Chapter Summaries

Lu Zun’s memory showed Qin Yiguan killing his adoptive parents as a child while all twelve figures in his consciousness watched without taking control. As Qin Yiguan learned he may have been found at the center of a Leviathan rift eighteen years earlier, he was left questioning his origins and why he killed his parents.

• Lu Zun’s projected memory showed six-year-old Qin Yiguan stabbing Qin Shenhu and his wife, then viciously attacking their bodies.
• Qin Yiguan recognized several of the twelve figures in his consciousness and realized none of them had awakened during the murders.
• Lu Zun told Qin Yiguan that he had killed his parents himself, and Qin Yiguan was horrified that he could not remember doing so.
• The memory showed young Qin Yiguan finding a projector and viewing a photograph in which Qin Shenhu recorded finding and adopting an abandoned baby.
• Qin Yiguan saw images of people blaming a child for a disaster and a newborn lying amid Leviathan-like cracks, then connected the scene to his own birth eighteen years earlier.
• Qin Yiguan questioned whether he had come from the Leviathan and why he had murdered his adoptive parents.

After learning that Qin Yiguan had been blamed for his adoptive parents’ deaths and had once been forced to wound Lu Zun, Qin Yiguan spiraled into despair. He unleashed Black Calamity and biological leviathans, causing B5 and B6 to collapse into the Leviathan Rift as he walked away.

• Qin Yiguan’s memory revealed that his six-year-old self noticed Lu Zun watching, then forced Lu Zun to stab himself and cut a long wound into his chest.
• Lu Zun accused Qin Yiguan of bringing misfortune, killing his adoptive parents, and thwarting his plan before losing control of the crowd’s consciousness projection.
• An old man recognized Qin Yiguan as the child who had appeared when a leviathan descended eighteen years earlier, and the crowd backed away from him in fear.
• Qin Yiguan blamed himself for his adoptive parents’ deaths and declared that he would kill everyone who knew his secrets.
• Qin Yiguan released darkness and biological leviathans, which widened the Leviathan Rift until B5 and B6 broke apart and their residents and buildings fell into the abyss.
• Qin Yiguan watched the destruction with satisfaction, then turned and walked away.

Qin Yiguan learned that he was one of twelve personalities and that he had killed his foster parents, then faced the guilt he had tried to escape through Dr. House’s guiltless dream. He resolved to seek the truth, while Dr. House said the answers about No. 1 and the figures behind him and Chen Mudou were tied to reaching a 100% Fusion Rate.

• Qin Yiguan met No. 1, who confirmed that Qin was one of the twelve personalities and that he had killed his foster parents.
• No. 1 carried the lantern away and told Qin Yiguan to find him at the end of the road if he survived.
• Qin Yiguan watched B5 and B6 disappear into the Leviathan Rift and believed everyone had died, before Dr. House revealed the scene was a hallucination.
• Qin Yiguan recognized that Dr. House’s Grant Sleep had drawn him into a guiltless dream as his mind neared collapse.
• Qin Yiguan decided to face his guilt by seeking the truth about his foster parents’ deaths.
• Dr. House said Qin Yiguan could begin to approach the answers about No. 1 and the figures behind him and Chen Mudou at a 100% Fusion Rate.

Qin Yiguan defeated Leviathan, and Jiaolong sealed the rift before he killed Lu Zun for his crimes. As Qin Yiguan left the grateful survivors behind, Jiu Zhengxuan finally understood that appearances did not determine who was good or bad.

• Qin Yiguan deactivated [Gestalt Collapse], causing Leviathan to vanish, and Jiaolong used her tattoo-like patterns to sew the rift shut.
• Jiu Zhengxuan revealed that his apparent corpse was only a likeness created with the Black Room, while Lu Zun begged his son to save him.
• Jiu Zhengxuan stepped away from Lu Zun, and Qin Yiguan stabbed him repeatedly before killing him.
• The survivors thanked Qin Yiguan for saving B5 and B6, but he rejected a little girl's offer of friendship, Taotie Clam's request to join him, and a reporter's attempt to photograph him.
• Qin Yiguan walked into a dim alley, and Jiu Zhengxuan called after him that people in the light were not necessarily good and people in the dark were not necessarily bad.

After saving B5 and B6, Jingye Meinan returned to B1 Sector and confronted his father, Luo Changtian, with an outrageous request for money. Meanwhile, Jiu Zhengxuan was interrogated about his father Lu Zun’s scheme, while rumors spread throughout the Metaverse about the mysterious “demonic youth.”

• Luo Changtian welcomed Jingye Meinan home and praised his role in stopping the B5 and B6 disaster.
• Jingye Meinan reproached Luo Changtian for preparing beam nuclear weapons despite knowing his son was at the inauguration ceremony, then said he forgave him.
• Jingye Meinan revealed that he had arranged for the Beauty Group’s future and introduced 2,365 women as his girlfriends, asking Luo Changtian for money until Luo fainted.
• Interrogators questioned Jiu Zhengxuan about his involvement in Lu Zun’s scheme, and Jiu Zhengxuan admitted that Lu Zun had raised him.
• People across the Metaverse speculated about the savior of B5 and B6 and began calling the youth a “demonic youth.”

Qin Yiguan and Jiu Zhengxuan returned to 053 High School after the Leviathan incident, while Jiu Zhengxuan remained under investigation but insisted on keeping his duties. Mu Qingkuang arrived to teach the class, leaving Falcon terrified that the Light Emperor had taken over his physics lesson.

• Qin Yiguan returned to class and smiled at a transfer student who reminded him of Shangguan Xiaotao.
• Jiu Zhengxuan arrived wearing an alloy tracking device after arguing that his father's crimes did not make him or the Youth Order Squad guilty.
• Jiu Zhengxuan quietly took his seat as his classmates accepted his return without questioning him.
• Mu Qingkuang warned the class against judging their classmates and threatened to turn offenders into statues in Auspicious Snow Square.
• Falcon entered to teach physics, but Mu Qingkuang announced himself as the Light Emperor and took over the class.

Qin Yiguan confronted Zhong Yi at the ruins of the memory archive and accused him of helping Lu Zun carry out the Leviathan incident. He was about to explain how Zhong Yi enabled Lu Zun to affect the Snow City of Heavenly Light.

• Jiu Zhengxuan asked Qin Yiguan how he had emerged from the darkness, and Qin Yiguan told him to take a few more steps.
• Qin Yiguan suggested Lu Zun might not have been the only culprit behind the Leviathan incident and said he had come to investigate the memory archive.
• Qin Yiguan pointed out that the archive’s unusually wide stairs and low display cases suited Zhong Yi’s cane and stature, implying Zhong Yi had designed its first basement level.
• Qin Yiguan caught Zhong Yi revealing that he knew the basement held memories of people being tortured to death, even though that detail had not been made public.
• Qin Yiguan reasoned that Lu Zun needed to touch anything he affected with Absolute Hit, then asked how he could have touched the Snow City of Heavenly Light while Teacher Qing controlled it.

Qin Yiguan exposed Zhong Yi as the mastermind behind the disaster and identified him as Jiu Zhengxuan’s biological father. He poisoned Zhong Yi and left Jiu Zhengxuan to arrest him as Qin Yiguan embraced his reputation as a demonic youth.

• Qin Yiguan revealed that he had seen Zhong Yi at the Heavenly Light Snow City’s launch and among the falling residents, and deduced that Zhong Yi had the Absolute Hit Reality Enhancement.
• Qin Yiguan connected Zhong Yi to Lu Zun, concluding that Lu Zun was Liu Zhengxuan and that Zhong Yi was Jiu Zhengxuan’s biological father.
• Zhong Yi tried to stand and use his power against Qin Yiguan, but failed because Reality Enhancement did not work in Core Earth.
• Zhong Yi admitted that Qin Yiguan had thwarted the plan he had devised for a hundred years, and Qin Yiguan urged Jiu Zhengxuan to arrest him.
• Qin Yiguan secretly injected Zhong Yi with mutated ricin toxin, intending for him to die after his interrogation, and called himself a demonic youth.

After the Black Sun's Fall event, Qin Yiguan gained a major Fusion Rate increase and reflected on his uncertain identity before visiting Dr. House's clinic. There, the landscape transformed, and Qin Yiguan found himself standing in the palm of a colossal figure resembling Dr. House.

• Qin Yiguan received a 30% Fusion Rate reward for completing the Metaverse: Black Sun's Fall event, bringing his total to 65%.
• Qin Yiguan reviewed his developing abilities and wondered whether the Gemini Superbrain's organized system had been designed specifically for him.
• Jingye Meinan told Qin Yiguan that his Fusion Rate had risen from 18% to 22%, and Qin Yiguan jokingly complained about his own gains.
• Qin Yiguan privately worried that he might be a split personality who would disappear, and resolved to uncover the truth before that happened.
• Qin Yiguan climbed toward Dr. House's clinic, but found the hillside bare and the clinic gone.
• The ground rose beneath Qin Yiguan and formed a giant palm, revealing a colossal figure resembling Dr. House with spiraling lights across its forehead.

Qin Yiguan asked Dr. House about achieving a 100% Fusion Rate and learned that those who reach it can connect with a higher-dimensional version of themselves called the Higher Self. The revelation ended with Dr. House telling Qin Yiguan that he had twelve Higher Selves.

• Qin Yiguan met Dr. House at his clinic after seeing the giant figure Dr. House identified as his Higher Self.
• Dr. House revealed that his Fusion Rate was 101%, having risen one point after he helped Qin Yiguan defeat Lu Zun.
• Dr. House explained that reaching 100% Fusion Rate allowed people to see and request help from their Higher Selves, and that fewer than ten people in the Metaverse had reached that level.
• Dr. House said Chen Mudou had reached 100% Fusion Rate without realizing it, and explained his Higher Self's account of consciousness splitting into sub-consciousnesses that became individual people.
• Dr. House told Qin Yiguan that people sometimes experience their Higher Self through dreams, inner narration, intuition, and warnings about the future.
• Dr. House revealed that Qin Yiguan had twelve Higher Selves.

Dr. House explained that Qin Yiguan’s twelve other personalities were growing as Higher Selves and that No. 1 was their strongest rival, seeking control. He revealed the Metaverse’s second stage, Separation Rate, and urged Qin Yiguan to believe in his potential to surpass No. 1.

• Dr. House told Qin Yiguan that his twelve other personalities were Higher Selves growing independently, and that No. 1 was one of them, already far ahead.
• Dr. House explained that the personalities were competing to become the one who led the others, while some might secretly oppose Qin Yiguan.
• Dr. House ranked the child as the strongest personality Qin Yiguan had met, followed by the Guardian and Black Calamity, and said No. 1 was beyond his ability to assess.
• Dr. House showed Qin Yiguan his Separation Rate and explained that the Metaverse’s second stage could let awakened abilities manifest in the real world.
• Qin Yiguan feared No. 1’s advantage, but Dr. House reminded him that the mass of consciousness had chosen him, and Qin Yiguan resolved that he would become the strongest version of himself.

Qin Yiguan visited Jiaolong’s tattoo shop, where she thanked him for avenging her father and they spent the night together. He woke to find Jiaolong gone and a note explaining that they came from different parallel universes and that she had left to explore.

• Qin Yiguan reflected on Dr. House’s warning about the higher self and his own twelve higher selves, especially No. 1, who intended to control him.
• Qin Yiguan went to Jiaolong’s tattoo shop to continue his consciousness tattoo and followed her instructions to remove his shirt and lie down.
• Jiaolong embraced and kissed Qin Yiguan, thanking him for killing Lu Zun and avenging her father.
• Qin Yiguan and Jiaolong spent the night together, and Qin Yiguan slept peacefully in the tattoo shop.
• Qin Yiguan woke to find Jiaolong gone and read her note saying they came from different parallel universes and she had left to explore.

After parting from Jiaolong, Qin Yiguan walked on as news of the new policy for brain disease patients spread and people from his past began choosing their own paths. He asked Teacher Qing for leave to pursue his own destination, and Teacher Qing approved without asking where he was going.

• Qin Yiguan closed his tattoo shop after leaving Jiaolong and hoped they would meet again.
• Qin Yiguan learned that brain disease patients could apply for Nutrient Pods and thanked Officer Wang for arranging one, though he no longer wanted to use his old pod.
• Qin Yiguan approved Chen Mudou’s leave request after she wrote that she had agreed to travel with Jiang Mingshu.
• Qin Yiguan contacted Jiu Zhengxuan, learned Zhong Yi had died, and wished him a bright future.
• Qin Yiguan visited Teacher Qing at 053 High School and asked for leave, which Teacher Qing granted while urging him to aim high.

Qin Yiguan received a stealth aircraft from Jingye Meinan and set off to explore the distant reaches of the Metaverse. Meanwhile, NST Wulong Baiyan discovered that Daxiu had disappeared and blamed Jingye Meinan.

• Qin Yiguan considered traveling far beyond the Experimental Zone after the Three-Legged Cat was destroyed.
• A transport aircraft delivered Jingye Meinan’s gift, and Qin Yiguan watched a message explaining that Meinan had taken Daxiu, his Beauty Group, and River Phoenix Society members to another sector.
• Qin Yiguan boarded the aircraft, met its holographic assistant Meina, told her to put on clothes, and renamed the aircraft Shadow.
• NST Wulong Baiyan returned to Dog Gang headquarters, found Daxiu gone, and vowed to kill Jingye Meinan.

Qin Yiguan flew the Shadow across the barren Experimental Zone and discovered that he had become dangerously thin and was suddenly ravenous. He spotted an oasis and ordered Meina to land, but found her and God's Abandoned occupied with each other.

• Qin Yiguan flew the Shadow low over the Experimental Zone and saw nothing but barren yellow land stretching into the distance.
• God's Abandoned admitted that it was hacking into the Shadow's system so it could meet Meina in virtual space.
• Qin Yiguan realized that he had become extremely thin and was suffering from sudden, intense hunger.
• Qin Yiguan considered whether eating in the Metaverse could restore his strength and searched the Shadow for food, but Meina said it had none besides an edible carpet.
• Qin Yiguan spotted a small oasis, ordered Meina to land, and called out to her and God's Abandoned to stop what they were doing.

Qin Yiguan found Shennong Garden, where Lao De and Zhichun fed him and showed him their greenhouse. The chapter ended as Zhichun summoned Shennong, revealing a high-tech system that filled the greenhouse with data and a control panel.

• Qin Yiguan discovered a small courtyard called Shennong Garden in the Experimental Zone and met Zhichun and Lao De.
• Lao De welcomed Qin Yiguan and Zhichun served him fruit, vegetables, sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkins.
• Qin Yiguan ate all the food and thanked Lao De and Zhichun, then asked why they lived there.
• Zhichun guided Qin Yiguan into the greenhouse and warned him to follow her steps and touch nothing.
• Zhichun called for Shennong, and a mechanical voice answered as blue light and floating data appeared throughout the greenhouse.

Zhichun showed Qin Yiguan how Surreal Governance let her and Lao De manage a quarter of Earth’s farmland and feed billions. After Qin Yiguan left their courtyard, he killed four men who threatened the family and continued his journey.

• Zhichun demonstrated how she controlled unmanned machines to water wheat fields and protect an apricot grove, explaining that she and Lao De had tended a quarter of Earth’s cropland and fed at least two billion people.
• God's Abandoned identified Lao De as Chen Fende, the reclusive Divine Farmer Emperor and one of the new era’s three pillars of livelihood.
• Qin Yiguan helped Zhichun clear weeds, then met her little brother Zhiliao, who told him stories about Ground Mouths and Electricity Bugs before Zhichun sent him back to rest.
• Qin Yiguan said goodbye to Lao De’s family and headed for the Shadow, where four men arrived and threatened to kill Lao De and assault Zhichun.
• Qin Yiguan killed the four men, sent their aircraft ascending indefinitely, waved goodbye to Zhichun, and took off in the Shadow.

Qin Yiguan left Shennong Garden and discovered that his relentless hunger persisted despite being healthy. He stopped at a desert outpost for meat, where rival scavenger gangs fought over the Shadow as he watched and ate.

• Qin Yiguan wondered who had protected Shennong Garden before departing in the Shadow.
• Meina scanned Qin Yiguan and confirmed he was not sick, leaving him to suspect he needed to eat meat.
• Qin Yiguan spotted a desert outpost and landed the Shadow nearby to find food.
• Qin Yiguan bought a box of meatballs from a restaurant while a group of wasteland punks set their sights on the Shadow.
• Tie Ha and Gang Long's scavenger crews clashed in a bloody fight over the aircraft as Qin Yiguan ate and watched.

Qin Yiguan killed the scavengers who tried to take his aircraft, then met a group of motorcycle riders led by Men Luosha. She diagnosed him with incurable Hunger Disease and warned that he had about two days to live.

• Qin Yiguan questioned the dying Tie Ha, learned he had wanted to steal the aircraft, and watched him die.
• Men Luosha and several motorcycle riders arrived, and one rider identified Qin Yiguan’s aircraft as a mass-produced WET-363.
• Men Luosha introduced herself and told Qin Yiguan that he had Hunger Disease, which could not be cured.
• The restaurant cook rushed out demanding payment, rapidly wasted away, and died as Men Luosha explained that Qin Yiguan had about two days left.

Qin Yiguan learned that Hunger Disease was caused by a Starvation Corpse in the Experimental Zone and joined Men Luosha’s hunter squad’s pursuit. After the squad sped away on Far Sail motorcycles, he realized he might not be able to keep up with them.

• Qin Yiguan deduced that Hunger Disease had erupted around Demon's Wish and that people had gathered there to investigate or hunt its cause.
• Men Luosha explained that a Starvation Corpse emitted Hunger Particles and that her hunter squad planned to capture it for a bounty from the Collector.
• Tie Liang told Qin Yiguan that Men Luosha had a fifty-three percent Fusion Rate and Reality Enhancement, then showed off a mechanical prosthesis he hoped to buy.
• Men Luosha led the hunter squad out on their Far Sail motorcycles after Qin Yiguan asked to come along.
• Qin Yiguan watched the motorcycles race away at near half the speed of light and wondered whether his Shadow could catch up.