Chapter Summaries

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.

Zhao Bai rejected Theresa’s encouragement to pursue Bronya, while Bronya returned home and let Mei misunderstand the scars she had sustained. The chapter ended with Bronya telling Mei that she and Zhao Bai were suffering the same pain.

• Zhao Bai considered the dangers of pursuing Bronya and reminded himself that they were both students and he was below Shenzhou's legal marriage age.
• Theresa urged Zhao Bai not to let hesitation turn into regret, but he sent her away so he could be alone.
• Mei caught Bronya returning home in her detective outfit and took her to bathe.
• Mei saw the scars on Bronya’s arms and suspected Zhao Bai had hurt her.
• Bronya explained that she had inflicted the scars herself and told Mei that she and Zhao Bai were suffering the same pain.

Mei prepared red bean rice and a lavish kimono for Bronya, leaving Bronya to suspect that Mei planned to marry her. The chapter ended as Mei brought out an ornate O-furisode, an outfit usually worn on the eve of a wedding.

• Mei helped Bronya dry off after her bath, and Bronya noticed that her school uniform was missing.
• Mei dressed in a Raiden Clan kimono and cooked red bean rice, prompting Bronya to connect the dish with celebrations and sexual milestones.
• Bronya scanned the house and found a Shiromuku tailored specifically for her in Mei's room.
• Mei and Bronya ate the red bean rice while Kiana remained detained after class.
• Mei brought out a lavish pale green O-furisode, and Bronya recognized it as an outfit associated with the eve of a wedding.

Mei dressed Bronya in a custom O-furisode and tried to prepare a Shiromuku for her, but Bronya fled through a window with Heavy Cannon Rabbit. Meanwhile, Zhao Bai lay awake thinking about Theresa’s teasing and her apparent expectation of becoming a child’s godmother.

• Mei asked Bronya to try on the O-furisode, which fit her perfectly.
• Bronya felt her mood improve as she wore the formal outfit, despite thinking it did not suit her.
• Mei went to retrieve a custom Shiromuku, but Heavy Cannon Rabbit smashed through the glass and carried Bronya away.
• Mei wondered if Bronya had staged a runaway bride routine, then decided to let her go.
• Zhao Bai could not sleep because he kept thinking of Theresa’s teasing gaze and her apparent godmotherly expectations.

Unable to sleep, Zhao Bai reopened his restaurant and was visited by Bronya in an unfamiliar, elegant outfit. Bronya questioned why people had started acting differently toward her and asked Zhao Bai why Mei had dressed her in ceremonial clothes.

• Zhao Bai decided his closed restaurant was the only place that could ease his restlessness and opened it at sunset.
• Bronya arrived wearing an O-furisode, with her long hair loose and damp.
• Zhao Bai barely recognized Bronya, prompting her to question why everyone’s behavior toward her had changed.
• Bronya told Zhao Bai that Mei had cooked red bean rice and prepared an O-furisode and a Shiromuku for her to try on.

Zhao Bai was startled when Bronya confirmed she wore a traditional kimono without anything underneath, then retreated to the kitchen to make Mango Pomelo Sago. As he prepared the ingredients, thoughts of Bronya continued to distract him.

• Zhao Bai heard that Bronya's mother had prepared a wedding dress and realized Bronya's situation was worse than his own.
• Zhao Bai asked whether Bronya's traditional kimono was worn without anything underneath, and Bronya answered yes.
• Zhao Bai fled to the kitchen and used the Chiyou Cannon to make ice for a cold dessert.
• Zhao Bai began preparing Mango Pomelo Sago, but thinking of Bronya's cheeks left his thoughts unsettled.

Zhao Bai struggled to prepare Mango Pomelo Sago, then served it to Bronya, who tried to make conversation over dessert. Night fell as Heavy Cannon Rabbit illuminated the room and made Bronya's kimono shine.

• Zhao Bai repeatedly failed to dice the mangoes before finally cutting them successfully and finishing the dessert.
• Zhao Bai served Mango Pomelo Sago to Bronya, who ate carefully to avoid staining her furisode.
• Bronya asked Zhao Bai whether the deep blue ice came from a mountain or from a passenger aircraft toilet.
• Zhao Bai realized Bronya was forcing conversation, and they slowly finished the dessert as sunset gave way to night.
• Zhao Bai left the lamps off, and Heavy Cannon Rabbit activated its bright illumination mode, making Bronya's kimono gleam.

Bronya invited Zhao Bai to Canghai City's HOMU Theme Park, then fled after he loosened the ribbon on her kimono. Zhao Bai returned home with the ribbon and no payment, where Theresa noticed the scent of a girl.

• After finishing dessert, Bronya invited Zhao Bai to Canghai City's HOMU Theme Park during her vacation.
• Bronya stood with her arms out, and Zhao Bai loosened the ribbon around her kimono.
• Bronya fled with Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C, leaving Zhao Bai holding her ribbon.
• Zhao Bai realized he had forgotten to collect payment and returned home at a loss.
• Theresa hid her naming book and noticed the girl's scent and the ribbon in Zhao Bai's hand.

Zhao Bai realized his instinctive refusal to sell Bronya’s sash revealed feelings he had barely noticed. After Bronya invited him to the HOMU theme park, he asked her to settle her bill first, leaving her confused.

• Theresa tested Zhao Bai by offering to buy the O-furisode kimono sash, and he instinctively refused to sell it.
• Zhao Bai realized he had briefly imagined a future with Bronya and wondered how to wash her sash before returning it.
• Zhao Bai received Bronya’s message inviting him to go out the day after tomorrow.
• Zhao Bai told Bronya to come settle her restaurant bill first, and she replied with a string of question marks.

Zhao Bai met Bronya outside his restaurant for their agreed outing, then rode with her as she drove a motorcycle through the sky toward Canghai City. The trip began with Bronya accelerating at full throttle while Zhao Bai braced himself in the sidecar.

• After Zhao Bai greeted Bronya online, she later said someone had taken her phone and that she had eliminated the target.
• Zhao Bai closed his restaurant and waited outside, checking that his collar carried no cooking fumes.
• Bronya appeared silently behind Zhao Bai and watched him without answering his question about stealth.
• Bronya chose to drive the motorcycle herself on their trip to Canghai City, and Zhao Bai reluctantly agreed to ride in the sidecar.
• After Zhao Bai fastened his seat belt and helmet, Bronya accelerated the motorcycle into the sky, pressing him against the seat.

Zhao Bai and Bronya visited Canghai City and found that the amusement park’s roller coaster and paintball game were dull compared with their earlier high-speed ride. The chapter ended with Bronya offering Zhao Bai a lap pillow, and him realizing her knees were armored in metal.

• Zhao Bai stumbled after getting out of the vehicle, and he and Bronya traded teasing remarks.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya rode the roller coaster, but both found it boring after their earlier high-speed ride.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya tried the outdoor paintball game, where Bronya shot Zhao Bai almost immediately.
• Bronya sat on the grass and offered Zhao Bai a lap pillow, prompting him to notice her metal-armored knees.