Recaps

Zhao Bai met Bronya in Sky City, where she declared herself the great detective and made him her assistant. After reviewing his mission report, Bronya identified the sole survivor as the murderer, leaving Zhao Bai unsure whether her certainty came from real expertise.

• Bronya stopped Zhao Bai on his motorcycle and told him he was her assistant.
• Bronya explained that she had reached Sky City by parachuting from the academy's transport plane, while Zhao Bai had ridden there.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya went to a café, where she read his mission report.
• Bronya pointed to the sole survivor in the photograph and declared her the murderer.
• Zhao Bai realized that Bronya's conclusion matched his own amateur guess and wondered if she was truly an expert.

Bronya and Zhao Bai investigated a patch of unusually tall grass but found no evidence buried beneath it. Bronya left to interview the victim, and Zhao Bai followed.

• Bronya noticed that the grass at the scene was taller than the surrounding grass and had Zhao Bai assist with the investigation.
• Bronya summoned Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C to dig up the lawn.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya found no clues in the soil, despite excavating it three feet deep.
• Bronya decided to leave and interview the victim, and Zhao Bai followed.

Zhao Bai and Bronya went to Gong Shan’s apartment to investigate her release, but their noisy entrance terrified her. Far away, the root-bound plant recognized Zhao Bai and trembled in fear.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya followed the quest log to Gong Shan’s home on the twelfth floor.
• Gong Shan prepared vegetables in her kitchen while Heavy Cannon Rabbit knocked on the window and Zhao Bai and Bronya argued over what to say.
• Heavy Cannon Rabbit smashed through the glass and entered the apartment, while Gong Shan stared at Zhao Bai in instinctive terror.
• In the Botanical Garden, the root-bound plant emerged beneath the earth, recognized Zhao Bai, and curled up in fear.

A hidden plant feared Zhao Bai had found it and remained concealed beneath the Botanical Garden while Gray Serpent watched it. Meanwhile, Gong Shan attacked Zhao Bai in his apartment, and he recognized the danger and blocked her cleaver.

• The plant panicked when Zhao Bai arrived in Sky City, then hid underground and left an ordinary flower above the surface.
• Gray Serpent noticed the flower’s unusual behavior and updated his observation log after sensing its fear.
• Zhao Bai sensed something was wrong in his apartment, drew his blade, and unleashed flames.
• Gong Shan attacked Zhao Bai with a cleaver, but Heavy Cannon Rabbit blocked it with its shield.
• Gong Shan explained that poison had disrupted the investigators’ senses and described enjoying their helplessness.

Zhao Bai and Bronya confronted a vine creature that had hidden its true form with a neurotoxin that distorted perception. Zhao Bai destroyed it with Crimson Cherry Blossom, then wondered why its movements seemed familiar.

• Zhao Bai burned the toxins from the air and revealed the high school beauty was actually a mass of vines.
• Bronya identified the toxin as a neural interference virus that had blinded the criminal investigators.
• Bronya sent Heavy Cannon Rabbit to attack, but the vines evaded and restrained it.
• Bronya asked Zhao Bai for help, and he incinerated the vines with Crimson Cherry Blossom.
• Zhao Bai wondered why the creature's movements felt familiar, and Bronya called it the assistant's intuition.

Bronya and Zhao Bai discovered that Gong Shan had turned five girls into living flowerpots and ended their suffering. Gong Shan then challenged Zhao Bai over his anger, asking where he had been when she was bullied.

• Bronya and Zhao Bai disabled Gong Shan and searched the apartment.
• They found five girls rooted to the balcony, alive but beyond saving.
• Zhao Bai killed the girls to end their suffering, while Bronya mourned them.
• Gong Shan lamented that she had not finished eating her fruit and asked Zhao Bai where he had been when she was bullied.

Bronya confronted Gong Shan about her revenge on the students who had bullied her, then ordered Zhao Bai to end her life. Zhao Bai struck Gong Shan with his blade, and she burned to death.

• Bronya accused Gong Shan of disguising her revenge as fighting back and questioned her motives.
• Bronya, playing detective, told Zhao Bai to end Gong Shan’s life.
• Zhao Bai drove his crimson blade into Gong Shan, who screamed and burned in an instant.

After burning the remains of their enemy, Zhao Bai comforted Bronya about losing her best friend after standing up to a bully. Bronya asked about Zhao Bai’s childhood, and he revealed that bullying and isolation had driven him to seek reality in the virtual world.

• Zhao Bai watched the remains burn to ash, then sheathed his blade and explained that his glasses and other accessories were part of his assistant look.
• Bronya recalled that she had been bullied at the orphanage and that frightening the bully had cost her the friendship of her best friend.
• Zhao Bai reassured Bronya and put her beret back on her head.
• Bronya asked Zhao Bai to describe his childhood and how he had emerged from its shadows.
• Zhao Bai explained that escalating verbal isolation had led him to seek a sense of reality in the virtual world.

Zhao Bai comforted Bronya by recounting an old memory, then helped her plan a search for the monster’s nest across Sky City. After realizing the investigation could take half a month, they called Theresa, who readily agreed to their extended stay.

• Zhao Bai recalled his lonely middle school years and the plane crash that brought him to this world.
• Bronya teased Zhao Bai for becoming sentimental, and he suggested that the monster must have a nest.
• Heavy Cannon Rabbit found one Botanical Garden and several other possible search locations across Sky City.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya realized they might need to search the locations one by one and stay for half a month.
• Zhao Bai called Theresa to report the delay, and she happily agreed to their extended stay.

Zhao Bai and Bronya dismissed Theresa’s suspicions and prepared to split up to search for targets before more girls suffered. They left to investigate the locations, driven by Zhao Bai’s determination to prevent harm.

• Theresa imagined Zhao Bai having a child with one of his female students, then coughed after drinking bitter melon water to clear her thoughts.
• Zhao Bai noticed Bronya and Heavy Cannon Rabbit watching him after his call with Theresa and blamed the principal’s suspicions on her being a pervy nun.
• Zhao Bai persuaded Bronya that their bond was pure revolutionary friendship, and Heavy Cannon Rabbit agreed.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya decided to split up and search the many target locations before more girls could be harmed.

Gray Serpent struggled to remember and sketch a strange flower that erased memories whenever he looked away. He followed his recorded warning, then found an alarm directing him to File No. 29, which contained his own detailed observations of the flower.

• Gray Serpent repeatedly failed to draw the flower because his memories of it vanished when he looked away.
• He learned that World Serpent had recorded the plant and monitored its offshoots, and that Schicksal had arrived after one offshoot died.
• Gray Serpent set an alarm to remind himself to check File No. 29 and recorded his own voice telling himself not to look back.
• He walked away while listening to the recording, gradually forgetting the flower and why he should not turn around.
• When the alarm rang half an hour later, Gray Serpent found File No. 29 and read two days of detailed observations written in his own style.

Gray Serpent ordered the deaths of ninety-three people while Zhao Bai and Bronya searched for the cause of the strange events. They found signs that they had repeatedly forgotten something urgent, then headed toward the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden.

• Gray Serpent decided to assist Schicksal secretly and collect corpses for research afterward.
• Gray Serpent activated his mechanized assassination force, which killed ninety-three people across the offshoots.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya searched separately but found nothing.
• Zhao Bai noticed three tally marks carved into his hand, while Bronya had three scars on her forearm.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya realized they had both planned to search the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden.

Zhao Bai and Bronya realized they had overlooked the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden while investigating their unexplained arm wounds. They approached it together and found the garden overrun by giant green snakes and destructive vines.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya agreed to investigate the one place neither had visited: the Botanical Garden.
• They saw fleeing pedestrians repeatedly forget why they were running and turn back to their routines.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya sensed an unsettling presence and cautiously approached the Botanical Garden back to back.
• They found enormous twisted vines smashing greenhouses and giant green snakes tearing through the ground.
• Zhao Bai gripped his knife as he and Bronya faced the monsters.

Garlic Turtle confronted Zhao Bai and revealed that he had encountered it repeatedly, though his memories had been erased and four hours had passed. Zhao Bai attacked with his flaming katana, forcing Garlic Turtle underground, where it relished the thrill while recalling its fear of him and its need to eliminate him.

• Garlic Turtle appeared before Zhao Bai and spoke as if they had met many times before.
• Bronya pointed out that Zhao Bai's arms were covered in bloody tally marks, and he realized four hours had passed.
• Zhao Bai recognized Garlic Turtle, and it said that erasing his memories could not change what he called it.
• Garlic Turtle sent vines at Zhao Bai, but he cut them apart with his flaming katana and charged forward.
• Garlic Turtle burrowed underground to escape Zhao Bai's attack, shaken by memories of their battle in Changkong City and determined to remove him as an obstacle to its evolution.

Zhao Bai sensed that something was very wrong and considered using overwhelming firepower to search the area, but refused to endanger the city’s civilians. He and Bronya decided to retreat, leaving Zhao Bai wary of what awaited them.

• Zhao Bai felt uneasy and considered saturating the area with explosions to uncover the threat.
• Zhao Bai restrained himself because the battle was taking place in a city with millions of civilians.
• Zhao Bai decided that harming innocent people would make him no different from Ancestor Kevin.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya chose to retreat first.

Bronya and Zhao Bai discovered that a stationary plant monster made people forget it whenever they looked away, while Heavy Cannon Rabbit could preserve images of it. Bronya arranged for Zhao Bai to record her explanation, but his own fading memories suggested he had encountered the monster before.

• Zhao Bai remembered the monster after seeing Heavy Cannon Rabbit project images of thick vines, but forgot it as soon as he looked away.
• Bronya realized that human memory could not retain information about the monster, while mechanical storage could.
• Bronya told Zhao Bai to get paper and a pen and to write down her explanation without looking at the screen.
• Zhao Bai recorded Bronya's account that the monster was a stationary plant whose effects might come from a brain-affecting magnetic field.
• While taking notes, Zhao Bai felt that the monster seemed familiar, but he could not hold on to the memory.

Zhao Bai and Bronya worked out how to counter the monster despite Bronya’s memory loss. Zhao Bai proposed an external memory cache, leaving Bronya wondering how he knew she could link with Heavy Cannon Rabbit.

• Zhao Bai noticed Bronya had forgotten her earlier attempts to transmit information about the monster.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya discussed how to eliminate the monster without using heavy firepower in the busy downtown area.
• Zhao Bai proposed storing every memory of witnessing the monster in an external mechanical cache for the brain to review.
• Bronya asked Zhao Bai how he knew she could establish a neural link with Heavy Cannon Rabbit.

Bronya considered whether to entrust her life to Zhao Bai while planning to use Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C as an external cache during a neural link. She told Zhao Bai she would need his protection, and he pledged to keep her safe.

• Bronya considered using Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C to store memories gathered while she scanned them through a neural link.
• Bronya felt irritated as she weighed whether Zhao Bai was worthy of her trust.
• Zhao Bai asked whether the entity might target Bronya while she was linked to Heavy Cannon Rabbit.
• Bronya said the neural connection would leave her vulnerable and that she needed Zhao Bai to protect her.
• Zhao Bai solemnly promised Bronya he would not let her down.

Zhao Bai and Bronya went to confront the monster in the Botanical Garden while Gray Serpent watched them from afar. Zhao Bai faced the creature, which recognized him as its fated enemy, and cut through its attacking vines.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya set out for the Botanical Garden, with Zhao Bai resolving to protect the innocent and Bronya while destroying the threat.
• Gray Serpent monitored the city and praised their approach, then sent a drone to follow them.
• Zhao Bai suppressed the power of Blood Sakura Annihilation as he approached the monster.
• The monster taunted Zhao Bai and attacked with its vines, and Zhao Bai severed them with a single sweep of his blade.

Zhao Bai threatened the plant monster while Bronya synchronized with Heavy Cannon Rabbit. He took Bronya’s hand and entrusted his life to her as they prepared to finish the monster.

• Zhao Bai threatened to destroy the plant monster and burn every seed it had.
• Bronya synchronized with Heavy Cannon Rabbit and gained a vivid view through it.
• Zhao Bai closed his eyes and took Bronya’s hand, trusting her with his life.
• The monster accused Zhao Bai of using it to flirt with Bronya.
• Bronya called out the monster’s position, and Zhao Bai struck it with blazing fire.
• Bronya told Zhao Bai to check every corner.

Zhao Bai and Bronya tracked down a screaming monster and burned it relentlessly to prevent it from escaping or reproducing. After the monster died and its influence on their minds faded, Zhao Bai kept attacking its remains, still afraid it might come back.

• Bronya told Zhao Bai the monster's position, and he burned through its attempts to escape by spreading seeds and spores.
• When the monster burrowed underground, Bronya scanned for it while Zhao Bai drove Blood Sakura Annihilation into the earth and unleashed flames.
• Bronya continued calling out the monster's location as Zhao Bai burned its body into ash and charcoal.
• After the monster fell silent, its magnetic influence faded, and Zhao Bai recalled their actions with unease.
• Zhao Bai kept striking the dead monster until the heat turned the surrounding earth ceramic-like and some of the soil into glass.

Zhao Bai and Bronya burned the Botanical Garden to ash, leaving Gray Serpent impressed by the destruction’s precision. As they prepared to leave, Bronya urged Zhao Bai to cherish his life, though he pointed out that she had risked hers for him too.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya continued burning the Botanical Garden until the flames had consumed it completely.
• Gray Serpent watched from drones as his recovery robots burned, and marveled that the Botanical Garden was destroyed without damaging nearby buildings.
• After lowering his sword, Zhao Bai realized he was still holding Bronya’s hand and let go when she looked at him.
• Bronya told Zhao Bai not to casually entrust his life to someone else because he needed to cherish it.
• Zhao Bai asked how Bronya was different after reminding her that she had risked her life for him, but she did not answer.

After Zhao Bai and Bronya left the ruined site, Gray Serpent failed to recover anything and invented a gas explosion to explain the destruction. Zhao Bai returned to the inn, cleaned himself up, and rode back toward school with Bronya, where Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C's hostility warned him to keep his distance.

• Zhao Bai took Bronya's hand before the two Schicksal members left the scene.
• Gray Serpent's robots arrived too late to recover any bodies from the melted site.
• Gray Serpent decided to blame the destruction of Sky City on seven hundred exploding gas canisters.
• Zhao Bai shaved, washed his face, and headed back toward school with Bronya riding in the truck bed.
• Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C directed killing intent at Zhao Bai as he glanced at Bronya.

Zhao Bai returned to school and found Theresa secretly reading a Shenzhou naming book, which she said she had bought specifically for him. She noticed the tally marks on his arm, and Zhao Bai suspected her thoughts had turned naughty.

• Zhao Bai rode back to school with Bronya, whose heart surged with emotion during the ride.
• Zhao Bai returned to his dormitory and found Theresa dressed formally and reading a Shenzhou Naming Encyclopedia.
• Zhao Bai teased Theresa about getting married and choosing names for her children.
• Theresa admitted she had bought the book specifically for Zhao Bai.
• Theresa noticed the tally marks on Zhao Bai’s arm, and he wondered whether she was thinking about something dirty.

Theresa teased Zhao Bai about Bronya and the tally marks, then Zhao Bai retaliated by hanging Theresa’s nun’s headdress out of her reach. Zhao Bai considered what it might mean to marry Bronya before Seele walked in and misunderstood what she saw.

• Theresa assumed Zhao Bai and Bronya had been intimate and joked that they would soon have a child.
• Zhao Bai hung Theresa’s nun’s headdress at the top of the coat rack, and Theresa knocked the rack over to retrieve it.
• Zhao Bai denied that he and Bronya were dating, while Theresa said people who made that argument usually got married.
• Zhao Bai imagined Bronya as his wife and Seele as his sister-in-law.
• Seele entered, blushed at the scene on the bed, and said she had arrived at the wrong time; Zhao Bai told her she had arrived at exactly the right time.