Chapter Summaries

At Lande Observatory, Finch led an experiment to measure how Scarlet Terra affected five Ascendants and whether they could discover the unknown hidden within Scarlet Fear. Four subjects were withdrawn after severe reactions, and Number Four showed abnormal brain waves before asking to stop, leaving Finch eager to hear what he had seen.

• Finch prepared five contracted Ascendants in restrained chairs and fitted them with helmets to record their brain waves while they watched Scarlet Terra.
• The five subjects began suffering Scarlet Fear, but Finch refused to withdraw them until they passed out despite protests from foreign experts.
• Number One convulsed and was removed, Number Two fainted, and Number Five bit through his tongue before staff withdrew him.
• Number Three claimed to have found the unknown, then admitted he had found nothing and refused to look at Scarlet Terra again.
• Number Four's brain waves showed abnormalities, so Finch released him; Number Four vomited and Finch demanded to know what he had discovered.

Guan Tong secretly tested the Countermeasure Research Institute’s base personnel for parasites, beginning with Director Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu. After checking several thousand people, he detected a parasite among the final batch and identified the subject connected to the third line.

• Silver Fox escorted Guan Tong into the underground base, where his temporary visitor clearance allowed him access to public areas.
• Zhang Minglu explained the secret neural-test procedure, and Gao Liangwei volunteered to be tested first; neither Gao nor Zhang showed signs of being a parasite.
• Guan Tong tested the base personnel in batches of ten, using Mind Power feedback to pass the time and discovering that one subject had exceptionally strong defenses.
• After testing more than two thousand people, Guan Tong connected with a parasite in the final batch and told Zhang Minglu that the subject on the third line was infected.

Guan Tong helped uncover a parasite infiltrating North Star’s Data Department, and Gao Liangwei planned to use parasites as test subjects to investigate Scarlet Terra. In Suoloma, the king barred Finch from leading further experiments and ordered Adam to capture the person behind the Fire Thief Cult in exchange for visiting his child on Eden Island.

• Dragon Soul subdued a Data Department analyst after Guan Tong’s test revealed she was a parasite, and Zhang Minglu arranged for her to be detained.
• Zhang Minglu told Guan Tong that parasites could not be interrogated effectively, and Gao Liangwei said the UHC would use some as test subjects for the Scarlet Terra rule.
• The king questioned Finch about the disastrous Scarlet Terra experiment, rejected his request to investigate independently, and ordered him to join North Star’s experiments only as an observer.
• The king refused Adam permission to visit his wife and child on Eden Island unless Adam captured the person controlling the Fire Thief Cult during the joint operation.

A malicious release of the game Apocalypse Tide spread images of Scarlet Terra, killing and injuring millions of players and unleashing chaos worldwide. In Banzhen City, Shangyuan Zi warned Guan Tong that someone had used Suzuki’s profiling records to target him, then received news that Scarlet Terra images were being spread on a massive scale.

• A young man launched Apocalypse Tide and died after seeing its image of Scarlet Terra, prompting his shelter administrator to report the game.
• Millions of players worldwide were exposed to Scarlet Terra images in the game, with many dying, fainting, or attacking others in terror.
• Guan Tong met Shangyuan Zi in Banzhen City and learned that her scales had spread across the upper half of her cheeks as her Mind Power Cap grew faster.
• Shangyuan Zi told Guan Tong that someone had anonymously accessed Suzuki’s records of profiling him and might be using Suzuki to target him.
• Shangyuan Zi agreed to keep investigating in Yingqi and later travel to Fahe as independent support for Guan Tong’s mission.
• Yoshino called Shangyuan Zi to report that someone was spreading images of Scarlet Terra on a massive scale.

After a Scarlet Fear attack spread through the game Apocalypse Tide, Li Meng began investigating the culprit while Guan Tong considered the threat to North Star and chose to keep fighting rather than withdraw. With a brief respite from other duties, Guan Tong decided to focus on developing the abilities granted by the [Wordless Book].

• Gao Liangwei learned that a post-release hotfix had replaced Apocalypse Tide's startup screen with images of Scarlet Terra, affecting more than a million people, and assigned Li Meng to investigate.
• Li Meng recruited Yang Ran and Silver Fox to question those involved in producing the game, while players discussed the attack on the Ascendant's Home forum.
• Guan Tong returned to his shelter in Pinglu Valley and suspected the parasites or the Fire Thief Cult might have targeted North Star's stable social order.
• Remembering Qimo Star's destroyed Civilization, Guan Tong decided he could not abandon the struggle and instead resolved to strengthen himself.
• Guan Tong reviewed the abilities from the [Wordless Book] and chose to begin developing its page abilities, starting with the ones he already possessed.

Guan Tong strengthened Shadow to let tangible and intangible forms coexist, then upgraded the Silver Hunter with a powerful, mind-guided Type 6 missile. After testing its destructive force, he decided to stockpile missiles before heading to Fahe.

• Guan Tong tried to split Shadow into two independent individuals, but a Shadow Line kept the figures connected and the attempt failed.
• Guan Tong successfully made Shadow maintain tangible and intangible states at the same time, though his current Mind Power was insufficient to make the intangible half fully transparent.
• Guan Tong tried to give Shadow the ability to disguise its appearance, but the [Wordless Book] did not consume any Mind Power and the request failed.
• Guan Tong used all his Mobile Mind Power to create the Silver Hunter's Type 6 Mind-Guided Missile, which required a Mind Power lock to track a target.
• Guan Tong fired a missile at a mountainside and saw it blast a huge, scorching crater into the rock.
• Guan Tong decided to stockpile more Type 6 Missiles before going to Fahe, where the Fire Thief Cult might be prepared for his known abilities.

Guan Tong tested how his Wordless Book shelter had changed after his Mind Power breakthrough, then considered new uses for his abilities and planned to scout Shi Jingyi and Lu Cheng’s meeting place. Lu Cheng suspected Prophet had caused the Scarlet Fear incident to distract the authorities from his coming operation, and resolved to continue despite his doubts.

• Guan Tong summoned his shelter and found that it had expanded to two floors, with a balcony, an elevator, and a spacious open hall shaped by his subconscious impressions.
• Guan Tong considered broadening the Power of Opening so it could remove weapons or artifacts, and turned his attention to developing Domain and the Wordless Book’s seventh page.
• Shi Jingyi told Guan Tong that she and Lu Cheng would meet at South Street Stadium on the morning of the 8th, and Guan Tong offered to scout the location beforehand.
• Lu Cheng watched news reports classify the Scarlet Fear incident as a terrorist attack and suspected Prophet had arranged it to divert North Star Official’s attention from his operation.
• Lu Cheng recalled that Prophet had promised to help him meet Shi Jingyi alone and decided he could only press ahead.

Zhang Minglu began the second UHC Unknown Exploration experiment, testing human volunteers and a captured parasite’s reactions to Scarlet Terra. The experiment ended with the parasite’s brainwaves remaining unusually steady, raising the possibility that parasites did not feel fear.

• Zhang Minglu explained the safety measures and defended the test subjects’ right to stop the experiment after Finch criticized the arrangement.
• Zhang Minglu brought the captured parasite into the experiment to record its brainwaves, while a Lu Rui expert proposed testing people who could not feel fear in a future experiment.
• Zhang Minglu instructed the volunteers to search for a hidden red glow in Scarlet Terra’s frightening visions, and authorities supplied them with mental stabilization items.
• The test subjects began staring at Scarlet Terra, and several soon shouted their safe words and were escorted away.
• Zhang Minglu learned that the parasite’s brainwaves were steadier than the humans’ and wondered whether parasites could feel fear.

Guan Tong tested his improved Shadow Domain abilities and named its lethal retraction attack the Return Shadow Kill Array. He scouted the stadium where Shi Jingyi and Lu Cheng would meet the next morning, found no one, and planned to prepare shadows in case Lu Cheng was setting an ambush.

• Guan Tong combined the Shadow Domain’s watcher eyes with Mind Power absorption to drain enemies faster when they met the eyes’ gaze.
• Guan Tong developed the Return Shadow Kill Array, retracting the Shadow Domain into a small space while its blades shredded the surrounding forest and rocks.
• Guan Tong sent a shadow to scout the stadium on South Academy Road, where Shi Jingyi and Lu Cheng were scheduled to meet.
• Guan Tong searched the stadium, including underground, but found nobody and suspected Lu Cheng might use Teleportation Items to bring in helpers.
• Guan Tong decided to surround the stadium with shadows the next morning and capture Lu Cheng if he showed hostile intent.

Gao Liangwei learned that hosts were less affected by Scarlet Fear and decided to await the results of Lu Rui Country’s next experiment before proposing that top Ascendants investigate the Source of Fear. Meanwhile, Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi ambushed Lu Cheng’s attempt to have hosts kill her, killed the attackers, and captured Lu Cheng for questioning.

• Zhang Minglu told Gao Liangwei that hosts were less affected by Scarlet Fear and that experiments suggested a red Source of Fear interfered with human brains to create visions.
• Gao Liangwei warned the coalition forces about the risk of a nighttime host counterattack and decided to wait for Lu Rui Country’s experiment before proposing that top Ascendants investigate the Source of Fear.
• Guan Tong secretly prepared to protect Shi Jingyi as she waited for Lu Cheng at the South Street Stadium.
• Lu Cheng summoned ten hosts to attack Shi Jingyi, but Guan Tong revealed himself and trapped the attackers in his Shadow Domain.
• Guan Tong killed the ten hosts, and Shi Jingyi knocked Lu Cheng unconscious when he tried to flee.
• Guan Tong searched Lu Cheng’s phone, found no clues, and took him away for interrogation while Shi Jingyi wondered why he believed killing her could prevent him from becoming a host.

Guan Tong forced Lu Cheng to face Scarlet Fear until he agreed to confess, then learned how he had become a spore addict and infiltrated the UHC allied forces for Prophet. Lu Cheng revealed that Prophet had identified two threats, leading Guan Tong to suspect that he was the second one.

• Guan Tong restrained Lu Cheng and threatened to expose him to Scarlet Terra after Lu Cheng refused to answer questions about the plot against Shi Jingyi.
• When Scarlet Fear overwhelmed him with visions of his consciousness being replaced by a parasite, Lu Cheng begged Guan Tong for a quick death and agreed to tell him everything.
• Lu Cheng explained that anxiety about his strength had led him to become addicted to spores, and that he had rejected Shi Jingyi's offer of help.
• Lu Cheng said that after the Parasite from Beyond the Stars rule ended, he went to Black Flag Nation for spores and pledged loyalty to the parasites to manage his addiction.
• Lu Cheng revealed that Prophet used him as an infiltrator in the UHC allied forces and assigned him to arrange a meeting with Shi Jingyi.
• Lu Cheng said Prophet had been warned of two threats, one of them Lecturer Jingyi, and Guan Tong suspected that he was the other.

The Prophet ordered the parasites to attack the UHC coalition, while Guan Tong learned that the Prophet was human and that the spores could sense Ascendants who could identify parasites. After killing Lu Cheng, Guan Tong planned to hunt the parasites in Black Flag Nation, then joined his team’s first full gathering, where Li Meng introduced the final teammate, Wenren Yizhi.

• The Prophet rejected his earlier plan’s failure and ordered the parasites’ hidden outposts to prepare to attack the UHC coalition.
• Guan Tong concluded that the spores could sense breakthrough users and learned from Lu Cheng that the Prophet was human; he killed Lu Cheng after hearing his confession.
• Guan Tong told Shi Jingyi what he had learned, warned her to stay alert, and decided to go to Black Flag Nation after the Fire Thief Cult operation.
• Li Meng gathered the team and explained that parasites had hacked a game to spread Scarlet Fear, while Guan Tong suspected the attack had also concealed their attempt to assassinate Shi Jingyi.
• Li Meng brought the team to meet their last member, Wenren Yizhi, a world Go champion and North Star national Go player seated in a wheelchair.

Guan Tong met Wenren Yizhi, the final member of the team, and learned how her Go stones could shield minds and link teammates to distribute damage. The group left to begin combat coordination training, while Guan Tong learned that the cost of Wenren Yizhi’s ability had left her unable to walk.

• Li Meng introduced Wenren Yizhi to the team, then revealed that Guan Tong was Shadow, shocking Yang Ran and reminding Bai Xuewu of their past fight.
• The team took a group photo before Wenren Yizhi demonstrated her black and white Go stones and explained their defensive and damage-sharing abilities.
• Wenren Yizhi explained that each stone used part of her Mind Power Cap, and she could not say for certain whether the stones could counter the Fire Thief Cult or Scarlet Fear.
• After the group left, Silver Fox told Guan Tong that Wenren Yizhi’s inability to walk was connected to her Go board and that Dr. Zhang Minglu’s attempts to help her had failed.
• Li Meng brought Guan Tong and the others to the training floor to begin combat coordination training.

Guan Tong and the Dragon Soul Team demonstrated their abilities in the Countermeasure Research Institute’s training room as Li Meng assessed their combat potential. Guan Tong revealed that his Shadow Domain absorbed Mind Power, leaving the team to recognize how formidable it was.

• Li Meng brought the team to the Maximum Power training room, where Yang Ran demonstrated his flame attacks and explained that his strongest move could engulf a hundred-meter radius.
• Bai Xuewu demonstrated her upgraded mech, Chen Na showed her expanded perception and Mind Power marking ability, and Silver Fox revealed that her speed increased the longer she moved.
• Guan Tong demonstrated Shadow’s ability to change form, split apart, and use its five senses to gather information, while keeping the Wordless Book secret.
• Guan Tong enveloped the room in his Shadow Domain, plunging everyone into darkness, and Bai Xuewu noticed that it drained their Mind Power.

Lurui’s third Scarlet Terra experiment spiraled into disaster when a lobotomized test subject became a source of Scarlet Fear propagation. The experts debated what she had encountered and whether she could provide answers, while Finch proposed using her as a weapon.

• Melens began Lurui’s experiment, and test subjects exposed to Scarlet Terra through telescopes quickly succumbed to Scarlet Fear, with several dying or suffering severe episodes.
• The lobotomized Number Eleven showed unusually stable brainwave readings and signaled that she had found something, but Melens looked into her eyes and fell into madness.
• The fear spread from Number Eleven to Melens and others in the room, prompting the surviving experts to identify her as a source of propagation, restrain her, and stop the experiment.
• Lurui’s experts reported that those affected had died or become irreversibly insane, and Finch hypothesized that Number Eleven had contacted the Source of Fear and become a carrier.
• The experts proposed questioning Number Eleven under sealed conditions, while Finch and a young scholar suggested she could be used as a weapon; the Lurui expert rejected that proposal.

The researchers received a distress signal from Robert aboard Dream Boat One and decided to postpone a rescue until the Scarlet Fear rule ended. Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi sparred and discussed their abilities, the parasites, and Guan Tong’s plan to visit the Black Flag Nation.

• Chen Shi played a distress recording from Robert, the presumed-dead captain of the Empire Pioneer, aboard Dream Boat One.
• Zhang Minglu suggested Robert might have become a Source of Propagation, and the officials agreed to organize a joint rescue after the rule ended.
• Li Meng described the team’s relationships and Wenren Yizhi’s life-draining chess ability, while Gao Liangwei said the UHC planned to attack the Fire Thief Cult the following week.
• Guan Tong sparred with Shi Jingyi and learned that she sensed Mind Power fluctuations and used Condensation to spread blue-white flames through his Shadow Armor.
• Guan Tong told Shi Jingyi he planned to go to the Black Flag Nation after returning from Fahe, then prepared to spar with Silver Hunter.

The North Star Team joined the multinational UHC Action Team in Suoloma to prepare for a decapitation operation against the Fire Thief Cult in Fahuo Nation. After learning the assault plan, Li Meng warned the team to watch the Solloma team and prioritize their own safety.

• Adam welcomed the North Star Team and introduced the Solloma members, including diviner Key of the Moon and former competition finalist Peter.
• The gathered members formed a nineteen-person joint Action Team, with Shangyuan Zi secretly posing as Yingqi Nation's representative and keeping her connection to Guan Tong hidden.
• A Solloma elder briefed the team that the Fire Thief Cult controlled Li Lu'an City and operated from the Great Fire Cathedral, a remodeled national library.
• The elder announced that the Action Team would teleport outside the cathedral the next morning and attack the Pope and bishops, while refusing Li Meng's suggestion to bombard the building with missiles.
• Li Meng told the North Star Team to be wary of the other teams, especially Solloma, and Guan Tong agreed to put his teammates' safety first.

Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi discussed the suspected Suoloma mole and plans to investigate Suzuki’s case before the Action Team teleported to the Great Fire Cathedral. The Fire Thief Cult ambushed the arrivals, and the Suoloma Team was missing, raising suspicions that it had betrayed them.

• Shangyuan Zi told Guan Tong that six small countries had sent only one representative each because Suoloma feared leaks from infiltrated governments, and she agreed to watch the Suoloma Team.
• Guan Tong said he would ask the purple-robed Suoloma woman to use divination to find Wei Huo if the operation went smoothly.
• The Suoloma elder distributed Teleportation Items, and the Action Team confirmed their destination was the Great Fire Cathedral.
• Guan Tong and the other seventeen members teleported to the cathedral, where Bishop Baike and Bishop Heath led a prepared ambush by the Fire Thief Cult.
• The arrivals realized their information had leaked and suspected the entire Suoloma Team because it had not appeared with them; Bishop Heath ordered the cultists to activate the array and kill them.

The Action Team was trapped by the Fire Thief Cult, but Guan Tong broke their Mind Power array and led the Ascendants in defeating the cultists. Meanwhile, the Suoloma team entered the cathedral on a separate mission to capture the Pope, and the chapter ended with Guan Tong preparing to destroy the cathedral.

• Adam told the Suoloma team that their secret mission was to capture the Pope alive, then led them out of their storage room inside the cathedral.
• The Fire Thief Cult trapped the other Action Team members in a Magic Array, where poison-coated chains attacked them and cultists supplied the array with Mind Power.
• Guan Tong used seventy thousand Reserve Mind Power through the Wordless Book to destroy the array, freeing the Action Team and enabling them to attack the cultists.
• Chen Na sensed the Suoloma team inside the cathedral, while Guan Tong and Silver Fox worked together to kill Bishop Heath and Bai Xuewu fought Bishop Baike, who escaped using invisibility.
• After the Action Team defeated the remaining cultists, Guan Tong stopped them from entering the cathedral and prepared Silver Hunter to blow it up.

Li Meng and the other Team Leaders confronted Suoloma over the different teleportation destination and the ambush, while Guan Tong bombarded the cathedral to force its occupants out. Adam’s team survived the collapse, but as the joint teams accused them of betrayal, Peter attacked and killed Amanda.

• Li Meng demanded an explanation from Suoloma’s elder, who denied collusion and said communications with Adam were blocked.
• Guan Tong reestablished contact with Li Meng, reported the ambush and the teams’ casualties, then decided to destroy the cathedral with missiles.
• Adam protected his team from the collapsing building as Guan Tong’s bombardment brought it down.
• The surviving teams confronted Adam on the ruins and accused Suoloma of betrayal after learning its team had avoided the ambush.
• Peter fired a bolt of crimson-white lightning that pierced Amanda’s chest, and the others identified him as the traitor.