Recaps

Li Nian opened the door to Carriage One, where Baron Coleman explained that the Despair Furnace rewarded intense negative emotions with Ticket Fragments. Coleman deceived the furnace into distributing supplies and complete tickets, and the Players learned that tearing a ticket would summon the City That Never Sleeps VIP Express.

• Li Nian stole the lock’s core and bolt to open the door to Carriage One without triggering its alarm.
• The group found the Despair Furnace, a tank filled with living human heads, and Baron Coleman explained how the furnace powered the train and issued tickets.
• Lin Yu asked for the most efficient way to earn a ticket, and Coleman said they could deceive the furnace’s detection program.
• Baron Coleman produced convincing sobs, prompting the furnace to distribute supplies and Ticket Fragments that fused into golden tickets for the Players.
• Baron Coleman explained that tearing a ticket would summon the City That Never Sleeps VIP Express and provide safe, private travel.

Lin Yu persuaded the Players to stay aboard the Despair Train after securing their escape tickets, so they could pursue greater benefits and expand their influence. Baron Coleman asked each of them to reveal their true goals, and Fu Luo and Li Nian explained theirs.

• Lin Yu convinced the group to remain aboard the train, while Pan Yuqiang explained that staying in a relatively safe Instance could offer greater rewards.
• Baron Coleman assumed the Players had come for more than an escape route and asked them to state their real purposes.
• Lin Yu brought Fu Luo forward, and Fu Luo revealed that his Rank Advancement Trial required him to investigate three wrongful cases aboard the train.
• Li Nian said she had come to search the train for Truth Company's inventions and prototypes to steal.

Baron Coleman gave Chen Zhuo an Identity card and told the group where to find the Despair Train’s sealed Cargo Hold. After Li Nian, Wang Yuyang, Pan Yuqiang, and Chen Zhuo left, Lin Yu insisted that Fu Luo stay to hear the truth behind the wrongful case.

• Pan Yuqiang said she wanted the Despair Furnace’s blueprints or components, and Wang Yuyang agreed to help her obtain them.
• Baron Coleman gave Chen Zhuo an Identity card that let him move safely around the train, and warned him to avoid being caught in the coming pursuit.
• Baron Coleman revealed that the train’s former Cargo Hold, now a Warehouse above the carriages, held company equipment and the Despair Furnace blueprints.
• Li Nian and Wang Yuyang offered to oppose the president of Truth Company and his subordinates, then left with Pan Yuqiang and Chen Zhuo.
• Fu Luo tried to leave, but Lin Yu and Baron Coleman said he had to stay to learn the truth behind the wrongful case, while Pankto shut the door.

Baron Coleman recounted how investigating suspicious accounts at the Truth Company led him to uncover a secret Ghost Laboratory and a forbidden project. He revealed that the project used Professor Dort’s technology and was connected to Dort’s sole prized disciple, Veil Valetti.

• Baron Coleman explained that he had been falsely accused and that his grievance had led him to assassinate the Truth Company president.
• Eight years earlier, after becoming head of Independent Laboratory No. 7, Coleman discovered discrepancies between its funding records and expenses.
• Coleman investigated the discrepancies and found ghost employees and matching accounting problems across four of the Truth Company’s twelve independent laboratories.
• Coleman concluded that the hidden funds and personnel supported a secret Ghost Laboratory researching technology that had been shut down fifty years earlier.
• Coleman told Lin Yu that the forbidden technology came from Professor Dort and named Veil Valetti as Dort’s only prized disciple.

Lin Yu reunited Fu Luo with the story of Veil Valetti’s notebook and identity card, while their conversation exposed a mystery around May and the online detective Sherlock. Baron Coleman explained why Fear technology had been forbidden and revealed that a respected former researcher had died in a hidden laboratory at home.

• Fu Luo recognized Veil Valetti’s name and claimed he was the last person to have seen him, but Lin Yu showed him Veil Valetti’s notebook and identity card.
• Lin Yu and Fu Luo realized they both knew May, who had exchanged the items with Lin Yu after receiving help from Fu Luo.
• Fu Luo denied investigating Fluoxetine or the Psychology Society, leaving Lin Yu unsettled about who had been posting as Sherlock on the forum.
• Lin Yu asked Coleman about the forbidden technology, and Coleman explained that Fear research had been halted after Professor Dort died and Veil Valetti disappeared.
• Fu Luo suggested he might know the danger behind Fear research, but Lin Yu delayed his explanation to hear Coleman’s account first.
• Coleman said he had investigated the nonexistent laboratory and found that a retired researcher who had worked with Professor Dort had died in a laboratory inside his own home.

Baron Coleman explained that he had been framed for murdering researcher Reed Christopher and revealed that Veil Valetti’s Ancient Notebook could reconstruct the crime using his memories and company records. Lin Yu and his companions prepared to use the notebook under the Truth Company’s surveillance, while Coleman urged them to act quickly.

• Baron Coleman told Fu Luo and Lin Yu that he had been accused of murdering Reed Christopher eight years earlier.
• Pankto recalled that the Ancient Notebook had helped advance research at the Truth Company, and Coleman explained it could store and transform information, including memories and emotions.
• Coleman said they could reconstruct the murder using his memories, the notebook, and records accessed with Veil Valetti’s Identity card.
• Fu Luo realized the Despair Furnace monitored Carriage One through the company network, and Coleman admitted he had chosen the location so the Truth Company would witness their meeting.
• Coleman took the notebook from Lin Yu and said they needed to finish before the Truth Company intervened.

Baron Coleman used the [Ancient Notebook] to draw people into the memories of File L-269, and Lin Yu prepared to enter with him. Lin Yu awoke inside the Truth Company headquarters eight years in the past.

• Baron Coleman placed a memory fragment in the [Ancient Notebook] and used Veil Valetti's Identity card to unlock File L-269.
• Baron Coleman sent Fu Luo and Pankto's souls into the notebook, then explained that Lin Yu could eventually use it without undergoing modification.
• Baron Coleman summoned two Sentry robots to guard their bodies while they entered the notebook.
• Baron Coleman exposed Li Nian, who revealed she had returned from the Cargo Hold and agreed to protect Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu entered the notebook with Baron Coleman and arrived at the Truth Company headquarters eight years in the past.

Lin Yu and Baron Coleman used the Ancient Notebook to explore a remarkably lifelike reconstruction of Truth Company's headquarters and headed toward the crime scene. Meanwhile, Mr. Paris learned of the events aboard the Despair Train and ordered armed personnel to execute the intruders.

• Lin Yu and Baron Coleman arrived at the vast Truth Company headquarters reconstructed inside the Ancient Notebook.
• Baron Coleman explained that the Ancient Notebook was far more powerful than the memory-copying Universal Recording Paper and led Lin Yu toward the crime scene.
• Mr. Paris reviewed a recording from the Despair Train and noted that several people and important items had reappeared, while Dott's legacy had reached a woman from outside the company.
• Mr. Paris ordered Group Delta to deal with the intruders aboard the Despair Train and instructed the armed personnel to execute them on the spot.

Lin Yu and Baron Coleman reached the hidden laboratory where Reed Christopher had been murdered eight years earlier. Fu Luo examined the locked-room crime scene, where evidence had pointed to Coleman, and called it a standard locked-room murder.

• Baron Coleman led Lin Yu through Truth Company's headquarters to a disguised security door in a warehouse.
• Lin Yu and Coleman found Fu Luo and Pankto waiting at the laboratory checkpoint, which Lin Yu opened with a B-Class Permission card.
• Coleman guided the group through a hidden passage to Reed Christopher's laboratory, where they found Reed's body on an experimental table.
• Fu Luo noted that the laboratory had no ordinary exits besides its locked main door and the hidden passage, and Coleman explained why the evidence had made him a suspect.
• Fu Luo concluded that if Coleman was not the murderer, Reed's death was a standard locked-room murder.

Fu Luo reconstructed Reed Christopher’s murder and challenged Baron Coleman to reveal what he was hiding. Lin Yu realized that Reed’s friends and family had likely suspected Coleman because they believed he had a motive, but the reason remained undisclosed.

• Lin Yu reminded Fu Luo that supernatural elements could make the murder more than a conventional locked-room case, but Fu Luo said the investigators’ conclusions supported a trick rather than advanced technology.
• Fu Luo examined Reed Christopher’s body and reconstructed how a professional killer had stabbed him from behind while he worked at the laboratory table.
• Baron Coleman admitted he had learned to kill with knives and fists after joining a lower-district gang, explaining why the murder method had fit his style.
• Fu Luo accused Baron Coleman of concealing a crucial, unrecorded detail, and Lin Yu concluded that Reed’s friends and family must have believed Coleman had a motive.

Lin Yu and Fu Luo discovered that Baron Coleman’s flight and theft of Reed’s experimental data had made him a suspect, but also provided the clue needed to solve the murder. As Fu Luo asked where the murderer was, an outside attack distorted the laboratory, while armed intruders weakened the Ancient Notebook and the Despair Furnace aboard the Despair Train.

• Coleman admitted that he had fled after finding Reed’s body and failed to erase his access record.
• Coleman confessed that he had copied Reed’s experimental data, creating evidence that made him look guilty.
• Fu Luo said Coleman’s motive was the key to the case and that only one puzzle piece remained: the murderer’s location.
• The laboratory distorted, and Coleman recognized the disturbance as an attack on the Ancient Notebook.
• Three armed intruders entered Carriage One, used metal spheres to weaken the Sentries and the Despair Furnace, and found their firearms had vanished when they raised them.

Li Nian stole Group δ's weapons and communicator, then introduced herself as the Phantom Thief and tried to negotiate with the team. When the Deputy Team Leader revealed that his orders were to leave no survivors, Li Nian fought back, but he recognized that her knife attack was fast rather than unusual and ordered his team to protect their vital areas and kill her.

• Group δ's Deputy Team Leader discovered that Li Nian had taken the team's weapons and communicator while they remained conscious.
• Li Nian introduced herself as A Nian, the Phantom Thief, and offered to leave Truth Company alone in exchange for a little something.
• The Deputy Team Leader told Li Nian that his orders were to leave her alive for no one, and she guessed that the entire train had been marked for extermination.
• Li Nian drew a utility knife and cut the Deputy Team Leader's wrist before he could tell how she had attacked.
• The Deputy Team Leader concluded that Li Nian was merely fast and ordered his teammates to guard their vital areas and kill her.

Li Nian and Truth Company's agents stalemated while waiting for reinforcements, as Lin Yu and the others investigated Reed Christopher's murder inside the Ancient Notebook. Fu Luo proposed that the killer had manipulated the time-of-death estimate, but Lin Yu argued that the murder had not originally been planned as a frame-up against Baron Coleman.

• Li Nian and the Truth Company agents kept each other occupied, each expecting allies to arrive and turn the balance in their favor.
• Pankto and Baron Coleman found that the past inside the Ancient Notebook had stabilized, and Baron Coleman credited Lin Yu and Li Nian's friends with helping.
• Fu Luo explained the locked-room mystery and noted that the killer had little time to murder Reed Christopher and frame Baron Coleman.
• Fu Luo reasoned that the laboratory's low temperature could have made the estimated time of death inaccurate, giving the killer as much as an extra hour.
• Baron Coleman asked how the killer could have predicted his arrival, and Fu Luo said the new clue narrowed the suspects.
• Lin Yu disagreed with Fu Luo's conclusion, saying no one had deliberately tried to frame Baron Coleman when the murder occurred.

Lin Yu reasoned that Baron Coleman had been caught up in a murder plot by bad luck, though someone later exploited the situation to frame him. As the group wondered whether the Ancient Notebook could show events farther back, it began rewinding the scene and revealed a younger, panicked Coleman moving backward into the laboratory.

• Lin Yu explained that the killer’s original plan likely did not involve framing Coleman, who had been an unexpected variable.
• Coleman struggled to accept that the incident that began his downfall might have happened because of bad luck, then drew encouragement from Pankto’s much worse current state.
• Coleman decided to find the real culprit, suspecting that someone with greater authority had later taken advantage of the situation.
• Lin Yu said rewinding farther might reveal the crime scene, and the laboratory’s instruments began making distorted noises as the group became spectators.
• The Ancient Notebook rewound the scene and showed a younger, panicked Coleman moving backward into the laboratory.

Lin Yu and the others uncovered Minister Paris as the mastermind behind Reed Christopher’s murder, but the culprit’s revealed face matched Pankto’s. After they returned from the memory, Paris’s men attacked, and Coleman unleashed a swarm of explosive Calamity Series robots.

• The group found an unsent message from the off-site operative to Minister Paris, and Coleman recognized Paris as the man who had framed him.
• Pankto removed the operative’s mask and saw that the young man’s face was identical to his own before the memory ended.
• Lin Yu woke to find Li Nian surrounded by eleven armed men, and Pankto, Coleman, and Lin Yu joined the fight while Fu Luo hid.
• Lin Yu drove the attackers back with the Fear Torch as Li Nian fought and stripped equipment from them.
• Coleman called for Paris to reveal himself, and Paris sent a swarm of Calamity Series robots that attacked the armed men and began exploding.

Baron Coleman confronted Pankto over their past and the crimes Pankto could no longer remember, while Lin Yu and Li Nian learned the truth behind the robotic bees’ mental attack. Fu Luo recalled details of an old case that might help them investigate Pankto’s past, leaving them with a possible lead to pursue.

• Fu Luo explained that the robotic bees attacked minds and souls, and Lin Yu stepped forward to mediate after their victims collapsed.
• Baron Coleman accused Pankto of betraying him years ago, but softened when he remembered that the amnesiac Pankto was no longer the same person.
• Pankto agonized over his forgotten past and admitted he could not tell whether he had committed the crimes he was accused of.
• Baron Coleman described an old case in which Pankto had been blamed for destroying a residence and killing three women, including two minors.
• Fu Luo recognized the case as the deaths at the Heer Apartments and explained that he had memorized its file because he suspected it was suspicious.

Fu Luo deduced that Director Chide had planted the bomb that killed his mistress and daughter, then framed Pankto, whose name was cleared by Baron Coleman. As the group considered their next move, the leader of Group δ appeared and threatened to kill them all.

• Fu Luo deduced that Director Chide had planted a time bomb in his Apartment, stolen Pankto's weapon to frame him, and killed his mistress and ten-year-old daughter.
• Baron Coleman confirmed that Pankto had been falsely accused and apologized for suspecting him.
• Lin Yu noted that Sherlock had completed two-thirds of his mission, while Fu Luo and Baron Coleman warned that President Paris might have another plan and advised against retreating.
• The leader of Group δ appeared in Carriage Two and declared that he had enough power to kill everyone.

Lin Yu used the [Ancient Notebook] to withstand a powerful attack from Paris, then fooled him and the others into believing he had taken a Constitution Enhancement Potion. The belief of those present made Lin Yu’s temporary physical boost real, giving him a chance to fight Paris.

• Fu Luo urged the group to attack, but Paris swiftly struck Pankto and revealed how badly he outclassed him.
• Baron Coleman identified Paris as a former member of the Great Wilderness Special Operations Team, and Paris targeted Lin Yu next.
• Lin Yu used the [Ancient Notebook] as armor to endure Paris’s punch, while Paris hurt his hand on the notebook.
• Lin Yu claimed that he had taken a Constitution Enhancement Potion, and Fu Luo recognized the supposed potion as a powerful item sold by the Player Mutual Aid Society.
• Lin Yu’s scam became real through the belief of those present, granting him a temporary physical boost and the ability to fight Paris.

Lin Yu and Pankto battled the leader of Group δ until the Great Purge and the Wrath Throne turned the fight against them. Just as the leader armed himself with Calamity Series equipment, Li Nian revealed that their side had reinforcements too.

• Lin Yu used the Fear Torch to hold off the leader of Group δ, and Pankto joined him with the Short Staff until they reached a stalemate.
• Li Nian tried to steal from the leader while Baron Coleman realized he was waiting for reinforcements.
• The leader of Group δ triggered the Great Purge, unleashing Truth Company’s machines to attack everyone in the train car.
• A massive aircraft called the Wrath Throne tore off the train car’s roof, and the leader received equipment that transformed him into a humanoid weapon.
• Li Nian recognized a voice behind the leader and called on Brother Wang and Sis-in-law to take him down.

Wang Yuyang confronted the leader of Team δ on the Despair Train, while Pan Yuqiang revealed her power as the Executioner of the Gallows and captured him. The chapter ended with Pan Yuqiang asking Fu Luo to keep her identity secret as Wang Yuyang prepared to return to the carriage.

• Wang Yuyang arrived wearing rugged mechanical armor and blocked the leader of Team δ’s attack before charging into battle.
• Wang Yuyang overwhelmed the leader of Team δ and severed two of his mechanical arms, but the Wrath Throne supplied replacements.
• The leader of Team δ forced Wang Yuyang onto the train roof, where floating cannons attacked him, and Lin Yu stopped Pankto from rushing to help.
• Wang Yuyang called for Pan Yuqiang, who looped a hemp rope around the leader of Team δ and dragged him into the air.
• Fu Luo recognized the Gallows and identified Pan Yuqiang as the Executioner, and she asked him to keep her identity secret.

Lin Yu used the captured δ-team leader and Wang Yuyang’s credible threat to negotiate with President Paris, forcing the Wrath Throne to leave. The group was left with the unconscious captive and the machines temporarily suppressed.

• Pan Yuqiang kept the δ-team leader hanging until he lost consciousness, then lowered him and Wang Yuyang carried him to Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu explained that he wanted to use the captive to make the Wrath Throne leave, since Baron Coleman was strained from suppressing the berserk machines.
• Lin Yu called out to President Paris and offered to spare the δ-team leader if the warship withdrew.
• When Lin Yu threatened to have Wang Yuyang kill the captive, the Wrath Throne trembled and President Paris agreed to the deal.
• The Wrath Throne ascended, and Lin Yu explained that Wang Yuyang’s genuine killing intent had made the threat convincing.

Lin Yu used his [Collar] and [Tongue of Deception] to turn the captured leader of Team Delta into someone loyal to him, intending to question him about Truth Company and Pankto’s lost memories. The conversion succeeded, leaving the others shaken by Lin Yu’s terrifying ability.

• Baron Coleman and the others discussed whether to release the leader of Team Delta, and Lin Yu argued that he could reveal information about Truth Company and Pankto’s past.
• Lin Yu revealed that he had advanced as a veterinarian along the [Collar] path and planned to make the captured leader his pet.
• Despite warnings that the powerful, modified human would resist conversion, Lin Yu used [Tongue of Deception] to make the [Collar]’s success rate practically one hundred percent.
• The leader of Team Delta struggled as the [Collar] branded him, then became loyal to Lin Yu while retaining his memories.
• Fu Luo, Wang Yuyang, and Li Nian reacted with fear and amazement, while Pan Yuqiang found Lin Yu intriguing.

Lin Yu pressed Baron Coleman to explain his past, and Coleman admitted that he had pursued the Ghost Project for his own ambition rather than being an innocent victim of Paris. He revealed that the laboratory data contained Professor Dort and Veil Valetti’s discovery about Fear, leaving Pankto to learn how their past had been distorted.

• Lin Yu challenged Baron Coleman’s account and asked whether Coleman had known about Pankto’s role and the laboratory’s secrets before he was framed.
• Pankto asked Coleman whether Lin Yu’s suspicions were true, and Coleman admitted he had concealed unfavorable facts from him.
• Coleman explained that he, Pankto, and Paris had once worked together to rise within Truth Company, each driven by personal ambition as well as their original goals.
• Coleman revealed that he had entered Laboratory No. 7 specifically because he already expected evidence of the Ghost Project to be there.
• Coleman said Paris had planned to lure Reed away while he stole the project data, but he later realized Paris had used the scheme to kill his accomplices and claim a discovery about Fear made by Professor Dort and Veil Valetti.

Baron Coleman revealed the truth about Professor Dort’s legacy and asked Lin Yu to help Pankto escape and recover his memories. After learning he had a daughter, Pankto faced Coleman’s plan to stay behind as a diversion, but Lin Yu exposed that Coleman intended to blow up the furnace, making Pankto refuse to leave.

• Baron Coleman confirmed that Professor Dort’s research legacy was stored in his mind and asked Lin Yu to take Pankto somewhere safe so he could recover his memories.
• Coleman gave Pankto a golden ticket and urged him to leave the Despair Train, but Pankto rejected the gift and insisted he would leave on his own.
• Coleman told Pankto that he had a daughter waiting outside and argued that Pankto needed the chance to escape more than he did.
• Coleman explained that one of them had to remain on the train as a diversion, and Lin Yu guessed that Coleman planned to blow up the furnace.
• Pankto refused to leave after Lin Yu exposed Coleman’s plan.

Pankto and the others escaped the carriage after Baron Coleman revealed that he was dying and chose to stay behind. Coleman released his control over the machines and was engulfed by the swarm alongside the Despair Furnace.

• Baron Coleman told Pankto that his damaged brain left him little time and insisted that sacrificing himself was the only way for the others to escape.
• Pankto and Wang Yuyang tore their tickets, and Lin Yu learned that Baron Coleman had left the promised payment in the Ancient Notebook.
• Fu Luo realized that Chen Zhuo was still missing, but Chen Zhuo returned safely and Li Nian falsely claimed she had arranged his rescue.
• Chen Zhuo, Fu Luo, and the others tore their tickets and were taken aboard Special Car No. 008, while Pankto was pulled aboard first.
• Baron Coleman released his suppression of the machines and let the swarm engulf him and the Despair Furnace.