Chapter Summaries

Lu Xin used Fantasy Nation to counter the Midnight Court’s assault on Qinggang Satellite City No. 2 and the guilt field spreading from Teacher Lu. He began reshaping the field, leaving the city’s fate in the hands of his imagined reality.

• The Midnight Court summoned execution frames and sent countless executioners toward Qinggang Satellite City No. 2, while its ropes forced residents to confess their sins.
• Mom explained that the Midnight Court had turned judged souls into executioners and warned Lu Xin that fighting it with fear or Fantasy Nation carried serious risks.
• The Midnight Court’s power spread through the city, binding residents with ropes and making Teacher Lu’s guilt and despair form a pollution field.
• Lu Xin decided to save the city and reached out to Teacher Lu’s guilt field with his black particles.
• Lu Xin activated Mental Mutation, Fifth Step: Fantasy Nation, and began transforming the field across Satellite City No. 2.

Lu Xin used an illusion to erase the guilt across Satellite City No. 2, ending Midnight Court’s judgment of Teacher Lu and forcing the Executors to retreat or dissolve. He then set out in a truck toward the enormous statue outside the city, with his family and companions along for the journey.

• Lu Xin spread Teacher Lu’s field across Satellite City No. 2, changing her memories and dissolving her guilt as Number Eight watched in shock.
• Lu Xin made the city’s residents remember themselves as kind and sinless, causing the gallows’ nooses to snap and the Executors to melt away or flee.
• Lu Xin ended Teacher Lu’s judgment and left Number Eight’s memories untouched, while recognizing that his illusion was temporary and not the truth.
• Lu Xin drove a large truck out of the school toward the statue outside the city with Mom, Father, Sister, and the others accompanying him.
• Gecko arrived with armed soldiers, asked whether Lu Xin needed help, and withdrew when Lu Xin declined.

Lu Xin charged through Midnight Court’s executioners and confronted the Sword Bearer’s projection with help from Mom and Father. After the Sword Bearer pierced his heart, Lu Xin used the Pale Hand to seize its throat while Father knocked it down, and he challenged it as his heart kept beating.

• Lu Xin drove a truck through the executioners and headed toward the Sword Bearer’s projection while Mom cut down its nooses and Father transformed the executioners with his shadow.
• Lu Xin climbed from the truck and confronted the Sword Bearer, then used the Pale Hand to reach through layers of space and seize its throat.
• The Sword Bearer struck Lu Xin through the heart with its Sword of Judgment, but Lu Xin held on and Father slammed into its legs.
• The Sword Bearer fell, the surrounding executioners were scattered, and Lu Xin shouted that his heart was still beating and asked what the Sword Bearer thought it was.

Lu Xin endured the Sword Bearer’s corrosive judgment and released monstrous versions of himself that attacked it. The Sword Bearer broke free and summoned the Midnight Court’s execution creatures, which crawled from the fissures toward Lu Xin and his companions.

• The Sword Bearer’s power spread rust through Lu Xin, Father, and Sister, while Mom brushed away the rust that touched her.
• Lu Xin rejected the Sword Bearer’s right to judge him, and monstrous versions of himself burst from his body and swarmed the Sword Bearer.
• The malicious Lu Xins gnawed at the Sword of Judgment as the Pale Hand clung to the Sword Bearer, forcing it to collapse and break free.
• The Sword Bearer re-formed beneath the Crimson Moon and invoked the Midnight Court, causing the ground to crack open around Lu Xin and his companions.
• Living execution tools crawled from the fissures and advanced toward Lu Xin and the others.

The Sword Bearer unleashed his judgment power, filling the wasteland with gallows and torture-device monsters that overwhelmed Lu Xin’s malicious selves. Lu Xin decided to face the Sword Bearer himself and charged at him with Sister, carrying the half of the Sword of Judgment.

• The Sword Bearer summoned executioners and gallows whose gaze and falling ropes threatened Lu Xin and his family.
• Father’s butcher army held off the executioners while Mom cut apart the falling ropes and mental entities with her scissors.
• The torture-device monsters captured and tormented the malicious Lu Xins, causing Lu Xin intense pain and prompting him to question whether judgment still had meaning.
• Lu Xin told his trapped selves that he should face the Sword Bearer, even though he was the weakest.
• Lu Xin pulled the half of the rusted Sword of Judgment from his chest, took Sister’s hand, and charged toward the Sword Bearer.

Lu Xin fought through the Sword Bearer’s torture-tool monsters, using imagined power to turn bullets and the half of the Sword of Judgment into devastating weapons. Though he pierced the Sword Bearer and thought the battle was over, Mom realized it was the real Sword Bearer, and it began healing.

• Lu Xin charged through the torture-tool monsters, resisting the Sword Bearer’s judgment and evading its mental shock by exchanging places with a monster.
• Lu Xin imagined immense force into three bullets, blasting craters into the Sword Bearer and interrupting its attack.
• The Sword Bearer caught Lu Xin’s right hand, but Lu Xin hurled the half of the Sword of Judgment into its chest, piercing through its body.
• Lu Xin and the others thought the Sword Bearer had been defeated, but it recovered as vengeful faces appeared across its body.
• Mom realized they had mistaken the Sword Bearer for a projection and that this was the real Sword Bearer.

Lu Xin and his family faced the real Sword Bearer as it absorbed countless mental entities and began tearing reality apart. With Qinggang threatened by the Sword Bearer’s uncontrolled distortion, Mom and Father spent their power to shield the city, leaving Lu Xin to confront the Sword Bearer.

• Mom realized that the figure was the real Sword Bearer, which was instinctively restoring its full mental power by absorbing the Executors and other mental creatures.
• Lu Xin hid Sister as the Sword Bearer’s growing power began drawing in mental entities, weakening Qinggang’s besiegers and straining reality.
• The Sword of Judgment lodged in the Sword Bearer triggered a violent distortion that threatened to sweep across Qinggang.
• Mom spread herself across Qinggang’s walls to hold back the distortion, while Lu Xin forced Father to use his stored shadows to reinforce the city’s defenses.
• Lu Xin turned to face the real Sword Bearer, knowing he had to eliminate it without preparation.

Lu Xin charged into the Sword Bearer’s collapsing force field and used Kid’s Domination Chains to bind him, then pressed his black-particle-covered palm to the Sword Bearer’s forehead and demanded judgment. As Qinggang’s cities stabilized, the command center aimed its superfrequency electromagnetic cannons at the Eyes in the Sky.

• Sister told Lu Xin she had never blamed him for what happened at the orphanage and said she stayed by his side because she felt safest with him.
• Lu Xin ran through the Sword Bearer’s violent mental currents, enduring repeated wounds as he fought his way toward him.
• Lu Xin called to Kid, who sent a white chain from Qinggang Main City; Lu Xin used it to move around the Sword Bearer and bind him with chains.
• Lu Xin pushed Sister toward Mom and Father, then dove onto the Sword Bearer’s head and ordered him to kneel and accept judgment.
• The command center received reports that Qinggang’s cities were stable and, at Minister Shen’s suggestion, turned the superfrequency electromagnetic cannons toward the Eyes in the Sky.

Lu Xin used the pressure he had carried throughout his life to force the Sword Bearer to kneel, then crushed it along with its mental power and laws. Mom told Father and Sister that an Ultimate had fallen.

• Lu Xin pressed his palm against the Sword Bearer's forehead and struggled against its immense mental power.
• Mom showed Father and Sister a vision of Lu Xin extending through many forms to a shadow wearing a crown, explaining that there had only ever been one Lu Xin.
• Lu Xin unleashed the black particles against the Sword Bearer, but the destruction was too slow to overcome its vast power.
• Lu Xin's lifelong pressure passed through him into the Sword Bearer, forcing it to kneel beneath him.
• The pressure crushed the Sword Bearer's body and destroyed its mental power and laws, and Mom said an Ultimate had fallen.

Lu Xin resisted the pressure of the Sword Bearer’s collapsing mental currents and the shadow beneath God’s gaze, while Qinggang’s electromagnetic cannons destroyed one of the eyes in the sky. The Old Director explained that he was waiting to see whether the person who performed Lu Xin’s mysterious surgery would appear to inspect its results.

• Lu Xin laughed amid the Sword Bearer’s mental currents and saw a black shadow seated on a throne inside a palace above him.
• Mom told Father and Sister that Lu Xin had to withstand God’s gaze on his own, while the eyes in the sky watched him.
• Qinggang fired its overfrequency electromagnetic cannons and blasted one of the eyes dark.
• Lu Xin regained his resolve, resisted the pressure, and saw the shadow’s unfamiliar yet familiar face smile at him.
• The Old Director told Seven that Qinggang’s development resulted partly from an Eclipse Research Institute social experiment and said he was waiting to see whether Lu Xin’s surgeon would inspect the surgery’s results.

After the Sword Bearer fell, the Eyes in the Sky and the mental threats over Qinggang weakened, while Lu Xin answered a victim’s question about fairness and resolved to help build a more orderly world. The Old Director then encountered a first-generation researcher from the Crimson Moon Research Institute, who appeared with a gun pointed at him.

• Eight told Teacher Lu that he could no longer find his heart, unsure whether he felt confused or free.
• Gecko celebrated the apparent end of the Midnight Court crisis, while Qinggang’s command staff debated whether the remaining Eye in the Sky posed a threat.
• Lu Xin encountered the little girl whose suffering had inspired Eight and told her he hoped she could live happily in a fairer world.
• The Old Director and Seven saw a man emerge from the grass with a gun aimed at the Old Director.
• The Old Director recognized the armed man as a first-generation researcher from the Crimson Moon Research Institute.

After destroying the Sword Bearer, Lu Xin entered its Midnight Court with his family and discovered that its judges had already been hanged. Mom realized the Sword Bearer’s mental core had died long ago, leaving the question of who killed it unanswered as the Crimson Moon’s light vanished.

• Lu Xin examined the hollow Midnight Court left behind after the Sword Bearer’s destruction, and Mom explained that it was the Sword Bearer’s Mental Palace.
• Mom noted that the Sword Bearer had seemed unusually weak and rigid, despite descending in person, and warned Lu Xin that its Mental Palace might contain dangers.
• Lu Xin led Mom, Father, and Sister up to the Midnight Court’s gates and pushed them open.
• Inside, they found seven judges hanging from ropes beneath the dome, with no living judges to confront them.
• Mom concluded that the Sword Bearer’s mental core had been killed long ago and that the being they fought had only been its shell.
• Mom wondered who had killed the Sword Bearer as the Crimson Moon’s light brightened, dimmed, and disappeared.

Lu Xin and his family discovered that the Sword Bearer had been dead and controlled by a terrifying power, then agreed to investigate the mystery of the eyes together. Elsewhere, the Old Director met a surviving first-generation researcher, who confirmed the Crimson Moon and Mental Pollution had origins tied to the Secret of the Beginning and the Final Plan, and the Old Director agreed to hear more.

• Lu Xin and his family realized the Sword Bearer had been a mindless corpse controlled by a power capable of killing an Ultimate.
• Mom proposed asking her sister, Black Queen, about the eyes, and Lu Xin insisted they investigate together rather than let her go alone.
• The Old Director identified the armed stranger’s wristwatch as an early Research Institute model and said he had expected the stranger to appear.
• The stranger confirmed that he and his group had predicted or controlled the Crimson Moon’s arrival and had arranged experiments involving Number Nine for the original plan.
• The stranger said the Secret of the Beginning and the Final Plan were real, then invited the Old Director to join a discussion, threatening him if he refused.
• The Old Director accepted the stranger’s invitation.

After defeating the Sword Bearer, Lu Xin asked Qinggang to secure the leftover Midnight Court, the Sword Bearer’s Mental Palace. He handed the site over to Chen Jing’s team and headed back to Qinggang with Gecko, while his family warmed to the unusually considerate deputy captain.

• Lu Xin called Qinggang for help securing the Midnight Court, explaining that the Sword Bearer’s death had left the Mental Palace behind.
• Gecko and Troublemaker Kid arrived and stood guard over Lu Xin, with Gecko declaring that protecting the captain was their duty.
• Chen Jing and the support team arrived, and Lu Xin revealed that the Sword Bearer was dead and the Midnight Court remained in the wilderness.
• Chen Jing consulted Professor Bai and the researchers, then arranged for Qinggang to cordon off the area and investigate the Mental Palace.
• Lu Xin asked Qinggang to share a detailed report, then Gecko drove him and his family back toward Qinggang.
• Gecko asked after Lu Xin, Sister, Mom, and Father, impressing the family enough that Mom offered to invite him over.

After returning from the wilderness, Lu Xin reflected on the hidden watchers and the Sword Bearer's death, then decided to recover memories from the three years he had forgotten. He went to the orphanage to speak with Number Eight and the old security guard, while Kid waited for him in Qinggang Main City.

• Gecko and Troublemaker Kid celebrated their mission and imagined the promotions and rewards they would earn.
• Lu Xin told Mom that the watchers seemed to have seen secrets he did not understand, and Mom planned to visit her Sister.
• Lu Xin decided to recover the memories he had discarded during the three years and drove to the orphanage.
• Teacher Lu greeted Lu Xin, who invited Number Eight and the old security guard to go out with him so they could talk.
• Kid waited on a rooftop in Qinggang Main City for Lu Xin to finish his business.

Lu Xin explained to Number Eight that the Sword Bearer and the Midnight Court had been corrupted, then urged him to help Qinggang investigate. He ended by warning Number Eight, whose real name was Xu Jing, not to approach Teacher Lu or bring polluted power into Qinggang, and said he should have come to Lu Xin directly about the orphanage.

• Lu Xin took Number Eight and the old security guard to a restaurant, where the owner discarded spoiled meat after Lu Xin’s fantasy power had made him recognize the harm he had caused.
• Number Eight and the old security guard ordered food and liquor, and the three men drank in silence.
• Lu Xin told Number Eight that the Sword Bearer was dead and had become a walking corpse, and that the Midnight Court had been full of dead people.
• Number Eight recalled that the Midnight Court had stopped responding to his prayers and realized he had suspected something was wrong.
• Lu Xin invited Number Eight to cooperate with Qinggang’s Special Purity Department to investigate the Midnight Court.
• Lu Xin warned Number Eight, also called Xu Jing, not to seek out Teacher Lu or bring polluted power into Qinggang, and told him he should have come to Lu Xin directly about the orphanage.

Lu Xin reconciled with Number Eight over the orphanage's past and asked him to find their surviving former classmates, explaining that he wanted to help restore order and become wealthy. As Number Eight's attitude softened, Lu Xin turned to the old security guard and identified him as Teacher Sun, Old Director's trusted assistant.

• Number Eight confronted Lu Xin about the deaths at the orphanage and asked whether he regretted what happened.
• Lu Xin said he had felt no regret back then, but regretted it every day since developing emotions.
• Lu Xin asked Number Eight to find the orphanage children and explained that he had promised to get them out; Number Eight's attitude softened.
• Lu Xin described his goals as helping establish rules and order and becoming a respectable rich man, and said he envied Number Eight's resolve.
• Lu Xin recognized the old security guard as Sun Zhong, Teacher Sun, one of Old Director's two most trusted assistants.

Lu Xin confronted the old security guard, revealing that he was Sun Zhong, one of the former orphanage director’s assistants, and asked him what had happened during the experiment that changed Lu Xin. Sun Zhong recounted the aftermath and how he found the out-of-control Tyrant, ending with the childlike Lu Xin asking where their home had gone.

• Lu Xin revealed that he had recognized Sun Zhong long ago and explained that he had once feared he might kill him.
• Sun Zhong confirmed that Lu Xin’s changes were connected to the first-generation researchers’ plan and described the out-of-control experiment’s aftermath.
• Sun Zhong recalled rescuing the severely injured Teacher Lu, searching for Lu Xin, and losing armed teams that tried to bring him back.
• Sun Zhong described how witnessing Professor Wang’s experiments on children caused his faith to falter and made him recognize his own cruelty.
• Sun Zhong recounted preparing to use a plasma bomb against the returning Tyrant, then seeing a frightened child who asked, “Teacher, where did our home go?”

The old security guard recounted how he found the Tyrant as a suffering child, then called in people claiming to be from the Research Institute who described Lu Xin as a prison containing something terrifying. He later identified them as first-generation researchers of the Crimson Moon and explained that, three years after Lu Xin vanished, Little Deer brought him back to the orphanage changed and apparently gentler.

• The old security guard found the Tyrant in a vulnerable state and secretly brought him back, attempting to counsel him despite his dangerous powers.
• The old security guard contacted the Research Institute, but the arriving researchers refused to take him and revealed that Lu Xin's mind was a prison containing a terrifying entity.
• The old security guard recalled that Lu Xin recognized the researchers, spoke to them like old friends, and used a frightening voice.
• The old security guard later concluded that the researchers were first-generation researchers identified by Crimson Moon cards, then withdrew from the Research Institute and cared for Little Deer.
• Three years later, Little Deer brought Lu Xin back to the orphanage, where the old security guard noticed that his oppressive power had disappeared or become more deeply hidden.
• The old security guard recalled that Lu Xin quietly saved money for the rebuilt elementary school and went hungry and underdressed, prompting Lu Xin to ask him to leave that part out.

Lu Xin postponed judging Number Eight and the old guard, then walked home with Kid while reflecting on his frightening past. As they walked, Kid remembered the first time they had met as children, when their powers had calmed each other.

• The old guard told Lu Xin that he had seen him change from a terrifying state of losing control into an ordinary, kind person.
• Lu Xin set aside questions about his past and left Number Eight and the old guard at the restaurant, carrying the leftover food.
• Lu Xin walked alone through the quiet streets, feeling ashamed of the fear his former self had caused and unsure how long it would take to reach his hopes.
• Kid descended beside Lu Xin and silently accompanied him, while the Nanny Squad chose not to disturb them.
• Kid remembered meeting Lu Xin as a bloodied child in Qinggang: their powers calmed each other, and Lu Xin helped her up before they went their separate ways.