Recaps

Cheng Shi learned the tragic story behind Xie Yang’s companion Yuan Meng, while Xie Yang set out with both corpses. Cheng Shi and Wang Mou headed for the control center, unaware that Xie Yang had revived Xiao Li and was following them.

• Cheng Shi discovered that Xie Yang’s Molten Coffin contained Xiao Yuan’s corpse, and Xie Yang explained that Yuan Meng had sacrificed himself to save him from a Beast Tamer.
• Xie Yang refused Cheng Shi’s offer to revive Yuan Meng, then left carrying Yuan Meng and Xiao Li’s corpses.
• Cheng Shi put on a Mask and followed Wang Mou toward the control center, concealing another Mask beneath it.
• Xie Yang returned to the scene, stored Yuan Meng’s corpse, revived Xiao Li as a furious war puppet, and followed Cheng Shi and Wang Mou.

As Mo Li coordinated the surviving players against the Abnormal Mother Tree, Cheng Shi and Wang Mou reached 0221’s experiment control center. When 0221 lured them toward a passage promising the method for fusing divinity, Cheng Shi suspected the experiment was nearing success and questioned whom 0221 wanted inside.

• The surviving players converged on Mo Li’s defensive position, where Big Cat bore most of the assault and Mo Li coordinated the growing team.
• Cheng Shi warned Mo Li that his unusually aggressive commands seemed to be driving the team toward 0221’s lair, and Mo Li noticed the Abnormal Mother Tree’s attacks had weakened.
• Wang Mou brought Cheng Shi to the experiment’s control center, but Cheng Shi turned away when a passage opened to welcome them.
• Tentacles trapped Cheng Shi and Wang Mou in a cage, while 0221 urged them to enter and promised the method for fusing divinity.
• Cheng Shi deduced that 0221’s experiment was close to succeeding and asked whether it wanted both of them or only him to enter.

Cheng Shi confronted 0221 and deduced that Zainjil was behind the invitation, while Doctor Assassin learned that Zainjil was present. When 0221’s tentacles attacked, they stopped short of Cheng Shi, leaving him convinced that 0221 could not risk killing him.

• 0221 invited Cheng Shi inside, and Cheng Shi suspected that Zainjil had sent the invitation because he sensed Zainjil’s finger was on him.
• Doctor Assassin and Wang Mou reacted with shock when Cheng Shi named Zainjil.
• Cheng Shi challenged 0221 about Wei Mu, and 0221 warned that Wei Mu’s assistance might conceal murderous intent.
• Cheng Shi taunted 0221 about relying on Wei Mu for the experiment, provoking the tentacles to attack.
• Wang Mou fought off the tentacles, but they surrounded him and Cheng Shi before stopping just short of striking Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi deliberately lunged at the tentacles, which recoiled from him, and mocked 0221 as Zainjil’s dog.

Cheng Shi used Zainjil’s finger to bluff 0221 into offering a deal, then asked the Doctor to verify a manuscript on piecing together divinity. The Doctor confirmed the method was real but unexpectedly absurd and simple, leaving the deal still to be negotiated.

• Cheng Shi tested 0221’s fear of losing Zainjil’s finger and forced the tentacles to retreat.
• 0221 appeared at the passage entrance and proposed a deal with Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi demanded the method for piecing together divinity, and 0221 tossed down a manuscript.
• Cheng Shi invited the Doctor to join his group, while the Doctor suspected he was being asked to test the manuscript for traps.
• The Doctor read the manuscript and confirmed that its method was real, though absurdly simple.

Cheng Shi and the Doctor explained that 0221’s divinity-splicing research relied on Zainjil’s finger and guidance, prompting 0221 to admit he had followed Zainjil’s influence. Cheng Shi then argued that 0221 had taken a dangerous, deceptive path, leaving 0221 speechless.

• Cheng Shi demanded an explanation of how 0221 had spliced divinity, and the Doctor said 0221 had relied on a god’s power rather than developing a mortal method.
• The Doctor identified Zainjil’s finger as the key to the experiment and said 0221 had possessed it and contacted Zainjil months before the players learned of him.
• The Doctor claimed Zainjil had secretly become a False God and had guided 0221’s research, using him to prepare the experiment and help Zainjil escape the Isle of Hope’s history.
• 0221 confirmed that he had met Zainjil, learned he was a slice, and believed that drawing close to Truth could let him become a god.
• Cheng Shi argued that the Tower of Reason’s scholars had avoided this method for good reason and suggested 0221 resembled a god of Deception.
• 0221 fell silent after Cheng Shi challenged his path.

Cheng Shi and Wang Mou uncovered that 0221 was a composite of Prosperity and Decay slices created to prepare a body for Zainjil, who planned to use the experiment to become a Truth player. 0221 revealed that he, Wang Mou, and their original self were connected through the slice experiment, then announced that the experiment was about to end.

• Cheng Shi realized that Zainjil’s plan to piece together divinity was meaningless to Truth and suspected Wei Mu had called it a foolish act.
• 0221 accused the others of misunderstanding his path and revealed that he had endured faith tearing him apart because his mentor had taken an interest in Cheng Shi.
• Wang Mou concluded that 0221 was a composite of Prosperity and Decay slices, and 0221 confirmed that he had used the group to accelerate his experiment.
• Wang Mou asked why he had been named Wang Weijin, and 0221 explained that the name belonged to their original self and that the slices were named after people from his past.
• 0221 told Cheng Shi and Wang Mou that they were the same person across different slices and invited them to embrace evolution as the experiment neared its end.

Zainjil used 0221 and the Abnormal Mother Tree to lure Cheng Shi into a body-theft scheme, but the attack failed to kill him. Cheng Shi returned in a new mask and charged 0221 as the battle against the Abnormal Mother Tree began.

• Cheng Shi realized Zainjil intended to seize his body, though Zainjil wanted it for its suitability rather than its hidden authorities.
• 0221 caused the Abnormal Mother Tree to teleport beside Cheng Shi and Wang Mou, then detonated its tumor and trapped the real-world space in tentacles.
• Wang Mou emerged from the shadows without Cheng Shi and saw that the Abnormal Mother Tree was made from Newborns and the remains of Birth players.
• Cheng Shi reappeared behind Wang Mou, wounded but alive, and revealed that he had changed into a Pointer Knight mask during the explosion.
• Cheng Shi charged toward 0221 through the tentacle barrage, while 0221 welcomed the chance to experiment on Cheng Shi's body.

Cheng Shi revealed that he had spliced with Decay as he and Wang Mou attacked 0221, who then unleashed his army of slices. Hu Wei intervened with a blazing giant sword to shield Cheng Shi, after secretly reaching the experiment’s core and finding Zainjil there.

• 0221 formed giant tentacle hands and tried to merge with the Abnormal Mother Tree while attacking Cheng Shi.
• Wang Mou stabbed at 0221, but Cheng Shi pulled him from the shadows and used the Doctor’s Decay-tainted blade to reveal his own Decay power.
• 0221 recognized Cheng Shi’s splicing and released his army of slices, which launched a barrage of attacks at Cheng Shi.
• Hu Wei’s giant sword unlocked a blaze that burned away the incoming attacks and protected Cheng Shi.
• Hu Wei was revealed to have reached the experiment’s core, where Zainjil had stored himself in reality after leaving the Dagger of Stars.

Cheng Shi, Hu Wei, the doctor, and Hong Lin fought 0221’s fused slices while searching for the greater danger beneath the Experiment Field. As Hong Lin charged at 0221, a bald man arrived and called Cheng Shi his brother-in-law.

• 0221 fused the slices into monsters that attacked Cheng Shi, Hu Wei, and the doctor, and Cheng Shi defeated his attackers first.
• Hong Lin arrived, and Cheng Shi directed her to strike the ground, but she could not break through it.
• Hong Lin used Cheng Shi as a weapon against 0221, then refused his Silent Infant Bell and charged back into battle.
• Cheng Shi realized the danger beneath the Experiment Field still had to be found, but he could not break through the ground.
• A bald man appeared, called Cheng Shi his brother-in-law, and asked where his sister was.

Cheng Shi’s team fought its way to the battlefield, where Chen Shi’s silence power helped create an opening to collapse the ground beneath the enemy. As everyone fell into the abyss, the pink-haired girl summoned a vast tree crown to save them, showing Cheng Shi that she had grown strong enough to rescue others.

• Mo Li led the players who stayed with him toward the battlefield, while many others refused to follow.
• Cheng Shi asked Chen Shi to silence everything beneath the ground, and Chen Shi’s punch temporarily stopped all sound and movement.
• Cheng Shi used Destiny Also Has Divergent Paths to make Big Cat fall toward the ground, and she smashed through it as he urged her not to turn back.
• The ground beneath the central area collapsed, sending players, tentacles, and rubble plunging into the abyss.
• The pink-haired girl raised a giant tree crown that caught Cheng Shi and the other living beings, and Cheng Shi recognized her growth as she met his gaze.

Cheng Shi realized 0221 had prepared the Experiment Field to help Zainjil descend, and Zainjil emerged as a False God and overwhelmed the players with divine power. Cheng Shi revealed that he had marked Zainjil for judgment, and the true Eternal Day and Sinful Progenitor Mother descended into the field.

• Cheng Shi recognized the rising vortex of desire and Abnormal Mother Tree as the eyes 0221 had prepared for Zainjil’s descent.
• Zainjil appeared as the Abnormal Mother Tree and vortex aligned, and his divine power forced the players to chant the hymns of Birth.
• Big Cat stood between Zainjil and Cheng Shi, but Cheng Shi stopped her before she revealed her identity.
• Cheng Shi told Zainjil he had been waiting for him to appear and activated Sinner’s Redemption after marking every tentacle in the Experiment Field.
• A crack opened in the void, and the true Eternal Day and Sinful Progenitor Mother descended into the Experiment Field.

Golis appeared in the space where Zainjil and Cheng Shi were, and Cheng Shi told Zainjil that Truth had abandoned him for taking the wrong path. As Golis waited silently, Zainjil began merging with 0221, who welcomed the fusion as a step toward Truth.

• Golis appeared alongside Hu Xuan after Cheng Shi summoned Golis while Hu Xuan was visiting Afros in the prison of time.
• Cheng Shi taunted Zainjil, arguing that Truth had withdrawn its protection because Zainjil had strayed from its path.
• Zainjil decided that his best chance of survival was to merge completely with 0221 and claim his identity as a player.
• Zainjil spat 0221 from his right eye and poured his consciousness into him, while 0221 laughed and celebrated the fusion.
• Golis surrounded the area without intervening as the crowd watched and a hidden struggle unfolded deep in the void.

Destiny, Memory, and Truth negotiated an exchange in the void while Zainjil and 0221 completed their physical fusion. As 0221’s hidden personalities attacked Zainjil with a Concentric Dagger, his plan to take Zainjil’s False God power reached its decisive moment.

• Destiny confronted Truth and called Memory out to make a deal, offering memories in exchange for the destiny he wanted.
• Truth asked Memory to set a price for a deal concerning a polluted artifact, and Memory requested toys borrowed from War.
• Zainjil and 0221 finished fusing their flesh, but 0221 suddenly attacked Zainjil’s consciousness.
• 0221’s hidden personalities wielded the Concentric Dagger to strike at Zainjil’s dominant personality and seize his False God power.
• The chapter revealed that 0221 had spent six months preparing this attack as his path to godhood.

Zainjil detonated himself to escape 0221’s attempt to kill him, and Golis dragged 0221, Cheng Shi, and Hu Xuan away before the Experiment Field collapsed. The survivors watched reality begin to mend as Mo Li’s team rushed to recover the experimental data.

• Cheng Shi recognized 0221’s plan to kill Zainjil with the Concentric Dagger and taunted him about his student’s betrayal.
• Hu Xuan descended from the sky and told Cheng Shi that Golis was waiting for an outcome: her birth.
• Zainjil let 0221’s dagger pierce him, then detonated himself, while Golis’s tentacles seized 0221 and carried him away with Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan.
• The Experiment Field stopped operating, its grotesque landscape withered, and reality began to mend under the influence of Existence.
• Mo Li’s team rushed to recover the experimental data, while Hong Lin returned to Tao Yi and remarked on humanity’s endless desire.

Hu Wei and Da Yi searched the ruined control center, where Da Yi found damaged manuscripts that Xie Yang seized. After Hu Wei learned Xie Yang had taken them for his neighbor Cheng Shi, he let him keep them, leaving Xie Yang wondering whether he had repaid Cheng Shi’s kindness or incurred another debt.

• Hu Wei and Da Yi reunited in the ruins and searched for anything useful, while Hu Wei told Da Yi that Cheng Shi had become one of their own.
• Da Yi found damaged manuscripts, but Xie Yang appeared from the shadows and took them.
• Da Yi confronted Xie Yang, who defended the manuscripts as something he needed, and Hu Wei stopped Da Yi from attacking.
• Xie Yang said he had to ask his neighbor before sharing the manuscripts, and Hu Wei realized that neighbor was Cheng Shi.
• Hu Wei let Xie Yang keep the manuscripts and left with Da Yi, while Xie Yang wondered whether he could ever repay his debt to Cheng Shi.

Cheng Shi woke on Dolgo D and discovered that Hu Xuan had transformed through Birth by giving birth to herself. After Hu Xuan tested his identity and reassured him that she recognized him as Cheng Shi, she explained that Golis had unintentionally put him to sleep while adapting to a new body, then led him to see Them.

• Cheng Shi woke beside Hu Xuan and realized that an outside force had made him fall asleep.
• Hu Xuan revealed that she had completed her transformation by giving birth to herself, and Cheng Shi worried that Afros might be her birth father.
• Hu Xuan called Cheng Shi Foolish Play and asked whether he was Cheng Shi, a player, or a Them who had lost his memories.
• Cheng Shi admitted that he was both himself and Foolish Play, while Hu Xuan said she wanted to speak with him on the path of Birth.
• Hu Xuan explained that Golis had unintentionally caused Cheng Shi to sleep while adapting to a new body, then led him to Them.

Hu Xuan told Cheng Shi that Birth had granted her a container that could turn accumulated faith into godhood fragments, bringing her closer to becoming the true Eternal Day. She explained that this process might reveal how divine accommodation worked, while warning Cheng Shi that her understanding was incomplete.

• Hu Xuan revealed that she had conceived a child with Golis while communicating with Birth and had received great benefits after finding Lucia for her Lord.
• Hu Xuan explained that Birth had granted her a Godhood Generator, which could produce godhood fragments from accumulated faith and help her gain authority as an emissary.
• Cheng Shi asked whether the container could be shared, and Hu Xuan teased him before clarifying that she could not manifest or hand it over.
• Hu Xuan described how believers' faith gathered in the container and dripped out as godhood, which could be assembled into authority by Lord of Grace.
• Hu Xuan proposed that accommodation involved containers for godhood, that places such as the Tower of Reason could make only False Gods, and that an unspeakable existence might have created all containers.

Cheng Shi learned how Hu Xuan and Golis exchanged memories and gave birth to new versions of themselves, then followed Hu Xuan to the Divine Nurturing Church. Afros detected time’s power in Cheng Shi and accused him of siding with the force that had imprisoned them.

• Cheng Shi realized the Tower of Reason’s attempt to create a vessel had been cut short when he killed the people and materials involved in Therius’s experiment.
• Hu Xuan explained that she and Golis gave birth to new versions of themselves after exchanging memories, and that she later fused with herself to withstand Afros’s aura.
• Cheng Shi followed Hu Xuan into the Divine Nurturing Church, where Zainjil hung upside down from the ceiling and Afros paced beneath him.
• Afros greeted Cheng Shi, sensed the scent and power of time on him, and accused him of siding with their enemy, who had shattered his Mask.

Cheng Shi convinced Afros that his apparent closeness to time was part of a plan to understand their common enemy and win back their lost dignity. As they prepared to discuss Zainjil, Afros revealed another stowaway hidden in the Grand Scholar’s eye: Wei Mu.

• Cheng Shi told Afros that he had not been imprisoned by time and was using his freedom to help them reclaim their dignity.
• Cheng Shi explained that Deception had stolen time’s authority and granted it to him, allowing him to pose as time’s believer and study its will.
• Cheng Shi suggested that Afros and Hu Xuan might also be following paths intended by their Lord of Grace, Birth, and Afros asked to hear his latest insights.
• Cheng Shi proposed discussing how to deal with Zainjil, but Afros warned that another stowaway was hidden inside the Grand Scholar.
• Afros forced a battered puppet out of Zainjil’s right eye, and Cheng Shi recognized it as Wei Mu.

Cheng Shi welcomed Wei Mu, the battered puppet and Chosen of Folly, as a guest and learned of his interest in Gao Ya’s research on Silence. He challenged Wei Mu to reveal the vessel inside him, and Wei Mu confirmed that Cheng Shi had seen through a secret.

• Wei Mu rose after surviving the attack, identified Dolgo D, and addressed Cheng Shi, Hu Xuan, and Afros as esteemed emissaries.
• Cheng Shi accepted Wei Mu as a friend, and Afros brought them to the terrace for dinner.
• Wei Mu explained that he had studied Gao Ya’s experiment about whether Silence was a pure observer and asked the gods to confirm its conclusion.
• Cheng Shi said Silence permitted Fusion with Decay and offered Wei Mu further knowledge in exchange for demonstrating his abilities.
• Cheng Shi asked where the vessel inside Wei Mu came from, and Wei Mu admitted that Cheng Shi had noticed it.

Wei Mu explained how he obtained his container, shocking Cheng Shi, Hu Xuan, and Afros with his account of Folly. Cheng Shi then revealed that Folly had used up all his authority, leaving the others to wonder what had happened to it.

• Cheng Shi questioned Wei Mu about his container, and Afros and Hu Xuan watched with interest.
• Cheng Shi threatened to dismiss Wei Mu if he lost interest, so Wei Mu agreed to cooperate and explain himself.
• Wei Mu said Folly had summoned him, but he had scorned Folly’s incompetence and demanded his authority; because Folly had none, Wei Mu received only a container.
• Afros was stunned and asked what had happened to Folly’s authority.
• Cheng Shi said Folly had used it all up and demonstrated by spilling the wine from his glass.

Cheng Shi questioned Wei Mu about how he had gathered faith and learned that Wei Mu had built a following through praise and replicated a method for creating composite divinity. Wei Mu recounted an early conversation with Folly that led Cheng Shi to suspect Folly had investigated the Slice Universe and sacrificed his authority to uncover the truth.

• Afros asked Cheng Shi how his Lord of Grace had lost his authority, and Cheng Shi implied that the matter involved Him.
• Cheng Shi asked Wei Mu how he had obtained faith, and Wei Mu explained that praise for his Folly believers had provided recognition he could refine into divinity.
• Wei Mu said he had concealed his research by letting Experiment 0221 take credit for discovering composite divinity while he supplied divinity behind the scenes.
• Wei Mu recalled that Folly had summoned him early, after which Wei Mu asked why Folly had allowed the other fifteen gods to stand as his equals.
• Wei Mu repeated Folly’s explanation that becoming a god was a foolish act and that he had to be the first fool to know he was one.
• Cheng Shi suspected Folly had lost his authority while investigating whether the gods and universe were part of a greater Slice Experiment.

Cheng Shi revealed the Origin to Wei Mu and gave him a way to return to the terrace banquet, then discussed plans for Afros to escape his prison. The chapter ended with Cheng Shi proposing that Afros become the boss of a group of wage slaves, starting with Zainjil and the Grand Scholar.

• Cheng Shi tested whether Wei Mu was a puppet controlled by someone else, and Wei Mu revealed that the puppet was his real body.
• Wei Mu received a silver coin from Dolgo D as a ticket to return to the terrace banquet, then learned the Origin's divine name and its connection to Folly's lost authority.
• Cheng Shi asked Wei Mu what he intended to do with the blasphemer he had sent over, and Wei Mu explained that he had considered helping Afros become a player but abandoned the plan.
• Afros admitted he might have accepted merging with a blasphemer to leave his prison, but he gave up the idea because Hu Xuan might report his actions to her mother.
• Cheng Shi proposed that Afros become the boss of a group of wage slaves, with Zainjil and the Grand Scholar as workers.

Cheng Shi persuaded Afros to let Zainjil research the fusion of opposing faiths in Dolgo D, while Wei Mu and Hu Xuan considered the revelations about the coming Nothingness. The chapter ended with Cheng Shi asking Afros and Hu Xuan to arrange a meeting with the Lord of Grace, Birth.

• Cheng Shi proposed that Afros provide Zainjil with the resources to research merging opposing faiths, while Wei Mu developed a method for combining divinity in non-divine bodies from the experiment’s data.
• Cheng Shi warned Afros that the Nothingness at the end of the Void Era might be more dangerous than the gods expected and said he was preparing for a possible dead end.
• Wei Mu reflected on the relationship between eras and epochs, while Hu Xuan silently questioned whether Cheng Shi was telling the truth.
• Afros accepted Cheng Shi’s proposal but cautioned that the Lords of Grace would have to consent to any fusion of faiths.
• Cheng Shi offered to lobby Birth and asked Afros and Hu Xuan to arrange a meeting with their Lord of Grace.

Cheng Shi arranged an audience with Birth to learn about the Source Beginning, while Afros enlisted Wei Mu to help study truth-related matters in Dolgo D. Cheng Shi reached Birth, but his attempt to speak devoutly was cut short by the god’s impatient demand that he get to the point.

• Cheng Shi asked Hu Xuan to arrange a visit to Birth so he could learn about the Source Beginning and test the Lords of Grace of Nothingness.
• Hu Xuan immediately vanished with Cheng Shi, leaving Afros and Wei Mu behind at the table.
• Afros offered to tell Wei Mu something he wanted to know if he helped study truth-related matters and passed the research to Cheng Shi.
• Afros named the new tribunal the Honesty Tribunal and told Wei Mu to help Zainjil begin an experiment in Dolgo D.
• Birth’s divine pillar battered the surrounding space and asked Cheng Shi what business brought him there.
• Cheng Shi began to praise Birth, but the god told him to say what he wanted.