Arc 17The Hunt for the Ao Council

Qin Yiguan reunited with his Underworld and Caregiver counterparts and joined the Qin Variants’ fight against the Ao Council. After defeating Sniper Aoke in a mirror world, the trio vanished when his String of Jumping exploded, while Core Aoke revealed the Council’s hidden headquarters and his use for Source Matter.

  • Jiaolong completed Qin Yiguan’s consciousness tattoo, and Qin Yiguan used Satan and the seven demon kings to repel Mirage City’s beast tide before learning the beasts could overwhelm the multiverse.
  • Qin Yiguan discovered that his Underworld counterpart had been killed, then watched him regenerate and joined forces with him against the Ao Council, whose members were hunting Qin Yiguan variants.
  • A Qin Yiguan from Multiverse 014 introduced the Qin Variants Association and sent Qin Yiguan, Underworld Qin Yiguan, and Caregiver Qin Yiguan to investigate assassination attempts through their counterparts’ dreams.
  • Qin Yiguan entered the Matrix Universe with Boundless One and pursued Sniper Aoke into a mirror world, where a sniper and mechanical spiders attacked the three counterparts.
  • Starvation Corpse protected Qin Yiguan as the group fought Sniper Aoke, and Caregiver Qin Yiguan manipulated the mirror screens to help expose the real sniper among the prerecorded images.
  • Underworld Qin Yiguan cut down Sniper Aoke, and the group found the String of Jumping in his mechanical arm before demanding the Ao Council’s location.
  • Sniper Aoke detonated the bomb in his head, and the String of Jumping destroyed the warehouse and made Qin Yiguan, Underworld Qin Yiguan, and Caregiver Qin Yiguan disappear.
  • Core Aoke showed AKI Aoke the Ao Council’s floating headquarters and explained that he had built the Aoke Universe from programmable Source Matter after solving the Gemini Superbrain’s hidden game.
Chapters 401–425 Vol. 5 Read

Ch. 401Jiaolong in White

Qin Yiguan visited a popular tattoo shop, hoping to meet its proprietress, whom he suspected might be a Jiaolong variant. He discovered that the imposing Xiaojiao managed the queue and received number 1036, leaving him waiting to see the mysterious woman inside.

  • Qin Yiguan approached the tattoo shop and wondered whether its proprietress was Jiaolong or another Jiaolong variant.
  • Xiaojiao emerged from the shop, and Qin Yiguan learned she was the proprietress's assistant.
  • Xiaojiao handed out queue tags while the men competed for a chance to get tattooed.
  • The honest-looking man explained that he had waited seven days and mistakenly made Qin Yiguan appear to cut in line.
  • Qin Yiguan moved to the back, and Xiaojiao marked his tag as number 1036.

Ch. 402Queuing

Qin Yiguan reached Jiaolong’s tattoo shop and resumed the unfinished consciousness tattoo. During the procedure, Jiaolong pulled Starvation Corpse out of Qin Yiguan’s mind, leaving him unable to return.

  • Xiaojiao announced that ticket 1036, held by Qin Yiguan, was the first customer, then knocked out the man holding ticket 001 when he protested.
  • Qin Yiguan entered the shop and reunited with Jiaolong, who prepared to continue his consciousness tattoo.
  • Jiaolong connected the canvas to Qin Yiguan’s cranial nerves and noticed new things in his consciousness.
  • Jiaolong extracted Starvation Corpse from Qin Yiguan’s mind, and Qin Yiguan jokingly introduced her as his mistress.
  • Starvation Corpse tried to return to Qin Yiguan’s mind but discovered that he could not get back in.

Ch. 403A Reason

Jiaolong finished tattooing Satan, the seven demon kings, and seven Pandora’s Boxes onto Qin Yiguan’s Consciousness Drawing Board, but he began coughing up blood before recovering. When the beast tide arrived and the men outside demanded an explanation for his special treatment, Qin Yiguan summoned Satan and the demon kings to face the approaching beasts.

  • Jiaolong drew Satan, the seven demon kings, and seven Pandora’s Boxes onto Qin Yiguan’s Consciousness Drawing Board while Qin Yiguan watched her.
  • Qin Yiguan began coughing up blood, but his condition quickly improved as Jiaolong completed the final stroke.
  • The beast tide appeared beyond the city, and Jiaolong explained that she had opened her tattoo shop to protect the dwindling cities from the beasts.
  • The angry men surrounded the shop and demanded an explanation, so Qin Yiguan left and walked to the edge of the city.
  • Qin Yiguan materialized Satan and the seven demon kings, then challenged the men to do the same as the demon kings faced the beast tide.

Ch. 404The Root of the Beast Tide

Qin Yiguan used Satan and the seven demon kings to destroy the beast tide and tracked it to a glass sphere that produced enhanced beasts. When he tried to touch the sphere, the Gemini Superbrain appeared and sent him back to Mirage City, leaving the sphere’s purpose and the existence of other production points unresolved.

  • Qin Yiguan summoned Satan and the seven demon kings, whose abilities began wiping out the approaching beast tide.
  • Qin Yiguan used Time Lag Syndrome to advance through the Beast Zone while Abaddon’s pestilence ability decimated the beasts.
  • Lu Zun watched reports of Qin Yiguan’s advance and worried whether he could stop the tide.
  • Qin Yiguan found a glowing glass sphere that generated enhanced beasts and suspected more production points lay deeper in the Beast Zone.
  • The Gemini Superbrain appeared and declared the sphere off-limits, then sent Qin Yiguan and the demons back to Mirage City.
  • The people at Mirage City cheered Qin Yiguan after Satan had killed the remaining beasts in the tide.

Ch. 405Destruction

Qin Yiguan realized Multiverse No. 012 was doomed to destruction and learned that his worsening condition might be connected to his counterpart there. After Jiaolong left, he went to the Qiangsheng gang’s headquarters, where his ruthless underlings killed a subordinate who had insulted him.

  • Qin Yiguan recalled encountering an existence he could not resist and concluded that the humans in Multiverse No. 012 would be wiped out by the beast tide.
  • Qin Yiguan coughed up blood and wondered whether his failing body was also undergoing destruction; Jiaolong told him his counterpart in the multiverse held the answer.
  • Jiaolong said she would leave Multiverse No. 012 and continue traveling, then returned to her tattoo shop and parted from Qin Yiguan.
  • Qin Yiguan went to the Qiangsheng gang’s headquarters, where a man in black failed to recognize him after his change of appearance.
  • A young man with gold-rimmed glasses killed the man in black for disrespecting Qin Yiguan, then bowed and apologized to him.

Ch. 406Underworld Kingpin

Qin Yiguan used a mistaken identity to enter his counterpart’s underworld office, only to discover that the ruthless boss had been murdered. The Boundless One revealed that the deaths of Qin Yiguan’s multiverse counterparts were causing his inexplicable injuries and could eventually kill him.

  • Qin Yiguan told Gold-Rimmed Glasses to take him to the office, using the mistaken identity to seek out his counterpart.
  • Gold-Rimmed Glasses led Qin Yiguan through the lavish basement office and recited the histories of its antiques, as the counterpart remained unseen.
  • Qin Yiguan found his counterpart’s corpse pinned to the ceiling above the desk, and Gold-Rimmed Glasses realized that the dead man was Brother Guan.
  • Qin Yiguan coughed up blood and pieces of his organs as the Boundless One explained that a counterpart’s death injured him and that someone was hunting his counterparts.

Ch. 407An Undeserved Calamity

Qin Yiguan cared for the children at Boon Orphanage, where he had chosen to work after aging out of the orphanage. Doctor Aoke arrived, attacked him with a blue vapor and an injected substance, and reported Qin Yiguan dead.

  • Qin Yiguan praised Wu Daniu's gruesome painting and suggested adding red paint before tidying the art room.
  • Qin Yiguan reflected on his seven months as a caregiver and his empathy for the orphanage's mentally ill children.
  • Doctor Aoke entered the art room and told Qin Yiguan that he had come to diagnose him.
  • Doctor Aoke released blue vapor, weakened Qin Yiguan, and injected his neck with green liquid.
  • Doctor Aoke watched Qin Yiguan collapse and reported his death to the Ao Council and Core Aoke.

Ch. 408The Ao Council

Core Aoke led the Ao Council, a society of Aoke variants that had conquered multiple multiverses, and promised AKI Aoke revenge on Qin Yiguan. The Council was systematically killing Qin Yiguan variants to reduce his Existence Value to zero, while its members gathered to watch a brutal fight in a universe cleared of its original inhabitants.

  • Core Aoke had discovered multiverses as a child, gathered Aoke variants in Multiverse No. 130, and established the Ao Council.
  • AKI Aoke told Core Aoke that Qin Yiguan had taken Breath of the Mute and nearly killed him before the String of Jumping rescued him.
  • Core Aoke explained that the Council was killing Qin Yiguan variants across multiverses to make Qin Yiguan's Existence Value fall to zero.
  • Core Aoke reported that Medical Ao, Metal Ao, Legion Ao, and 732 other members had killed or were assassinating Qin Yiguans.
  • Core Aoke invited AKI Aoke to watch as Werewolf Ao faced Muscle Ao before the Council's cheering members.

Ch. 409The Suspected Enemy

Qin Yiguan investigated the death of his Underworld counterpart and suspected that Aoke or a multiverse power was behind the attacks. The supposedly dead Underworld Qin Yiguan revived, regenerated his wounds and severed arm, and revealed his Reality Enhancement-Rapid Self-Healing ability.

  • Qin Yiguan examined Underworld Qin Yiguan’s corpse and considered whether Aoke or another multiverse enemy was killing his counterparts.
  • Qin Yiguan realized that the deaths of his counterparts might explain why he had previously suffered severe injuries and coughed up blood.
  • Underworld Qin Yiguan’s fingers twitched, and his heartbeat returned as he began pulling the steel nails from his body.
  • Underworld Qin Yiguan cut off his pinned right forearm to free himself, then fell from the ceiling.
  • Underworld Qin Yiguan regenerated his wounds and grew a new hand, revealing his Reality Enhancement-Rapid Self-Healing ability before vowing to kill his attacker.

Ch. 410The Organization Arrives

Caregiver Qin Yiguan survived Medical Ao’s attack and reunited with his underworld counterpart, who learned that the Ao Council was targeting them. A wheelchair-using Qin Yiguan from Multiverse 014 arrived with members of the Qin Variants Association, offering help against the Council.

  • Qin Yiguan recovered from Medical Ao’s toxins, killed him, and hid his body in a wardrobe before Wu Daniu returned.
  • The original Qin Yiguan and his underworld counterpart compared what they knew and agreed to fight the organization targeting them.
  • The underworld Qin Yiguan revealed that dreams had shown him counterparts across the multiverse and joined forces with the original.
  • A Qin Yiguan from Multiverse 014 arrived in a wheelchair and identified the Ao Council as a major technological power made up of 1.16 million Aoke counterparts.
  • The wheelchair-using Qin Yiguan introduced himself as vice president of the Qin Variants Association and offered the two counterparts the organization’s assistance.

Ch. 411The Work of the Ao Council

Core Aoke brought AKI Aoke to a tiny multiverse where the Ao Council was restricting the universe’s expansion. He explained that the Council had come to harvest Source Matter and promised to show AKI Aoke its use afterward.

  • Core Aoke told AKI Aoke that destroying Qin Yiguan was a minor task and introduced the Council’s current mission as retrieval.
  • AKI Aoke saw the coordinates of millions of multiverses and reconsidered the scale of his former ambitions.
  • Core Aoke explained that the Ao Council had restricted the young multiverse’s expansion and that its inhabitants believed their land was the full extent of reality.
  • Core Aoke said the Council was harvesting the fixed quantity of Source Matter deposited in every multiverse.
  • Core Aoke promised to explain Source Matter’s purpose after the harvest was complete.

Ch. 412The Mine

AKI Aoke learned that the Ao Council used Society Ao’s sociology system to make the inhabitants of Multiverse No. 14566 mine Source Matter willingly. After the mine was depleted, Core Aoke destroyed the multiverse by compressing its ocean into a black hole, then invited AKI Aoke to discover what the Council did with the ore.

  • AKI Aoke watched the Ao Council transfer 1.5 tons of Source Matter from a warehouse into its spaceship.
  • Core Aoke explained that Society Ao had spent five years shaping the inhabitants’ values so they would mine Source Matter and deposit it in a central bank for the Council to collect.
  • Core Aoke declared the multiverse’s Source Matter depleted and activated the Gravity Well to compress its ocean through nuclear fusion into a neutron star and then a black hole.
  • AKI Aoke noticed a dust-covered youth wearing a chipped white rabbit mask who stared at the invisible spaceship as the black hole destroyed the multiverse and its inhabitants.
  • The spaceship escaped through the String of Jumping, and Core Aoke explained that the Council operated millions of such mines and expected new multiverses and Source Matter to form before inviting AKI Aoke to learn what the ore was for.

Ch. 413The Golden Path

The vice president led Qin Yiguan and his counterparts along a mysterious golden path, explaining the Qin Variant Association’s search for the Ao Council and showing them other Qin Yiguans across the multiverse. The group continued toward the association’s headquarters, where Caregiver Qin Yiguan spotted a razor-sharp thread at Underworld Qin Yiguan’s neck.

  • The vice president said the Qin Variants could defeat the Ao Council but had been unable to locate its main forces, which seemed to be hiding outside the multiverse and physical world.
  • Qin Yiguan saw multiversal counterparts including Father Qin Yiguan, a restrained prisoner, a cheerful child, and a Qin Yiguan who slept in a grave.
  • Qin Yiguan questioned the vice president about the golden path, the association’s location, and the identity of its president, but the vice president did not give a direct answer.
  • Caregiver Qin Yiguan warned the group and held an arm across Underworld Qin Yiguan as a nearly invisible, razor-sharp thread glinted at his neck.

Ch. 414Location

Qin Yiguan and his counterparts learned that the red threads connected to 732 universes where Qin Yiguans faced assassination, and the Qin Variants planned to use those incidents to trace the Ao Council. After waking in Underworld Qin Yiguan’s office, Qin Yiguan was told he had opened the seventh door and that the owner of a dream was the president of the Qin Variant Association.

  • The vice president explained that the red threads linked to 732 universes and showed the group an assassination that President Number Four had altered into a simulated success.
  • The vice president asked Qin Yiguan, Caregiver Qin Yiguan, and Underworld Qin Yiguan to investigate separate assassination attempts and follow the Aokes back toward the Ao Council.
  • Underworld Qin Yiguan tried and failed to open all twelve iron doors, while Qin Yiguan also attempted a door.
  • Qin Yiguan and the others each took a red thread connected to a colorful balloon, and a golden light swallowed Qin Yiguan.
  • Qin Yiguan woke in Underworld Qin Yiguan’s office as the vice president told him the Qin Variants existed in their counterparts’ dreams and that Qin Yiguan had opened the seventh door.

Ch. 415The Black Room

Qin Yiguan entered the black room in his mind and found several of his childhood personalities gathered around a table. A chair moved beside him, leaving him wondering whether he could finally speak with them and whether his condition was worsening.

  • Qin Yiguan recalled opening the fourth door and entering the dim, seemingly boundless black room.
  • Qin Yiguan found Child eating candy and watched Child offer a piece to Black Calamity.
  • Black Calamity declined the candy and looked toward Dream General, while Qin Yiguan recognized Plunderer and Slaughterer among the gathered personalities.
  • Qin Yiguan realized Plunderer’s simulation ability had created the hallucinations protecting the isotopes and considered how the personalities related to him.
  • The chair for door number seven slid beside Qin Yiguan, and he wondered whether he could talk to the personalities and whether his condition had worsened.

Ch. 416Key Ability

Qin Yiguan reunited with Underworld Qin Yiguan and Caregiver Qin Yiguan, then learned his Higher Selves had withdrawn their help after he entered the black room. He used Boundless One to take the three of them into the Matrix Universe, where they began their mission to track down the Ao Council.

  • Qin Yiguan returned to Underworld Qin Yiguan’s office as Underworld Qin Yiguan and Caregiver Qin Yiguan woke and realized their meeting had been real.
  • Caregiver Qin Yiguan accidentally destroyed Underworld Qin Yiguan’s valuable antiques, and Qin Yiguan confirmed that the three of them had received a mission to save their counterparts.
  • Qin Yiguan proposed that the three investigate each multiverse together and find the Ao Council headquarters, while Underworld Qin Yiguan asked about his ability.
  • Qin Yiguan discovered that his Higher Selves and their abilities were unavailable, but he could still call on Boundless One.
  • Qin Yiguan summoned Boundless One, which carried all three into the Matrix Universe and gave him a way to jump between multiverses.

Ch. 417The First Thread

Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and the caregiver followed a red thread into multiverse 017 to track the Ao Council through sniper Aoke. After Aoke entered a blue spatial rift, Qin Yiguan used his enhanced strength to leap after him.

  • Qin Yiguan led Underworld and the caregiver into Mirage City in multiverse 017, where sniper Aoke was aiming at a younger Qin Yiguan.
  • Aoke fired a beam bullet, and Plunderer's simulation made him believe he had killed his target while the younger Qin Yiguan caught the bullet unharmed.
  • Aoke reported his supposed success to the Ao Council and opened a blue spatial rift with a Multiverse Jump String.
  • Underworld and the caregiver leaped across the rooftops to pursue Aoke, while Qin Yiguan stayed behind briefly.
  • Qin Yiguan crossed the gap between the high-rises with a powerful leap and landed in front of the rift.

Ch. 418The Bizarre Multiverse

Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and the caregiver arrived in multiverse 184, a world of mirrors whose inhabitants were said to be skilled snipers. As the caregiver explained that outsiders could not see the natives in the reflections, an unseen sniper shot Underworld through the head.

  • Qin Yiguan noticed his shorts-clad counterpart watching him beside the road, with a Guardian standing behind him, before Underworld pulled him and the caregiver through the shrinking rift.
  • The three traveled between worlds and arrived in a landscape covered in mirrors, where reflections surrounded them in every direction.
  • The caregiver recognized the mirror world from a dream and recalled that its inhabitants used mirrors to see everywhere around them because they feared blind spots.
  • The caregiver said the mirror world’s inhabitants had developed extraordinary sniping skills and that outsiders could not see the natives in the mirrors.
  • An armor-piercing round struck Underworld in the forehead, blowing apart the back of his head and knocking him down.

Ch. 419Making Full Use of Everything

Qin Yiguan and the care worker were trapped in the mirror world under fire from a hidden sniper and attacked by mechanical spiders. Qin Yiguan called on Starvation Corpse for help, but discovered it had transformed into a coy, pink figure.

  • The sniper shot Underworld in the head, and Qin Yiguan used his corpse to shield himself and the care worker.
  • Qin Yiguan questioned the care worker about his dream as a silent spider robot attacked; Underworld revived briefly before the robot killed him again.
  • More mechanical spiders emerged from the mirrors, and Qin Yiguan handed Underworld's corpse to the care worker.
  • Qin Yiguan said he could resist the sniper with Starvation Corpse's help and summoned it.
  • Starvation Corpse appeared as a pink, curvaceous figure and told Qin Yiguan that switching multiverses had caused its strange transformation.

Ch. 420A Strange Change

Qin Yiguan fought through a swarm of mechanical spiders after his Starvation Corpse transformation failed, while a sniper threatened him from afar. Underworld intervened and identified the sniper, then stayed behind to battle the machines as Qin Yiguan prepared to pursue Aoke.

  • Qin Yiguan transformed into a pink, muscular version of the Starvation Corpse, but reverted when the Starvation Corpse girl screamed and fled in his mind.
  • Qin Yiguan fought off several mechanical spiders by kicking one aside and crashing two others together, while the caregiver refused to reveal any special ability.
  • God's Abandoned warned Qin Yiguan that a sniper was firing from behind, and Underworld deflected the energy beam with his cleaver.
  • Underworld confronted the caregiver for using his corpse as a shield, then pointed out Aoke, the big-headed sniper crouched atop a mirrored cube.
  • Underworld charged the mechanical spiders and began chopping them apart while Qin Yiguan was told to catch Aoke.

Ch. 421Impotent Rage

Qin Yiguan pursued sniper Aoke through the mirror world, but Aoke killed the caregiver and taunted the group while hiding among reflections. The chapter ended with countless copies of Aoke aiming their rifles at Qin Yiguan.

  • Qin Yiguan charged toward Aoke as Underworld fought the mechanical spiders, but Aoke shot Underworld instead of him.
  • Qin Yiguan leapt at Aoke and shattered a mirror, discovering that the sniper he had seen was only a reflection.
  • Aoke fired again, killing the caregiver while leaving Qin Yiguan and Underworld unharmed.
  • Underworld mourned the caregiver and vowed to kill Aoke, who appeared and mocked the group as he explained his advantage in the mirror world.
  • Qin Yiguan threw a shard of mirror at Aoke, but Aoke deflected it and vanished among countless reflections.
  • Countless images of Aoke took shooting positions and trained their rifles on Qin Yiguan.

Ch. 422Found Him?

Qin Yiguan searched Sniper Aoke’s mirror world while the sniper’s real and reflected forms fired at him. With the caregiver destroying sections of the mirror world, Qin Yiguan finally found Sniper Aoke.

  • Sniper Aoke unleashed a barrage of beam rounds, and the King Kong Barbie Starvation Corpse protected Qin Yiguan from the bullets.
  • Qin Yiguan realized that Sniper Aoke could change which side held his aiming lens, so he could not identify the real sniper by comparing mirror images.
  • Sniper Aoke tricked Qin Yiguan into smashing a mirror and struck him at point-blank range with a sniper cannon.
  • The caregiver appeared, stopped a round with a spatial rift, and began folding and destroying sections of the mirror world.
  • The caregiver ground the remaining mirror shards into powder while Qin Yiguan searched the shrinking area and announced that he had found Sniper Aoke.

Ch. 423Cooperation

Qin Yiguan, the caregiver, and Underworld exposed how sniper Aoke’s mirror trick worked and captured him alive. They discovered that Aoke had used a Multiverse Jump String to move between screens, leaving the group with a lead in their investigation of the Ao Council.

  • Underworld cut through sniper Aoke’s mechanical body and shattered the screen in front of him, while Qin Yiguan, the caregiver, and Underworld surrounded him.
  • Qin Yiguan explained that the apparent mirrors were electronic screens showing mostly prerecorded images, and that Aoke had teleported between them using the Multiverse Jump String.
  • Qin Yiguan identified a scratch on Aoke’s right arm as the mark that distinguished him from the recordings, and the caregiver revealed that he had compressed the search area by manipulating the screens.
  • Underworld pried open Aoke’s mechanical arm and found the String of Jumping, confirming that Aoke had used it to change his landing point between screens.
  • Underworld explained that the three of them had divided their roles to locate Aoke, narrow the search, and cut him down before he could escape.

Ch. 424Source Matter Experiment

Core Aoke demonstrated an experiment to AIK Aoke, colliding near-light-speed protons with Source Matter to reveal its secret. The five pieces of Source Matter had become a brick, leaving AIK Aoke stunned.

  • Core Aoke brought AIK Aoke to a high-security area of the Ao Council warship and explained that he considered him a core member.
  • Core Aoke activated a machine that placed five pieces of Source Matter in a spherical chamber.
  • Core Aoke explained that the warship’s particle collider accelerated protons to nearly the speed of light and directed them into the Source Matter.
  • After the collision, Core Aoke opened the chamber and retrieved the result.
  • AIK Aoke saw that the Source Matter had turned into a brick and questioned what had happened.

Ch. 425Ao Council Headquarters

Qin Yiguan and his companions confronted Sniper Aoke in his warehouse lair, but Sniper Aoke killed himself and the unstable String of Jumping erupted, making them vanish. Meanwhile, Core Aoke revealed the Ao Council’s hidden headquarters, the Aoke Universe, and explained that it was built from Source Matter.

  • The Underworld mutilated Sniper Aoke while Qin Yiguan demanded to know where the Ao Council’s headquarters was.
  • Sniper Aoke said Qin Yiguan would have to search for it in Hell, then detonated the bomb in his head.
  • The String of Jumping erupted and destroyed the warehouse, causing Qin Yiguan, the Underworld, and the caregiver to disappear.
  • Core Aoke showed AIK Aoke a small floating landmass and confirmed it was the Ao Council’s headquarters.
  • Core Aoke explained that he had built the Aoke Universe from programmable Source Matter and had made himself its god.
  • Core Aoke said Source Matter was an easter egg hidden by the Gemini Superbrain, and he alone had solved its collecting and puzzle-solving game.
Arc 17 of 25
Arc 17 of 25