Chapter Summaries

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.

Mandy Lusen defeated Skinning Man Alex after Alex transformed into the Red Dragon and tried to make Mandy the centerpiece of his artwork. Afterward, Mandy returned to Yuri and was told to prepare for the final match.

• Alex's history revealed that his obsession with human skin led him to kill gentlemen and create an unfinished artwork, and the First Gentleman Project restored his drive to complete it.
• Alex transformed into the Red Dragon and charged at Mandy, but Mandy vanished and used his red tie and the First Gentleman's iron chain to immobilize him.
• Mandy infected Alex with a severe skin disease and killed him with six punches, leaving Alex's skin hanging from the chain.
• Deputy Director Kimberly accepted Mandy's apology, and Yuri praised his technique while criticizing his excessive talking.
• Mandy asked to forfeit the final match, but Yuri struck him and ordered him to take the fight seriously.

Yi Chen and Mandy Lusen formed an alliance to attack Sleeper Galon in the final promotion match for First Gentleman. They resisted Galon’s Fishing Lines and charged him, but both recoiled in terror when they saw something horrifying.

• Principal Deslin identified Mandy Lusen as a powerful Keximani fighter with an S-rank skin-related illness, while Black Brain urged Yi Chen to keep an eye on him.
• Before the final match, Mandy proposed that he and Yi Chen work together to eliminate Galon, and Yi Chen agreed.
• Yi Chen revealed his Dead Man’s Spine, and the First Gentleman started the match.
• Galon’s Fishing Lines hooked into Yi Chen and Mandy, but Yi Chen burned the lines with his brain’s heat while Mandy mutilated his brain to wake himself.
• Yi Chen and Mandy charged Galon together, then both suddenly recoiled in terror at what they saw.

Yi Chen and Mandy prepared to face Sleeper Galon after discovering that an unknown world and monsters existed inside his body. Yi Chen revealed a new skin stance, and the two moved forward together, saving his Dead Person Makeup for later.

• Yi Chen retreated from Sleeper Galon, while Mandy was bitten and lost his left arm as he tried to stop his momentum.
• William gave Mandy a dose of Meat Potion, and Mandy regrew his arm before releasing his killing desire and transforming.
• Yi Chen used Limit Release after the Plague Book fused with the book-shaped mark on the back of his head, gaining a new stance that suppressed everyone present.
• Chief Seamster Spacy recognized that Yi Chen had fused with the Skin Bible and agreed to let him keep it if he became the First Gentleman.
• Yi Chen held back his Dead Person Makeup, then invited Mandy to advance with him toward Sleeper Galon.

Yi Chen and Mandy attacked Sleeper Galon, but monstrous creatures emerged from passages in his body and nearly overwhelmed them. Galon awakened and forced the tentacles and Demon Infant back inside himself, leaving Yi Chen and Mandy confused about what had happened.

• Yi Chen and Mandy entered Limit Release and attacked Galon from opposite sides.
• A huge green, many-mouthed monster burst from Galon's arm and drove Yi Chen into a church wall, but he escaped its bite with Thorned Iron Chains and Spatial Movement.
• Mandy broke through the monster's mouth with a punch, and the pair charged Galon again.
• A larger passage opened in Galon's abdomen, releasing a net of tentacles as a Demon Infant began crawling out.
• Galon awakened, crushed the tentacles with his Mental Power, and forced the Demon Infant back into his body.

The restricted archives documented Yodesapeng. Galon, a powerful gentleman born at Flumouth Mental Hospital who could not sleep and explored the space between dreams and reality. After opening a door into another world and forming a permanent connection with its monsters, Galon learned to manage that connection and reached a fragile coexistence with them.

• The organization classified exceptionally powerful, unstable gentlemen as Special Record Combatants and added a file labeled “The Insomniac.”
• Esenna. Galon, a patient at Flumouth Mental Hospital, gave birth to Yodesapeng. Galon under inexplicable circumstances, and the hospital made him a research subject.
• Galon’s Mental Power prevented him from sleeping, so he explored The In-Between each night and gradually traveled deeper into it.
• At twenty-one, Galon opened a door at the end of The In-Between, encountered a monstrous group in another world, and vomited the monster’s limbs after killing it there.
• Galon trained to suppress his connection to the other world, then used his disorder to let its monsters hunt Sick Ones and take spoils, eventually establishing peaceful coexistence with them.