Chapter Summaries

Sun Hang, Miki Fukada, and Zhong Ling encountered a projection of the Demonic Eye while traveling through the abandoned buffer zone. After the projection drifted away, a glowing girl appeared before two grave robbers and offered to borrow their memories and emotions.

• Sun Hang and his companions discussed how reckless explorers had been sneaking into the buffer zone to loot abandoned buildings.
• Miki Fukada spotted an electric scooter, and two young grave robbers appeared and fled when Sun Hang’s silent vehicle approached.
• A gigantic floating eyeball appeared, but Zhong Ling identified it as a projection of Serial Number C-845, the Demonic Eye, which could not be harmed by ordinary attacks.
• Sun Hang drove away without confronting the projection, and it drifted off in another direction, leaving the grave robbers unharmed.
• A glowing young girl appeared before the grave robbers and asked to borrow their memories and emotions.

Sun Hang, Zhong Ling, and Miki Fukada reached a hidden observation camp near the restricted zone to check on Chimera Seventeen. The camp’s agents reported no changes since its last mutation, and Sun Hang learned that all the faces on its cocoon remained with their eyes closed.

• Sun Hang drove the group along a rough dirt road toward the restricted zone while warning Miki Fukada that Chimera Seventeen could read memories by devouring its victims.
• Miki Fukada detected many hidden presences near their destination, and Sun Hang revealed a camouflaged camp concealed in a shallow pit.
• A field agent recognized Sun Hang from a past rescue and asked for an autograph, so Sun Hang took the agent’s pistol and spare magazines in exchange for his own.
• The agents told Sun Hang that Chimera Seventeen had shown no obvious changes in seven hours and forty-five minutes since its last mutation.
• Sun Hang asked whether any faces on the cocoon had opened their eyes, and the agents said they had all remained closed.

Sun Hang and Miki Fukada discovered that the faces covering Chimera Seventeen’s cocoon were a separate anomaly they named Tiger's Wraith, and that the faces could look directly at observers through screens. The institute began preparations to clear them so Miki could identify Chimera Seventeen’s weak point, and Sun Hang and Miki headed to a mountaintop to watch the first feint.

• Miki Fukada saw dense weak-point markers on surveillance footage, and Sun Hang realized the faces could meet observers’ gazes through screens.
• Sun Hang concluded that the faces were parasitic anomalies attached to Chimera Seventeen and named them Tiger's Wraith.
• Yang Qi launched the Barnacle Cleanup Operation, with units preparing trials and a full-scale clearing before the final battle.
• The military assembled a high-powered laser weapon and tried to secure a massive supply of liquid nitrogen for the cleanup.
• Sun Hang told Miki Fukada to use any cleared area to search for Chimera Seventeen’s weak point, warning that she would have only ten minutes during the final attempt.
• Yang Qi announced that the phase-one feint would begin in twenty minutes, and Sun Hang took Miki to the mountaintop for a clear view.

Sun Hang, Miki Fukada, and Zhong Ling watched the feint attack against Chimera Seventeen from a mountain, where a laser strike revealed that the grudge wraiths covering its cocoon had many layers. The second wave of missiles also failed when Chimera Seventeen identified and detonated all the nuclear warheads, leaving Sun Hang to propose arming every missile with one.

• Sun Hang carried Zhong Ling and Anomalous Corpse One carried Miki Fukada up the cliff, where Miki teased Zhong Ling about being jealous of Sun Hang.
• Zhong Ling admitted she was envious of Miki and declared that Sun Hang was the person she liked.
• Sun Hang and Miki set up a telescope and watched as a powerful laser struck Chimera Seventeen's cocoon during the first feint attack.
• Sun Hang observed that the laser melted only four outer layers of grudge wraiths, and Yang Qi reported that the emitter could not sustain a longer blast.
• Chimera Seventeen detected and detonated the seventy-two nuclear missiles among the second wave, causing the attack to fail.
• Sun Hang suggested equipping every missile with a tactical nuclear warhead, but Yang Qi said the air force had no more than seventy-two.

Sun Hang and the others prepared to bombard Chimera Seventeen while waiting for artillery shells, but a spreading anomalous shadow forced them to flee the mountain. They escaped to a convoy, where Sun Hang realized the Demon Eye had exposed Miki Fukada by reading her lips.

• Yang Qi explained that artillery would alternate liquid nitrogen and incendiary shells against Chimera Seventeen, but the modified shells would take at least thirty minutes to prepare.
• Yang Qi began analyzing footage to determine whether Chimera Seventeen's resentment could regenerate, while Miki Fukada and Sun Hang waited for the bombardment.
• Sun Hang spotted an anomalous shadow climbing the mountain and suspected it was related to the Temporal Anomaly; he then noticed a Demon Eye projection watching them from above.
• Yang Qi ordered Sun Hang, Miki Fukada, and Zhong Ling to retreat, so Sun Hang used Tai Sui Hyphae to help them jump from the cliff while Anomalous Corpse One glided down on a membrane.
• Sun Hang and the others reached a hidden camp and fled in a convoy as the shadow swallowed the camp and made a rocket vanish.
• Sun Hang told Yang Qi that Miki Fukada's existence had been exposed because the Demon Eye could read lips.

Sun Hang realized the Temporal Anomaly was herding the evacuation convoy toward a trap, but it surrounded the final vehicle without attacking. Suspecting it feared Three Monkeys, Sun Hang ordered the driver to keep moving into the darkness.

• Sun Hang noticed the anomaly maintained its distance as the convoy slowed and concluded it might be steering them toward a trap.
• Miki Fukada suggested climbing the mountains, but Sun Hang rejected the idea and ordered the convoy to keep moving toward the valley exit.
• Sun Hang sent a drone ahead, and its signal vanished before the lead vehicle disappeared into the anomaly.
• The Temporal Anomaly swallowed the other convoy vehicles, leaving Sun Hang's vehicle surrounded but untouched.
• Sun Hang warned Yang Qi not to send the rescue helicopter and persuaded the driver to move forward through the spot where the lead vehicle had vanished.

Sun Hang saved the survivors from the Temporal Anomaly’s aging shadow by repairing the ruined vehicle and turning it into Anomaly Equipment. After they escaped the valley, he reported that the anomaly might have returned in a changed form, and the response team began considering how to locate its hidden weakness.

• The Temporal Anomaly’s shadow aged the vehicle until its engine and controls were ruined, but Sun Hang repaired the engine with Liquid Metal and made the vehicle drive itself.
• Sun Hang and Miki Fukada discussed registering the self-driving vehicle as Anomaly Equipment as it sped out of the valley.
• The survivors met a rescue helicopter, and Sun Hang told its crew that the rest of the convoy had been swallowed by the Temporal Anomaly.
• Sun Hang restored communications with Yang Qi and reported that the anomaly had avoided him, possibly because of the Gluttonous Meme.
• Song Yarong and Yang Qi compared the returning anomaly with the earlier one and suspected that its weakness might now be hidden or unobservable.

The 605th Artillery Position bombarded Chimera Seventeen’s giant cocoon with liquid nitrogen shells, freezing the wraiths covering it. When mutated flower-like organs intercepted the next barrage, a fighter formation prepared to attack them directly.

• The 605th Division loaded its artillery, including a Nine Strikes replica, and fired shells that spread freezing mist across the cocoon and its wraiths.
• Officers at the artillery position saw that the liquid nitrogen had frozen many wraiths and ordered two more volleys before switching to other ammunition.
• Flower-like organs emerged atop Chimera Seventeen and destroyed the next shells with needle-like projectiles.
• Falcon 01’s fighter formation circled back after learning the cocoon had intercepted the artillery barrage.
• Falcon 01 received approval to lead the remaining fighters in a ground-attack dive targeting the flower buds, especially those that had not yet bloomed.

Valkyrie 04 and her wingmen destroyed six of Chimera Seventeen’s buds, but the creature’s energy beam shot down their fighters. After ejecting and regaining consciousness, Valkyrie 04 found herself somewhere strange and realized the rain had stopped.

• Valkyrie 04 led Harrier 02 and Sabre 03 in a dive attack, destroying six buds with autocannon fire.
• Chimera Seventeen locked onto the fighters and fired an energy beam, crippling Valkyrie 04’s aircraft and destroying Harrier 02 and Sabre 03.
• Valkyrie 04’s damaged fighter spun out of control, so she ejected and lost consciousness.
• Falcon 01 learned that Valkyrie 04’s parachute was descending toward Chimera Seventeen’s cocoon, but refused to risk more pilots on a rescue attempt.
• Valkyrie 04 woke in her ejection seat with her smart terminal ruined and could not see Chimera Seventeen nearby.
• Valkyrie 04 realized that no raindrops were falling on her.

Valkyrie 04 was swallowed by a supernatural crimson liquid and encountered a grotesque face that claimed to be the world, while Sun Hang felt compelled to return to Chimera Seventeen. Sun Hang vanished from the road and arrived at Bunker One's Vehicle Depot.

• A blood-like liquid flooded Valkyrie 04's ejection seat, trapped her legs, and dragged her underwater despite her efforts to escape.
• Valkyrie 04 heard countless voices, rose above the crimson water, and found herself alone in a strange, gravity-defying world.
• Valkyrie 04 removed her helmet, recognized herself as Elizabeth, and questioned a grotesque face that called itself the world.
• Sun Hang sensed something was wrong near Chimera Seventeen, stopped the anomalous vehicle, and told Zhong Ling to escort Tang Jing safely to the research institute.
• Sun Hang vanished from the road and arrived at Bunker One's Vehicle Depot.

Sun Hang discovered that Chimera Seventeen had falsified Bunker One’s observation systems, hiding the real state of its equipment and the footage sent to Command Center. As an H4 robot was taken over by Anna, she warned Sun Hang that she had concealed the intrusion and hinted that she had also hidden changes in Chimera Seventeen.

• Sun Hang entered Bunker One and used his consciousness to witness blurred memories of personnel fleeing through the bunker while firing at something unseen.
• Sun Hang found bullet holes in a corridor but no signs of fire or residual anomaly aura, then followed Yang Qi’s directions to the observation room.
• Inside the observation room, Sun Hang’s sealed Meme from Unknown Contained Anomaly No. 999 stirred, allowing him to see that the equipment was disconnected despite appearing normal on surveillance footage.
• Sun Hang sent Yang Qi a photo of the real observation room and concluded that Chimera Seventeen had infiltrated the surveillance system and falsified the footage.
• An H4 robot suffered an intrusion and spoke with Anna’s voice, telling Sun Hang that she had hidden the footage and communications intrusion, just as she had concealed Chimera Seventeen’s changes.

Sun Hang and Yang Qi discovered that Chimera Seventeen’s cocoon was cracking and its incubation had entered its final stage, prompting the authorities to move the final operation up. As the cocoon rapidly shed its shell, Sun Hang learned he would have to take Miki Fukada close to Chimera Seventeen to locate its weakness.

• Sun Hang restored the telescope’s settings and saw crimson cracks and glowing material inside Chimera Seventeen’s cocoon.
• Yang Qi ordered the final operation moved to two hours later after experts concluded Chimera Seventeen was close to hatching.
• Yang Qi told the military commander the operation had only a fifty percent chance of success and agreed to proceed at any cost.
• Sun Hang watched the cocoon’s exposed lava-like interior grow from 11% to 19.3% as shell fragments fell and tremors intensified.
• Yang Qi explained that the insecticide would be assembled and activated during the assault, then told Sun Hang to take Miki Fukada close to Chimera Seventeen to find its weakness.

Sun Hang and the others prepared to attack Chimera Seventeen, using Garuda as a mobile launch platform and relying on mass-produced hunters assigned to obey Sun Hang as their Anchor. The first squad launched, but it was wiped out almost immediately as Sun Hang moved to prepare the next squad.

• Miki Fukada insisted on joining the mission despite knowing she could die, and Sun Hang promised to do his best to protect her.
• Song Yarong explained that Garuda would launch P.F.D.A.s from different positions while drone formations drew Chimera Seventeen's fire.
• Sun Hang learned that thirty-five mass-produced hunters had been awakened for the mission and that he was their Anchor.
• Yang Qi said Sun Hang and Wang Xiyi's squads were the operation's key, while the first nine squads would clear a path for them.
• The first squad launched from Garuda with its P.F.D.A.s and a swarm of drones, while Sun Hang went to prepare the second squad with Crystal Princess.
• Yang Qi reported that the first squad had been wiped out.

Sun Hang and the others searched for a way to deliver pesticide to Chimera Seventeen despite its extreme heat, rejecting a plan that would kill Wang Xiyi. Sun Hang proposed blasting through the creature’s magma layer, and Tenth and Eleventh Squads prepared to depart and test his idea.

• Sun Hang learned that First Squad had been wiped out and that Chimera Seventeen’s exposed magma layer reached nearly four thousand degrees Celsius, making it impossible for the squads’ injectors to approach.
• Yang Qi told Sun Hang that the injectors melted near Chimera Seventeen and that two hunters had been badly burned; Sun Hang said his materials could not withstand the heat.
• Song Yarong proposed using Wang Xiyi as an injector, but explained that the pesticide would kill her even if she reached Chimera Seventeen.
• Wang Xiyi agreed to the plan, but Sun Hang stopped her and suggested blasting through the magma layer so the pesticide could be dropped into a hole.
• Yang Qi ordered Tenth and Eleventh Squads to depart with Miki Fukada’s assault equipment and warned that Chimera Seventeen’s energy-beam organ had regenerated.

Sun Hang launched himself toward Chimera Seventeen in a Liquid Metal shuttle and used the Kui Niu Meme’s electromagnetic field to slip through its energy-beam attack, though the following P.F.D.A.s were destroyed. He and Wang Xiyi reached the battlefield near the weakened Chimera, where Sun Hang prepared to release Miki Fukada from her anti-G cylinder.

• Sun Hang turned the cylinder carrying Miki Fukada into a streamlined Liquid Metal shuttle and launched ahead of the P.F.D.A.s, while Wang Xiyi dove toward Chimera Seventeen.
• Sun Hang evaded Chimera Seventeen’s first crossing beams, then passed through its energy net using an opening created by his electromagnetic field.
• Chimera Seventeen’s energy net destroyed the eight following P.F.D.A.s and damaged the drone surveillance network, but Sun Hang reported that he had reached the safe zone.
• Yang Qi reported that the energy net had weakened Chimera Seventeen’s beam weapons, and Wang Xiyi avoided the attack before landing near Sun Hang.
• Sun Hang and Wang Xiyi found themselves near the Chimera with Miki Fukada still inside her cylinder, and Yang Qi explained how to release its pressurized life-support medium.

Sun Hang freed Miki Fukada and used her Death’s Eye ability to find a strange spot on Chimera Seventeen, where he drilled through its cocoon shell. The opening revealed a hollow interior, and Sun Hang decided the team had to enter and find Chimera Seventeen’s hidden body before they could use the insecticide.

• Sun Hang released Miki Fukada from the metal cylinder, and Yang Qi explained that she had received four units of sustained-release adrenaline.
• Miki Fukada sensed something unusual beneath a cracked patch of cocoon shell, and Sun Hang shaped P.F.D.A. wreckage into a giant drill to attack it.
• The drill pierced Chimera Seventeen’s magma-covered shell, exposing a hollow cavity as the surrounding magma solidified and cooled.
• Sun Hang warned the hunters that they needed to find Chimera Seventeen’s hidden body inside the cocoon for the insecticide to work.
• Wang Xiyi folded away her wings and headed for the opening to take point.

Sun Hang and the hunters entered the tunnel, where their batteries rapidly drained and the others vanished in absolute darkness. Sun Hang was subjected to a series of questions and visions that tested his feelings about humanity and the world, ending with a message that humans’ negative emotions would make the world collapse.

• Sun Hang, Miki Fukada, Wang Xiyi, and the hunters entered the tunnel and continued onward as their batteries drained unusually fast.
• The tunnel fell into absolute darkness, and Sun Hang realized that Miki Fukada and the hunters had disappeared.
• Sun Hang found himself in a mirrored testing room, where an electronic voice asked him questions before announcing that the test was complete.
• A screen asked Sun Hang whether he felt lonely and hated the world, and he recalled why he still liked it and wanted to protect it from becoming like Maoyun Town.
• Sun Hang saw a bustling Tianfu City street overshadowed by a monster formed from the crowd’s negative emotions and resisted their effect on his mind.
• A corrupted advertisement told Sun Hang that humans’ accumulated negative emotions would collapse the world he loved and that he could not save them.

Sun Hang confronted Chimera Seventeen in a world resembling a Tianfu City pedestrian street and learned that the people he killed were real humans the entity had recreated. As Chimera Seventeen lost control, Anna explained that the street was a Small World created by the entity, where its creator could alter the laws and the inhabitants’ lives at will.

• Sun Hang provoked the presence on the glass wall by asking about Anna, and the black-eyed pedestrians attacked him.
• Sun Hang used a silver thread to cut down the attackers, then argued that they were the dead humans Chimera Seventeen had already devoured.
• Chimera Seventeen explained that the people had desired Sun Hang as the fulfillment of their deepest wants and said it sought death because life was imperfect.
• Chimera Seventeen blamed Sun Hang for its inability to die, then lost control, causing the glass-wall text to garble and the severed bodies to writhe.
• Anna spoke through Sun Hang’s headphones and revealed that the street was a real Small World created by Chimera Seventeen, where the recreated humans lived and the creator could change the laws at will.

Sun Hang fought to survive as Chimera Seventeen’s collapsing Small World twisted into an impossible landscape, while Anna urged him to search for hidden memories. He entered the abyss and emerged in an abandoned old residential complex whose address, No. 153, Xiangyang Li, left him wondering whether he had reached an occupied zone.

• Sun Hang questioned Anna about the Small World’s collapse and learned that he might be erased with it, while she advised him not to leave yet.
• As gravity and the landscape warped, Anna explained that the world’s madness concealed truths and memories, and Sun Hang realized he needed to search the sky-swapping abyss.
• Sun Hang launched himself into the abyss and emerged in an ordinary-looking but seemingly lifeless old residential complex.
• Sun Hang examined the deserted complex and found its sign identified it as Spring Breeze Garden, Building 6, Unit 1, at No. 153, Xiangyang Li, Chuangxin Road.
• Unable to recognize Xiangyang Li, Sun Hang guessed that the location might be in the occupied zone, but Anna did not answer.

Sun Hang explored a recreated family housing complex on Nameless Island and concluded that Chimera Seventeen had once lived there. The apartment’s age and his growing sense of familiarity left him questioning whether he had been involved in the institute’s experiments and whether he was still human.

• Sun Hang realized Anna had gone silent and suspected Chimera Seventeen had regained her sanity.
• Sun Hang recognized the coast and an old Xiazhou Federation flag, identifying the setting as Nameless Island.
• Sun Hang found that every apartment had identical furnishings and inferred the Small World reflected Chimera Seventeen’s limited memories of the complex.
• Sun Hang concluded that Chimera Seventeen had been born in the family housing complex and that the apartment had been her home.
• Sun Hang felt an intense familiarity in the bedroom and wondered whether he had once lived there, taken an experimental embryo from the institute, or injected a Primal Grade meme into himself.