Chapter Summaries

Xue Zhi sent Wei Lan to disaster-struck Light Machine City and used a media campaign and promised aid to bind her to the suffering cities, building a foundation for her to rise from Queen of Azure Harbor toward Queen of the continent. He argued that resources and public influence alone were not enough: the Emperor would have to make her a true Queen, and he suggested Xu Ji was already present.

• Xue Zhi told Han Su to send Wei Lan to Light Machine City and had him give her a plan to publish news stories and consolidate resources.
• After other Queens refused to help, Wei Lan followed Han Su's message, traveled to devastated Light Machine City, and gave her bread to a hungry child.
• Media devices across the city broadcast reports naming Wei Lan and promising 30 billion in aid; she embraced the attention, unleashed her Mental Activity, and vowed to feed and shelter the refugees.
• Xue Zhi explained to Han Su that Wei Lan's public commitment to disaster-struck cities would bind her to their authority and build her support across multiple cities.
• Xue Zhi said that Mr. Lu Xiaoba and Mr. Chen Ji could help provide the resources for Wei Lan's rise, but that the Emperor was needed to complete her ascension.
• Xue Zhi looked toward Xu Ji and told Han Su that the Emperor was already there.

Wei Lan’s friends built her public image and support network through disaster relief, helping her meet two requirements for Queen ascension and prepare to face the Knight Errant. When she sensed an unexpected change in her ascension, Xue Zhi arranged for Xu Ji to show her goodwill as the next step toward crowning.

• Han Su read Xue Zhi’s plan to establish Wei Lan’s image among disaster victims, while Anwei’s broadcasts helped residents across Light Machine City and nearby cities remember her.
• Wei Lan performed as an angel of disaster relief, gaining followers and an imprint, while Han Su worried that she lacked the media reach and support needed to compete with the Knight Errant.
• Xue Zhi explained that the Wei and Lu families controlled Azure Harbor’s media channels and proposed using Wu Qi’s influence, Lu Xiaoba’s family shipping resources, and other connections to spread news and deliver supplies.
• Lu Xiaoba called his family, and Lu’s Shipping rerouted seven cargo ships to Light Machine City as news of Wei Lan’s relief work spread across the Eastern Continent and companies pledged support.
• Wei Lan felt her spiritual resonance grow, concluded that she had met two ascension requirements, and prepared to face the Knight Errant before sensing an unexpected change.
• Xue Zhi asked Xu Ji to show goodwill toward Wei Lan, and Han Su forced Xu Ji to bow to her.

Wei Lan’s unexpected ascension gave her control over Light Machine City and let her hold off the Knights Errant while Lu Neng retrieved the Mechanical Fragment. Xue Zhi explained that Xu Ji had somehow influenced the coronation from afar, then revealed his belief that Xu Ji was the Emperor’s eldest legitimate son.

• Wei Lan completed her ascension, raised a vast Crystalline Mirror defense around Light Machine City, and learned that the Knights Errant had surrounded the city.
• The Knights Errant refused to attack Wei Lan’s defensive line and demanded authorization to act against her and the disaster victims.
• Wei Lan rejected Xiang Nanli’s offer to help, then told Han Su that Lu Neng had entered Eastern Zone Four and was bringing back the Mechanical Fragment.
• Han Su and Xue Zhi realized Lu Neng had never left the Mechanical Fragment with Wei Lan, giving her time to distract the Knights Errant while he returned to Azure Harbor.
• Han Su agreed to prepare to contaminate Xue Zhi, who deduced that Xu Ji was Azure Harbor’s greatest outlier and claimed he was the Emperor’s eldest legitimate son.

Xue Zhi explained how his investigations led him to suspect that the Xu Family carried the Emperor’s bloodline, while Han Su recognized one of Xue Zhi’s mysterious visitors as the Old Butler from the Ancient Castle. After Miss Wei’s Queen ascension ritual confirmed his theory, Xue Zhi concluded that the Emperor’s throne still awaited its heir and that Xu Ji was closest to it.

• Xue Zhi described how he investigated the Chen Family and other powerful families who seemed inexplicably confined to Azure Harbor.
• Xue Zhi explained that the Xu Family held a noble title too low for its apparent status and that Secretary Number 5 feared them more than any other family.
• Xue Zhi recounted his studies of the erased history of the Emperor and the strange visitors who had spoken to him about the Emperor’s bloodline.
• Han Su recognized Xue Zhi’s description of the old visitor as the Old Butler from the Ancient Castle.
• Xue Zhi said Miss Wei’s successful Queen ascension ritual confirmed that the Xu Family carried the Emperor’s bloodline and that Xu Ji was closest to the throne.

Han Su woke Xue Zhi with the Mechanical Fragment, and Xue Zhi confirmed that the Emperor’s Followers had sent them into the Ancient Castle. As Han Su prepared to confront the Singer, Xue Zhi’s notes warned him to hide that he was the Emperor, while the Singer received orders to protect Qinggang and remind the Xu Family and other families of their old contract.

• Xue Zhi used candy and coffee to sharpen his memory, recorded his encounter with the Old Butler and the Singer, and agreed to be awakened by Han Su.
• Han Su and Rong Qiyue used the Mechanical Fragment and protective equipment to expose Xue Zhi to contamination; after violent convulsions, Xue Zhi stabilized and identified the Emperor’s Followers as their focus.
• Han Su told Xue Zhi about his investigation into Abyss Studio, Qinggang, and the Silence Plan, then decided to visit the Singer and bring Xu Ji along.
• Han Su called Green Hat, who said the Singer had applied to work at his bar, and Han Su realized Green Hat might also be contaminated by her.
• Han Su noticed a hidden message in Xue Zhi’s notes: “Hide the fact that you're the Emperor!”
• At the Green Hat Bar, the Singer told someone that the test involving the young Queen had succeeded; the person ordered her to protect Qinggang and remind the Xu Family and other families of their old contract.

Han Su confronted the Singer at Green Hat Bar and learned she had come to enforce a promise made by the powerful families to her master, the Doctor. She seized the hearts of nearly everyone on the street, leaving the gathered authorities helpless as Xu Ji's Father arrived in despair.

• Pot Lid Head warned Han Su that the Singer was a dangerous, nonhuman creature, while Xu Ji recognized Pot Lid Head as an old elementary-school classmate.
• Han Su entered the bar and found wealthy young men frozen under the Singer's power; she said she had come to check whether their families had kept an agreement with her master.
• The Singer called Han Su “Young Master,” claimed his friend’s feelings for her were normal, and warned him not to interfere while she handled her business.
• Luxury cars, armed forces, and investigators gathered outside as Xue Zhi realized he had misunderstood the situation and Mr. Green Hat and Wang Buddha arrived to assist Han Su.
• The Singer unleashed a Mental Ripple that stopped the hearts of everyone on the street except Han Su and Wang Buddha, then watched the car doors open and Xu Ji's Father step out in despair.

Lu Xiaoba's bomb distracted the Old Singer, who revealed herself as a powerful Abyssal Creature and rose above Qinggang, ensnaring the city's inhabitants in her influence. Han Su identified her as the Goddess of Beauty, one of the Ten Great World-Ending Calamities, while her appearance unsettled Ms. Shen by suggesting that someone she believed dead might still be alive.

• Lu Xiaoba detonated a bomb that killed his target and briefly disrupted the Old Singer's control over the streets.
• Wang Buddha and Green Hat attacked the Old Singer, but she shed layers of her body and revealed her true form as an Abyssal Creature.
• Han Su tried to seize the Old Singer's power, and Pot Lid Head struck her with a blade before she knocked him away and escaped the bar.
• The Old Singer floated above Qinggang and compelled people across the city to stare at her, spreading chaos and exposing the factions watching the city.
• Han Su used the Emperor's text to identify the Old Singer as the Goddess of Beauty, one of the Ten Great World-Ending Calamities.
• Ms. Shen saw the creature and realized that the Old Singer had been the assistant of the person she believed dead.

The Old Singer arrived over Qinggang, exposed hidden outsiders, compelled the city’s wealthy and officials to act, and left with an Iron Box as shadows gathered beyond the city. After Xu Ji’s Father apologized to Han Su over the Divine Descent Plan, Ms. Shen confronted the Singer and demanded to know where the Doctor was; the Singer instead revealed that the Original Blueprint had been hidden in Qinggang.

• The Old Singer killed concealed outsiders in Qinggang and raised a Mental Power barrier against spying gazes.
• The Old Singer controlled officials to retrieve an Iron Box and forced wealthy young men and other prominent figures to emerge, then spoke strange words that left them convulsing.
• The Old Singer released a Black Egg, took the Iron Box, and left Qinggang to confront the shadows, killing a Knight Errant as the wilderness descended into chaos.
• Han Su checked on Xu Ji and the unconscious young men, while Xu Ji confessed that he thought he had fallen in love with something nonhuman.
• Xu Ji’s Father told Han Su that he knew about the Divine Descent Plan and apologized for the group’s failure to him.
• Ms. Shen confronted the Singer outside the city and demanded to know where the Doctor was, but the Singer said the Original Blueprint was hidden in Qinggang.

Xu Ji's Father told Han Su that the Emperor's descendants were marked as sacrifices because the Emperor had corrupted the Three Great Contracts and destabilized the world. He revealed that Han Changming had sought to end the Tide and free their families from the curse, leaving Han Su to wonder whether he and Xu Ji shared the Emperor's bloodline.

• Han Su asked Xu Ji's Father what he knew, and they met in a secured room at the Seaside Club.
• Xu Ji's Father said he suspected Han Su had rescued people from the Ancient Castle and asked whether his family owed Han Su thanks.
• Xu Ji's Father revealed that his family descended from the Emperor, whose tampering with the Three Great Contracts had destabilized the world.
• Xu Ji's Father explained that the Emperor's descendants had been forced to sacrifice their blood to calm especially dangerous Tides.
• Xu Ji's Father said Han Changming had rejected the idea that later generations should bear the Emperor's ancient sin and wanted to solve the Tide at its source.
• Han Su recognized Han Changming as his father and wondered whether his mother and he also belonged to the Emperor's bloodline.

Han Su learned that Doctor Han had arranged three preparations for the marked descendants of the Emperor, including releasing Miss Ai, extracting the Emperor’s Blood, and cooperating with the true Emperor Sequence. The Copper Civilization’s answer identified the Mother of Machinery as the World-Ending Angel who destroyed every civilization, leaving Han Su and Mr. Xu to confront the danger of releasing her.

• Mr. Xu explained that Doctor Han had persuaded the marked families to prepare three measures in Azure Harbor in case the Divine Descent Plan failed.
• Mr. Xu described a terrifying vision of the Ancient Castle group being killed as twelve figures destroyed the world, which convinced him to honor the agreement.
• Mr. Xu revealed that the first measure was to gather four keys and release Miss Ai, whose codename was the World-Ending Angel.
• Han Su asked Anwei to consult history, while Mr. Xu revealed that the second measure had extracted thirty-three grams of Ancestral Substance from the Emperor’s descendants and stored it inside an ordinary person.
• Mr. Xu explained that the third measure required the families to obey the true Emperor Sequence and help lift the curse on the Emperor’s bloodline.
• Anwei reported that the Copper Civilization blamed the Mother of Machinery for betraying and destroying it, and said she had destroyed every civilization.

Han Su learned more about Mother of Machinery’s danger and the Emperor’s role in the Divine Descent Plan, then helped secure Qinggang amid the aftermath of the creature’s attack. After becoming an Independent Investigator, he received a Knight Errant invitation backed by two noble recommendations, leaving him to consider Mr. Xu’s offer to provide a third.

• Han Su agreed to take the keys and investigation files so he could unlock three of Miss Ai’s locks and ask her a question, while Mr. Xu warned him that the World Guardians might hold greater authority.
• Mr. Xu warned that the Divine Descent Plan might fail and trigger the Emperor’s bloodline sacrifice plan; Han Su vowed to confront the people behind it and protect Xu Ji.
• Han Su returned to his companions, and Xue Zhi agreed to collect Mr. Xu’s files while Xu Ji worried that he had found the abnormal creature attractive.
• Wei Lan reported that the Queen organization had intervened in her standoff with the Knight Errant, and Lu Neng brought Han Su the third Mechanical Fragment.
• Qinggang’s Council appointed Assistant Xu as Secretary Number 5 and reshuffled its seats, including giving Anwei a black chair and Hou Zhizhu the seat tied to Lilac Mansion.
• Han Su received an invitation to become Qinggang’s fourth Independent Investigator and a Knight Errant recommendation bearing two nobles’ signatures; Mr. Xu offered to provide the third recommendation.

Han Su learned that the Emperor’s return connected the Black Rose, Ancestral Substance, and marked families, then prepared to pursue the Emperor’s power in the Ancient Castle. As the World Guardians anticipated the Tide and planned to retrieve the Throne fragments and Origin Seal, Han Su returned to the castle and heard the mysterious man’s instructions for taking control during the monsters’ banquet.

• Han Su asked Xue Zhi to investigate the Da and Chen families and the Emperor Sequence, while assigning his allies to search for Mechanical Fragments and descendants of the Twelve Knights.
• Ms. Shen concluded that the escaped child was the conspicuous location of the Original Blueprint and chose to keep investigating the plan to help the child rather than the man who had deceived her.
• A Mountain Base City elder said Han Su would eventually seek Knight Errant training to protect himself from forbidden power and ordered preparations to retrieve the Throne fragments and Origin Seal as the Tide approached.
• Han Su used Mechanical Fragment No. 3 to return to the Ancient Castle, calmly passed its first nights, and followed the mysterious caller’s directions to the office.
• The mysterious man told Han Su that he had gained over 30% control of the Ancient Castle and could exceed 70% by taking part in a ritual before the monsters’ banquet.

Han Su gathered the ingredients and allies needed to interfere with the mysterious ritual planned for the Night of Joy banquet. As the banquet began, he uncovered the portrait that was supposed to explain his preparations and realized the ritual’s purpose.

• Han Su inspected the four rewards in the underground chamber and decided to prepare his own ritual before the Night of Joy banquet.
• Han Su found the correct scent-changing reagent with Song Yushi’s help, and she helped conceal its removal by knocking over other potions.
• Han Su enlisted Li Manman to distract the wooden dolls, then took the unactivated boy doll from the Pale Giant’s room.
• Han Su asked the boy in the tailcoat to protect him, and the boy agreed after Han Su explained that the kidnappers planned a ritual involving the children.
• Han Su gathered the remaining items throughout the Ancient Castle as the Night of Joy began, then uncovered the portrait stolen from the Ghost Princess and recognized the absurd ritual he was meant to perform.

Han Su recognized the Emperor in the painting and realized the relics he had received could help recreate him. At the Night of Joy banquet, he altered Grotesque Doctor’s ritual by making a puppet the decoy and reciting the Spell himself in the secret room, awakening the Ancient Castle’s power.

• Han Su identified the painting as the Emperor and connected its cloak, mask, Crystal Skull cup, and throne to his relics.
• Han Su put his blood and Mental Power into a wooden boy puppet, then used a mysterious potion and blood to make it resemble him.
• The Old Butler brought the children to the Banquet Hall, where the Twelve monsters gathered with their chosen children and waited for the Emperor behind the thirteenth door.
• After the Old Butler invited the Emperor three times, Han Su remembered Grotesque Doctor’s instructions and chose to perform the ritual differently.
• Han Su wore the cloak and mask in the secret room, placed the Emperor’s Book on the desk, and recited, “Praise the Emperor’s name!”
• The Ancient Castle shook as the power of countless slumbering things surged toward Han Su.

Han Su took the place of Grotesque Doctor’s puppet in a ritual, absorbing the Ancient Castle’s ownerless Mysterious Power and claiming its permissions. As the Old Butler began recording the Emperor’s erased history, Han Su urged him to continue, while Grotesque Doctor tried to interrupt the ritual.

• Han Su used his preparations to endure the Ancient Castle’s Mysterious Power, and his Golden Cells divided twice more as the castle’s permissions converged on him.
• The thirteenth-floor door opened, revealing a figure the Old Butler recognized as the Emperor, while the monsters in the Banquet Hall began to lose control.
• The Old Butler bound the shaking castle with vines and recited the Emperor’s past deeds from a blank notebook; the monsters’ reactions caused the deeds to appear as records.
• As each record formed, Han Su experienced vivid memories of the Emperor’s supposedly erased history, and the Old Butler’s recitation began to transform the castle’s Mysterious Power.
• Grotesque Doctor called frantically to stop the ritual, but Han Su told the Old Butler to continue, and the fifth record began to appear.

As the Old Butler recorded the Twelve Anomalies, Han Su recovered memories revealing that he was the Thirteenth Anomaly and that the true Divine Descent Plan sought to establish the Emperor’s anchor point. An unseen caller unleashed the Mysterious Will and its Golden Spear, disrupting the ritual until the Ancient Castle collapsed and the Old Butler shattered.

• The Old Butler’s records restored Han Su’s fragmented memories of the Emperor’s past pacts with the anomalies and led him to recognize himself as the Thirteenth Anomaly.
• Han Su realized Abyss Studio’s Divine Descent Plan had overlooked the Emperor, while someone in the shadows wanted to create his anchor point without letting him awaken.
• After the phone stopped ringing, an unseen person answered it and chanted a spell that let the Mysterious Will invade the Ancient Castle as a Golden Spear.
• The Tuxedo stepped between Han Su and the spear, prompting the Pig Head Butcher to intercept it and absorb its Mental Power with blood-red threads.
• The Golden Spear’s intrusion shattered the Old Butler and drove the Ancient Castle toward collapse as the monsters attacked and the caller lamented the plan’s failure.

Han Su awakened on Life Line No. 04 as a captain in the Church of Rest, where his squad was trapped in a battle with Zero-Sum City. After defeating the Tall and Thin Monsters and reaching the target’s underground chamber, he found Rong Qiyue holding a Black Suitcase.

• Han Su recovered memories of Life Line No. 04 and realized he had been sent on a likely staged mission by the Church of Rest.
• A barrage stopped, and the squad spotted the approaching Tall and Thin Monsters; Han Su broke one monster’s foreleg and killed the creatures with his awakened power.
• Han Su decided to secure the area, find his companions, and investigate the state of the Divine Descent Plan while using the church’s intelligence network.
• Han Su charged toward the mission target, deflected gunfire, and entered an underground chamber.
• Han Su found Rong Qiyue at a computer, holding a Black Suitcase.

Han Su returned from destroying Zero-Sum City's laboratory with the Black Suitcase and learned that the Azure Harbor Big Bang had changed this Life Path. At the Church of Rest, he confronted its leaders and discovered that the Emperor's power gave him authority over the dead.

• Han Su learned from Rong Qiyue that the Azure Harbor Big Bang had erased Azure Harbor and reshaped the lives of their friends.
• Han Su convinced his Church of Rest team that the Lord of Rest had bestowed power on him, then brought them and their recovered corpses back to headquarters.
• The guards tried to seize Han Su's team, but Han Su and his teammates overwhelmed them with their powers.
• Han Su entered the church and resisted a Spell from the young Acolyte and the Chief Priests as he approached the corpse they worshipped.
• Han Su recited a Spell that made the corpse open its eyes, realizing that the Emperor's power carried the authority to command the dead.

Han Su seized control of the Church of Rest’s corpse and learned that several of the Ten Calamities had entered the world. Wei Lan revealed that the Qinggang Big Bang had freed Miss Ai, and Han Su recognized Li Manman when she appeared as Zero-Sum City’s secret weapon.

• Han Su awakened the Lord of Rest, stripped the Church of Rest’s leaders of their powers, killed the young Acolyte, and appointed himself Grand Chief Priest.
• Han Su searched the Chief Priests’ memories and learned that the Church had been ordered to bring the Corpse River into reality, while four of the Ten Calamities were already active across the continents.
• Han Su ordered the Chief Priests to find records about the global wars, the calamities, and the Qinggang Big Bang, then received a message from Wei Lan.
• Wei Lan told Han Su that the Qinggang Big Bang had destroyed the city and freed Miss Ai, the Mother of Machinery, who was bringing calamities into reality to destroy civilization.
• Han Su told Wei Lan to focus on finding the fourth Mechanical Fragment and people with Knight bloodlines, then learned that Zero-Sum City was counterattacking.
• Han Su saw Li Manman defeat hundreds of soldiers with puppet dolls and recognized her as Zero-Sum City’s secret weapon.

Han Su confronted Li Manman, who had returned from the Ancient Castle with powerful puppet-control abilities, but their standoff shifted when she revealed that she remembered him and had searched for him. The chapter ended with Li Manman asking about Han Su’s connection to the Black Rose Organization, which sought to destroy the world.

• Han Su left the Church of Rest’s headquarters to meet Li Manman and offered to surrender the corpse containing his information.
• Han Su led Li Manman into town, where Church of Rest soldiers prepared to ambush her, and tried to jog her memory by mentioning Qinggang and Magic Box Group.
• Li Manman revealed that she remembered the Ancient Castle and used swarms of puppet dolls to suppress the Church of Rest’s forces.
• Han Su realized Li Manman and the other children who escaped when the Ancient Castle collapsed had always remembered him and had searched for him.
• Li Manman recalled that Han Su had helped her and her friends escape the Kidnapping Case, then asked what relationship he had with the Black Rose Organization.