Chapter Summaries

Snake Tongue woke from a brutal dreamlike ordeal and joined Yin Le in assessing mounting pressure from the Amaterasu Order and Goto Yoshi. As Goto began inspecting the Osawa Processing Plant, he confronted the factory’s technical director.

• Snake Tongue endured repeated deaths in a battlefield dream, realized Ronan was observing her, and was awakened by Yin Le before her memories of the ordeal faded.
• Yin Le received a warning from Okudaira Yuzo that Ban City’s registration requirements could expose the Osawa Order and its business partners to trouble.
• An Ability User Association official and Goto Yoshi demanded personnel information on an increasingly tight deadline, while Goto threatened Yin Le and accused her of coordinating stories with Okudaira.
• Snake Tongue identified Goto Yoshi as the leader of the Heavenly Host, and Hyuga Ishi reported that the yacht’s permissions had been suspended.
• Yin Le called Okudaira Yuzo and saw Goto at the Osawa Processing Plant, where he threatened to continue pressuring her after the inspection.
• When Okudaira introduced the plant’s technical director, Goto ordered him to stay out of his judgment.

Old Hand tried to keep the Hengduan workers calm as they were detained alongside Eizuka, but Goto Yoshi’s forces accused them of cult activity and provoked unrest. Okudaira Yuzo challenged Goto’s accusations, and Goto answered that his eyes could not be wrong.

• Old Hand scolded the workshop workers and used harsh words and familiar routines to keep them focused on making twenty sets of rough blanks.
• Eizuka was pushed into the workshop, prompting Old Hand to suspect the upheaval was worse than he had thought.
• Old Hand quieted the workers’ arguments and took Eizuka aside, where they concluded they had likely been caught in the crossfire.
• A group of social thugs accused Shouxiong of being a hidden Evil Cultist, detained him and Eizuka, and triggered the workers’ anger.
• Old Hand shouted for the workers to finish the rough blanks and dragged his captors into the observation passage, where armed personnel were waiting.
• Okudaira Yuzo defended Shouxiong and Eizuka, but Goto Yoshi invoked his authority and warned that his eyes could not be wrong.

Old Hand, Eizuka, and Okudaira Yuzo were taken to the Passenger Terminal as Goto Yoshi prepared to investigate the Blood Flame Order and confront the group surrounding its yacht. Mister Mo appeared by the lakeshore, halted the group with his presence, and faced Goto Yoshi as a Monocle appeared before his eye.

• Old Hand and Eizuka were taken away, while Okudaira Yuzo called Matsudaira Yoshio and learned that Goto Yoshi might target the Osawa Order’s assets.
• Goto Yoshi’s convoy arrived at the Passenger Terminal, where the Heavenly Host had surrounded a yacht Okudaira Yuzo had sold to the Blood Flame Order.
• Captain Jimmy joined Goto Yoshi, and they discussed escalating the standoff and preparing evidence against the Blood Flame Order.
• Goto Yoshi’s group encountered Mister Mo sitting by the lakeshore, and his presence left them unable to move or speak freely.
• Mister Mo greeted Old Hand, discussed work at the plant, and then turned his attention to Eizuka and Goto Yoshi.
• An empty electric wheelchair reached Mister Mo, who sat in it, praised Goto Yoshi’s eyes, and summoned a Monocle before his left eye.

Goto Yoshi and Captain Jimmy questioned Mister Mo while a remote witness from the Blood Flame Order challenged his identity. Yin Le arrived to defend him, and Mister Mo questioned Kadman’s authority and revealed that Kadman’s Raging Flame Seal had ignited into real flames.

• Captain Jimmy and Hood coordinated through the Deep Blue Platform while Goto Yoshi spoke with Mister Mo about the Water Condensation Ring.
• Yuchuan Yingjie questioned Bai Xinyan about Mister Mo’s identity as they watched the lake and Di City feeds.
• Goto Yoshi pressed Mister Mo for his name and position, then accused the Blood Flame Order of colluding with the Soul Order after Mister Mo said Old Hand was under his protection.
• Kadman appeared by projection and disputed Mister Mo’s place in the Blood Flame Order, while Yin Le arrived at the terminal to defend him.
• Goto Yoshi and Captain Jimmy cited Kadman’s notarized witness agreement and senior position, but Mister Mo said Kadman was not among the order’s recognized believers.
• Kadman displayed the Raging Flame Seal and challenged Mister Mo, then noticed crimson flames igniting around his arm.

Kadman’s use of the Raging Flame Seal caused blood-colored fire to consume him, while Captain Jimmy’s attack on Mister Mo was thwarted by a monstrous creature emerging from the lake. The chapter left the Ugly Monkey’s fiery saliva forming a face resembling the burning Kadman on the distant projection.

• Kadman’s right hand erupted in blood-colored flames and struck at Hood, who dodged as the fire spread across Kadman’s body.
• Hood attacked Kadman with Format Fire, but the flames resisted suppression and consumed Kadman as he screamed for mercy.
• Captain Jimmy retreated into his Deep Blue Walker Exoskeleton and ordered an attack on Mister Mo, while two assault specialists prepared their Ice Storm cannons.
• Mister Mo’s defenses manifested as a huge, scale-covered beast that emerged from North Mountain Lake and knocked the assault specialists’ attack aside.
• Goto Yoshi observed the Ugly Monkey’s lava-like saliva forming a face that resembled Kadman, who had become a burning figure on the projection.

Goto Yoshi uncovered how Mister Mo used Kadman’s soul and the Rotten-Mouth Ape, but the ape’s hollow eyes seized control of his own vision. Mister Mo explained that Kadman’s corruption reflected deeper flaws in the Blood Flame Order, leaving the group focused on the order’s design and the light beyond the clouds.

• Goto Yoshi traced the Lava Saliva to Kadman and saw Negative Emotions from the conference and Heavenly Host connect to Mister Mo.
• Goto Yoshi and Captain Jimmy realized they had both overlooked the Rotten-Mouth Ape, and Goto Yoshi’s eyes forced him to stare into its hollow red eyes.
• Mister Mo told Yin Le that the Rotten-Mouth Ape could be converted into energy and used as construction material.
• Mister Mo said Kadman was a parasite but that the Blood Flame Order’s flawed design and standards had made most members little different from him.

Yuchuan Yingjie searched for information about the ape-like creature while Tian Bang joined a high-level virtual meeting investigating Gong Qi’s death. The meeting reviewed footage of a wheelchair-bound man dissecting Kadman’s lava-like form, and Abner asked Ouyang Chen to invite Professor Ronan to share information.

• Yuchuan Yingjie asked Takemoto Shigeru to retrieve the investigation notice about Gong Qi, but it offered little detail about the ape-like creature.
• Bai Xinyan confirmed that the Jade Appraisal Association’s intelligence was similarly vague, then left to attend a meeting.
• Doctor Pan remotely brought Tian Bang into a Star Alliance Committee virtual conference attended by leading Extraordinary Species.
• The conference watched footage of a wheelchair-bound man explaining Kadman’s physical and spiritual structure while cutting its Lava Saliva into a detailed anatomical model.
• Constance Dale compared the man to Professor Ronan, and Abner asked Ouyang Chen to invite Ronan to the meeting.

Ouyang Chen, the Martial Emperor, and other attendees traded barbed remarks with President Abner before the Ability User Association presented the criteria for identifying Gong Qi’s killer. The Blood Flame Order and Mister Mo emerged as suspects, with the meeting turning to evidence linking them to the mysterious plane space.

• Zhang Yingying insulted President Abner, and the Martial Emperor said her remark reflected his own intent.
• Ouyang Chen challenged Baiji Pope and others over the Intercontinental Airship incident, prompting the Martial Emperor to share Ronan’s contact link.
• President Abner asked Maren to invite Ronan to the discussion, then Maren outlined seven criteria for identifying Gong Qi’s killer.
• Maren identified the Blood Flame Order as meeting two criteria and said Mister Mo met two more through his exoskeleton expertise and the Rotten-Mouth Ape.

Tian Bang and the Extraordinary Species debated whether Mister Mo was an impostor, an Extraordinary Species, or connected to Professor Ronan, while weighing the danger of acting without proof. Maren then asked Baiji Pope to share his assessment of Mister Mo, and Baiji said his control of Abyss Zone power surpassed everyone present.

• General Kony and Shausedo pushed the meeting to identify Mister Mo, but both backed down when Ouyang Chen intervened.
• Tian Bang told Doctor Pan that Mister Mo’s apparent power over Kadman’s Soul Body made him dangerous, though the evidence remained inconclusive.
• Tian Bang connected the White Bone Mountain, Blood Soul Temple, and Jin Tong Headband clues to Ronan, but worried that investigating could provoke a wider conflict.
• Tian Bang and Doctor Pan considered whether Ronan and Mister Mo were the same person or had been cooperating since before Jin Tong’s death, but the clues did not fit together.
• Maren said the available observations could not reveal Mister Mo’s true nature, then asked Baiji Pope for his view.
• Baiji Pope said Mister Mo’s control over Abyss Zone power surpassed that of everyone present.

Baiji Pope defended his claim of having observed the events in Slope City while Goto Yoshi struggled to pierce Mister Mo’s cloak with his special eyeballs. Goto Yoshi briefly uncovered how the cloak and Black Box worked, but his vision began swinging wildly and revealed his own grotesque, burning body.

• Baiji Pope called his claim the result of observation, while Constance Dahle questioned him and warned that his eyes would be ruined.
• Goto Yoshi’s special eyeballs kept gathering sunlight but failed to penetrate Mister Mo’s cloak, leaving Goto Yoshi overheated and in pain.
• Goto Yoshi’s fear produced negative emotions that interacted with Mister Mo’s cloak, and his eyeballs showed him the energy structure linking the cloak and Black Box to the Real World.
• Goto Yoshi began memorizing what he had seen, but his vision abruptly broke focus and swung across the people gathered around him.
• Goto Yoshi saw a twisted mass of interwoven flesh, nerves, and bones that was still burning.

Goto Yoshi lost his reason as Mister Mo’s cloak overwhelmed the burning thicket, while the Heavenly Host panicked and the distant observers debated Mister Mo’s motives. Mister Mo plucked one of Goto Yoshi’s eyeballs from the flames for research, then looked toward the virtual conference hall and demanded another.

• Goto Yoshi recognized the thicket’s fruits as his own eyeballs, watched his Negative Emotions disperse, and burned away into the flames.
• The Heavenly Host broke into chaos when the Rotten-Mouth Ape turned toward them and prepared to spray Lava Saliva.
• In the virtual conference hall, Shausedo argued that Mister Mo had revealed himself to protect his allies, while Baiji Pope asked the observers to explain his motives.
• Tian Bang dismissed a request to discuss the Blood Flame Order, tightened the experimental center’s communications permissions, and left his adjutant to handle verification.
• Mister Mo plucked one eyeball from the burning thicket and declared that he wanted another.

Mister Mo’s Rotten-Mouth Ape swallowed Captain Jimmy and vanished after the Deep Blue Walkers’ attacks failed to free him. As the livestream began to cut out, President Abner and other powerhouses demanded that it continue in Picture-in-Picture.

• Mister Mo’s Rotten-Mouth Ape surged forward and engulfed Captain Jimmy, disrupting the action squad’s communications and weakening its Formatted Space.
• Director Mu called the attack on Apocalypse Laboratory’s action team serious, while the Virtual Venue’s audience struggled to see through the corrupted livestream.
• Doctor Pan and Tian Bang debated why the squad could not transfer command authority and whether Jimmy remained connected to his team inside the creature.
• At least five Deep Blue Walkers attacked the crimson bubble, but their munitions disappeared into it without effect as it grew thinner.
• The bubble burst, destroying part of the terminal walkway and leaving both Captain Jimmy and the Rotten-Mouth Ape gone.
• Director Mu demanded an end to the livestream, but President Abner and several other powerhouses ordered it to continue in Picture-in-Picture.

The attendees at the Virtual Venue realized Captain Jimmy’s shifting Picture-in-Picture feed suggested he still existed somewhere, prompting them to press Director Mu for information and consider contacting Mister Mo. The chapter ended as Mister Mo appeared to look toward them again.

• The attendees noticed Captain Jimmy’s changing Picture-in-Picture feed and demanded that it be enlarged, while Tian Bang speculated that Jimmy was still moving somewhere.
• President Abner pressed Director Mu to share Apocalypse Laboratory’s information about Jimmy, and Director Mu redirected the discussion toward Baiji Pope and Mister Mo.
• Baiji Pope said the gathered data might help explain whether Mister Mo acted under Gentle Heart’s influence or had another purpose.
• The attendees debated who could speak to Mister Mo, since the Deep Blue Walkers hesitated and Goto Yoshi was dead.
• Someone suggested involving Ronan, but Ouyang Chen’s glare stopped the speaker from saying his name, and the attendees then noticed Mister Mo looking toward them again.

After Mister Mo left, Yin Le announced that people could name their prices, then the livestream cut out and the Appraisal Meeting recessed. At North Mountain Lake, Mende received orders from Yan Yongbo to lock the Formatted Space settings and use a superior framework to search for Captain Jimmy's missing Main Axis signals.

• Mister Mo left for the cruise ship while Yin Le stayed behind and announced that people could start naming their prices.
• The livestream's Picture-in-Picture feed stopped, leaving attendees to speculate about Mister Mo's offer and his control over the alternate space.
• President Abner discussed Kadru's injuries with Director Mu and suggested a recess, which Maren then imposed on the meeting.
• Mende received an order through internal authorization channels to lock the Formatted Space settings and activate full-sensory mode.
• Yan Yongbo activated a superior framework from Di City to help stabilize the Formatted Space and seek out Captain Jimmy's severed Main Axis signals.

Mo Ya left home under the protection of a convoy, while Raven secretly entered Cloud Top World and found the Mist Labyrinth in a dangerously altered state. She followed signs of Ronan’s power toward him, leaving the chapter with his unfinished house dissolving into the surrounding sandstorm.

• Hai Jing picked up Mo Ya, and Mo Ya invited Raven into the van, but Raven refused and left on her own.
• A convoy of bodyguards surrounded Mo Ya’s van, and Qin Yikun identified himself as her newly hired dedicated driver, hired on Ronan’s behalf.
• Cat’s Eye drove Raven away from home, and Raven vanished from the car to cross the void into Cloud Top World.
• Raven found the void unstable and entered the Mist Labyrinth through a barrier weakened by Ronan’s power.
• Raven passed a trapped Visitor bound by fine needles and threads leading toward Ronan, then followed them deeper into the labyrinth.
• Raven reached Ronan’s unfinished house and saw that much of its boundary had dissolved into the sandstorm region.

Raven entered Ronan’s unstable domain and found him badly injured after forcing himself into a Perfect Body. As she helped him document his injuries, Ronan explained that he was using the domain to gather data and deceive his enemies, and identified Raven as one of its most important computing nodes.

• Raven entered Ronan’s domain, whose outer regions shifted between reality and illusion, and found its Withered Tree Space more stable than the surrounding area.
• Raven found Ronan injured in the lounge, with displaced organs and fractured bones, and offered to set his injuries back into place.
• Ronan explained that the Perfect Body’s backlash had injured him and asked Raven to help record his condition before his senses became inhibited.
• Raven corrected Ronan’s injury notes using her sensory abilities while he described the damage caused by his incomplete Exoskeleton framework.
• Ronan explained that his unstable outer domain could vent chaotic energy and serve as a bluff against the people targeting him.
• Ronan told Raven that the domain’s resources were gathering redundant consciousness and energy, and that he needed her clear understanding as a computing node.

Ronan and Raven finished diagnosing his injuries, and Ronan showed her the Lens as it processed the spoils he had swallowed. The Lens’s recovered Offline Test function activated a Simulator, but it lacked a carrier, and full reassembly required Space-Time Configuration Specialization and Sky Ladder Level Two.

• Ronan explained to Raven that he planned to use the Cloud Top World and its opportunities to strengthen himself, despite her warning about the grim future she had glimpsed.
• Ronan and Raven recorded more than fifty injuries, after which his internal reactor helped accelerate his recovery.
• Ronan took Raven upstairs to the Lens, whose surrounding starry map showed his deeper exploration of the Mist Labyrinth.
• Ronan showed Raven that the Lens was digesting the spoils he had swallowed and projected its system messages onto the wall.
• The Lens restarted its Offline Test function and activated the Simulator, but reported that no carrier was available and listed the requirements for reassembling one.

Ronan showed Raven the newly activated Simulator function in the Brain of Emptiness System and explained that it could model different forms of the Simulator. He introduced its level-selection interface and named the first option “Brain in a Vat.”

• Ronan explained to Raven that the Brain of Emptiness System was an inherited asset and that he had activated a useful new function.
• Ronan showed Raven the Outer Space Flying Ship and magnified its illuminated functional area, revealing a device that resembled a flattened beetle.
• Ronan explained that the device was a Simulator whose simulation felt real to him, though Raven could only watch it as a 3D projection.
• Ronan translated the Simulator’s four level options and told Raven that each represented a different form of the Simulator.
• Raven inferred that choosing an option changed the Simulator’s appearance, and Ronan named the first option “Brain in a Vat.”

Ronan explained different kinds of Simulators to Raven, including their uses and limitations, and compared one advanced type to President Ouyang’s Logic Boundary. He then introduced a third option, which he called “Rule Jigsaw.”

• Ronan described how a basic Simulator used electrical signals to create convincing virtual environments and could store settings and scripts.
• Ronan explained that he was combining an Offline Test script with other elements to improve his domain, where Captain Jimmy was trapped for testing.
• Ronan told Raven that he needed to find a high-end Simulator before reorganizing his domain, and moved on to explain a more advanced type he called “Space-Time Fault” or “Space-Time Silhouette.”
• Ronan compared that Simulator to President Ouyang’s Logic Boundary and tried to recreate the boundary’s battlefield, but the attempt blurred away.
• Ronan explained the limits of the advanced Simulator and introduced the third option as “Rule Jigsaw.”

Ronan explained how he could use the Mist Labyrinth’s Domain fragments to build a rule-bound time-space, using the Simulator to study Space-Time Configuration. He left Raven looking at the starry nebula around the Lens as he laid out a plan to learn from his parents’ research and existing Domain structures.

• Ronan opened the Simulator’s third item and showed Raven its shifting projection of a Space-Time Structure.
• Ronan explained that the Simulator worked by dividing time-space into materials and recombining them to alter its laws and rules.
• Ronan revealed that he could use Mist Labyrinth fragments as substitute materials, drawing them together through the Sandwich Domain to build his own rule-bound time-space.
• Ronan cited Mother’s work on the Format 70 Research Institute and Luo Yuan’s presumed Domain fragment as examples he could study.
• Ronan described how the Mist Labyrinth and Mother’s research notes could help him improve his Space-Time Configuration and control of the Labyrinth.
• Ronan brought Raven to look at the glowing nebula surrounding the Lens.