Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu accepted that Li Hua and Qianhuan could not be saved and vowed to make the Emperor pay, while Fang Qing declared war on the Copper Furnace. After Gu Mo arrived, Lin Yu recounted the events that led to Li Hua’s death and learned that the Night Watchers’ Carrier Pigeon had also died, leaving Lin Yu likely to face an investigation upon his return.

• Lin Yu admitted that he could not save Li Hua and Qianhuan and vowed to make the Emperor pay for their deaths.
• Fang Qing declared Order irreconcilable enemies with the Copper Furnace, then used his Rules to take Old Zhou away.
• Grandmaster Gu Mo arrived, and Lin Yu explained how the Secretary’s item had dragged him and Li Hua into the Emperor’s Heart Domain and Divine Kingdom Projection.
• Lin Yu told Gu Mo that Li Hua and the Magician had died while sending Lin Yu and the Prisoner to safety, and that a Freedom Alliance Player had taken the Prisoner away.
• Gu Mo said Carrier Pigeon had died while guiding others out of the collapsing space, leaving Yin Lan as the only likely witness for Lin Yu before an investigation.

In Shenzhen, Yin Lan brought Lin Yu breakfast while he remained under house arrest pending an investigation, and they discussed the deaths and political consequences of the recent disaster. Yin Lan shared memories of Knight before telling Lin Yu she had submitted Li Hua’s evidence and report, and that he might be released by noon.

• Yin Lan brought lamb shumai and liquor to Lin Yu, who was staying in a hotel room while Order investigated him.
• Yin Lan told Lin Yu about the casualties among Order, the Night Watcher, the Player Mutual Aid Society, the Psychology Society, and the Marauders.
• Lin Yu explained how Diviner’s actions and the losses had affected the balance of power, while Yin Lan lamented the deaths and her inability to prepare for them.
• Yin Lan recalled her friendship with Knight and how he used to bring her lamb filling for shumai.
• Yin Lan told Lin Yu that she had submitted Li Hua’s evidence and her report, and that he could be released as early as noon.

Lin Yu discussed the organization’s internal adjudication with Yin Lan and worried that his unusual reasoning about Secretary’s death could confuse blind reviewers. Professor confirmed the blind review had ended and assigned Lin Yu to lead a task force entering the Barren Realm that night, while Lin Yu planned to handle personal matters once the resolution was published.

• Yin Lan explained the three stages of Order’s internal adjudication and reassured Lin Yu that the process would likely clear him that day.
• Lin Yu warned Yin Lan that blind reviewers might doubt his report because his deduction from Sherlock’s “VII/120” clue to Veil Valetti depended on knowing who had set the puzzle.
• Lin Yu inferred that Professor might give him a mission that day, and Professor’s message soon confirmed the blind review had concluded and the resolution stage was beginning.
• Professor instructed Lin Yu to enter the Barren Realm that night and lead a task force investigating outstanding matters related to Secretary’s death, and arranged for a Remote Teaming Item.
• Lin Yu asked Yin Lan to tell Professor that he would leave after the resolution was published to handle personal matters and would collect the teaming Item himself.

Lin Yu questioned Professor about publicly revealing Secretary’s betrayal, and Professor explained that the truth would prepare Order for the turmoil ahead and help rebuild Lin Yu’s trust. As Professor assigned a team for Lin Yu’s next mission, Lin Yu proposed bringing Schreiber, leaving Professor and Yin Lan stunned.

• Lin Yu asked Professor why Order had disclosed that Secretary had been an undercover agent, and Professor said he wanted Order to become more united and ready for the coming upheaval.
• Professor told Lin Yu that exposing the truth also helped restore his trust in Order after he had fulfilled his promise to catch the undercover agent and murderer.
• Professor gave Lin Yu a Team-up Card and named Ren Gu, Loquat Candy, Good Night, Paper Kite, and Xiao Nian as possible mission partners.
• Lin Yu recommended Yin Lan as a partner, and Professor allowed him to choose and add companions for the mission.
• Lin Yu asked to bring someone from outside Order, then revealed that he wanted Schreiber to join them, surprising Professor and Yin Lan.

Lin Yu persuaded the Professor to let Schreiber support the Barren Realm operation, citing their soul connection and Schreiber’s influence there. The Professor then revealed that the Secretary likely worked with the Barren Realm’s Supreme Evolution on knowledge used to create Deities.

• Lin Yu told the Professor that Schreiber would join the operation only as support and asked him to warn the other members not to attack Schreiber.
• Lin Yu explained that an accident had linked his soul with Schreiber’s and demonstrated the Mental Power techniques he had learned from him.
• Lin Yu argued that Schreiber’s ties to the Truth Company and the Nightless Sky Family would complement Xiao Nian’s connections to the Universal Chamber of Commerce, persuading the Professor to allow his cooperation.
• The Professor explained that the operation concerned the Secretary’s knowledge of Authority and the Barren Realm’s manufactured Deities, which confirmed that Deities could be created through technology.
• The Professor concluded that the Secretary had probably once worked with the Barren Realm’s Supreme Evolution.

The Professor explained that Supreme Evolution’s destruction stemmed from its founder’s forbidden authority-based abilities, and that its research survived through the Secretary and the God Creation Project. Lin Yu connected the company’s fall to Truth Company and the Nightless Sky Family, then revealed that Schreiber could meet directly with the family head.

• The Professor described Supreme Evolution’s former prominence and argued that the Secretary’s ideas and the God Creation Project drew on its theories.
• The Professor explained that the Creator’s authority-based abilities led the Royal Noble family to destroy Supreme Evolution through a swift company war.
• The Professor said he and Lin Yu needed to trace the Secretary’s links to Supreme Evolution through Copper Furnace while he continued studying the God Creation Project.
• Lin Yu identified Truth Company and the Nightless Sky Family as the forces that led Supreme Evolution’s destruction and said the family head had gained the Creator’s authority research.
• Lin Yu argued that Schreiber could help the investigation because he, like Sherlock, could meet directly with the head of the Nightless Sky Family.

After securing time away from Order, Lin Yu visited Skinner’s bar as Schreiber and received Second Generation Freud’s invitation to join the Psychology Society and face a Trial in the Mist Island Realm. He accepted the Trial and invited Freud and trusted Society members to accompany him there to deal with a persistent threat.

• The Professor accepted Lin Yu’s guarantee, and Good Night notified him that he was cleared to leave; Yin Lan returned to Rongcheng.
• Lin Yu assumed Schreiber’s identity and went to Skinner’s bar, where Skinner said Second Generation Freud had expected him.
• Skinner played Freud’s recorded message: she acknowledged Schreiber as Mr. Zheng’s true inheritor and invited him to join the Psychology Society and face her Trial in the Mist Island Realm.
• Skinner gave Lin Yu Freud’s [Team-up Card], and Lin Yu asked him to record a video reply.
• Lin Yu accepted Freud’s Trial, said he would consider joining the Society, and invited her and trusted members to travel with him to the Mist Island Realm to eliminate a persistent threat.

Lin Yu visited the troubled God of Cookery and made him lotus root and pork rib soup while encouraging him to focus on what he loved instead of worrying about getting stronger. Xiao Yun returned from the Prison Mountain Realm with part of the Demon Ancestor’s remains and its Inner Core, but had found neither Qianhuan’s nor the Gambler’s body.

• Lin Yu left Skinner's bar with a Team-up Card from the Second Generation "Freud" and planned for the upcoming trials and missions.
• Lin Yu, appearing as "Zhu Ming," visited the God of Cookery, who was anxious about how to grow stronger and distressed by the news about Qianhuan.
• Lin Yu cooked soup for the God of Cookery and urged him to rest and keep making food rather than fixating on unlocking a Heart Domain.
• Xiao Yun arrived soaked from the Prison Mountain Realm and gave the God of Cookery usable parts of the Demon Ancestor’s remains.
• Xiao Yun gave Lin Yu the Demon Ancestor’s Inner Core, which contained Soul Fragments and Residual Consciousness, and explained that she had failed to find Qianhuan’s and the Gambler’s bodies.

Lin Yu returned to the Marauders’ boat disguised as Yayu while A'yu confronted the Diviner over the deaths of their members in the [Instance]. Lin Yu sided with the Diviner and blamed Order, leaving A'yu’s doubts unresolved.

• Lin Yu left the God of Cookery’s home with Demon Ancestor Gantuo’s inner core and used the [Mask] to take Yayu’s appearance.
• A'yu questioned the Diviner about why the Marauders’ members had died in the [Instance], while Ling Xian and Celestial King reacted to her accusations.
• The Diviner apologized and claimed he had prepared a way for the members to escape, but Order had stopped him.
• A'yu told the Diviner that Order had reported the low-tier members’ souls collapsed because of time bombs planted by him, and he accused Order of trying to turn them against each other.
• Lin Yu entered the boat, and A'yu embraced him in relief before asking who had caused the others’ deaths.
• Lin Yu blamed Order for framing the Diviner and insisted that Brother Zhan could not have killed the Marauders’ members himself.

Lin Yu explained that Schreiber had killed the Marauders in the [Instance] and taken the Diviner’s prepared living beings, then revealed that Schreiber planned to cooperate with Order. After the others left, Lin Yu privately admitted he knew the truth behind the deaths and persuaded the Diviner that keeping him alive was a worthwhile investment.

• Lin Yu told A'yu and the others that Schreiber had killed the Marauders and stolen the weak living beings the Diviner had prepared, likely to make the Diviner look responsible.
• Lin Yu revealed that Schreiber was going to cooperate with Order, and the Diviner said he would investigate.
• Lin Yu explained that the Benevolent King's [Item] set had protected him from Schreiber's soul attack and requested the vacant Shenzhen Branch Director position and a secret of the Ten Realms.
• After Ling Xian, the Celestial King, and A'yu left, the Diviner confronted Lin Yu for knowing the truth and helping cover up his lie.
• Lin Yu said he held no grudge against the Diviner and argued that surviving the attack proved his value, making him worth the Diviner's investment.

Lin Yu secured the Diviner’s attention and received a Blank Dao Banner as a reward, along with permission to keep the Benevolent King’s Items. After returning to shore, Lin Yu considered the banner’s powerful abilities and planned to have it checked for hidden dangers.

• Lin Yu told the Diviner that his attention was enough of an investment, and the Diviner agreed to support him while warning that he needed to become useful.
• The Diviner gave Lin Yu a blank Long Banner and let him keep the Benevolent King’s Items, saying Lin Yu had earned the reward through his previous actions.
• The Diviner predicted Lin Yu would pass future Rank Advancement Trials on his first attempt and inevitably become a god, then said he would wait for Lin Yu at the finish line.
• A'yu and Ling Xian teased Lin Yu about what the Diviner had said as Lin Yu left the ship by rescue speedboat.
• Lin Yu recognized the Blank Dao Banner’s strong energy-storage potential and planned to ask Qin Siyu and Wei Jian to inspect it.

Lin Yu had Qin Siyu appraise the Long Banner, then asked Stiller to explain Supreme Evolution before his return to the City That Never Sleeps. Stiller revealed that Supreme Evolution survived as a fanatical underground movement, with former members and research bases still operating in the Great Wilderness.

• Qin Siyu appraised Lin Yu’s Long Banner and found no problems, and Lin Yu thanked her for helping him pose as the Director.
• Qin Siyu asked Lin Yu for a phone, and he agreed to buy one while telling Stiller to keep her from accessing Wi-Fi.
• Lin Yu told Stiller he was heading back to the City That Never Sleeps to investigate Supreme Evolution and asked what Stiller knew about it.
• Stiller explained that he was built with Supreme Evolution technology and had learned about the corporation through his work at the Truth Company.
• Stiller said former Supreme Evolution personnel and research bases remained active, and described the organization as a fanatical religious movement turned underground brotherhood.

Lin Yu learned that Supreme Evolution’s remaining followers might have been literally brainwashed by their mysterious founder, the Creator, and decided to seek authority-related technology. He planned to use Stiller to approach Paris under a new identity, sending him to play John H. Arthur.

• Stiller told Lin Yu about Supreme Evolution’s fanatical remnants and described a deadly encounter with three of them during a covert mission.
• Stiller explained that the Creator’s origins were unknown because he destroyed his alchemical equipment and identifying traits when he died.
• Lin Yu suggested the Creator might have literally brainwashed his followers and said an Otherworlder origin was now the likeliest theory.
• Lin Yu said he needed technology related to authority and planned to negotiate with Paris, though he doubted Paris or the Three Great Corporations possessed it.
• Lin Yu sent the pink Octopus to Stiller and assigned him to approach Paris disguised as John H. Arthur.

Lin Yu entered the memories of Gan Duo, who revealed that he had once been a player in an earlier version of the Death game. Gan Duo described how the game had begun eroding his world, leaving the fate of that world uncertain.

• Lin Yu extracted memories from the Demon Ancestor's Inner Core and entered the past experiences of Gan Duo.
• Gan Duo explained that he was not originally the Demon Ancestor and that his native world resembled Lin Yu's modern world.
• Gan Duo revealed that he had been a player in an earlier version of the Death game, which then involved only the Prison Mountain Realm and the Mist Island Realm.
• Gan Duo described the Prison Mountain Realm's earlier, habitable era, when it was called the Two Mountains Realm and nine kingdoms competed for supremacy.
• Gan Duo said the Death game had existed in his world for about nine years and already had more than fifty thousand players.
• Gan Duo explained that veteran players feared the Death game would eventually take control of their world, though they disagreed about what would happen afterward.

Lin Yu learned that Gan Duo’s attempt to use the Two Mountains Realm’s World Will against the Death game created World Malice and helped ruin that realm. Gan Duo also revealed that his world was destroyed after Players failed a final Instance, and that its Deities were controlled by the First Generation God of Game, a being Lin Yu’s world apparently lacked.

• Lin Yu asked Gan Duo what happened to his world, and Gan Duo said it ceased to exist after Players failed a difficult cross-realm Instance in the Death game’s fifteenth year.
• Gan Duo explained that Players had tried to oppose the Death game by using the Two Mountains Realm’s World Will, and that he merged its rejection and elimination aspects into himself.
• Gan Duo’s attempt backfired: the World Will split into the Heavenly Dao and the malice he embodied, warping the realm’s environment and living creatures and giving rise to yaomo.
• Gan Duo told Lin Yu that he had died and lost his Player status during the transformation, then remained sealed as World Malice for ages while his old friends brought him news.
• Lin Yu acknowledged Gan Duo’s suffering and asked whether becoming a Deity could resist the Death game; Gan Duo said Deities and Authorities had been controlled by the First Generation God of Game.
• Gan Duo said Lin Yu’s world seemed to lack the First Generation God of Game, leaving Lin Yu shaken by the discovery.

Lin Yu discussed the risks and potential uses of authorities with Gan Duo, then returned to the [Ancient Notebook] to tell Old Zheng and Fu Luo that the mole in 'Order' had been exposed. He planned to travel to the Barren Realm to investigate the 'Secretary' and 'Supreme Evolution,' and asked Fu Luo to help him look into his last visit to the City That Never Sleeps.

• Gan Duo told Lin Yu that his former world considered authorities harmful to the world, but Lin Yu argued that creating them might still help resist the 'Death game.'
• Lin Yu kept Gan Duo's consciousness alive in a sealed authority space, where Gan Duo accepted his situation as atonement for his past crimes.
• Lin Yu told Old Zheng and Fu Luo that the 'Secretary' had been the mole in 'Order' and that he and Li Hua had killed him and exposed his ties to the 'Copper Furnace.'
• Lin Yu said he had accepted a commission to travel to the Barren Realm and investigate the 'Secretary's' connection to 'Supreme Evolution' and the technology behind the 'God Creation Project.'
• Lin Yu asked Fu Luo to appear and help during the trip, including meeting the Nightless Sky Family Head and reenacting the circumstances of Fu Luo's last visit to the City That Never Sleeps.

Lin Yu arranged for Fu Luo and Old Zheng to help with his plans in the Barren Realm and explained that he had accepted Second Generation Freud's invitation to Mist Island. Old Zheng warned that the Trial and the realm were unusually dangerous, but Bai You exposed his claim that the Psychology Society had never explored beyond the Absolute Sea as a lie.

• Lin Yu asked Fu Luo to probe Nightless Sky Yong Lian for secrets, and Fu Luo agreed despite worrying that she would see through him.
• Lin Yu assigned Old Zheng to resume playing Schreiber while Hannah helped Stiller play Arthur in the Barren Realm.
• Lin Yu told Old Zheng that he planned to visit Mist Island with Second Generation Freud, undergo her Trial, and kill First Generation Jung.
• Old Zheng warned Lin Yu that Qiao Ke was unpredictable and that Mist Island's unexplored Absolute Sea made the plan especially dangerous.
• Old Zheng denied that the Psychology Society had explored beyond the Absolute Sea during his presidency, but Bai You appeared and called him a liar.

Lin Yu and Bai You questioned Old Zheng about his past explorations beyond Mist Island’s Absolute Sea and the deaths of First Generation Jung and Adler. Lin Yu believed Old Zheng’s account of Adler’s death but suspected Dead City might be the site of his coming Trial, leaving the possibility that Fluorvosamine could send him beyond the Absolute Sea instead.

• Lin Yu explained that Old Zheng’s accounts of his past were often distorted, and Bai You challenged his claim that the Psychology Society had never explored beyond the Absolute Sea.
• Bai You accused Old Zheng of being involved in the deaths of First Generation Jung and Adler, pointing out that he alone returned from both expeditions and that plans proposed by the dead Council members were abandoned afterward.
• Old Zheng maintained that Jung’s death had been unavoidable and that Adler had perished when they were caught off guard by Dead City; Lin Yu said he believed him.
• Lin Yu asked Old Zheng to tell him everything he knew about Dead City after their operation in the Barren Realm, since Fluorvosamine might choose it for his Trial.
• Bai You warned that Fluorvosamine might instead send Lin Yu beyond the Absolute Sea, where she had once survived, and Old Zheng argued that such a test would amount to murder rather than a Trial.

Lin Yu questioned Bai You about the First Generation God of Game, but she refused to reveal anything until after the Heaven Amusement Park. After Bai You left, Old Zheng explained that Fluoxetine had resisted his Oblivion Authority, leaving Lin Yu intrigued by the source of her ability.

• Lin Yu reasoned that Fluoxetine likely had a connection to the First Generation God of Game because she possessed and distributed Heaven Amusement Park tickets.
• Lin Yu asked Bai You about the First Generation God of Game, but Bai You said the information was forbidden and should remain unknown until after the Heaven Amusement Park.
• Bai You left the room, and Old Zheng admitted that he had known little about Fluoxetine despite her importance to the Psychology Society.
• Old Zheng explained that his Oblivion-based Asylum had never affected Fluoxetine, which had contributed to her killing him.
• Lin Yu wondered how Fluoxetine had resisted Oblivion without another Deity's power or Authority.

Lin Yu prepared to enter the Barren Realm with a cross-regional team and considered how to manage the group’s reservations about working with Schreiber. The team arrived at Xiao Nian’s private residence in the Great Wilderness, where she welcomed them.

• Lin Yu read the team chat as Good Night gathered six other members and announced they would soon enter the instance.
• Xiao Nian and Paper Kite appeared most likely to object to Schreiber joining the operation, so Lin Yu planned to limit direct contact between Schreiber and Order.
• Lin Yu used the Team-up Card, and the team was transported into a detached house in the Barren Realm.
• Ren Gu realized the house stood in the Great Wilderness, and Xiao Nian confirmed it was her private residence and welcomed everyone.