Chapter Summaries

Big Cat observed the Disaster Anomaly Elimination Association recruiting people on the verge of suicide as experimental subjects and reported the operation to Wenren Sheng. Wenren Sheng recognized that Miken had intensified its efforts and decided to wait and see how far they would go.

• Big Cat watched a drone recruit Yvon Gallienne, who had lost his savings to scammers, by offering him a contract promising compensation and accountability.
• The drone rescued a drunk man preparing to jump from a bridge and had him sign a contract as well.
• Big Cat followed a heartbroken young man to an underground facility where recruits learned they would undergo specialized training and test dangerous anomalies.
• The recruits questioned the danger and one tried to withdraw, but the staff refused and began taking them away for training.
• Big Cat reported the operation to Wenren Sheng, who concluded that Miken had stepped up its efforts and chose to wait and see whether it would defeat or compromise with the monsters.

Wenren Sheng and the airship formation discovered an invisible zone that blocked mysterious objects, which the Seed of Mystery identified as an Absolute Physics Circle. As they investigated its boundaries, approaching thunderstorm clouds forced the formation to retreat.

• Wenren Sheng continued studying Defense System skills and cautiously worked on mastering Etherealization Art.
• On the third day, an invisible barrier stopped a small airship while allowing mechanical Drones to pass through.
• Wenren Sheng guessed the barrier might be a Land of Silent Death, and the Seed of Mystery identified it as an Absolute Physics Circle.
• Wenren Sheng ordered the crew to measure the zone, and they found a cylindrical space about ten square meters in area with seemingly infinite height.
• Wenren Sheng sensed danger as Drones and Spider-Men were deployed, and the Chief of Staff ordered the airship formation to retreat from approaching thunderstorm clouds.

The Patrol Division discovered an Absolute Physics Circle surrounding a remote lakeside house and sent a Drone to investigate its owner, a burly man who had been living there in isolation. The man’s denial of murder unraveled when he revealed suspicious knowledge of Luminol, and a Spider-Man aimed its gun at him.

• A Drone spotted a Lime Circle around the lakeside house, and the Patrol Division identified it as matching the inaccessible cylindrical space.
• The Patrol Division sent a Drone to inspect the house, and its owner allowed it inside after learning who had found him.
• Wenren Sheng realized the burly man had used the circle as a refuge from the dangers outside and suspected that the unusually tidy house concealed something.
• The Drone questioned the man about discovering the anomaly and accused him of committing murder and evading the Patrol Division’s Prophecy Art.
• The man denied killing anyone but gave himself away by mentioning Luminol and bleach, so a Spider-Man aimed its gun at him.

Wenren Sheng’s investigation uncovered Wang Kuisheng’s murders after Spider-Men found human calculi inside giant river clams in the lake. The Patrol Division began a massive investigation of the forbidden area, but excavation revealed nothing, so they turned their attention to the lakebed.

• Wenren Sheng ordered Spider-Man to search the lake, where investigators found enormous river clams containing suspected human calculi.
• Wang Kuisheng charged the Spider-Men after realizing his crimes had been exposed, but they subdued him with a tranquilizer dart.
• Wenren Sheng read the interrogation report and reflected on the psychological risks of pursuing immortality and the importance of social ties.
• The Patrol Division brought in equipment and resources, dismantled the wooden building, and excavated more than thirty meters underground without finding anything.
• Investigators sent underwater robots into the lake to search the lakebed.

While Wenren Sheng slept, Silver Marble and the other Anomalies contacted the Ice Wall Guide, who gave Silver Marble an artifact and ordered it to monitor a shelter. The next morning, Wenren Sheng found a new prophecy case that reminded him of the looming Great Cataclysm and decided to investigate.

• Silver Marble and three other Anomalies performed a Netherworld Communion ritual to contact the Ice Wall Guide while Wenren Sheng slept.
• The Ice Wall Guide spared Silver Marble and instructed it to use Wenren Sheng as a sheepdog while watching over a shelter.
• The Ice Wall Guide gave Silver Marble an Anomaly artifact that could pierce the prison and help it investigate the outside world.
• Wenren Sheng woke with an unexplained chill, stopped practicing the Etherealization Art, and reviewed incident notices.
• Wenren Sheng found a case about someone predicting a future of despair and connected it to Zhao Han's prophecy about the Great Cataclysm.

Wenren Sheng sent Fat Doll to investigate Gawain Harrington, a prophet in the Sabei District who had predicted a future catastrophe. Gawain described a world-ending monster emerging from the ice and snow, leaving the investigators unsure whether his prophecy was true.

• Wenren Sheng chose Fat Doll to investigate Gawain Harrington and ordered it to travel to Rona City.
• Wang Wenwen sent Squirrel off with supplies and urged it to flee if it encountered danger.
• Fat Doll reached Gawain’s basement and discovered his extensive stockpile and living quarters.
• Lina and Luoer questioned Gawain about his prophecy, which he said would come true in nine years and three months.
• Gawain described countless Mushrooms failing to harm a monster from the ice and snow, and Luoer fell silent as he considered whether Gawain was telling the truth.

Wenren Sheng realized Gawain had hidden a prophecy that Brain-Plugged would bring disaster, and his deduction completed the mysterious incident. The chapter left Wenren Sheng wondering what consequences Brain-Plugged would cause.

• Lina asked Gawain about his revelation, and he said a servant of the Fierce Tiger Colossus had prophesied his death in a dream.
• Gawain described traveling to Minsk City and hearing an old friend criticize Brain-Plugged as a cage that would bring disaster.
• Lina and Luoer dismissed Gawain as an Ordinary Person who had been misled and left after recording his account.
• Wenren Sheng noticed Gawain had lied about having no prophetic ability and inferred that his remark about Brain-Plugged was the real prophecy.
• Wenren Sheng completed the mysterious incident and received 155 Mystery Points, then wondered what disaster Brain-Plugged would cause.

Wenren Sheng monitored Gawain while turning his attention to the Brain-Plugged devices, which were credited with sharply reducing Mysterious Disasters in Miken. Dr. Stein celebrated the invention at Eagle Fort, but two old men suspected he had overlooked a serious danger.

• Wenren Sheng had Fat Doll record Gawain, who angrily broke up with his girlfriend over the phone before returning to sleep.
• Wenren Sheng refocused on Big Cat in Miken and considered how the Brain-Plugged devices might yield Mystery Points.
• Dr. Stein praised his own inspiration as guests at Eagle Fort celebrated the devices’ reported eighty-percent reduction in Mysterious Disasters.
• General Lola confirmed that Dr. Stein’s project budget had risen to thirty times its original amount, and Stein asked for even more investment.
• Two old men dismissed Stein as a fool and predicted that people would soon regret the invention, though they could not yet identify what he had missed.

Wenren Sheng investigated the Miken People’s intubation technology, traced it to a device that suppressed emotions, and reported his findings to the Patrol Division. Later, during a cleanup-operation review meeting, he heard a theory that Anomalies were being limited to match humanity’s strength.

• Wenren Sheng used Big Cat to observe Miken slums, where intubated residents lived calmly and soldiers killed people who protested the treatment.
• Wenren Sheng saw rescuers fail to persuade intubated residents to remove their helmets, then used Stealth Art to identify the helmet as an Emotion Regulator worth 100 Mystery Points.
• Wenren Sheng wrote a report on the origins and future of Miken intubation technology and submitted it to the Patrol Division, raising his Mystery Points limit from 810 to 830.
• More than a month later, Wenren Sheng attended a War Room review meeting where an Operations Staff Officer reported that combat units had encountered no Anomalies stronger than Master Level.
• A meeting participant presented the Disaster Anomaly Balancing Hypothesis, suggesting that Anomalies matched humanity’s strongest individuals and remained within their ability to handle.

Wenren Sheng proposed sharing knowledge and concentrating power to counter increasingly powerful anomalies, then listened as the Patrol Division discussed dangerous Bizarreness Objects and their possible uses. The meeting ended with officials concluding that the sealed Vortex Gate had been gathering human ideas and culture to help the Disaster Anomaly Lords prepare for Earth’s Bizarreness Objects.

• Wenren Sheng argued that people should share knowledge and use a power-concentrating ritual to advance together, easing the War Room’s fears about the balance of power.
• The Operations Staff Officer described the Land of Silent Death, an expanding-height zone where beings and objects that violate physics were annihilated, and outlined possible uses for it.
• The Operations Staff Officer reported on an ancient well that produced water and a mysterious book that devoured anyone who failed to tell it a satisfying story.
• A Patrol Division attendee connected the story-demanding book to the sealed Vortex Gate at East Peak, suggesting it supplied information to help the Disaster Anomaly Lords fight Bizarreness Objects.
• The Chief of Staff agreed that the Vortex Gate absorbed human-made ideas and culture, and the attendees discussed how sealing it had deprived the Lords of potential advantages.

Wenren Sheng left the stage summary meeting early to prepare his family for the three Otherworldly Emergence opportunities Director An had arranged. After showing them Fat Doll training with Gawain, he explained the risks and precautions they needed to know.

• Wenren Sheng applied to study the dangerous ancient book, but his request was denied until a defensive solution was found.
• After the two-day stage summary meeting, Wenren Sheng left early and traveled to Eastwater to attend the Otherworldly Emergence with his family and Wei Yiqing.
• Wenren Sheng showed his family an illusion of Gawain training Fat Doll, a Red Ant, and taking it to a bar where a bartender threatened him with a gun.
• Wenren Sheng kept Fat Doll with Gawain because he considered him useful, then used Teaching Skill to explain Otherworldly Emergence precautions to his family.

Wenren Sheng and his group visited Mai Fish Island during the Wheatfish harvest and sampled its costly local delicacy. He then prepared for an Otherworldly User’s emergence in Lake Heart Town’s Flower Plaza the next day, where ordinary people could be exposed to dangerous effects.

• Zhao Han complained about the hundred-thousand-per-dish Wheatfish, but Wenren De and the others ate their lottery-winning portions instead of selling the tickets.
• After the meal, Zhao Han worried that the fish had made her face bigger, and Ouyang Ling explained that the effect would reverse after a few days.
• Wenren Sheng watched Flower Plaza and recalled the Patrol Division’s warning that the Otherworldly User would appear there at noon the next day and was drawn to crowds.
• Wenren Sheng considered the danger to people in the plaza, since signs of an Otherworldly Emergence could cause harmful bodily mutations, while the Patrol Division planned to keep the area normal and absorb the Mysterious Power from nearby hotels.

Wenren Sheng and his companions learned that everyone who had eaten the Wheatfish would jump into the lake at noon, while the Patrol Division prepared lifeboats and kept the warning quiet. As an eerie heat wave and nursery rhyme began, Wenren Sheng saw the golden Wheatfish apparently singing in its aquarium.

• Zhao Han told Wenren Sheng that her Otherworldly Emergence had revealed that everyone who ate the Wheatfish would jump into the lake at noon.
• Wenren Sheng alerted the Patrol Division, which deployed lifeboats and kept the town calm while the group continued its training.
• Wenren De prophesied that the group was unlikely to be affected, and advised them to leave the people outside to the Patrol Division.
• At eleven, a hot wind swept through town and people began explaining the unusual heat as an Autumn Tiger.
• An eerie nursery rhyme about people splashing into the water began, and Wenren Sheng saw the golden Wheatfish opening and closing its mouth as if it were singing.

As a nursery rhyme sent the people of the lakeside town into a panic, Wenren Sheng realized an Otherworldly Emergence was beginning and waited for the Patrol Division to act. He eventually saw through the illusion affecting the crowd, while the golden mist gathered around the barley fish in the aquarium.

• Wenren Sheng heard the nursery rhyme and watched residents and tourists rush into the lake as midnight approached.
• People in the water believed their limbs and eyes were disappearing, and an invisible barrier kept them from reaching shore.
• Wenren Sheng received a message telling him not to intervene, then watched golden mist flow toward the central square and enter the barley fish's aquarium.
• Wei Yiqing left to eat, while Wenren Sheng stayed behind and listened as the Little Girl changed the rhyme.
• Wenren Sheng used Mystic Eagle Eye and discovered that the panicked people were unharmed and only flailing in an illusion.

Wenren Sheng suggested turning the people at Flower Plaza into frogs, allowing the nursery rhyme to finish and a Seed of Illusion to appear. He activated it before the Patrol Division could secure it, while the trainees who had expected to claim it learned that their opportunity was gone.

• Wenren Sheng suggested turning the people in the lake into frogs, and Little Girl transformed them so the song could continue.
• After the song ended, a pale green seed appeared, flew to Wenren Sheng, and burrowed into his chest, raising his Mystery Points limit by 50.
• A Black Shirts captain questioned Wenren Sheng, who admitted activating the Seed of Illusion and later registered it with the Patrol Division.
• The captain reported that Wenren Sheng had activated the species, and his division chief ordered him to proceed according to Plan B.
• Captain Luo told the Patrol Division trainees that the Otherworldly Species had already been activated, prompting Le Zhengming to complain that Wenren Sheng had taken their chance.

Ouyang Tian left the hotel after absorbing golden mist and improving his Seed of Joy, then met Saya among the tourists and felt an unexpected attraction to her. He struck up a conversation with her, unaware that someone was watching him strangely.

• Ouyang Tian absorbed the last of the golden mist and believed his Seed of Joy had advanced enough to earn at least a Skilled Level rating.
• Wenren Sheng advised Ouyang Tian to consolidate his gains, and Ouyang Tian went outside for a walk.
• Ouyang Tian watched the tourists discussing the recent disaster and felt superior because he understood what had happened.
• Ouyang Tian noticed Saya, approached her, and introduced himself.
• Saya answered Ouyang Tian's questions, and the two quickly began chatting as an unseen observer watched them with a strange expression.

Wenren Sheng identified the newly activated Seed of Illusion and negotiated with it to stop harming people around him. His family and Wang Wenwen, inspired by seeing him asleep and by the dangers facing them, began winter swimming to train, while Ouyang Ling called them in for what might be their last fish meal there.

• Wenren Sheng sensed the Seed of Illusion, learned that it amplified its abilities through the Seed of Mystery, and realized it could help him learn Etherealization Art.
• Wenren Sheng asked the Seed of Illusion to harm people elsewhere and went to sleep after it agreed to wait until he finished dreaming.
• Wenren De saw Wenren Sheng asleep, felt guilty about his own idleness, and went out to winter swim.
• Wang Wenwen visited Wenren Sheng, resolved to become stronger by losing weight, and joined Wenren De in the lake.
• Old Wu joined the swimmers, and Ouyang Ling came to tell them that fish was available for dinner; Wenren De said he would swim two more laps before eating.

Wenren Sheng watched Miken laborers build a Golden Fish statue in his dream, then traveled toward the capital to join research on the Strange Book. He suspected the Seed of Illusion was influencing Ouyang Tian through their Otherworldly Connection and planned to test whether distance would weaken its effect.

• Wenren Sheng saw the God's Chosen organize Miken laborers to carve a Golden Fish statue opposite the Fierce Tiger Colossus, and decided the dream could help the Seed of Illusion advance safely.
• At breakfast, Ouyang Tian claimed he had fallen in love with a female doctor, while his family suspected something was wrong and Wenren Sheng avoided revealing the truth.
• Ouyang Tian said the doctor was an Otherworldly User who had invited him to join her experiments, and Wenren Sheng assured him he would not suffer a loss.
• The Patrol Division approved Wenren Sheng's application to research the Strange Book at its capital headquarters, so he arranged to travel separately from his family.
• Wenren Sheng planned to test whether the Seed of Illusion could still affect Ouyang Tian at a distance, since their Otherworldly Connection might transmit its influence.

Wenren Sheng attended a Patrol Division experiment with a Strange Book that answered one question if it liked a story. After a researcher told it a long tale, the book was satisfied and offered the researcher a question, leaving Wenren Sheng still hoping to learn from the Strange Book.

• Wenren Sheng passed security checkpoints and entered the underground testing ground, where people had gathered to tell stories to the Strange Book.
• A researcher explained that the book had to hear a story spoken by a person and would answer one question if satisfied, but eat an unsatisfactory storyteller.
• The researcher opened the book, whose scholar-faced manifestation rejected his initial frog stories and threatened to kill him if it guessed the tale.
• The researcher told a long story about a frog and a White Snake, and the scholar listened with growing satisfaction as Wenren Sheng fell asleep.
• The scholar declared the story very good and offered to answer one question, or do one thing if it could not answer.

Wenren Sheng challenged an ancient book’s scholar, who urged humanity to survive by submitting to stronger enemies, and destroyed the Anomaly parasitizing the book. The experimenters learned that the book remained intact even after its supposed invincible rule was broken.

• The scholar told the experimenter that people could survive powerful enemies by making themselves valuable or submitting to them, comparing humanity to livestock and wild animals.
• The scholar cited the decline of the Miken People and the growth of the Southern India people, provoking angry protests from the audience.
• Wenren Sheng stood up and urged the audience to keep rising after every defeat, stirring their spirits.
• The scholar transformed into a giant mouth and attacked the crowd, but Wenren Sheng used purple mist to destroy the Anomaly inside the ancient book.
• The experimenter discovered the book was undamaged and praised Wenren Sheng, who explained that he had destroyed only the Anomaly parasitizing it.