Chapter Summaries

Zhao Bai left Bronya and Theresa behind and hurried to the Eye of the Abyss with ingredients and Einstein. He arrived to find Seele missing from their agreed meeting place, and his murderous aura suppressed the surrounding energy.

• Zhao Bai left Bronya and Theresa with Heavy Cannon Rabbit as Bronya grew frustrated watching him go.
• Zhao Bai gathered ingredients at the restaurant and rushed toward the Eye of the Abyss, with Heavy Cannon Rabbit carrying them.
• Zhao Bai summoned Einstein at the Eye of the Abyss, and she questioned whether Seele was as ordinary as he had claimed.
• Zhao Bai searched the agreed meeting place but could not find Seele, despite knowing she would not break her promise.
• Zhao Bai reacted with alarm as a murderous aura surrounded him and suppressed the Eye of the Abyss's energy.

Zhao Bai found Seele scattered throughout the Sea of Quanta in a quantumized state, and Einstein explained that Seele needed to manage her emotions before she could control her shifts between being observable and unobservable. Zhao Bai offered tea as a gentler form of help, leaving Seele to ask whether it would aid her practice.

• Zhao Bai searched the abyss for Seele and ordered Heavy Cannon Rabbit to scan for her.
• Heavy Cannon Rabbit found Seele distributed throughout the Sea of Quanta in a quantumization phenomenon.
• Einstein brought Seele before Zhao Bai and said she was not ready to control her observability without learning emotional management.
• Zhao Bai poured tea for Seele and Einstein, and Seele asked whether drinking it would help her practice controlling quantumization.

Zhao Bai used tea to calm Seele and bring out her other personality, Black Seele, while trying to learn what caused Seele’s mental instability. Black Seele drank the tea, but her hostile reaction was cut short by Zhao Bai.

• Zhao Bai explained that tea tasted good, and Einstein and Seele drank it and felt calmer.
• Zhao Bai asked what caused Seele’s mental instability and summoned Black Seele by tapping Seele’s forehead.
• Black Seele cracked her teacup, but Zhao Bai poured her tea and warned her not to waste food.
• Black Seele drank the tea, enjoyed its honey-like taste, and questioned whether food could win her over.
• Black Seele raised scarlet tentacles, and Zhao Bai shattered them with a crescent-shaped flash of icy blue blade light.

Zhao Bai tried to explain that Seele and Black Seele should merge, but Black Seele rejected his assumptions and described herself as born from Seele’s desire to cut away her weakness. After Einstein interpreted Black Seele’s accusations as self-blame, Zhao Bai apologized, leaving the two of them wary and uncertain.

• Zhao Bai told Seele and Black Seele that merging was the simplest solution to their inability to maintain separate physical forms.
• Black Seele insisted that she had been born from Seele’s selfishness and wanted to cut away her weakness and reclaim what she had lost.
• Zhao Bai asked Einstein what Black Seele was dealing with, and Einstein suggested that she was blaming herself.
• Zhao Bai apologized to Black Seele after realizing his words had angered her, and she cautiously accepted.

Zhao Bai prepared an elegant Crab-Stuffed Orange for Black Seele, using the meal as a way to help Seele accept him. Einstein watched as he served the unfamiliar Hangzhou dish, unsure what to expect.

• Black Seele signaled Heavy Cannon Rabbit to put down the ingredients and seasonings because she wanted to eat.
• Zhao Bai sent the others and Heavy Cannon Rabbit deeper into the Sea of Quanta so he could cook without frightening them.
• Zhao Bai hollowed out oranges, stir-fried steamed crab meat with sesame oil and Huadiao wine, and served it in the orange shells.
• Einstein recognized the dish as Hangzhou cuisine and wondered whether she would like it.

After Zhao Bai’s Crab-Stuffed Oranges impressed Einstein and Black Seele, the group finished their picnic and turned to treating Seele. Black Seele realized they cared about the other soul in her body, not her, and wondered whether she had to be the villain.

• Einstein and Black Seele tasted Zhao Bai’s Crab-Stuffed Oranges and were overwhelmed by their flavor.
• Einstein asked Zhao Bai how Seele’s condition could be cured at its root.
• After sharing the last of the tea, the group ended the picnic and brought in the treatment equipment.
• Black Seele laughed bitterly, believing the others cared about the other soul in her body rather than her.
• Black Seele was overcome by negative emotions and asked, “Did it have to be me?”

Zhao Bai reassured Black Seele before entering the Stigmata Space to help address Seele’s painful memories. After Einstein warned him about its chaotic nature, he began the procedure and was overwhelmed by the descent.

• Zhao Bai told Black Seele that she had to embrace the world if she wanted it to embrace her.
• Einstein explained that conventional treatment would not work because Seele’s consciousness came from the Stigmata on her chest.
• Black Seele questioned the procedure, but Einstein inserted a lead into the skin over her Stigmata.
• Zhao Bai put on the helmet and entered the Stigmata Space despite Einstein’s warning.
• Zhao Bai descended through layers of deep sea and nearly vomited as the world spun around him.

Zhao Bai entered Seele’s Stigmata Space, where a desolate orphanage stood in the morning light, and searched for her. He reached the orphanage grounds but had not yet found Seele.

• Black Seele worried that Zhao Bai might see her secrets, but Einstein reassured her that Mind Manifestation would remain abstract.
• Seele’s chains hummed and the stigmata on her chest glowed as they resisted an intruder.
• Zhao Bai found the orphanage’s chained gate would not open, even when he attacked the chains with a blade.
• Zhao Bai discovered a narrow hole at the base of the wall and squeezed through into the orphanage.
• Zhao Bai rubbed his aching shoulder and called out for Seele.

Zhao Bai pursued Seele through the orphanage, trying to help her as a stranger whose actions could influence her inner world. Seele continued to flee, and Zhao Bai blocked the corridor with ice and snow.

• Zhao Bai broke the chain on a locked building and found Seele fleeing down from the fourth floor.
• Seele saw Zhao Bai and fled upstairs without recognizing him.
• Einstein listened to Zhao Bai’s thoughts and concluded that Seele’s deeper problems went beyond a split personality and that Zhao Bai was her remaining hope.
• Zhao Bai caught Seele by the arm, but she transformed into blue butterflies and re-formed farther away.
• Zhao Bai called for Seele to stop, then filled the corridor ahead of her with ice and snow.

Zhao Bai saved Seele from a knife-wielding pursuer and called himself an ordinary passerby. He tried to show her that strangers could help one another, then melted the frost around them with a flaming katana.

• Zhao Bai silently sheathed his blade, stepped in front of Seele, and comforted her by stroking her hair.
• When Seele asked who he was, Zhao Bai called himself an ordinary passerby, and she decided to call him Mister Ordinary Person.
• Seele asked why he would help someone he did not know, and Zhao Bai argued that strangers could still lend each other a hand.
• Seele questioned whether the world was truly hopeful, and Zhao Bai pointed to the sun and all the foods he had yet to try.
• Zhao Bai drew a flaming katana and melted the frost, leaving the wooden floor dry.

Zhao Bai waited with Seele for the terrifying creature in her consciousness to appear, then challenged her belief that it could not be defeated. The chapter ended with Seele realizing she had never tried to fight it.

• Seele warned Zhao Bai that a terrifying creature came out at night and urged him to keep quiet.
• At night, Tonatiuh, Shadow of the Sun Eater appeared before Zhao Bai and Seele.
• Seele told Zhao Bai to run because she believed no one could defeat the monster.
• Zhao Bai asked Seele whether she had ever tried fighting it, and she realized she had always fled without making a move.

Zhao Bai’s hunt for the Shadow of the Sun Eater was interrupted by a spacetime rewind, and Einstein explained that he needed to rescue Seele through stealth rather than force. They discovered that Black Seele was the sun protecting Seele in her dream.

• Zhao Bai attacked the Shadow of the Sun Eater, but a spacetime rewind returned him to the orphanage gate.
• Einstein told Zhao Bai that his attempt to rescue Seele had failed and advised him to use stealth.
• Einstein explained that the sun in Seele’s dream protected her from the Shadow of the Sun Eater.
• Zhao Bai recognized Black Seele as the source of the sun’s protection.
• Black Seele asked what Einstein was mumbling about, and Einstein hid her thoughts.

Einstein and Zhao Bai discussed Black Seele’s devotion while keeping her occupied with a misunderstanding. Zhao Bai found Seele in the orphanage again, and she agreed to leave with him despite remembering that someone had abandoned her the previous day.

• Einstein cautiously hinted to Black Seele that she and Zhao Bai were discussing something great, calming her fears that the topic involved her.
• Zhao Bai returned to Stigmata Space and found Seele, who did not recognize him but remembered that someone had promised to protect her and then left.
• Zhao Bai told Seele he had come to help her escape and urged her to leave while the sun was still up.
• Seele hesitantly agreed, and Zhao Bai took her hands as they walked through the desolate orphanage.

Zhao Bai tried to lead Seele out of the orphanage, but the sun’s power forced her back inside. With Dr. Einstein’s map guiding him, he prepared to distract the monsters so Seele could escape.

• Zhao Bai led Seele to a hole in the wall, but the sun grew dangerously bright when she tried to crawl through.
• Seele explained that the sun prevented her from leaving, and Zhao Bai helped her return inside the orphanage.
• At night, Dr. Einstein scanned the orphanage and gave Zhao Bai a map showing the monsters, their fields of vision, and the exit.
• Zhao Bai hid Seele in a trash can and went to lure the monsters away, approaching Tonatiuh under cover of night.

Zhao Bai used Dr. Einstein’s technical support to lure fourteen monsters away from the exit while Seele hid in a trash can. He reached her hiding place after securing the monsters inside a building, and she emerged to ask whether it was over.

• Zhao Bai thanked Dr. Einstein for her technical support as he moved through the area.
• Zhao Bai approached a monster and used his scythe’s sound to draw the enemies after him.
• Zhao Bai lured all fourteen monsters into a building and chained the main door shut.
• Zhao Bai hurried to Seele’s trash can and knocked out their agreed signal.
• Seele opened the lid and asked Zhao Bai if it was done.

Zhao Bai helped Seele escape the orphanage, then stayed behind to face the pursuing monsters. After encouraging Seele to admit that she wanted them gone, he began fighting to fulfill her wish.

• Zhao Bai told Seele he had locked up the pursuers, and they fled toward the wall together.
• Seele crawled through the opening and urged Zhao Bai to come with her, but he saw a countdown and an objective to kill the approaching monsters.
• Zhao Bai told Seele to face her desire to kill the monsters, and she admitted she wanted them to disappear.
• Zhao Bai promised to grant Seele's wish and attacked a monster climbing over the wall.

After Zhao Bai emerged from Stigmata Space, Einstein confirmed that Seele’s split personalities might be merging and praised his careful strategy. Einstein then asked Zhao Bai to help with a plan involving Walter, and he reluctantly agreed.

• Zhao Bai finished clearing the monsters in Stigmata Space and returned to find Seele wearing a wired helmet.
• Einstein removed the electrified needle from Seele and assessed her unfocused eyes and dilated pupils as signs that her split personalities might be merging.
• Einstein praised Zhao Bai for guiding Seele through Stigmata Space with precisely measured actions.
• Einstein whispered a request to Zhao Bai, who agreed to help while warning that Walter’s reaction would be his own responsibility.
• Einstein joked that her request was payment for the equipment and that Zhao Bai would profit from her theoretical guidance.

Seele emerged from her Stigmata Space as Dream Butterfly of the Illusory Sea, and Zhao Bai urged her to face Tonatiuh in reality. With Einstein’s technical support, they found the beast, and Zhao Bai prepared to fight while warning Seele to stay back.

• Seele’s transformation settled into Dream Butterfly of the Illusory Sea, and she thanked Zhao Bai for his guidance.
• Zhao Bai urged Seele to join him in hunting Tonatiuh, and she agreed.
• Seele entered a quantum state and pulled Einstein along to provide technical support.
• Einstein helped Zhao Bai and Seele locate a wild Tonatiuh.
• Zhao Bai told Seele to stay back and warned that Tonatiuh could flee by collapsing into a quantum state.

Zhao Bai subdued Tonatiuh with his dual scythes, then pinned it down and approached its neck with Durandal’s lance. Einstein watched as Seele studied Zhao Bai’s scythe technique.

• Zhao Bai rushed Tonatiuh with Other Shore Gate and Nursery Rhyme.
• Tonatiuh’s attack was knocked aside, and Zhao Bai cut deep cracks into its chest.
• Zhao Bai hooked Tonatiuh with his scythe and dragged it through the Quantum Deep Sea.
• Zhao Bai pinned Tonatiuh to the ground and walked toward its neck with Durandal’s lance.

Zhao Bai defeated Tonatiuh and brought Seele out of the Sea of Quanta, where she chose to go to St. Freya Academy to be with Bronya. Bronya waited through the night for Zhao Bai's return and felt lonely until he came back.

• Zhao Bai used Night of Heler and the knight's lance to crush Tonatiuh, then collected the scattered weapons.
• Zhao Bai led Seele out of the Sea of Quanta and offered to take her either to St. Freya Academy or back to Anti-Entropy.
• Seele chose St. Freya Academy because she wanted to be where Bronya was, despite Einstein's pitch for Anti-Entropy.
• Bronya stayed awake waiting for Zhao Bai and felt lonely after he had taken Heavy Cannon Rabbit with him.
• Zhao Bai returned, and someone asked Bronya why she was so happy.