Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian confronted Vivian about her identity and deduced that she was Goto Hi, a fugitive trapped in the Sea of Ashes. Goto Hi admitted they were alike and explained that a hidden Work Log from Stella had led the Night Watchers to discover her.

• Fu Qian tested Vivian by naming Goto Hi and revealed that he had destroyed the glove, ruling out their original plan.
• Fu Qian explained that Vivian’s calm reaction to his wound, her confidence about escaping, and her inability to maintain a human form showed that she was trapped and being targeted by a powerful force.
• Vivian admitted that she was Goto Hi, the fugitive from the Night Watchers, and said she had only heard of Stella.
• Goto Hi told Fu Qian that she found a hidden Work Log signed by Stella, describing her third mission and her recent advancement to demigod.
• Goto Hi said she searched for more logs and was caught by the Night Watchers after drawing their attention.

Fu Qian and Goto Hi compared the revelations that had led them to the Sea of Ashes and learned that both had been drawn there by a godlike being. Goto Hi explained how she had consumed Vivian and become fused with her, while Fu Qian suspected Rainbow of Yao Bian had arranged their traps.

• Fu Qian questioned Goto Hi about her search for Stella's diary and learned the Night Watchers had pursued her after she investigated it.
• Fu Qian described a revelation that connected him to the Sea of Ashes, and Goto Hi said she had received a similar vision there.
• Goto Hi revealed that the vision led her to Vivian, whom she consumed in pursuit of ascension, merging their existences.
• Goto Hi admitted she had planned to transfer her fused existence to Fu Qian, but Fu Qian refused to blame her and said they had been led there by a god.
• Fu Qian suspected Rainbow of Yao Bian had arranged the revelation and warned Goto Hi that the being behind it was a god.

Fu Qian confronted Goto Hi about her identity and motives, then deduced that her true face was hidden on her back. As Goto Hi revealed that Inspiration was a rare reward, Vivian attacked Fu Qian with her tongue.

• Fu Qian dismissed Goto Hi’s attempt to bargain and accused her of wanting his help without offering any in return.
• Fu Qian pointed out that Lan En was still alive but pretending to be dazed, undermining Goto Hi’s attempt to make their conversation seem peaceful.
• Fu Qian provoked Goto Hi until the face on Vivian’s back turned toward him, revealing a hole in its forehead and speaking in a voice unlike Vivian’s.
• Fu Qian explained that he had deduced the hidden face from Goto Hi’s habit of turning her back and from the sense of something building after she gave her true name.
• Goto Hi recalled that Inspiration had once appeared as a rare reward and that Stella’s journal described it as a medal for completing a grueling task.
• Vivian’s tongue suddenly bound Fu Qian, and she laughed that it was harder to deal with than a tail.

Fu Qian fought Goto Hi as she tried to bind and fuse him with a slick barrier of flesh. He turned the struggle into a battle of attrition, tore through her tongue with his wounds and tendrils, and lashed a fleeing eyeball from the air.

• Goto Hi enveloped Fu Qian in a tough, slick barrier that tangled his senses and began trying to fuse them.
• Fu Qian activated Glorious Tyrant and resisted as Goto Hi twisted the barrier into an attempt to exploit their disordered bodies.
• Fu Qian used his wounds to cut through Goto Hi’s tongue and the barrier, while she expanded the cocoon and filled it with thorns to intensify their battle of attrition.
• Fu Qian unleashed Tendril Barrage Devastator, tearing through Goto Hi’s flesh and sending a bizarre eyeball fleeing.
• Fu Qian struck the escaping eyeball out of the air with his Thorn Whip.

Fu Qian defeated Goto Hi and used Clear Dream to separate her from Vivian so they could fight over control. After the dream shattered, he threw the cracked eyeball into the water and prepared to follow the route code from Ninianni as a mermaid's song approached.

• Fu Qian killed Goto Hi's frog body, and Goto Hi killed Lan En with her tail before dying.
• Vivian spoke through the eyeball and asked Fu Qian to take her off the island; he agreed after persuading her to come along.
• Fu Qian activated Clear Dream, manifesting Goto Hi and exposing her deception after she had impersonated Vivian.
• Fu Qian separated Goto Hi and Vivian within the dream and told them to settle their conflict themselves.
• The dream shattered, and Fu Qian threw the cracked eyeball into the water before recalling Ninianni's route code as a mermaid's song approached.

After escaping the dream realm, Fu Qian crossed the Sea of Ashes toward the whale-like call, hijacked a monstrous predator for a ride, and reached the source of the strange connection. Inside a seemingly ordinary whale, he found a rotating crystalline sphere resembling a sun, which might be the thing born from the false god.

• Fu Qian crossed the dream's final boundary and emerged into the Sea of Ashes, where a strange predator immediately attacked him.
• Fu Qian climbed onto the predator, pierced its body with his tentacles, and forced it to carry him toward the whale's cry.
• After the predator-turned-vehicle vanished, Fu Qian swam toward a whale that approached him and let it swallow him.
• Fu Qian discovered the whale was hollow inside and followed its sinewy structures to a slowly rotating crystalline sphere.

Fu Qian returned from the Sea of Ashes with the Crystalline Sun and found that the Warehouse had excused him from work, while a Higher Being’s influence had left him facing a dangerous choice between two opportunities. He left the Warehouse and met Chief Yuan at the bookstore, ready to go with her.

• Fu Qian caught the Crystalline Sun as the whale’s light faded, and the gentle creature dissolved into ash.
• Fu Qian entered the Warehouse, where a prompt told him his work was complete and he could leave, leading him to suspect the Crystalline Sun or his actions had affected it.
• Fu Qian realized a Higher Being was watching him and that one of the two opportunities before him was a divine forgery; he chose not to consume the Crystalline Sun yet.
• Fu Qian clocked out of the Warehouse and returned to the bookstore, where he showered, changed clothes, and ate breakfast.
• Chief Yuan arrived at the bookstore, and Fu Qian left with her.

Fu Qian traveled with Yuan Shan to meet someone at the Night Watchers’ Hidden Sanctuary, learning that the destination was a gambling city called Night Holy Capital. The journey ended with Yuan Shan welcoming him there, while the reason for the meeting and what awaited him remained unknown.

• Fu Qian sold an insomniac customer a difficult mathematics book, then left the bookstore with Yuan Shan.
• Yuan Shan took Fu Qian aboard a luxurious aircraft and said they were traveling to meet someone who would decide what happened next.
• Yuan Shan admitted she could not rule out the possibility that the meeting would end with Fu Qian being killed, but promised to do her best to prevent it.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the Gulad affair had been settled, Gan Zuoxun had support as the new city administrator, and Miss Wen had risen to prominence in Shangjing.
• As they neared their destination, Yuan Shan revealed that the Hidden Sanctuary was a gambling city and welcomed Fu Qian to Night Holy Capital.

Yuan Shan took Fu Qian through Night Holy Capital to find her retired teacher, a former Night Watcher, while explaining the city’s unusual role within the organization. They headed to a church after failing to find him at a luxury hotel, and Yuan Shan revealed his name: Henry Campbell.

• Yuan Shan brought Fu Qian to Night Holy Capital and said she hoped to show him her comfortable home there if they had the chance.
• Yuan Shan explained that her retired teacher had no communication device, so she and Fu Qian searched likely places, beginning with a luxury hotel and casino.
• Fu Qian asked whether Transcendents could gamble, and Yuan Shan explained that they were restricted to certain games that attracted people willing to test their luck against them.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the Night Watchers maintained a secret headquarters in the city because the organization was not perfectly united and some members wanted a change of scenery.
• Yuan Shan led Fu Qian toward the city’s many churches and finally revealed that her teacher was named Henry Campbell.

Yuan Shan brought Fu Qian to a church in the Night Holy Capital to meet her teacher, retired Second Order Night Watcher Henry Campbell. Henry led them to a private room and thanked Fu Qian for helping the Night Watchers, especially with Logan’s situation.

• Yuan Shan explained that the city’s religious district was lively and harmonious despite its gambling culture.
• Yuan Shan worried that her teacher might be diverting other people’s prayers and blessings to himself.
• Yuan Shan found Henry Campbell praying in a church and led Fu Qian inside to meet him.
• Henry led Fu Qian and Yuan Shan into a private room, where he thanked Fu Qian for helping the Night Watchers and dealing with Logan’s situation.

Fu Qian spoke with Henry about Logan’s recovery, his bookstore, and the Night Watchers hidden underground. He exposed the city’s amusement-park-like design as a system for observing and collecting data on its human inhabitants, leaving Henry to decide whether to take him downstairs.

• Fu Qian learned from Henry that Logan’s mind had recovered well, though his overall condition remained strange.
• Henry questioned Fu Qian about his bookstore and driving before asking where the Night Watchers were.
• Fu Qian explained that he could not sense anyone underground but had detected a carefully designed screening structure.
• Henry tested Fu Qian’s view of the city, and Fu Qian described its observation room and the humans as a world-class sample for collection.
• Henry admitted Fu Qian had uncovered the covert design and asked whether he feared being invited downstairs; Fu Qian calmly challenged him to do it.

Fu Qian revealed that he had encountered Rainbow of Yao Bian, provoking Henry to unleash a powerful darkness that distorted the room. He produced a mysterious lantern and explained that it had put the name in his mind, then said he had refused the entity’s offer and sought information from Yuan Shan.

• Fu Qian told Henry he would investigate the city’s churches and try his luck, then admitted he had some contact with Rainbow of Yao Bian.
• Henry reacted to Fu Qian’s revelation by engulfing the room in oppressive darkness, while Yuan Shan kept calm and contained the contamination around herself.
• Fu Qian produced an old lantern, shocking Henry, and claimed he had found it in the Warehouse.
• Fu Qian explained that the lantern could project an ancient god and that Rainbow of Yao Bian’s name had appeared in his mind when he obtained it.
• Fu Qian told Henry he had refused the entity because he did not understand what it wanted, then asked Yuan Shan for information about the threat.

Fu Qian convinced Henry that the lantern could reveal images of ancient gods, then asked about Rainbow of Yao Bian. Henry agreed to explain if Fu Qian helped him find a rat named Midas.

• Yuan Shan scolded Fu Qian for using the lantern to summon a dangerous image, while Henry questioned whether the image truly came from an ancient god.
• Fu Qian said he had seen Annalise through the Gullard Family's Ancient Recollection, and Henry recognized the item and accepted his explanation.
• Fu Qian asked Henry what Rainbow of Yao Bian was, and Henry offered to answer in exchange for help finding a rat.
• Henry named the rat Midas, leaving Fu Qian bemused.

Fu Qian accepted Henry’s request to find the ordinary man known as the Rat, whom Henry accused of stealing and sharing his luck. After leaving Henry’s room with Yuan Shan, Fu Qian considered how to track him down, while Yuan Shan suggested asking the police for help.

• Henry explained that the Rat had stolen his good fortune and asked Fu Qian to find him.
• Fu Qian agreed to the search, and Henry assigned Yuan Shan to accompany him.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the term he had asked about was an absolute taboo, with information about it tightly controlled by the Night Watchers.
• Fu Qian suggested asking the Night Watchers to locate the Rat, then admitted he was joking.
• Yuan Shan proposed asking the police to help find the ordinary man, but Fu Qian doubted the Rat was ordinary.

Fu Qian accompanied Yuan Shan to a bar where she hoped to ask around about the unusually lucky Mr. Midas. There, Yuan Shan reunited with her old friend Moxi, who confirmed she had heard of him.

• Fu Qian agreed with Yuan Shan that they should investigate through her personal contacts rather than involve the authorities.
• Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that the base's core lay beneath a cluster of religious buildings and that she lived farther away from the church.
• Yuan Shan led Fu Qian through a shopping district to an out-of-the-way bar where she knew people.
• Yuan Shan introduced Fu Qian, also called Fang Xun, to her old friend Moxi, who served them their usual drinks.
• Fu Qian asked Moxi whether she had heard of Mr. Midas, and she said she had.

Yuan Shan and Fu Qian tracked down Midas’s leads through Moxi and went to a casino to question one of his acquaintances. When Moglin refused to cooperate, Yuan Shan told Fu Qian to use his method.

• Moxi told Yuan Shan and Fu Qian that Midas had recently made several legendary casino wins and gave them a list of people he had helped.
• Yuan Shan and Fu Qian agreed to search the casino where Midas had appeared several times.
• Fu Qian realized Moxi was raising two children on her own, and Yuan Shan confirmed it.
• At the casino, Yuan Shan identified Moglin, a gambler rumored to have received Midas’s advice, and asked him questions.
• Moglin refused to answer, so Yuan Shan gestured for Fu Qian to use his method.

Fu Qian and Yuan Shan forced Moglin to answer questions about Midas, learning that the mysterious lucky man wore a golden glove and had recently helped someone named Alan. Moglin directed them to a strip club Alan frequented, while Fu Qian still seemed reluctant to let the interrogation end.

• Moglin tried to intimidate Fu Qian and Yuan Shan, but Fu Qian threatened him with Mercy and made him cooperate.
• Yuan Shan asked Moglin about Midas, and Moglin said he had met the unusually lucky man about a month earlier at a casino.
• Moglin described Midas as a slightly tall man with curly brown hair who wore a golden glove on his right hand.
• Moglin said Midas had refused repayment and that he had not seen him again, though casinos disliked the luck he brought others.
• Moglin revealed that Midas had last helped Alan about a week earlier and suggested looking for him at a strip club Alan frequented.
• Yuan Shan judged Moglin's answers likely truthful, but Fu Qian continued handling his pistol as if he was not ready to let Moglin go.

Fu Qian and Yuan Shan followed leads to find Alan, the lucky person who had recently been close to Midas. They spotted someone matching Alan’s description onstage at a club.

• Fu Qian accepted Moglin’s chips and exchanged them for cash with Yuan Shan outside the casino.
• Yuan Shan admired Mercy, and Fu Qian explained that its Suffocation effect could make a bullet difficult to sense.
• Fu Qian and Yuan Shan found the club where Alan was reportedly performing and entered after paying the fee.
• Yuan Shan could not find Alan in the audience, but Fu Qian pointed out that one of the short-haired performers had winked at her earlier.

Fu Qian and Yuan Shan tracked Alan to a private room in the club and confronted him at gunpoint. Alan said Midas had already left the place.

• Fu Qian and Yuan Shan recognized Coridia from the casino and waited until her performance ended to question her about Alan.
• Coridia said Alan had come in that day and often wanted more than watching the shows, though she did not know whether he had left.
• Fu Qian and Yuan Shan slipped into the private-room corridor and searched for Alan.
• Fu Qian entered a room during a heavy beat, threatened the occupants with his gun, and confirmed the young man was Alan.
• Alan asked whether they were there about Midas and said Midas had already left the place.

Fu Qian and Yuan Shan learned that their target had apparently left, but Fu Qian discovered that Shaman had been paid to watch Alan for a man named Ross. The chapter ended as Fu Qian asked how Shaman was supposed to contact Ross if she found anything.

• Alan told Yuan Shan and Fu Qian that the man they sought had said he planned to leave and had not been seen since.
• Fu Qian pretended that he and Yuan Shan were casino customers, then asked Shaman to resume her performance while he watched her.
• Fu Qian knocked Alan unconscious and questioned Shaman about Midas and the person who had asked her to watch Alan.
• Shaman identified that person as Ross, a former customer of her mother, and admitted Ross paid her to report anything unusual, especially strangers seeking Alan.
• Fu Qian told Shaman she could take Alan's money and pretend they had forced her, then asked how she would notify Ross if she found something.