Chapter Summaries

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.

Xiao Nian sent Good Night into the Divine Power Group’s ventilation duct to scout the sealed Joint Experiment Laboratory while the rest of Order supported the mission. She then agreed to disguise their infiltration as the work of Supreme Evolution remnants, accepting the greater danger in exchange for information from Jo Solence’s family and a chance to evade blame later.

• Xiao Nian explained that Good Night was the only member of Order assigned to enter the ventilation duct and retrieve firsthand data from the Joint Experiment Laboratory.
• Good Night worried that the duct’s alert devices might activate, but Xiao Nian said the route was safer than fighting their way through the tower.
• Xiao Nian tricked Good Night into approaching for an encouraging hug, then threw him into the ventilation opening and urged him to carry out his assignment.
• Xiao Nian called Jo Solence and agreed to make the infiltration look like the work of Supreme Evolution remnants in exchange for the family’s information on them and their core alchemical research.
• Jo warned that the disguise could draw the City That Never Sleeps Security Bureau, Truth Company, and the Autumn and Mercury families into the pursuit, but Xiao Nian said the risk was worthwhile and could help Order avoid later retaliation.

Xiao Nian agreed to stage a conspicuous attack on the Divine Power Group to bolster the Universal Trade Association’s claim that Supreme Evolution had attacked it and to test whether the Group was colluding with Supreme Evolution. Good Night descended into the Divine Power Tower to retrieve something, where Xiao Nian apologized for throwing him down a pipe and teased him about a hug, unaware the whole team could hear their conversation.

• Xiao Nian considered how a second attack bearing Supreme Evolution’s technological traces would make the Universal Trade Association’s announcement more credible and help test the Divine Power Group’s intentions.
• Xiao Nian decided to expose the team’s actions rather than infiltrate quietly, while wondering how the Autumn Family and Mercury Family would respond.
• Good Night complained over the earpiece that Xiao Nian had thrown him down a pipe inside the Divine Power Tower, and Xiao Nian explained that a rope had slowed his fall.
• Xiao Nian apologized and offered Good Night a hug after the mission, prompting him to nervously ramble about meeting up and buying each other dinner.
• Yin Lan and Paper Kite revealed they had been listening on the shared channel, while Ren Gu and Loquat Candy admitted they had heard part of the conversation.

Good Night descended through Divine Power Tower’s ventilation system toward duct 006 while Xiao Nian guided him over a failing communication link. After Good Night entered the duct, Xiao Nian lost contact with him and the rest of the team.

• Good Night jumped down the airway and landed on the grating above the tower’s fans.
• Good Night found duct 006, detached his safety rope, and checked that its alarms were disabled.
• Good Night cautiously entered duct 006 as its fan suddenly roared to full speed.
• Good Night continued deeper into the duct after his communication with Xiao Nian became unreliable.
• Xiao Nian discovered that communications with Good Night, Paper Kite, Dionysus, Ren Gu, and Loquat Candy had been cut off.

Xiao Nian tried to reach Good Night after communications failed, but a mysterious puppet confronted her on the rooftop and offered a deal involving Supreme Evolution’s core technology. The puppet claimed one of her companions was a liar and promised information about a former Partner’s role in Supreme Evolution, leaving Xiao Nian weighing the offer.

• Xiao Nian concluded that the communications blackout likely meant one or more companions were being targeted and suspected Good Night was in danger below the rooftop.
• Xiao Nian began descending through the ventilation duct, but the disabled alarm devices reactivated and forced her back out.
• A puppet appeared and offered Xiao Nian a deal, claiming one companion was a liar; Xiao Nian shot the puppet and dismissed its words as an attempt to sow discord.
• Xiao Nian tried to bypass the alarms using her Alchemical Components and [Exclusive item · Theseus's Self], while the puppet repeatedly reappeared and insisted it meant no harm.
• The puppet asked Xiao Nian to share any core technology she uncovered about Supreme Evolution, especially its Artificial Life research, in exchange for information about her former Partner’s role in the project.
• Xiao Nian stopped firing when the puppet offered to explain that role, and the puppet said it knew the deal would interest her.

Xiao Nian rejected the puppet's offer to cooperate, refusing to hand over dangerous Supreme Evolution technology or trust someone who tried to sow discord. She then used her knowledge of the alchemical alarms to descend through the ventilation duct without setting them off.

• The puppet offered Xiao Nian information about Secretary's past and directions to the technology in exchange for a copy of what she found.
• Xiao Nian shot and crushed the puppet, declaring she would investigate Secretary's affairs herself and would not give dangerous technology to someone of unknown background.
• The puppet reappeared and claimed Xiao Nian's companions were safe and would benefit, but she refused to engage and returned to the ventilation duct.
• Xiao Nian altered her Alchemy Components with [Theseus's Self] and released Alchemy Waste Vapor, making her energy resemble the alarms and letting her pass them undetected.