Recaps

Xiao Nian and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot continued fighting in a burning, poison-filled enclosure as alchemical turbulence pushed their equipment toward failure. Nightless Sky Fire Apricot decided she needed to escape safely, but used her own Supreme Alchemy to shatter Xiao Nian’s blade and send her flying.

• Xiao Nian and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot fought amid spreading flames, collapsing floorboards, rampaging specimens, and increasingly dangerous alchemical reactions.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot realized she had taken the fight too far and began searching for a way to retreat without either of them dying.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot concluded that she could not safely face Xiao Nian’s Supreme Alchemy without using her own.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot activated Life Spectrum Supreme Alchemy: Energy Infusion Enhancement, shattering Xiao Nian’s alchemy blade with a palm strike.
• Xiao Nian accused Nightless Sky Fire Apricot of being Gredo Mercury as the strike sent her flying backward.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot defeated Xiao Nian by flooding her with life alchemical energy, leaving her temporarily unable to fight while healing her injuries. Xiao Nian deduced Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s identity, and she admitted she had sneaked out before a tea ceremony lesson.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot struck Xiao Nian with Supreme Alchemy, overloading her alchemical components and temporarily shutting down her bodily functions while repairing her injuries.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot put out the fires around the office while Xiao Nian gradually absorbed the life energy and asked why she had been spared.
• Xiao Nian concluded that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot was not Gredo Mercury and identified her as a member of the Nightless Sky Family.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot dropped her disguise and admitted Xiao Nian had guessed correctly, though she said her clothes were only unchanged because she had sneaked out before a tea ceremony lesson.

Xiao Nian learned that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot had attacked her and Jo Solence as part of a test arranged by Schreiber, but chose not to report her. After Nightless Sky Fire Apricot left, Xiao Nian freed Jo Solence and Good Night from the Shadow Cage.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot admitted she was connected to the Nightless Sky Family and had been testing Xiao Nian, while Xiao Nian explained why she would not report her.
• Xiao Nian deduced that Schreiber had arranged the trial through Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, and she and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot agreed that she would report the attacker as a Supreme Evolution Remnant.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot left through a gap in the floor, and Xiao Nian wondered how Schreiber had persuaded her to help.
• Xiao Nian released Jo Solence and Good Night from the Shadow Cage, and Jo Solence thanked her for saving her again while Good Night remained asleep.

After Nightless Sky Fire Apricot withdrew, Xiao Nian and Good Night recovered while Jo Solence confronted the Universal Trade Association supervisors about the attack. Jo’s brother Jin Solence arrived and revealed that he had ordered the company’s response to the assassination attempt.

• The medical team treated Jo Solence and Good Night, while Xiao Nian’s injuries and alchemical components had already healed.
• Xiao Nian told Good Night that Schreiber had arranged for a Nightless Sky Family expert to test her, but they would publicly blame the attack on the Remnants of 'Supreme Evolution.'
• The Universal Trade Association supervisors knelt before Jo Solence and apologized for failing to protect her.
• Jo Solence credited Countess Arase Nian with saving her and ordered the Security Department to prepare a press conference and operations against the force behind the attack.
• The Security Department supervisor said the press conference’s contents had already been decided by someone above him.
• Jin Solence entered and told Jo Solence that he had made the decision.

Jin Solence arrived after the attempt on Jo Solence’s life and announced that the public culprit would be Supreme Evolution’s remnants, while privately allowing Jo to pursue the real culprit. Conception and Lin Yu then finished a staged performance agreeing to investigate the truth about Supreme Evolution, and Jin revealed an old rumor about its surviving successor.

• Jin Solence thanked Xiao Nian for saving Jo Solence and explained that he was preparing to cooperate with someone rather than start a war.
• Jin Solence gave Jo Solence permission to pursue the culprit privately but said the official explanation would blame Supreme Evolution’s remnants.
• Jo Solence revealed that Supreme Evolution’s remnants really had attempted to assassinate her, stunning Jin Solence.
• Jin Solence told Xiao Nian the old rumor that Supreme Evolution’s Creator had left a successor who would return to take revenge on the Three Great Corporations.
• Conception performed a speech pledging to help Lin Yu uncover the truth about Supreme Evolution, then admitted the performance had been planned with him.

After Conception’s exhausting performance, he offered to back up Lin Yu’s team if they encountered a dangerous opponent. He suggested that the long-dead Creator might reappear to defend Supreme Evolution’s legacy, leaving Lin Yu wondering whether Conception’s dramatic predictions could be right.

• Conception said his performance had left him mentally exhausted and invited Lin Yu to get food with him, but Lin Yu declined.
• Conception promised to act as the Protagonist Team’s strongest outside backup if they faced enemies they could not handle.
• Conception warned Lin Yu that the Death game might send powerful opponents against them, including the Creator, Supreme Evolution’s long-dead founder.
• Conception speculated that Schreiber might have been the First Generation Freud in disguise when he claimed Freud’s legacy on Mist Island.
• Lin Yu began to wonder whether Conception’s unusual intuition was accurate.

Conception told Lin Yu several rumors that the Creator had survived and might return, while Lin Yu privately remained certain that Nightless Sky Yong Lian had ensured the Creator’s downfall. Lin Yu agreed to watch for clues during their investigation of Supreme Evolution and gave the hungry Conception a voucher for a meal.

• Conception argued that the Creator was more likely than Freud to appear in a dramatic return-from-the-dead plot.
• Conception shared rumors that the Creator had escaped, been imprisoned, hidden in the Great Wilderness, or been secretly kept alive by his followers.
• Lin Yu concluded that Nightless Sky Yong Lian would not have allowed the Creator to survive, but agreed to look for information while investigating Supreme Evolution.
• Conception explained that, as an unregistered resident, he usually traded performances for food.
• Lin Yu gave Conception an Asset Points voucher, and Conception announced he would eat at the best restaurant in the Inner City.

Lin Yu freed Ren Gu after Conception left, and the two discussed how they might use Conception’s help while continuing their investigation. At another site, Yin Lan, Paper Kite, and Loquat Candy realized the records they had collected could help the organization understand the Three Great Corporations’ strategies during the transfer of power.

• Lin Yu untied Ren Gu after Conception had gone, and Ren Gu praised Lin Yu for persuading Conception to help their operation.
• Ren Gu and Lin Yu agreed that Conception might be useful in a crisis, though his unusual outlook and unregistered status limited his value to the investigation.
• Lin Yu dismissed the possibility that the Creator could return but warned that a Second-Generation Creator might lead the Remnants of Supreme Evolution.
• Yin Lan, Paper Kite, and Loquat Candy ate barbecue at an Outsourced Research Institute and worried that they had found no direct clues about Supreme Evolution.
• Loquat Candy explained that the team’s collected site records could help the organization analyze the Three Great Corporations’ strategies and prepare for changes in the Barren Realm.

Loquat Candy and his companions questioned a research laboratory manager who suspected their rapid inspections were tied to a major shift involving Supreme Evolution. The manager shared Viscount Patman’s theory that the Truth Company might use Artificial Humans technology to recreate a controllable Creator and rehabilitate Supreme Evolution, then asked what the inspections were seeking.

• After reviewing the laboratory inventory, Loquat Candy, Yin Lan, and Paper Kite prepared to leave, but the manager asked them to stay.
• The manager tried to bribe Yin Lan for information about Universal Trade Association plans concerning Supreme Evolution, but she refused.
• Loquat Candy learned the manager’s watch had been given to him by Viscount Patman’s son and suggested the manager ask his schoolmate for information.
• The manager explained that the inspection permits had been approved unusually quickly and said Viscount Patman wanted to know whether he was in the way of the people behind the inspection team.
• The manager proposed that the Truth Company might be arranging President Paris’s quiet departure and planning to recreate a controllable Creator with Artificial Humans technology.
• The manager asked whether the inspections were searching for the Creator’s genetic traits or evidence that the Truth Company had used them illegally.

Order's teams compared intelligence about Supreme Evolution, Authority technology, and growing tensions between the Solence and Nightless Sky families. Schreiber joined their meeting and said President Paris had been framed, though the case might still connect to Supreme Evolution.

• Ren Gu, Lin Yu, and Loquat Candy compared their teams' findings, including attacks by Conception and the Nightless Sky Family and their discovery of undocumented, highly secure facilities.
• Xiao Nian reported that she and Good Night had secured Jo Solence's support and met Jin Solence, who seemed eager to blame their attackers on Supreme Evolution.
• Loquat Candy shared rumors that the Three Great Corporations might restart Supreme Evolution and that the Nightless Sky Family intended to resurrect the Creator; Ren Gu kept Authority technology as the operation's main priority.
• Schreiber arrived and said the rumor about President Paris killing Rainbow Light and Tennyson was false because Paris had been framed, though the case could still relate to Supreme Evolution.
• Good Night and Paper Kite objected to Schreiber joining the meeting because he had arranged the attack on them, while Xiao Nian said she had no objection.

Old Zheng joined Order’s meeting and warned that renewed interest in Supreme Evolution, combined with upheaval among the City That Never Sleeps’ ruling powers, could signal an approaching war. Order’s members began to accept his involvement, though Good Night remained concerned about how imminent the danger was.

• Order’s members split over whether Schreiber, played by Old Zheng, should take part in their meeting, leaving Lin Yu to decide.
• Lin Yu challenged Old Zheng’s arrival, and Old Zheng explained that he had assessed Order’s members and revealed himself because the operation’s circumstances had changed.
• Old Zheng warned that powerful companies and nobles were again pursuing Supreme Evolution, while recent events suggested that a major conflict could be near.
• Xiao Nian questioned whether the danger was truly serious, and Old Zheng cited long absences by influential leaders and an unprecedented murder as signs of a coming storm.
• Good Night, Paper Kite, and Ren Gu were partly persuaded, but Good Night asked whether war was really likely.
• Old Zheng described power struggles within the Five Great Families and said that renewed interest in Supreme Evolution could trigger a company or proxy war.

Lin Yu concluded that the City That Never Sleeps was nearing a major upheaval, possibly driven by the Royal Noble Family Heads and tied to Supreme Evolution. Old Zheng, posing as Schreiber, offered to investigate Paris’s case through his Nightless Sky Family connections, while the group suspected he was trying to involve Director.

• Lin Yu connected the Family Heads’ concentration of power, looming succession changes, and the Creator’s possible return to a growing risk of war in the City That Never Sleeps.
• Countess Arase Nian agreed that the city’s recent deaths, instability, and Supreme Evolution made Paris’s case too serious to treat as an ordinary incident.
• Old Zheng told Countess Arase Nian that he would pursue the case through his Nightless Sky Family connections because she lacked the access to investigate it herself.
• Ren Gu and Xiao Nian suspected Schreiber was plotting to pull Director into the investigation, and Good Night proposed sending Director to supervise him.
• Old Zheng denied asking for Director’s involvement and blamed Good Night and Dionysus for the suggestion.

Lin Yu persuaded Order to let him accompany Schreiber while investigating President Paris’s murder and possible ties to Supreme Evolution. The group accepted the arrangement, and Lin Yu expected his and Schreiber’s connections to help them uncover the truth quickly.

• Lin Yu argued that he should supervise Schreiber, and Schreiber warned that he could hide the truth without harming Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu countered that their shared soul link and Conception’s support would keep him safe, then offered to combine his connections with Schreiber’s to investigate President Paris’s case.
• Lin Yu and Schreiber privately coordinated their performance, and Schreiber agreed to work with Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu reassured Good Night and the other Order members that accompanying Schreiber was safe, then said he would return once they uncovered the case’s truth.
• Lin Yu told Ren Gu that the investigation would focus on Supreme Evolution and the Five Great Families, and that he and Schreiber could contact President Paris directly.

Lin Yu joined Stiller and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot at Supervisor Tennyson’s residence to investigate his murder, but their search uncovered no direct evidence. Old Zheng’s analysis of Tennyson’s habits led him to suspect the residence concealed a second gym underground, possibly tied to the mystery of Tennyson’s contact with the Rainbowlight Family.

• Lin Yu used the Mind-State Teleportation Gun to bring Old Zheng to Tennyson’s residence, where Stiller and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot had infiltrated through the Alchemy Pipelines.
• Stiller and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot reported finding no clues to Tennyson’s murder despite searching the residence and reviewing his belongings and research.
• Old Zheng concluded from the house’s extreme neatness and Tennyson’s habits that the late supervisor was a reclusive veteran who used cleaning and exercise to relieve stress.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot confirmed Tennyson’s military history and political connections, and said she was searching for evidence of private contact with the Rainbowlight Family.
• Lin Yu asked about an encrypted private communicator, but Nightless Sky Fire Apricot had found none.
• Old Zheng insisted Tennyson had another gym hidden underground, since the investigators had found no gym outside the basement laboratory.

Old Zheng used his psychological expertise to deduce that Supervisor Tennyson had a hidden training space in his home, and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot discovered its entrance behind laboratory equipment. The group opened a corridor leading into the hidden space, while Lin Yu refused Nightless Sky Fire Apricot's playful offer to trade for Old Zheng.

• Old Zheng deduced that Supervisor Tennyson likely had a private space for secret training and activities, probably hidden underground.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot reconsidered her earlier search and led Lin Yu, Old Zheng, and Stiller back to Tennyson's underground Alchemy Laboratory.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot moved the laboratory equipment and found a concealed seam in the wall behind it.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot opened the purely mechanical Hidden Door and revealed a corridor beyond it.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot asked Lin Yu to let Old Zheng spend time with her, but Lin Yu explained that he would not trade an intelligent being.

Lin Yu and his companions discovered that Supervisor Tennyson had hidden a mechanical door inside a silence-material Isolation Layer, then questioned whether Paris could really have killed Tennyson so quickly. They found another locked mechanical door beyond it, and Lin Yu summoned a professional to open it.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot found a purely mechanical hidden door, and Stiller explained how its silence-material construction concealed it from energy perception.
• Lin Yu, Stiller, and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot concluded that Tennyson was likely a formidable fighter and that Paris could not easily have killed him, raising suspicions about the murder.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot said she had sent Sherlock to gather evidence remotely and planned to investigate the cause of the incident.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot found a complex mechanical lock beyond the hidden door and admitted she could not open it.
• Lin Yu said he had a professional who could handle the lock and summoned a new figure.

Lin Yu brought Qin Siyu out to open Supervisor Tennyson’s mechanical lock, which she unlocked instantly. After Qin Siyu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot bonded over lock-picking and their names, Lin Yu opened the secret room, revealing a space larger than Tennyson’s entire mansion.

• Qin Siyu appeared behind Lin Yu and agreed to open the locked door.
• Qin Siyu examined the intricate lock, then opened it instantly with a push.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot praised Qin Siyu and asked her to teach her lock-picking; Qin Siyu agreed.
• Lin Yu explained that Qin Siyu was a bloodline princess of the fallen Great Rui Dynasty, while Qin Siyu said the title was useless and had nearly gotten her killed.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and Qin Siyu chatted cheerfully, and Stiller and Old Zheng commented on their rapport.
• Lin Yu opened the secret room, and its lights revealed a space larger than Supervisor Tennyson’s entire mansion.

Lin Yu and the others discovered Director Tennyson’s secret underground gym and laboratory, filled with rare alchemical equipment. Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and her companions began planning to take the unregistered machines, while Lin Yu reminded them they had come to investigate Tennyson’s secrets.

• Lin Yu, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, Qin Siyu, Old Zheng, and Stiller explored Director Tennyson’s underground space and found a gym, shooting range, and specialized alchemical laboratory.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot recognized several rare machines and eagerly admired the valuable equipment.
• Old Zheng pointed out that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot could inherit Tennyson’s possessions, and Stiller noted the machines appeared to be unregistered assets.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, Qin Siyu, and Stiller discussed secretly removing the equipment and taking it to Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s base.
• Lin Yu reminded the group that they had come to investigate Director Tennyson’s hidden secrets.

Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot investigated Supervisor Tennyson's hidden laboratory and found evidence that his advanced equipment and designs may have been connected to a partner called Mr. Candle. The chapter left Lin Yu examining the last surviving emails for more clues about Tennyson's secret.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot argued that the laboratory equipment could reveal Supervisor Tennyson's hidden identity, and Stiller agreed that its origins were worth investigating.
• Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot split up to inspect the laboratory, with Apricot testing the equipment while Lin Yu searched the terminal.
• Lin Yu copied the equipment records, design sketches, and fabrication logs, and noticed one armor design resembled armor from the battle with the Second Generation, "Freud," in Shenzhen.
• Lin Yu found three surviving encrypted emails between Supervisor Tennyson, using the name Dark Rock, and Mr. Candle, who had sent him a design proposal and warned him that someone was bringing up old matters.
• The emails showed that Tennyson had fabricated and tested equipment for Mr. Candle, and Lin Yu suspected they were long-term partners and that the warning might concern Supreme Evolution.

Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot uncovered evidence that Supervisor Tennyson had secretly worked with Mr. Candle, whom Nightless Sky Fire Apricot identified as Oumia Bosen, a former Supreme Evolution leader. They decided to draw Oumia Bosen out by targeting his remaining family.

• Lin Yu found an unread email in which Mr. Candle had warned Tennyson not to attend the exhibition, suggesting Tennyson had been an unsuspecting target.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot reported that Tennyson’s laboratory held pristine instruments and records of producing dozens of complex, military-grade alchemical devices.
• Lin Yu showed Nightless Sky Fire Apricot the emails and designs, and she explained that Oumia Bosen had been Supreme Evolution’s former third-ranking figure and spiritual leader.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot revealed that she had identified the black-market merchant Candle as Oumia Bosen by tracing his database intrusion and material purchases.
• Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot concluded that Tennyson’s death was connected to Supreme Evolution, and she proposed using Oumia Bosen’s uncle and younger sister to force him to appear.

Lin Yu’s group investigated whether Oumia Bosen cared about his family and considered how to contact him about the murder case. Old Zheng uncovered evidence that Supervisor Tennyson’s underground laboratory had belonged to a former Player, leading him to recommend showing Oumia Bosen goodwill rather than threatening him.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot said Oumia Bosen was close to his family, and Stiller confirmed that most of his assets had been transferred to his younger sister.
• Lin Yu decided to assume Oumia Bosen cared about his family and considered using threats to make him reveal what he knew about the murder case.
• Old Zheng identified equipment and electric lighting in Supervisor Tennyson’s underground space as remnants left by a likely Player from the Previous Version.
• Lin Yu and Old Zheng speculated that Tennyson and Oumia Bosen might have ties to Supreme Evolution and that Oumia Bosen could possess a powerful hidden trump card.
• Old Zheng urged Lin Yu to contact Oumia Bosen peacefully, proposing that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot help conceal Tennyson’s laboratory from the Three Great Corporations as a gesture of goodwill.

Old Zheng reflected that serving as Lin Yu’s adviser suited him better than leading the Psychology Society, then devised a plan to help Nightless Sky Fire Apricot clear out Supervisor Tennyson’s underground chamber. The group decided to use the Fairy Queen identity to approach Mr. Candle through the terminal Supervisor Tennyson had used, leaving them with a way to contact him despite his death.

• Old Zheng realized that being Lin Yu’s adviser let him analyze information and propose plans without bearing the burden of final decisions.
• Old Zheng proposed that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot remove the Alchemical Equipment, firearms, exercise equipment, and other objects from the underground chamber to protect Oumia Bosen’s secrets from the Three Great Corporations.
• Lin Yu warned that Oumia Bosen might interpret their actions as a threat, and Old Zheng suggested approaching him through the Fairy Queen identity to make him more cautious.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot agreed to let them use her Fairy Queen title and wondered how they could inform Oumia Bosen that the chamber had been cleared.
• Old Zheng proposed contacting Mr. Candle directly, and Lin Yu realized they could use the terminal through which Supervisor Tennyson had contacted him.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and Lin Yu finished dismantling and moving the cavern’s equipment while Qin Siyu teased them about trading intelligent raccoons. A Security Bureau inspection of Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s warehouse forced them to reroute the cargo to his base in the Great Wilderness, suggesting their plans had been reported by someone with inside knowledge.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s raccoons loaded the remaining Alchemical Equipment onto a boat and transported it through the underground waterways.
• Qin Siyu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot discussed trading raccoons for Old Zheng and Schreiber, but Lin Yu refused to trade intelligent beings.
• Pipi reported that Security Bureau personnel had surrounded Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s warehouse to inspect suspected substandard goods and scrap from the Three Great Corporations.
• Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot concluded that someone had learned about their movements and might be trying to obstruct them.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot decided to move the warehouse goods and the cavern cargo to his base in the Great Wilderness.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s group raced through the underground waterways with a fleet of raccoons and cargo, while the Captain explained his management tactics to Stiller. The group discussed Sherlock’s investigation into Paris’s case and suspected that the report against Fire Apricot’s warehouse was connected to it.

• The Captain urged the raccoons to paddle faster as their loaded boats traveled upstream through the underground waterways.
• Stiller asked why the Captain used human language to scold the raccoons, and the Captain explained that their own calls were inefficient and that Fire Apricot needed to see him working.
• The Captain told Stiller that visible effort mattered because a superior had to witness an achievement, and Stiller praised him.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot asked about Sherlock’s investigation, and Lin Yu sensed that Fu Luo had left his room and was near the Nightless Sky Family’s dining room.
• Fire Apricot hoped Sherlock would solve Paris’s case and identify who reported her warehouse, while Lin Yu suggested the report was likely connected to the case.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot moved the alchemical equipment to her hidden warehouse and prepared to meet Mr. Candle, while Qin Siyu showed an uncanny resemblance to her mannerisms. Meanwhile, Xiao Nian and Good Night prepared to infiltrate the Divine Power Tower through its ventilation ducts.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot led Lin Yu, Qin Siyu, and the summoned creatures to her hideout in an abandoned Divine Power Group mining district.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot used the warehouse terminal to email Mr. Candle, saying she had relocated Dark Rock's vulnerability and inviting him to meet.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot assigned Lin Yu, Old Zheng, and Stiller to pose as spare corpses, while Qin Siyu would impersonate the Fairy Queen.
• Qin Siyu imitated Nightless Sky Fire Apricot's mannerisms so convincingly that Nightless Sky Fire Apricot asked Lin Yu whether she was his daughter.
• Xiao Nian removed the alarm from the ventilation duct atop the Divine Power Tower and told Good Night to climb down carefully.