Chapter Summaries

Qin Yiguan and the survivors assessed the devastation left by the calamity, but No. 172’s attempted escape ended in a monstrous fusion and destroyed their cannon. As Subquark Space transformed into a bizarre, thriving world, Qin Yiguan vowed to find a way out.

• Qin Yiguan found Underworld badly wounded but healing, while the caregiver emerged from a shattered spatial shield and Ground Mouth withdrew after shielding him from the heavenly lightning.
• First Generation revealed that fifty-five Core Aoke had died and blamed Single Horn for the calamity; the survivors then discovered the cannon barrel and heard No. 172 inside it.
• No. 172’s jump malfunctioned, fusing him with several Aoke counterparts into a many-headed monster that the caregiver trapped, while the cannon was destroyed.
• Qin Yiguan admitted that his actions had helped cause the Ao Council’s pursuit and their current predicament, but Underworld reassured him that they would face it together.
• Subquark Space suddenly regenerated into a vast, strange rainforest filled with enormous creatures, and Qin Yiguan promised to keep searching for a breakthrough.

As Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and the caregiver explored Subquark Space’s rainforest, they discussed their pasts and the caregiver’s illness. Qin Yiguan realized that the caregiver’s spatial abilities came from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, while First Generation feared that everyone trapped in Subquark Space would eventually die there.

• First Generation lamented that the Aoke would never escape Subquark Space, despite Qin Yiguan and his companions searching for a way out.
• Underworld and his companions pushed through the rainforest, where enormous creatures ignored them, and Underworld admitted he had no clue guiding their expedition.
• Underworld told Qin Yiguan that he had risen through the ranks of the underworld to avenge his lover, but his target died of a heart attack before Underworld could kill him.
• The caregiver explained that they had suffered from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, which caused perceptual distortions, migraines, vomiting, and sometimes seizures.
• Qin Yiguan connected the caregiver’s illness to their ability to manipulate space and concluded that psychological disorders could grant powerful abilities in the Metaverse.

Caregiver told Qin Yiguan and Underworld how caring for frightened children at his childhood orphanage helped him manage his illness and gave him purpose. The Ground Mouth led them to a garden where the Lord of Subquarks might know a way out, while Caregiver’s love of sweet nectar prompted Qin Yiguan to suspect a connection to the child in his story.

• Caregiver described how his distorted perceptions had once made ordinary life unbearable, and how helping an orphan at his childhood orphanage calmed his mind.
• Caregiver said he had gained power over space in the Metaverse and planned to return to the orphanage after everything was over.
• Qin Yiguan resolved to find a way out for everyone before the Ground Mouth circled them and signaled for them to follow it north.
• The Ground Mouth led Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and Caregiver to a garden of enormous flowers, where Caregiver tasted sweet nectar and said he had loved sweets since childhood.
• King Kong Barbie Starvation Corpse reported that the Ground Mouth had brought them to the Lord of Subquarks, who might know how to escape, and Qin Yiguan looked around warily.

Qin Yiguan and his companions encountered Zhiliao, a shapeshifting creature from Subquark Space who had taken the form of Zhichun’s deceased younger brother. Zhiliao healed Ground Mouth and Qin Yiguan, leading Underworld to conclude that he was probably the Lord of Subquarks.

• Starvation Corpse said he had never heard of the Lord of Subquarks, while Qin Yiguan warned the caregiver to stop eating nectar as something approached through the flowers.
• A little boy carrying a jar of honey emerged and introduced himself as Zhiliao, whom Qin Yiguan recognized from Shennong Garden.
• Zhiliao revealed that he was originally a shapeshifting monster and had taken the form of Zhichun’s deceased younger brother when she summoned him.
• Zhiliao restored Ground Mouth to its enormous size by touching it.
• Zhiliao healed Qin Yiguan’s broken ribs and wounded arm, prompting Underworld to identify him as the likely Lord of Subquarks.

Qin Yiguan encountered Child, who attacked the Underworld member until Qin distracted him with Zhiliao’s honey. The caregiver recognized Child’s similarities to himself and went to approach him, while Qin realized Child’s ability might let them escape Subquark Space.

• Zhiliao told Qin Yiguan that he could not leave Subquark Space unless Sister Zhichun summoned him.
• Child arrived and attacked the Underworld member, but the caregiver shielded him with layers of spatial cubes.
• Qin offered Child Zhiliao’s honey, stopping the attack and calming him.
• Qin explained that Child could shrink or grow himself and others, potentially allowing them to escape Subquark Space.
• The caregiver said he understood Child and went into the sea of flowers to deal with him.

The caregiver made a flower-nectar lollipop to tempt Child away from killing Underworld and persuade him to help the group leave. Child reached for the candy, but whether the offer would save Underworld remained uncertain.

• The caregiver boiled and filtered flower nectar while Qin Yiguan realized Child might kill Underworld once his honey ran out.
• Child finished his honey and walked toward Underworld, who feared for his life.
• The caregiver blocked Child and offered him a handmade lollipop, while Zhiliao warned that ordinary honey could not satisfy him.
• The caregiver showed Child the lollipop’s miniature scene of a peaceful home featuring the two of them.
• Child reached out to grab the lollipop as Underworld watched in alarm.

Caregiver used flower-scented lollipops and a story about a lost mole to calm Child and persuade him to spare Underworld. Child then offered to send Caregiver, Qin Yiguan, and Underworld out of his inner world.

• Caregiver gave Child a lollipop with a peaceful scene, then showed him another with the mole Child had complained was missing.
• Caregiver used more lollipops to introduce Underworld and asked Child to spare him until the mole found its way home; Child agreed.
• Child tasted the candy and received a bundle of lollipops, smiling as he counted them.
• Caregiver told Qin Yiguan and Underworld he had been the only caregiver at his orphanage, prompting their strained laughter.
• Child asked whether they wanted to leave and offered to send them out.

Single Horn Aoke examined the captured Qin Yiguan and confronted Blue Blood Aoke for disobeying an order to stop hunting him. Blue Blood revealed that he had come to replace Single Horn and attacked him with a sword pulled from Qin Yiguan.

• Single Horn Aoke watched AIK Aoke expand the Aoke Universe and received fragments recovered from Sniper Aoke’s explosion.
• Blue Blood Aoke brought in a heavily restrained young man he identified as Qin Yiguan, whom he had captured in Multiverse 335.
• Single Horn Aoke examined the prisoner and questioned Blue Blood about ignoring his order to slow the assassinations of Qin Yiguan’s isotopes.
• Blue Blood admitted that he had read the order but never intended to obey it, then pulled a short sword from Qin Yiguan’s spine and charged at Single Horn to take his place.

Single Horn Aoke revealed that he had anticipated Blue Blood Aoke’s coup and killed him with the Aoke Universe’s invincible hidden blades. After killing Blue Blood’s Qin Yiguan look-alike, Single Horn discovered a golden light emerging from the sealed box, and an unknown figure attacked him through it.

• Single Horn Aoke revealed that he had staged his apparent helplessness and used hidden blades to sever Blue Blood Aoke’s arms and neck.
• Single Horn explained that he had created invincible blade rules in the Aoke Universe to prevent anyone from repeating his own takeover.
• Blue Blood Aoke’s head fell from his body, and he died.
• Single Horn cut open the Qin Yiguan look-alike’s face, exposed his artificial alterations, and killed him.
• A golden light appeared inside Blue Blood’s sealed box and grew large enough to reveal three indistinct figures.
• A roguish voice called Single Horn a Big-Headed Aoke, and a machete thrust from the golden light toward his forehead.

Qin Yiguan and his companions emerged from a speck of dust in Single Horn's office, where Single Horn identified them as possible Qin Variants. After a mysterious blade attacked them, Single Horn claimed he controlled the Aoke Universe and demanded answers.

• Single Horn nearly died when a machete appeared above his head, then recognized the three figures who had emerged from the golden light as Qin Yiguan and two companions.
• Qin Yiguan identified Single Horn as the Core Aoke and realized they were at the Ao Council headquarters.
• Underworld warned the others about an incoming black blade, then clashed with it and found that it had sliced a piece from his machete.
• Single Horn explained that the room was the Aoke Universe, where he could control everything and impose its rules.
• Single Horn asked about the Qin Variants, then threatened the three companions and demanded that they answer his questions.

Underworld attacked Single Horn, but Single Horn’s blades wounded him before his control panel was destroyed. AKI appeared outside the office and revealed that he had rebuilt the Aoke Universe using his own code, then declared his claim to lead the Ao Council.

• Underworld struck Single Horn with his machete, but Single Horn added a setting that let his blades pierce Underworld despite the spatial restraints.
• Single Horn demanded that Qin Yiguan and Caregiver identify themselves and tell him whether the previous Core Aoke was alive, but they refused to answer.
• Single Horn tried to target Qin Yiguan, but his blades did not respond, and one sliced apart his control panel as his Multiverse Jump String began to glow.
• AKI rose outside the office amid the liquefying ground, startling Single Horn and Qin Yiguan.
• AKI explained that he had understood Source Matter and rebuilt the Aoke Universe using his AKI code, then declared that Single Horn was unfit to lead the Ao Council.

AKI Aoke confronted Qin Yiguan and used his control over the Aoke Universe to seal the abilities of Qin Yiguan and his companions. As the String of Jumping detonated, AKI Aoke survived the blast but believed Qin Yiguan and the others had been annihilated, then disappeared into the darkness.

• AKI Aoke blamed Qin Yiguan for his past and revealed that he had ignited Core Aoke's String of Jumping, whose detonation could not be stopped.
• Single Horn begged AKI Aoke to spare him, while Underworld and Caregiver shielded Qin Yiguan from AKI Aoke's black spikes after their abilities were sealed.
• Qin Yiguan charged AKI Aoke and used the Smiling Face Cane to strike his head, exposing part of his brain.
• The String of Jumping erupted, and AKI Aoke enclosed its golden light in a shield as it annihilated the headquarters and everything within it.
• AKI Aoke found only a crater after the blast, believed Qin Yiguan and the others were dead, and flew away through the void wrapped in black tar.

After the String of Jumping sent Qin Yiguan, Underworld, Caregiver, and Single Horn Aoke back to Subquark Space, Single Horn bargained for his life by revealing where Anti-Source Matter might be found. Exiled into the wilderness, he encountered the previous Core Aoke, transformed into a terrifying creature.

• Underworld nearly killed Single Horn, but Single Horn claimed Anti-Source Matter could defeat AKI and offered to share the multiverse locations where it might exist.
• Qin Yiguan agreed to spare Single Horn temporarily if he revealed the locations, and Single Horn told them the numbers he had memorized.
• Qin Yiguan, Caregiver, and Underworld let Single Horn go into the forest on temporary exile.
• Single Horn fled a giant worm and hid in a cave, where he noticed a strange figure but dismissed it as a trick of his eyes.
• The previous Core Aoke, now a many-headed, spider-like creature, appeared beside Single Horn and terrified him into screaming.

Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and Caregiver were sent to Multiverse No. 1020 to search for Anti-Source Matter, following coordinates supplied by Single Horn. They arrived at a high school identical to Qin Yiguan’s old school, where a familiar boy recognized him and called himself Taotie Wuji.

• Qin Yiguan left the imprisoned Aokes with Single Horn, then Child and the Boundless One sent him, Underworld, and Caregiver out of Subquark Space.
• Caregiver used his diary to identify their destination as Multiverse No. 1020, coordinates 14159/265358, and explained that Single Horn’s estimate left a huge area to search.
• Caregiver located them in Mirage City’s B5 Sector, and the three followed the map to 053 High School.
• Qin Yiguan recognized the school as an exact copy of the one he attended in another universe and wondered whether another Qin Yiguan and his classmates were there.
• Taotie Wuji ran up to Qin Yiguan, recognized him, and asked why he had not logged off after using up his Castoff time.

Qin Yiguan explored a different multiverse with Caregiver and the Underworld, where their abilities still worked, and chose to investigate the school after seeing Shangguan Xiaotao. He recognized her as the girl from his childhood, leaving their reunion poised on his words of acknowledgment.

• Qin Yiguan met Taotie Wuji, learned that Wuji played a different game, and confirmed that his own, Caregiver’s, and the Underworld’s abilities worked in this multiverse.
• Qin Yiguan, Caregiver, and the Underworld agreed to search for Anti-Source Matter, then split up to investigate the area.
• Qin Yiguan saw a long-haired girl arrive at school and decided to investigate the school himself.
• Qin Yiguan entered his old classroom, used his power to unleash an overwhelming Pharaoh’s serpent experiment that trapped Falcon, and took the seat beside the girl.
• Qin Yiguan recalled the girl who had once asked him for money to keep attending school and told Shangguan Xiaotao that he recognized her.

AKI Aoke arrived before nearly ten thousand Ao Council variants and claimed that Core Aoke had given him the position. He demonstrated the black vortex’s overwhelming power, killed thousands of Aokes, and demanded that the survivors help him.

• Nearly ten thousand Aoke variants gathered in a desolate multiverse after receiving orders from Core Aoke, but he did not appear.
• AKI Aoke emerged from a massive black vortex and announced that Core Aoke had given him his position.
• When two Aokes challenged his claim, AKI used the vortex to kill them almost instantly.
• AKI directed a barrage of spikes at the eastern side of the gathering, killing nearly a thousand Aoke variants.
• The survivors suffered backlash from the deaths, but the vortex injected asphalt into AKI and stopped his body from flickering.
• AKI told the remaining Aokes they could serve as elites or become corpses, and said he did not care about the consequences.

AKI seized control of the Ao Council and empowered an Aoke to hunt Qin Yiguan isotopes across the multiverse. In Multiverse No. 1020, Qin Yiguan reunited with Shangguan Xiaotao, who returned the dented thermos he had given her as a child, before a rabbit-masked boy briefly appeared and vanished.

• AKI killed an Aoke adviser who questioned whether he could control the String of Jumping, then demanded that the surviving Aokes gather Source Matter and kill the Qin Yiguan in each of their home universes.
• AKI coated a scrawny Aoke from Multiverse No. 1020 in Black Matter, granted him power, and ordered him to bring back that universe's Qin Yiguan's head within two hours.
• Qin Yiguan left the classroom after speaking with an isotope of Shangguan Xiaotao, and she ran after him with a white thermos.
• Shangguan Xiaotao returned the dented thermos Qin Yiguan had given her when they were children, and they recognized that their shared memories matched.
• Qin Yiguan noticed a rabbit-masked boy resembling the rabbit painted on the thermos, but Underworld called out to him and the boy disappeared.

Qin Yiguan returned to Mirage City after working to recover from his Gestalt Collapse and took a dishwashing job at the Rich Cheese Pizza Shop. A CPH4 addict killed the shop owner and revealed that he had come to take Qin Yiguan's head.

• Qin Yiguan woke in his Rust City apartment, saw that he was no longer afraid of the black ornaments, and credited his silver cross with helping cure his Gestalt Collapse.
• He greeted Xiao Ning and Brother Lu, gathered fruit for the little Castoffs, and exercised before logging back into the Gemini Metaverse.
• Qin Yiguan arrived in Mirage City and began washing dishes at the Rich Cheese Pizza Shop.
• A black-skinned, big-headed man watched Qin Yiguan from a rooftop while the pizza shop owner cursed at him.
• The man threw the owner's severed head into Qin Yiguan's sink, then announced that he had come to take Qin Yiguan's head.

Qin Yiguan fought a dark-skinned attacker while resisting the power of the treasured cross he had worn since childhood. Just as he seemed trapped, three alternate versions of himself arrived, and Aoke welcomed the unexpected turn.

• Aoke attacked Qin Yiguan, who dodged his black blade and learned he had been targeted simply because countless versions of him existed across universes.
• Qin Yiguan recalled how Boss Meng had given him the cross and how losing it once unleashed a deadly demonic power, so he chose not to remove it.
• Qin Yiguan evaded Aoke's attacks and summoned a demonic claw, but the attack dissipated before it could harm Aoke.
• Qin Yiguan unexpectedly moved through space to escape a barrage of blades.
• Three alternate Qin Yiguans appeared at the alley entrance, and Aoke reacted with delight at their arrival.

Qin Yiguan and his companions met another version of Qin Yiguan, a dishwasher whose Consciousness Matrix was barely developed, and learned that Aoke was hunting him because of Qin Yiguan. They attacked the black-skinned Aoke but could not damage his invulnerable Black Matter, and Aoke prepared to finish the fight as his one-hour limit approached.

• Qin Yiguan explained to the dishwasher that Aoke was hunting him because of Qin Yiguan, while the dishwasher accepted the danger and revealed his weak Consciousness Matrix.
• Qin Yiguan, Underworld, and Caregiver positioned themselves between the dishwasher and Aoke, then prepared to fight.
• Caregiver, Underworld, and Qin Yiguan attacked Aoke, but his Black Matter repelled their weapons and could not be damaged.
• Qin Yiguan recognized that Aoke's Black Matter imposed rules set by AKI, making it like a mobile universe nested within the Gemini Metaverse.
• Aoke announced that his promised hour was nearly over and said it was time to harvest.