Chapter Summaries

Cheng Yu learned that the God Emperor’s trial could turn anyone around him into a potential impostor, while his support for Dermot triggered a main quest to help Thousand Eyes become Prime Minister. As monsters began searching for trial participants to replace, Cheng Yu realized the trial had become a battle royale.

• Dermot warned Cheng Yu that anyone, including Dermot or Miss Puppet, could be the God Emperor during the trial.
• Miss Puppet told Cheng Yu to gather clues and said his chance of being replaced was low because His Eminence would be unlikely to allow it.
• Cheng Yu promised to keep helping Dermot become Prime Minister, and Dermot vowed to help him gather clues and win the position.
• A Light Screen gave Cheng Yu the main quest to help Thousand Eyes become Prime Minister, which Dermot said was triggered by supporting him.
• Dermot explained that five Cabinet members each held a clue that could trigger a main quest, and only one candidate could become Prime Minister.
• Cheng Yu learned that monsters were searching for trial participants so they could steal their identities, and several approached him and Miss Puppet.

Cheng Yu suspected that the God Emperor’s rules allowed self-defense and realized he could visit the Fly-Fly Restaurant or canvass votes for Dermot to investigate the residents. Meanwhile, Belial and Grete killed a monster while breaking the rules, gained clues about their wealthy host’s history, and became wanted.

• The monsters backed away from Cheng Yu when they saw Dermot, though Miss Puppet sensed that many still watched them with malice.
• A burly, partially mechanical man punched away an insect-like monster that had touched his arm, then noticed Cheng Yu and left.
• Cheng Yu considered whether self-defense was permitted and decided to investigate the Fly-Fly Restaurant, with canvassing votes for Dermot as a possible reason to visit homes.
• Monsters wearing armbands discussed the murders in Eternal Night City while Grete crushed a jeweled monster in a mansion.
• Belial received clues about the family at Unit 3, No. 101, including that the master had once joined the Divine Emperor Trial and kept something important in his study.
• Grete warned Belial that their rule-breaking had made them wanted, but Belial argued that breaking rules offered rewards, and Grete agreed.

Belial and Grete uncovered a hidden room and an incomplete clue in a villa, while Fat Jack and Vira and Cheng Yu’s group followed separate clues to the Fly-Fly Restaurant. The groups converged there, where Cheng Yu found Fat Jack and Vira and gave the phrase “Imperial jade nectar wine.”

• Grete traced a chain of clues through a villa, found a hidden passage, and discovered a burned scrap hinting at Faceless and the trial.
• Belial and Grete left the villa, just before monsters arrived and realized they had come too late.
• Fat Jack used his knowledge of the world’s writing to guide Vira toward the Fly-Fly Restaurant, where they planned to investigate their clues.
• Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet compared their clues and decided to visit the Fly-Fly Restaurant, which many nearby clues pointed toward.
• Cheng Yu entered the restaurant, saw its fly and maggot-filled food, then found Fat Jack and Vira and quietly said, “Imperial jade nectar wine.”

Cheng Yu reunited with Fat Jack and Vira at the Fly-Fly Restaurant and proposed working together to investigate its head chef. After sharing his clues, he secretly bought drops of a powerful laxative to provoke an incident that might bring the chef out.

• Cheng Yu recognized Fat Jack and Vira, ordered the restaurant’s signature dishes for them, and drew their attention to the watching diners.
• Cheng Yu guessed that Fat Jack and Vira were investigating the restaurant and offered to share his clues in exchange for their cooperation.
• Cheng Yu revealed clues about the restaurant’s dishes and the head chef’s hidden identity, including a perfect clue with 99% reliability.
• Cheng Yu suggested making a customer appear ill so they could demand to see the chef, then used the System to buy ten drops of the Pleasure-to-Death Little Droplet.

Cheng Yu planted Pleasure-to-Death Little Droplets in a restaurant’s food, drawing out the Green-Skinned Frog and leaving Fat Jack and Vira to pursue the side-story clue. Dermot then sent Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet to the Public Security General Office to assist with a murder investigation, where a bonus clue appeared before him.

• Cheng Yu used a Pleasure-to-Death Little Droplet to make the Toad Monster fall ill, then slipped more droplets into the other diners’ food during the commotion.
• The Green-Skinned Frog came out to defend the restaurant’s food, and Cheng Yu left Fat Jack and Vira to handle the clue before departing with Miss Puppet.
• Cheng Yu reported his canvassing results to Dermot, who sent him and Miss Puppet to the Public Security General Office to show support for its investigation into a series of murders.
• Cheng Yu presented Dermot’s token to enter the Public Security General Office and offered to help its director, who dismissed the need for his assistance.
• A screen appeared before Cheng Yu and announced that he had obtained a bonus clue.

Cheng Yu accepted the Public Security General Office’s help in hunting Red-Name Players and received Enforcer status, which lifted his power restrictions while pursuing fugitives. Meanwhile, Belial extracted information from a brain monster about the Divine Emperor Trial’s past, leaving him and Grete ready to await the game’s final moment.

• Cheng Yu told the monster director he had ideas about the criminals, and the director gave him and Miss Puppet armbands granting authority over local public security offices.
• Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet received Enforcer status, which lifted their restrictions while pursuing fugitives.
• Miss Puppet located Grete and an unknown high-energy entity, and she said their chances of winning were high because the entity’s energy was fixed in place.
• Belial questioned a brain monster about the previous Divine Emperor Trial while Grete watched his transformation into a demon.
• Belial obtained an important clue from the brain monster and told Grete that everything was in place and they only had to wait for the game’s final moment.

Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet raced to room 003 after learning that Lord Singlebrain had been killed and Grete’s accompanying entity was nearing a critical point. Meanwhile, Belial accepted the emperor’s punishment for breaking the rules, then tested his reduced strength by leveling the wealthy district.

• Miss Puppet redirected Cheng Yu’s vehicle to room 003 in the wealthy district, and Cheng Yu immediately followed her instructions.
• The vehicle broadcast that Lord Singlebrain, Disciple of the Divine Emperor, had been killed, while Miss Puppet warned that the entity accompanying Grete was close to erupting.
• In Eternal Night City, the shadow asked Yog to hand over his duties as guardian of the Abyss, but Yog offered to explain his interest in Cheng Yu only if the shadow opened his amusement park to Cheng Yu.
• Belial chose to beg the emperor for mercy, but the Light Screen revealed that the option was a joke and applied numerous overwhelming debuffs to him.
• Belial struck the ground despite his weakness, destroying the wealthy district and completing many side-objective clues.

After Belial destroyed the wealthy district, he and Grete surrendered when Miss Puppet and Cheng Yu arrived with the monsters. Miss Puppet read Belial’s exposed information and impressed him with her dangerous analytical abilities, leaving him intrigued by the encounter.

• Grete considered attacking the weakened Belial but held back, wary of a Demon Emperor’s tricks.
• Belial said he planned to wait for the game to end, then surrendered when the approaching armband-wearing monsters arrived; Grete surrendered too.
• Cheng Yu greeted System, asked Big Sis about the danger, and led Miss Puppet toward Belial and Grete.
• Miss Puppet identified Belial as Sloth, an Abyssal manifestation, after reading his unguarded information.
• Belial recognized Miss Puppet as a threat because of her computational abilities and said that losing his avatar would still have been worthwhile.

Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet captured Belial and Grete, earning a reward clue and a major boost to the quest to make Thousand Eyes Prime Minister. In their cells, Belial claimed he had nearly found the answer and fell asleep, while the guards grew strangely drowsy.

• Miss Puppet used Enabler 0-2 to cuff Belial, and the system announced that the RTX Destroyer Legion had gone dormant after its first unit requisitioned their processing power.
• Cheng Yu created the Myriad Heavens Squad Chat Group, where Grete and Miss Puppet explained their plan to restrain Belial and possibly remove him from the game.
• Cheng Yu escorted Belial and Grete to the Public Security Office, received a completed reward clue, and saw the Prime Minister quest progress rise to 40%.
• Belial told Grete that he had more or less found the answer, then went to sleep in his cell.
• The monsters guarding Belial and Grete grew increasingly listless, and one fell asleep against the Wall of Flesh.

After learning more about the Divine Emperor Trial, Cheng Yu returned to Dermot and helped prepare the Thousand Eyes Club for Dermot’s coming speaking tour and the approaching election. The club began organizing speeches and support for Dermot as his political rivals prepared to act.

• The Public Security General Office director told Cheng Yu that the Divine Emperor might return by reclaiming the parts of himself that made up the world.
• Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet returned to Dermot, who said the preparations were complete and warned that Hundred Ears and Ten Noses would make their own moves.
• Dermot asked Cheng Yu to contact the Thousand Eyes Club and ensure nothing went wrong before the election.
• The Thousand Eyes Club welcomed Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet, and Cheng Yu announced that the Public Security General Office director would support Dermot in the final election.
• Cheng Yu rallied the club to prepare additional speeches for Dermot’s speaking tour, and the bow-tied counselor called him an outstanding leader.

Cheng Yu left Thousand Eyes' club after sowing suspicion about the Bow-Tie Monster, then traveled to East District Three to prepare for Dermot's campaign stop. There, he found rival candidate Ten Thousand Mouths Morse campaigning with three player allies, who noticed Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet and became wary of them.

• Cheng Yu suggested to the Bow-Tie Monster that it might be a spy, then left the club after planting suspicion in Dermot's mind.
• Cheng Yu traveled by Flesh High-Speed Rail to East District Three to prepare the stage for Dermot's speaking tour.
• Ten Thousand Mouths Morse delivered a campaign speech calling for change, greater freedom, and residents' participation in the God Emperor's trial.
• Cheng Yu recognized Nation's Number One Devoted Lover, A Big Old Sow, and A Du among Morse's supporters and used the Script to learn how they had joined Morse's hotel.
• A Du stared at Miss Puppet while A Big Old Sow and Deep Affection watched Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet cautiously.

Cheng Yu investigated the closure of the Thousand Eyes Club after Councilor Ten Thousand Mouths warned that only he could defeat Prime Minister Faceless. A newly unlocked quest asked Cheng Yu to clear the club of suspicion, and he questioned the arrested member who claimed to have acted alone for Lord Dermot.

• Ten Thousand Mouths confronted Cheng Yu, recognized Thousand Eyes' scent, and declared that he would win the election against Faceless.
• Cheng Yu found the Thousand Eyes Club sealed by Public Security after a member was arrested for protesting Ten Thousand Mouths at the Morse Hotel.
• A Light Screen gave Cheng Yu 40% progress on the main quest and a side quest to clear the club of suspicion.
• Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet used his armband to enter the Public Security Office and visit the arrested member.
• The insectlike prisoner said he had acted alone to help Lord Dermot become Prime Minister and insisted that his answer would not change.

Cheng Yu pressured Rosetti into admitting that Councilor Ten Thousand Mouths had planted him to obstruct Dermot, then arranged to separate Rosetti’s actions from the Thousand Eyes Club. He left planning to use the conflict between Ten Thousand Mouths and Prime Minister Faceless to protect Dermot’s position in East District Three.

• Cheng Yu confronted Rosetti with the possibility that he had sabotaged Dermot’s speaking tour and questioned whose faction he served.
• Rosetti admitted that Councilor Ten Thousand Mouths, Morse, had planted him to keep Dermot from interfering with arrangements in East District Three.
• Cheng Yu told Rosetti that his actions would be blamed on Faceless’s faction rather than the Thousand Eyes Club, avoiding an open clash with Ten Thousand Mouths.
• Cheng Yu told the East District Three Public Security Office chief that Rosetti’s actions had nothing to do with the club, and the chief accepted the distinction.
• Cheng Yu planned to gather the club’s East District Three members and exploit the rivalry between Ten Thousand Mouths and Faceless, while suspecting the chief belonged to another faction.

Cheng Yu cleared the Thousand Eyes Club of responsibility for Rosetti’s attack and helped shift public blame onto Prime Minister Faceless. When Dermot arrived in East District Three, his confrontation with Morse advanced Cheng Yu’s Main Quest progress to 50%.

• Cheng Yu told the Thousand Eyes Club members to spread the claim that Faceless had ordered Rosetti to provoke a conflict between Dermot and Morse.
• Morse and his advisers concluded that Faceless had orchestrated the incident, and Qiu revealed himself as Qiu Ji, Cheng Yu’s Creator God acquaintance.
• The club members redirected public attention toward Faceless, and Cheng Yu went with his entourage to greet Dermot at the Flesh High-Speed Rail Station.
• Dermot praised Cheng Yu’s work, raising his Main Quest progress to 50%, then exchanged taunts with Morse over the election.
• Morse declared that the Prime Minister’s seat was his and vowed to defeat anyone who stood in his way.

Dermot used Morse’s public outburst to challenge his credibility and promote himself in the East Third District. He left Morse facing questions about his anger and whether he could have governed better than Faceless.

• Dermot provoked Morse into an outburst before East District Three residents, then led Cheng Yu and the others to the club.
• Dermot changed his campaign plan and assigned Cheng Yu to play the straight man while the others spread the word and contacted publishers.
• Dermot and Cheng Yu listened as Morse blamed Faceless for his narrow election defeat and defended his anger.
• A Thousand Eyes Club member questioned Morse about the delayed election investigation, and Morse accused the club of trying to disrupt his speech.
• Dermot challenged Morse’s claims, praised Faceless’s past contributions, and asked whether Morse could have governed better or remained in office.

Dermot and Morse turned their public argument into a spectacle that drew voters, though Dermot gained support in East District Three. Dermot sent Cheng Yu to Northern District Six as Morse dispatched Qiu Ji there too, while Cheng Yu considered an idea aboard the train.

• Dermot and Morse argued publicly, attracting citizens and ending with promises to meet again the next day.
• Dermot told his club members that he had weakened Morse’s position in East District Three and sent Cheng Yu to manage Northern District Six.
• Morse sent Qiu Ji to Northern District Six to compete for its voters.
• Cheng Yu studied election records aboard the flesh high-speed train and grinned as an idea occurred to him.

Cheng Yu learned how Qiu Ji entered the world beyond the phantom Black Door and realized Qiu Ji’s group was also headed to Northern District Six. He arranged to have them watched as suspected saboteurs, then learned the System had been trying to break through the world’s lockdown and contact its big boss.

• A Du traded Deep Affection a fabricated clue, while Qiu Ji remained wary of A Du’s offer.
• Cheng Yu read the script and learned Qiu Ji had entered the world beyond the Black Door after investigating the missing Players in Sandbox No. 4.
• Cheng Yu decided to delay Qiu Ji’s group and reported them to an armband-wearing monster as suspected terrorists planning to sabotage the Voter District.
• Cheng Yu reconciled with the System after it demanded a slap, then learned it had been trying to contact the big boss through the world’s lockdown.

Cheng Yu helped Dermot build support in Northern District Six, where Dermot put him in charge of the Thousand Eyes Club’s forces before continuing his campaign. On the way to Western District Five, Dermot revealed that Cheng Yu was a Trial-Taker and hinted that the five Members of Parliament among the Disciples of the Divine Emperor had a special connection.

• System told Cheng Yu that the God of Amusement had invited him to the Amusement Park, and Cheng Yu refused the invitation.
• Cheng Yu promoted Dermot’s upcoming speech in Northern District Six and purged infiltrators from the Thousand Eyes Club, reducing its local membership by a third.
• Dermot told Cheng Yu that Morse had narrowly maintained his lead in East District Three, which the Thousand Eyes and Ten Thousand Mouths factions had effectively claimed together.
• Dermot arrived in Northern District Six, praised Cheng Yu’s work, and placed the local Thousand Eyes Club members and their undercover agents under his command.
• After completing his speech tour, Dermot left Cheng Yu to safeguard Northern District Six and traveled toward Western District Five.
• On the train, Dermot told Yil-Hundred Ears that Cheng Yu was a Trial-Taker and asked why only five Disciples of the Divine Emperor had become Members of Parliament.

Cheng Yu welcomed Hundred Ears Yil to Northern District Six, where she hoped to campaign for support. He showed her how he had turned Central Square into a showcase for his influence and his plans to use monsters’ interest in Trial-Takers to secure the district for Dermot.

• Cheng Yu learned that Hundred Ears had won the support of three Disciples of the Divine Emperor and reviewed her history of poor election results and limited friendships.
• Cheng Yu welcomed Hundred Ears when she arrived in Northern District Six, and she recognized that he smelled like Dermot.
• Hundred Ears accused Cheng Yu of purging the people she had stationed in the district, and he clarified that he had targeted only nonmembers of his Thousand Eyes Club.
• Cheng Yu ordered a monster to activate Thousand Eyes Street in Central Square as Hundred Ears went there to give her first campaign speech.
• Hundred Ears found the square filled with stalls promoting Dermot and a debate offering intelligence on Trial-Takers, then turned to look at Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu secured more progress toward making Thousand-Eyed Dermot Prime Minister while Miss Puppet devised a way to complete the quest by making an electoral district disappear. As the other Cabinet members converged in Southern District Thirteen, Cheng Yu stayed in Northern District Six and followed events through the script.

• Hundred Ears Yil left Northern District Six, and Cheng Yu received quest progress for thwarting Morse's interference there.
• Miss Puppet proposed making an electoral district disappear, unlocking a special quest that could earn the remaining 10% progress.
• Cheng Yu held debates promoting Dermot and used the script to follow developments in the World Before the Door, including Vax Corporation's preparations for war and Shui Feifei and Xiao Ming joining the Godslayer Organization.
• Cheng Yu learned that Dermot and Ten Noses Nurs had both campaigned in Western District Five, but no one knew which had won more votes.
• Cheng Yu heard that Morse and Yil had reached Southern District Thirteen and restrained himself from going there.