Chapter Summaries

Stiller used his assumed authority as Supervisor Arthur to secure access to President Paris at the Beverage Factory, while Lin Yu observed how effectively Stiller imitated a senior Truth Company supervisor. They reached the guarded conference room, where Vita and Stiller’s attendant remained with him as the other employees dispersed.

• Lin Yu judged that Stiller’s performance worked because his knowledge of the Truth Company and its hierarchy surpassed Lin Yu’s.
• After Stiller invoked Nightless Sky Huo Le, an intern hurried into the factory, and manager Vita came out to apologize for the delayed welcome.
• Stiller cautioned Vita about neglecting reception etiquette and insisted that Vita take him to President Paris rather than inspect the production line.
• Stiller persuaded Vita to describe the visit as a personal visit and warned him not to treat company politics as either too simple or too complicated.
• Vita led Stiller through the factory toward the heavily guarded conference room, and most of the accompanying employees dispersed when they came close.

Stiller brought Lin Yu and two disguised companions to meet Paris, who revealed that he had killed the heir to a ducal family. Lin Yu took over the conversation and claimed that a powerful figure above Nightless Sky Huo Le could protect Paris, leaving Paris begging for help.

• Stiller persuaded Team Leader Mark to let him and his companions enter after Nightless Sky Fire Apricot briefly revealed her identity.
• Stiller found Paris alone in the conference room, hiding from visitors and facing an impeachment effort by the Solence Family and family elders.
• Paris admitted that he had personally killed the first-in-line heir to a ducal family, making his troubles more serious than Stiller had expected.
• Lin Yu took Stiller’s place and told Paris that the person who sent him could easily suppress the case.
• Paris bowed deeply to Lin Yu and asked him to save him.

Lin Yu confronted President Paris about his staged despair and revealed that he represented a powerful figure from Paris’s own family. He used a distinctive alchemical saber and his history of killing nobles to convince Paris of his credentials, leaving Paris shaken and questioning whether the Family Head had arranged those past attacks.

• Lin Yu exposed President Paris’s act of appearing desperate and learned that Paris planned to stall until Nightless Sky Huo Le could protect him.
• Paris admitted he had not fully trusted Lin Yu, so Lin Yu called on Stiller to hand him a distinctive long saber as proof of his connection to the person he represented.
• Paris recognized the saber as that person’s handiwork, and Lin Yu said he had seized it for her.
• Lin Yu told Paris that the impeachment was manageable and cited killing several dukes and a royal-family Chosen of God as evidence of her protection.
• Paris recognized Lin Yu as the man behind the killings at Nightless Sky Fire Apricot’s birthday party and the attempted assassination of Alter Mercury, then asked whether the Family Head had arranged them.
• Lin Yu warned Paris not to assume he meant the Family Head and asked whether Paris had never suspected that person.

Lin Yu reassured President Paris that the Nightless Sky Family’s head still considered him part of her chosen team and asked him to explain how he had killed Duke Rainbowlight’s son. Paris described attending a Universal Trade Association product event, where he accidentally entered the Rainbowlight Family’s private room and found the duke’s second son speaking secretly with Divine Power Group representatives.

• Paris recognized Lin Yu as a dangerous and influential figure, and Lin Yu told him he knew the whereabouts of Nightless Sky Yong Shang.
• Paris outlined two ways to delay murder proceedings: become a Nightless Sky Family security retainer or have himself detained for falsifying his citizen class identity.
• Lin Yu told Paris that the family head still regarded him as part of her team for the next family head, then said Paris would assist Supervisor Arthur and provide conveniences to outsiders.
• Lin Yu asked Paris to recount the duke’s son’s death, and Paris explained that he had attended a Universal Trade Association product event to discuss business.
• Paris said he accidentally entered the Rainbowlight Family’s private room and discovered Duke Rainbowlight’s second son secretly meeting with people from the Divine Power Group.

President Paris recounted how he was framed for killing Duke Rainbowlight’s second son and a Divine Power Group supervisor, and Lin Yu verified his account with a lie detector. Lin Yu then told Paris that he needed his help secretly retrieving a technology from Supreme Evolution, promising that cooperation would help secure Paris’s position.

• Paris explained that he had fought back after the Divine Power Group supervisor and Duke Rainbowlight’s second son attacked him, then learned they had died from anesthetic overdose and blood loss.
• Paris said fabricated evidence and doctored surveillance made it appear that he had initiated the attack, leaving him unable to challenge the charges.
• Lin Yu used the Three-Minute Lie Detector to confirm that Paris had told the truth.
• Lin Yu asked Paris about his history researching Supreme Evolution and said he had been sent to find a key technology from its legacy.
• Lin Yu claimed the technology had been sealed by Nightless Sky Yong Lian herself and asked Paris to help retrieve it secretly, saying the task would help protect Paris from impeachment.

Lin Yu secured Paris's cooperation and accepted his gift of two rare oranges, then discussed the suspicious case with Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and Fu Luo. Lin Yu concluded that someone had altered Paris's perception, and Fire Apricot connected the technique to Supreme Evolution.

• Lin Yu assigned Paris to work with Arthur on inventorying Supreme Evolution's sealed facilities and legacy assets, and Paris offered him two prized Orange Kings.
• Lin Yu declined Paris's gift several times before accepting the oranges, then left the Beverage Factory with Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and Fu Luo.
• Fu Luo questioned how the incident had been orchestrated and whether Duke Rainbowlight's second son and the Divine Power Group Supervisor had also been victims.
• Lin Yu explained that Paris had told the truth as he perceived it, because the mastermind had altered his perception.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot said the technique resembled technology from Supreme Evolution, suggesting the conspiracy involved more than the Solence Family and the Technical Elders Faction.

Lin Yu and Nightless Sky Fire Apricot connected President Paris’s condition to Supreme Evolution’s cognition-altering Alchemy and planned an investigation into the company’s legacy. Before leaving, Lin Yu asked Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to investigate the deaths and later attack him and his companions on signal.

• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot explained that Supreme Evolution’s Dreamlike Illusion could distort perceptions and implant false sensations, and she suspected it had caused President Paris’s condition.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot linked the case to Duke Rainbowlight’s role in dismantling Supreme Evolution’s Alchemy and suggested a remnant might have helped drive the plot against Paris.
• Lin Yu left Fu Luo and Stiller with Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and asked her to investigate the two deceased, especially the Divine Power Group supervisor’s background and plans before his death.
• Lin Yu revealed that Stiller was an artificial human created by Paris with Divine Power Group using Supreme Evolution technology, giving Nightless Sky Fire Apricot another lead.
• Lin Yu asked Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to arrange an attack on him and his companions once she received his signal, and she joked that he had an unusual kink.

Lin Yu asked Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to fight Xiao Nian so he could assess her unusual abilities and behavior, and Fu Luo explained why her extreme detachment during a past mission had frightened him. Nightless Sky Fire Apricot agreed to push Xiao Nian to her limits without seriously harming her, then sent Lin Yu toward the outskirts with Bang Bang Dong Ge as his driver.

• Lin Yu explained that he wanted Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to fight Xiao Nian so he could observe her abilities and condition.
• Fu Luo recalled how Xiao Nian had returned alone to the collapsing ruins on Mist Island, precisely stopped the self-destruct mechanism, and seemed unaffected by the danger.
• Fu Luo said Xiao Nian’s weak sense of self and shifting detachment troubled him, and suggested that Lin Yu consult Old Zheng about a possible mental health issue.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot agreed to fight Xiao Nian the next day and promised to test her without endangering her life.
• Nightless Sky Fire Apricot summoned Bang Bang Dong Ge, who drove Lin Yu away in Fire Apricot No. 3.

Lin Yu’s group ate breakfast while Ren Gu briefed them on explosions and thefts at three Divine Power Group sites tied to Supreme Evolution. Lin Yu believed Schreiber had arranged the incidents to notify and test them, and the team prepared to verify his involvement while remaining wary of his intentions.

• Lin Yu returned from the Wasteland and spent the remaining hours before dawn meditating instead of sleeping.
• Good Night, Paper Kite, Loquat Candy, Ren Gu, and Lin Yu ate breakfast together, and Loquat Candy warned Good Night about his unhealthy eating habits.
• Ren Gu reported that three sealed laboratories tied to Supreme Evolution had been breached and their materials stolen, followed by explosions at several Divine Power Group factory sites.
• Ren Gu noted that the intruder had triggered no alarms and seemed to have caused the explosions to draw attention to the thefts.
• Lin Yu said Schreiber had most likely arranged the incidents as a notification and a test, and proposed that Xiao Nian and Dionysus return while he looked for traces of mental power in the city.
• Paper Kite cautioned the group not to assume Schreiber would remain on their side.

After a bombing at the Divine Power Group, Ren Gu reorganized the teams to investigate the site while the others surveyed Supreme Evolution locations and warehouses. Ren Gu and Lin Yu set out for the factory district, where they planned to examine Schreiber’s traces and assess whether he had left them a test.

• Ren Gu changed the plan, assigning himself and Lin Yu to inspect the Divine Power Group bombing site while Dionysus, Paper Kite, and Loquat Candy continued scouting Supreme Evolution sites and warehouses.
• Xiao Nian worried that Ren Gu and Lin Yu lacked combat strength, but Ren Gu and Lin Yu reassured her that they could defend themselves and might draw on Schreiber’s help.
• The teams entered the City That Never Sleeps, collected Alchemical Equipment, identity cards, work credentials, and encrypted communicators, then split up.
• Ren Gu and Lin Yu headed toward the Divine Power Group location and discussed whether Schreiber might have left puzzles or tests there.

Ren Gu and Lin Yu sought access to the Divine Power Group warehouse ruins, where an explosion and theft had taken place. Lin Yu bribed the suspicious detective with unregistered Asset Points, allowing them to enter while leaving the detective convinced they were up to something.

• Ren Gu and Lin Yu surveyed the destroyed warehouse and noted that no one had been killed in the blast.
• Officer Toke denied them entry because the Security Bureau had received no notice authorizing their investigation.
• A veteran detective questioned Ren Gu and Lin Yu, suspecting they might be connected to the explosion and theft.
• Lin Yu spoke privately with the detective and showed him a receipt for a substantial transfer of unregistered Asset Points.
• The detective lifted the cordon and let Ren Gu and Lin Yu enter the ruins.

Lin Yu and Ren Gu investigated the ruins where the Database had been stolen, confirming Schreiber’s involvement and entering the underground passage. Ren Gu revealed that his special gloves let him transfer matter into his Item Space, leaving Lin Yu impressed by the regional head’s abilities.

• Lin Yu explained why the detective had accepted a bribe, and Ren Gu offered to report Lin Yu’s mission expenses for compensation.
• Lin Yu claimed he had used A Luo’s Anonymous Card and said he did not want reimbursement for spending A Luo’s money on the organization’s affairs.
• At the former Database site, Lin Yu detected mental power and told Ren Gu it belonged to Schreiber.
• Lin Yu found a route through the rubble to the underground Emergency Passage, and Ren Gu used his gloves to erase a path through the debris.
• Ren Gu explained that his gloves used a Rule Code to transfer matter into his Item Space, where it became temporary Items.

Lin Yu and Ren Gu entered Supreme Evolution’s damaged Laboratory Data Center, where they found a copy of encrypted files left by Schreiber. Lin Yu realized another group may have entered the base and proposed checking the access-control records to confirm it.

• Lin Yu used Wind Veins Witchcraft to clear the dust around Ren Gu as they descended to the Laboratory Data Center.
• Lin Yu and Ren Gu found the entrance’s Metal Door torn from its hinge and the data center’s servers toppled.
• Lin Yu and Ren Gu entered the Control Room and found a coded raccoon drawing covering the undamaged main console.
• Ren Gu removed a storage device containing downloaded encrypted files, which Schreiber had left for them.
• Lin Yu reasoned that another intruder may have used high-level authority to disable alarms and damage the Control Room, and suggested checking the access logs and download time.

Lin Yu and Ren Gu investigated the control-room security logs and discovered a second intruder had arrived shortly before them. The intruder seized Ren Gu and vanished, leaving Lin Yu to head alone to the Shadow Lamp Bar in search of him.

• Lin Yu found that the first intruder had used high-level access early in the morning, while a second intruder triggered an alarm nearly six hours later and entered about twenty minutes before Lin Yu and Ren Gu arrived.
• Ren Gu used a Rule to reveal a powerful life force concealed beneath the main control console, where an unseen intruder grabbed Lin Yu and demanded that he come alone to the Shadow Lamp Bar in one hour.
• When Lin Yu resisted, the intruder released him and seized Ren Gu instead, then disappeared with him from the cramped space beneath the console.
• Lin Yu concluded that the intruder was likely a Player and decided to go alone to the Shadow Lamp Bar in the Outer City to find Ren Gu and learn the intruder's purpose.

Xiao Nian brought Good Night to meet Jo Solence, her business partner and the head of the Universal Trade Association's Great Wilderness Business Development Department. Jo welcomed them to her lavish office and asked Xiao Nian what business had brought her there.

• Good Night and Xiao Nian arrived at the Universal Trade Association's Inner City building and joked about its bamboo-shoot shape.
• Jo Solence greeted Xiao Nian warmly, then offered to be friends with Good Night after hearing he could fight.
• Xiao Nian introduced Jo as a royal noble and senior company executive, then explained to Good Night that Jo had earned her position herself and was marginalized within her family.
• Jo led Xiao Nian and Good Night through the building to her enormous three-floor office.
• Jo poured them liquor and asked Xiao Nian what had brought her there.

Xiao Nian asked Jo Solence to help her obtain the most secret, undeciphered alchemical technology left behind by Supreme Evolution, and Jo agreed to do what she could despite the uncertainty. Xiao Nian offered to support Jo’s business interests and gave her a pump-action shotgun, while Jo promised to help and invited Xiao Nian and Good Night to choose hunting trophies.

• Good Night downed a huge mug of fruit wine, impressing Jo Solence with his drinking and fighting prowess.
• Xiao Nian told Jo Solence that her group had come to discuss a deal involving Supreme Evolution’s remaining alchemical technology, especially its most secret portion.
• Jo Solence asked whether Xiao Nian’s group had been involved in the explosions at Divine Power Group’s sealed storage sites, and Xiao Nian confirmed that another group with the same objective had caused them.
• Xiao Nian offered to support Jo Solence’s business expansion and help her secure mining rights, then gave her a pump-action shotgun as a personal gift.
• Jo Solence promised to help Xiao Nian obtain Supreme Evolution’s assets, even offering to lead an assault, and invited Xiao Nian and Good Night to select hunting trophies from her collection.

Jo Solence showed Good Night and Xiao Nian her hunting trophies and offered them specimens and homes, while Xiao Nian revealed her noble status in the Barren Realm. Good Night accepted Jo’s offer of two neighboring apartments and asked for a pair of raccoons, but Jo said there were no raccoons in the gallery.

• Jo Solence enthusiastically described her hunt of an alchemical wolf, explaining how she tracked and killed it with two shots.
• Jo Solence offered Good Night and Xiao Nian any trophies they wanted, then arranged to give Xiao Nian two neighboring apartments in the Outer City.
• Xiao Nian told Good Night that her first quest had made her a member and temporary titleholder of the Count Arase Family, and showed him her Identity card.
• Good Night accepted Jo Solence’s offer of a home and asked for the two raccoons he thought he saw on a display stand.
• Jo Solence said there were no raccoons in the gallery.

Good Night, Jo Solence, and Xiao Nian discovered that someone had replaced specimens in Jo’s exhibition hall and taken control of the building’s systems. The intruder sealed the room and revived the alchemical monsters on display, leaving Jo and her companions facing an attack.

• Good Night insisted that he had seen raccoons on a display stand, but Xiao Nian and Jo Solence saw ducks there instead.
• Jo lifted the ducks and discovered they were fresh corpses, realizing that someone had replaced the specimens and warning Good Night and Xiao Nian.
• A broadcast from the City That Never Sleeps Animal Protection Association accused Jo of slaughtering wilderness creatures and threatened her and her accomplices.
• The intruder forced the building into Safe Mode, sealed the entrances, and took control of Jo’s alchemical devices.
• The creatures Jo had hunted and displayed began moving again as ferocious alchemy monsters.

Loquat Candy, Paper Kite, and Yin Lan completed a spot check at an outsourced Supreme Evolution maintenance station, reassuring its manager and accepting his hospitality. They continued their rounds expecting the mission’s early stages to remain easy, while the other teams headed into the Inner City.

• The outsourced station manager explained that the old Supreme Evolution equipment might have deteriorated, and Loquat Candy reassured him that the team was only conducting a routine inspection.
• Paper Kite initially refused the manager’s pastries, but Loquat Candy explained that accepting his hospitality would put him at ease, so they both ate some.
• The manager submitted his materials briefing, and Loquat Candy declared that the station had passed the spot check and promised to praise his work.
• Yin Lan ate several pastries and gave the manager a card from a Duke, offering him a way to ask for help in the Inner City.
• As the team left, Yin Lan said the mission had been easier than expected, and Loquat Candy predicted that its early stages would feel like a vacation.

Lin Yu followed the Kidnapper’s instructions at Shadow Lamp Bar to make sure Ren Gu stayed alive, then discovered the Kidnapper had arranged a band performance. The performance revealed that the Kidnapper was Conception, the last Tier 4 Lin Yu had yet to meet.

• Lin Yu arrived at the empty Shadow Lamp Bar and answered a call from the Kidnapper, who ordered him to sit in a marked chair.
• Lin Yu questioned whether the chair was a trap, and the Kidnapper let Ren Gu shout briefly to prove he was alive.
• Lin Yu sat in the chair facing the bar’s stage, where Ren Gu appeared bound and hanging upside down from a cross.
• A band’s instruments began playing by themselves before a tall man appeared onstage with a bass.
• The man stopped the music and introduced himself as Conception, the lead vocalist and bassist of the Steamed Fish Band.