Yukang had begun forming a search unit and planned to use Zheng Tao’s Evil God Mark to locate La Riluo.
• Qiu Tu agreed to approve Zheng Tao’s release, and he directed Tan Huimin to fill out an interrogation record that would justify it.
• Qin Shuman explained that the Security Department would search for La Riluo while waiting for a Shelter treasure capable of imprisoning souls and consciousness.
• Qiu Tu finished reviewing Moonlight Lake reports, then received Fang Tangtang’s message asking whether he would come home for milk-scented steamed buns.

Qiu Tu spent the day at Emerald City Fortress to keep suspicion away from the Political Department’s planned arrests, while Section Chief Huang introduced him to influential guests. Meanwhile, Chen Feng led A Tai, Eagle, and their team to surveil Qian Dafu, a major businessman tied to the Qin Family.

• Qiu Tu assigned his trusted subordinates to gather people discreetly for the arrest operation, then drove to Emerald City Fortress to lull the targets into complacency.
• Section Chief Huang greeted Qiu Tu and explained that word had spread about his Authorization Letter and Special Arrest Warrant.
• Section Chief Huang showed Qiu Tu the racetrack’s viewing levels and introduced him to influential guests, including Captain Zhang and Section Chief Bai.
• Qiu Tu saw Qin Heng, Deputy Minister Wen, Director Wang, Lao Bai, Jia Shu, and Tang Feifei at the fortress.
• Chen Feng led A Tai, Eagle, and the others to Qian Dafu’s home and began setting up surveillance.

Qiu Tu learned how Cataclysm Creatures connected the Material and Non-Material Worlds and how the Shelter’s institutions used spies and political reform to manage their rivalry. After discussing new possibilities in the Yin Caimei Case, Qin Shuman offered to inspect the corpse with him the following night.

• Qin Shuman explained how emotions in the Material World could create Cataclysm Creatures and how creatures such as the Ephemeral Jellyfish could trigger disasters in the Real World.
• Qin Shuman described how the Shelter encouraged personnel to enter rival institutions and proposed Highest Councils and Municipal Committees to centralize authority.
• Qin Shuman told Qiu Tu that ordinary spies gathered intelligence, helped their faction’s people advance, and supervised Calamity Descendants, including Yan Chen.
• Qin Shuman suggested that the Yin Caimei killer might have used remote or pre-planted Calamity Abilities, giving Qiu Tu new leads and hope that the Political Department was not responsible.
• Qin Shuman offered to go with Qiu Tu to the Investigation Department the next night and inspect the corpse for traces of calamity.

Qiu Tu used A Tai’s strength to attract Fang Ming’s interest and maneuver him toward recommending A Tai for the Special Operations Department. Back at Yan Chen’s villa, Qiu Tu waited for Yan Chen to summon him as the countdown on his Golden Finger neared its end.

• Qiu Tu left A Tai with three Temporary Detectives to maintain order, then drove Qin Shuman and Fang Ming back to the City Center Villa.
• Qiu Tu described A Tai’s supposed criminal past and loyalty to Fang Ming, hoping Fang Ming would recommend him to the Special Operations Department.
• Qiu Tu arrived at Yan Chen’s luxurious villa with Qin Shuman and reassured her that he would explain her outing to the Director.
• After waiting three hours, Qiu Tu was summoned by Cui Lan, Qin Shuman’s personal Maid and the witness who had exposed his affair with her.
• Qiu Tu checked his Golden Finger countdown, which showed eighteen seconds remaining, and calmly followed Cui Lan.

Qiu Tu used an intuition-enhancing potion to see La Riluo and tried to keep her under control by bringing Tan Huimin to his home and revealing the truth about Zheng Tao. He then praised La Riluo to Fang Tangtang while she possessed her, apparently trying to flatter her into cooperating.

• At the Eighth Shelter's emergency council meeting, the councilors backed the Boundless Mind Sea Expansion Plan, while Wang Guochuan and Tang Xingyun took notice of Qiu Tu's name in the reports.
• Qiu Tu collected and drank an Intuition Sharpening potion so he could see La Riluo and keep track of her until a soul-imprisoning Cataclysmic Treasure arrived.
• Qiu Tu brought Tan Huimin to his villa, where she warned him that Director Yan had frozen pending personnel appointments, including Qiu Tu's and Director Tang's.
• Qiu Tu gave Tan Huimin Zheng Tao's testimony admitting he had used Rosemary Love Potion to control her and kill her family.
• Qiu Tu embraced Fang Tangtang and told her that an Evil God had given Zheng Tao the potions, then defended and praised the beautiful, persistent deity while La Riluo possessed Fang Tangtang and listened.

Qiu Tu discovered that the real Shen Ling Shuang was a powerful young Calamity Descendant whose life resembled the Shen Ling Shuang living with him, leaving him suspecting that the latter might be a special Calamity Material. After spending the night with Guan Xiao, he went to the council building and encountered Ai Li, Yan Yan, and Xue Er.

• Qiu Tu read intelligence identifying Shen Yuzhou as a Third Shelter Deputy Speaker and learning that his daughter Shen Ling Shuang was an eighteen-year-old Fourth Order Peak Calamity Descendant.
• Qiu Tu compared the intelligence and photograph of the real Shen Ling Shuang with the girl beside him and wondered whether she had acquired the real girl's memories or was a special Calamity Material.
• Qiu Tu dismissed Tao Yaoyao, gave her musical instruments, and later welcomed Guan Xiao into his room, where they spent the night together.
• Qiu Tu learned from Tao Yaoyao that Speaker Huang had met Deputy Speakers Liu and Ye and Director Dai through the night, and that the three deputies had disappeared afterward.
• While Shen Ling Shuang helped Qiu Tu dress, she described her parents and childhood but could not remember why she had left home, deepening his suspicions about her identity.
• Qiu Tu arrived at the council building and encountered Ai Li, Yan Yan, and Xue Er as the elevator opened onto the Speaker's floor.

Qiu Tu and Qin Shuman discussed the Security Department’s endangered informants and the Yin Caimei Case, which might be connected to the banned book Brave New World and monsters from the Non-Material World. The chapter left Qiu Tu asking whether the Shelters’ purges of anti-government groups were also meant to contain those monsters.

• Qiu Tu reunited with Qin Shuman, and the two walked together as he told her about Jia Shu, the Yin Caimei Case, and his suspicions.
• Qin Shuman explained that Jia Shu might be eliminating Security Department informants and that she could not safely withdraw them without exposing Qiu Tu.
• Qiu Tu considered using Liu Fuping and Tang Feifei to identify Investigation Department spies planted in the Military Department, and told Qin Shuman he might find a way to help.
• Qin Shuman revealed that Brave New World had been banned in the Shelters after it was linked to deaths, a Cataclysm Creature, and strange changes in the Real World.
• Qiu Tu asked whether the Shelters’ campaigns against anti-government forces were connected to monsters from the Non-Material World and other dangerous texts.

Qiu Tu met La Riluo in a dream and agreed to find out when Moonlight Lake would coalesce, while planning to use her ambitions to his advantage. After waking, he learned he had four days to complete her test, then arranged his move and headed to meet Secretary Tao about a promotion deal with Committee Member Jiang.

• La Riluo demanded that Qiu Tu discover when Moonlight Lake would fully coalesce, and he agreed while considering how to exploit her desires.
• Qiu Tu awoke after one hour and thirteen minutes and told Cao Dabiao and Chen Feng that he had met the evil god.
• Notifications confirmed that Qiu Tu had gained La Riluo's initial trust and gave him four days to learn when Moonlight Lake would coalesce.
• Qiu Tu spent the night safely with Shen Ling Shuang, then assigned Eagle and A Kun to oversee his move to a new villa.
• Qiu Tu drove to the residential house opposite the Investigation Department to meet Secretary Tao about a deal with Committee Member Jiang regarding his promotion.

Qiu Tu sent Pang Hai Chen’s corpse to the Shelter while Yan Chen and Dai Yukang privately suspected that Qiu Tu had arranged his death. Back in the East City Area, Qiu Tu revived Pang Hai Chen as a powerful Dark Soldier and looked toward the Shelter, expecting his display of strength to reach his true target.

• Qiu Tu questioned Yan Chen, Dai Yukang, and Tang Feifei about Pang Hai Chen’s death, then ordered them to deliver the body for an autopsy.
• Dai Yukang warned his secretary not to voice suspicions about Qiu Tu, while he and Yan Chen separately considered what Qiu Tu’s actions meant for their prospects and the Shelter.
• Qiu Tu returned to the East City Area, where the Earth Vein Flower had greatly increased Calamity Power and Calamity Material production.
• Qiu Tu summoned his Dark Soldiers and revealed that Pang Hai Chen had become a stronger but more savage Fourth Order Peak Dark Soldier.
• Qiu Tu sent the Dark Soldiers away and looked toward the Shelter, believing his show of strength would reach his intended target; a woman began reporting to Consort Xi in the Eighth Shelter.

Qiu Tu killed Whale Shark through careful preparation, his Order Space ability, and his authority as Area Master, then led the Dark Soldiers to victory over the Boat Bream. La Riluo claimed she accepted his pursuit, but Qiu Tu suspected a scheme and sent Old Man to follow her.

• La Riluo realized that Qiu Tu’s Area Master authority and Order Space had helped him overcome Whale Shark, whom he had weakened with a targeted rule before killing him.
• Qiu Tu recorded Whale Shark’s defeat, collected the corpse and its rewards, and concluded that he was invincible below Fifth Order when he had time to prepare in the New World Area.
• The Dark Soldiers and five Special Operations Team members defeated the Boat Bream, while the Boat Bream suffered heavy losses and the Dark Soldiers lost only a few men.
• Qiu Tu teased La Riluo about not helping him fight Whale Shark, and she accused him of using her before unexpectedly saying she trusted him and accepted his pursuit.
• La Riluo agreed to Qiu Tu’s suggestion that they sleep together, but Qiu Tu suspected she was plotting something and ordered A Shui to have Old Man follow her.

Qiu Tu maneuvered the Qin Family crisis so it protected Qin ZhengGuang and earned the family’s support for Yan Chen, while impressing both Yan Chen and Secretary Bai. Jia Shu then prepared orders to promote Qiu Tu to Deputy Section Chief of the Interrogation Section and arrest Qin Shuman, but hesitated before issuing them.

• Qin ZhengGuang promised that Fourth Master Qin would confess and that Qin Heng would submit a self-criticism, and Yan Chen gave the Qin Family until eight that night.
• Qiu Tu reported the evidence against Fourth Master Qin, and Qin ZhengGuang thanked him before rushing back to deal with the Qin Family’s crisis.
• Secretary Bai praised Qiu Tu’s handling of the matter but warned him that Yan Chen remained separated from him by an unbridgeable gulf.
• Jia Shu explained to Yan Chen how Qiu Tu had exploited the Qin Family’s internal conflict and protected Qin ZhengGuang, whom Yan Chen could not afford to let fall.
• Jia Shu signed Qiu Tu’s funding application, then prepared orders promoting Qiu Tu and arresting Qin Shuman, but did not issue them because he felt uneasy.

Qiu Tu completed the handover of Zhu Wu from Shen Yuzhou and tricked her into swearing a year-long oath of obedience. He then returned the Jade Thumb Ring and declared Zhu Wu free, leaving her stunned and newly affectionate toward him.

• Zhu Wu insulted Shen Yuzhou and hinted that she wanted to kill him, but Shen Yuzhou refused to provoke her and said he had made preparations to protect himself.
• Qiu Tu and Shen Yuzhou agreed on the handover schedule, including the Third Shelter establishing liaison offices before Qiu Tu left for the Boundless Mind Sea - Core Area.
• Qiu Tu reminded Zhu Wu of their earlier discussion, and Zhu Wu swore upon the World Origin to obey his orders for one year.
• Qiu Tu invoked the oath to stop Zhu Wu from attacking him and explained that she had agreed to the oath without securing a promise from him.
• Qiu Tu gave Zhu Wu the Jade Thumb Ring and told her she was free, surprising her and changing her feelings toward him.

Qiu Tu coerced Liu Fuping into helping him, then contacted Qin Shuman to ask about the investigation and learned of a brutal family massacre. After recognizing details from Wang Xi’s Memory Fragment in the crime, he asked Qin Shuman whether this world had a “God.”

• Qiu Tu forced Liu Fuping to kneel and help him, then teased her when she demanded the intelligence he had promised.
• Liu Fuping angrily threw a document at Qiu Tu, but later smiled faintly after he left.
• Qiu Tu called Qin Shuman, who reported that the investigation was progressing but Qin Heng remained difficult to break.
• Qin Shuman warned Qiu Tu about possible retaliation and described the massacre of a wealthy businessman’s family in New Realm City.
• Qiu Tu recalled Wang Xi’s Memory Fragment showing the Masked Suit Man killing women and praying to “God,” then asked Qin Shuman whether God existed.

Qiu Tu met Lin Zuo, a deputy section chief in the Security Department, who asked him to coordinate their investigations into the Qin Family. The meeting ended with Qiu Tu asking what intelligence Lin believed would interest him.

• Qiu Tu received a room key from a hotel waiter and went to room 416 at the Milan Hotel.
• Lin Zuo introduced himself as Deputy Section Chief of the Security Department Investigation Division and asked Qiu Tu to cooperate.
• Lin Zuo explained that his department had monitored the Qin Family and had contacted Qiu Tu after his recent actions drew concern.
• Qiu Tu asked whether Lin Zuo had planted an informant in the Qin Family, but Lin refused to reveal classified information.
• Qiu Tu asked Lin Zuo to identify the intelligence he thought Qiu wanted.

Qiu Tu secured Mo Li’s agreement to a prisoner exchange, then learned from White Robe that Princess Xingyue’s recruitment drive in Chaos West Capital may conceal a larger plan. As Qiu Tu headed to the Execution Department to expose its moles, Han Hai God King warned a gathering of officials that Qiu Tu was preparing to target them.

• Qiu Tu saw through Mo Li’s attempt to gain leverage over his dinner with La Riluo, discussed the Immortal Three Giants and prisoner exchange with her, and left her courtyard.
• Mo Li reflected on the arrival of several major powers and worried that Life’s saintly mother might come to the West and meet La Riluo.
• Qiu Tu contacted White Robe, who agreed to the prisoner exchange and explained that Princess Xingyue’s effort to recruit Destruction Path forces likely served a wider objective.
• Qiu Tu noticed discrepancies between White Robe’s account and the clues from Zhao Ji, and decided to wait for Zhao Ji to emerge from seclusion before confirming his suspicions.
• Qiu Tu headed to the Execution Department to catch its moles while God Kings Qiu Feng and Sheng Yue speculated that Han Hai’s gathering was meant to win them over against Qiu Tu.
• Han Hai God King arrived and warned the gathered Heavenly Gods and God Kings that Qiu Tu was preparing to make a move against them.

Tang Jiye and Old Tang concluded that Qiu Tu may have orchestrated several major political victories and concealed his role as the true Area Master, while Tang Feifei served as his public shield. Meanwhile, Huang Shangzong learned of a suspected Fourth Order advancement, and Qiu Tu went to Tang Feifei to help her become a genuine Area Master.

• Tang Jiye argued that Qiu Tu, not Tang Feifei, had planned the operation against the evil gods and praised his ability to trap a Fourth Order Evil God.
• Old Tang linked Qiu Tu to Liu Xiongyuan's rise and realized that Qiu Tu may have engineered the promotion of several Deputy Speakers.
• Old Tang privately suspected that Qiu Tu was the true Area Master and that Tang Feifei had agreed to draw attention away from him, but he chose not to investigate.
• Huang Shangzong heard that Tang Feifei and Liu Xiongyuan had helped drive off two evil gods and kill one, then summoned Ai Li to report on a suspected Fourth Order advancement.
• Qiu Tu arranged for Yu Zhengyi to educate Investigation Department agents about supernatural matters, then headed to Tang Feifei's villa to help her become a true Area Master.

Qiu Tu secured Zhu Wu’s growing loyalty and accepted Su Wanqing’s pledge on behalf of the Kou Family, gaining her support and half the family’s assets. Three days later, he was preparing to pretend to leave and observe how the Northwest Region changed.

• Qiu Tu used emotional push and pull to raise Zhu Wu’s loyalty above 40 and considered her as a powerful candidate for his faction.
• Tao Yaoyao told Qiu Tu that Su Wanqing had arrived, and he invited her to speak privately in the study.
• Su Wanqing pledged herself to Qiu Tu and revealed that she had brought half the Kou Family’s accumulated assets and Core Area resources.
• Qiu Tu tested Su Wanqing’s obedience, accepted her loyalty, and learned that her initial loyalty value was 69.
• Su Wanqing stayed beside Qiu Tu that night, and he reflected that her support would strengthen his faction and improve his prospects in the Core Area.
• After three days passed, Qiu Tu prepared to feign his departure and watch for changes in the Northwest Region.