Chapter Summaries

Zhao Bai used Star of Eden to erase Welt and the lake, then left the Third Herrscher behind. He returned to the girls’ dormitory, where Theresa was still waiting in her HOMU mascot suit beside scattered banknotes.

• Zhao Bai recognized the sorrowful truth about Welt, and Welt nodded in response.
• Zhao Bai expanded Star of Eden’s black hole and erased Welt and the lake without damaging the surroundings.
• The Third Herrscher questioned Zhao Bai about his exchange with Welt, then inspected the damaged Beichen Blade.
• Zhao Bai left the scene and returned to Theresa at the girls’ dormitory, where scattered banknotes lay beside her.

Zhao Bai took Theresa to work in a mascot suit, where students paid to take pictures with her. Theresa returned to the dormitory exhausted and went to bathe, while Zhao Bai reminded her she had to work again tomorrow.

• Students mistook Theresa for a mascot and gave her money for pictures.
• Zhao Bai pocketed the bills and led Theresa back to the dormitory.
• Theresa changed out of the mascot suit, and Zhao Bai told her the money was her salary before taking it back as debt repayment.
• Theresa ran to the bathroom to bathe, and Zhao Bai reminded her she would work again tomorrow.
• Theresa shyly asked Zhao Bai to bring her T-shirt.

Theresa assigned Zhao Bai to investigate the disappearance of five girls in Sky City, despite his doubts about the task and his lack of investigative skill. Zhao Bai was left with orders to close the restaurant and travel to Sky City.

• After five exhausting days, Theresa searched Schicksal’s missions for work suited to Zhao Bai’s abilities.
• Theresa found a mission in Sky City, where five girls from the same club had vanished a week earlier and Honkai energy had been detected at the scene.
• Zhao Bai questioned why Schicksal had assigned the investigation to him and said he wanted to oversee the restaurant’s construction.
• Theresa insisted that Zhao Bai close the shop and go to Sky City to complete the mission.

Theresa assigned Zhao Bai a solo detective mission in Sky City involving five missing girls, and he set off after clumsily freezing the rain. Bronya learned that his restaurant would be closed for at least a week and reacted with newfound excitement.

• Zhao Bai studied the report about five girls who vanished after an outing, while their sole returning companion had been bullied by them.
• Theresa explained that the remaining girl showed no signs of becoming a zombie and that the missing girls' bodies had not been found.
• Zhao Bai accepted the detective mission after sensing that Theresa expected him to take it.
• Zhao Bai tried to freeze the rain, got struck by the falling ice, then flew above the clouds toward Sky City.
• Theresa told Bronya that Zhao Bai would be away for at least a week, and Bronya's eyes lit up.

Bronya dressed as a detective and used Heavy Cannon Rabbit to search Sky City for Zhao Bai. She found him by scanning the city and intercepted him in the sky.

• Mei wondered why Bronya ignored her and went into her room, then later found that no one was investigating the vanished lake or the battle there.
• Bronya emerged in a detective outfit and skipped dinner while Kiana ate the tomato beef stew.
• Bronya activated Heavy Cannon Rabbit's search mode and scanned Sky City for Zhao Bai.
• Bronya rode Heavy Cannon Rabbit into the sky and blocked Zhao Bai's path.

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.