Chapter Summaries

An Xinyi brought Satoru Gojo to Tsugaru’s impoverished slum, where Gojo saw the hardship residents faced and learned how An helped them. After sensing a powerful cursed spirit nearing birth, Gojo vowed to intervene while An went to deliver medicine.

• An Xinyi led Satoru Gojo through Tsugaru’s crowded, deteriorating slum to visit Shinji Kitagawa, a former colleague he had supported.
• Shinji Kitagawa warmly welcomed them, shared stories about An, and introduced his wife Rin Kitagawa and daughter Nami.
• An Xinyi left with a bag of medicine to sell or deliver to local women, explaining that poverty and unemployment had left residents with few options and gang exploitation.
• Satoru Gojo sensed a cursed womb of at least Grade 1 forming amid the residents’ negative emotions and declared that he would deal with it.

An Xinyi showed Satoru Gojo the exploitation and abuse endured by women and children in a brothel district, prompting Satoru to decide he would use his strength to change society. An Xinyi proposed that Satoru confront foreign Ability Users at an upcoming treaty meeting, and Satoru agreed, rekindling An Xinyi’s own resolve to keep fighting.

• Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto reacted with anger and disgust after learning about abuses enabled by the government and society.
• An Xinyi took Satoru Gojo to a brothel district near a foreign military base and explained how it supported Japan’s government financially.
• An Xinyi sold medicine to the women and children there, while Satoru Gojo saw their hardship and heard their hopes for escape.
• Satoru Gojo said he could not ignore the suffering he had witnessed and resolved to stop it because he was unhappy with the situation.
• An Xinyi told Satoru about a meeting with foreign representatives in ten days and urged him to challenge their Ability Users to strengthen Japan’s position.
• Satoru Gojo agreed to cause trouble at the meeting, and An Xinyi regained some hope that humanity’s struggle was not over.

Satoru Gojo used his power to disrupt an international conference, prevent Yokohama from becoming a foreign concession, and threaten Japan’s leaders into reform. As An Xinyi organized rescues after a devastating snow disaster in Tsugaru City, fire broke out near the harbor where foreign forces were stationed and vulnerable women lived.

• Satoru Gojo stormed the international conference and destroyed the venue after demanding that the delegates fight him.
• Satoru Gojo forced foreign representatives to relax their terms, helping Japan reach an agreement that kept Yokohama from becoming a foreign concession.
• Satoru Gojo warned Japan’s leaders that he would not allow the country’s existing system to cause another crisis and threatened them if they refused to change.
• An Xinyi and Tokuya Akino arrived in Tsugaru City and found the slums devastated by heavy snow, with residents trapped, injured, and grieving.
• Tokuya Akino sought help while An Xinyi organized Shinji Kitagawa and other residents to rescue survivors.
• An Xinyi spotted a fire near the harbor, where foreign forces were stationed and poor women lived.

Tokuya Akino confronted his former comrade Nariki Heng and persuaded him to help rescue civilians trapped by the blizzard, while Akiko Yosano resolved to face the past she shared with them. At the rescue site, An Xinyi’s message reached Satoru Gojo, who abruptly left a banquet after sensing an emergency.

• Tokuya Akino urged Nariki Heng to abandon his hesitation and help save the women, and Nariki Heng forged deployment orders to send soldiers with him.
• Ranpo Edogawa told Akiko Yosano that Akino and Nariki Heng acted because she mattered, and Yosano decided to go see them.
• Tokuya Akino and his soldiers joined An Xinyi’s rescue operation, easing pressure on the people searching through the rubble.
• An Xinyi left the harbor situation to Satoru Gojo, while Chūya Nakahara observed that Gojo had become a reliable companion to An.
• Satoru Gojo received An Xinyi’s message during a banquet, released a burst of pressure, and disappeared from the hall.

Tokuya Akino rescued a trapped girl during the disaster but lost consciousness after saving her, prompting Akiko Yosano to resolve to confront her past. At Tsugaru, Satoru Gojo evacuated the harbor survivors and unleashed Hollow Technique: Purple to stop the spreading fire, leaving the consequences of his actions uncertain.

• Tokuya Akino found a girl trapped beneath rubble, rescued her as the building collapsed, and thought of apologizing to Akiko Yosano before losing consciousness.
• Akiko Yosano decided to face the people and events from her past, and Ranpo Edogawa promised that he and the president would accompany her.
• Michizo Tachihara struggled over whether to forgive Akiko Yosano or blame Mori Ougai and the military higher-ups.
• Satoru Gojo reached Tsugaru, confirmed An Xinyi was safe, and rescued fifty-three women from the burning harbor.
• Morita Ryoko helped the women trust Satoru Gojo, who evacuated them and raised a Curtain to keep the flames back.
• Satoru Gojo used Blue, Red, and Hollow Technique: Purple to destroy a path and try to stop the fire from spreading.

After the disaster, Satoru Gojo and An Xinyi helped survivors who had lost their homes and loved ones. An Xinyi repaired cherished keepsakes through the night, helping the survivors regain their composure, before exhaustion overcame him and Satoru caught him.

• Masamichi Yaga reprimanded Satoru Gojo for his actions, while the others teased him about being different from the cool Gojo on the screen.
• Satoru Gojo brought the survivors to An Xinyi, who told him that the Kitagawa couple had died while rescuing people.
• Nami learned that her parents were gone, and An Xinyi repaired her broken doll so she could finally grieve.
• An Xinyi repaired an old man's porcelain doll and then spent the night fixing keepsakes as the survivors began searching for supplies and rescuing others.
• Satoru Gojo transported food and warm clothing while An Xinyi worked, then caught him when he collapsed from exhaustion.

Satoru Gojo and An Xinyi joined Tsugaru in mourning Tokuya Akino and the other victims, and the townspeople lit candles to guide the dead. Seeing their small lights, An Xinyi reaffirmed his resolve to fight for a future where people could live freely; the loop then ended and the record was overwritten.

• Satoru Gojo organized relief efforts and carried Tokuya Akino's body from the ruins after learning of his death.
• An Xinyi and the others attended the burial of Tokuya Akino, Shinji Kitagawa, and thirty-one other victims.
• Satoru Gojo reflected on how little he had noticed about Tokuya Akino, then acknowledged that the ordinary man had shown remarkable courage.
• The people of Tsugaru lined the streets with candles to light the dead's way, and An Xinyi offered Satoru Gojo a candle.
• An Xinyi drew strength from the townspeople's determination to live and resolved to keep fighting for their future.
• The loop ended, and the record was overwritten.

Satoru Gojo and the others resisted the screening space and demanded to see An Xinyi, who the space promised they could meet after the screening ended if he chose to return. The screening revealed that An Xinyi 144 had tried countless loops to avert catastrophe, but even perfect repeated attempts had failed to produce a path to victory.

• Satoru Gojo, Ranpo Edogawa, Osamu Dazai, Hao Asakura, and the others resisted the space's suppression and demanded that it return An Xinyi.
• The space promised a chance to see An Xinyi after the screening, with his eventual choice deciding what happened; Satoru Gojo reluctantly agreed to wait.
• An Xinyi 144 told DD that a previous loop's reforms had begun to work, but fate had cut their hopes short, leaving only regret.
• Satoru Gojo declared An Xinyi his best friend and vowed to bring him back, while Ranpo Edogawa, Osamu Dazai, Yukichi Fukuzawa, and others also refused to let him go without a fight.
• An Xinyi 144 explained that repeatedly using Regret within a loop could impose a severe mental burden, and that Zero had already tried exhaustive resets to find a winning route.
• An Xinyi 144 revealed that Zero and the others had done everything perfectly but still failed, because reality offered no route to victory and a zero chance could never become one.

An Xinyi defended the meaning of his repeated failures and said he still loved the world, while Osamu Dazai struggled to understand how he could remain hopeful. After moving abroad as a new 144, An Xinyi explained his instinct to avoid being recorded and admitted that surveillance reminded him of being kept in a cage.

• Satoru Gojo insisted on facing things alongside Suguru Geto rather than letting him take everything on alone.
• An Xinyi 144 told DD that the failed cycles were part of the journey toward a happy ending and that he did not regret his efforts.
• Osamu Dazai questioned how An Xinyi could still find the world beautiful, and Ranpo Edogawa answered that it was because he was An Xinyi.
• An Xinyi moved abroad after his death and blended in among the people there while DD monitored him through street cameras.
• An Xinyi explained that he sensed cameras and avoided being photographed because recordings could expose him, and said they reminded him of his days as a bird in a cage.

Ango Sakaguchi entered the heavily guarded underground base where Prophet, the source of humanity’s technological advances, was kept. As Ango prepared to meet him, he recalled their first encounter and the prophecy that humanity would go extinct within a century.

• Atsushi Nakajima, Osamu Dazai, Ranpo Edogawa, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor, Ayatsuji Yukito, and Satoru Gojo reacted to the suggestion of caging An Xinyi, while Ranpo struck Osamu for his inappropriate enthusiasm.
• Ango Sakaguchi passed extensive security checks and entered the underground base, where a vast holographic beach concealed Prophet’s facility.
• Mori Ougai, Fukuchi Ochi, Santoka Taneda, and Koyo Ozaki discussed An Xinyi’s decision to hand himself over to the United Nations and the possibility that no successful path remained.
• Ango Sakaguchi recalled that Prophet had foretold humanity’s extinction within a hundred years, prompting the nations to establish the Human Alliance.
• Ango Sakaguchi reviewed why he had been selected as Prophet’s counselor and remembered their first meeting, when he thought Prophet looked like a god.

Ango Sakaguchi met the Prophet and found himself treated differently, drawing suspicion and jealousy from the others. During a later meeting, the Prophet secretly revealed his name to Ango, leaving him with a secret he was not supposed to know.

• Osamu Dazai complained to Ango Sakaguchi that he wanted to counsel Yiyi too, while Ango tried to avoid his anger.
• Ango met the Prophet, who spoke to him personally and claimed they had met, perhaps in a dream.
• After the meeting, Osamu Dazai and the others questioned Ango about why the Prophet treated him differently.
• Ango continued meeting the Prophet as his superiors increased his counseling time, though he suspected the Prophet was lonely rather than seeing anything special in him.
• During their fourth meeting, the Prophet secretly wrote his name, An Xinyi, on Ango's palm.

Ango Sakaguchi struggled with the trust An Xinyi had shown him and began to question the surveillance and restrictions imposed on the Prophet. After their next meeting, Ango kept the authorities from probing An Xinyi about his powers, leaving him increasingly conflicted about his role as counselor.

• Satoru Gojo, Hao Asakura, Nikolai Gogol, and Fyodor reacted angrily to An Xinyi being confined and watched, while Hao wondered why he did not retaliate against humanity.
• Ango Sakaguchi repeatedly thought about An Xinyi telling him his name and wondered whether the Prophet trusted him because they would become friends.
• At their next meeting, An Xinyi chatted with Ango about a popular novel and teased him about the nicknames people used for the Prophet.
• Ango ignored instructions from his earpiece to question An Xinyi about his precognition, then told his superior that they were not close enough for such questions.
• Afterward, Ango reflected on the Prophet's constant surveillance and his own growing sympathy, and feared that his personal feelings made him an unfit counselor.

Ango Sakaguchi reflected on his bond with the Prophet and was reassigned to a secret project after the Prophet made a troubling prophecy. Chris revealed that humanity owed the Prophet a great debt and that something had been watching them.

• Sakunosuke Oda arrived, reuniting with Osamu Dazai and Ango Sakaguchi as they acknowledged they could not return to their old friendship.
• Ango Sakaguchi recalled growing close to the Prophet and offering him trust, while the Prophet spoke cryptically about sacrifice and loneliness.
• Osamu Dazai and Ranpo Edogawa argued over who was closest to An Xinyi, and Yukichi Fukuzawa and Sakunosuke Oda stopped them.
• The Prophet made a prophecy that left him gravely exhausted, and Chris reassigned Ango Sakaguchi to the secret keeper project.
• Chris told Ango Sakaguchi that the Prophet had sacrificed greatly for humanity and that something had been watching them.

A new group of viewers from the Vongola and Millefiore arrived, and the screen showed Ango Sakaguchi watching the Prophet's condition worsen. Ango was powerless to stop the Prophet's removal, leaving the Bungo Stray Dogs group shaken by the revelation that he was An Xinyi's friend.

• The Vongola and Millefiore groups arrived, and Reborn identified Tsunayoshi Sawada as the Vongola's Tenth after violence was prohibited.
• The newcomers watched footage of Ango Sakaguchi and learned that the Prophet's condition was deteriorating.
• Chris activated a secret emergency plan, and silver-hooded personnel restrained the Prophet and took him away.
• Ango noticed the number 217 tattooed on the Prophet's wrist and realized he had to stop the removal.
• Chris told Ango that the transfer was an order from above, and Ango's glasses fell and cracked as he gave up resisting.

Ango Sakaguchi struggled with his grief over An Xinyi’s suffering, then resolved to rise within the Secret Keepers so he would never be powerless again. As he joined them under the codename Owl, Fox warned him about incomprehensible deities and taught him the titles of the one being Secret Keepers could pray to when facing death.

• Ango Sakaguchi spent several days in a slump before deciding to finish his work and report to the Secret Keepers.
• Osamu Dazai recognized Ango’s determination to climb higher, and Ango said it came from his conscience and desire to escape helplessness.
• Fox told Ango that joining the Secret Keepers meant abandoning his former identity and following three rules about reverence, caution, and never invoking a deity’s name.
• Fox explained that the Secret Keepers could pray to the Lord of the Sea of Hearts as a final comfort when death was near.
• Fox taught Ango the Lord of the Sea of Hearts’ titles: Watcher of Reincarnation, Observer Who Watches Fate, and Master of the Sea of Minds.

Hao Asakura concluded that An Xinyi had chosen humanity despite having the power to become a god, and said that becoming a new god required killing the old one. Ango Sakaguchi began training as a secret keeper, survived a deadly encounter with a mural, and learned that the secret keepers lived by avoiding knowledge of the beings they contained.

• Hao Asakura told Fitzgerald and the others that An Xinyi had chosen humanity, which Hao found admirable, and said that becoming a new god meant killing the old god.
• Ango Sakaguchi joined the secret keepers and received training in how to survive, including a pendant from Fox that could warn him of danger.
• Ango Sakaguchi investigated a sealed house where twenty-seven people had disappeared and became trapped staring at a mural showing their twisted silhouettes.
• Fox struck Ango Sakaguchi to break his gaze, then explained that the mural drew in anyone who looked at it and that the secret keepers avoided learning about dangerous beings.
• Fox warned Ango Sakaguchi that secret keepers were expendable and that knowing too much could be fatal, while Ango wondered why he had never encountered these horrors before.

Fukuchi explained why the secret investigators willingly sacrificed themselves, while Fox described how faith in the Lord of the Sea of Hearts could preserve a person’s dignity in death. When Fox was corrupted beyond saving, he prayed for a human death, and silver-white flames answered by consuming him as Ango watched.

• Fukuchi told Fukuzawa that the investigators understood their sacrifices and valued knowing they died for humanity, while Fukuzawa sensed his former comrade had changed.
• Fox told Ango that he believed in the Lord of the Sea of Hearts because the deity might let people die with a little dignity, even though it could not protect them.
• Fox became corrupted and urged Ango to join him, but Ango blocked out the evil god’s name and struck Fox with a stun baton.
• Ango used Fox’s pendant to briefly restore his clarity, and Fox realized he could not be saved.
• Fox begged the Lord of the Sea of Hearts to let him die as a human, and silver-white flames burned away his corruption and life.
• Ango mourned Fox’s death, knowing his belongings would be buried without a name and that he had never learned Fox’s real one.

Ango Sakaguchi remembered the lives of fallen Investigators and met Prophet again, noticing that the number beneath his sleeve had changed from 217 to 218. The chapter ended with Ango concealing his shock and anger as he wondered what An Xinyi had done to himself.

• Ango Sakaguchi trained Mountain Rabbit to prioritize survival, but Mountain Rabbit later died.
• Ango used Fallen Theory to recover Mountain Rabbit’s personal memories and preserve them in his mind rather than let him be reduced to an identification number.
• Osamu Dazai, Sakunosuke Oda, Santoka Taneda, and others recognized Ango’s respect for human life and remembered his complicated ties to them.
• Ango saw Prophet again and noticed the number beneath his sleeve had changed from 217 to 218.
• Ango hid his reaction as he wondered why An Xinyi was still alive and what he had done to himself.

Ango Sakaguchi discovered that An Xinyi had died 218 times and been replaced by numbered clones, then confronted Chris about the sacrifices made to save humanity. Chris revealed that other Secret Keepers had also given their lives and been erased from memory, leaving Ango shaken but understanding their helpless choice.

• Ango Sakaguchi followed Chris to an underground base and found countless An Xinyis in culture vessels, including the one numbered 219.
• Ango Sakaguchi learned that An Xinyi had already died 218 times, and he angrily accused Chris and the others of allowing it.
• Chris insisted that An Xinyi had chosen his repeated deaths and revealed that other Secret Keepers had sacrificed their only lives to fight for humanity.
• Chris said the other Secret Keepers had been contaminated and erased from records, and Ango Sakaguchi connected this to the legendary white spy who had been an Investigator before him.
• After Chris left, Ango Sakaguchi sank to the floor and recognized that those who risked their lives against humanity's annihilation had all acted with courage.

Tsunayoshi Sawada and the others agreed to help An Xinyi, while Ango Sakaguchi struggled with the sacrifices surrounding the Prophet. Ango took An Xinyi outside the base, where An Xinyi revealed his wish for an ordinary life in a future that no longer needed him.

• Tsunayoshi Sawada rejected the sacrifices demanded by greatness and won his Guardians' support to help An Xinyi.
• Ango Sakaguchi learned that Chris was leaving on a fatal mission, and An Xinyi wished Chris good fortune before Chris never returned.
• Ango Sakaguchi decided to take An Xinyi outside the base, and An Xinyi used his authority to let them sit beneath the night sky.
• Ango Sakaguchi told An Xinyi about recording the lives of fallen Investigators, and An Xinyi admitted that remembering the dead hurt too much.
• Ango Sakaguchi asked An Xinyi what he personally wanted, and An Xinyi described an ordinary life selling handmade toys before eventually falling into eternal sleep.