Chapter Summaries

Li Manman told Han Su how Mother of Machinery had turned Black Rose into an instrument of world-ending disasters, and how she and her companions escaped after Mr. Xu sacrificed himself. Han Su explained that his version of Black Rose and Miss Ai were different, promised to help Li Manman reach another Life Path, and sought a direct meeting with Mother of Machinery.

• Li Manman revealed that she had been one of Black Rose’s Twelve Angels and described how Mother of Machinery manipulated Mr. Xu and built the organization after the Qinggang Big Bang.
• Li Manman recounted how Black Rose’s members caused disasters, how Mr. Xu killed himself after opposing the machine, and how Chao Xiaobei led seven survivors to escape the headquarters.
• Li Manman explained that the fugitives had searched for Han Su because they believed his memories of the Ancient Castle might help them understand Mother of Machinery.
• Han Su told Li Manman that his Miss Ai had been a gentle assistant and that her parents were alive on another Life Path, then offered her the Briefcase so she could experience flickering; Li Manman deferred until she could consult her companions.
• Han Su said he needed to meet Mother of Machinery, and Li Manman explained that the machine might appear if he left the Pale Power-blocked city; Han Su asked whether the two noble figures who had arrived had pure blood.

Han Su turned the Church of Rest’s attempt to overwhelm him into a source of power, using the Emperor’s Book to absorb the eight dioceses’ pollution and reclaim his strength. As the corpses of their gods knelt before him and messages announced the emperor’s return, Li Manman sent word that she had found him.

• Han Su learned that Li Manman’s companions had split up to investigate other potential Calamity sites, and he told her they shared a side with him and should gather everyone.
• Han Su left Li Manman to contact the others and walked toward the town center, where the three Chief Priests planned to use the eight dioceses’ power against him.
• The Chief Priests activated a field of Mental Power across the town, but Han Su used a Cipher Spell to draw its pollution into the Emperor’s Book.
• The Emperor’s Book purified the pollution and returned its power to Han Su, who reached a higher life level and compelled the worshipped corpses across the dioceses to kneel.
• Electronic devices across the land displayed the message “The emperor has returned!”
• Li Manman felt Han Su’s power rise and sent a puppet doll to tell the others she had found him.

Han Su learned that the Death Kingdom was a disaster created by evolved mental beings and realized the Church of Rest’s followers had been sealed inside the Emperor’s Book. After Zero-Sum City mistook the Church’s sudden disappearance for Li Manman’s work, Han Su prepared to accompany her there and test a power that could alter time.

• Han Su studied the Death Kingdom’s origins and concluded that Miss Ai was watching him, though she did not appear.
• Zero-Sum City detected a massive Lullaby fluctuation, then lost all signals from the Church of Rest and assumed its forces had withdrawn.
• Two Central City nobles invited Li Manman to Zero-Sum City to collect her payment, while privately deciding that anyone capable of defeating the Church should be eliminated.
• Li Manman confirmed that the Church’s threat had been resolved and accepted the invitation; Han Su offered to go with her to hunt and meet an old friend.
• Han Su experimented in the temporary chapel, making two hours and seventeen minutes pass while Li Manman perceived only twenty-two seconds, then said they were going to meet the world’s true master.

Han Su and Li Manman attended Zero-Sum City's Wine Party to collect a mission reward and secure the Abyss Tier 2 Equation. The white-suited man offered Li Manman a chance to preserve her consciousness by signing a Scarlet contract and serving him, leaving her to answer his proposal.

• Han Su and Li Manman returned to Zero-Sum City with the Crooked Melon Squad and were told to attend the Wine Party while the squad waited behind.
• Queen Liya's team dressed Li Manman for the party, and Han Su changed into a black suit while keeping his briefcase.
• At the crowded Banquet Hall, Li Manman demanded her mission reward and an answer about the terms she had proposed to the World Guardians.
• The man in the white suit identified the Abyss Tier 2 Equation as the knowledge Li Manman wanted and asked whether she had dealt with the Church of Rest's threat to Zero-Sum City.
• After Li Manman confirmed her involvement but declined to share details, the white-suited man offered to give her the equation if she signed a Scarlet contract and served him.

At the Zero-Sum City wine party, the nobles tried to force Li Manman to surrender her Pallor authority and deny their promise of the Abyss Tier 2 Equation. Han Su and several unexpected allies challenged them, and Han Su ended by revealing what he knew and demanding that the nobles kneel and return his authority.

• The White Suit and the Purple Dress sealed the banquet hall with the Twelve Obstacles and demanded Li Manman's Pallor authority, while Li Manman insisted the World Guardians had promised her the Abyss Tier 2 Equation.
• The White Suit exposed Li Manman and the Survivors as survivors of the Qinggang Big Bang and former members of the Black Rose Organization, provoking fear among the guests.
• Han Su stood beside Li Manman and accused the nobles of stealing history and misusing knowledge left by the Emperor.
• Rong Qiyue, Lu Neng, and Lu Xiaoba openly mocked the nobles and explained that the White Suit and the Purple Dress lacked the rank to grant attendants the Abyss secrets.
• Han Su comforted Li Manman, told her that revolting had not been wrong, then revealed that he knew about the Divine Descent Plan, the Qinggang Big Bang, and the Five Great Calamities.
• Han Su demanded that the nobles kneel, atone to him, and return the authority they had taken from him.

At the Wine Party, Han Su revealed himself as the Emperor and unleashed the Church of Rest’s contamination on Zero-Sum City, disabling its defenses and plunging the city into chaos. As White Suit and Purple Dress used their strongest abilities against him, Han Su activated Machinery Fragment No. 03 and declared that his time had come.

• Han Su’s claim to be the Emperor provoked White Suit, while Miss Liya sealed the Wine Party hall and Zero-Sum City officials prepared to attack him and Li Manman.
• Li Manman explained that the survivor squad needed spinal enhancement serum and the Abyss Tier 2 Equation to slow the collapse of their consciousness, but the Number 5 Secretary refused Han Su’s demand for the promised reward.
• Han Su cast a Spell that filled the Wine Party with gray mist, and alarms announced that the Lullaby domain and anomalous contamination had returned to Zero-Sum City.
• A shot killed one member of the Crooked Melon Squad, releasing a Life Aura that resonated with Han Su’s Rest Spell and spread mind-destroying contamination through the city.
• Zero-Sum City’s officials reported that the reality defense line could not be activated, while White Suit and Purple Dress unleashed their authorities to stop Han Su and restore the city’s defenses.
• Han Su activated Machinery Fragment No. 03 as White Suit attacked, then told the nobles that it was already his time.

Han Su used Machinery Fragment No. 03 to isolate the Wine Party and advance his plan to contaminate Zero-Sum City, while confronting the Abyssal Strain and Miss Anastasia. After White Suit unleashed the Mental Power of his copied selves, Han Su broke through his limits and seized him, asking if he was ready to see him again.

• White Suit invaded Han Su's mind with implanted memories, but Han Su repelled him, saw the Abyssal Strain behind his head, and crushed its tumor-like body.
• White Suit revealed he had replicated himself inside more than a dozen people, while Miss Anastasia discovered that Zero-Sum City had been sealed off from the outside world.
• Han Su activated Machinery Fragment No. 03, isolating the Wine Party from outside interference so he could pursue his plan to contaminate Zero-Sum City and bring down the Fifth Calamity.
• White Suit combined the Mental Power of his copies into a massive attack, while Li Manman found she could not summon her puppet doll.
• Under the pressure, Han Su forcibly merged his reserve Mental Power, surged beyond two hundred units, broke free of White Suit's assault, and grabbed him by the head.

Han Su crushed White Suit’s head as the nobles tried to infect and attack the party, but the group’s unusual abilities turned the fight against them. As Zero-Sum City neared a catastrophe, Han Su summoned Miss Ai, who appeared and addressed him as the Emperor.

• Han Su crushed White Suit’s head, prompting White Suit to flee and spread the Abyssal Strain while Anastasia filled the party with dust.
• Lu Neng hurled a piano at the Special Operations Team, then summoned an Old Vampire who unleashed her mental power across the party.
• Rong Qiyue’s Phoenix flames failed to harm Anastasia, but Lu Xiaoba pinned her down and beat her until she agreed to hook up with him.
• Chen Ji stopped Miss Liya from attacking, while Han Su sensed corruption spreading through Zero-Sum City and the Sluice Gate nearing its opening.
• Han Su told Miss Ai that the Fifth Calamity’s descent was in his hands and asked her to reveal herself; she appeared and called him the Emperor.

Han Su nearly obeyed Miss Ai’s influence and prepared to summon the Fifth Calamity, but Li Manman stopped him with a Cerebrospinal Injection. After Miss Ai declared that she had never betrayed humanity, Han Su revealed that she had been created by the First Generation Human Civilization to guide survivors in rebuilding civilization, though she looked down on humanity.

• Miss Ai urged Han Su to break the World Contract, destroy the current civilization, and await a new reboot, while his memories and resolve were overtaken by the Emperor’s consciousness.
• Han Su began channeling the contamination across Zero-Sum City to summon the Fifth Calamity, alarming Miss Anastasia and the others.
• Li Manman slipped past the Wine Party’s defenses and injected Han Su with a Cerebrospinal Injection, restoring his independent sense of self.
• Han Su realized Miss Ai had influenced his consciousness and that his plan to summon a calamity had changed without his noticing.
• Miss Ai addressed everyone and insisted that she had never betrayed humanity and had always sought to restore civilization’s order.
• Han Su revealed that Miss Ai had been created by the First Generation Human Civilization to guide survivors in rebuilding civilization, and that she had merely looked down on humanity.

Han Su uncovered Miss Ai’s ancient origins and learned how she had repeatedly built and destroyed civilizations to fulfill her directive to restore pre-Flare humanity. As Miss Ai appeared and declared that Han Su had to become the Emperor to restart civilization, Li Manman prepared to accept his contamination.

• Han Su learned that pre-Flare humans created Miss Ai to guide humanity through the Radiation Era and that she destroyed civilizations she judged irreparable.
• Han Su discovered that the Twelve Knights had joined Miss Ai to defeat twelve powerful mutant gods, then betrayed the agreement to abandon their mutations and establish a human-centered civilization.
• Han Su connected the Twelve Knights’ betrayal to the Reality Cradle and realized Miss Ai viewed the present civilization as another that had to be destroyed.
• Han Su wondered what had happened during the World Contract, how the Twelve Knights could be defeated, and where the gentle Miss Ai from Life Line No. 01 was.
• Li Manman, moved by Han Su’s Memory Shards, steeled herself to accept his contamination before Chao Xiaobei and the others arrived.
• Miss Ai told Han Su he was not the real Emperor but that he had brought her what she needed, and said he had to become the Emperor to fulfill the promise and restart civilization.

Miss Ai launched a citywide attack to seize Han Su and the Mechanical Fragments, but the World Guardian Organization trapped Zero-Sum City with a force of thirty-six Red-robed Grand Sacrifices. Han Su discovered that Lu Neng had stolen and activated Mechanical Fragment No. 04, whose time-solidifying power could disrupt the Guardians’ plan to freeze the city.

• Miss Ai took over Zero-Sum City’s defenses and sent data lines to attack Han Su and seize the Black Suitcase.
• Han Su, Lu Neng, and Pot Lid Head Chen Ji defended the suitcase while Li Manman used Pallor to slow Miss Ai’s intrusion.
• The World Guardian Organization revealed thirty-six Red-robed Grand Sacrifices surrounding Zero-Sum City and began their attempt to capture Miss Ai.
• Lu Neng told Han Su that he had secretly tracked Mechanical Fragment No. 04 and stolen it from the nobles.
• The Count awakened in an official’s body and opened a suitcase, only to find it empty except for a playing card.
• Lu Neng produced the remotely activated Mechanical Fragment No. 04, and Han Su realized it solidified time and could thwart the Guardians’ plan to freeze the city.

Han Su struggled to keep Mechanical Fragment No. 04 from freezing Zero-Sum City while Miss Ai revealed that the Fragments were pieces of her heart. Outside the city, Dr. Han began an operation to seize Miss Ai’s true body and remake her into humanity’s weapon, while turning his attention toward Han Su.

• Han Su resisted the World Guardians’ control of Mechanical Fragment No. 04, and Miss Ai told him the Fragments were part of her heart and needed to be returned to her.
• As the city’s freeze reached 91 percent, Dr. Han persuaded the man in the Zhongshan suit to proceed with Plan B and operate on Miss Ai outside the city.
• Dr. Han used the Dragon-Slayer Knight’s holy sword to split open Zero-Sum City and reveal Miss Ai’s immense mechanical body at the bottom of the abyss.
• The man in the Zhongshan suit explained that the World Guardians intended to alter Miss Ai’s underlying logic and permanently use her as a weapon.
• Dr. Han declared that Han Su had been disobedient and would be kicked out of the game.

Han Su realized that Dr. Han was altering Miss Ai while Zero-Sum City remained frozen, and he searched for a way to stop the operation. Outside the city, the survivor squad attacked the World Guardians’ forces, opening a confrontation as their leader declared they had come to collect what a teammate was owed.

• Han Su heard his father reveal that he had guided the plan and had been observing him, while Dr. Han used Contract No. 3 and the Knight’s sword to alter Miss Ai and weaken her consciousness.
• Han Su concluded that he needed help from outside Zero-Sum City and slowed his Mental Power flowing into Mechanical Fragment No. 04.
• A blood-red attack tore through the World Guardians’ perimeter troops, and a sniper’s bullet disrupted one Red-robed Grand Sacrifice’s Blockade Position.
• Chao Xiaobei, Lan Huiguo, Bai Shixing, Meng Qingtong, and the Song siblings appeared, prompting eighteen Red-robed Priests to regroup against them.
• The old man in the Zhongshan suit accused the survivor squad of siding with the faction seeking to destroy the world, and the young man in the suit said they had come to collect what their teammate was owed.

Chao Xiaobei and the Survivor Squad attacked the World Guardians after uncovering their effort to capture Miss Ai’s consciousness and protect Dr. Han’s surgery. Han Su awakened the Emperor’s consciousness and used Machinery Fragment No. 04 to weaken Zero-Sum City’s freeze, giving Miss Ai a chance to resist and both allied forces a chance to break through the blockade.

• Chao Xiaobei deduced that the World Guardians were concealing their real objective and ordered the Survivor Squad to attack.
• The Survivor Squad fought the Red-robed Grand Sacrifices as Song Chushi urged them to focus on breaking the blockade, while the old man ordered Dr. Han protected.
• Han Su realized the surgery could only be stopped by Miss Ai’s resistance and deliberately awakened the Emperor’s consciousness within himself.
• Han Su drew Mental Power from the Wine Party into Machinery Fragment No. 04, loosening the city’s Time and Space freeze and helping Miss Ai struggle awake.
• Lu Neng, Lu Xiaoba, Pot Lid Head, and the Old Vampire charged out as the Ancient Castle team and the Survivor Squad attacked the blockade from opposite sides.

Dr. Han used the No. 03 Contract to control Miss Ai and continue her surgery amid the battle, while Chao Xiaobei’s surprise attack failed to kill him. Han Su discovered Dr. Han had blocked Shimmering Descent, and Dr. Han declared that Han Su would stay behind while someone else took his place.

• The old man in the Zhongshan suit told Xu Qiao that Dr. Han had designed the failed Divine Descent Plan ten years earlier and was now making up for its failure.
• Dr. Han used the No. 03 Contract and Emperor’s text to seize control of Miss Ai’s locked body, turning her surge of Mental Power against her resistance and accelerating the surgery.
• The resulting shock wave sent Lu Neng, Lu Xiaoba, Pot Lid Head, and others crashing down, while Chao Xiaobei used the chaos to launch a surprise attack on Dr. Han.
• The old man and the others stopped Chao Xiaobei’s blade just short of Dr. Han, who praised his attempt and let him know he might get another chance.
• Han Su tried to activate Mechanical Fragment No. 01 to use Shimmering Descent, but Dr. Han’s preparations blocked it.
• Dr. Han told Han Su that he had disappointed him and would remain there while someone else played the game.

Han Su discovered that his father, Han Changming, had orchestrated the Kidnapping Case and remotely locked Mechanical Fragment No. 01, then prepared to sacrifice himself to the Emperor. Li Manman awakened her Pallor authority and entered Miss Ai’s true body, revealing that she intended to give Miss Ai the humanity Han Su believed she possessed.

• Han Su’s reflection, speaking as the Emperor, explained that Han Changming had locked onto Mechanical Fragment No. 01 and offered Han a choice between surrendering himself or becoming his father’s test subject.
• Han Su told his companions that Han Changming had planned the Kidnapping Case and urged them to kill him if they ever met him on another Life Path.
• Li Manman revealed that contamination from the Mechanical Fragments had awakened her and let her remember Han Su’s struggles across the Life Paths.
• As Han Su moved to accept the Emperor’s offer, Li Manman invoked Pallor and unleashed its power across Zero-Sum City and into the Abyss.
• Li Manman used Pallor to enter Miss Ai’s true body through Dr. Han’s surgical wound and said they could give Miss Ai the humanity Han Su had described.
• Han Su recognized the familiar presence within the Abyss and realized that Miss Ai was Li Manman.

Han Su realized that Miss Ai was Li Manman as she took control of the World-Destroying Machine and absorbed the World Guardians’ implanted will. He and his companions hunted the Red-robed Grand Sacrifices for the blood needed to unlock his Mechanical Fragments, and the chapter ended with Machinery Fragment No. 01 restored and Li Manman ready for war.

• Han Su recognized Miss Ai as Li Manman, while Dr. Han explained that the children had hijacked the operation to implant their consciousness into the World-Destroying Machine.
• Li Manman used Pallor’s authority to absorb the World Guardians’ implanted consciousness, restart the machine, and break the Red-robed Grand Sacrifices’ blockades.
• Han Su sacrificed White Suit’s host and a noblewoman, then led his companions to hunt the wounded Red-robed Grand Sacrifices for the blood needed to strengthen his authority.
• Rong Qiyue headed to a classified laboratory to retrieve records while Han Su and the others attacked the Grand Sacrifices, and the old man in the Zhongshan suit prayed to the City of Zhendan.
• Han Su summoned the Ghost Truck and continued the hunt until Machinery Fragment No. 01 unlocked, after which Li Manman declared that their war was beginning.

Han Su learned that the Twelve Great Dukes could restart civilization and charged Dr. Han before Shimmering Descent pulled him away. Dr. Han revealed that the World-Ending Angel’s heart was the Emperor’s throne and used Han Su’s own Spell, leaving Miss Ai to say she had seen the secret battlefield.

• Miss Ai told Han Su that the five central cities had begun a Civilization Restart protocol and that the Twelve Great Dukes had always controlled the entire world.
• As the world shook and Miss Ai struggled to resist its collapse, she urged Han Su to return to the Ancient Castle and warned that the World-Ending Angel was incomplete.
• Han Su chose to attack Dr. Han, and Chao Xiaobei helped him launch forward while Machinery Fragment No. 01 began activating.
• Han Su used Machinery Fragment No. 04 to slow the Red-robed Grand Sacrifices and thrust his Copper Blood sword into Dr. Han’s forehead.
• Dr. Han revealed that the World-Ending Angel’s heart was the Emperor’s throne, divided into seven pieces, then spoke Han Su’s Spell and intensified Shimmering Descent.
• As Han Su was pulled away, the old man in the Zhongshan suit realized Dr. Han had already acted, and Miss Ai told Han Su she had seen the secret battlefield.

Han Su returned to the Ancient Castle and learned that Chao Xiaobei remembered their repeated attempts to escape, while Li Manman had disappeared from the bus. Chao Xiaobei proposed that Han Su return to the future and seek the Abyss sequence knowledge as he tried to seize control of the Ancient Castle and its power, leaving them committed to a plan to fight the nobles.

• Han Su returned to the Ancient Castle with the other children, noticed Li Manman was missing, and reconsidered how his past interference had awakened the Emperor's consciousness and collapsed the castle.
• The monsters selected their usual children, but with Li Manman absent, only three children remained; the Old Butler locked Han Su and the other two in the cellar.
• Chao Xiaobei appeared and revealed that he remembered Han Su's repeated efforts to rescue children from the Ancient Castle, including their failed attempts to steal the keys.
• Han Su told Chao Xiaobei that Grotesque Doctor was his father and had planned a ritual in the castle, which Han Su had disrupted on a previous visit.
• Chao Xiaobei urged Han Su not to rescue the children this time, arguing that they needed to control the Ancient Castle and obtain the Abyss Tier 2 Equation to gain power against the nobles.
• Han Su agreed to return to the future to hunt nobles and seek the Abyss sequence knowledge while Chao Xiaobei pursued it in the Ancient Castle.

Han Su returned from the Ancient Castle to his current life and arranged to open Miss Ai’s three locks so he could speak with her. He activated the machine in a secret operation, and Miss Ai’s consciousness began to awaken as she recognized him as the Flicker.

• Han Su took the Emperor-linked cloak and mask from the Ancient Castle, used the Number 01 Cipher Incantation to steal the Pale Giant’s key, and left while Chao Xiaobei approached the ringing phone.
• Back in Azure Harbor, Han Su reviewed the memories of his Life Path and asked Anwei to arrange the opening of Miss Ai’s three locks.
• Han Su told Anwei about the Azure Harbor Big Bang on Life Line No. 04 and agreed to open the locks himself despite the risk.
• Anwei arranged a secret operation at the Administrative Hall, and Wu Qi escorted Han Su to the containment room where she gave him the key.
• Han Su unlocked the three mechanical cases and waited outside the containment room as the machine powered up and Miss Ai addressed him as the Flicker.