Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng asks the Gunpowder Workshop Hunters to gather Giant Crow wing tips, Two-headed Mutant Hound penises, and as many high-quality Blood Gems as possible.
• He also offers them the option of sending hunters to assist him. Their duties could include guiding him, running errands, or guarding the Church of Pain if his temporary alliance with the Bloodhealing Church collapses.
• Liu Zheng explains that he does not fully trust the Bloodhealing Church because of its many secrets and its close ties to Kalkaluns Academy, his next destination.
• The Blunderbuss Hunter initially doubts that the weakened Gunpowder Workshop can help Liu Zheng. Liu counters that the coming Pale Night may lead to another disaster like the destruction of Old Yate.
• Liu warns that New Yate could be destroyed either by the Bloodhealing Church’s actions or by the spread of the Beastification Disease.
• The Blunderbuss Hunter explains that those who previously attempted to leave Yate were struck by rapidly progressing Beastification Disease, reinforcing the belief that Yate is divinely cursed.
• Liu boldly declares that he intends to “shatter Pale Night and let the sun rise as usual,” implying that he plans to confront the supernatural force or god behind the disaster.
• Though initially mocking Liu’s ambition, the Blunderbuss Hunter eventually agrees to discuss sending people and begins organizing the requested materials.
• Afterward, the hunter captain privately questions Andrina about Liu’s relationship with Beethoven. Andrina reveals that Beethoven wanted Liu as a disciple, but Liu refused, and the two fought without either side winning.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates confidence, strategic thinking, and a willingness to challenge powerful institutions and supernatural beings. He prepares practical resources while also attempting to build an independent support network.
• The Blunderbuss Hunter shifts from skepticism and guarded hostility to reluctant cooperation. His concern for New Yate reveals that, despite the Gunpowder Workshop’s decline, he still feels responsible for its people.
• Andrina provides important information about Liu’s past and his connection to Beethoven. Her guardedness regarding Kalkaluns Academy suggests she is bound by Bloodhealing Church restrictions.
• The hunter captain becomes increasingly suspicious of Liu, especially after learning that Liu is not actually Beethoven’s disciple and may be powerful enough to fight him.

Significant Themes

• Resistance against fate and divine authority: Liu refuses to accept Pale Night, Beastification, or Yate’s supposed divine curse as inevitable.
• Trust and political uncertainty: Liu’s partnership with the Bloodhealing Church is temporary, and he prepares for betrayal because of its hidden motives and connections.
• Decline and survival: The Gunpowder Workshop has lost much of its former strength, yet it survives through local knowledge, cooperation, and guerrilla tactics.
• Responsibility to one’s community: The Blunderbuss Hunter’s hesitation shows his conflict between protecting the Workshop and protecting New Yate.
• Human ambition versus overwhelming powers: Liu’s confidence contrasts with the hunters’ fear of the godlike force behind Pale Night.

Character Interactions

• Liu and the Blunderbuss Hunter negotiate an alliance through requests, warnings, and mutual skepticism.
• Liu pressures the hunters by connecting their cooperation to the possible destruction of New Yate.
• Liu and the Gunpowder Workshop are united by a common threat, but their relationship remains transactional and uncertain.
• The hunter captain privately confronts Andrina about Liu’s apparent disrespect toward the Church.
• Andrina reveals that Liu and Beethoven are rivals—or at least equals—rather than master and disciple, increasing the hunters’ uncertainty about Liu’s true identity and power.

Chapter Summary: “White Jade Pillar Supporting Heaven, Purple-Gold Beam Bridging the Sea”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Church’s hunters learn that Liu Zheng, the Deliveryman, fought Master Beethoven to a draw. Since Beethoven is regarded as an almost unbeatable humanoid weapon capable of destroying entire hunter squads, the Church decides not to provoke Liu Zheng.
• Andrina explains that Archbishop Amelia ordered the hunters to accommodate Liu Zheng’s demands as much as possible.
• After a long wait, the Gunpowder Workshop hunters return from Old Yate with the requested corpses of two Giant Crows and a Two-headed Mutant Hound, along with a chest of Blood Gems.
• Liu Zheng expertly dismembers the beasts using his Boning Knife, cleanly removing the crows’ wing tips and then severing the mutant hound’s reproductive organs. His actions impress the weapon-specialist hunters and horrify the men watching.
• The Gunpowder Workshop initially admits that it does not trust Liu Zheng. However, it agrees to send three hunters to observe him. If he truly intends to destroy Pale Night, the entire workshop will support him, even if that means firing artillery at the gods.
• Liu Zheng accepts the arrangement and leaves with machine-gun hunter Yura, an older hunter, and a younger hunter.
• A Church messenger arrives with a letter from Archbishop Amelia stating that the Church will gather Liu Zheng’s requested materials itself, eliminating the need for him to enter the Forbidden Forest.
• Liu Zheng agrees to skip the Forbidden Forest for now and instead heads toward Kalkaluns Academy. He also warns Helmet Man not to repeat his inappropriate behavior in front of the Twisted Saint.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to demonstrate overwhelming confidence and unusual abilities. His precision with the Boning Knife reveals both formidable combat skill and an unsettlingly practical attitude toward corpses and “ingredients.”
• Andrina acts as a diplomatic intermediary between Liu Zheng and the Church. She respects his strength and carefully follows Amelia’s orders to avoid provoking him.
• The Hunter Captain abandons his intention to interrogate Liu Zheng after learning that he fought Beethoven to a standstill, showing that even Church officials fear directly confronting him.
• The Blunderbuss Hunter evolves from suspicion to cautious cooperation. Though he openly says the Gunpowder Workshop does not trust Liu Zheng, he is willing to commit its forces to Liu Zheng’s cause if his intentions prove genuine.
• Yura and two other hunters volunteer to accompany Liu Zheng, signaling the workshop’s first concrete step toward cooperation.
• Archbishop Amelia demonstrates influence and strategic caution by gathering the needed materials herself and keeping Liu Zheng away from the dangerous Forbidden Forest.
• Helmet Man is reprimanded again for his inappropriate conduct and reluctantly agrees to behave.

Significant Themes

• Power and restraint: Beethoven and Liu Zheng are both portrayed as immensely powerful figures who could dominate others but do not necessarily seek political control.
• Trust built through action: The Gunpowder Workshop does not fully trust Liu Zheng, yet it is willing to cooperate after witnessing his strength and hearing of his goal to shatter Pale Night.
• Pragmatic alliances: Formerly suspicious factions begin working together because the threat posed by Pale Night and the gods is greater than their mutual distrust.
• The grotesque and the mundane: Liu Zheng treats mutilation and supernatural corpses as routine preparation work, creating dark humor through the contrast between his calmness and everyone else’s discomfort.
• Preparation for divine conflict: The discussion shifts from ordinary weapons to artillery and eventually to attacking gods, emphasizing the increasing scale of the coming struggle.
• Hidden dangers: The Church’s reluctance to let Liu Zheng enter the Forbidden Forest suggests that it contains serious secrets or threats that remain unexplored.

Character Interactions

• Andrina persuades the hunter captain not to antagonize Liu Zheng by emphasizing his ability to match Beethoven.
• Liu Zheng’s dismemberment of the beasts unsettles the Gunpowder Workshop hunters while simultaneously earning their respect.
• The Blunderbuss Hunter negotiates a conditional alliance with Liu Zheng, offering observers first and full military support later.
• Liu Zheng and the hunters exchange banter about using bullets or cannons against gods.
• Archbishop Amelia communicates indirectly through Andrina, guiding Liu Zheng’s movements while still accommodating his demands.
• Liu Zheng teases Andrina about the Forbidden Forest and threatens Helmet Man with punishment, maintaining his irreverent and domineering manner.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng and his group approach Kalkaluns Academy, whose Gothic architecture resembles the Bloodhealing Church’s cathedral. Andrina explains that the cathedral’s design was originally inspired by Kalkaluns.
• Near the academy, they encounter a strange lake beneath a huge pale moon. The moon’s reflection remains unnaturally motionless in the water, and Liu Zheng senses multiple hidden gazes within it.
• An unseen woman warns Liu Zheng not to come closer. None of the others can hear her, suggesting that the voice or the moon possesses a supernatural connection to him. Liu Zheng warns everyone not to look at the lake or its reflection, protecting them from a possible sanity-related threat.
• Because the academy’s main entrance has been sealed by the Church’s Sacred Hymn Choir, Andrina leads the group through a side cave. The Choir operates independently and does not fully obey High Archbishop Amelia.
• Liu Zheng questions Amelia’s authority and succession, recalling that she once ordered him to kill the previous High Archbishop. Andrina angrily defends Amelia, explaining that Amelia was chosen by High Archbishop Dickens and helped found the Church.
• Andrina describes the Church’s internal divisions as the result of ideological conflicts: Dickens split from Kalkaluns Academy to create the Bloodhealing Church, while the Sacred Hymn Choir later separated from Amelia’s leadership.
• Concerned that the cave may be an ambush, Xia Kai suggests caution. Since Andrina admits she cannot guarantee the route is safe, Liu Zheng orders her to enter first and test it.
• Andrina accepts without hesitation, demonstrating the courage and leadership expected of a potential future leader of the “Holy Blood” Hunters.
• Xia Kai offers to accompany her, but Liu Zheng dismisses the idea and warns him against risking his life for romantic or physical attraction. He launches into a self-congratulatory lecture about surviving through discipline and avoiding distractions such as chasing women.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains pragmatic, irreverent, and highly self-confident. His priority is completing the procurement mission efficiently, and he shows little willingness to endanger himself or his people unnecessarily. His sanity immunity allows him to perceive dangers others cannot.
• Andrina displays authority, courage, and loyalty to Amelia. She willingly takes the lead into a potentially dangerous passage and firmly defends the legitimacy of her superior.
• Xia Kai is revealed to be attracted to Andrina and tempted to act recklessly to impress or protect her. Liu Zheng’s rebuke emphasizes Xia Kai’s need to focus on survival and strength.
• The Gunpowder Workshop Hunters initially expect Liu Zheng to use them as scouts, but they gain respect for him when he sends Andrina instead. Their cautious cooperation shows growing trust in his judgment.
• Amelia does not appear directly, but the discussion portrays her as a powerful, controversial, and possibly ruthless leader struggling to control ideological factions within the Church.
• The Sacred Hymn Choir is established as an independent and stubborn faction whose blockade of the academy creates political and practical obstacles for the group.

Significant Themes

• Institutional division and repeating history: The academy, Bloodhealing Church, and Sacred Hymn Choir are connected by recurring ideological schisms, suggesting that political and religious conflicts repeat across generations.
• Pragmatism versus heroism: Liu Zheng rejects unnecessary risk and insists that survival and mission efficiency matter more than romantic gestures or conventional bravery.
• The danger of forbidden knowledge: The moon’s reflection and the warning not to look into the lake introduce a supernatural threat tied to perception, sanity, and hidden entities.
• Authority and factionalism: The dispute over Amelia’s control of the Sacred Hymn Choir highlights the limits of centralized power and the instability of large organizations.
• Comedic irreverence amid horror: Liu Zheng’s jokes about moles, funeral choirs, and “time management” contrast with the ominous setting and supernatural dangers.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng repeatedly questions Andrina about the academy, the Church, Amelia’s authority, and the blocked entrance; she responds patiently until he implies Amelia’s position may be illegitimate.
• Liu Zheng warns the entire group about the lake after hearing the mysterious voice, taking responsibility for their safety despite his dismissive attitude.
• When Xia Kai suggests entering first or accompanying Andrina, Liu Zheng shuts him down and mocks his romantic motivation.
• The Hunters’ opinion of Liu Zheng improves when he refuses to recklessly sacrifice them as scouts, though he still places Andrina in the lead because of the Church’s poor intelligence.
• Andrina and Liu Zheng’s exchange reveals contrasting attitudes: her loyalty and respect for established authority versus his skepticism, bluntness, and willingness to challenge powerful institutions.

Chapter Summary: “If It Were Mr. Liu Zheng”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Kai hides behind Liu Zheng while Andrina prepares to enter a cave, leading to sarcastic banter among the group.
• Andrina enters first and is immediately ambushed. A gunshot reveals that multiple monsters are waiting inside.
• Liu Zheng, Xia Kai, and three Gunpowder Workshop Hunters enter to assist her.
• The cave’s Lantern has mysteriously dimmed, limiting visibility. Liu Zheng relies on his heightened perception to identify four camouflaged monsters attacking Andrina.
• Andrina fights them with her transforming Hunter’s Staff but suffers a serious shoulder wound that reaches the bone.
• Liu Zheng and the three Hunters engage the monsters, while Xia Kai protects and later carries the Lantern closer to the battle.
• The increased light causes the monsters to retreat deeper into the cave. Liu Zheng captures one using his tentacles; the monster accidentally breaks its own neck while trying to escape.
• Liu Zheng examines the creature and discovers its grotesque, tentacled mouth and heavily furred body.
• Andrina recognizes the monsters as similar to creatures she encountered elsewhere. She explains that such monsters previously targeted Lanterns rather than people, and that extinguishing the lights in the Forbidden Forest triggered a terrifying event.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates confidence, tactical awareness, and dark humor. He remains calm in the darkness, coordinates the group effectively, and easily captures one of the fleeing monsters.
• Andrina proves highly resilient and capable, holding off four enemies despite a severe injury. She uses Holy Blood to rapidly heal but wisely avoids rejoining the cramped battle while her dangerous weapon might endanger allies.
• Xia Kai remains cowardly and dependent on Liu Zheng, though he follows orders and protects the Lantern when needed. His comic fear contrasts with Liu Zheng’s confidence.
• The Gunpowder Workshop Hunters show strong teamwork, forming a defensive triangular formation and successfully containing three monsters despite avoiding gunfire in the confined space.
• Andrina’s thoughts briefly reveal that she respects powerful figures such as Liu Zheng and Beethoven, while rejecting any romantic interest in Xia Kai.

Significant Themes

• Light versus darkness: The Lantern’s weakening illumination creates danger and appears central to the monsters’ strategy and the Forbidden Forest’s supernatural threat.
• Teamwork and leadership: Liu Zheng’s commands allow the group to overcome an ambush, while the Hunters’ coordinated formation proves more effective than individual attacks.
• Resilience and survival: Andrina’s endurance and rapid healing emphasize the extreme physical and psychological demands placed on the characters.
• Humor amid danger: Banter between Liu Zheng, Xia Kai, and Andrina provides comic relief during a life-threatening situation.
• Unexplained horror: The monsters’ unnatural appearance, camouflage, and apparent interest in extinguishing Lanterns hint at a larger, more terrifying phenomenon.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng teases Xia Kai and orders him to protect the Lantern, while Xia Kai flatters Liu Zheng and reluctantly obeys.
• Andrina sarcastically challenges both men but ultimately relies on their assistance after being ambushed.
• Liu Zheng and the Gunpowder Workshop Hunters work together to surround and pressure the monsters.
• Andrina and Liu Zheng compare their knowledge of the creatures, establishing that the monsters are connected to an earlier supernatural incident in the Forbidden Forest.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng interrogates Andrina about the shadow monsters that attacked her patrol in the Forbidden Forest. The creatures emerged from the hunters’ shadows and transformed into exact human copies.
• The monsters could replicate a person’s appearance and internal structure, but apparently not their memories, speech, or weapon skills. Those that killed their targets remained in human form after death; the others reverted to beast-like forms.
• Liu Zheng realizes the creatures may be valuable and decides to deliberately summon them for capture. The hunters willingly cooperate out of professional curiosity and hunting instinct.
• When the lanterns are extinguished, shadow copies emerge from beneath everyone’s feet. However, Liu Zheng’s copy begins vomiting black sludge, causing all the monsters to collapse into a single mass of living “Shadow Mud.”
• Shadow Mud speaks through multiple forms, first as a chocolate-like mound and later as a faceless woman. It recognizes Liu Zheng as an unusual supernatural “kin” connected to an exceptionally powerful Higher Being.
• Liu Zheng discovers that Shadow Mud is one fragment of a “God’s Child” divided into five pieces. It has already devoured two other fragments and needs the remaining pieces to become whole. Liu Zheng suspects the Church may possess the fragments encountered in the Forbidden Forest.
• Shadow Mud offers Liu Zheng several possible rewards—Flesh Rebirth, body imitation, Dark Blessing, and the Inner Eye—but Liu Zheng already possesses abilities or items superior to these, repeatedly frustrating and humiliating Shadow Mud.
• Liu Zheng demands rare artifacts such as the Tomel Holy Grail, God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, or equivalents in exchange for help. Shadow Mud can offer only information, revealing that the dangerous place Liu Zheng plans to visit contains the auras of multiple Higher Beings.
• The chapter ends with Liu Zheng finally taking Shadow Mud’s warning seriously and asking whether it knows a way to deal with the threat.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains confident, opportunistic, and irreverent. He immediately considers exploiting the shadow monsters for his own collection or selling them to powerful factions.
• His unusual nature becomes clearer: he is not human, not a conventional God’s Child, and is instead described as a “special kin” linked to a powerful Higher Being.
• Liu Zheng demonstrates both overwhelming resources and a pragmatic attitude toward supernatural beings. He refuses to help Shadow Mud out of sympathy and insists on treating the matter as a business transaction.
• Andrina continues to show trust in Liu Zheng, instinctively taking shelter behind him when the monsters transform. She is frightened by the unknown phenomenon but remains cooperative.
• Xia Kai acts as a cautious subordinate, warning Liu Zheng about Shadow Mud and positioning himself defensively.
• Shadow Mud shifts from mysterious and formal to frustrated and emotionally reactive. It is desperate to reunite with its missing fragments and increasingly exasperated by Liu Zheng’s powerful possessions and mocking responses.

Significant Themes

• Exploitation of the unknown: Liu Zheng views terrifying supernatural phenomena not only as threats but also as resources, weapons, specimens, or commodities.
• Power and status: The discussion contrasts Liu Zheng’s advantages as a “city folk from the Metropolis” with Shadow Mud’s supposedly backward status as a “country god.” Possession of rare artifacts and stronger abilities determines authority more than titles do.
• Identity and imitation: The shadow monsters raise questions about whether copying someone’s body also means copying their identity, memories, or humanity.
• Fragmentation and wholeness: Shadow Mud’s divided existence introduces the idea that supernatural beings can be split into incomplete parts, with identity and power depending on reunification.
• Knowledge versus true power: Liu Zheng possesses many unusual tools and abilities, but he may not understand the larger cosmic forces involved. Shadow Mud’s warning emphasizes that knowing supernatural names does not necessarily grant control over Higher Beings.
• Irreverence toward cosmic entities: Liu Zheng treats gods, Higher Beings, and their fragments with the same bargaining attitude he applies to ordinary people, undercutting their grandeur through humor and negotiation.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng methodically questions Andrina, challenging inconsistencies in her account and extracting information about the monsters’ abilities.
• He commands Xia Kai and the hunters during the summoning, naturally assuming leadership while protecting them from the dangerous transformation.
• Liu Zheng and Shadow Mud engage in a tense but comedic negotiation. Shadow Mud proposes increasingly valuable supernatural gifts, while Liu Zheng dismisses each one because he already possesses comparable or superior abilities.
• Their conversation becomes a clash between Shadow Mud’s ancient, formal manner and Liu Zheng’s blunt, sarcastic speech. Liu Zheng repeatedly mocks Shadow Mud’s failed attempts at bargaining and its emotional outbursts.
• Despite their antagonistic tone, the two recognize that they may benefit from one another: Shadow Mud needs Liu Zheng to find its missing fragments, while Liu Zheng may gain information or artifacts useful for his own dangerous journey.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Shadow Mud attempts to persuade Liu Zheng to retrieve its remaining body parts by offering increasingly valuable rewards:
  • A mud shell that can conceal him from Higher Beings and resist one corruption attack.
  • The rare Spiritual Eye, an evolved form of the Inner Eye.
  • If Liu Zheng reunites all of Shadow Mud’s parts, it promises the Eye of True Sight, which could help him become God’s Child and eventually replace a Higher Being.
• Liu Zheng questions why Shadow Mud cannot recover its own missing parts. Shadow Mud explains that it cannot leave its current location, and the remaining pieces avoid it because they sense its strength.
• Liu Zheng realizes Shadow Mud is likely telling the truth about having been divided into five parts, but he refuses to help it become complete. He suspects Shadow Mud would kill him once restored and does not want to risk strengthening himself in ways that might cause the Hell Game to place him in even more dangerous future worlds.
• Shadow Mud reveals that it once contracted with another human. That person is technically still alive because Shadow Mud’s body sustains him, but he will die once that portion decays.
• Liu Zheng refuses to sign a contract, especially because the part in the Forbidden Forest may not contain a God’s Child Umbilical Cord. However, he accepts an advance reward.
• Shadow Mud covers Liu Zheng in its body, creating a protective mud shell. It warns that the shell may be destroyed by sufficiently powerful attacks, then disappears into the darkness.
• Liu Zheng’s companions enter the cave. Xia Kai notices Liu Zheng’s altered dark appearance, while Andrina asks what happened to the monster. Liu Zheng claims he persuaded Shadow Mud to leave and avoids revealing their arrangement.
• The group continues through the cave without further trouble and reaches the plank road beside the cliff leading toward Kalkaluns’ blood source.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains cautious, pragmatic, and suspicious. He recognizes the potential power of Shadow Mud’s offers but refuses to pursue strength blindly or allow Shadow Mud to become complete. His greatest fear is not the Higher Beings themselves but the unpredictable difficulty of the Hell Game’s future scenarios.
• He also demonstrates strategic restraint by accepting only the advance protection rather than committing to a full contract. He keeps his guard up even while appearing relaxed, secretly placing a tentacle on the Golden Star Tank Medal in case Shadow Mud attacks.
• Shadow Mud shows greater flexibility and desperation as it raises its offer. It appears intelligent and capable of negotiation, acknowledging that Liu Zheng is correct not to help it become complete. Its comments suggest it has dealt with humans before and views Liu Zheng as unusually cunning among its kin but honest as a human.
• Xia Kai provides comic relief and reacts casually to Liu Zheng’s transformed appearance.
• Andrina remains observant and curious, recognizing that Liu Zheng is withholding information but choosing not to challenge him directly.

Significant Themes

• Power versus danger: Greater strength and evolution are tempting, but Liu Zheng understands that gaining power may attract even greater threats.
• Trust and manipulation: Both Liu Zheng and Shadow Mud negotiate while concealing their true intentions. Their temporary cooperation is based on mutual usefulness rather than genuine trust.
• Identity and transformation: Shadow Mud’s offers involve changing Liu Zheng’s nature into that of God’s Child or a Higher Being, while even his temporary protective shell alters his appearance.
• Pragmatism over ambition: Liu Zheng refuses grand promises of immortality because the risks and hidden conditions outweigh the benefits.
• The uncertainty of the Hell Game: Liu Zheng’s fear of being sent into increasingly dangerous worlds shapes his decisions and prevents him from pursuing power recklessly.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Shadow Mud engage in a tense bargaining session, with Shadow Mud repeatedly sweetening its offer and Liu Zheng probing for weaknesses and contradictions.
• Liu Zheng rejects Shadow Mud’s contract but accepts the protective shell as an advance payment.
• After Shadow Mud leaves, Liu Zheng jokes irritably about its dramatic farewell.
• Xia Kai jokes about Liu Zheng’s new dark “skin,” while Liu Zheng dismisses the change as a tan.
• Andrina questions Liu Zheng about Shadow Mud, but he gives her only a vague explanation, preserving the secrecy of his arrangement.

Chapter Summary

• Approaching Kalkaluns Academy: Liu Zheng and his companions cross a narrow boardwalk over the lake toward Kalkaluns Academy. Glowing blue-green moss grows along the path, releasing a foul, fishy odor from crushed buds. Suspecting danger, Liu warns everyone to avoid the moss and hold their breath.
• Hallucination discovered: At the end of the boardwalk, Liu attempts to step onto what he sees as solid ground, but Xia Kai stops him, believing Liu is about to jump into the lake. Liu realizes that the moss’s odor causes powerful hallucinations. Xia Kai and the three Gunpowder Workshop Hunters see an enormous lake where Liu and Andrina see land. Andrina remains unaffected, possibly because her Holy Blood and Blood Therapy have given her resistance to mental contamination.
• Managing the affected group: Liu orders Andrina to watch the hallucinating hunters and prevent them from harming themselves. Since Xia Kai cannot perceive the others’ attempts to communicate and is at risk of wandering into danger, Liu knocks him unconscious with a tentacle, carefully controlling the blow to avoid serious injury. Andrina reluctantly carries him.
• The hunters’ confusion: Yura steps off the boardwalk, believing he is falling into the lake, and crashes onto the ground. His companions still perceive him as drowning and jokingly argue over who should perform artificial respiration. Liu lifts Yura with a tentacle to prove he is safe, then knocks all three hunters unconscious when they remain trapped in their delusions. Unable to make Andrina carry everyone, Liu ties the hunters together with rope and drags them behind him.
• The former hunters’ settlement: The group reaches an abandoned-looking settlement of wooden and stone houses arranged around a central plaza. Andrina explains that it once housed the mercenary hunters employed by Kalkaluns Academy, who were kept outside the academy itself. The settlement’s size suggests that hundreds of hunters once lived there, emphasizing the danger and scale of expeditions into the Tomel Ruins.
• Ending development: As Liu and Andrina discuss the hazards of tomb exploration, they suddenly hear a dense buzzing sound, signaling the arrival of a new threat or encounter.

Character Development and Interactions

• Liu Zheng remains cautious, pragmatic, and domineering. He quickly identifies the moss as the source of the hallucinations, protects the group through decisive—often brutal—measures, and uses humor to ease tension.
• Andrina proves unusually resistant to the moss’s mental effects and becomes Liu’s only reliable assistant. Though irritated by his orders and the burden of carrying Xia Kai, she follows him and demonstrates practical competence.
• Xia Kai provides comic relief but is incapacitated because his hallucinations leave him vulnerable.
• The Gunpowder Workshop Hunters are shown as completely unable to distinguish reality from illusion, creating both danger and humor.
• Liu and Andrina develop a functional partnership: he handles threats and strategy while she supervises and carries the incapacitated companions.

Significant Themes

• Perception versus reality: The moss demonstrates how unreliable the senses can be, with different characters experiencing entirely different environments.
• Pragmatic survival: Liu prioritizes keeping everyone alive over dignity, courtesy, or conventional morality.
• Contamination and resistance: Andrina’s immunity suggests that exposure to one supernatural force may provide protection against another.
• Humor amid danger: The hunters’ mistaken concern over drowning and artificial respiration contrasts absurdly with the genuinely lethal environment.
• The forgotten scale of past dangers: The abandoned settlement hints at the academy’s history and the many mercenaries who risked their lives exploring the ruins.

Chapter Summary: “Metropolis Technology, Kid”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng and his group are surrounded by dozens of strange winged creatures initially mistaken for Flymen. Andrina identifies them as Eye Culture Mediums, monsters associated with Kalkaluns Academy.
• The creatures attack by making eye contact and projecting incomprehensible but highly advanced knowledge into their victims’ minds. Andrina suffers intense mental pain, while Liu Zheng is overwhelmed by visions and information that cause blood and other fluids to pour from his orifices.
• Liu Zheng uses a specialized cluster flashbang grenade containing a Miniature Frogfish. Its sound waves stun every Eye Culture Medium in the area and also knock out Andrina and the rest of the group.
• After the creatures are incapacitated, Liu Zheng personally decapitates them and removes their eyes, storing the eyes in his portable cold storage for possible future use.
• He discovers an unconscious, exceptionally beautiful woman wearing clothing resembling that of a Church senior doctor. She carries a glowing bell connected to the same blue-green phenomenon as the moss.
• Once the group awakens, Andrina explains the duties of Church senior doctors and admits she cannot identify the woman. The group therefore suspects she may be an impostor.
• Yura revives the woman by placing gunpowder-like powder in her nostrils and igniting it. The woman immediately attempts to reach for her waist, but Liu Zheng threatens to sever her arm.
• The woman responds with flirtatious banter, attempting to manipulate the situation. Liu Zheng counters her provocations with increasingly violent threats, eventually exposing her fear.
• She surrenders and offers to answer questions, but Liu Zheng insists on using his Interrogation Master skill. Helmet Man arrives with torture equipment, prompting the woman to recognize their methods as a degraded version of the Church of Pain’s Great Baptism.
• The chapter ends as Liu Zheng prepares to begin the interrogation despite her promise to confess.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates both the power and versatility of Metropolis technology. He remains calm under a devastating supernatural attack, uses an unconventional weapon to control the battlefield, and efficiently processes the defeated monsters for resources. His brutal humor, distrust, and sadistic interrogation methods are also emphasized.
• Andrina is shown to be vulnerable to the Eye Culture Mediums’ mental attack despite her extensive training and Blood Therapy. Her knowledge of the Church remains useful, but she is forced to admit the limits of her familiarity with its senior doctors.
• The unidentified woman initially presents herself as confident, seductive, and manipulative. However, Liu Zheng’s threats quickly reveal that her bravado is largely defensive; she becomes frightened when confronted with torture.
• Yura displays practical initiative by using an extreme but effective method to revive the woman.
• Helmet Man catches up with the group and eagerly contributes his torture tools, reinforcing his disturbing enthusiasm and usefulness.
• Xia Kai remains loyal and unquestioning toward Liu Zheng, while also reacting comically to the woman’s appearance and flirtatious behavior.

Significant Themes

• Technology versus supernatural power: Liu Zheng’s modern weapons and specialized equipment overcome creatures whose abilities rely on mysticism, psychic knowledge, and unnatural biology.
• Knowledge as danger: The Eye Culture Mediums’ gaze contains profound information, but receiving it without preparation causes pain and madness. The chapter presents knowledge as both desirable and destructive.
• Distrust and identity: The woman’s apparent Church affiliation is uncertain, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing genuine allies from impostors in a hostile world.
• Violence and control: Liu Zheng maintains authority through intimidation, threats, and torture rather than diplomacy. His methods contrast sharply with the woman’s flirtation and psychological manipulation.
• Dark humor amid horror: Brutal scenes—such as harvesting eyeballs, reviving someone with burning powder, and preparing torture—are framed with sarcasm and comedic reactions from the group.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Andrina cooperate during the Eye Culture Medium attack, with Andrina providing information while Liu Zheng supplies the decisive weapon.
• Liu Zheng questions Andrina about the unidentified woman, using her Church knowledge to assess whether the woman may be genuine.
• Yura takes initiative when Andrina cannot safely revive the woman.
• The unidentified woman attempts to flirt with and disarm Liu Zheng, but he turns the exchange into a threatening interrogation.
• Andrina reacts with disgust and jealousy-like agitation toward the woman’s shameless behavior, while Xia Kai reacts with admiration.
• Liu Zheng summons Helmet Man to assist with the interrogation, and the woman recognizes the torture equipment as a feared Church of Pain technique.

Chapter Summary: “Eat It, or Let Your Intestines Eat It”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng finishes torturing a captured woman, initially assuming she is a stubborn enemy. After realizing he never actually asked her any questions, he injects her with Holy Blood to restore her strength and begins a formal interrogation.
• The woman identifies herself as Yuserna’er, but admits that within the Church she was known as Kafura, a celebrated young genius doctor.
• Kafura reveals that she has infiltrated nearly every major faction in Yate—including the Church, Sacred Hymn Choir, Sigma Research Society, Elegant Workshop, and Yate Residents Mutual Aid Association—in pursuit of knowledge rather than loyalty.
• She explains that the Eye Culture Mediums were created by Kalkaluns Academy and that she used a modified relic called the Fluorescent Bell to control and direct them.
• Kafura attacked Liu Zheng’s group because her secret research base is inside Kalkaluns Academy, whose unexplored secrets she wanted to protect. She learned of their arrival through an informant within the Church.
• Had the Eye Culture Mediums failed to stop Liu Zheng, Kafura planned to provoke the Higher Being Amilora and have It capture him.
• Kafura possesses a Tonsil Stone implanted in her brain, which she claims protects her from Amilora. She obtained it from a mysterious person in the Forbidden Forest but does not know its origin.
• Liu Zheng demands information about valuable artifacts hidden in Kalkaluns Academy: the Twisted Saint’s corpse, the God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, the Holy Grails of the Tomel Civilization, and high-quality Blood Gems.
• Kafura confirms that the academy contains the corpse, the umbilical cord, and at least three Holy Grails, though high-quality Blood Gems may no longer be available.
• She warns that the location is guarded by Amilora and other terrifying beings, but Liu Zheng insists on going. Kafura ultimately agrees to lead him there.
• Kafura also reveals the truth behind an alleged historical god-slaying: Beethoven and other elite hunters killed not a true Higher Being, but a God’s Child born from one. The operation included the legendary First Hunter, Germann, who created the Hunter System and Blood Gem-embedding techniques.
• Liu Zheng suspects Germann may still be alive or that his disappearance conceals a deeper mystery. He prepares to continue into the academy, believing the possible rewards justify the danger.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng continues to display overwhelming combat ability, having effortlessly slaughtered the Eye Culture Mediums. He is also shown as ruthless, threatening and torturing Kafura to extract information, but he remains calculating and focused on obtaining rare supernatural resources.
• Liu’s confidence grows as he becomes willing to challenge Higher Beings and other supernatural threats directly. He intends to use the mud shell from Shadow Mud as a possible trump card.
• Yuserna’er/Kafura is revealed to be an exceptionally knowledgeable but morally dubious researcher. Her loyalty is to knowledge alone, and she has repeatedly infiltrated organizations for access to experiments and secrets.
• Despite her intellectual confidence, Kafura is terrified of physical torture and quickly reveals information when threatened. She also demonstrates practical caution, understanding that Amilora and the academy’s guardians may be beyond mortal opposition.
• Andrina becomes increasingly shocked by the secrets being uncovered. Her loyalty to the Bloodhealing Church conflicts with her growing awareness of corruption, factional infighting, and forbidden historical truths.
• Helmet Man, initially feeling slighted after being ordered aside, regains his enthusiasm when Liu Zheng assigns him to watch the Gunpowder Workshop hunters.
• Liu Zheng’s thoughts about Germann suggest that the legendary hunter’s disappearance may be connected to unresolved events surrounding the god-slaying operation.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge versus morality: Kafura pursues knowledge across factional and ethical boundaries, treating dangerous beings and forbidden experiments as research opportunities.
• Power and vulnerability: Liu Zheng dominates the interrogation, while Kafura’s vast knowledge cannot protect her from physical coercion. Conversely, she warns that even Liu’s strength may be insufficient against Higher Beings.
• Factional instability: The Church appears riddled with informants, independent researchers, and competing agendas. Amelia struggles to maintain unity, especially compared with the authority of the former High Priest Dickens.
• The limits of human power: The chapter distinguishes between killing a weakened or already-dead Higher Being’s offspring and defeating a true Higher Being, emphasizing the enormous gap between mortals and cosmic entities.
• Risk and ambition: Liu Zheng knowingly pursues artifacts guarded by supernatural powers, accepting potentially fatal danger in exchange for immense rewards.
• Hidden history: The revelations about Beethoven, Germann, Maria, and the God’s Child challenge the accepted understanding of past heroic accomplishments.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng interrogates and intimidates Kafura, alternating between questioning, threats, torture, and bargaining for her cooperation.
• Andrina recognizes Kafura as the Church’s famous doctor and becomes an important witness to the Church’s hidden problems and the revelation about the god-slaying operation.
• Liu Zheng separates local faction members from the interrogation, ordering Helmet Man to monitor the Gunpowder Workshop hunters while retaining Xia Kai at his side.
• Kafura warns Liu Zheng against confronting Amilora directly, but he dismisses the danger and forces her to lead him onward.
• Liu and Kafura establish a tense temporary alliance: she will guide him to the academy’s hidden treasures, while her survival depends on keeping him alive.

Chapter Summary: “Higher Beings Also Had Their Hierarchy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng’s group, led by Yuserna’er, reaches the abandoned Kalkaluns Academy, once the pride and intellectual center of Yate.
• Yuserna’er warns them not to approach the main building, where the Higher Being Amilora is located. Liu Zheng refuses to use the Madman’s Skull, an item that grants temporary Spirit Sight, because he has no interest in fighting Amilora yet.
• The group enters through a hidden eastern door and heads toward Yuserna’er’s research base, where important occult objects—including God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, the Tomel Holy Grail, and Twisted Saint’s corpse—are stored.
• Yuserna’er explains that the Sacred Hymn Choir avoids the academy because its members’ strong Spirit Sight and association with another Higher Being could attract dangerous entities. She reveals that the Choir is researching how to summon a Higher Being’s true form into the mortal world.
• Yuserna’er states that Higher Beings themselves possess a hierarchy and that worshipping one does not allow humans to become Higher Beings.
• The group is suddenly attacked by fireballs from a massive creature called a Centipede Flower, an experimental monster transplanted from Tomiel Dungeon by Kalkaluns Academy.
• Yuserna’er explains that the creature once required a special potion to prevent it from attacking, but the potion was lost when the academy declined. Centipede Flower is weak against poison.
• Helmet Man produces Rotblood Flower extract, a deadly poison capable of transforming blood into Black Water, and charges the monster. Liu Zheng orders him not to destroy the flower, since its substance may have valuable uses.
• The chapter ends as Centipede Flower launches a massive fireball at Helmet Man and Andrina prepares to intercept it with her powerful hand cannon.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Liu Zheng remains pragmatic, calculating, and unwilling to take unnecessary risks. He rejects the opportunity to fight Amilora, refuses to help Xia Kai complete a side quest, and instead prioritizes the group’s main objective.
• He continues treating his companions as subordinates, ordering Andrina to handle the incoming fireball rather than intervening himself.
• Yuserna’er demonstrates extensive knowledge of the academy, Higher Beings, occult research, and the Centipede Flower. She continues to flatter and subtly provoke Liu Zheng, hoping to witness him kill a godlike entity.
• Her past experiments on herself may explain why Centipede Flower does not attack her, though she does not know which experiment caused the effect.
• Xia Kai shows improvement by successfully shooting down one of the incoming fireballs, suggesting growing combat ability and confidence.
• Helmet Man reveals his ruthlessness and willingness to use poison—even on himself—by carrying Rotblood Flower extract. He willingly risks himself in close combat against the Centipede Flower.
• Andrina acts as a reliable ranged fighter and obedient subordinate, ready to support Liu Zheng’s commands with her oversized hand cannon.
• Liu Zheng and Yuserna’er share a teasing, conversational dynamic. He mocks her research background and “bioresearch people,” while she responds with flattery and provocative remarks.

Significant Themes

• Hierarchy among higher powers: The chapter establishes that Higher Beings are not equal and possess their own rankings. Human worship alone cannot elevate mortals to their level.
• Dangerous pursuit of knowledge: Kalkaluns Academy’s research produced powerful discoveries but also created uncontrollable monsters and dangerous substances. Its pursuit of knowledge ultimately contributed to its downfall.
• Science without restraint: The academy’s transplantation and study of Centipede Flower illustrate the risks of experimenting on living entities without adequate safeguards.
• Pragmatism versus heroism: Liu Zheng refuses to fight Amilora simply for glory or to benefit Xia Kai’s quest, demonstrating his focus on efficiency and personal objectives.
• Power and cost of insight: Spirit Sight grants access to hidden realities but carries risks to sanity and mental stability, reinforcing the theme that greater knowledge can be dangerous.
• Transformation through experimentation: The possible connection between Madman’s Skull, Centipede Flower’s effects, and Yuserna’er’s altered body suggests that occult research can permanently change both body and mind.

Important Character Interactions

• Yuserna’er attempts to persuade Liu Zheng to use the Madman’s Skull and fight Amilora, but he rejects the suggestion.
• Liu Zheng questions Yuserna’er about the Sacred Hymn Choir, their research into Higher Beings, and the academy’s failed containment procedures.
• Liu Zheng relies on Helmet Man to engage Centipede Flower but warns him not to damage its flower.
• When Helmet Man’s attack triggers a massive fireball, Liu Zheng calls on Andrina, who responds immediately with her hand cannon.
• The group remains wary that more monsters may be hidden throughout the abandoned academy, even while observing Helmet Man’s battle.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Helmet Man brutally defeats Centipede Flower, ripping off its head and obtaining the Centipede Flower Blossom, a Fine-quality item that increases Spirit but carries severe risks of hallucination and permanent Sanity loss.
• Liu Zheng stores the flower rather than consuming it, deciding to wait until they return to Metropolis, where his allies could restrain him if the item caused insanity.
• As the group approaches the research building, Yuserna’er claims that the Higher Being Amilora is watching and reaching for her. Liu Zheng initially suspects she is manipulating him, but her terror convinces him that the threat is real.
• Liu Zheng uses Madman’s Skull to gain Spirit Sight and reveals Amilora: a grotesque, beehive-headed creature with numerous limbs and embedded eyes clinging to the building.
• Amilora attacks with devastating eye-beams, severely injuring Liu Zheng by slicing away part of his hoof. Liu Zheng evacuates Yuserna’er and orders the others to retreat.
• Amilora then engages Liu Zheng in close combat. His Serrated Cleaver inflicts real damage through Legendary Disguise’s True Damage, but Amilora’s strength and roar badly injure him.
• Helmet Man blinds himself in order to gain Spirit Sight and joins the battle. His pain-enhanced spear interrupts Amilora’s beam attack.
• Helmet Man invokes the Twisted Tree, manifests a protective female phantom, and transforms his hooked spear into the thorn-covered Thorn Blade by stabbing himself and sacrificing blood.
• Amilora continues attacking with increasingly precise beams. Helmet Man protects Liu Zheng, even taking risks that result in Liu Zheng being impaled by the Thorn Blade. Liu Zheng instantly regenerates.
• Once recovered, Liu Zheng confronts Amilora directly, taunting it and preparing to reveal his own strength. The chapter ends as he produces a damaged watch and tells Helmet Man to watch his performance.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains pragmatic and cautious despite his reckless exterior. He recognizes the danger of the Centipede Flower’s hallucination effect and refuses to consume it immediately. He also demonstrates confidence in his regeneration, combat abilities, and ability to provoke stronger beings.
• Helmet Man is shown to be an exceptionally violent and pain-obsessed fighter. He treats self-mutilation as a source of pleasure and power, blinding himself and later stabbing his own chest to activate stronger abilities. Despite his insanity, he is loyal to Liu Zheng and instinctively protects him.
• Yuserna’er becomes genuinely terrified when confronted by Amilora. Her fear suggests that the Higher Being is a real threat rather than a trick, though she continues to argue and insult Liu Zheng even while panicking.
• Amilora is established as a powerful but proud Higher Being. It reacts angrily to Liu Zheng’s disrespect and appears jealous of the noble aura in his blood, giving the coming confrontation a personal dimension.

3. Significant Themes

• Power versus higher authority: The chapter challenges the idea that Higher Beings are untouchable. Although Amilora overwhelms the group physically, Liu Zheng’s abilities and Helmet Man’s techniques allow them to injure and resist it.
• Pain as power: Helmet Man’s Church of Pain abilities turn self-harm into strength, presenting pain as both religious devotion and combat fuel.
• Sanity and dangerous power: The Centipede Flower offers useful Spirit enhancement but threatens hallucination and permanent mental damage, reinforcing the cost of supernatural advancement.
• Loyalty amid madness: Helmet Man’s actions are grotesque and irrational, yet he repeatedly protects Liu Zheng and responds immediately to his commands.
• Defiance and provocation: Liu Zheng refuses to submit to Amilora’s status, using mockery and deliberate disrespect to challenge its pride.

4. Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng commands Helmet Man throughout the battle, repeatedly attempting to restrain his unnecessary self-harm while still relying on his combat ability.
• Yuserna’er begs Liu Zheng for protection, while Liu Zheng mocks her dishonesty and threatens to punish her even after death. Their hostile, sarcastic relationship continues despite their mutual dependence.
• Liu Zheng and Helmet Man coordinate against Amilora: Liu Zheng identifies the danger of its beam attacks, while Helmet Man interrupts and blocks them.
• Helmet Man’s protective instincts become clear when he attacks Amilora to defend Liu Zheng, even after Liu Zheng tells him not to risk himself.
• Liu Zheng ultimately takes the initiative, taunting Amilora directly and preparing to fight it on his own terms.

Chapter Summary: “Godslaying”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng activates the Damaged Legendary Deliveryman’s Watch, gaining tenfold speed for three seconds. The effect slows the world around him enough for him to attack Amilora, a Lesser Higher Being, before it can react.
• He climbs Amilora’s body, drives the Boning Knife into its chest, and uses it as leverage to swing his butcher knife into the creature’s honeycomb-like head. He then violently tears apart its brain and eyes with his tentacles.
• As Amilora falls, Helmet Man finishes the battle by severing its head with the blood-red Thorn Sword just before it can unleash a devastating attack. The blow knocks Helmet Man unconscious.
• Liu Zheng confirms that Helmet Man is alive but badly weakened. He refuses to use Andrina’s Blood Therapy because of the difference between their faiths and instead treats him with Tomel’s Secret Salve.
• Liu Zheng dissects Amilora and discovers a Super-Large Blood Gem, though he considers the reward disappointing for killing a Higher Being. He stores Amilora’s head and body parts for later use.
• A tiny pale creature emerges from the ground and delivers a mysterious message from an unseen aged voice, asking Liu Zheng to visit the Starwatch Platform. The creature also claims to know about the Secret Library.
• The creature trades an Unformed Blood Gem to Liu Zheng in exchange for a Large Blood Gem. The Unformed Blood Gem can reset the effect of a Blood Gem embedded in a weapon, making it extremely valuable.
• The creature reveals a previously hidden iron door leading toward the Starwatch Platform. Liu Zheng initially refuses to investigate, judging that he and his allies are too injured to risk another encounter.
• After Helmet Man recovers enough to stand, Liu Zheng orders him to lead the others to collect items and kill anyone who causes trouble. He specifically orders that Yuserna’er must not die too quickly.
• Liu Zheng then goes alone toward the iron door, apparently intending to confront whoever is behind the mysterious invitation.

Character Development

• Liu Zheng demonstrates overwhelming combat ability and ruthless efficiency, killing a Higher Being as though he were butchering an animal. However, he also shows practical caution, recognizing the cost of his victory and choosing not to pursue unnecessary danger.
• His occasional mercy becomes clearer. He refuses Xia Kai’s suggestion to kill the tiny creature and admits that his restraint comes from genuine kindness, reinforced by his former possession of the Four Virtues.
• Liu Zheng also takes on a more obvious leadership role. He gives Xia Kai advice about surviving through communication, organizes the group’s movements, and ensures Helmet Man receives medical treatment.
• Helmet Man proves exceptionally durable, surviving severe blood loss and repeated use of his ultimate technique. Even after collapsing, he recovers quickly and remains willing to fight and follow Liu Zheng’s orders.
• Yuserna’er becomes frightened and doubtful of Liu Zheng after witnessing him kill a Higher Being so easily. Her reverence for Higher Beings is shaken, and she begins to wonder whether Liu Zheng is truly human.
• Xia Kai remains cowardly and comic, but he tries to contribute by observing the surroundings and providing tactical suggestions. He also gains insight into Liu Zheng’s unusual sense of morality.
• The pale creature is established as both mysterious and strangely childlike. It cries, bargains for Blood Gems, and acts as an intermediary for the unseen voice.

Significant Themes

• The killing of gods and the limits of divinity: Amilora is treated as a Higher Being or god, yet Liu Zheng destroys it through physical violence and True Damage, challenging the idea that gods are untouchable.
• Practicality versus curiosity: Liu Zheng is tempted by the Starwatch Platform and Secret Library but initially chooses survival over exploration because his team is injured and his resources have been depleted.
• Mercy and morality: Despite his brutality toward enemies, Liu Zheng chooses not to kill harmless creatures or allies and explains that communication should come before violence. His kindness exists alongside his threatening and often grotesque methods.
• Value and exchange: The Blood Gem trade emphasizes bargaining, scarcity, and Liu Zheng’s willingness to negotiate rather than simply seize what he wants.
• Humanity and monstrosity: Liu Zheng’s appearance and methods are increasingly monstrous, while his actions—protecting allies, sparing the pale creature, and treating Helmet Man—suggest that his morality remains more humane than that of many ordinary people.
• Preparation for deeper mysteries: The hidden door, the Starwatch Platform, the Secret Library, and the aged unseen speaker suggest that the battle has opened a path toward important secrets concerning the Tomel Civilization and the dungeon’s history.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Helmet Man cooperate in killing Amilora, with Liu Zheng inflicting the decisive damage and Helmet Man delivering the final strike.
• Liu Zheng examines and treats Helmet Man, showing trust and concern despite their differing faiths.
• Liu Zheng negotiates with the pale creature, initially refusing its demand before exchanging Blood Gems for the valuable Unformed Blood Gem.
• Xia Kai repeatedly proposes practical or ruthless solutions, while Liu Zheng responds with insults, threats, and occasional instruction.
• Liu Zheng advises Xia Kai to prioritize communication in the Metropolis, revealing a rare mentoring attitude.
• Liu Zheng reassures and commands the group after the battle, assigning Helmet Man leadership over the others while deliberately keeping Yuserna’er alive.
• The mysterious aged voice communicates through the pale creature, attempting to lure Liu Zheng toward the Starwatch Platform and offering access to the Secret Library in exchange for conversation.

Chapter Summary: “Kill the Moon”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng enters the Starwatch Platform through an unusual ripple and encounters Albert Baden, the elderly dean of Kalkaluns Academy.
• Albert explains that Liu Zheng’s “Inner Eye” is not yet strong enough to fully perceive the strange forces surrounding them.
• Their conversation reveals that Liu Zheng is searching the academy for several powerful objects: God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, the Tomel Holy Grail, high-quality Blood Gems, and the corpse of the Twisted Saint.
• Albert is surprised to learn that Liu Zheng serves a “boss” whose power and perspective are immense enough to regard Higher Beings as mere ingredients.
• Albert offers to provide all the items Liu Zheng seeks in exchange for his help.
• His first request is that Liu Zheng kill Muro, Albert’s most loyal disciple, who became a Higher Being and has been using her power to repeatedly turn back time.
• His second request is that Liu Zheng kill the entity behind the Pale Moon—the “Moon Demon”—once Muro’s power is removed.
• Albert explains that Muro’s time reversal has prolonged the Pale Night, preventing the arrival of the Blood Moon but also trapping Yate in an endless, unsustainable cycle.
• Muro cannot simply stop using her ability because the Moon Demon is watching her. Her death is necessary to conceal the true cause of the change and force the entity to reveal itself.
• The chapter ends with Albert identifying the hidden Higher Being as the Moon Demon, an entity possibly responsible for the destruction of the ancient Tomel Civilization.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Liu Zheng is established as irreverent, fearless, perceptive, and difficult to intimidate. He mocks Albert’s appearance, voice, age, and theories while remaining alert to the deeper danger surrounding Yate.
• Liu’s blunt humor contrasts with the oppressive, cosmic horror of the setting. He treats grotesque phenomena—such as Albert’s tentacle-like body and Muro’s monstrous form—with casual familiarity.
• Despite his apparent lack of scholarly ambition, Liu shows practical intelligence. He quickly recognizes that Albert’s discovery of the Tomel stele may have been suspicious and questions why knowledge of the Higher Beings appeared so conveniently.
• Albert Baden is revealed as an ancient, physically altered scholar whose pursuit of knowledge led to catastrophic consequences. He is wise and knowledgeable but burdened by regret over the academy’s excavation of the Tomel Ruins.
• Albert’s relationship with Muro is emotionally complicated. He views her as his least talented disciple, yet she became his most loyal student and sacrificed herself to preserve Yate. He now believes she must die to save the world.
• Albert also discusses Dickens, another former disciple who embraced Blood Therapy and became a beast. Liu reveals that Dickens was rescued from the Dream World but is now fully dead. This causes Albert to reflect on the possible protective nature of the Dream World.
• Albert’s mention of Amelia suggests that she may also be approaching Beastification, while Liu casually implies he would kill her if necessary.
• The interaction between Liu and Albert shifts from antagonistic banter to a serious negotiation. Liu’s irreverence prevents Albert from controlling the conversation, while Albert gradually reveals the hidden history of Yate and the Moon Demon.

Significant Themes

• The danger of knowledge: Albert’s desire to uncover cosmic mysteries led him to the Tomel ruins, but the knowledge he gained unleashed disease, monsters, and contact with dangerous Higher Beings.
• The cost of progress: The academy’s excavation promised enlightenment but instead accelerated Beastification and nearly doomed Yate.
• Cycles and stagnation: Muro’s ability to reverse time protects Yate temporarily but traps it in the eternal Pale Night, showing that preservation without resolution can become another form of destruction.
• Sacrifice and loyalty: Muro’s loyalty to Albert and Yate has made her the key to both their survival and their continued suffering. Albert must choose to sacrifice his most devoted disciple.
• Humanity’s bestial origins: Albert explains that humans evolved from animals through the intervention of Higher Beings, but beastly instincts remain in human bodies and minds.
• Manipulation by Higher Beings: The Tomel stele, the excavation, the Dream World, and even the destruction of civilizations may have been arranged or influenced by the Moon Demon.
• Appearance versus reality: Albert appears grotesque and frail but possesses enormous wisdom, while seemingly beneficial paths such as Blood Therapy may conceal deadly consequences.

Character Interactions

• Liu and Albert repeatedly exchange sarcastic remarks, with Liu mocking Albert’s cough, strange body, teaching methods, and disciples.
• Liu physically rocks Albert’s chair and even pats his back with a tentacle, turning what could have been an ominous meeting into an unusually comic interaction.
• Albert attempts to maintain the authority of an ancient scholar but is repeatedly disarmed by Liu’s bluntness.
• Their conversation ultimately becomes a bargain: Albert offers the artifacts Liu needs, while Liu is asked to kill both Muro and the Moon Demon to end Yate’s eternal nightmare.

Chapter Summary: “Is Mechanical Ascension Worth It?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Albert explains two possible ways for Liu Zheng to kill the Moon Demon after killing Muro:
  1. Consume three God’s Child’s Umbilical Cords, become the Moon Demon’s vessel, and kill it when it appears in its true form.
  2. Temporarily become female so the Moon Demon will possess a male and seek union with Liu Zheng, allowing him to kill it with Yate’s dagger.
• Liu Zheng rejects both options. He worries that obtaining the umbilical cords would provoke Calico Cat and Napoleon, and that becoming an infant Higher Being would leave him helpless. He also refuses to permanently change sex.
• Albert offers a compromise: he can temporarily transform Liu Zheng into a woman, though the Moon Demon may detect the deception. Liu Zheng accepts because either outcome would reduce his risks and resource expenditure.
• Albert sends Liu Zheng to meet Muro, who has been waiting for him. Liu Zheng jumps from the observatory platform and falls into a strange realm filled with luminous mist and a mirror-like floor reflecting the Pale Moon.
• Muro appears as an enormous spider-like Higher Being, much larger than the creature Liu Zheng previously encountered. Despite her terrifying form, she speaks gently and nervously.
• Liu Zheng and Muro discuss Albert, the difficulty of communication between Higher Beings and mortals, and the plan for Liu Zheng to kill her. Muro accepts that her death may save Yate from eternal darkness, though she acknowledges that the result may only provide temporary relief.
• As the chapter ends, Muro approaches Liu Zheng while the surrounding mist contracts, signaling the beginning of their confrontation.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng: Continues to prioritize survival, personal autonomy, and practical advantage over heroic self-sacrifice. He rejects godhood if it means becoming subject to predetermined rules, comparing Higher Beings to robots. He also reveals anxiety about the larger implications of Yate and wonders whether reality may face a similar crisis through the Hell Game.
• Albert: Is shown as desperate but pragmatic. He wants Liu Zheng to kill Muro because Muro’s continued existence allows the Moon Demon’s threat to persist. His inability to pursue godhood himself emphasizes the sacrifices and limitations imposed by his altered body.
• Muro: Appears compassionate, polite, and resigned rather than hostile. Although she knows Liu Zheng has come to kill her, she intends to fight seriously because her Higher Being nature and certain conditions compel her to resist. Her concern for Albert suggests that she still retains emotional ties to her former teacher.
• Higher Beings: The chapter develops the idea that they are not entirely free-willed. Their actions are restricted by cosmic rules or conditions, making them resemble programmed machines rather than fully autonomous gods.

Significant Themes

• Free will versus programmed existence: Liu Zheng questions whether becoming a Higher Being is truly ascension if the resulting being must obey cosmic rules. His comparison of Higher Beings to robots challenges the value of immortality or godhood without autonomy.
• Identity and bodily autonomy: Liu Zheng strongly rejects permanently changing his sex or becoming a reproductive vessel, emphasizing his resistance to sacrificing his sense of self for the sake of others.
• Self-interest versus heroism: Although the people of Yate may be saved, Liu Zheng refuses to endure unnecessary suffering merely to help strangers. The chapter presents his selfishness as a survival strategy rather than simple cruelty.
• The burden of godhood: Muro and Albert’s situations suggest that becoming powerful does not bring freedom. Higher Beings may be trapped by their nature, duties, or cosmic laws.
• Uncertainty about reality: Liu Zheng begins questioning whether the horrors of Yate and the Hell Game reflect a broader crisis affecting the real world, expanding the story’s mystery beyond the immediate mission.
• Communication and alienation: The difficulty of communication between mortals and Higher Beings highlights the widening gap between them, while Liu Zheng’s casual humor temporarily bridges that divide.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Albert: Their conversation is sarcastic and confrontational but grounded in mutual cooperation. Liu Zheng challenges Albert’s plans and refuses to be manipulated by appeals to morality, while Albert reluctantly offers a compromise.
• Liu Zheng and Muro: Their first meeting is unexpectedly cordial. Liu Zheng jokes about Muro’s frightening appearance and shares an anecdote about Weaver Lady, helping establish a brief sense of familiarity before the impending battle.
• Albert and Muro: Though they cannot communicate normally, their relationship is that of teacher and disciple. Muro became a Higher Being partly to fulfill Albert’s wishes, yet Albert now sends someone to kill her. Their bond is therefore marked by loyalty, sacrifice, and tragic necessity.
• Liu Zheng and the unseen wider world: His thoughts about Calico Cat, Napoleon, Weaver Lady, and the real world show that he evaluates every decision through existing relationships, consequences, and possible future threats.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Zheng meets Muro, whose enormous body is covered in black eyes and whose distorted limbs appear comically small in proportion to her body.
• Muro shows him her “Time Web,” countless white threads representing time. The threads are endlessly branching but appear close to snapping.
• She explains the history of her teacher’s research into becoming a

Higher Being

• He discovered two possible paths: the Inner Eye and Holy Blood.
• Holy Blood was a trap created by Higher Beings, though it was alluring because it initially caused pleasure and cured illnesses.
• Most members of the academy followed Dickens down the Holy Blood path.
• Muro alone completed the Inner Eye path.
• Muro reveals that even the correct path is ultimately a dead end for humans because human consciousness cannot withstand becoming a Higher Being. Her humanity is fading as she synchronizes with the Foolish Spider, and she expects to disappear after roughly ten more regressions.
• Muro gives Liu Zheng a powerful gift by drawing him into her consciousness. The experience feels like being held in a vast, maternal ocean.
• Liu Zheng receives permanent enhancements: increased Perception and Spirit, greater resistance to sanity loss, and reduced damage from Higher Beings.
• Muro explains that her human self still exists because of her compassion for her teacher and the Yate people. Once only the Foolish Spider remains, she may no longer care about them.
• She asks Liu Zheng to kill her, ending the conflict and either freeing Yate from its nightmare or allowing it to remain peacefully asleep.
• Liu Zheng asks what kind of Blood Gem she would produce upon death. Muro says it would likely be extra-large, but he realizes he cannot yet defeat her complete form without exhausting himself before facing the Moon Demon.
• Muro and Liu Zheng begin their battle. Liu Zheng prepares his weapons and equipment, while Muro activates her full combat instincts.
• Liu Zheng advances rapidly through the water, aided by the Enhanced Heart of the Ocean, but Muro ambushes him with dozens of smaller spider creatures erupting from the ground.
• He fights through the swarm, cutting apart several spiders and using them as stepping stones to leap into the air.
• Liu Zheng fires a blood-infused silver bullet from Andrina’s hand cannon at Muro. The smaller spiders try to intercept it, but Liu Zheng fires from an angle they cannot reach, forcing Muro herself to respond.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng remains irreverent, pragmatic, and opportunistic. He jokes about Muro’s appearance, asks about the value of her Blood Gem, and treats the coming battle as both a duty and a possible source of reward.
• Despite his cynicism, Liu Zheng shows genuine gratitude toward Muro and is emotionally affected by the comforting consciousness she shares with him.
• His nonhuman nature continues to distance him from ordinary human fears and emotions, allowing him to remain calm around the grotesque spider swarm.
• Muro is revealed to be deeply lonely and still partially human. Her desire to save her teacher and the Yate people contrasts with the increasingly alien instincts of the Foolish Spider.
• Muro accepts that her human identity is nearing extinction and deliberately asks Liu Zheng to kill her before she disappears completely.
• Her relationship with Liu Zheng becomes one of mutual recognition: she sees his loneliness and potential, while he respects her sacrifice even though he does not blindly trust her.

Significant Themes

• The loss of humanity: Becoming a Higher Being grants power and knowledge but gradually erases human identity, compassion, and individuality.
• Knowledge and transcendence: The pursuit of truth can lead beyond human limitations, but transcendence may come at the cost of the self.
• Loneliness and connection: Muro’s immense power has made her increasingly isolated, while Liu Zheng’s loneliness allows him to connect with her despite their radically different forms.
• Sacrifice and mercy: Muro asks Liu Zheng to kill her as an act of mercy, both to preserve what remains of her humanity and to resolve the suffering surrounding Yate.
• Pragmatism versus morality: Liu Zheng’s blunt concern over the Blood Gem’s quality contrasts with Muro’s emotional and moral motivations, though he ultimately agrees to fight her honorably.
• Power and preparation: The chapter emphasizes that even powerful abilities, such as time manipulation, must be approached strategically because stronger enemies and future battles remain.

Character Interactions

• Muro teaches Liu Zheng about the Time Web, the origins of the Higher Being paths, and her impending loss of humanity.
• Liu Zheng refuses to claim trust blindly but accepts Muro’s gift after hearing her reasons.
• Their brief embrace creates an unexpectedly tender, almost maternal connection, giving Liu Zheng comfort he has never experienced.
• Muro asks Liu Zheng to kill her, and he agrees while still joking about the reward her death might produce.
• Their conversation shifts from emotional confession to practical combat planning, showing the contrast between Muro’s tragic acceptance and Liu Zheng’s humor-driven resilience.
• The chapter ends as their formal battle begins, with Liu Zheng’s first major attack forcing the Foolish Spider to reveal its power.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Foolish Spider unleashes a devastating meteor attack. It first uses a faster “comet” meteor to catch Liu Zheng off guard, severely injuring him despite his enhanced recovery and damage resistance.
• Foolish Spider then summons dozens of meteors while commanding hundreds of small spiders to surround Liu Zheng and eliminate his escape routes. The attack leaves both combatants nearly destroyed.
• Liu Zheng uses the Flag of Reversal, declaring that he will definitely be hit by a meteor so reality shifts against that outcome. The meteors still devastate the battlefield, but their altered trajectories prevent a direct killing blow.
• After the meteor shower, Liu Zheng and Foolish Spider engage in a contest of regeneration. Liu Zheng recovers first, reconstructs his body, and decapitates Foolish Spider.
• Muro reappears and reveals that Foolish Spider had indirectly assisted Liu Zheng during the battle. She uses the Time Web to alter Yate’s fate: when the Blood Moon descends, Yate will be temporarily frozen in time, and victims of Blood Therapy will not become beasts.
• Muro asks Liu Zheng to kill Moon Demon to give Yate a temporary dawn, and to kill her teacher, Albert, whose endless pursuit of knowledge will eventually destroy his remaining humanity. Liu Zheng agrees to both requests.
• Muro sends Liu Zheng back to the Starwatch Platform, where the Pale Moon is beginning to turn red.
• Albert explains that Blood Moon could descend at any moment and that Moon Demon will immediately pursue Liu Zheng if he becomes biologically female.
• Albert provides a Red Gender-Swap Potion, which changes the user’s biological sex for one hour. He also mentions a blue potion that would make the change permanent, but Liu Zheng refuses it.
• Albert claims Liu Zheng’s followers have obtained the requested deposit. Liu Zheng remains suspicious and enters the white mist to verify it, privately planning to kill Albert and collect the reward.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates exceptional resilience, tactical improvisation, and ruthless determination. Even after being reduced to a mass of flesh and bones, he uses his regenerative abilities to recover and defeat Foolish Spider.
• His combat style remains irreverent and comedic under pressure, as shown by his complaints about “fast and slow” spell attacks and his willingness to eat his own intestine for nourishment.
• Liu Zheng increasingly accepts morally gray roles. He agrees to act as Yate’s executioner, not out of pure altruism, but because the residents have hired him and Albert represents valuable loot.
• Foolish Spider is revealed to be dangerous but limited. Its meteor attack is powerful enough to nearly kill Liu Zheng, yet exhausting the creature leaves it helpless and dependent on a regeneration contest.
• Muro shows continued loyalty to Yate and regret over the suffering caused by her actions and those of her teacher. Her final intervention uses her remaining power to protect Yate and delay its destruction.
• Albert remains manipulative and calculating. Although he appears helpful by supplying the potion and opening a route forward, he admits that Moon Demon’s hostility prevents Liu Zheng from simply abandoning the mission.
• The Messenger is introduced as a mischievous but generally harmless familiar-like creature that steals extraordinary objects and serves Albert.

Significant Themes

• Survival through adaptation: Victory depends less on overwhelming strength than on exploiting abilities creatively, especially Liu Zheng’s use of the Flag of Reversal.
• Regeneration and endurance: The battle emphasizes the contestants’ monstrous recovery abilities and frames combat as a test of who can restore themselves first.
• Moral ambiguity: Liu Zheng is willing to kill both monsters and people if doing so fulfills a contract or provides rewards, while Muro seeks redemption through one final act of protection.
• Knowledge without restraint: Muro warns that Albert’s limitless thirst for knowledge will eventually erase his humanity, presenting unchecked intellectual ambition as inherently destructive.
• Manipulation and hidden agendas: Albert assists Liu Zheng while simultaneously maneuvering him into conflict with Moon Demon, leaving Liu Zheng aware that he is being used.
• Fate and altered reality: Muro’s Time Web and Liu Zheng’s Flag of Reversal both show reality being manipulated through supernatural rules, though neither completely removes danger or consequence.

Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Foolish Spider communicate through combat, each recognizing the other as a fellow beast struggling to recover after catastrophic injuries.
• Muro and Liu Zheng share a brief alliance: she credits his own strength while admitting that Foolish Spider’s actions helped him survive, then entrusts him with Yate’s future.
• Muro’s request to kill Albert establishes a direct future conflict between Liu Zheng and the scholar.
• Liu Zheng and Albert continue their sarcastic, adversarial relationship. Albert jokes about the gender transformation, while Liu Zheng mocks his schemes and privately intends to kill him.
• Liu Zheng briefly interacts with Albert’s Messenger, considering it as a possible pet before rejecting the idea because it may function as surveillance or a dangerous familiar.

Chapter Summary: “Why Are You Showing Off for No Reason?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xia Kai returns to the courtyard excited about the group’s loot. The items include:
  • A rune that restores vitality after damaging internal organs.
  • A false eye that improves Perception and may reveal hidden properties.
  • A hand cannon that strengthens every fourth shot.
  • A potion that temporarily boosts Perception and Spirit.
• Liu Zheng lets Xia Kai choose one item, and Xia Kai takes the hand cannon because ranged weapons suit him and equipment is extremely rare in the Hell Game.
• Helmet Man delivers the supplies Liu Zheng requested from Kalkaluns Academy: a God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, three Holy Grails, and a Large Blood Gem.
• Twisted Saint’s corpse has been badly reduced after resisting a beam of blood-red moonlight, suggesting the Moon Demon attempted to possess him. Liu Zheng realizes the Moon Demon may seek another powerful host.
• Andrina reveals that she killed Yuserna after Yuserna tried to activate the secret library’s mechanism and summoned dangerous screaming dolls.
• Liu Zheng explains that he has discovered the truth behind Yate’s Beastification Disease and that the mastermind—the Moon Demon—will soon appear. He orders everyone else to leave so they will not be caught in the coming battle.
• The Gunpowder Workshop hunters pledge to obey Liu Zheng and protect Xia Kai and the Church of Pain if he fails to return.
• Xia Kai gives Liu Zheng a single-use crowd-control item, Brother Hu’s Photo, which forces nearby enemies to stare at him and interrupt their actions.
• Andrina wants to report the situation and summon Church hunters, but Liu Zheng refuses immediate assistance, fearing Bloodhealing Church hunters may transform into beasts under the blood moon and become a liability.
• Xia Kai, the Gunpowder Workshop hunters, and Andrina leave. Helmet Man initially stays, but Liu Zheng orders him to take Twisted Saint away and prevent the Moon Demon from possessing him.
• Alone at the observatory, Liu Zheng drinks a gender-swapping potion, transforming into a female form. Albert disappears, leaving him to face the approaching enemy.
• The newcomer is Germann, the “First Hunter,” an ancient and immensely powerful hunter connected to Beethoven. Germann claims that his master ordered him to unite with Liu Zheng and bear God’s Child.
• Instead of cooperating, Germann and Liu Zheng immediately clash. Liu Zheng uses a sticky note’s bizarre command to disrupt Germann, causing him to begin undoing his belt before recovering.
• Germann narrowly avoids Liu Zheng’s cleaver strike, but Liu Zheng then uses Brother Hu’s Photo to make him stop and stare. Liu Zheng takes advantage of the opening to stab Germann in the temple and kill him.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng: Remains pragmatic, ruthless, and irreverent. He takes full command of the crisis, prioritizing the safety of his allies while preparing to face the Moon Demon alone. His growing arsenal and clever use of unconventional items allow him to defeat even the legendary First Hunter.
• Xia Kai: Becomes more useful and confident as a player. He acquires his first practical weapon, offers Liu Zheng a valuable crowd-control item, and feels relieved that he can contribute rather than merely depend on his “Boss.”
• Helmet Man: Shows loyalty by wanting to remain and fight alongside Liu Zheng. He is also entrusted with the important task of protecting Twisted Saint from possession.
• Andrina: Demonstrates decisiveness by killing Yuserna and attempting to organize reinforcements, though Liu Zheng’s warning forces her to withdraw.
• Germann: Introduced as an ancient, godslaying hunter with overwhelming strength and experience. Despite his intimidating reputation, his arrogance and failure to anticipate Liu Zheng’s strange abilities lead to his death.
• Albert: Continues acting as an enigmatic guide, but abandons Liu Zheng once Germann arrives, leaving him to face the confrontation alone.

Significant Themes

• Improvisation versus conventional strength: Liu Zheng defeats a vastly superior hunter through trick items, deception, and timing rather than direct power.
• Loyalty and responsibility: Xia Kai and the Gunpowder Workshop hunters pledge themselves to Liu Zheng, while Liu Zheng tries to protect them by sending them away.
• The danger of power and possession: Twisted Saint’s near-possession and the threat of the Moon Demon emphasize how even powerful beings can be turned into weapons.
• Comedy amid impending catastrophe: Crude jokes, absurd item descriptions, and Liu Zheng’s irreverence contrast with the serious threat of the Moon Demon and the fate of Yate.
• Arrogance and overconfidence: Germann’s dramatic entrance and assumption of superiority make him vulnerable to Liu Zheng’s unpredictable tactics.

Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and Xia Kai: Their boss-and-subordinate relationship combines genuine trust with teasing. Liu Zheng rewards Xia Kai with the hand cannon, while Xia Kai offers Liu Zheng his only useful item.
• Liu Zheng and the Gunpowder Workshop: Liu Zheng gives them protective orders, and they respond with a solemn oath of loyalty.
• Liu Zheng and Andrina: Their disagreement reflects Liu Zheng’s willingness to make harsh strategic decisions and Andrina’s instinct to seek institutional support.
• Liu Zheng and Helmet Man: Liu Zheng recognizes Helmet Man’s desire to fight but assigns him the safer and more important role of removing Twisted Saint from danger.
• Liu Zheng and Germann: Their encounter quickly shifts from an apparent alliance to hostility. Germann expects a formal hunt, while Liu Zheng mocks him and kills him using humiliation, distraction, and surprise.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• After killing Germann, Liu Zheng expects a possible second phase, but the Blood Moon instead exposes Academy Head Albert, who has been hiding inside a blood sphere.
• Albert reveals that the Moon Demon intends to use him as its vessel. He warns that Yadan’s Blood within him could make the possessed body even more dangerous than Germann.
• Liu Zheng tries to pull Albert out of the sphere, but fails. Albert refuses to cooperate and uses his staff to block Liu Zheng’s attack, confirming that his frail appearance conceals considerable combat ability.
• The Moon Demon descends from the Blood Moon, manifests as a grotesque, tentacled being, and enters Albert’s body in the form of Blood Snakes. Albert’s possession is completed, leaving him with serpentine pupils.
• The Moon Demon demands that Liu Zheng merge with it and bear a God’s Child. Liu Zheng mockingly treats the proposal as a marriage negotiation, demanding God’s Child’s Umbilical Cords and the Tomel Holy Grails as “bride price.”
• Once the Moon Demon fully escapes the blood sphere, Liu Zheng attacks with the Fisherman’s Finger, creating a Lineage-Severing Net that prevents it from escaping through mist.
• Liu Zheng follows with powerful Sunfire, which directly counters the Moon Demon. The Moon Demon responds by tearing apart the Blood Moon and summoning a catastrophic meteor shower capable of destroying the Starwatch Platform and possibly all of Yate.
• As both the Moon Demon’s vessel and the Lineage-Severing Net approach their limits, Liu Zheng cuts open his own stomach and removes the Golden Pearl. The pearl absorbs his Sunfire and transforms into Golden Fluid, which launches toward the Moon Demon.
• Overwhelmed by the presence of multiple powerful auras within Liu Zheng, the Moon Demon concludes that the potential God’s Child is no longer worth preserving and commands the meteors to kill its “mother body.” The chapter ends as the Moon Demon prepares to counterattack.

Character developments

• Liu Zheng remains irreverent and fearless, treating the Moon Demon’s attempted reproduction ritual as a ridiculous marriage proposal. Despite his jokes, he demonstrates tactical intelligence, waiting until the possession is complete before attacking and using several escalating abilities.
• Albert is exposed as a manipulative, ambitious figure who had hoped to become an exceptionally powerful Higher Being. His fear of becoming the Moon Demon’s vessel reveals that his schemes have left him vulnerable to forces beyond his control.
• The Moon Demon is established as immensely powerful but unfamiliar with Liu Zheng’s unusual abilities and mentality. Its curiosity toward Liu Zheng gradually becomes frustration and alarm as it encounters the Lineage-Severing Net, Sunfire, and the Golden Pearl.
• Yadan is introduced as an extraordinarily noble Higher Being and the source of the Tomel lineage. Yadan’s Blood gives Albert’s body additional power but also creates a vulnerability that the Moon Demon recognizes.

Significant themes

• Power and manipulation: Albert’s attempt to exploit higher powers backfires when he becomes a vessel himself.
• Defiance against cosmic authority: Liu Zheng refuses to submit even to a godlike being, mocking its reproductive demands and negotiating from a position of apparent confidence.
• Hidden costs of power: The Moon Demon’s immense abilities damage and eventually threaten to destroy Albert’s body, while Liu Zheng must mutilate himself to access the Golden Pearl.
• Identity and incompatible forces: Liu Zheng contains multiple noble or divine auras, making him an anomaly that even the Moon Demon cannot understand.
• Corrupted creation: The proposed God’s Child shifts from a sacred union to a dangerous, coercive process, with both sides treating it as a strategic resource rather than an act of creation.

Important character interactions

• Liu Zheng and Albert exchange threats and sarcasm as Liu Zheng first attempts to rescue, then considers killing, the trapped academy head.
• Albert warns Liu Zheng about Yadan’s Blood and the Moon Demon’s potential power, but Liu Zheng mocks his ambitions and mistrusts his motives.
• Liu Zheng and the Moon Demon engage in a bizarre negotiation over “bride price,” highlighting their opposing attitudes: the Moon Demon views reproduction as humanity’s purpose, while Liu Zheng treats it as a transaction requiring security and compensation.
• Their verbal exchange turns into a direct battle, with Liu Zheng using the Lineage-Severing Net and Sunfire while the Moon Demon unleashes the Blood Moon’s destructive meteor shower.
• The Moon Demon ultimately abandons its interest in the potential child and turns its full destructive power against Liu Zheng.

Chapter Summary: “Return to the Metropolis”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Moon Demon bombards Liu Zheng with a meteor shower, forcing him to hide beneath his Dragon Robe Cloak while the Starwatch Platform is destroyed around him.
• The Golden Fluid fights through the meteors and pierces the Moon Demon’s head. Its golden flames spread across the demon’s body, disabling its abilities and preventing it from using its final curse.
• The Moon Demon and the Golden Fluid burn against each other until the Moon Demon is destroyed, leaving behind a massive crescent-shaped Blood Gem.
• Liu Zheng survives the meteor strike because the flooded crater activates the Heart of the Ocean, granting damage reduction, enhanced recovery, and additional stamina. However, the Dragon Robe Shroud’s protection against a fatal blow is consumed.
• Albert appears and offers Liu Zheng safe passage out of Yate in exchange for participating in experiments. Liu Zheng refuses, leading to a confrontation.
• Albert reveals his true physical strength and his monstrous vertical eye, which immobilizes Liu Zheng. Before Albert can kill him, the Calico Cat—Salmon—attacks in giant form and crushes Albert.
• Albert’s remains continue to writhe and transform into a mass of eyeballs. An unknown entity speaks through them and orders Liu Zheng to leave Yate.
• The entity provides Liu Zheng with several valuable items, including God’s Child’s Umbilical Cord, the Tomel Holy Grail, and Blood Gems, in exchange for his departure.
• Liu Zheng is transported outside Yate City. Though tempted to remain and exploit more of the city’s resources—especially by embedding the Blood Gem into a weapon—he decides not to provoke the mysterious entity.
• He returns toward the Metropolis gate, while Border Management Bureau employees 8848 and 4399 discuss how much of his mission he likely completed. 8848 bets on at least 70 percent completion, while 4399 confidently predicts 100 percent.

2. Character Developments

• Liu Zheng demonstrates extreme resilience, surviving the meteor attack after exhausting nearly all of his major abilities and items. Despite his exhaustion, he remains defiant and willing to fight Albert.
• His resourcefulness and opportunism remain central to his character: he immediately evaluates the Blood Gem’s uses and considers obtaining a stronger weapon to maximize its potential.
• Liu Zheng also shows growing caution. Although he wants to stay in Yate, he recognizes that the unknown entity is far beyond his current ability to challenge and chooses survival over greed.
• Albert is revealed to be much more than a scheming scholar. He possesses a terrifyingly powerful body, claims to have trained the legendary First Hunter Germann, and uses the Inner Eye to paralyze opponents. His arrogance and confidence ultimately lead him to underestimate Liu Zheng’s hidden ally.
• The Calico Cat/Salmon proves capable of transforming into a gigantic combat form powerful enough to crush Albert. Afterward, Salmon becomes playful and dependent, asking for praise and food before falling asleep on Liu Zheng’s head.
• The unknown entity behind Albert’s remains emerges as a powerful force capable of monitoring events in Yate, controlling the Messengers, and compelling Liu Zheng to leave. Its knowledge of Metropolis suggests a much larger influence than previously understood.

3. Significant Themes

• Survival through preparation and adaptability: Liu Zheng survives because he combines equipment, environmental advantages, and quick thinking rather than relying on a single overwhelming power.
• The danger of overconfidence: Albert believes Liu Zheng has exhausted his trump cards and assumes victory is certain, but fails to account for Salmon. His arrogance leaves him vulnerable.
• Power beyond human understanding: The Moon Demon, the Golden Fluid, and the entity speaking through Albert’s remains represent forces that operate beyond ordinary life, magic, or physical rules.
• Greed versus self-preservation: Liu Zheng is tempted by the valuable resources still hidden in Yate, but understands that pursuing them could provoke an enemy he cannot defeat.
• Unstable alliances and manipulation: Albert uses others as disposable tools, while the unknown entity bargains with Liu Zheng only to remove him from Yate. Cooperation is consistently based on advantage rather than trust.
• Humor amid cosmic danger: Liu Zheng’s sarcastic remarks, Salmon’s exaggerated “serious punch,” and the employees’ betting pool provide comic relief against the chapter’s apocalyptic violence.

4. Important Character Interactions

• Liu Zheng and the Moon Demon/Golden Fluid: Their battle ends with the Golden Fluid killing the Moon Demon, allowing Liu Zheng to claim the Blood Gem left behind.
• Liu Zheng and Albert: Their exchange shifts from mutual hostility to open combat. Albert attempts to intimidate and immobilize Liu Zheng, but Liu Zheng stalls him long enough for Salmon to attack.
• Liu Zheng and Salmon: Their relationship is affectionate and familiar. Liu Zheng praises and comforts Salmon, while Salmon protects him and then immediately demands food and attention.
• Liu Zheng and the unknown entity: The entity threatens him, then bargains by offering treasures in return for his departure. Liu Zheng accepts but still tries to negotiate by asking it to inform the Church of Pain about his mission.
• 8848 and 4399: Their conversation frames Liu Zheng’s accomplishments from an outside perspective. Their competing bets suggest that his performance in Yate has greatly exceeded normal expectations.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• At the Border Management Bureau, employees 8848 and 4399 bet on Liu Zheng’s success in completing City Hall’s procurement mission. 4399 wagers two temporary employee slots, while 8848 bets Liu Zheng will fail to reach a 100% completion rate.
• Liu Zheng returns through the Border Gate after spending what feels like a long time in Yate, though only twenty-four hours have passed in Metropolis. He brings Calico Cat and all the requested supplies.
• The officials inspect and weigh the items. Liu Zheng achieves an extraordinary 150% mission completion rate, far exceeding expectations and earning substantial rewards for the Bureau employees.
• 8848 and 4399 are delighted because the mission’s success improves their performance evaluations, bonuses, and future prospects. 4399 loses the bet but willingly honors it by offering Liu Zheng two temporary employee slots.
• Key Person secretly gives Liu Zheng coffee mixed with an entire carton of milk, apparently an improper use of office supplies. Liu Zheng drinks it without incident.
• 8848 and 4399 reassure Liu Zheng that City Hall can protect him from Peacock and Mr. Li, even suggesting he could eventually leave the Bloodstained Restaurant and work for the Border Management Bureau.
• Before leaving him at the Restaurant, 4399 gives Liu Zheng a silver medal identifying him as family of a City Hall Outstanding Employee. The medal grants discounts at major establishments, except the Black Market.
• Liu Zheng returns to the Restaurant with Calico Cat, joking about buying her a ton of dried fish before heading toward the Kitchen passage to reunite with Napoleon.

Character Developments

• Liu Zheng proves himself exceptionally capable—or exceptionally fortunate—by completing 150% of the procurement mission. He remains modest and pretends not to understand how impressive the result is, while also cleverly taking advantage of the Bureau employees’ goodwill.
• 8848 becomes highly enthusiastic about Liu Zheng after the successful mission. His financial worries, especially following the birth of his twins, are eased by the rewards. He offers Liu Zheng friendship and practical support, though he is also talkative, greedy, and somewhat irresponsible.
• 4399 demonstrates his reliability and integrity. He calmly honors his wager, gives Liu Zheng his temporary employee slots, and provides the silver medal as compensation. His reserved personality contrasts with 8848’s exuberance.
• Key Person/17173 is shown to be quiet and rule-conscious but quietly generous. His coffee gift suggests that he, like others in the Bureau, bends minor rules for acquaintances.
• Calico Cat/Salmon remains affectionate and food-motivated, happily accepting the promise of more dried fish while worrying about becoming overweight. Her Human Face alter ego continues to be suspicious and protective.

Significant Themes

• Bureaucracy and institutional power: City Hall’s authority dominates Metropolis, with even powerful organizations such as the Bloodstained Restaurant depending on its systems and border channels.
• Rewards and performance: Success is measured numerically, and mission completion directly affects salaries, promotions, housing, and status. Liu Zheng’s 150% score reveals how strongly this world values measurable productivity.
• Trust and strategic relationships: Liu Zheng gains allies by performing well and behaving modestly. The Bureau employees’ support may protect him, but it also creates obligations and debts.
• Power versus vulnerability: Although Liu Zheng is now connected to powerful institutions, he still recognizes that the Restaurant and figures like Si Xue may not easily let him leave.
• Humor amid danger: Threats involving evil gods, lethal weapons, predatory organizations, and political enemies are treated alongside jokes about food, coffee, gambling, and employment benefits, reinforcing the story’s darkly comic tone.

Character Interactions

• 8848 and 4399 tease and challenge each other over their bet, while Key Person acts as a quiet observer.
• The Border officials initially treat Liu Zheng as a potential security threat, standing ready to destroy him if the return inspection detects danger.
• After seeing his results, 8848 enthusiastically praises and recruits him, while 4399 offers more concrete assistance through the temporary worker slots and medal.
• Liu Zheng uses respectful “big brother” language to build rapport and secure future help.
• Calico Cat provides comic relief through her appetite and exchanges with Liu Zheng, while Human Face interrupts to warn him against treating her romantically.