Recaps

Yi Chen used Enlightenment to free and win Scott’s loyalty, then persuaded Jin and Regan to help reclaim Lewenholm. Scott returned to Balte Prada with news of secret medicine beneath the Twilight Clinic, and Balte set out to investigate the sealed chamber.

• Yi Chen freed Scott, who knelt and called him teacher, and Yi Chen learned that Balte Prada ruled Lewenholm through Sun Dis and carried a valuable Good Thing.
• Yi Chen proposed a risky plan to reclaim Lewenholm and promised to share the rewards and help Regan research the Dead ones; Jin agreed, and Regan eventually agreed after consulting Fei.
• Scott returned to Balte in the underground tomb chambers and reported finding a hidden chamber beneath the Twilight Clinic containing Twilight Silver Liquid and a seal he could not break.
• Balte drank the secret medicine, experienced a surge of Death Aura, and praised Scott before replenishing his strength with the Breath of Death Plague.
• Balte promised to transform Scott into a true Dead one if the chamber held more medicine and equipment, then ordered Scott to take him there.

Yi Chen, Jin, and Regan monitored Balte Prada as he approached Twilight Clinic, where Scott led him into a prepared trap. Balte entered the sealed chamber for the Twilight Silver Liquid, and Jin appeared before him as Scott blocked the exit.

• Regan assessed Balte Prada as a powerful true dead man, while Jin asked Yi Chen and Regan to let her fight him with their help in reserve.
• Balte restrained his death plague as he traveled with Scott toward Twilight Clinic, then hurried ahead to the building.
• Scott showed Balte a hidden passage beneath the clinic and a leather door concealing a chamber filled with equipment and Twilight Silver Liquid.
• Balte destroyed the leather barrier and entered the chamber, believing he had found a valuable prize.
• Scott revealed he had brought Balte there on his teacher's orders, exploded himself to seal the exit, and trapped Balte inside.
• The Twilight Silver Liquid vanished, and a Woman in Red wearing a Seven-Colored Mask appeared with a crying baby whose spine transformed into a blade.

Jin’s explosive attack destroyed the Twilight Clinic and badly damaged Balte, but the dead man regenerated in the ruins. With Regan sealing off the mountain, Yi Chen began a mental-focused Limit Release while Jin faced Balte, until a strange figure appeared above the pit.

• Jin used her tumor-covered sword to slash Balte, then detonated tumors inside his wound, blowing apart the clinic and opening a hole through the mountaintop.
• Yi Chen and Regan escaped the collapsing clinic, and Regan created a magnetic field around the hill to prevent Balte from fleeing.
• Yi Chen asked Little Grape to merge with him for a mental-type Limit Release guided by its eyes and prophecy, and Little Grape agreed.
• Jin stood over the ruins as Balte regenerated using Sun Dis’s body and prepared to fight her again.
• A scorched figure in an ancient robe appeared at the edge of the pit, turning four marked eyeballs as Jin and Balte sensed its threat.

Yi Chen used a new yellow-skinned form and Little Grape’s external eyes to observe Jin and Balte, learning Balte’s strength and the item bound to him. Balte tried to escape on his Horse of Death, but Jin returned in a cancerous state and sealed them in the pit with tumor tentacles.

• Yi Chen combined intelligence and perception Limit Release with Little Grape, revealing four external eyes and turning Balte and Jin into readable Human Books in his vision.
• Yi Chen learned that Balte was a plague-value-4 Acolyte Knight seeking Twilight Silver Liquid, and spotted a Good Thing bound to him.
• Balte recognized the threat posed by Yi Chen’s gaze and changed his target, leaping toward him while Jin tried to intercept.
• Balte summoned his Horse of Death and drew a growing battle axe from his abdomen, while the horse kicked Jin and shattered his mask.
• Tumor tentacles shot from the pit, dragged Balte and his horse back down, and sealed the pit as Jin injected himself and declared Balte his opponent.

Jin confronted Balte after explaining how she fused her mother’s bones into a mask, and Balte unleashed his full death-plague power, becoming a ferocious beast. Yi Chen joined the battle after Balte nearly killed Jin, leaving the two allies to face him together.

• Jin explained that she had made a mask from her mother’s bones to protect her face from her abusive father, and she accused Balte of disrespecting it.
• Balte released his death-plague power and transformed into a wolf-helmed beast, while Regan restrained Miss Fei and Yi Chen prepared to join the fight.
• Balte hurled his horse at Jin, then attacked her with twin axes and overwhelmed her defenses, knocking away her sword and cleaving into her shoulder.
• Yi Chen shot Balte in the cheek with a black beam, interrupting his attempt to bite Jin.
• Jin regenerated with meat-juice syringes, recovered her blood sword, and told Yi Chen they needed to fight Balte together.

Yi Chen and Jin fought Balter to a stalemate until the Original Tomb watched from beyond the battlefield as Balter underwent a deadly transformation. With Balter newly empowered and his warhorse gone, Yi Chen and Jin prepared to use all their remaining strength.

• Yi Chen and Jin used their abilities to evade Balter and the Horse of Death while Regan withdrew his barrier and headed toward the pit to help them.
• Black Fog and black lightning descended over the battlefield, and Regan sensed the Original Tomb watching; Fei persuaded him not to flee and to face the danger with her.
• Yi Chen's death ray pierced and nearly killed the Horse of Death, giving Balter a chance to approach his fallen companion.
• Balter killed the warhorse, then emerged from the Black Fog with black lightning around him, a bone horse-head pauldron, and his plague-value liquid replenished.
• Yi Chen told Jin to use all her trump cards, then activated Dead Person Makeup.

The First Dead watched the battle between Yi Chen, Jin, and Balte Prada, sealing the hill beneath a Death Black Curtain to prevent outside interference. Balte appeared to kill Yi Chen, but a voice from the strange black liquid inside him spoke after the execution and offered to reveal the truth of the world together.

• The First Dead observed Yi Chen's Dead Person Makeup, grew excited by its unfamiliar form of death, and created a Black Curtain around the battlefield.
• Principal Deslin, Yuri, and other groups left Zion City to respond to the disturbance, while Moonscar Lorien failed to see through the Black Fog covering the site.
• Balte charged at Yi Chen, but Regan's Mental Power stopped him long enough for Yi Chen and Jin to attack together.
• After half an hour of fighting, Balte killed Jin, exhausted Regan, and severed Yi Chen's legs before executing him with a strike that made his body and head vanish.
• Balte approached the fallen Jin, but a voice from the black liquid inside him spoke, claiming it had survived the execution and inviting him to seek the truth of the world.

Yi Chen defeated Balte by letting him use Death Execution, then destroyed him with the Black Liquid after Balte refused his offer of alliance. The First Dead summoned Yi Chen, acknowledged the battle, and invited him to visit the Original Tomb next time he came to the Old World.

• Yi Chen explained that he had deliberately let Balte execute him so he could enter Balte's mind and exploit his nearly depleted Plague Value.
• Balte rejected Yi Chen's offer, tore open his own face, and dug into his brain to remove the Black Liquid.
• Yi Chen spread the Black Liquid through Balte's core, destroying Balte and barely regaining his own body afterward.
• The First Dead summoned Yi Chen's consciousness and asked whether he had acquired the Mark of Transaction.
• Yi Chen explained that he had met the Duke and returned to the Human Organization soon after arriving in the Old World.
• The First Dead praised the battle and told Yi Chen he could visit the Original Tomb on his next trip to the Old World.

Yi Chen recovered from his battle with the dead and learned that Jin was regenerating while he was sent to a hospital. After waking, he confirmed the First Gentleman selection was still five days away and claimed Knight Balter’s Dead Man’s Spine, which transformed into a powerful axe.

• Teacher Zed found Yi Chen and saw that Jin was regenerating inside a swollen sac that had neutralized the Death Attribute.
• Principal Deslin sent Yi Chen to the Major Hospital of Hippocrates, while Professor Chamberson reported that the dead had vanished from Lewenholm and William may have reached an agreement with them.
• Deslin praised Regan for surviving and asked him to persuade William against reckless actions.
• After examinations, doctors advised Yi Chen to recover through quiet rest without medication or other direct treatment.
• Yi Chen woke and hurried for the door, but Deslin told him the First Gentleman selection was still five days away and returned Knight Balter’s Dead Man’s Spine.
• Yi Chen subdued the spine with black fluid, transformed it into a Pitch-Black Axe Blade, and resolved to work harder at civilizing people.

Yi Chen reported the battle with Balte to Deslin and learned that the dead had withdrawn from Lewenholm after his encounter with The First Dead. In Deslin’s office, he examined Balte’s symbiotic weapon and discovered its name: Dead Spine Lake.

• Yi Chen examined the remaining Black Fog and recognized it as colonies of rod-shaped bacteria representing the death plague.
• Deslin questioned Yi Chen about the battle, and he explained that he had defeated Balte and met The First Dead in the Original Tomb.
• Deslin divined that the disturbance was connected to the death Yi Chen carried and said the three victors would receive generous rewards if the dead no longer threatened the organization.
• Deslin allowed Yi Chen to use her office’s stardust bath, which restored his injuries.
• Yi Chen examined the Dead Man's Spine as it shaped itself into a pitch-black axe blade, and Deslin identified it as a rare external symbiote.
• Yi Chen read the symbiotic weapon’s name: Dead Spine Lake.

Yi Chen inspected and tested the Dead Spine Lake, then learned from Deslin that his mental rival Yorde Sapeng Galon was a dangerous, unstable candidate for the First Gentleman screening. The chapter ended with Yi Chen and Deslin welcoming the New Year together beneath a comet.

• Yi Chen transformed the Dead Spine Lake into dual axes, demonstrated his control over its death and slaughter, and stored it in its briefcase because a relic inside him conflicted with it.
• Deslin asked Yi Chen to massage her legs, praised his skill, and arranged to trade future massages for his visits to discuss the stars or bathe.
• Deslin asked why Yi Chen had trained his mental strength with Regan, and Yi Chen named Yorde Sapeng Galon as the candidate who had surpassed him.
• Deslin explained Galon's exceptional mental talent and unstable Insomnia Syndrome, warned Yi Chen to be cautious, and said Galon might be more suited to becoming the First Gentleman.
• At midnight, Deslin and Yi Chen toasted the New Year and watched a huge comet from the surface of a planet.

Yi Chen reunited with Jin and Regan and received a commendation for helping defeat the threat from Lewenholm and the dead. In the Secret Vault, he sought to upgrade his firearm, but his Beast Disease Umbilical Cord stirred several Holy Bodies and prompted the Archbishop to reconsider his reward.

• Yi Chen woke alone in the Principal's Office after spending New Year's Eve talking with Deslin about her family and independent life.
• Jin and Regan met Yi Chen at the school platform and told him the organization had summoned their team to receive commendations.
• The team received money and access to the Gentleman's Treasury, and a vote selected Yi Chen for another Secret Vault reward.
• Yi Chen asked Archbishop Yalleris Hilton how to upgrade The Body-Breaker, and the Archbishop offered him a relic from the Secret Vault.
• Yi Chen showed the Archbishop his Beast Disease Umbilical Cord, whose Breath of New Life resonated with at least three Holy Bodies, so the Archbishop told him to put it away before they discussed his reward again.

Yi Chen learned that upgrading his shotgun would take about a month, while the Archbishop advised him to keep Lainey’s umbilical cord as a keepsake and possible future contact with the beast-diseased sheep. He joined Regan at the research institute to study samples from the true dead person, where observing the Death Plague Bacteria left him enthralled.

• The Archbishop examined Yi Chen’s shotgun and agreed to arrange its upgrade using Yi Chen’s contribution reward, though the work would take about a month.
• Yi Chen told the Archbishop about Lainey and the Newborn Church, and the Archbishop urged him to keep her umbilical cord rather than use it as weapon material.
• Jin and Regan waited for Yi Chen outside the church, and Regan invited him to research samples from the true dead person before the examination.
• Jin went to the Prosthetic Body Training Room while Yi Chen and Regan entered a BSL-4 laboratory to examine Death Plague Bacteria under a microscope.
• The bacteria displayed a cross-shaped structure and visual transmission, and Yi Chen stared at it in fascination, calling it beautiful.

Yi Chen and Regan researched the Death Plague for two days before Yi Chen’s exhaustion unlocked memories of being used as an experimental subject, and Regan pulled him back to the present. After resting, Yi Chen read Regan’s manuscript, which identified the plague’s cause and explained its unusual methods of infection.

• Yi Chen and Regan spent two sleepless days studying the Death Plague Bacteria, and their work advanced as Regan grew dangerously thin.
• Yi Chen’s nose began bleeding black fluid, and he recalled that before his death he had been imprisoned and used in experiments by a Mentor.
• Regan jolted Yi Chen back to awareness, noticed that the bacteria’s flagella had pointed toward him, and arranged for him to rest in a Nutrient Rest Chamber.
• After Yi Chen woke, Regan gave him the manuscript and returned to rest, explaining that he hoped their research might help Fei.
• Yi Chen read Regan’s account of Bacillus Necrosis Nebulae, which described its flagella, black mist, visual transmission of a Death Symbol, and ability to drive victims to suicide and resurrect the dead.

Yi Chen explored how his growing control of the Death Plague could reshape Dead Spine Lake, then went to retrieve Jin from the Prosthetic Body Development Department. He calmed her rampage and left with her to rest and receive physical adjustments before the screening.

• Yi Chen examined the Bacillus Necrosis Nebulae in Dead Spine Lake and considered developing a new axe form through his control of the Death Plague.
• Yi Chen locked his research draft away and learned that Jin was still at the Power Station, disrupting the Prosthetic Body Development Department with her destructive tests.
• Vice Director Kimberly asked Yi Chen to take Jin away after she wrecked prosthetic bodies and attacked everyone who entered the S-Class test chamber.
• Yi Chen dodged Jin's attack and used a low-frequency whisper to awaken her true self and end her rampage.
• Jin agreed to help Yi Chen rest and adjust his body, then replenished him with fluid from a burst cyst as they left the test chamber.

Yi Chen and Jin prepared Red Lotus Meat Potions for the First Gentleman assessment, while Yellow Skin woke Yi Chen and began training him to read the Skin Bible. As the eighth Skin Promotion approached, a mysterious man in the lower Street District ate a rat and headed toward Divine Skin Manor.

• Jin finished three Red Lotus Meat Potions for Yi Chen and explained that they could restore his strength between assessment matches.
• Yi Chen recalled Jin's injuries from the True Dead battle, but she told him he could ask her anything and they went to sleep.
• Yellow Skin used Yi Chen's clothing to give him restorative sleep, then summoned him away from the city to teach him to read the Skin Bible and improve his control over Skin.
• The chapter explained that the First Gentleman served as an intermediary with the Skin Factory and that the eighth Skin Promotion would be semi-open to observers and viewers across Zion.
• A black-eyed man woke in a dark alley, ate a rat, and walked toward Divine Skin Manor.

As Skin Promotion began, Wrinkled Skin Spicy, Regan, and Yuri prepared to attend with their respective candidates and projects. Regan discovered that the Power Station’s candidate was the modified death-row inmate Alex, while Yuri met Mandy, who agreed to restrain himself around a younger competitor.

• Wrinkled Skin Spicy dressed in a skin corset and invited his student Jessica Lorez to join him at the assessment.
• Regan asked Director Celestin for a place at Skin Promotion and agreed to assist Kimberly as a Watcher for the Power Station’s Self-Developed Skin Slave.
• Regan recognized the experimental First Gentleman candidate as Skinning Man Alex, whom the institute had modified from a death-row inmate.
• Yuri visited the slaughterhouse and spoke with Mandy, who finished making a mannequin before agreeing to attend and try not to kill a younger candidate.

The candidates and spectators gathered at Divine Skin Manor for the First Gentleman promotion, while William was still missing. As the manor was sealed for the contest, William raced toward Zion after realizing he was late.

• Mandy discussed the candidates with Prophet Yuri and noticed Jessica when Spicy arrived at the manor.
• Principal Deslin and Professor Chamberson arrived, and Spicy explained how he had brought Jessica to Zion.
• Deputy Director Kimberly and Regan carried a sealed coffin into the manor as the final spectators arrived.
• William appeared at the entrance, and Yuri and Mandy sensed his unusual, dangerous presence.
• A Skin Bishop sealed Divine Skin Manor and cut it off from outside interference.
• William activated Limit Release and raced out of a valley toward Zion with a deep-red syringe embedded in his neck.

Kimberly helped Yi Chen reach Divine Skin Manor just before the entrance closed, then entered the underground church with the candidates and audience. The First Gentleman welcomed them and the institute presented the imprisoned Skinning Man, Alex, whose crimes Yuri revealed.

• Kimberly found Yi Chen rushing toward Divine Skin Manor and carried him there after blasting him forward with a flying kick.
• Bishop barred Kimberly from entering, but Principal Deslin used the academy's remaining audience spot to admit her.
• Bishop led the candidates and audience through a transformed carpet into the underground church, where the chained First Gentleman welcomed them.
• The First Gentleman's chains formed an audience platform, while Kimberly, the institute's deputy director, and Regan unveiled the restrained Skinning Man, Alex.
• Deslin recounted Alex's murders and his role as a Tunnel-Watcher, and Yuri admitted that he had tortured Alex for ten days before reporting him.

Yi Chen joined the Skin Promotion and learned that the First Gentleman needed a successor to restore his weakening connection with the skin factory. As the first assessment began, the raw skin sent into Yi Chen’s body encountered his terrifying internal forces and was rapidly absorbed.

• Yi Chen examined Alex and recognized that the Skinning Man’s body was assembled from 317 pieces of skin, with an unfinished Red Dragon tattoo.
• The First Gentleman announced three assessments and explained that his connection to the skin factory had severely weakened.
• The candidates removed their Gentleman's Attire, and Jessica made replacement clothes for those without spare outfits.
• The First Gentleman pierced the candidates’ spines with iron chains and transmitted raw skin into their bodies.
• Yi Chen’s internal horrors frightened the raw skin, while his Skin Bible formed vortices that began digesting and absorbing it.

Yi Chen and four other candidates passed the Skin Volume assessment, then entered the First Gentleman’s dangerous Skin-Limbo challenge with their senses sealed. While the others escaped in succession, Yi Chen remained trapped, trying to understand the strange space before time ran out.

• Yi Chen absorbed and purified the raw skins until the First Gentleman ended the Skin Volume assessment, leaving Yi Chen, Mandy, Alex, Jessica, and Sleeper Galon with full marks.
• Claude introduced the new Skin Sense assessment, sealed the candidates’ senses, and cast them into Skin-Limbo inside his body.
• Yi Chen used Sympathetic Induction to realize he was falling, stopped himself with raw skin lines, and paused to consider the nature of the space instead of climbing blindly.
• Sleeper Galon escaped in one second, followed by Jessica in 2 minutes and 31 seconds, Alex in 5 minutes and 13 seconds, and Mandy in twenty minutes.
• Yi Chen still had not found a way out as the half-hour limit approached, leaving Principal Deslin visibly anxious.

Yi Chen fell through the cortical passage toward the Old World skin factory but was repelled and returned to the altar. The First Gentleman revived long enough to announce the final promotion assessment, leaving the candidates’ combat pairings set for the selection battles.

• Yi Chen chose to fall deeper into the cortical passage, hoping to reach the skin factory, but the factory repelled him and sent him back to the mansion.
• Blood carried Yi Chen onto the altar, and Spacy restored the First Gentleman’s consciousness.
• The First Gentleman announced a final cortical assessment in which candidates could use all their abilities, with the First Gentleman chosen through a one-on-one round and a three-way final.
• The candidates drew lots, pairing Yordesapeng with Galon and Jessica with Lorez, then Mandy with Lusen and Skinning Man with Alex, while William received a bye.

Yi Chen watched the first Skin Promotion match after telling Deslin and Chamberson about his Skin Sense assessment and the strange blood he encountered. Jessica Lorez revealed her proliferating army of skin puppets, while her opponent, Galon, appeared to fall asleep.

• Yi Chen received a bye and joined Deslin and Chamberson in the spectator stands as the first match began.
• Yi Chen explained his experience inside the First Gentleman's body, and Deslin and Chamberson decided to report the strange blood to the organization's higher-ups.
• Chamberson suggested that the Abyssal Skin Factory might be undergoing a complete reform, which could explain its lack of contact with affiliated branches.
• Jessica Lorez revealed that her congenital condition caused cortical hyperplasia and that she had turned the excess skin into more than a hundred living puppets.
• Galon yawned and fell asleep standing with his eyes open as Jessica's army appeared.

Sleeper Galon defeated Jessica in the first round of the Skin Promotion after silently putting her and her Skin Puppets to sleep, then unleashing a terrifying Limit Release. The spectators were left shaken by the power he had revealed.

• Jessica summoned her Skin Puppet legion, but Galon used fine Mental Power Fishing Lines to put her and the puppets to sleep.
• Yi Chen used Ash Eyes to see Galon’s Fishing Lines, and Jessica’s rapidly growing skin severed them, waking her legion.
• Jessica sent the awakened puppets to attack Galon, who announced his Limit Release while trapped among them.
• A coachman recalled dreaming of strange creatures that later tore apart a Diseased Ape, suggesting Galon’s dreams could reach reality.
• Galon won the round, leaving Jessica gravely injured and Jin wondering whether William could defeat him.

Yi Chen witnessed Galon use an unknown creature to devour Jessica and many Skin Puppets, then the second promotion match began between Mandy and Alex. Mandy shattered Alex’s head with a single technique, but Alex’s killing intent intensified as he lay motionless.

• Galon’s unseen creature devoured half the Skin Puppets and part of Jessica before vanishing, while Yi Chen watched through Ash Eyes.
• Deslin warned Yi Chen that Galon likely had more dangerous abilities and told him to forfeit if he could not win.
• Mandy entered the arena to face Alex, who promised to fight honorably despite his violent past.
• Alex kicked Mandy through a church wall, but Mandy emerged unharmed and criticized Alex’s lack of technique.
• Yuri explained that Mandy had abandoned killing to pursue technique through years of patient mannequin-making.
• Mandy wrapped his burgundy tie around his fist and shattered Alex’s head with one move, but Alex’s killing intent grew denser as he lay still.