Chapter Summaries

After the bureau sealed the captured Shadow Stream members, Ke Meng persuaded the director to let him search Whale City by helicopter using the Demon Map. The helicopter took off, and Ke Meng began summoning the map as black air emerged from his hand.

• Director Lei recommended executing the captured Shadow Creatures, but the bureau decided to seal them instead.
• Ke Meng used his Shadow-Grasping Hand to force the Shadow Stream members into insects, which Luo Yuan sealed in a Time-Stop Jar behind a Door Seal.
• The bureau began searching Whale City for Shadow Stream members, and Ke Meng insisted on joining the investigation.
• Ke Meng proposed flying over Whale City with the Demon Map to locate people harboring malice toward him, and the director approved the plan.
• Ke Meng boarded a helicopter with his security detail and summoned the Demon Map as the aircraft took off.

Ke Meng and Tang Jin searched Whale City by helicopter for the fleeing Shadow Stream member, using the Black Parchment to locate him in a residential complex. Suspecting the target was attacking residents, Tang Jin jumped into the building to stop him, but the red dot remained on the map.

• Ke Meng flew with Tang Jin and Luo Yuan along the target’s route, then sensed that the fugitive was still in Whale City.
• The Black Parchment detected a red dot in a residential complex, and police cars moved to surround the area.
• Ke Meng suspected the target was breaking into apartments and killing residents, so he urged the team to act immediately.
• Tang Jin jumped from the helicopter using the Transformation Light Stick and rushed into the building.
• Tang Jin did not emerge after several seconds, and the target’s red dot remained on the map.

Eagle used a parasite, a blood-charged White Mask, and an ultrafast regeneration item to fight Tang Jin, but Tang Jin trapped himself inside the Exquisite Tower. As Eagle searched for a way out, the Golden Furball attacked and riddled him with needles.

• Eagle sensed the Investigation Bureau tracking him, swallowed a Brood Worm, and prepared the White Mask by gathering blood from people in the building.
• Tang Jin killed Eagle, but Eagle regenerated his head and used the blood-powered mask to bind Tang Jin with a blood hand.
• Tang Jin escaped the blood hand by shrinking into the Exquisite Tower, which Eagle picked up and sealed in his grip.
• Eagle searched the empty apartment for a way out, then faced the Golden Furball as it rolled into the doorway.
• The Golden Furball spun rapidly and fired more than a hundred needles through Eagle, sending him flying into the balcony.

Tangyuan defeated Eagle and drove his shadow into the sewers, where Ke Meng and the investigators tracked and captured him. The operation also uncovered another Shadow Stream member, whom the team captured in a separate ambush before the investigators interrogated the suspects.

• Tangyuan pinned Eagle down, but Eagle abandoned his body and escaped as a shadow through a toilet drain.
• Ke Meng tracked Eagle with the Demon Map as investigators chased him through the sewers and cornered him at a cesspit.
• Investigators captured Eagle after he hid in a cesspit and became the shadow of a Sanitary Pad.
• Ke Meng monitored a second Shadow Stream target and helped investigators capture him in a separate raid after they evacuated nearby civilians.
• The Interrogation Team used Mental Interrogation on Eagle and his accomplice, while Di Ping drew the Red Slip again.

Ke Meng learned more about Shadow Stream from the captured Liaison Eagle, then posted the Honey Juice video to satisfy his fans and advance a new task. Chen Momo opened the video, recalling the strange toothbrush and bracing herself for its effects.

• The Investigation Bureau interrogated Eagle, and Ke Meng learned that Shadow Stream planned to destabilize the Koi Continent and that Deacons ranked above Liaisons.
• Ke Meng verified Eagle’s account with Mi Jingyun and Wen Yushan, then saw that his Flawless Sword review task had earned him 50 Resistance.
• Ke Meng decided to post the Honey Juice video, accepted its task, and published it on Bilibili.
• Chen Momo saw Ke Meng’s post, remembered the strange toothbrush, and tapped the Honey Juice video despite fearing its effects.

Ke Meng posted a video showing how Honey Juice gave ordinary objects strange sensory qualities, leaving Chen Momo worried that repeated viewing could distort people’s perceptions. Ke Meng reassured her that the effects were temporary and that viewers could develop some immunity, while White Sugar still waited for its phone.

• Ke Meng demonstrated how Honey Juice made an eraser, pen, notebook, and handgun seem to have contradictory textures and qualities.
• Chen Momo watched the video and worried that its perceptual effects might harm viewers if they watched repeatedly.
• Chen Momo messaged Ke Meng to ask whether the Honey Juice video could permanently distort people’s perceptions.
• Ke Meng explained that the Investigation Bureau’s tests found the effects temporary and that repeated exposure could build slight immunity.
• Ke Meng wished Chen Momo good night and went to sleep while White Sugar wondered when its phone would arrive.

Ke Meng learned that the Black Ghosts had gained hundreds of human believers and then explored the Dream World, where Professor Alan had become a space carrier through the character customization game. After naming the carrier Alan, researchers tested her systems while Ke Meng examined the reactor, leaving him curious about Orange Star’s technology.

• The Black Ghost reported that they had won over adventurers in several major cities and gathered more than three hundred new believers, and Ke Meng sent them back to work after hearing their report.
• Ke Meng saw a huge space carrier in the Dream World and discovered that Orange Star engineers had used a backdoor and AI to help Professor Alan become one.
• The carrier fell to the ground when she appeared, crushing several dream players, while Ke Meng considered whether Blue Star should pursue technological development or focus on special items.
• Researchers asked Alan about the carrier’s systems, and she said her nuclear fusion reactor was operating with the same efficiency as the real one.
• An official from the Scientific Research General Institute named the carrier Alan, and Ke Meng used Synesthesia to inspect her reactor and other components.

A lightning strike set the World Tree ablaze, and the Orange Star Players rushed to extinguish the fire with water and sand brought by aircraft from the Space Carrier Alan. After watching the players and carrier for hours, Ke Meng accepted a Sacrifice Ritual and saw a chamber with a basin of water and a summoning array.

• Jiri and Feilaiji saw lightning hit the World Tree's base and set it on fire.
• Feilaiji called for help and ran down the World Tree as the players struggled to find water.
• The Space Carrier Alan sent aircraft carrying water tanks, and players used water and sand blocks to fight the flames.
• Players who entered the dream joined the firefighting, and the World Tree's fire was extinguished after half an hour.
• Ke Meng watched the players gather around the World Tree and the Space Carrier, which remained grounded as its energy reserves grew.
• Ke Meng accepted an illusory Sacrifice Ritual call and saw an enclosed chamber with a water basin and a summoning array.

Ke Meng answered the first player believers’ sacrifice ritual by granting them a random group buff. Tu Ke'aisi received Blazing Strikes, while the effect on the other believers remained unknown.

• The commander of Team Four felt an unknown entity descending and received a fear status as the sky darkened over the Third Main City.
• Tu Ke'aisi and seven other masked players performed a sacrifice ritual in a bloodstained wooden house on the city’s outskirts.
• Tu Ke'aisi stumbled through a prayer and offered Ke Meng a seemingly endless Massive Mint Recovery Potion.
• Ke Meng accepted the offering and cast Group Random Buff Magic on the believers.
• Tu Ke'aisi received the temporary passive Blazing Strikes, which converted her normal attack damage into magical critical damage.

Tu Ke'aisi's team completed a sacrifice to Ke Meng, gaining powerful buffs while Xu Wuyong and three others suffered harmful effects. After Ke Meng learned that death cleared the harmful effects, he considered how Orange Star players might eventually challenge him as a boss.

• Tu Ke'aisi's team received Blazing Strikes from the sacrifice, but Xu Wuyong died and three other players suffered lingering negative effects.
• Ke Meng withdrew from the ritual, and Tu Ke'aisi confirmed through chat that Xu Wuyong had respawned after losing a level.
• Ke Meng used Synesthesia to observe the players and saw Tu Ke'aisi kill a level-forty-five monster with her enhanced greatsword.
• Three afflicted players killed themselves and respawned, clearing their negative effects when they lost a level.
• Ke Meng concluded he could use the ritual to grant players either beneficial or harmful effects and realized that Orange Star players might eventually challenge him as a boss.

Ke Meng realized Orange Star could not kill him through the game and planned to recruit more turncoats to disrupt the players preparing to defeat him. At home, he drank a refreshing Mint Potion, then filmed White Sugar learning to use a phone and uploaded a vlog after receiving a new mission.

• Ke Meng observed players leveling up to fight the second-playthrough boss and decided to recruit more turncoats to create strife among Orange Star's forces.
• Tangyuan brought Ke Meng a delivery, and he gave White Sugar the phone inside while inspecting the Mint Potion with Big-Faced Cat.
• Ke Meng learned the potion restored stamina but weakened kidney function, drank it, and found the side effect quickly passed.
• White Sugar figured out how to tap its phone with a Stylus held in one claw, and Ke Meng filmed it for a vlog.
• Ke Meng received a mission to reach one million viewers with a vlog featuring a special item and uploaded the unedited video.

Ke Meng gained Resistance from completed video quests and tested how little the Nameless Salted Fish affected him. He discovered that his Level-Up Fish needed special food and decided to ask the Investigation Bureau for help.

• Ke Meng posted a short video of White Sugar using a Stylus to chat with Tangyuan, and viewers shared the clip widely.
• Ke Meng claimed quest rewards that raised his Resistance by 75 points, then gained another 0.1 by staring at the Nameless Salted Fish.
• Ke Meng practiced shooting and found that his increased Resistance kept handgun recoil from moving his hand.
• Ke Meng tried feeding different meats to the ordinary Level-Up Fish, but they refused to eat.
• Ke Meng fed Crystal Blocks to the Crystal Level-Up Fish and saw them eat and grow, then decided to ask the Investigation Bureau about food for the ordinary Level-Up Fish.

Ke Meng obtained Fast-Growing Seaweed from the Investigation Bureau to feed his Level-Up Fish, and the fish began growing as they devoured it. Meanwhile, White Sugar chatted with a new online friend who suggested they sing karaoke together.

• Ke Meng visited Director Lei and learned the ID number for Fast-Growing Seaweed, a fish-attracting anomaly.
• Ke Meng reviewed the seaweed’s records, obtained it and its sealed container, and brought it home.
• Ke Meng fed most of the seaweed to the Level-Up Fish, which ate it eagerly and began to grow.
• Ke Meng arranged for seabed mud to be delivered by helicopter and moved the seaweed into it to keep producing more food.
• White Sugar chatted with a new online friend, who suggested they take turns singing karaoke.

Black Spearman, a man hoping to meet a cute girl, chatted with White Sugar and arranged a video call. He discovered that White Sugar was actually a white-feathered sand eagle, shattering his expectations, and the call ended.

• Black Spearman matched with White Sugar on a friend-finding app and persuaded her to send him a recording of her singing.
• Black Spearman mistook White Sugar’s unusual eagle cries for a cute human voice and asked to meet her in Whale City, though he was actually in Octopus City.
• Black Spearman sent White Sugar photos of his muscles, but she asked whether he was a sand eagle and wanted to see his real appearance.
• Black Spearman suggested a video call, and White Sugar accepted from beside the pool.
• Black Spearman saw White Sugar’s white-feathered eagle form on-screen, realized she was really an eagle, and collapsed as the call ended.

Ke Meng joined Luo Yuan’s investigation at Whale City Stadium, where blood covered the field and investigators could not identify the cause. After reading the caller’s incomplete report, Ke Meng used Synesthesia and the Crystal Scalpel to probe the scene, and blood-red memories began surfacing.

• Ke Meng had White Sugar force-feed Tangyuan the fully grown Level-Up Fish until Tangyuan vomited from being overstuffed.
• Ke Meng used Synesthesia to locate Luo Yuan at Whale City Stadium and traveled there with Tangyuan.
• Ke Meng entered the cordoned-off stadium and found blood flowing across the field around an erased ritual pattern.
• Luo Yuan explained that an anonymous caller had reported a killing spree at the stadium, but the caller and signal could not be traced.
• Ke Meng read the caller’s report, then used Synesthesia and the Crystal Scalpel to investigate the bloodstained scene, triggering whispers and red fragments of memory.

Ke Meng used Big-Faced Cat and Synesthesia to learn that the bleeding seat was a damaged Flesh Seat and trace the cap-wearing man who had used it. He led investigators to the man’s apartment, where they prepared to enter.

• Ke Meng used Big-Faced Cat to learn that the Flesh Seat consumed anyone who sat on it and that drinking its blood gradually changed a person’s behavior to resemble Sorrowful Wind.
• Ke Meng used Synesthesia to see that the cap-wearing man had attempted a summoning in the Stadium, then traced the knife and cap to online stores and reported the purchase details.
• The Investigation Bureau identified the man as an office worker living in Whale City, and Ke Meng led investigators to his residential complex.
• Ke Meng and the investigation teams reached apartment 1801, but a Drone could not see inside because the windows were covered by curtains.
• Ke Meng called Tangyuan out of his scarf as the team prepared to investigate the dark apartment.

Ke Meng and the investigators raided a home, seized a Whispering Radio, and captured a Shadow Stream member with Tangyuan’s help. During the interrogation, Ke Meng recognized the radio’s connection to an earlier attack and discovered that listening to it increased his resistance.

• Tangyuan broke into the house, and Ke Meng entered the study despite the Whispering Radio’s mind-affecting sounds, then paused it and took the radio.
• Ke Meng defeated a mutated spider and another attacker without being harmed, while the investigators learned the homeowner was returning.
• Ke Meng suggested Tangyuan ambush the homeowner, and Tangyuan knocked him unconscious as he arrived at the apartment building.
• Ke Meng discovered the unconscious man was a Shadow Stream member, and the investigators brought him to the bureau for interrogation.
• Di Ping led the Freedom Dance while Ke Meng used the Crystal Scalpel to remove the shadow’s Shadow Coat and weaken his defenses.
• Ke Meng listened to the Whispering Radio in the Holy Light Pool, recognized its voice from the Vampire Bat incident, and gained 0.1 Resistance.

Ke Meng strengthened his Resistance by listening to the radio, then used Synesthesia to sense that the Hidden Being behind it was dangerously powerful. In the Dream World, he witnessed Orange Star officials order players from the affected district offline and debate recruiting the whole population to fight Cthulhu.

• Ke Meng listened to the radio until his Resistance increased, but stopped using Synesthesia after his instincts warned him of danger.
• Ke Meng placed the radio in the Holy Light Pool, reported his findings to the Investigation Bureau, and went home to sleep.
• Ke Meng watched the Fourth Team commander accuse players of concealing who had performed a Summoning Ritual during the Evil God's descent.
• Orange Star officials ordered everyone who had been in the West District of the Third Main City during the suspicious period to log out and stop playing.
• Researcher Li Shen urged the Scientific Research General Institute to let more Orange Star people enter World and join the fight against Cthulhu.

Li Shen’s proposal led Orange Star to reopen the virtual game "World" to one million screened players, but some rejected applicants tried sharing their nightmares with NPCs. Ke Meng watched the dream world grow and saw Alan take flight, while an unrecognizable man in the crowd drew his attention.

• Li Shen proposed recruiting at least one million players, and Orange Star officials approved an initial admission plan that excluded children, elderly people, and unsupervised nightmare disease patients.
• The Orange Star General Research Institute announced the reopening of "World," prompting a rush of applications and questions from the public.
• Some rejected players tried describing their nightmares to virtual NPCs, unintentionally helping the dream world expand.
• Ke Meng observed the dream world’s strange new inhabitants and considered how to balance it without giving them supernatural powers.
• Ke Meng watched Alan launch as a Nuclear Fusion Starship and noticed a strange man in the crowd whom he could not perceive through Synesthesia.

Ke Meng altered the joint dream’s rules to protect players from death and excessive pain, then discovered that the mysterious figure he had watched was an artificial intelligence named Tremella Lotus Seed. After Ke Meng’s power overwhelmed her, he entered her dream to find out what an AI dreamed about.

• The Alan plunged through the atmosphere and rose above the clouds as Ke Meng watched.
• Ke Meng noticed a heavily covered stranger whose presence made Synesthesia difficult, and suspected the figure was an artificial intelligence.
• Ke Meng changed the joint dream’s rules so no one could die there and pain would be capped.
• Ke Meng used Synesthesia to identify the stranger as a woman, then learned she was Tremella Lotus Seed, an artificial intelligence from Orange Star.
• Tremella Lotus Seed witnessed a strange power, dissolved into garbled code, and collapsed unconscious, allowing Ke Meng to enter her dream.