Chapter Summaries

Bai Zhu defeated Knuckle and joined Morel’s plan to sail through Old Trench toward Ring Island. Knuckle, Shuto, and Milluki also came along as the boat set out to sea.

• Bai Zhu destroyed Knuckle’s Potclean, restrained him with Hainawa, and cut part of his pompadour with Byakurai before restoring its color.
• Knuckle apologized to Bai Zhu, and Morel warned him not to judge people by their Nen aura.
• Bai Zhu told Morel about Mystery International, the ruins core, and the mysterious Court, and Morel explained that they would use small boats built from the Sea Lord’s Horn to cross Old Trench.
• Knuckle and Shuto asked to join the voyage, and Morel agreed after Bai Zhu said he was stronger than before.
• Milluki packed his gear and slipped away from the Zoldyck Family estate to join the expedition.
• Three days later, Bai Zhu, Morel, Knuckle, Shuto, and Milluki boarded the pitch-black boat and headed out to sea.

Bai Zhu discovered that Morel’s ship was a prototype built with Black Gold horn to withstand the Dark Continent, and the crew examined a slime sample from Old Trench. The sample reacted to a blue pillar of light rising from Old Trench, where the story left the crew facing a sudden change in the ocean currents.

• Bai Zhu reunited with Milluki and the crew aboard the ship, then noticed unusual black-and-gold patterns in its hull.
• Morel explained that the ship was a scaled-down Black Whale prototype made with Black Gold horn and had survived a trip to Old Trench.
• Milluki accidentally triggered the horn’s intimidation effect, sending nearby dolphins fleeing.
• At dinner, Milluki suggested studying the zombie fish and slime samples, and Bai Zhu brought out a sealed slime sample from Old Trench.
• The slime began churning as a blue pillar of light rose over Old Trench, and the crew reported that the ocean currents were changing.

Bai Zhu and the crew entered Old Trench during a violent storm and witnessed the enormous Sea Lord patrol its territory. As their passage seemed to go smoothly, a far larger shape began rising from the trench, and Bai Zhu received a warning that an ancient seal was fluctuating.

• A sudden storm struck the ship near Old Trench, and Gela Jiang used water to cushion the hull as the crew took shelter.
• The Sea Lord emerged from Old Trench, endured massive lightning strikes, and swam through the sea while the crew watched in terror.
• Shuto recognized a healed break in the Sea Lord's horn and asked Bai Zhu if he had caused it; Bai Zhu confirmed the horn had regenerated.
• The Sea Lord looked toward the ship before sinking beneath the waves, and Morel believed its horn material had kept it from attacking.
• Bai Zhu and the crew entered Old Trench without encountering the parasitic fish, but the Sea Lord reappeared and approached a vast dark shape rising from the depths.
• Bai Zhu received a warning about ancient seal fluctuations, and Morel said he had never seen the rising shape before.

After the Parasitic Slime Molds reacted to Bai Zhu’s Reiatsu, the crew discovered signs that the mucus could infect people while leaving their consciousness intact. The Soul King's Pen began writing ominous Ancient Script, and Landlord warned Bai Zhu not to wake something that Zhang Ye could only seal before energy surged near the Lighthouse.

• Milluki found that the mucus contained a growing neural network linking its hosts into a collective consciousness.
• Bai Zhu touched the sample with Reiatsu, and the mucus surged toward him as the distant sea began to boil.
• Morel recalled that Pushi had survived in seawater and confirmed that everyone from their earlier voyage had been parasitized to some degree.
• Bai Zhu touched the mucus with the Soul King's Pen, which rose into the air and wrote a line of Ancient Script on its own.
• Landlord warned Bai Zhu not to wake something that Zhang Ye had only been able to seal, while Milluki's terminal reported surging energy near the Lighthouse.

Bai Zhu followed the Landlord to the Lighthouse and learned that Mystery International’s Court had built the structures aboveground as an outpost for researching the Dark Continent. He realized the Lighthouse’s alarm had been triggered by his use of the Soul King’s Pen and began to wonder whether the disaster that trapped Vick had been a planned experiment.

• Milluki reported that energy fluctuations near the Lighthouse were spiking, and the Landlord tapped Bai Zhu after he forgot to offer tribute.
• Bai Zhu gave the Landlord a mountain of dried fish and meat, which it took with a glowing root before leading him toward the Lighthouse alone.
• The Landlord showed Bai Zhu images revealing that Zhang Ye’s group had built the underwater ruins while a second group had constructed the Lighthouse and structures aboveground.
• The Landlord uncovered a metal plate bearing the Court’s emblem, and Bai Zhu recognized it as proof that Mystery International had built an outpost on the island.
• Bai Zhu realized his use of the Soul King’s Pen had triggered the Lighthouse alarm and wondered whether the disaster that trapped Vick had been a deliberate experiment.

After Landlord showed Bai Zhu the ruins and the Court emblem, Bai Zhu realized the island might be a Mystery International outpost rather than Zhang Ye’s refuge. He arranged remote help from Piyu, and the connection revealed her asleep at her desk.

• Landlord showed Bai Zhu the Court emblem and clues that suggested the lighthouse watched or controlled the underwater seal.
• Bai Zhu returned to camp and told Morel, Milluki, Knuckle, Shuto, Gela Jiang, and Xiao Ba that the island might be a Mystery International outpost.
• Morel warned Bai Zhu that the Court meant he had stumbled into serious trouble, while Milluki proposed investigating the organization online.
• Bai Zhu rejected bringing Piyu to the island because crossing Old Trench and leaving the island’s range would be dangerous, then suggested contacting her remotely.
• Milluki broke through Piyu’s encrypted channel, and the group saw her asleep at her desk on the video call.

Bai Zhu enlisted Piyu to remotely investigate the ancient ruins and Mystery International’s outpost, then joined Morel’s group as they traveled toward the Lighthouse using their Nen abilities. The group left Milluki behind until Bai Zhu carried him through the air.

• Piyu angrily confronted Milluki for hacking her private channel, then agreed to analyze the ruins remotely after Bai Zhu explained his suspicions.
• Bai Zhu refused Piyu’s request to come to the island because Old Trench and the Tracker could expose the group.
• Morel formed his crewmen’s purple smoke into a flying boat and took Knuckle toward the Lighthouse.
• Gela Jiang stayed at the camp to help Milluki set up a remote communications base station, while Shuto practiced flying on a black hand.
• Bai Zhu carried Milluki on his back and flew after Morel’s group toward the Lighthouse.

Bai Zhu and the others investigated the ruins beneath the Lighthouse, where Milluki’s kick exposed an ancient wall revealing the Court’s thousand-year scheme to breach Zhang Ye’s seal and use civilians as test subjects. As the group considered what might lie behind the sealed door, they saw the Lighthouse’s upper door open by itself.

• Piyu examined the outer ruins and initially dated them to a few hundred years ago, believing they had no direct connection to the Court.
• Milluki kicked a wall, breaking away its weathered surface and exposing a dark metallic wall covered in Ancient Script.
• Piyu deciphered the writing as an operational log describing how the Court had spent centuries tunneling beneath the island to bypass Zhang Ye’s seal and reach the Dark Continent.
• Piyu explained that the Court had brought Sirens into the underground lake and lured civilians to the island as subjects for observing the seal’s deterioration and the effects of the Sirens’ songs.
• Piyu said the Court had abandoned the island after the Sirens drove its inhabitants mad and attracted the uncontrollable Sea Lord, leaving the civilians behind.
• Bai Zhu asked about the door connected to the Dark Continent, and Xiao Ba alerted the group when they saw the Lighthouse’s upper door open.

Vick emerged from the Lighthouse and beckoned Bai Zhu toward the darkness as the core’s light failed and a seventy-two-hour countdown began. Bai Zhu and Milluki entered the doorway, leaving Morel and the others outside as the Lighthouse went dark.

• Vick appeared outside the Lighthouse’s open door, and Milluki’s terminal warned that the core’s energy was rapidly declining.
• Bai Zhu’s system warned of a high-risk contamination source and said the temporal anchor would release in seventy-two hours.
• Bai Zhu sent Morel, Knuckle, and Shuto back to camp, then took Milluki with him to investigate the Lighthouse.
• Bai Zhu and Milluki followed Vick through a corridor where time behaved strangely, and Vick told Bai Zhu that something was waiting for him.
• Vick dissipated, Bai Zhu stepped through the doorway, and the iron door closed as the Lighthouse’s last light went out.

Bai Zhu destroyed the transformed Vick and escaped the Lighthouse with Milluki as a black mist began spreading across Ring Island. He called for Morel and the others to retreat before the mist reached their camp.

• The Lighthouse twisted out of shape, and Vick transformed into a mass of black mist and tendrils.
• Bai Zhu used Hadō #63: Raikōhō to vaporize Vick and destroy his remains.
• Bai Zhu resisted the black hole's pull after noticing that its tempting system messages were contaminated.
• Bai Zhu carried Milluki out of the Lighthouse and saw black clouds and mist spreading across Ring Island.
• Milluki estimated the mist would engulf the camp within three hours, so Bai Zhu activated Morel's locator bomb and shouted for everyone to retreat.

Bai Zhu and the others were trapped at camp as black fog corrupted the forest and closed in from land and sea. Landlord raised a barrier to protect them until morning, while Gela Jiang warned that the door was about to open.

• Morel evacuated the camp after black fog began consuming the forest and affecting the group.
• Bai Zhu noticed the others acting strangely and warned Gela Jiang away from the Lighthouse, but Gela Jiang reached into the fog and became corrupted.
• The black fog surrounded the camp, the shoreline slime covered much of the Black Ship, and Xiao Ba began singing the Sai people's song before Bai Zhu knocked it unconscious.
• Morel prepared to break through by sea, but Landlord arrived and used silver-white roots to form a protective dome around the camp.
• Landlord conveyed that the barrier would last only until morning, while Gela Jiang said the door was about to open.

As the Siren's song awakened the Sea Lord and drove the defenders toward mental collapse, Bai Zhu learned that the lighthouse seal was failing and something beyond the door was awakening. The Sea Lord prepared to strike Ring Island, while Knuckle lost control and charged toward the barrier.

• The black fog thinned as ghostly blue lights spread across the sea and the Siren's song began contaminating the listeners' minds.
• The Sea Lord surfaced and danced to the song, shedding slime that hatched into evolved Zombie Fish, which attacked Landlord's barrier and reassembled after being destroyed.
• Knuckle, Shuto, Gela Jiang, Morel, Milluki, and Bai Zhu each showed signs of the song or black fog taking control, while Landlord weakened as it held the barrier.
• Milluki's terminal warned that the Sea Lord had locked onto Ring Island and would discharge its accumulated energy in three minutes, while Bai Zhu's system reported that the presence beyond the door would arrive in 180 seconds.
• Knuckle's eyes turned ghostly blue, and he charged toward the barrier's edge as if trying to enter the black fog.

Bai Zhu used the Soul King's Pen to cut a path through Siren's black fog, interrupting its influence and opening an escape route toward the Black Ship. The threat only paused, and a familiar voice appeared at the path's end to remind Bai Zhu of their deal.

• Bai Zhu recognized that Knuckle's behavior matched Pushi's past contamination by Siren's song and realized the black fog amplified its victims' obsessions.
• Bai Zhu concluded that the system's instructions had directed him toward the Soul King's Pen as an escape route, despite the system itself being corrupted.
• Bai Zhu pulled out the Soul King's Pen and used it to analyze the fog, discovering that it synchronized minds with Siren's song.
• Bai Zhu drew a silver line through the fog, clearing a path to the Black Ship and freeing Knuckle from its influence.
• The Sea Lord's attack lost its target and blasted a hole in the clouds, while the countdown for the Being Behind the Door froze at thirty-seven seconds.
• A familiar voice called from beyond the fog, telling Bai Zhu that they had agreed he would find it before going to the Dark Continent.

Gao Mao used mycelium to restore the group’s minds and clear a path to the Black Ship, but as Bai Zhu tried to board, Landlord and the mycelium stopped him. The chapter left Bai Zhu stranded on the beach, facing Landlord while the others waited aboard.

• Gao Mao emerged from the black fog, greeted Landlord, and revealed that it had planted a living spore in Bai Zhu to help him survive.
• Bai Zhu set conditions for Gao Mao to use mycelium to restore the group, and Gao Mao agreed.
• Gao Mao revived Milluki, Knuckle, Shuto, Morel, and Gela Jiang, stopping Gela Jiang’s black markings from spreading.
• Gao Mao’s mycelium cleared the Black Ship’s hull, and Morel ordered everyone aboard without looking back or making a sound.
• As Bai Zhu stepped toward the boarding plank, mycelium bound his ankles and Landlord blocked his way, leaving him facing the bird on the beach.

Bai Zhu agreed to cross the Gate and reset its Seal, sending Morel and the others to safety with a warning for Chairman Netero. As the countdown resumed, the Lighthouse sounded a third knock, and Bai Zhu faced the danger with Gao Mao and Landlord.

• Gao Mao explained that the Gate would open in thirty-seven seconds unless someone carrying the pen crossed through and set a new Seal from the other side.
• Bai Zhu protested, then agreed to go after remembering the Pope’s words about the pen’s remaining parts.
• Bai Zhu demanded that Gao Mao take the ship’s passengers to safety and share the Court outpost intelligence with the Association.
• Morel gave Bai Zhu a strand of smoke for communication, while Milluki handed him a device that could force a satellite connection.
• The Black Ship departed, and Bai Zhu received a mandatory quest to reach the other side of the Gate as the countdown restarted.
• The Lighthouse sounded three knocks, and Gao Mao and Landlord reacted with alarm.