Recaps

Fu Qian pretended to be relieved after returning from a nightmare world, and Loretta explained that she and Bernard had once suffered the same torment after their supposed supernatural talents changed. Loretta offered Fu Qian a needle from a small box, leaving him to face whatever risk she meant him to take.

• Fu Qian recognized that the world had switched again and acted as though he had just returned from a nightmare.
• Loretta asked how long Fu Qian had been experiencing the torment, and he said it had lasted about a month, or twenty-five days in practice.
• Loretta told Fu Qian that she and Bernard had believed they possessed supernatural talents before those talents transformed into involuntary journeys through chaotic worlds.
• Loretta said she eventually escaped the nightmares after moving to Bee Monkey, but Bernard had refused her invitation to join her there.
• Loretta warned Fu Qian that he might not return so precisely next time, then offered him a needle from a delicate box.

Loretta gave Fu Qian a Golden Needle that she said could quiet his mind and keep nightmares away. When Fu Qian pushed it deep into his temple, he saw a strange door in a distant light before Loretta pulled the needle out, leaving him wondering why the door seemed familiar.

• Loretta explained that Nivalis had given her the Golden Needle, which she had used to find relief from her own mental turmoil.
• Fu Qian accepted the needle, hoping it would protect him from nightmares, and began carefully pushing it into his temple.
• As the pain sharpened his thoughts, Fu Qian sensed a strange radiance in the darkness and saw a door at its source.
• Loretta grabbed Fu Qian's hand and pulled the needle out after he pushed it too far.
• Fu Qian apologized to Loretta but remained focused on the door, which seemed familiar to him.

Fu Qian discovered Loretta’s Golden Needle might be connected to his illness and the nightmare in Bee Monkey City, then tested whether he could harm her. After being pulled back to Dr. Kelly’s office, he recognized the baby’s cries and realized he had learned something about the doctor and Officer Brook.

• Fu Qian connected the Golden Needle’s use just over a month earlier to the onset of his illness and the Bee Monkey City incident.
• Loretta explained that the needle had helped her and suggested Fu Qian could use his experience to persuade Bernard to try it.
• Fu Qian returned the Golden Needle to Loretta, then feigned an attempt to harm her to test whether anyone was watching.
• Fu Qian was pulled from Loretta’s room into Dr. Kelly’s office and concluded that an unseen observer was protecting her and could send him into a nightmare.
• Fu Qian identified the baby’s crying in Kelly’s recording and, after focusing on it, told Kelly and Officer Brook that he had learned quite a lot.

Fu Qian told Brook and Kelly that he had found the monastery and joined the group living there. After Brook freed his upper body, Fu Qian seized an empty pistol to test their resolve, then calmly returned to explaining what he had learned.

• Fu Qian said he had spent nearly a day unconscious and had found the monastery Brook suspected.
• Fu Qian asked Brook to release his restraints, and Kelly persuaded Brook to free Fu Qian's upper body.
• Fu Qian threw files at Brook, took his pistol, and pointed it at Brook while asking Kelly to unlock the rest of his restraints.
• Fu Qian pointed the pistol into his own mouth and pulled the trigger, but discovered it was empty.
• Fu Qian handed the pistol back to Brook and resumed his account, saying he had joined the suspected group.

Fu Qian linked the monastery’s golden-needle practice and a possibly replaced Nivalis to the virus outbreak, then persuaded Brook and Kelly to give him a gun and bullets. He planned to use the monastery’s crying sound to escape their nightmare cage, with his arms restrained and the sound set to stop in exactly one hour.

• Fu Qian told Brook and Kelly that monastery members used golden needles to suppress mental corruption and suggested their wounds could have spread the virus.
• Brook described Nivalis as a representative of the monastery, while Kelly recalled treating a balding patient named Nivalis months earlier.
• Fu Qian said the Nivalis he had met looked different and suspected someone had replaced the monastery administrator before the outbreak.
• Brook planned to alert the Federation officers, but Fu Qian urged them to find the Night Watchers and escape the nightmare cage.
• Brook and Kelly gave Fu Qian a gun and bullets after restraining his arms, and Fu Qian told them to switch on the crying sound for exactly one hour.

Fu Qian brought Brook’s pistol and bullets into the world where Loretta was deceiving herself, then set out for the monastery with a plan to confront what was happening. He arrived shortly after two and waited in the dark before approaching.

• Fu Qian woke in his bedroom at 1:30 a.m. and confirmed that Brook’s pistol and six bullets had come with him.
• He encountered Shen Yuan outside his door, exposed the pistol to test whether she would react as if reality had collapsed, and watched her retreat in fear.
• Fu Qian concluded that he was in the world where Loretta was deceiving herself and checked that the test had taken less than four minutes.
• He drove to the monastery, waited in the car until 2:15, then got out and looked up at it beneath the starlight.

Fu Qian confronted Nivalis, who admitted that he controlled the nightmare and had created the Golden Needle to capture the entity behind it. Nivalis explained Loretta's role in sustaining the nightmare, but his revelation left Fu Qian facing the true master of the world around them.

• Fu Qian found Nivalis waiting in his room, and they discussed their treatment by Dr. Kelly.
• Nivalis suggested Fu Qian test whether the room was real, and Fu Qian shot him five times without injuring him.
• Nivalis admitted that he could travel between worlds and had tracked Fu Qian through the nightmare.
• Nivalis said Loretta did not know the truth, though her actions were essential to keeping the nightmare intact.
• Nivalis explained that Loretta and Bernard's gifts connected them to an entity that created reality-like nightmare bubbles.
• Nivalis revealed that he had made the Golden Needle to draw the bubbles toward Loretta and capture the entity, which now ruled the nightmare.

Fu Qian learned from Yul that people inside the nightmare became ordinary and were reborn after death with increasingly muddled minds, then escaped his attack when the one-hour window pulled him into the mental space. There, Brook threatened him over what he had learned about Nivalis, but a scimitar suddenly cut Brook's neck.

• Fu Qian deduced that Yul was a powerful Transcendent and that the nightmare stripped entrants of their original abilities.
• Yul explained that everyone who died in the nightmare was reborn elsewhere, but repeated deaths gradually damaged their minds.
• Yul attacked Fu Qian, who fired his last bullet and tried to flee before Yul warped him back into the room.
• The one-hour window transported Fu Qian to the mental space, where Kelly and Brook questioned him about Nivalis.
• Brook threatened Fu Qian for refusing to cooperate, but a scimitar emerged behind Brook and sliced through his neck.

Yul revealed that he could enter Fu Qian’s mental world and move between the nightmare’s parallel worlds, then tried to kill him. Fu Qian broke free with a monstrous transformation and revealed that he had swallowed a museum bug, leaving Yul realizing his apparent suicide attempt had been a deception.

• Yul confirmed that Fu Qian’s mental world was real and explained that he could move between the nightmare’s connected worlds.
• Yul banished Kelly and approached Fu Qian, intending to kill him and make him suffer through repeated deaths.
• Yul’s blade failed to draw blood, and a claw emerging from Fu Qian’s clothes grabbed Yul and stopped him from moving between worlds.
• Fu Qian broke his metal restraints and transformed as he recited a mangled account of his identity and beliefs.
• Yul recognized that Fu Qian had swallowed one of the museum bugs and realized Fu Qian had staged his apparent suicide to conceal it.

Fu Qian revealed that he had let the nightmare’s bugs parasitize him to gain an advantage over Yul, then forced Yul to hand over Loretta’s Golden Needle. After Fu Qian snapped the needle, the nightmare convulsed and Yul’s neck broke.

• Fu Qian explained that he had swallowed the bugs to gain a way to counter the forces watching him in the nightmare.
• Fu Qian told Yul he had thirty seconds to persuade him not to kill him, but rejected Yul’s offers of shared authority and a safe hideout.
• Fu Qian demanded Loretta’s Golden Needle, and Yul handed it over after admitting he could not escape.
• Fu Qian snapped the Golden Needle, triggering invisible turbulence throughout the space and cutting off Yul’s scream as his neck snapped.

Fu Qian killed Yul and broke the Golden Needle, destabilizing the overlapping nightmare. He left the interrogation room and found Loretta on a street where a boundary between sunlight and rain was spreading, but vanished before the world collapsed around her.

• Fu Qian confirmed Yul was dead, crushed his head, and saw the nightmare growing unstable after the Golden Needle broke.
• Fu Qian opened the interrogation-room door and stepped onto a crowded street divided between bright weather and torrential rain.
• Fu Qian found Loretta, offered her coffee, and reflected that Bernard had likely ignored her invitation to use the Golden Needle.
• Loretta accepted that her temporary stability had ended, then discovered Fu Qian had disappeared as the spreading boundary reached her and the surroundings fell apart.

Fu Qian returned from Loretta’s nightmare with a new item, Eternal Clarity of Thought, and inferred that the Nightmare Corridor was linked to higher powers that had been annihilated. Back home, he tested the bell’s ability to weaken supernatural effects and discovered it could disrupt even a demigod-level connection for several seconds.

• Fu Qian completed the task and learned that Loretta’s awakened consciousness had died because the higher power tied to her talent had been annihilated.
• Fu Qian connected Loretta’s and Bernard’s experiences to Wen Li’s near-possession by Eve and deduced that the Nightmare Corridor was linked to higher powers in a near-dead state.
• Fu Qian received the Eternal Clarity of Thought bell as a reward for killing Yul and read that it could briefly weaken supernatural power once every twenty-four hours.
• Fu Qian returned home to find Qin Mingze, Tan Ying, and Wu Qingyu visiting, and Qin Mingze asked about the mask and bell.
• Qin Mingze rang the bell, and Fu Qian sensed that it severed his mental connection to those nearby for several seconds, potentially disrupting demigod-level effects.

Fu Qian entered the Wasteland containment scene for 2-153, where he discovered he had apparently shot himself but healed from the wound. Two transcendent beings arrived to investigate why he was the only one alive after their companions died, and Fu Qian agreed to go with them while seeking answers of his own.

• Fu Qian prepared for the scene with the Eternal Clear Mind Rattle and the Silvery White Mask, then entered the Wasteland to conceal Angel Dungeon.
• Fu Qian woke at a table with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chin and a strange revolver, and his body healed as he recovered.
• Fu Qian examined the revolver's patterned bullets, cleaned away the blood, and heard two visitors force open his door.
• The tall and short visitors told Fu Qian that several people from their expedition had been found dead, while he alone had survived.
• Fu Qian agreed to accompany the visitors and said he had questions for them as well.

Fu Qian entered Siren Group’s base in the wasteland and learned that the other explorers had died by suicide after suffering mental influence. He refused to join the next exploration, leaving Siren Group’s response unresolved.

• Fu Qian traveled with two men to Siren Group’s towering headquarters and wore his mask to conceal his presence.
• Gary took Fu Qian’s pistol, checked his identity, and escorted him to meet Gerard.
• Gerard asked Fu Qian to describe what had happened, and Fu Qian claimed his memories had been erased by mental influence.
• Gerard said the other explorers had died by suicide and that Siren Group suspected mental influence had caused it.
• Fu Qian told Gerard he would not take part in the rest of the exploration.

Fu Qian refused Gerard’s offer to continue the Siren Group’s expedition, choosing to avoid attracting the attention of the demigod stationed nearby. He returned to his lodgings under surveillance and planned to keep a low profile while watching the group’s movements.

• Gerard offered Fu Qian triple pay and an Intermediate Tier weapon, but Fu Qian refused to continue the expedition.
• Gerard warned Fu Qian not to reveal information about the expedition, then ordered staff to reimburse him and escort him out.
• Gary suggested killing Fu Qian, but Gerard rejected the idea and ordered someone to watch him, believing he would return.
• Fu Qian settled his reimbursement, returned to his searched lodgings, and realized Siren Group watchers were still monitoring him.
• Fu Qian reviewed his documents, then went out into the City of Hope to show that he was alive while keeping his plans quiet.

Fu Qian visited a crowded bar in the wasteland to make his presence known after ending his cooperation with the Siren Group. He drew the hunters’ attention by mocking their claims of rich rewards and boasting that his departure had caused the expedition’s losses.

• Fu Qian wandered through the desert settlement and decided its hunters had only one real profession.
• Fu Qian entered a 24-hour bar, removed his mask, and confirmed that nobody there seemed to recognize him from the Sin Fire game.
• Nora approached Fu Qian, flirted with him, and invited him to buy her a drink, but he refused.
• Fu Qian questioned whether the wasteland’s rewards were truly rich, provoking anger among the hunters in the bar.
• A man in a leather jacket asked Fu Qian about the Siren Group expedition’s losses, and Fu Qian claimed they had lost him as a powerful ally.
• The leather-jacketed man accused Fu Qian of messing with him, but Fu Qian calmly finished his drink and challenged the man’s assumption.

Fu Qian provoked Felix into a confrontation at the bar and used an empty-chamber trick to humiliate him without firing. Tir stopped the fight, then approached Fu Qian and explained that he had intervened to keep Felix from killing himself.

• Fu Qian pulled a gun on Felix, who dodged when Fu Qian pulled the trigger, only to discover the chamber was empty.
• Nora warned Felix about the cost of starting a fight at the bar, then left without protecting Fu Qian.
• Tir ended the confrontation, and Felix left without making any further threats.
• Fu Qian finished tinkering with his revolver and explained that he had kept one chamber empty to prevent an accidental discharge.
• Tir complimented Fu Qian's weapon, and Fu Qian thanked him for stepping in.
• Tir told Fu Qian he had only stopped Felix from committing suicide.

Fu Qian met Tir, who gave him a card and invited him to visit the Old City, then became lost in a strange monochrome area and fought a real monster. After Fu Qian killed it and the surroundings returned to normal, someone began applauding.

• Tir told Fu Qian he believed Fu Qian was much stronger than he appeared and gave him a card with an Old City address.
• Fu Qian left the show and discovered he was lost after passing the same intersection several times in a monochrome landscape.
• Fu Qian greeted a towering, corpse-like creature, which attacked him with a claw and bone spears.
• Fu Qian dodged the creature and shot it twice in the head, killing it and ending the monochrome scene.
• An unseen person began clapping as the surroundings returned to normal.

Fu Qian survived Ji Yicheng’s deadly test, rejected his invitation to join the Ji Clan, and learned more about what the Siren Group found in the underground ruins. He suspected the ruins were connected to Angel Dungeon and considered how he could conceal it despite the major organizations’ interest.

• After the black-and-white effect dissipated, Ji Yicheng introduced himself and explained that the monster attack had been a greeting that could have killed Fu Qian.
• Ji Yicheng tried to learn what Fu Qian knew and invited him to join the Ji Clan, but Fu Qian said he had already agreed to work with Tir.
• Fu Qian asked about Ji Yicheng’s Gray Descent ability and mentioned Ji Ping, whom Ji Yicheng dismissed as talentless.
• Ji Yicheng revealed that the Siren Group had found a new entrance and a giant mirror in the ruins, and that two of its people had died there.
• Ji Yicheng left after warning Fu Qian that he might no longer have a choice, and Fu Qian wondered whether the ruins were what he sought and how to conceal Angel Dungeon.

Fu Qian visited the Siren Group’s exchange building to learn how its barter system worked and considered buying ammunition. After noticing someone watching him, he left, apparently expecting trouble over his gun.

• After Ji Yicheng left, Fu Qian decided to observe the wasteland and gather information before acting.
• Fu Qian followed a crooked road to the Siren Group’s exchange building, where a tail from earlier kept watch on him.
• An employee explained that customers traded hunting materials for points and could exchange points for weapons, equipment, and supplies.
• Fu Qian learned that the Siren Group offered low buyback prices, and the employee said the Ji Clan’s terms were no better.
• Fu Qian noticed a hostile-looking person watching him after he displayed his gun, then shut the catalog and left.

Fu Qian was ambushed by three wasteland robbers who tried to buy his gun, but he killed their leader and another attacker, then forced the survivors to surrender their weapons. The chapter left him confronting the hammer-wielder and demanding the heavy weapon.

• Fu Qian let three masked robbers corner him in an alley and offer a coin for his gun.
• Fu Qian recognized the hammer as resembling Cross's weapon and suspected the robbers had bought it from the Siren Group.
• The black-masked leader attacked Fu Qian, who killed him with a single elbow strike.
• Fu Qian crushed the iron-masked robber's head, then used the crossbow to pin the hammer-wielder by the thigh.
• The iron-masked robber agreed to surrender, and Fu Qian took the crossbow before turning to demand the hammer from the pinned man.

Fu Qian visited Tir and joined a gathering where longtime residents traded goods and information. He offered the hammer he had taken from Hammer in exchange for details about the Siren Group, then stunned everyone by asking about its exploration of the underground ruins.

• Fu Qian crippled Hammer and took his hammer and crossbow before returning to his room.
• Fu Qian followed Tir's address to the settlement's oldest district and entered Tir's house.
• Fu Qian met Tir's trading companions, including Nora, who recognized the hammer and questioned him about Azim.
• Tir invited Fu Qian to join the group's regular trades of goods and information, and Fu Qian offered the hammer in exchange for information.
• Fu Qian asked the group about the Siren Group's exploration of the underground ruins, leaving everyone stunned.

Fu Qian asked Nora and the others what they knew about the Siren Group's underground ruins exploration, then shared information of his own. The gathering ended with him revealing that someone from the Ji Clan had told him about a mirror and feather-like things in the ruins.

• Fu Qian asked what the group knew about the Siren Group's exploration, and Nora said the ruins were probably near a dangerous swamp southwest of their location.
• Nora accepted the warhammer Fu Qian returned and explained that it had belonged to Cross, who had joined Elina in William's deathmatch games and later sold the weapon while seeking help for his injuries.
• Tir lamented that Cross and Elina had been through a difficult ordeal, and Fu Qian offered to share more about the exploration.
• Fu Qian said the underground ruins contained a mirror and feather-like things, claiming someone from the Ji Clan had told him rather than saying he had seen them himself.

Fu Qian told Tir’s group that Ji Yicheng had tried to recruit him and revealed information about Siren’s operation, raising fears that the expedition was caught in a struggle between Siren and the Ji Clan. After trading a crossbow for unusual bullets, the group learned that someone from Siren had been assassinated.

• Fu Qian told Tir’s group that Ji Yicheng had tried to recruit him, and Nora suspected he had come on the Ji Clan’s behalf.
• Fu Qian clarified that he had rejected Ji Yicheng and accepted Tir’s invitation, then warned the group that Ji Yicheng had shared information about Siren.
• Nora and Tir discussed the risks of being drawn into a conflict between Siren and the Ji Clan, while Fu Qian said they could share the information freely.
• Fu Qian offered a crossbow in exchange for bullets, and a craftsperson showed him forty rounds, including bullets that could cause strange growths in living bodies.
• A burly man entered through a hidden door and announced that someone from Siren had been assassinated.

Kimura reported that LS Luo, a senior Siren Group member who led its explorations, had been found dead, and that Siren suspected the Ji Clan. Fu Qian left the gathering and agreed to go with Gerard and Gary, who had come seeking his help.

• Kimura arrived at Tir's gathering and revealed that LS Luo had been found dead at his residence.
• Kimura said Siren suspected the Ji Clan and warned everyone to avoid trouble as tensions rose.
• Nora confirmed she had seen LS Luo at the swamp during the exploration.
• Fu Qian left the gathering despite Tir and Nora offering him shelter, intending to pursue the Angel Dungeon opportunity.
• Gerard and Gary caught up with Fu Qian and asked him to come with them for help, and he agreed.