Faceless Ones

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Faceless Ones
Alias(es)	无面众 (original name)
Species/Race	Clandestine organization comprising Madness Affliction-infected and modified humans; senior members may become headless Malevolent Spirits 79 118 230
Affiliation	Independent faction; colludes with the demon realm and operates across human cities 229 239
Occupation/Role	Terrorist organization that spreads Madness Affliction, infiltrates cities, creates disasters, and pursues strategic relics 79 94 259
Status	Active but severely destabilized by internal betrayal, the Human Alliance’s assault on Warm Dragon Port, and conflict around the Tree of Truth 348 349 350
First Appearance	Chapter 10

Background / History

The Faceless Ones are a pervasive enemy of humanity whose members operate throughout human cities. They spread panic through covert attacks, infection, and manipulation; Voids and Black Rings are attributed to their activities. Although their visible combatants are not necessarily overwhelming in direct battle, their ability to hide, infect, and infiltrate makes them difficult to eradicate 79 94.

Their public doctrine invokes Tianli, while their hierarchy names the Desolate Dragon as Chief. Flower Umbrella helped establish this doctrine and used it to obscure the Desolate Dragon’s connection to the organization and to consolidate influence over its followers 352 370.

The Warm Dragon Sea is described as the birthplace of the Faceless Ones. Their Chief’s codename, Wild Dragon, is tied to the source of Madness Affliction; later events identify the Chief as the Desolate Dragon, whose corrupted body spread the affliction across planes 336 340 349 350.

Organization

Hierarchy

• Ordinary followers and guards wear white masks, black robes, and may function as hired personnel rather than transformed elites 118.
• Low-level believers conceal their faces behind masks and worship the organization’s power; their masks are an outward sign of their lesser rank 93.
• Executive Officers possess direct “facelessness,” commonly appearing headless rather than merely masked. They are treated as Malevolent Spirits and wield far greater Madness Affliction power 93 118.
• The organization has six Executive seats. Higher seats receive stronger Madness Affliction power and greater proximity to the Heavenly Way 291.
• The Chief stands above the Executive Officers. The Chief can tear open space, intervene across vast distances, and is identified with the Wild Dragon/Desolate Dragon 283 340 350.

Known Executive Officers

• Flower Umbrella — Second Seat; possesses six clones, with different umbrella colors granting different abilities. The Black Umbrella clone can use Madness Affliction energy to create artificial Voids 96 293.
• Si Bu / Songstress — Third Seat; a singer capable of pacifying Wild Beasts. She infiltrated the organization to collect intelligence and seeks its destruction 189 324.
• Yan Shi — Fourth Seat; a Mech-type researcher who joined the Faceless Ones to locate and study the Tree of Truth 260 315 350.
• Black King — Fifth Seat; an executive associated with poison research and attempts to control Wild Beasts. He was killed by Ying Xiaoxiao during the Battle of the Black Ring 283 349.
• Shadow Child — Sixth Seat; sought to assassinate Xu Jiang to claim a higher standing, but was captured after Poison Rat’s betrayal 291 348.
• Red Umbrella — An executive whose ability raises and controls corpses as an undead army 283.
• Purple Umbrella — An executive connected to suppressed Madness Affliction and malevolent-spirit power; it was badly damaged when Sparkles purified the Black Ring 279 283.

Methods & Capabilities

Madness Affliction

The Faceless Ones weaponize Madness Affliction as mental pollution. A victim who does not immediately die must endure persistent demonic whispers and pain; the organization then exploits that suffering through extortion, offering temporary relief in exchange for money and continued submission 69.

• Infection is used to coerce wealthy targets rather than simply kill them 69.
• Their poison can remain incurable even when the initial infection is shallow 69.
• Madness Concentrate is a highly lethal commodity distributed through black-market channels 334.
• The organization profits from destruction and social collapse, treating widespread misfortune as nourishment for its growth 324.

Infiltration and Sabotage

The Faceless Ones favor hidden operations over open warfare. They infiltrate governments, factions, and Spirit Realm operations; Zhou Bowen, the Northern Frontier City Lord, and Warm Dragon Port’s de facto ruler Wu Hao both collaborated with them 239 333.

• They assassinate key personnel and sabotage defenses, including the murder of a guide that disabled a stronghold’s mechanical turrets 34.
• They maintain concealed bases in remote ruins and deserts 118.
• They use disasters and provocations to push civilians, demon-possessed individuals, and rival factions into chaos 230 336.
• They planted intelligence networks capable of obtaining highly restricted information about Hollyfort and the God Corpse 326.

Specialized Equipment

Faceless Ones forces employ coordinated anti-Mech and anti-skill equipment designed specifically to capture Xu Jiang alive 215.

• Mechanical packs can fire spiderweb-like steel threads across a wide area 215.
• Their forces use powerful long-range firepower, magic-breaking methods, durable shields, and multiple survival tools 215.
• Special steel wires were calculated to withstand Xu Jiang’s expected damage output long enough to restrain him 215.

Demonic Modification and Sacrifice

The organization trades support to the demon realm for demonic incantations and power. Its followers are expendable resources in these exchanges 229.

• Members can be modified with demonic body parts while retaining Madness Affliction within their minds 230.
• Their Madness Affliction saturation makes ordinary demonic-energy interference ineffective against them 230.
• They sacrifice disposable followers to pay the lifespan costs of dealings with demons 229.

Major Operations

• Black White Forest extortion plot — The organization targeted Pang Shi, intending to infect rather than kill him and use the resulting affliction to extort his family 10 69.
• Void incidents and Spirit Realm interference — The Faceless Ones were suspected of causing a sudden Void and later attempted to merge a Void with the Spirit Realm through an Executive Officer 30 93 94.
• Desert base infiltration — Xu Jiang infiltrated a hidden Faceless Ones base by faking a high level of Madness Affliction with a Madness Crystal, exploiting the guards’ deference to rank 118.
• Northern Frontier crisis — Through Zhou Bowen’s collaboration, they cultivated a Black Soul Tree King in the Holy Land, threatening Northern Frontier City’s defenses and attempting to lure elite human experts into the area 239 240 243.
• Dark Abyss operation — The Faceless Ones sought the Dark Mechanism within the Dark Abyss, with Yan Shi identified as the Executive leading the operation 259 260.
• Battle of the Black Ring — Their forces invaded the Black Ring under the Black King, Red Umbrella, and Purple Umbrella. Sparkles’ concert purged their corrupted forces, Black King was killed, and the Chief personally intervened 278 279 283.
• Assassination attempt during Qianji’s advancement — Flower Umbrella offered the Fifth Seat to whoever killed Xu Jiang before his Mech could advance; Shadow Child volunteered for the attempt 291.
• Hollyfort and Warm Dragon Port campaign — The organization joined the assault on Hollyfort, then moved from covert control to open rule in Warm Dragon Port to pursue the Mech Tree of Truth 326 334.
• Warm Dragon Port defeat — Poison Rat revealed that he had never truly served the Faceless Ones, enabling a Human Alliance surprise attack that captured Shadow Child and broke their hold on the port 348.
• Tree of Truth conflict — Yan Shi attempted to comprehend the Tree’s mechanical principles while Flower Umbrella planned to absorb the Desolate Dragon’s flesh and replace the Faceless Ones with his own regime 349 350.

Relationships

• Xu Jiang — Primary adversary and repeated assassination target. The organization attempted to recruit him, capture him, prevent Qianji’s advancement, and eliminate him before he became too powerful 93 215 291.
• Desolate Dragon / Wild Dragon — Chief of the Faceless Ones and source connected to the spread of Madness Affliction across planes 340 349 350.
• Flower Umbrella — Second Seat and the organization’s principal manipulator; treats clones and infected followers as tools, then ultimately attempts to abandon the faction for his own dominion 291 349.
• Si Bu / Songstress — Third Seat who secretly gathers intelligence against the Faceless Ones and openly seeks their destruction 189.
• Yan Shi — Fourth Seat whose loyalty is directed more toward mechanical research and the Tree of Truth than toward the organization itself 291 349.
• Demon Realm — Transactional ally; the Faceless Ones exchange expendable followers and resources for demonic incantations and support 229.
• Human Alliance — Principal opposing force, responsible for major defeats at the Black Ring and Warm Dragon Port 283 348.

Notable Quotes

“Tianli endures forever! Only by joining the Faceless Ones can one attain eternal life!” 230

“The Faceless Ones were like rats, getting into everything.” 94