Chapter Summaries

Ke Meng accepted the Faceless Mask and tested its identity-eroding side effect before putting it away for a future attack on Shadow Stream. He questioned a captured Internet Cafe Deacon about the organization’s worldwide Sacrifice Rituals, but when the deacon could not remember, Ke Meng proposed using an old radio to trigger his memories.

• Ke Meng chose the Faceless Mask, copied Luo Yuan’s appearance with it, and felt relieved when he removed it.
• Ke Meng recalled that players had sacrificed the mask and decided to use it to disguise himself when attacking Shadow Stream.
• Ke Meng brought the captured Internet Cafe Deacon to the Investigation Bureau, where the deacon resisted interrogation until investigators used a Special Item.
• The deacon explained that he had targeted teenage gaming addicts because famous players were too busy and recognizable to serve Shadow Stream’s purposes.
• Ke Meng questioned the deacon about Shadow Stream’s Sacrifice Rituals, but the deacon said he had forgotten the relevant memories after being expelled from Shadow Stream Home.
• Ke Meng proposed playing an old radio containing a Hidden Being’s voice to provoke the deacon’s memories, and the deacon warned him not to do it.

Ke Meng used the Old-Fashioned Radio and the Lightning Dharma King method to break the Shadow Stream deacon’s faith and recover information about the organization’s ritual nodes. He warned the Investigation Bureau that Shadow Stream might activate its summoning ritual soon, and neighboring countries began investigating the nodes.

• Ke Meng played the Old-Fashioned Radio for the Shadow Stream deacon, then used the Lightning Dharma King method to purge its faith and make it talk.
• The deacon revealed that it had overseen thirty nodes, which Shadow Stream had carefully selected as part of a plan to summon the Lord of Shadow Stream.
• Ke Meng uploaded the intelligence and warned at an online meeting that Shadow Stream might activate the ritual before investigators destroyed its remaining nodes.
• The Investigation Bureau had already sent secret warnings to neighboring countries, whose officials began checking the reported locations against homicide records.

An old team leader and two investigators searched a building that the Koi Continent’s Investigation Bureau had identified as a Sacrifice Ritual node. After finding two dusty, empty rooms and no sign of the landlord or tenants, the team leader withdrew to wait for reinforcements and began calling former tenants for information.

• The old team leader entered the building with Shan Yuanhang and another middle-aged investigator to inspect the reported node.
• The investigators broke open the first two rooms and found both vacant and coated in dust.
• The old team leader reported the situation to Headquarters and decided the team should withdraw until the main force arrived.
• He sent the two men to question nearby neighbors while he checked tenant records and called former residents.
• A former tenant told the old team leader they had already moved out, and he asked when they left and whether they had encountered trouble.

Investigators worldwide tried to demolish the abnormal apartment building, but Shadow Stream activated the Sacrifice Ritual before they could stop it. Ke Meng and Di Ping saw the ritual’s red beam split and learned that it had begun.

• The old captain ordered investigators to inspect the apartment building with drones and confirmed that its rooms were empty and showed no traces of blood.
• The old captain decided to demolish the building with explosives while investigators surrounded it and prepared for anything that emerged.
• Shadow Stream activated the Sacrifice Ritual in the final seconds before the demolition, sending red beams out from the building’s rooms.
• The explosives destroyed the building, but a red beam pierced the smoke, rose into the sky, and split into branches as investigators screamed that it was over.
• Ke Meng and Di Ping watched a weaker red beam split into two, and Ke Meng said Shadow Stream’s ritual had begun.

Ke Meng discovered that the damaged Sacrifice Ritual nodes were still emitting red beams, while intact nodes overseas produced stronger beams and intense mental pollution. He found that a light-blocking Special Item could stop a beam and urged investigators overseas to seal their nodes at all costs.

• Ke Meng returned with Di Ping to inspect the ruined ritual node and sensed that its red beam was unstable.
• Ke Meng saw the Shadow Stream group announce that the sacrifice had begun and tell members to pray.
• Ke Meng sent Tangyuan to cover the beam with a Black Light-Blocking Cloth, which stopped it from reaching the sky.
• Ke Meng shared the method with investigators, but learned that overseas teams faced severe mental pollution at the ritual nodes.
• Ke Meng confirmed that his bureau's teams were unharmed because they had weakened the ritual sites early, then told overseas investigators to seal the nodes at all costs.

Investigators in Half-Ice Continent struggled to stop a terrifying red beam as victims fled the disaster zone and blood-colored rain began nourishing the city. After the first man sent to block the light failed to return, the commander gathered more mental-resistance items and ordered another investigator into the zone.

• A black shadow knocked out the maddened victims fleeing the disaster zone and took them to quarantine.
• The acting commander ordered an unwilling investigator to enter the red-light zone with mental-resistance items and block the beam.
• The first investigator charged into the zone, but the red pillar remained and blood-colored rain began falling over the city.
• The commander used an isolation item while investigators watched the rain seep into people and surfaces, sensing that it was fostering something dangerous.
• The commander ordered everyone to pool their mental-resistance items and sent another unlucky investigator toward the light source.

Ke Meng watched red rain spread across the world while Koi Continent contained most of its outbreaks. He entered a dream to locate the Shadow Spear and found a vast shadow mire, where an enormous entity noticed him and approached.

• Investigators across Koi Continent blocked most sacrifice lights, though eighteen outbreaks caused severe mental pollution and drove some investigators mad.
• Ke Meng saw reports of red rain abroad and identified the red clouds as its source, urging other countries to destroy them.
• A satellite cloud map showed red clouds covering most of Blue Star, while Koi Continent and the oceans remained untouched.
• Ke Meng entered the quarantine house to use dream synesthesia to find the Shadow Spear, with Di Ping waiting for news.
• Ke Meng found the Shadow Spear embedded in a mire of real shadows beneath illusory bones, with red threads stretching from it across the world.
• A huge, bizarre shadow spotted Ke Meng and raced toward him.

The Shadow Stream Group Owner recalled how he had become a Shadow Creature and founded the Shadow Stream Organization after hearing whispers from a Hidden Being. While performing a Sacrifice Ritual on the Corpse-Bone Plain, he sensed that being watching and rushed to the Shadow Spear, where he called out and waited for a reply.

• The Group Owner remembered hearing whispers as a boy, killing the people around him after interpreting their words as monstrous, and transforming himself to escape the police.
• He used knowledge from the Hidden Being to gather followers and establish the Shadow Stream Organization, which later took over the secret group chat and renamed it Shadow Stream Home.
• While reciting the Sacrifice Ritual's prayers on the Corpse-Bone Plain, the Group Owner sensed a gaze with no clear direction and shouted to ask who was there.
• The Group Owner sprinted to the plain's center, where the Shadow Spear stood embedded in a mound of bones and absorbed the spirits of the dead.
• He called out to the great Lord of Shadow Stream by slapping his tentacles together in the higher race's language, then waited for a response.

Ke Meng watched Shadow Stream’s Group Owner perform a Sacrifice Ritual to summon the Lord of Shadow Stream, whom it mistook him for, and investigated why the summoning had not fully succeeded. He detected a concealed, unfamiliar presence at the ritual site but could not identify what had answered the call.

• Ke Meng understood the tentacled monster’s dance as a language and realized that it was trying to summon the Lord of Shadow Stream, not him.
• The Group Owner revealed that Shadow Stream had arranged a global Sacrifice Ritual to prepare Blue Star for the being’s descent and takeover.
• Ke Meng observed the mastermind waiting in the darkness and suspected that the ritual’s lack of spacetime stone had delayed the summoning.
• Ke Meng considered how the surviving ritual nodes and supernatural objects might still allow the sacrifice to succeed despite his sabotage.
• After sensing the ritual site’s chaotic auras, Ke Meng detected a faint, unfamiliar presence concealed within the despair.
• The Group Owner danced repeatedly to express its devotion while Ke Meng silently wished it would hurry up and die.

After the Shadow Stream Organization completed its global Sacrifice Ritual, Ke Meng learned that the ritual had summoned an unidentified force whose red clouds were spreading across the world. He and Old Shi sensed the clouds’ despair-inducing power overseas, while the bureau prepared to defend Koi Continent.

• Ke Meng told Di Ping that the sacrifice site was hidden in a special field and warned that the ritual had succeeded despite the destruction of its nodes.
• The bureau raised a level-one wartime alert after red clouds remained in the sky, and Ke Meng warned Di Ping that an unknown force had been summoned to Blue Star.
• Luo Yuan woke to find that the global sacrifice had already taken place and reluctantly accepted the situation after checking the group chat.
• Ke Meng and Old Shi flew overseas to sense the red clouds and saw them slowly devouring the white clouds.
• Ke Meng warned the investigators aboard the plane not to look at the red clouds after sensing their despair-inducing power, and Old Shi said the sacrifice threatened the whole world.

Ke Meng discovered that the red rain spread despair and could affect the environment, threatening to make the entire world unsafe if it continued. Returning to the Koi Continent, he began devising ways to redirect the winds and stop the red clouds.

• Ke Meng tested the red drizzle and concluded that it harmed people mentally and could also affect buildings and the surrounding environment.
• Ke Meng and Old Shi decided to return to the Koi Continent and stop the growing sea of red clouds.
• Ke Meng studied satellite images and realized that the red clouds moved with global winds, then proposed using the Horn of the Sea to alter wind patterns.
• Di Ping confirmed that the Horn of the Sea could stir up ocean storms across the globe, though its user risked falling into a prolonged slumber.
• Ke Meng found the Wind-Fire Attribute Converter and proposed changing a volcano's attribute before using Volcanic Stone to trigger an eruption.

Ke Meng and the investigators used Holy Light to cleanse red mist from his plane, then watched a converted volcano generate a powerful wind eye. They began planning how to use the winds against the approaching red clouds while limiting the damage to the Koi Continent.

• Ke Meng helped investigators purify his plane and its flight path after red mist tainted the aircraft.
• Ke Meng watched a livestream as investigators converted the active volcano, which released powerful winds that cleared the clouds and formed a typhoon eye.
• Old Shi and the Network Divine Beast discussed the risks and calculations involved in creating a global storm to drive away the red clouds.
• Ke Meng suggested placing the Koi Continent inside the storm's eye, and Di Ping offered to generate opposing sea winds to cancel out the storm's outer winds.

The Investigation Bureau tested the Volcanic Stone and prepared a continent-wide evacuation as the despairing sea of clouds spread around Koi Continent. Two days later, Ke Meng watched from an evacuated Whale City as specialists prepared to activate the stone at a giant volcano.

• The Investigation Bureau tested the Volcanic Stone at increasingly large volcanoes and estimated that a supermassive volcano could create a storm eye spanning a continent.
• Di Ping took the Horn of the Sea to the coast, while the Investigation Bureau announced a continent-wide relocation using air-raid shelters and a Zero-Level Item to counter the approaching mental pollution.
• The Network Divine Beast spread evacuation notices across Koi Continent, and residents entered air-raid shelters as the Investigation Bureau relocated people, including those in the Koi City area.
• Two days later, Ke Meng stood over an evacuated Whale City as the red sea of clouds covered the world outside Koi Continent.
• Ke Meng watched the giant volcano while specialists prepared to teleport the Volcanic Stone there in one hour.

Luo Yuan and Ke Meng watched despair spread across foreign social media as Di Ping used the Horn of the Sea to drive the red cloud waves away from the Koi Continent. With the cloud sea kept out, the Investigation Bureau avoided activating the destructive Eye of the Storm, while Ke Meng set off to investigate the red clouds firsthand.

• Luo Yuan and the Director discussed how the red cloud waves had stirred pessimism across foreign social media, while the Network Divine Beast kept the Foreign Internet isolated.
• Di Ping raised enormous waves and powerful winds along the coast, directing the currents outward to push the red cloud waves away from the Koi Continent.
• The clouds over the continent dissipated without any red waves entering, so the teleportation operator did not activate the giant volcano's Eye of the Storm.
• Ke Meng used a Teleportation Stone to travel toward the sea and have the Big-Faced Cat assess the red cloud waves.

Ke Meng crossed the void into a storm of red rain and used Big-Faced Cat to identify the Despair Mist as a force capable of breeding an evil god. He realized Blue Star could resist it by raising people’s mental resistance and decided to expand efforts to make everyone watch resistance-training videos.

• Ke Meng heard an unknown murmur in the void, then emerged into a violent storm of red rain and used the Angel Wing to stop his fall.
• Ke Meng considered asking Big-Faced Cat about the being in the void but held back, worried it could learn what Big-Faced Cat revealed.
• Big-Faced Cat identified the Despair Mist as a conceptual item that implanted despair through rain and could breed an evil god after billions of despair hearts formed.
• Ke Meng tested the red rain and estimated that two or three hundred points of mental resistance could resist its effects.
• Ke Meng connected resistance training through Dark Cuisine Videos to Blue Star’s ability to withstand the mist and resolved to make people watch more videos.

Ke Meng secretly used Big-Faced Cat to learn that the void contained creatures that preyed on travelers and powerful beings beyond its control. He returned to reality with confirmation that an unknown being had been watching him, though its identity and abilities remained unknown.

• Ke Meng traveled through the void and heard whispers, but he waited until he returned to reality before taking out Big-Faced Cat.
• Ke Meng decided to cross the void again and used black cloth to conceal Big-Faced Cat while peering into its eyes.
• Big-Faced Cat revealed that Void Creatures devoured passing travelers and that powerful outsiders were the void’s greatest variables.
• Big-Faced Cat also identified an unknown being watching Ke Meng, but provided no details about its form, location, abilities, or interests.
• Ke Meng returned to reality after the bubble burst and reflected on the danger and exhilaration of his passage through the void.

Ke Meng returned from the void, retrieved the altered Volcanic Stone, and warned guards to watch over Di Ping. Meanwhile, red rain and a despair-inducing poem spread across the Crocodile Continent, pushing its people toward madness and unrest.

• Ke Meng recalled Cthulhu's knowledge of the void and suspected the Game World had planted it, then met an investigator at Wind-Eye Volcano.
• Ke Meng checked the Volcanic Stone, found that its inner substance had changed after activating Wind-Eye Volcano, and left it under guard while Di Ping remained at risk of falling asleep.
• Ke Meng called the Investigation Bureau for a helicopter, avoiding another trip through the dangerous void.
• Military personnel on the Crocodile Continent discovered widespread red clouds and suspected the Koi Continent's secret weapon had disrupted communications and changed the wind.
• A cybersecurity employee told the chief that a despairing poem had driven students at a university insane after a philosophy professor wrote it on a blackboard.
• As red rain continued, residents defied warnings and marched outside, while the cybersecurity chief lost his temper and struggled to keep his resolve.

The Poem of Despair drove tens of thousands of people mad worldwide, prompting the Network Divine Beast to impose cross-border bans and Koi Continent to mobilize its forces. Ke Meng identified the poem as a memetic conceptual entity and ordered measures to raise the population’s mental resistance.

• The Poem of Despair spread rapidly, overwhelming police and psychiatric hospitals as Koi Continent investigators struggled with the returning red clouds.
• The Network Divine Beast crossed borders with the Koi Continent Investigation Bureau’s approval and began banning the poem, while Crocodile Continent’s Director ordered mass arrests and isolation.
• Koi Continent’s special forces and military rounded up people who had gone mad and dispersed street protests with nauseating items.
• Ke Meng reviewed the Network Divine Beast’s reports and learned that eighty thousand new cases had appeared worldwide in a day after the poem spread across all four continents.
• Ke Meng told the S-Class members that the poem had to be banned absolutely and proposed making the Dark Cuisine Video mandatory nationwide to improve mental resistance.

After learning that Despair Mist incubated an evil god embryo, Ke Meng and the Investigation Bureau prepared to investigate whether animal hearts could feed it and searched for Special Items that could counter it. As the crisis reshaped life and commerce, the bureau introduced mandatory daily disgusting-video training and sent community workers to explain the rule door to door.

• Ke Meng told the meeting that Despair Mist needed tens of billions of despair hearts, and Flaming Man proposed investigating animals whose hearts might qualify.
• The Investigation Bureau sent a high-resistance team by plane to small islands overseas to examine animals, while Ke Meng and Director Lei searched Special Items for things of beauty.
• The Investigation Bureau warned companies dependent on international trade to restructure, accept state ownership, or close as the global crisis threatened their businesses.
• Ke Meng's plan to strengthen ordinary people's mental resistance became a draft law requiring everyone to watch one disgusting video daily, with different ratings for children and adults and exemptions for some patients.
• Community workers went door to door to explain the daily video requirement and urge residents to comply.

The Koi Continent rolled out a nationwide daily mental-resistance video requirement, and Lin Shuyuan eagerly sought out the most disgusting video on the official list. He opened Ke Meng’s notorious Dark Cuisine Video, which ended just as Ke Meng prepared to reveal the finished dish.

• Investigation Bureau workers visited households to explain the new video-watching regulation and arranged nationwide television broadcasts for people without internet access.
• Lin Shuyuan, a fan of bizarre videos, discovered that watching the most disgusting videos could greatly improve mental resistance and decided to try Ke Meng’s top-rated video.
• Lin Shuyuan opened Ke Meng’s video despite its warnings and the scrolling comments urging newcomers to run.
• Ke Meng introduced ingredients in a Black Pot and brought out the Flawless Sword, leaving Lin Shuyuan puzzled that the video had not made him nauseated.
• Ke Meng announced that the dark cuisine had finished cooking and was about to reveal the main course.