Chapter Summaries

William and Regan traveled to Loop, where they visited Black Roundworm Company's headquarters to meet its Boss. After passing a company inspection, they were granted visitor access and prepared to go inside.

• William underwent Deep Cleaning aboard the Black Roundworm Train, while Regan declined the procedure.
• Regan explained Black Roundworm Company's growing influence and said he might later recommend William to his secret organization as a Collaborative Researcher.
• William and Regan arrived in Loop and saw the city's major transit companies, including Redundant Intestine and Black Roundworm Company.
• A Black Roundworm Company employee invited William and Regan to meet the Boss on the top floor and explained that visitors had to undergo inspection.
• William let two monitoring roundworms burrow into his hand, receiving a Living Mark that granted him visitor privileges.

William and Regan toured Black Roundworm Company headquarters and learned how its flexible operations, rigorous hiring, and ruthless enforcement had driven its growth. They met Boss, who welcomed them after revealing the parasite-filled face beneath his human mask.

• Black Roundworm Company's assessment rated William and Regan S+, and the company sent Regan an SVIP card.
• Orlena Black Roundworm guided William and Regan through headquarters, explaining its hiring process, operating model, and safety measures.
• William and Regan took an elevator to the top floor, where the pressure from Boss's office door overwhelmed Orlena.
• William and Regan entered Boss's office and saw his Empty Nest Face and enormous parasite before he put on a human mask and welcomed them to Black Roundworm Company.

Regan recognized Boss as Byrne Douglas, the legendary Protozoon of Hallownest, while William discussed the Bloodfolk with her. Byrne promised military support for William’s future campaign and invited both men to stay at Black Roundworm Company, where Regan could explore its research department.

• Regan recognized Boss as Byrne Douglas, the black-colored Protozoon of Hallownest known as the King's Right Hand.
• William explained how Glid died and said he had sent Glid’s still-living head back to the Old World as a declaration of war against the Bloodfolk.
• Byrne said she would eventually settle accounts with the Bloodfolk and offered military support when William was ready to attack.
• Byrne asked William about the special parasite in Fear Circus who had slaughtered the Amoeba Protozoa, and William agreed to try to arrange a meeting.
• Byrne invited William and Regan to stay at the company for the rest of William’s leave, offered William access to its highest-level resources, and encouraged Regan to explore its research department.

William and Regan settled into the Original Cavity Room, where they learned about Black Roundworm Company’s advanced cluster technology and were offered a Gu Experiment. William agreed to undergo it, while Regan declined and chose to explore the laboratories; Orlena then accompanied William to the bathhouse to help heal his injuries before the experiment.

• Orlena escorted William and Regan to the Original Cavity Room and explained their access and residence arrangements.
• William used the room’s parasite-based cluster technology to create furnishings, while Regan examined the larvae.
• Orlena offered them a Gu Experiment, and William signed up while Regan declined because of his ascended body.
• Regan returned to his room, and William headed to the Black Roundworm Bathhouse to heal his injuries.
• Orlena noticed William’s exceptional vessel and followed him to help with the bathhouse before his experiment.

William used the Black Roundworm Bathhouse to recover, revealing to Orlena the dangerous features of his body as the Tenth Abyss’s Spokesperson. He recruited her as his student and recorded their relationship in the Xuexin Brain Network, leaving him poised to learn more about Black Roundworm Company during his stay.

• William bathed in the Black Roundworms while Orlena noticed a black eye open on his back and collapsed in terror.
• Orlena saw the Human Abyss in William’s abdomen and learned that he was the Tenth Abyss’s Spokesperson.
• Orlena examined the abyssal structure, but William pulled her arm free when its fingers began multiplying under the abyss’s influence.
• Orlena bit off her affected arm and regenerated it in the bathhouse.
• William asked Orlena to become his student, and she agreed.
• William imprinted the character for madness onto Orlena and her parasite, recorded her student data in the Xuexin Brain Network, and raised her personal rating to B.

William prepared for Black Roundworm Company's Gu Experiment by spending three days immersed in black roundworms, while Regan joined the company as an external cooperative researcher. The experiment began with William entering the laboratory, where he learned its severe conditions and eagerly agreed to proceed.

• Regan demonstrated his knowledge and became Black Roundworm Company's external cooperative researcher, gaining access to its technology and equipment.
• William spent three days and nights fasting in a bathhouse pool with black roundworms and learned to guide their movements through their instincts.
• Orlena found William calmly surrounded by circling roundworms and told him the Gu Experiment was ready.
• Regan went to observe the experiment and found Boss there, who explained that it was a purification method based on the Parasitic Main Nest's advancement ritual.
• William passed the laboratory's identity checks and body scan, and Charlie Herbert explained that the ten-day experiment would inject at least ten million parasite eggs into him and prohibit food, excretion, and affliction use.
• William eagerly agreed to begin the experiment despite the promised discomfort and compensation fee for quitting.

Black Roundworm Company invited William to undergo its Gu Experiment, implanting millions of parasite eggs in him to test whether he could become a Perfect Parasite. Instead of fighting to the death, the larvae began orbiting his Abyssal Cavity in an orderly pattern, leaving President Byrne and the researchers astonished.

• The chapter explained how the Parasitic Main Nest used host-selection contests and how Black Roundworm Company adapted that approach into the Gu Experiment, which preserved the vessel’s consciousness.
• President Byrne invited William to take part in the experiment, hoping to establish a lasting connection between him and the company.
• After passing the examinations, William allowed the Mother Entity to implant parasite eggs throughout his body and calmly began meditating in the laboratory.
• The larvae hatched early with a 99.7 percent survival rate, while William showed no visible physical or emotional reaction.
• A researcher discovered that the larvae orbited William’s Abyssal Cavity in orderly, periodic paths, and the resulting footage resembled a cosmic star chart.
• Days passed without the parasites fighting or dying, and President Byrne devoted much of his time to observing the experiment.

William used Black Roundworm Company's Gu Experiment to connect the parasites with the starry sky and the Tenth Abyss, developing a new ability. After vanishing into his Abyssal Cavity, he returned with the power he named Abyssal Parasitism.

• William used the ten million roundworm larvae as a medium to explore the Tenth Abyss while entering deep-space meditation.
• On Day Seven, Charlie noticed that the larvae were converging on William's Abyssal Cavity and that their body segments formed the character for madness.
• President Byrne refused to stop the experiment, and later told Regan that William had planned to use the larvae for his own purposes.
• Byrne recalled how he had once left the Parasitic Main Nest to find a compatible host and eventually became the Protozoon of Hallownest.
• On the eleventh day, the last larvae disappeared into William's Abyssal Cavity, and William crawled inside and vanished from the laboratory.
• William emerged from the cavity and revealed that he had developed Abyssal Parasitism, which let him use the cavity to travel through the depths of space.

The Tenth Abyss descended on Black Gu headquarters after William’s Abyssal experiments, then withdrew after warning him about unauthorized cultivation. William offered President Bourne seven Black Gu fused with the Abyss, and suggested using them to develop a new line of business.

• Redundant Intestine Company’s president sensed the Abyss near Black Gu headquarters and ordered a first-level alert, suspending trade routes and summoning senior personnel.
• The Tenth Abyss emerged from William, sealed the Gu Experiment laboratory in darkness, and triggered a researcher’s dangerous replication reaction when he touched the Black Curtain.
• Regan recognized the darkness as the Abyss and concluded that the Source Plague Zones might soon besiege it.
• The Tenth Abyss touched William, reprimanded him for opening an unauthorized Abyss Affliction, and told him to consult first before further Abyssal cultivation.
• After the darkness vanished, Bourne assured Redundant Intestine Company that the crisis was over and agreed to cooperate with Lupu investigators.
• William gave Bourne seven Black Gu that had survived and fused with the Tenth Abyss’s Affliction, then proposed recruiting external members to study with the Abyss.

William returned to the circus after his leave, having discovered that his new Abyssal Parasitism could take him through subspace to the Circus Tent. He told the Boss that he had killed Glid, and left their conversation resolved to work toward gaining the power to fuse with the New Moon Patient as he encountered a changed Catherine.

• President Bern assigned the seven Abyssal Roundworms to branches outside the city, and William said goodbye to him, Orlena, Regan, and Fei before leaving Black Roundworm Company.
• On the train, William used Abyssal Parasitism to enter subspace and followed his connection as Chief Actor to find the Circus Tent, which pulled him inside.
• William told the Boss that he had killed Glid, and the Boss said the feat came from William and the crescent moon rather than luck or Glid's greed.
• The Boss praised William's success and promised another leave if he performed well, while urging him to use his Abyssal Characteristic against the Bloodfolk.
• William met Catherine in the circus passage; she wore a new leather outfit, carried a whip, and warned him to focus on his performance.

William reflected on Catherine’s growing malignancy and discussed her situation with Yi Chen, who warned him against trying to reconcile with her through an apology or gift. William returned to the Acrobatic Troupe, where he found Nash had renovated his theater and Thirteen was helping organize his office.

• William concluded that Catherine’s rapid growth was tied to malignancy and worried that his arrival had disrupted her balance.
• Yi Chen explained that Catherine’s interest in William had turned into resentment as he advanced, and predicted she wanted to surpass him.
• Yi Chen advised William not to apologize or offer a gift, while praising Catherine’s new path; William decided to consider how to address the situation later.
• William returned to the Acrobatic Troupe and found that Nash had rebuilt the theater entrance and decorated the approach with sculptures of William’s heads.
• Nash apologized for not greeting William, then reported that the renovation and inspection documents were ready and that Thirteen had designed the lighting and was organizing William’s office.

William returned to the theater and saw how Nash and Thirteen had transformed it, then privately tasked Nash with meeting the Black Roundworm Company boss and secretly investigating Catherine. Nash agreed to handle both requests.

• William inspected the theater lobby and auditorium, praising the renovations Nash and Thirteen had made.
• William admired Nash's library-like office and praised Thirteen's new appearance and work.
• William showed Nash a surviving spatial black roundworm and explained that the former Protozoon of Hallownest wanted to meet him.
• Nash agreed to meet the Black Roundworm Company boss on William's behalf when convenient.
• William asked Nash to investigate Catherine without being discovered, and Nash agreed to try approaching Clown House.

Nash took a dangerous mission to investigate Catherine by disguising himself as a Poker Face and infiltrating the Clown House. He reached Catherine’s newly built Deep Sea Pool, where she nearly exposed him, and he left the encounter sweating with fear.

• Nash injected himself with a parasite-activating substance and learned that Catherine was building a seawater pool at her factory.
• Nash tried to parasitize Poker Faces working on the pool but found that nightmares had affected their brains, so he waited until morning and took control of Heart 4.
• Nash entered Catherine’s factory with the construction team and saw her emerge from the Deep Sea Pool in a mermaid-like form.
• Catherine licked Heart 4’s face and questioned his discomfort with the deep sea, but Nash blamed it on an old attack by a large fish.
• Catherine returned in clown makeup, made Heart 4 swallow a smoking tentacle, and left after checking that he seemed well; Nash feared she had nearly exposed him.

Nash investigated Catherine at the Deep Sea Pool, where he discovered her connection to the Vibrio Sea and watched her use dream-sharing mannequins to harvest Dream Fluid. After Catherine exposed Nash’s identity, she told him to report that she would wait for William at the pool, warning that it might be dangerous.

• Nash observed the Deep Sea Pool and deduced that Catherine had brought deep-sea water from the Vibrio Sea.
• Catherine rewarded the construction workers with Humanoid Mannequins that pierced their brains and shared dreams, allowing her to absorb their Dream Fluid.
• Catherine singled out Heart 4 and tried to seduce him, but Nash resisted, revealing his identity.
• At the Circus Public Plaza, Nash explained that he had come to investigate Catherine because he feared she had been affected by Art and might upset William.
• Catherine said she was embracing her evil nature and threatened to trample William, then told Nash to send him to meet her at the pool.

William prepared the theater’s first Formal Performance and learned that Catherine wanted to meet him at a pool in Clown House, but an invitation from Mr. Rabbit diverted him to the Rabbit Club. There, William’s body resonated with the Rabbit Men’s music until his Abyssal Cavity caused a painful loss of control, and Mr. Rabbit beckoned him farther inside.

• Nash confessed that Catherine had exposed him during his investigation, offered his resignation and torture implements, and relayed her invitation for William to meet her at Clown House’s swimming pool.
• William told Nash he would visit Catherine, then left the theater to investigate her connection to the deep sea.
• A Rabbit Man invited William to the Rabbit Club, and William followed him through its unusual gate.
• The Rabbit Men’s muscle band drew William into a powerful bodily rhythm that seemed to connect his body with the abyss.
• William’s Abyssal Cavity contracted painfully, and Mr. Rabbit examined his body before signaling him to follow.

William visited Mr. Rabbit's muscle-built mansion and asked for guidance in training his body and understanding the Abyss within him. Mr. Rabbit offered to train him under demanding Rabbit Man standards, leaving William ready to try a day of training.

• Mr. Rabbit brought William into the Bunny Castle Club, where William struggled to imitate Mr. Rabbit's punishing stride.
• A fortune rabbit interpreted as Mr. Rabbit welcomed William to his pink-decorated office and discussed William's lack of recent physical training.
• William told Mr. Rabbit that Zede remained in the human city and that his teacher might join the circus after handling affairs there.
• Mr. Rabbit explained that William's Abyss responded to movement but that William could not find its rhythm without music.
• William agreed to try training with Mr. Rabbit, who described six training areas and warned that the daily regimen would require at least twelve hours.

William entered the club’s Music Dance Room and let Yi Chen take over to play its human-body piano, hoping to learn how the body and the Abyss might be connected. Yi Chen mastered the Rabbit Men’s rhythm training and William studied the body’s response, especially the Abyssal Cavity.

• William drew wrestling and music and dance, then chose to visit the Music Dance Room first.
• William selected the piano, and Yi Chen took over after warning the Rabbit Men with a deathly aura.
• Yi Chen played “Clair de Lune,” startling the Rabbit Men with his intense interpretation of death and slaughter.
• The lead Rabbit Man explained that rhythm required every muscle group and cell to move in time with the music.
• Yi Chen learned to match his bodily movements to the Rabbit Men’s energetic piece, while William examined the Abyssal Cavity for signs of a connection.

William observed the Abyssal Cavity and found a possible connection between its contractions and the root of the disease. At the wrestling training area, he wrestled himself with Yi Chen’s help, survived a devastating move, and headed for the Clown House before the day ended.

• William told Yi Chen he had vaguely found a feeling after observing the Abyssal Cavity, then passed the Rabbit Men’s rhythm test with a score of 71.
• William entered the wrestling room, watched two Rabbit Men practice Mongolian Wrestling, and became eager to try it himself.
• William challenged Yi Chen to wrestle, and Yi Chen agreed despite warning that he might kill him.
• William spent six hours wrestling himself as Yi Chen threw him around, eventually using a move inspired by the abyss that shattered his brain and embedded him headfirst in the floor.
• William’s Death Substance restored his brain, and the Rabbit Men praised his dedication; after learning it was 23:30, William decided to visit the Clown House.

William visited Catherine late at night and found that her factory had become an eerily realistic beach, while Art remained sealed away in secluded cultivation. He joined Catherine by the pool as his abyss’s painful contractions briefly stabilized through rhythmic breathing.

• Mr. Rabbit observed William’s unusual performance at Rabbit Immortal Castle and considered how his talent might have made him a troupe leader.
• William’s abyss convulsed with soul-tearing pain on the roller coaster, but he steadied its contractions by matching his breathing to their rhythm.
• William found Art’s factory sealed by dangerous sausage-like locks and learned from Catherine’s mannequin servant that Art had been secluded for more than two months.
• William entered Catherine’s factory and recognized that her pool and ocean scene blurred the boundary between dream and reality.
• A wooden boat appeared before William at the shore, and a gentle voice urged him to climb aboard.

William followed Catherine into the deep sea, where he discovered an underwater laboratory and was captured by Fish Origin—Nashatar. After Nashatar transformed him into tiny fish that the imprisoned girls devoured, William recognized Catherine just as he began to awaken wrapped in tentacles.

• William examined the bacteria-filled seawater and recalled the Vibrio Sea, its dead Plague Lords, and Fish Origin’s danger.
• A blonde girl with six octopus tentacles approached William, and he used death to remove the barnacles parasitizing her injured tentacle.
• The girl summoned thousands of other octopus-bodied girls, and William followed them through a seafloor barrier into an underwater laboratory.
• William found a familiar black-haired girl in a cylindrical container, but Fish Origin—Nashatar attacked him and threw him into another container.
• Nashatar’s disease turned William into tiny, self-aware fish that the girls ate, and he remembered that the black-haired girl was Catherine.
• William awoke wrapped in wet tentacles as a feminine voice told him, “You’re awake, William.”