Chapter Summaries

Fist Two and Wall Five examined Jack’s corpse and found a glowing metal-wire core embedded in his ruined brain. The core attacked the team in the carriage, leaving Fist Two and Wall Five gravely wounded and sending Snake Seven flying out with them.

• Fist Two and Wall Five discussed their injuries and the possibility that they would become Modified Humans.
• Fist Two opened Jack’s skull and found a glowing, wheat-seed-shaped core woven from fine metal wire.
• Snake Seven returned carrying the unconscious Raven and asked about the core.
• The core sent nearly invisible filaments into Fist Two’s and Wall Five’s eyes as Snake Seven warned them.
• Fist Two kicked Snake Seven and Wall Five out of the carriage while the core continued attacking him.

Jack took control of Fist Two’s body and used the Metal Wheat Seed to overpower Snake Seven and Knife Three while explaining Machine Core Configuration to Yan Yongbo. A sniper round destroyed Fist Two’s head, but Jack’s voice continued, and the seed remained suspended above the empty armor.

• Snake Seven used an EMP grenade to disable the transport, but Fist Two emerged with the blood-red Metal Wheat Seed entering his eye sockets.
• Jack spoke through Fist Two and told Yan Yongbo that he wanted to demonstrate Machine Core Configuration.
• Knife Three attacked from the shadows, but Jack shattered his arm and kicked him away.
• Snake Seven charged with a miniature Particle Cannon, but Jack shut down his armor and knocked him aside as the transport drove off.
• A sniper round blew apart Fist Two’s head, but Jack announced that Yan Yongbo’s punitive terms had doubled, while the Metal Wheat Seed hovered above the armor.

Jack controlled the speeding transport vehicle with the Devil’s Eye and considered taking Raven’s body for himself, while Ronan stayed hidden beside her. Jack suspected someone was protecting Raven but could not draw them out, and Ronan remained unable to wake her as the Association adjusted its response.

• Jack scanned Raven’s injured body and planned to transplant the Machine Core into it, hoping to combine it with her Soul Configuration and abilities.
• Jack addressed the hidden young man he suspected was protecting Raven, then struck at her face but stopped when no defensive reaction appeared.
• Jack ignored a magnetic-rail maintenance warning and accelerated the vehicle through the city, overpowering attempts to seize control of it.
• Ronan watched Jack from hiding and recalled that Raven’s severe injuries made it too dangerous to restore her consciousness by his usual method.
• Ronan contacted the Association for support while its personnel revised their plans to intercept Quantum Corporation’s convoy.

Ronan observed Jack’s Machine Core as a structure linking matter and spirit, while Jack prepared to escape and improve his combat capabilities. After Ronan’s brief touch alerted Jack to a suspicious signal, Jack resumed work by reconnecting an Electronic Eye system to his helmet.

• Ronan saw Jack’s Machine Core filaments form a structure he called a Babel Tower, revealing Jack’s thoughts and emotions to him.
• Jack planned a route back to the Recycling Layer and dismantled an Exoskeleton Armor and his own corpse to reuse their instruments and parts.
• Ronan judged Jack’s modifications inadequate and considered intervening, then lightly touched the Material Layer near him.
• Jack’s Devil’s Eye flared, and he leapt up, but Ronan withdrew beyond Jack’s reach before Jack could locate the signal.
• Jack picked up his faceted helmet and connected it to an idle Electronic Eye system, restoring a dark red glow behind its reinforced panel.

Jack integrated detection equipment into his Exoskeleton Armor and began a new path of modification, while Ronan saw the changes as an opportunity to exploit Jack’s vulnerable soul. Six Ears relayed a message from He Yueyin, and Jack detected traces of the transmission but could not locate Ronan.

• Jack installed the Electronic Eye and integrated detection instruments into his armor, repeatedly scanning his surroundings for the suspicious signal.
• Ronan judged Jack’s focus on perception and information gathering to be the right direction, while intending to exploit the lack of protection around Jack’s emotions and thoughts.
• The Human-Faced Spider, newly interested in feeding on Jack, struggled to rise and urged Ronan to let it act.
• Six Ears sent Ronan a concealed Spirit Wave message from He Yueyin saying the target had been locked on, his Soul Attachment Crow could rest, and he should watch the nearby Sniper Positions for Mister Bai’s contact.
• Jack noticed the transmission’s faint ripples and concentrated his detection equipment, but Ronan’s advantage in the Mental Layer kept him hidden.

Ronan used the Human-Faced Spider to infiltrate Jack’s soul and target his Spiritual Seed while the Association’s encirclement closed in. Jack regained his composure and reached for Raven, but the transport vehicle suddenly twisted apart.

• Ronan sent Ink to its assigned position as He Yueyin’s operation entered its implementation phase.
• Six Ears spread psychic waves across the area, and Jack realized the Association had surrounded him.
• Ronan released the Human-Faced Spider, which slipped into Jack’s thoughts and found the Spiritual Seed in the depths of his soul.
• The Human-Faced Spider devoured Jack’s agitated emotions, then hid near the Spiritual Seed and waited.
• Jack calmed down, recognized Raven as the source of the crisis, and reached for her.
• The speeding transport vehicle swerved violently, deforming and tearing apart its bulletproof compartment.

Jack resisted the illusion and fought off the rescue team’s ambush, but He Yueyin’s forces surrounded him as he faced a group of veteran Awakened. Meanwhile, the Human-Faced Spider focused on nurturing the Spiritual Seed with Jack’s Soul Power.

• Jack broke free of Daydream’s illusion but was immobilized by the Giant-Armed Martial Artist’s blows.
• Jack burned the attacker with Format Fire, then fought Rock Blast after the rear carriage was blasted open.
• He Yueyin’s team surrounded the transport vehicle, and Jack emerged to face more than a dozen veteran Awakened.
• Ronan wondered why the Human-Faced Spider was helping Jack, while the Spider cultivated the Spiritual Seed with Jack’s Soul Power.

Jack’s surging power overwhelmed Mister Bai’s mental attack, but his blazing soul drew a second Human-Faced Spider toward the group. Ronan sensed the threat just before a violent force struck the Mental Layer.

• Jack’s Format Fire ignited as he prepared to fight Giant Arm and claimed that every corpse had a designated recycling procedure.
• Mister Bai sent mist through the Mental Layer to create illusions inside Jack’s Babel Tower, but Jack’s intensified energy broke through and drove the mist back.
• Ronan sensed danger as the Dark Heavy Chains and the Human-Faced Spider within Jack’s soul reacted to an approaching presence.
• Ink spotted a second Human-Faced Spider near the sniper position, whereupon it fixed its six eyes hungrily on Ronan and the others.
• A powerful pulse overwhelmed Ink’s sensing area and a hurricane swept violently through the Mental Layer.

A Mental Storm crippled the Association’s coordination as Jack escaped in his Exoskeleton Armor, but a Human-Faced Spider ambushed him and devoured the Spiritual Seed in his soul. He Yueyin attacked the Spider, while Ronan sensed another Mental Storm and realized a second powerful enemy was behind the attack.

• A Mental Storm destroyed the Spirit Wave Network and suppressed Ronan’s perception, while Mister Bai was badly wounded.
• He Yueyin ordered Giant Arm to stop Jack, but Jack used the armor’s thrusters and Format Fire to break through the encirclement and flee through a window.
• A Human-Faced Spider emerged from nothingness, overlapped with Jack, and swallowed the Spiritual Seed in his soul, causing his armor to lose control and fall.
• He Yueyin leaped after the Spider and struck at it with her blade as Mister Bai took over command and began reporting the third contingency plan.
• Ronan sensed another Mental Storm while the Spider was occupied evading He Yueyin, and concluded that a powerful enemy other than the Spider was behind the storms.

Ronan used Dark Heavy Chains to seize the Human-Faced Spider and sensed the Furnace Hell inside its demonic body, where Jack’s Spiritual Seed was being digested. The seed revealed a Demon Rune shaped like a Human-Faced Spider, leaving Ronan confronting the creature’s inner structure.

• The Mental Storm suppressed Mister Bai, Giant Arm, and Rock Blast, leaving He Yueyin without timely support as she attacked the Human-Faced Spider.
• He Yueyin severed four of the Human-Faced Spider’s legs, but a lightning strike and the creature’s Siege Hammer attack disrupted her rhythm and left her vulnerable.
• Ronan warned He Yueyin about the lightning, then sent a signal that caused Dark Heavy Chains to bind the Human-Faced Spider.
• Ronan sensed the chain’s information and discovered that the Human-Faced Spider contained a furnace-like realm of flames and chaotic information.
• Jack’s Spiritual Seed resisted the flames with an orderly Gestalt structure and manifested as a Human-Faced Spider Demon Rune inside the creature.

Ronan’s Demon Rune built an altar inside Furnace Fire Hell, suppressing it and destabilizing the Human-Faced Spider. The Association members formed an Area Network, sent a distress signal to their leaders, and Xia City’s forces prepared to strike.

• The Demon Rune constructed an altar in Furnace Fire Hell, and Ronan recognized that its structure and principles matched the altar in the Fighting Arena.
• The altar suppressed Furnace Fire Hell and stripped away its underlying power, frightening the Human-Faced Spider into trying to escape.
• Ronan used My Heart is a Prison to strengthen the Dark Heavy Chains and drag the Human-Faced Spider back.
• The mysterious powerhouse’s attack on He Yueyin was interrupted, allowing her to retreat as Giant Arm and Rock Blast joined the Association members.
• He Yueyin ordered Six Ears to establish an Area Network, and Mister Bai used it to send a warning and distress signal to the Association’s leaders.
• Ronan received a fragmented message that attack authorization had been unlocked, and the sky above Xia City lit up.

The Black Smoke Man tried to rescue the Human-Faced Spider from Ouyang Chen’s Mental Storm, but the distant counterattack nearly scattered his soul. He hid in a nightclub and reunited with the Spider, only to watch it burn away and re-form as a terrifying demon.

• The Black Smoke Man cut the chains holding the Human-Faced Spider and ordered it to flee as Ouyang Chen’s Spirit Wave Network locked onto him.
• Ouyang Chen’s Mental Storm struck the Black Smoke Man, tearing apart his Black Smoke Soul Body and nearly scattering his soul.
• The Black Smoke Man escaped to a nightclub, restored his smoky body by absorbing human vitality, and sensed the Human-Faced Spider nearby.
• The Human-Faced Spider entered the nightclub, where flames erupted from its body and burned it away before gathering into a vortex.
• A savage demon emerged from the vortex with six differently colored pupils and eight spread legs, appearing to be the Human-Faced Spider transformed.

Morun checked the Human-Faced Spider and confirmed that the Blood Flame Order’s implanted structure remained intact after it had been reborn through fire. The chief priest ordered him to evacuate the spider safely, and Morun prayed to the Blood Flame Will, sensing a clearer response than he had in years.

• Morun explored the Human-Faced Spider’s inner Furnace Fire Hell and confirmed that the Blood Soul Temple and the cult’s prayers were still present.
• Morun reported the complications to the chief priest, who confirmed the spider’s strengthened spiritual pressure and ordered him to leave the area with it.
• Morun recalled the Blood Flame Order’s founding, decline, and loss of its Sacrificial Implement, which the cult hoped to replace using the Human-Faced Spider.
• Morun prayed for the Blood Flame Will’s blessing and sensed a clearer response than he had in years.

Morun sensed the Blood Flame Order’s ritual taking shape while Ronan realized the Demon Rune had taken over the Human-Faced Spider and was trapped with Morun. After He Yueyin ordered the team to withdraw rather than pursue the powerful Morun, Ronan was left worrying about how to free the Demon Rune.

• Morun sensed distinct responses among the believers’ cries and concluded that the Order Sacrificial Implement was beginning to take shape.
• Ronan realized the Demon Rune had defeated and devoured the Human-Faced Spider, then discovered Morun was unknowingly communicating and praying inside the altar framework.
• He Yueyin contacted Ronan, and he told her he was fine while noting that his sensing range had grown to nearly eight hundred meters.
• Ronan tried to persuade He Yueyin to pursue the person who had ambushed her, but she warned him to stay still and let the powerful enemy pass.
• After learning that Morun was still nearby, He Yueyin ordered the team to return immediately, leaving Ronan concerned about the Demon Rune.

After the operation, Mister Bai examined Ink and praised the structure Ronan used to control the crow, then accompanied Ronan to the hospital to investigate further. Ronan secretly returned his Soul Body to his physical body first, but the reunion caused a painful crack to open between his brows.

• He Yueyin told Ronan the operation had ended and that the Association would handle the Human-Faced Spider and the figure behind it separately.
• Mister Bai examined Ink, could not determine whether its condition was spirit attachment or soul hosting, and praised Ronan's structured method.
• Mister Bai and He Yueyin took Ronan to Xia City Benevolence Hospital so Mister Bai could examine the situation face-to-face.
• On the way, Ronan described his first connection with Ink as feeling like Astral Projection, and Mister Bai warned him that attempting it before awakening could be fatal.
• Ronan's Soul Body reached the hospital ahead of the others and returned to his physical body, but a sharp pain split the skin between his brows and blood began to seep out.

Ronan’s Soul Power and Soul Breathing caused a dangerous imbalance between his soul and body, but he hesitated to ask Mister Bai for help. Meanwhile, Morun used two Soul-Entrusting Envoys as vessels while carrying out the Blood Flame Order’s evacuation plan.

• Ronan recognized that his strengthened soul and new Soul Breathing rhythm were tearing his body apart, and worried that his internal systems might fail.
• Mister Bai sent Ink back to Ronan’s hospital room and arranged to meet him as Professor Bai during morning rounds.
• Ronan reassured He Yueyin and Rock Blast, then decided he needed to contact Mister Bai about his worsening condition.
• Demon Rune alerted Ronan that Morun was trying to command the Human-Faced Spider, so Ronan used Astral Projection to investigate the nightclub.
• Two Soul-Entrusting Envoys entered Morun’s private room, prayed, and collapsed after their conscious activity disappeared.
• Morun sent Demon Rune into the female envoy’s body and entered the male envoy’s body, which jolted violently and began bleeding at the temple.

Ronan learned Morun's method for easing the strain of Soul Entrustment, then woke in the hospital after a night of coughing and confusion. Mister Bai examined him and told Lady Luo Shuqing that his condition appeared to be stress-related, asking whether Ronan had argued with someone at home.

• Ronan observed Morun limit Soul Power circulation and deepen his connection to the Mental Layer, then tried the technique himself to reduce pressure on his body.
• After Morun finished adjusting the Soul-Entrusting Envoy, Ronan became drowsy and waited until dawn before sitting up in bed.
• Ronan's coughing worsened, and Aunt saw him awake through the bedside communicator before doctors arrived for rounds.
• Mister Bai examined Ronan, coached him to press a point on his hand to ease the coughing, and instructed him to act confused about why he was in the hospital.
• Mister Bai met Lady Luo Shuqing and attributed Ronan's condition to stress or anger, asking whether Ronan had quarreled with someone at home.

Mister Bai diagnosed Ronan with autonomic nerve damage caused by an imbalance between his rapidly advancing soul and his body, and recommended hospital treatment and recuperation. Ronan then received his mission report, earned 3 Honor Points, and discovered that the Deep Sea IV Type Machine Core was among the spoils up for bidding.

• Mister Bai explained Ronan's symptoms and recommended two days in the hospital, a Nutrient Capsule, and psychological counseling.
• Mister Bai warned Ronan that his Soul Power had advanced faster than his body and advised him to recuperate before exercising.
• Ronan asked about treatment and Senior Pharmacists, and Mister Bai said Octopus Bro could offer advice despite his different specialty.
• Ronan received He Yueyin's report on the mission, earned a C rating and 3 Honor Points, and brought his total to 7.
• Ronan opened the Association's spoils bidding system and found the Deep Sea IV Type Machine Core among the items taken from Jack.

Ronan checked the bidding status of the Machine Core and Brain Core, then learned from Rock Blast that outside buyers were seeking the captured technology. Suspecting Yan Yongbo was behind one offer, Ronan waited for confirmation and discovered that his Contemplation Graphic download had progressed to 6%.

• Ronan found the Machine Core and Jack's Brain Core still under inspection and considered how they might connect to Jack's secrets and his own External Neuron.
• Rock Blast called Ronan, discussed Raven's recovery, and explained that buyers could trade for the bidding rights to captured spoils.
• Ronan suspected Yan Yongbo was seeking the Machine Core, and Rock Blast agreed to investigate and respond differently if the suspicion was confirmed.
• Ronan set instant notifications for the Machine Core and Brain Core, then checked his Paged Notebook and saw the Contemplation Graphic download reach 6%.

Ronan discovered that the unknown-model Machine Core could shelter his Soul Power from the overwhelming noise of the hospital, allowing him to sleep peacefully. After waking, he reassured Aunt Luo Shuqing, and Xie Junping arrived with news that he had handled the Order Club’s procedures.

• Ronan tried to activate the Machine Core with Soul Power, but it showed no response.
• Ronan’s soul was overwhelmed by the Morbid Aura and chaotic soul waves in the hospital, leaving him unable to sleep.
• Ronan placed the Machine Core in his brain and used Soul Observation to enter its quiet interior, where he fell asleep.
• Ronan woke during visiting hours and reassured Luo Shuqing, who said he could go home after treatment in the Nutrient Capsule.
• Xie Junping visited Ronan, greeted Luo Shuqing, and reported that he had completed all the Order Club procedures.