Chapter Summaries

Ronan realized that the External Neuron contained secrets about the Crimson Wheel Dark Side and the Tattered Divine Cloak, though investigating them could be deadly. After dinner, he worried that the information overload affecting him could spread through Earth's mental networks and destabilize the world.

• Ronan concluded that the External Neuron, carrying the Dream God Abomination's power, had triggered the Ritual Ancient Script and held deeper spacetime secrets.
• He saw Curtains of the Tattered Divine Cloak converging around the External Neuron and wondered whether the Dream God Abomination or someone else was directing the phenomenon.
• Ronan drew the External Neuron into his body, then left after Ms. Shuqing Luo called to hurry him for the third time.
• Ronan noticed that the Martial Emperor had not contacted him despite the Cloak's disturbance.
• At dinner, Ronan struggled with information overload and feared its effects could spread through the Altar Spider Web, the Cloud Top Biological Brain Array, and Earth's Mental Ocean.

Ronan worried that the Cloak app was leaking the Dream Divine Abomination’s power into Earth and could spread Nightmare Seeds among its billion-plus population. After checking the app with Raven, he found its chat interfaces disabled and an emergency mission pinned in the Credit Reserve section.

• Ronan considered how the Cloak app drew power directly from the Dream Divine Abomination and feared the spread of Nightmare Seeds across Earth.
• At dinner, Mo Ya acted as though she had recovered, while Ronan noticed her gloomy emotions and kept his concerns to himself.
• Raven followed Ronan to his room to watch over him as he inspected the External Neuron and its software interfaces.
• Ronan found the Cloak app’s main display unchanged and decided he would investigate Earth’s secrets further after recovering from the latest information load.
• Ronan discovered that none of the Cloak app’s chat interfaces accepted input and that a blood-red emergency mission was pinned in the Credit Reserve section.

Ronan accepted the Cloak app’s Emergency Mission and learned how to use Gestalt to locate, clean up, and purify people infected by the Dream Divine Abomination. He prepared to begin the first stage, locating at least five suspected infected individuals.

• Ronan accepted the pinned Emergency Mission in the Cloak app.
• He traced the visualization Configuration and saw Gestalt connected to the Mist Palace and people across the globe.
• The app explained that Nightmare Seeds spread through human consciousness and that the mission’s three stages required applying the Social Format’s logic to infected people and infection sources.
• Ronan recognized that his dream-related abilities suited the Dream Divine Abomination’s influence and considered how it related to Format Theory.
• Ronan began the location stage and read instructions to find at least five suspected infected individuals within his perception.

Ronan began the ritual-like task of identifying people infected by Nightmare Seeds and selecting uninfected controls, while Raven watched. After finding four suspected infected people, he discovered that one was Du Yong, whom Raven recognized.

• Ronan explained the task’s five emotional, desire, and rationality states and its paired control groups to Raven.
• Ronan screened his acquaintances at the Xia City Branch and found that none were currently infected with Nightmare Seeds.
• Ronan chose members of his Gestalt as likely uninfected controls and selected four suspected infected people, including ordinary people and Ability Users.
• Ronan accessed personnel records and manifested an acquaintance mentioned by Zhang Yingying in the Virtual Work Area.
• Raven recognized the person as Du Yong.

Ronan selected five suspected infected people and five Gestalt members as a control group, then brought them into Format Theory’s rule sphere and activated a ritual. The ritual caused Gestalt and the Mist Palace to collapse into an endless starry sky.

• Ronan recognized Du Yong’s dependence on Octopus’s aromatherapy as dangerous and decided to warn Du Yong and Dean Wan.
• Ronan chose Du Yong and four other suspected infected people, then selected Ink, Xie Junping, Cat's Eye, Baze, and Madam Harold for the control group.
• Ronan assigned the control group roles based on their desires, emotions, and rationality, with Madam Harold as the Rational Awakened.
• Ronan brought the suspected infected people into Format Theory’s rule sphere and compared them with the control group before activating the ritual.
• Madam Harold sensed the ritual from the Thunder Pool Experiment Field, while Cat's Eye and Baze felt it faintly.
• Gestalt and the Mist Palace collapsed and transformed into an endless starry sky.

Ronan shaped a new starry-sky framework from his understanding of life and space-time, then used it to reconsider Luo Zhongheng’s deception of Li Wei and question why Luo had acted so urgently. His own starry sky manifested in the Real World, where Raven judged it unattractive.

• Ronan formed a rough, chaotic starry-sky framework that reflected his understanding of space-time, life, and hidden laws.
• Ronan concluded that the starry sky seen by Xia City residents was likely a projection of Liang Lu’s Inner Universe, which Luo Zhongheng had used with the Dream Net to frighten Li Wei.
• Ronan questioned why Luo Zhongheng had risked exposing himself in 90 Year, since revenge on Yan Hong did not explain his urgency.
• Ronan returned his attention to the Real World and noticed Raven looking toward the space above or behind his head.
• Ronan realized that his ritual had manifested his starry sky in the Real World, and Raven called it unattractive.

Ronan incorporated 5.66 million people contaminated by the Dream Divine Abomination into the Gestalt’s Student Layer, but recognized that this emergency method could overwhelm the system. He and Raven examined the Cloak app’s instructions for more efficient large-scale treatment and identified three possible methods.

• Ronan completed the ritual framework and saw millions of contaminated Seven-Colored Constellations emerge across the world.
• Ronan counted 5.66 million infected people and incorporated them into the Gestalt’s social Configuration system as New Students.
• Raven warned Ronan that the scale was too large, and Ronan considered the risk of the Student Layer collapsing under the growing contamination.
• Ronan searched the Task Description for large-scale infection treatments, and Raven identified enslavement, self-attack, and manifestation as usable methods.
• Ronan agreed that enslavement referred to the Service Demon Scroll approach.

Ronan reviewed three methods for treating Nightmare Seed contamination and decided to begin with Service Driving Art, which he believed could help manage the infected population in batches. The next morning, Zhang Yingying told him that the “sample” had run into trouble and asked him to come take a look.

• Ronan and Raven discussed using Service Driving Art to treat millions of infected people in batches, and Raven agreed to try it.
• Ronan considered adapting Self-Pruning Art into Nightmare game instances and using Materialization Art as a dangerous last resort.
• Ronan decided to start with Service Driving Art and expected the work to take two or three days while avoiding panic.
• The next morning, Zhang Yingying contacted Ronan and said the “sample” seemed to have run into a problem.

Ronan visited the Xia City Branch to investigate seedlings grown from samples linked to Baiji Pope’s escaped Test Subject and discussed Nightmare Seed infections with Zhang Yingying. He and Ouyang Chen discovered the seedlings produced a faint faith-power response, which Ouyang connected to the Fusang Divine Tree Great Divine Treasure.

• Zhang Yingying told Ronan that someone at the branch had used a subway-station sample solution to water plants, producing unusual seedlings.
• Ronan warned Zhang Yingying about roughly twenty thousand Nightmare Seed infections in Xia City and proposed coordinating their response through the branch, the Scavenger platform, and Mister Bai.
• Ronan went to the laboratory on the Thirteenth Floor and found Ouyang Chen on duty while Bamboo Pole was away.
• Ronan told Ouyang Chen that the cultivated seedlings showed a faint faith-power response, and Ouyang identified a possible connection to the Fusang Divine Tree Great Divine Treasure.

Ronan discussed a possible source of Baiji Pope’s concern and proposed using a Materialization Imprint Plate to produce Six Ears on a small scale. He told Ouyang Chen that the energy supply was effectively solved, and Ouyang Chen raised concerns about Wan Ta’s condition.

• Ronan considered whether the Lost Kingdom on Outer Earth, rather than the Fusang Divine Tree, was connected to Baiji Pope’s concern, but kept his suspicions from Ouyang Chen.
• Ronan agreed to investigate samples and the source of the faith power, and said he would confirm matters with Mora.
• Ouyang Chen asked Ronan about making Six Ears an information channel between the Dream World and reality, and explained that production was still limited to a few sets a day.
• Ronan proposed using a Materialization Imprint Plate to support small-scale production and explained that the Rotten Bone Star fragment could supply the needed energy.
• Ouyang Chen agreed to speak with Wan Ta but said Wan Ta had seemed to be in poor condition.

Ronan and Ouyang Chen discussed worsening Aberration Infection and the delayed Tide Surge as signs that Earth’s aberrant environment was deteriorating. Ronan offered to investigate the sea and ended by revealing that he had discovered a highly contagious form of Mental Pollution.

• Ronan arranged for Dean Wan Ta to lead the Materialization Imprint Plate project at the Relay Station and asked Ouyang Chen to advise on it and the Practice Field.
• Ouyang Chen told Ronan that Aberration Infection was spreading and that Xia City’s surrounding wilderness had become turbulent, with Aberrant Species pressing against its defenses.
• Ouyang Chen noted that the annual Tide Surge had not arrived, and Ronan offered to scout the sea and ask Poseidon about the anomaly.
• Ronan explained that his intervention in Ha City had only temporarily contained the infected and predicted that intense changes would soon upend expectations.
• Ouyang Chen asked whether Ronan had made discoveries related to the Centennial Sequence plan, and Ronan replied that he had found a highly contagious form of Mental Pollution.

Ronan explained to Ouyang Chen how the Dream God Abomination’s mental pollution could amplify aberration infection, then recognized that the Cloak app’s techniques might let him control or exploit that pollution. He concluded that Luo Zhongheng could threaten the world by unleashing it, leaving the identity of whoever might press the button over Xia City uncertain.

• Ronan warned Ouyang Chen about the Dream God Abomination’s mental pollution and explained how it could work together with aberration infection.
• Ronan compared evil poison, Sin Dream Seeds, and aberration, and considered how the Sun Wheel Absolute Prison had limited the pollution’s effects.
• Ronan realized the Cloak app’s techniques could treat, measure, or weaponize widespread Sin Dream Seed contamination.
• Ronan connected Luo Zhongheng’s techniques to the Dream God Abomination and the Tattered Divine Cloak, and considered the danger of opening the floodgates.
• Ronan concluded that Luo Zhongheng had convinced Li Wei and perhaps the Martial Emperor that he could destroy the world, and that it no longer mattered whether Liang Lu or Luo Zhongheng pressed the button as the Dream Net appeared over Xia City.

Ronan realized that Dream Divine Abomination was a powerful deterrent Luo Zhongheng had left in his hands, and he began considering how to control its connection to Earth’s space-time and aberration. He left with ideas to explore, but recognized that using the power carelessly could put Earth’s civilization at risk.

• Ronan concluded that Luo Zhongheng had knowingly used Dream Divine Abomination as a deterrent against Li Wei, the Martial Emperor, and the Visitors From Outer Space.
• Ronan decided to develop a more controlled way to use the Cloak and Dream Divine Abomination, rather than relying on a threat to destroy everything.
• Ouyang Chen asked whether Ronan’s new idea concerned Mental Pollution or Aberration Infection, and Ronan said he needed time to think.
• Ronan considered coupling and decoupling Dream Divine Abomination with Earth’s aberration, which he understood as potentially orderly but capable of collapsing into catastrophic chaos.
• Ronan recalled that the Lord of Illusory Nightmare’s Godly Body and Evil Poison had created Dream Divine Abomination, then wondered whether reproducing that process would endanger Earth’s billions of people.

Ronan realized Luo Zhongheng’s ritual could be a decisive threat against the Visitors From Outer Space and considered how to improve it for a future confrontation with Li Wei. Before leaving, he discussed Wu Zhao’s boundaries and his relationship with Ouyang Chen, who offered to support him.

• Ronan reasoned that Luo Zhongheng’s ritual used Earth’s ten billion people as materials and had forced Li Wei to act, making it a potential card against the Visitors From Outer Space.
• Ronan considered how he could use the ritual against Li Wei and his Deep Blue World in a future confrontation.
• Ouyang Chen told Ronan to prepare for Wu Zhao to seek compensation for the damaged building in Lake City.
• Ouyang Chen advised Ronan that Wu Zhao allowed bold mistakes unless someone crossed her line, though he admitted he did not know exactly where it was.
• Ouyang Chen said he and Ronan were likely fellow travelers and promised to help if Ronan ran into trouble with Wu Zhao; Ronan agreed.

After leaving Shang Ding Building, Ronan reflected on his father Luo Zhongheng’s hidden preparations and the threat posed by the Visitors From Outer Space. Bamboo Pole invited him to lunch and hinted that Mister Bai’s illness might be connected to a coincidence, leaving Ronan eager to hear what was happening in Xia City.

• Ronan walked alone along the Sky Ladder Path and considered whether the Martial Emperor or the Visitors From Outer Space had noticed the Cloak app’s activation and his connection to Luo Zhongheng.
• Ronan concluded that Luo Zhongheng’s illusion technique had helped conceal his identity and protect him until he could confront the Visitors From Outer Space.
• Bamboo Pole contacted Ronan from a shuttle and invited him to lunch after returning from a call.
• Bamboo Pole told Ronan that Mister Bai had taken leave because he was unwell, and hinted that the timing was a significant coincidence.
• Ronan agreed to meet Bamboo Pole so he could learn more about the recent situation in Xia City.

Ronan ate with Bamboo Pole, reflected on aberration and the changes brought by the Dream World, and learned that Mister Bai might be feigning illness to pressure the Martial Emperor. Bamboo Pole suggested the plan could bring Bai Xinyan back to see her father, if Ronan and Raven did not object.

• Bamboo Pole took Ronan to a Recycling Layer restaurant and discussed the Dream World's sevenfold time speed and its growing effect on schools.
• Ronan considered the dangers of aberration and Evolution Formulas, then compared Inner Earth's situation with the worse conditions he had seen on Outer Earth.
• Ronan asked Bamboo Pole about Mister Bai, who said Bai Xinyan had become a Quantum Corporation director and that the Martial Emperor was her shareholder.
• Bamboo Pole speculated that Mister Bai might take leave and feign illness to hint that the Martial Emperor should let Bai Xinyan return to see him.
• Bamboo Pole asked whether Ronan and Raven would mind the plan.

Ronan learned that the Spirit Wave Network’s expanding facilities were being damaged by aberrant plants, and Bamboo Pole showed him footage of glowing plantain-like greenery. Ronan recognized its faith-power reaction as similar to greenery grown with a sample from the Subway Station, raising the possibility that the two cases were connected.

• Bamboo Pole told Ronan that the Wang Family was preparing a wedding for Bai Xinyan and Wang Yu, and Ronan wondered whether the Martial Emperor had arranged it.
• Bamboo Pole explained that aberrant conditions outside Xia City were damaging the Spirit Wave Network’s new facilities, making its expansion along the Anxia Line difficult.
• Ronan advised Bamboo Pole that the benefits of extending the Spirit Wave Network into the Wilderness outweighed equipment losses.
• Bamboo Pole showed Ronan footage of glowing, plantain-like aberrant greenery that had drained the equipment’s energy tank.
• Ronan identified a faith-power reaction in the greenery and connected it to greenery cultivated with Sample Solution from the Subway Station.

Ronan and Bamboo Pole investigated the glowing plantains and traced a possible Amaterasu Order influence from Ban City toward other regions. Ronan suspected Spring City might lie along the hidden route, and Tang Yi’s Wheel Hypothesis linked it to Xia City.

• Ronan and Bamboo Pole discussed the glowing seedling, agreed to examine the laboratory samples, and planned to visit the site.
• Bamboo Pole suggested the Amaterasu Order’s Divine Treasure project might have gone wrong, but Ronan argued that the Bull Demon incident was an exception and that Ban City still controlled its creations.
• Ronan proposed that the Amaterasu Order’s influence extended from Ban City through Lake City and potentially into other regions.
• Bamboo Pole traced a possible route across the map, and Ronan suggested Spring City could lie along the hidden roots between Ban City and Lake City.
• Ronan connected the theory to his conflict with the Martial Emperor’s subordinate Tang Yi, and Bamboo Pole found her lecture describing a wheel whose tracks were in Spring City while its front approached Xia City.

Ronan investigated Faith Power Green Plants and considered how they might reveal complex space-time structures between Inner and Outer Earth. The inquiry led him to reconsider the problem through the perspective of Luo Zhongheng and the Dream Divine Abomination, before Zhang Yingying reported a third plant on a person.

• Ronan told Bamboo Pole that they were investigating Spring City and theorized that faith power elements could act as a dyeing agent for observing complex space-time activity.
• Ronan and Bamboo Pole informed President Ouyang that the Subway Station and plantain samples showed highly similar faith power reactions, then found nothing unusual at the Mount Meng site.
• Ronan considered gathering more information about faith power plants and shifting his entry point to the Thirteenth District, while worrying that Mora had not reported back.
• Ronan reconsidered Inner and Outer Earth from Luo Zhongheng's perspective, then wondered how the Dream Divine Abomination perceived their space-time structure.
• Zhang Yingying contacted Ronan and told him that a third Faith Power Green Plant had appeared on a person.

Ronan went with Zhang Yingying to investigate an elderly patient whose Sea Green Flower had transformed into Faith Power Green Plants. Mister Bai arrived to handle the case as well, revealing that the patient was the Yao Family matriarch and that he had come because of important connections.

• Ronan complained that Zhang Yingying had made the client sound like Xi Wei, and Zhang Yingying explained that Xi Wei was considering moving her career to Lion City.
• Zhang Yingying briefed Ronan on the seventy-five-year-old patient's insomnia, auditory hallucinations, nightmares, and sudden glowing body.
• Ronan questioned why Youlan Agency relied on outside help, and Zhang Yingying suggested he disguise himself in a white coat and mask.
• Mister Bai entered and said he had agreed to handle the case alongside another matter, warning Zhang Yingying not to speculate about his connection to Madam Ma.
• Mister Bai identified Madam Ma as the Yao Family matriarch and said major connections were involved.