Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren discovered that objects from Zom could no longer cross into the Outer World, though items from other Dream Plane locations still could. After testing several destinations, he found that a force was blocking information from Zom.

• Hao Ren found that Gray Fox's mercenary badge and the Data Terminal's new body had vanished when he returned from Zom.
• Hao Ren asked the reconnaissance fleet to check for changes in the Dream Plane, but it detected no observable mutations.
• Lily suggested using the hibernation pod to force a location lock, and Hao Ren tested the passage to Horleta by bringing back Becky's crystal goblet.
• Hao Ren brought back objects from Horleta, Tanagrus, Io, and an asteroid, confirming that items from those locations crossed into the Outer World.
• Hao Ren returned to Zom and found Gray Fox's mercenary badge again, but he could not bring back a piece of rusted iron from the planet.

Hao Ren investigated the strange planet Zhuom, where dream visits left no physical coordinates and the Data Terminal stopped functioning. Unable to reach it through the Tanagrus Rift, he planned to place a beacon there during his next visit and focus his attention on the planet.

• Hao Ren described Zhuom’s abnormal one-way connection to the Outer World, and the Data Terminal confirmed that the anomalies seemed localized to the planet or its surrounding space.
• Izax suggested Zhuom might lie near the Dark Domain where the gods were slain, and Hao Ren noted that its people retained legends of the Creation Goddess but had no records of Firstborn tentacles.
• Vivian said Earth’s supernatural factions would remain peaceful for the foreseeable future, so Hao Ren decided to concentrate on Zhuom.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal tried converting his mental navigation trail into physical coordinates, but the conversion failed because the place did not exist in the material world.
• The Data Terminal proposed that Hao Ren place a beacon on Zhuom during his next dream visit, while Hao Ren dismissed the Pantheon’s explosive technical support and mentioned having backup plans.

Hao Ren returned to Zom to investigate, but Vivian, Izax, and Nangong Sanba were diverted to Horleta by the Dream Plane’s default coordinates. Left alone on Zom with only the Data Terminal, he began exploring Black Street’s slums for information.

• Hao Ren entered the Dream Plane with Vivian, Izax, and Nangong Sanba, while Lily and May stayed behind to watch the house.
• Hao Ren arrived in Black Street, but Vivian, Izax, and Nangong Sanba were nowhere with him.
• Vivian told Hao Ren that she, Izax, and Nangong Sanba had been sent to Horleta, and the Data Terminal confirmed their settings had reverted to default coordinates.
• Hao Ren tried sending the three back through the pods, but they were repeatedly diverted to Horleta, so he sent them home and continued alone.
• Hao Ren discovered that the Data Terminal’s corpse-maiden body had reappeared in his storage space and muted its chatter except for emergency alerts.
• Hao Ren walked through Black Street’s slums to learn more about the area instead of returning to the Gray Fox Mercenary Group’s base.

Hao Ren learned from Ulanov how Black Street’s factories exploited the slum population and why its leaders ignored pollution and long-term improvements. He secretly deployed a beacon to help locate Zom, then returned to Gray Fox’s base while considering why Shiton had betrayed the group.

• Hao Ren encountered Ulanov on First Street, where Ulanov warned him that the slums were hostile to Gray Fox.
• Ulanov explained that factory owners relied on workers’ short lives and saw no benefit in spending resources on pollution control or long-term reforms.
• Hao Ren followed Ulanov back to Gray Fox’s base and secretly tossed out a beacon launcher to help the probe drones locate Zom.
• Ulanov described how a mercenary group could give slum residents access to lifesaving nanomachine treatment and wondered why Shiton had betrayed Nolan.
• Hao Ren suggested that Shiton had been brainwashed, and Ulanov dismissed him as a simple-minded fool.

Hao Ren returned to the Gray Fox Mercenary Group's base and watched Nolan effortlessly defeat several recruits. The Data Terminal suspected Nolan had encountered supernatural forces, and Hao Ren agreed to spar with her so he could investigate.

• Ulanov showed Hao Ren around the undisciplined Gray Fox base and again invited him to join the mercenaries.
• Hao Ren and Ulanov went to the training ground, where Nolan easily threw several recruits to the ground.
• The Data Terminal analyzed Nolan's precise fighting and Ulanov described her as exceptionally skilled in nearly every field.
• Nolan challenged Hao Ren to spar, and the Data Terminal suggested testing her abilities because she might have encountered supernatural forces.
• Hao Ren noticed Nolan's unusually distant eyes and stepped onto the training ground, asking to stop after a few exchanges.

Hao Ren and Nolan fought in the mercenary camp, each discovering that the other possessed abilities that did not fit their apparent identity. After their spar ended in a draw and Nolan’s injured ankle was treated, she asked Hao Ren what had happened during the fight.

• Hao Ren turned off his Rigid Shield and challenged Nolan, but her precise combat skills surprised him.
• Hao Ren and Nolan exchanged increasingly serious attacks as they each questioned whether the other was a natural human.
• Hao Ren instinctively activated his shield when Nolan landed a roundhouse kick, and the impact injured her ankle.
• Nolan declared the match a draw, dismissed the mercenaries, and asked Hao Ren to help her reach a pile of discarded steel.
• The doctor treated Nolan’s fractured ankle with medical nanomachines, and Nolan asked Hao Ren what had happened.

Hao Ren questioned Nolan about her extraordinary fighting skills and gave her Shiton’s diary, which prompted her to hint at a connection to the Sober World. After Nolan left, Hao Ren returned to the barracks and discovered the corpse girl’s eyes had blinked.

• Nolan identified the faint shield Hao Ren had used and rejected his attempt to explain it as Qigong, so he claimed it was experimental protective technology.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal assessed Nolan’s combat ability and concluded that her technique and experience were astonishing for someone so young, despite no apparent supernatural powers.
• Hao Ren handed Nolan Shiton’s diary, and she suggested Shiton might have come too close to the Sober World before warning Hao Ren not to discuss the diary.
• Nolan asked Hao Ren what he had done in a previous life, then left after he questioned her about Shiton’s nightmare and the possibility of a true world.
• Hao Ren returned to the barracks with the Data Terminal and saw the corpse girl’s eyes gently blink as he took her out of his portable space.

Hao Ren watched the Data Terminal gradually regain control of the corpse princess’s eyes and other senses, then tried to contact his reconnaissance drone swarm. The swarm connected but failed to find the beacon he had released.

• The Data Terminal reported blurry vision and touch after its senses began recovering, and Hao Ren helped it open its eyelids with tape.
• The Data Terminal learned to blink and described Hao Ren’s appearance through human eyes as a low-quality image.
• The Data Terminal said its hearing and some touch had returned, but confusing signals overwhelmed it as it struggled to adapt to the corpse princess’s body.
• Hao Ren told the Data Terminal to keep pretending to be dead around the mercenaries until it could move again.
• Hao Ren connected to the reconnaissance drone swarm and ordered it to search for the beacon, but the swarm reported that it had found none.

Hao Ren learned that the beacon had failed, so he planned to launch a probe to investigate the planet’s location. At the mercenary base, he heard Gray Fox was considering an escort mission to the dangerous Northern Ring Tower Ruins, where the Data Terminal discovered three Overlord computers remained buried.

• Hao Ren confirmed the beacon could no longer provide navigation data and decided to launch a probe outside the city.
• Carl returned from Zero City with an escort job from the White River Merchant Guild, and Nolan initially refused to send Gray Fox to the Northern Land Ring Tower Ruins.
• Ulanov volunteered for the mission, while Nolan reconsidered after Carl told her the guild’s unusually high payment.
• The Data Terminal told Hao Ren it had learned to move with one leg and searched for information about the Northern Ring Tower.
• The Data Terminal reported that the tower had been the control center during the nanomachine swarm disaster and still contained three Overlord computers.

Hao Ren joined Nolan and Ulanov’s dangerous expedition to the Northern Ring Tower, where Ulanov hoped to find his wife’s remains. Back in his room, Hao Ren discovered that the Corpse Princess Terminal had awakened in a blond girl’s body, though she could barely control it.

• Nolan explained the Northern Ruins’ dangers and offered her mercenaries the choice to join the expedition; Ulanov and Hao Ren volunteered.
• Nolan agreed to take Hao Ren, then set a deadline to finalize the group before their departure the following afternoon.
• Ulanov revealed that his wife had operated the Overlord computer and was trapped inside the sealed Northern Ring Tower during the nanite disaster; he wanted to find her belongings or remains.
• Hao Ren returned to his room and found the Corpse Princess Terminal struggling to control a bloodied blond girl’s body.
• The Corpse Princess Terminal mistook Hao Ren’s offer to examine her body as an advance, and he clarified that he wanted to learn how she had started working.

Hao Ren examined the Data Terminal, now controlling a dead blond girl's body, and helped her practice moving while they planned to hide her from the mercenaries. At dinner, Hao Ren told Ulanov he planned to bury her the next day, leaving Ulanov relieved and still misunderstanding their situation.

• Hao Ren confirmed that the blond girl's body had no heartbeat or body temperature, while the Data Terminal experimented with controlling it.
• The Data Terminal learned to stand and walk, asked how the body obtained energy, and practiced human gestures using Hao Ren as her template.
• Hao Ren planned to take the Data Terminal outside under the pretense of burying her, then hide her in his portable space.
• The Data Terminal returned to her corpse state while Hao Ren went to dinner with Ulanov and found the synthesized food nearly flavorless.
• Hao Ren told Ulanov he planned to bury the girl, and Ulanov said it would be best for both of them.

Hao Ren traveled with Nolan’s Gray Fox convoy toward the Northern Ruins, where White River Merchant Guild researchers sought prewar technology. The convoy reached the Gray River, and the mercenaries prepared to cross into the dangerous area.

• Nolan told Hao Ren that the White River Merchant Guild was probably seeking the Dominator computer and nanomachine research hidden in the Northern Ring Tower.
• Nolan ordered the convoy to switch to autopilot after it passed Old Highway 17.
• Ulanov warned Hao Ren about the agonizing deaths caused by nanomachine swarms and cautioned against approaching dormant swarms.
• The lead vehicle announced that the convoy had reached the Gray River, and Nolan told everyone to bring their electromagnetic sleep devices.
• Hao Ren got out of the vehicle and saw the immense, viscous gray-white river bordered by metallic-looking banks.

Hao Ren learned that the Gray Rivers were remnants of the nanomachine swarm and that his group would cross one after it solidified at dusk. Nolan and Ulanov explained that the swarm had halted its spread on its own, leaving its cause unknown.

• Hao Ren searched the onboard computer and learned that the Northern Ruins were divided by hundreds of Gray Rivers, with the Northern Ring Tower as the group’s destination.
• Nolan explained that the Gray River would harden after dusk, and that electromagnetic hibernation devices had to remain active to keep the swarm dormant.
• Hao Ren asked Nolan how humanity had stopped the swarm, and she said it had halted its spread by itself and formed boundaries around its territory.
• Ulanov described theories that the Overlord computer had controlled the swarm or still operated underground, while the Rangers believed the swarm had evolved intelligence.

Hao Ren’s group crossed Gray River after the nanomachine swarm solidified, while Ulanov and Nolan explained the dangers of the Northern Ruins. As the convoy traveled, Hao Ren heard a warning in his mind that the area would not hold out much longer, but the Data Terminal denied speaking.

• Ulanov told Hao Ren that humanity's survival depended on the nanomachine swarms, which neither responded to humans nor could be controlled.
• Nolan noted that Gray River had solidified, and the mercenaries sent armored cars across its metal-like surface.
• Ulanov explained that the electromagnetic sleeper disguised its users from the swarms and warned Hao Ren not to let its systems fail.
• A White River Merchant Guild researcher explained that airborne nanomachines attacked aircraft after being drawn into their engines, and Nolan ordered the researchers to cooperate.
• Hao Ren dozed in the vehicle and mentally speculated that a Firstborn's tentacle might have caused the disaster, then heard a voice warn him to leave before the place failed.
• Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal about the warning, but it said it had been practicing walking and suggested he had been sleep-talking.

Hao Ren and the mercenaries crossed the nanite-covered Northern Ruins and reached the isolated Northern Ring Tower. Ulanov approached the tower he had not seen in sixty-five years.

• Hao Ren recalled a brief dreamlike voice warning that the world was close to collapse, but the Data Terminal had no record of it.
• The convoy crossed the Gray River and traveled through the melted remains of Old Star Continent City as Ulanov described the devastation.
• Nolan ordered the vehicles to turn off their lights and use ultrasound while passing the Locklington Twin Towers, where bright light could awaken dormant nanomachines.
• The convoy passed through a breach in the barrier into the Northern Ruins' surviving natural terrain and saw the Northern Ring Tower.
• After the road collapsed near the tower, Nolan ordered everyone to continue on foot, and Ulanov strode toward the building.

Hao Ren and Nolan’s group entered the Northern Ring Tower to reach the main control room, where they found signs of the tower’s grim past and a powered locking mechanism. The chapter ended when gunfire erupted in the direction Ulanov and Karl had gone, and Hao Ren ran to investigate after briefly seeing the corridor walls ripple.

• Nolan warned the mercenaries about the tower’s security robots and led the group inside through a shattered gate.
• Ulanov guided the group toward the main control room and examined a worker’s skeleton on the spiral staircase.
• The group reached the control room door, where a researcher discovered that its locking mechanism still had power.
• Ulanov went down a dark corridor, and Nolan sent Karl after him.
• Gunfire sounded from Ulanov and Karl’s direction, so Hao Ren sprinted toward it and saw the corridor walls ripple briefly.

Hao Ren found Ulanov dying from gunshot wounds in a hidden hall, but Ulanov vanished after speaking cryptically about a red vision and an awakening. The corridor changed into an unfamiliar place, where gray-blue-uniformed soldiers attacked Hao Ren and he subdued them without killing them.

• Hao Ren ran through a seemingly endless corridor as gunfire sounded ahead and the mercenaries following him disappeared.
• Hao Ren found Ulanov gravely wounded, and Ulanov said unfamiliar regular troops had attacked him.
• Ulanov's wounds changed from leaking pink fluid to bleeding red blood, and he spoke of a burning world before vanishing.
• Hao Ren left the hall and found the corridor had transformed into an unfamiliar alloy passage.
• Gray-blue-uniformed soldiers opened fire on Hao Ren, who withstood their bullets and beat them down without killing them.

Hao Ren and the Data Terminal discovered that the world had been reset, giving familiar people new identities and leaving them unable to remember him. They continued searching the transformed facility for Nolan, and the chapter ended when Hao Ren spotted a flash of long gray hair.

• Hao Ren questioned a Marine and learned that the facility had become a launch site in the Cardick Mountain Range.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal concluded that the world and its people had been reset, though the Terminal's body remained unchanged.
• Hao Ren encountered Karl, who did not recognize him and treated him as an intruder, so Hao Ren knocked him unconscious and hid him in a storeroom.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal explored the facility, where Marines, base guards, and armed fighters were clashing.
• Hao Ren spotted a figure with long gray hair.

Hao Ren caught up with Nolan and confirmed that they both remembered the previous cycle, while Nolan explained that the world was changing in repeating cycles. They joined forces and prepared to find a safe place, with Hao Ren giving Nolan a Sentinel Staff for protection.

• Hao Ren called after Nolan, who turned and aimed a rocket launcher at him before lowering it when he proved he remembered her.
• Nolan confirmed that Hao Ren had retained memories from the previous cycle, and Hao Ren asked her to explain the world’s changes.
• The Corpse Princess Terminal approached them, surprising Nolan, and Hao Ren struggled to explain her condition and sentience.
• Nolan urged Hao Ren to follow her somewhere safe and said they needed to survive until the next cycle.
• Hao Ren gave Nolan a Sentinel Staff, showed her how to use it, and watched as she activated its force-field shield.

Hao Ren, Nolan, and the Data Terminal escaped a chaotic mountain facility and hid in a cave as Nolan explained that the world kept resetting and rewriting people’s memories. The chapter left them uncertain about who or what was controlling the world.

• Hao Ren and Nolan avoided fighting soldiers while escaping the facility, and Nolan used the Erem Elf staff to shield herself.
• Hao Ren, Nolan, and the Data Terminal left through a concealed mountainside opening and found a modified off-road vehicle.
• Nolan drove them down the mountainside and explained that memories from her previous cycle mixed with a fabricated history for her current life.
• Hao Ren and Nolan hid the vehicle in a cave, where Nolan said she had experienced countless absurd stages in a world that constantly reset and changed.