Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian and Fran drove down the mountain while discussing Lasik, the disappearances, and Fran’s memories. After Fu Qian revealed that Lei had probably killed someone near the road, Fran began thinking of places to hide a body, but Fu Qian refused to investigate them.

• Fu Qian accepted Fran’s suggestion to leave the mountain and reflected that his reliability may have made Lasik harder to identify.
• Fran wondered how Jessica and the others were doing, and Fu Qian admitted he was looking for Lasik and had already met him.
• Fu Qian considered what Lasik might have been searching for in the secret passage and ruled out several possible explanations for the endless loop.
• Fran asked about Lei’s facial injury, and Fu Qian said Lei had probably hit and killed someone near the road.
• Fran thought of possible places to hide a body, but Fu Qian refused to go look for it.

Fu Qian brought Fran to Sheriff Jones’s home and used a false claim about Lei’s drug use to provoke a reaction. After following Mary to Lei’s hotel, Fu Qian watched as the accusation shocked Lei, possibly allowing Lasik to surface.

• Fu Qian and Fran returned to Sheriff Jones’s home, where Fu Qian claimed Lei carried unusual drugs.
• Jones offered Fu Qian and Fran a place to stay for the night.
• Fu Qian saw Mary leave with food for Lei and persuaded Jones to take him to the hotel.
• Fu Qian and Jones watched Mary confront Lei about taking illegal drugs, claiming Fran and the others had found out.
• Lei froze after Mary said Fran and the others had gone up the mountain, and Fu Qian wondered whether Lasik was about to appear.

Lei convinced Mrs. Mary that the accusations against him were mistaken, while Fu Qian and Sheriff Jones watched. Fu Qian later visited Lei at the inn, where Lei probed what Fu Qian knew and hinted that he might disappear.

• Sheriff Jones drew his gun as Mrs. Mary confronted Lei, but Lei persuaded her that Cartman's belongings had been mistaken for his.
• Mrs. Mary brought Lei dinner, accepted his explanation, and left after warning him not to wander that night.
• Fu Qian recognized that Lei's flawless performance meant he was in his superhuman state, and Sheriff Jones decided not to question him.
• Fu Qian entered the inn and joined Lei for dinner, while Lei asked how Fu Qian had heard about the special drugs.
• Fu Qian blamed Cartman for the drugs and asked whether Lei had found him; Lei said Cartman was still missing and mused that he might disappear too.
• Fu Qian called Lei an important subject of observation, startling him.

Fu Qian questioned Lei about the missing people and revealed that he was searching for Lasik, while testing Lei’s knowledge and reactions. The chapter ended with Fu Qian treating Lei as an important subject of observation as the morning approached its reset.

• Lei asked Fu Qian what he meant by an important observation, and Fu Qian hinted that he was watching someone nearby.
• Lei reasoned that Cartman could not have left town because police roadblocks would have blocked the routes out.
• Fu Qian speculated that Jessica had escaped through a secret passage, while Cartman was likely hiding nearby after becoming afraid of the situation.
• Fu Qian admitted he was searching for Lasik and asked Lei if he could help, but Lei said he had never heard the name.
• Fu Qian warned that Lasik could never be found, then called Lei an important subject of observation as the morning neared its reset.

Fu Qian explained why Lasik was essential to his mission to escape the time loop, then returned to Sheriff Jones's house. He found Fran back to normal after she had gone upstairs to rest.

• Fu Qian provoked Lei, hoping to spur the Lasik inside him into action.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Lasik's existence was the variable that made transcending the loop possible, and that he needed to use Lasik to complete his mission.
• Fu Qian returned to Sheriff Jones's house and asked Mrs. Mary how Fran was doing.
• Fu Qian found Fran at her room, looking tired but back to normal.

Fu Qian considered how Lasik's superhuman state passed between people before Sheriff Jones took him, Mrs. Mary, and Fran to the police station after Lei vanished. On the way, they spotted a column of smoke rising from a mountainside.

• Fu Qian told Fran that Lei was eating well and looked better, while privately considering whether Lasik's superhuman state passed from one person to another.
• Fu Qian returned to his room to rest, expecting Sheriff Jones to keep watch on him.
• Sheriff Jones woke Fu Qian at gunpoint and told him Lei had disappeared, leaving a fake figure in his bed.
• Fu Qian agreed to go to the station, and Jones ordered Mrs. Mary and Fran to come with them.
• As the group traveled to the station, their driver spotted thick smoke rising from a nearby mountainside.

As the abandoned estate burned and the fire threatened the mountainside, Fu Qian suspected Lei had started it. Lei emerged from the flames unharmed and announced that he had finally understood the answer, confronting Fu Qian as the countdown dwindled.

• Jones handcuffed Fu Qian and ordered the cars up the mountain to investigate the fire.
• Fu Qian recognized the estate was burning at multiple points and suspected Lei had set it alight after taking his earlier suggestion literally.
• Jones ordered the residents to retreat as the fire spread beyond the estate and put everyone at risk.
• A figure emerged from the flames, discarded a scorched blanket, and revealed himself to be Lei.
• Lei fixed his gaze on Fu Qian, claimed he had found the answer, and accused Fu Qian of being too arrogant and telling him too much the previous night.

Lei admitted to starting the mountain fire and killing Mrs. Harold, then accused Fu Qian of infecting the town and using its residents as test subjects. Lei collapsed as Jones prepared to take him in, and Cartman emerged from the flames.

• Lei admitted to starting the fire and revealed Mrs. Harold's body, confessing that he had run her over and hidden her.
• Lei told Jones that he had been infected after entering the mansion and suspected the infection was connected to Lasik.
• Lei accused Fu Qian of knowing about the infection and turning the town into a testing ground, prompting Jones to question Fu Qian.
• Lei suddenly collapsed as an officer moved to restrain him.
• Cartman burst out of the flames, and Jones recognized him.

Cartman emerged from hiding and confirmed Lei had killed Mrs. Harold, while explaining that he escaped through hidden passages beneath the building. Lei then accused Fu Qian of orchestrating a conspiracy, and Fu Qian revealed to himself that he intended to spread fear and infection throughout the town to help Lasik.

• Jones questioned Cartman, who confirmed he had hidden on the mountain and escaped on his own.
• Cartman told Jones that Lei had hit and killed Mrs. Harold and asked the others to keep it secret.
• Cartman said he escaped through hidden passages that he somehow remembered, and Lei used this to warn that anyone could relapse and become dangerous.
• Fran questioned Fu Qian about the strange messages and whether he had created a conspiracy, as the crowd turned against him.
• Fu Qian decided to exploit the town's fear by making the conspiracy real and driving as many people as possible to become infected, giving Lasik more people to possess.

Fu Qian pushed the crowd toward panic by confronting Sheriff Jones and undermining his certainty, until the spreading fear awakened Lasiks and completed the containment mission. As Mrs. Mary charged him, Fu Qian held his fire and embraced his role as the villainous mastermind.

• Fu Qian asked Fran and the crowd whether they feared the end of the world or infection more, then provoked Sheriff Jones into attacking him.
• Fu Qian restrained Jones, held him at gunpoint, and challenged his explanations of the recent events until Jones began to doubt himself.
• Mrs. Mary overcame her fear and demanded that Fu Qian release Jones, while Fu Qian urged her to embrace the extraordinary being awakening within her.
• Another newcomer triggered a superhuman state, and despairing roars from the mountain and town spread panic through the crowd.
• The containment mission for #2-205 completed, and Mrs. Mary charged Fu Qian as he chose not to fire.

Lasik relaxed in town until Mrs. Mary told her about Mrs. Harold’s brutal murder and the disappearance of her husband. Lasik then attacked Mrs. Mary and searched her body for something, but found nothing and ended the chapter in anguish.

• Lasik accepted Mrs. Mary’s invitation for breakfast after greeting Sheriff Jones as he left for work.
• Mrs. Mary told Lasik that Mrs. Harold and her husband had disappeared, and that Mrs. Harold had been found brutally murdered.
• Mrs. Mary described how the killer had gutted Mrs. Harold and hollowed out her head, apparently searching for something.
• Lasik struck Mrs. Mary with an ashtray and drank the corn porridge while Mrs. Mary lay unconscious.
• Lasik tore open Mrs. Mary’s head and searched her body, insisting that something had to be hidden in her bloodline, but found nothing.

After completing the mission, Fu Qian learned more about Lasik’s repeated failures and examined his new reward, the Return Edict. He discovered it could erase an anchor from his Emissary Mask and let him establish a new one, then considered a questionable way to use it.

• Fu Qian reviewed the mission summary, which revealed that Lasik had watched Harold from the position of God and that he earned the Return Edict without killing anyone.
• Fu Qian found a videotape inside the box holding the Virtue and suspected that someone had deliberately trapped Lasik in the reincarnation cycle.
• Fu Qian activated the Return Edict and watched it erase the Blood of Thorns stains from his Emissary Mask.
• Fu Qian used the mask to reach the bookstore, tested how removing it created a new anchor point, and thought of a questionable use for the ability.

Fu Qian told Yuan Shan that he and Su Gao were leaving Shangjing for Leaf Island, then suggested a way to punish the Gulad family and deter other factions. After Yuan Shan left to act on his advice, Fu Qian prepared to depart with Su Gao.

• Fu Qian tested his new skill and found that its anchor lasted long enough to let him return to the Warehouse after logging off.
• Yuan Shan visited Fu Qian to thank him, and he told her that he and Su Gao were going on vacation to Leaf Island.
• Fu Qian asked Yuan Shan to pass a message to Wen Li and suggested supporting Gan City's hardline new administrator to make the Gulad family pay for its actions.
• Yuan Shan accepted Fu Qian's plan and left to handle the aftermath in Shangjing.
• Fu Qian told Su Gao they would leave for Leaf Island immediately and awarded her paid leave.

Fu Qian and Su Gao traveled by cruise ship toward Leaf Island, where Fu Qian planned to investigate the Native Council. During the trip, Su Gao told him about the deadly Sea of Ashes, and they noticed a powerful supernaturalist watching them.

• Fu Qian persuaded Su Gao to treat their journey to Leaf Island as a vacation and asked her to cover the expenses because the company was short on cash.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao boarded a cruise ship as ordinary passengers, and Su Gao explained that she had mixed feelings about returning to the island near the Corrupt Forest.
• Fu Qian asked Su Gao about the Sea of Ashes, and she described its shifting ash islands, living ash creatures, and dangerous supernatural forces.
• Su Gao told Fu Qian that a Night Watcher had pursued a fugitive demigod into the Sea of Ashes, where the fugitive died without the pursuers killing him.
• Su Gao noticed that a powerful supernaturalist aboard the ship was watching them, but Fu Qian told her to stay put and act like an ordinary passenger.

Aboard the cruise ship, Fu Qian investigated the Red Moon’s connection to him by consulting the Abyss Notebook, then baited Jia Keke into revealing her age. The chapter ended with Fu Qian confirming that the woman who had approached him was over fifty.

• Fu Qian considered the extraordinary passengers aboard the ship and returned to his room after lounging on the balcony while Su Gao rested.
• Fu Qian read Selena’s note that Blood Clan Progenitor Annalise had completely fallen and wondered who the Red Moon’s “Mom” was.
• Fu Qian went to the private dining room with the Abyss Notebook and let Jia Keke read a line suggesting Lei Aier was not interested in him.
• Jia Keke introduced herself and offered Fu Qian red wine, but he refused after her glass crumbled into sand without spilling the wine.
• After Jia Keke left in a huff, Fu Qian wrote in the notebook and saw the entry that Jia Keke was over fifty years old.

Fu Qian and Su Gao enjoyed dinner aboard the ship, where Jia He approached Fu Qian and Jia Keke watched them from afar. After the ship reached a Bioluminescent Sea, Su Gao recalled a mermaid legend in which mermaids ate a prince to gain legs.

• Fu Qian spoke with Jia He, who praised his apparent ability to handle Jia Keke and admitted he was interested in her.
• Su Gao joined Fu Qian and chose pudding, leaving Jia He intimidated by her presence.
• Su Gao asked whether they should watch Jia He, but Fu Qian dismissed him as a perceptive, lecherous businessman.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao went onto the deck to see the Bioluminescent Sea and spotted Jia Keke watching them.
• Su Gao told Fu Qian a mermaid legend in which mermaids sang in the Bioluminescent Sea, lured a prince, and ate him to grow legs.

Fu Qian let Su Gao briefly walk across the Bioluminescent Sea while the cruise ship’s passengers were trapped in a dream. As the ship neared its destination, a storm swallowed the An Jing Group’s vessel Abyss, while the cruise ship was mysteriously spared.

• Fu Qian used Clear Dream to distract everyone aboard, allowing Su Gao to walk across the Bioluminescent Sea before he ended the dream.
• Su Gao returned to her room to rest, and the voyage continued without incident until the destination came into view the next night.
• Jia He identified the enormous vessel nearby as the Abyss, an An Jing Group ship that patrolled the region with transcendent beings aboard.
• Dark clouds and violent weather gathered, and repeated lightning strikes and a monstrous wave engulfed the Abyss, sending it beneath the sea.
• The cruise ship pitched in the storm, but the waves softened whenever they neared it, leading Fu Qian to suspect Jia Keke had come to protect the vessel.

After the Abyss vanished in a targeted attack, Fu Qian and Su Gao inferred that rival organizations had clashed while Jia Keke protected nearby civilian ships. Once their cruise ship docked, Jia Keke greeted them and learned they planned to visit Xidào for its local food.

• The Abyss disappeared in the storm, and Jia He panicked as Fu Qian teased him about predicting its sinking.
• The captain ordered passengers back to their rooms, and Jia He hurried away while Fu Qian and Su Gao discussed the attack and the Night Watchers' role in protecting civilians.
• The cruise ship docked safely less than an hour later, and the passengers disembarked.
• Jia Keke waited ashore to greet Fu Qian and Su Gao, then asked where they planned to go next.
• Fu Qian told Jia Keke they intended to visit Xidào for its local food, surprising her because it was far away and had little to see.

Fu Qian and Su Gao went to Dancy Crawford’s mansion to draw out people who might know about the Native Council. They settled in under false identities and waited to see whether Yasui Company or the Night Watchers would come first.

• Fu Qian told Su Gao he planned to investigate a project and would operate under another identity, then transformed into Dancy Crawford.
• Su Gao demonstrated that she could take the form of any living person she had been in close contact with, and she transformed into a blonde woman for their cover.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao arrived at Dancy’s mansion, which had been dark and empty for several months, and found that the signs of its grisly past had been cleared away.
• Fu Qian explained their cover story: Dancy had returned with a new victim after vanishing, and both Yasui Company and the Night Watchers might come looking for him.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao settled in for the night, planning to wait and see whether Yasui Company or the Night Watchers would arrive first.

Fu Qian questioned Sawada about the Night Watchers’ visit, while Sawada’s companion revealed herself as Asao Sakura from the Yasui Company PR team. After discussing Kunio’s death, Sakura asked Fu Qian to resume the Miracle Potion tests, and he agreed.

• Sawada demanded to know why Fu Qian had disappeared and missed the later tests, while Fu Qian asked why a Night Watcher had come after him.
• Asao Sakura stopped Sawada from revealing more company information and introduced herself as a member of the Yasui Company PR team.
• Sakura asked Fu Qian how Kunio died, and Fu Qian said Hayami Suzune killed him while he escaped into hiding.
• Fu Qian denied knowing where Kunio’s body went, and Sakura asked when he could complete the remaining Miracle Potion tests.
• Fu Qian agreed to help with the tests anytime.