Chapter Summaries

White Corpse accelerated the Mother Body Divine Tree’s descent into reality, spreading contamination across Qinggang as Han Su confronted him beneath the tree. Han Su activated the Mechanical Fragment to trigger the Shimmering Descent, leaving White Corpse’s fate unresolved.

• White Corpse merged with the Mother Body Divine Tree, causing it to grow and release spores as contamination began spreading through Qinggang.
• Miss Ai reported that the infected population surged past one thousand while people across the city saw the tree and began kneeling to it.
• The Qinggang Council Hall debated whether to deploy high-lethality weapons, with some members choosing to wait and observe the Third Reality Defense Line.
• Han Su endured the tree’s pollution behind a barrier from the Crystal Pendant and learned that the pendant had warned him the strategic objective was already achieved.
• Han Su provoked White Corpse by admitting he had hit him at the Ancient Castle simply because he disliked him, causing White Corpse to break away from the tree and attack.
• White Corpse shattered Han Su’s crystal barrier, but Han Su opened his Briefcase and activated the Mechanical Fragment, willingly requesting the Shimmering Descent.

Han Su returned to the Ancient Castle, recognized the little side-parted boy as the future White Corpse, and struck him before firing three soundless shots of Mental Power at him. After escaping the cellar with help from Black Cat Duke, Han Su discovered a telephone and Black Suitcase that had not been in the hall before, suggesting his earlier rescue of Pot Lid Head and Rong Qiyue had changed the castle.

• Han Su reconsidered the castle's monsters and their connection to the children, then watched the little side-parted boy boast that Secretary Two would rescue him.
• Han Su slapped and kicked the boy, warned him about disregarding other people's lives, and fired three shots of Mental Power at him.
• Han Su attacked the hunchbacked guard and discovered his Mental Power could not sense any will inside the creature.
• Black Cat Duke scratched the hunchbacked guard at the nape, making him collapse, and Han Su identified the spot as a weakness.
• Han Su found an unfamiliar telephone and Black Suitcase in the hall and realized they might have appeared because he had rescued Pot Lid Head and Rong Qiyue on his previous visit.

Han Su received a mysterious phone call directing him to steal a book from the tenth floor, then went there to recruit Lu Neng and find the key to a secret passage. The chapter ended with Lu Neng revealing that he had already stolen the key Han Su needed.

• Han Su answered an old telephone and spoke with a prisoner who mistook him for a newly trapped child.
• The caller told Han Su to hide a black-and-gold book from the tenth floor within fifteen minutes, before the Old Butler returned.
• Han Su took the Black Suitcase and climbed to the tenth floor, where he found Lu Neng sweeping.
• Han Su gave Lu Neng a password and persuaded him to follow him to a secret passage.
• Lu Neng produced a bright yellow key he had stolen from an old man, and Han Su realized he had found the key he needed.

Han Su and Skinny Monkey stole the key and a mysterious book from the castle’s upper floor, then escaped through a door Han Su summoned. They left the enraged old man and the stunned Old Butler behind as Black Cat Duke slipped away.

• Han Su took the key from Skinny Monkey and decided to search the castle for a black book marked with a gold eye inside a hexagram before escaping.
• Skinny Monkey returned with the book, an old man’s glasses and Pocket Watch, and a cane, after waking the old man while stealing his belongings.
• Han Su packed the book, glasses, and Pocket Watch into the Black Suitcase, then fled with Skinny Monkey as the old man unleashed chaos from the corridor’s books.
• Han Su realized the old man could not aim because Skinny Monkey had taken his glasses and cane, and he summoned an escape door with the key.
• Han Su struck the Old Butler with the cane to stop him, then escaped through the door with Skinny Monkey while Black Cat Duke slipped away through the wreckage.

Han Su used hidden Mental Bullets to suppress the White Corpse’s powers and beat him into submission. As Han Su questioned him about his arrival in Azure Harbor and his torture, the White Corpse revealed that a woman who protected Han Su had kept a childhood picture of him and stopped him from coming after Han Su sooner.

• The White Corpse shattered Han Su’s Crystal Pendant barrier and attacked him to seize the Mechanical Fragment, but Han Su put the box away and fired a Mental Bullet into him.
• Han Su exploited the White Corpse’s loss of Mental Activity to strike him, then repeatedly fired Mental Bullets and battered him before the White Corpse could recover.
• Han Su pinned the White Corpse by gripping his heart and demanded that he calm down, leaving the White Corpse frightened and unable to fight back.
• Han Su asked how the White Corpse had ended up in Azure Harbor and who had tortured him, and the White Corpse said a woman who kept Han Su’s childhood picture had protected him.
• Han Su realized the woman the White Corpse meant was the one who had cared for him when he was young.

Han Su offered White Corpse a deal: he would let him fire at Bai Senmang in exchange for his memories, then kill him afterward. White Corpse accepted and launched a concentrated attack toward Azure Harbor, where Bai Senmang reacted with anger and indifference.

• White Corpse escaped Han Su’s grasp and accused him of being protected by the woman connected to the Crystal Skull, while blaming him for his suffering.
• White Corpse connected his power to the Mother Body Divine Tree and aimed its leaves at Azure Harbor, declaring that he would kill Bai Senmang.
• Miss Ai reported that the Mother Body Divine Tree was withdrawing contamination from Azure Harbor’s third defensive line as it concentrated its power.
• Han Su agreed to let White Corpse fire at Bai Senmang in exchange for his memories, promising to kill him afterward and pursue Bai Senmang himself if he was involved in their kidnapping.
• White Corpse accepted the deal and fired a massive beam of Mental Power toward Azure Harbor, causing contamination to recede as the attack focused on one target.
• Bai Senmang watched the beam approach his estate, smashed a photograph of himself with his son as a child, and dismissed his son as a useless fool.

As Azure Harbor's forces stopped White Corpse's attack and attempted to recover him, Han Su destroyed the Mother Body Divine Tree's Reality Anchor and preserved White Corpse's Copper Blood. The recovery failed, and Bai Senmang ended the chapter alone in his study, drinking with bloodshot eyes.

• Azure Harbor's leaders ordered their forces to stop White Corpse's attack, and the Secret School's agents blocked and absorbed his red beams.
• Miss Ai resisted the chains sent to retrieve the experimental subject while Han Su shot White Corpse, destroyed the Reality Anchor, and neutralized the Mother Body Divine Tree.
• White Corpse gave Han Su Copper Blood carrying his information and urged him not to act, but Han Su promised to find him and the others before sealing the blood in a case.
• The recovery attempt failed, and the Secret School's agents withdrew as Azure Harbor returned to normal.
• Bai Senmang drained his liquor in the Bai Family study, his eyes bloodshot.

Xu Ji’s Father urged the Council Hall to reconsider Qinggang City’s defenses, while Xu Ji learned that the Disaster Management Bureau was a powerful and dangerous experiment. At the Temporary Containment Center, Zhang Chiguo confronted the survivors about missing personnel, and Han Su revealed evidence linking Bai Shixing’s abduction and the Pale Giant experiment to the second secretary.

• Xu Ji’s Father praised the Disaster Management Bureau’s response to the crisis but argued that the city needed to adjust its defense strategy.
• Xu Ji’s Father told Xu Ji to listen in on future Bureau meetings and explained that the Bureau wielded special power, then called a meeting of the Xu Family elders.
• Zhang Chiguo found Han Su alive at the Temporary Containment Center and asked where the missing field operatives and investigators had gone.
• Green Hat said he had seen Aries and the Black Star investigator among the Mechanical Ghost’s flesh and detected Black Lake on it, while the others stayed silent.
• Zhang Chiguo lamented that people with Mysterious Power had stopped thinking of themselves as human.
• Han Su told Zhang Chiguo he had found proof of the Pale Giant experiment, identified the monster as abducted child Bai Shixing, and learned that Bai Senmang had confirmed the second secretary knew about the Kidnapping Case.

Han Su returned from the containment center and submitted Doctor’s report while wondering what had happened to the black Briefcase he brought out of the Ancient Castle. Zhang Chiguo reached Qinggang Council Hall with the box, where officials prepared to re-lock Miss Ai and contain her redundant computing power.

• Han Su left the containment center with Doctor, Black Tiger, and Li Yiting, while the Three Great Investigators accepted their defeat and Green Hat urged Night Lamp and Red Trench Coat to yield to him.
• Doctor prepared a draft report and asked Han Su whether many investigator licenses would become available after the night’s events.
• Han Su submitted the report at the Disaster Management Bureau base, noticed Miss Ai’s unusual responses, and learned that he would receive a special reward.
• Zhang Chiguo returned to Qinggang Council Hall with the box, and an official revealed that the plan to re-lock Miss Ai was meant to seal her extra computing power.

Zhang Chiguo was ordered to return Miss Ai to containment, but she asked him for time and left him a file. At the Bureau, Miss Ai cleared Han Su of suspicion, raised his rating to S-rank, and accepted his application to reopen the Ancient Castle Kidnapping Case; Han Su then received a suitcase as his special reward.

• A Bureau official revealed that Zhang Chiguo's real mission was to take Miss Ai back to containment, and Zhang agreed to carry it out.
• Inside the containment chamber, Miss Ai asked Zhang to delay the process so she could say goodbye and left him a file to read.
• Miss Ai told Han Su that Mr. Butcher had been cleared in the investigators' deaths and awarded an S-rank investigator rating.
• Han Su submitted a new application to reopen the Ancient Castle Kidnapping Case, adding Pale Giant research documents and his theory about the White Corpse.
• Miss Ai informed Han Su that his special mission reward had arrived, and he discovered it was the Black Suitcase from the Ancient Castle.

Han Su received the Black Suitcase and learned that Miss Ai was about to be locked away, leaving him with a brief farewell. At home, he found the Ancient Castle items he had hidden inside the suitcase, and realized Miss Ai had arranged for them to return to him.

• Han Su recognized the Black Suitcase as the one he had carried out of the Ancient Castle, and Miss Ai identified it as a special reward once used by Zhang Chiguo.
• Han Su sensed something inside the suitcase despite Miss Ai's claim that it had been thoroughly inspected and found empty.
• Miss Ai explained that her excess computational power was being locked away, reassured Han Su that her true spirit would remain, and said goodbye.
• Han Su left the tense Disaster Management Bureau and returned to his apartment, where he checked the premises before opening the suitcase.
• Han Su found the black book, glasses, and Pocket Watch he had brought from the Ancient Castle, and inferred that they appeared because he knew they were inside.

Han Su discovered that he could use his Mental Power to delay the next Shimmering Descent, giving him a possible way to remain in reality, but he chose to continue preparing to help the children in the Ancient Castle. He then explored the White Corpse’s memories in its Copper Blood and witnessed the Old Butler being whipped after Han Su escaped.

• Han Su examined Miss Ai’s glasses, pocket watch, and book, finding that the objects stirred his Mental Activity but leaving their properties unclear.
• Han Su transferred the Mechanical Fragment into the Black Suitcase and used his Mental Power to move its pointer from nine to ten, delaying the next Shimmering Descent by a day.
• Han Su considered escaping the Shimmering Descent for good but decided to keep helping the children and replied to Wei Lan that he would meet in two hours.
• Han Su used his Mental Power to access the White Corpse’s Copper Blood and searched through its fragmented memories.
• Han Su saw the children celebrating his escape from the Ancient Castle and witnessed the Old Butler being lashed by thorny vines.

Han Su explored the White Corpse’s memories and learned how he became a failed copper inheritor, endured painful experiments, and was imprisoned in a tower in Azure Harbor. The White Corpse recognized Han Su as the person who had taken the Will of Copper, but before he could reach him, the tall, thin woman ordered another transformation.

• Han Su saw the White Corpse rejected by the monster in the copper coffin and subjected to repeated torment in an effort to earn copper’s recognition.
• A tall, thin woman told a man in a white suit that the White Corpse had become a Defective Product, then agreed to experiment on him for a price.
• After experiments failed to awaken the Will of Copper, the woman concluded that it had already been inherited by someone else and predicted the inheritor would return.
• The White Corpse was sent to Azure Harbor and confined in a tower, where repeated transformations eroded his memories while he secretly sought the inheritor.
• The White Corpse recognized the grown mysterious child from the Ancient Castle outside a wonton shop and realized that Han Su carried the Will of Copper.
• The White Corpse tried to approach Han Su, but the tall, thin woman called and ordered that he undergo another transformation.

Han Su pieced together clues from Bai Hu’s memories and called his allies together to discuss the Kidnapping Case and the Ancient Castle’s inheritor ritual. He revealed that Bai Hu had been an abducted child selected as an inheritor and that Bai Senmang and Abyss Studio both knew about the selection.

• Han Su connected the wonton-shop meeting with Song Chushi to his entry into the Mysterious Circle and considered how Abyss Studio, the Tall, Thin Woman, and Bai Senmang fit into the Kidnapping Case.
• Han Su questioned how his escape had changed the Ancient Castle’s ritual and what had happened to the other kidnapped children who may have become inheritors.
• Han Su summoned Wei Lan and invited Pot Lid Head and Rong Qiyue to a meeting, while Pot Lid Head complained that others had taken both of his chosen targets and that he had diarrhea after swallowing Black Lake.
• Rong Qiyue joined the meeting after Wei Lan used their secret code, and he reflected on how the Kidnapping Case had changed in his memories and how Han Su had rescued him from the Ancient Castle.
• Han Su told the group that Bai Hu had been one of the kidnapped children and that his experiences pointed to an inheritor selection known to Bai Senmang and Abyss Studio.

Han Su warned Wei Lan, Rong Qiyue, and Pot Lid Head that their families might have been involved in the Ancient Castle’s kidnappings and laid out plans to investigate its survivors, monsters, and the powerful figures connected to them. Rong Qiyue realized their mysterious organization had only four active members and panicked at the scale of their opponents, while Han Su and Pot Lid Head insisted they would face the conflict anyway.

• Han Su recounted Codename White Corpse’s memories and warned that White Corpse’s father, Bai Senmang, had knowingly sent him into the Ancient Castle, raising the possibility that the others’ families had done the same.
• Han Su advised everyone to conceal their identities and tentatively divided the kidnapped into those whose families knew about the abductions and those whose families were unaware.
• Han Su outlined plans to investigate Bai Senmang, contact Abyss Studio and other possible Ancient Castle survivors, reopen the ten-year-old Kidnapping Case through the Disaster Management Bureau, and investigate the Pale Giant report.
• Wei Lan offered to help after her finals, Chen Ji said he was willing, and Rong Qiyue asked about the organization’s hidden identities, discovering that its active members included an investigator, a model, and a prisoner.
• Rong Qiyue panicked about their small group taking on powerful figures, but Pot Lid Head said their opponents had provoked them, and Han Su urged them to face the war despite overwhelming odds.

Han Su asked Rong Qiyue to identify Golden Writing and appraise mysterious items, revealing that the writing might be tied to the Emperor and could shake archaeology. Rong Qiyue could not inspect her glasses in the meeting space, so Han Su considered helping him establish a confidential lab in Azure Harbor, where the old gentleman at Lilac Mansion was the main obstacle.

• Rong Qiyue claimed he was close to completing the Second Stage of Mysterious Power and admitted he could call his grandfather for help.
• Han Su showed Rong Qiyue copied characters from the black book, and he identified them as precious Golden Writing that might be writing once used by the Emperor.
• Rong Qiyue could not see Han Su's glasses in Wei Lan's mental space and said they required appraisal in a safe, discreet lab.
• Rong Qiyue explained that he had come to Azure Harbor to establish an independent lab, but he needed approval and the old gentleman at Lilac Mansion was the main obstacle.

Han Su decided to use his possible identity as the inheritor to approach Lilac Mansion, while Wei Lan began searching for Lu Neng, a former cultist who stole the artifacts his groups worshipped. At the Council Hall, Zhang Chiguo learned that Song Chushi had orchestrated Azure Harbor’s recent crisis and was asked to help kill him when he returned.

• Rong Qiyue asked Wei Lan for help meeting Lilac Mansion’s master, and Han Su offered to approach the mansion himself as a possible inheritor.
• Rong Qiyue helped Han Su decipher the Emperor’s text, and Wei Lan agreed to search for Lu Neng, a former Mysterious Organization believer who had stolen the Bronze Mask and Mermaid Coffin.
• Han Su reviewed Wei Lan’s information about Lilac Mansion and used the Will of Copper to send Copper Blood out of his Black Suitcase and into the city.
• Zhang Chiguo confronted a Council Hall official about the Ancient Castle Kidnapping Case and received newly approved information about it.
• The Council Hall told Zhang Chiguo that Song Chushi had manipulated Azure Harbor’s crisis and asked him to join the original Special Operations Team’s Four Heavenly Kings in killing Song Chushi when he returned.

After the Drunk Investigator’s death, the Living Copper Puppet awakened at Lilac Mansion and Gatekeeper Wei Jiming hailed Han Su as Copper’s inheritor. Han Su withdrew the Copper Blood, pleased that his control of the puppet had improved, while Wei prepared to follow his orders.

• The female security guard reported that the Drunk Investigator had been killed by the White Corpse, and Wei Jiming ordered his body burned.
• The Living Copper Puppet stirred, and Wei froze everyone in Lilac Mansion before kneeling and greeting the inheritor.
• The puppet ordered Wei to prepare the Abyss Studio’s files, protect Bai Senmang in Azure Harbor, and await a task from its people.
• Wei cut off his hand in an offering, then ordered the mansion’s lights turned on and its main gate opened.
• Han Su withdrew the Copper Blood in his penthouse apartment and reflected on how his improved control had let him pose as the inheritor.

Han Su visited the psychiatrist he remembered, confirmed that Miss Ai was gone, and learned that Wei Lan had won the Queen title. At the Disaster Management Bureau, Zhang Chiguo told him that the Kidnapping Case investigation had been reopened and assigned to Li Moses, who was preparing to investigate in Azure Harbor.

• Han Su visited the woman who had counseled him after the Kidnapping Case and realized Miss Ai had left his life.
• Han Su saw Wei Lan win the Queen organization’s pageant and concluded that she had found something to devote herself to.
• Han Su worried that his own strength lagged behind Wei Lan’s and the others’.
• Han Su met Zhang Chiguo, who confirmed that the Kidnapping Case investigation had been reopened.
• Zhang Chiguo told Han Su that Independent Investigator Li Moses would handle the case and was preparing to begin investigating in Azure Harbor.

Han Su met with Zhang Chiguo, who warned him about the dangers of pursuing the kidnapping case and the Independent Investigator Li Moses. Secretary Cui Qiao explained the history of Qinggang’s Four Heavenly Kings before Han Su entered a conference room to meet Li Moses and his associates.

• Zhang Chiguo told Han Su that Li Moses and Red Sea Studio were involved, and warned that Li Moses had once led missions with high casualty rates.
• Zhang Chiguo cautioned Han Su that the people behind the kidnapping case might be monsters and urged him to avoid dangerous figures, while Han Su challenged Zhang’s cautious approach.
• Zhang Chiguo reaffirmed his support for Han Su, and Han Su wondered whether his warning meant Song Chushi was returning to Qinggang.
• Cui Qiao told Han Su that Zhang Chiguo, Li Moses, Zhao Brahma, and Wang Buddha had become known as the Four Heavenly Kings after surviving a true S-Class Threat four years earlier.
• Han Su entered the conference room, where the assembled people watched him with amusement and one of them greeted him as Qinggang’s first S-Class investigator.