Chapter Summaries

Lin En tested an eight-sequence origin substance and briefly lost control to its negative effects before removing it. He then discovered that his nine-sequence origin substance was packed with mutually reinforcing negative traits and contacted Salgon to have it implanted into a weapon instead.

• Lin En implanted the eight-sequence origin substance despite its low compatibility, and its negative effects made him attack Hana Ye.
• Lin En regained control, removed the substance, and restored his Feminization sequence.
• Lin En inspected his nine-sequence origin substance and found it contained only negative sequences, including Loli transformation, reduced intelligence, frailty, and masochism.
• Hana Ye stopped Lin En from jumping into a well, and Lin En contacted Salgon about turning the dangerous substance into an aura-effect weapon.

Lin En brought Hana Ye back to reality, bought men’s clothes, and endured the attention his feminized appearance drew. He then implanted the Four Holy Flames, Dual Flesh Origin Substance, restored his male body, and set off for the Church to host a Hongmen Banquet.

• Lin En took Hana Ye back to reality through the women’s bathhouse, where he realized nobody objected because they saw him as a girl.
• Lin En and Hana Ye left the bathhouse and went to a clothing store, where Lin En forced the shopkeeper to sell them men’s clothes at Hana Ye’s expense.
• Lin En drew admiring looks in his tailcoat and top hat, then entered an alley and asked Hana Ye to watch his body while he returned upstairs.
• Lin En retrieved the nurtured Four Holy Flames, Dual Flesh Origin Substance and forcibly implanted it, restoring his masculine body and gaining a boost to his perception and mental power.
• Lin En told Hana Ye to go with him to the Church, where he planned to host a Hongmen Banquet.

Lin En confronted Ophiel at the church over the attack on him in the Spirit Realm, forcing her to face the church’s failure to protect him. He stopped her from taking her own life and left her kneeling in tears, still responsible for the people of Clockwork City.

• Lin En brought Hana Ye to the church and demanded that Ophiel meet him within half an hour.
• Ophiel emerged from the Spirit Realm and hurried to the front hall after learning Lin En had come to demand answers.
• A Knight told the waiting clergy that someone had attacked the Divine Chosen during a battle in the Spirit Realm the previous night.
• Lin En scolded Ophiel for half an hour while Hana Ye watched, and Ophiel admitted the failure to protect him was her responsibility.
• Ophiel drew her sword to atone, but Lin En knocked it away and told her she could not abandon her duties to Clockwork City.
• Ophiel knelt in tears and apologized as Lin En confronted her guilt.

Lin En told Ophiel that the Lord of Crimson had descended to kill him, and Ophiel connected her to the Great Demon who nearly destroyed Clockwork City twenty years earlier. The account revealed Hana Ye’s mother had fought in that war and died giving birth to her, leaving Lin En suspicious of the truth and Hana Ye’s possible connection to the Lord of Crimson.

• Lin En told Ophiel that the Lord of Crimson had descended through his sword and nearly killed him.
• Ophiel connected the Lord of Crimson to the Great Demon who invaded Clockwork City twenty years earlier.
• Ophiel described how the Red Moon empowered the Great Demon to overlay the Spirit Realm onto reality until the Great Sun dispelled it, leaving the city devastated.
• Hana Ye said her parents had fought in the war, and Ophiel confirmed that her mother had been her valued student and lost her origin substance in the battle.
• Ophiel said Hana Ye’s mother died from complications while giving birth, but Lin En noticed her distress and suspected she was hiding something.

Lin En learned that the Red Moon’s influence had been unusually strong around Clockwork City and suspected the Lord of Crimson had a hidden purpose for waiting ten years to use Hana Ye. After identifying Tyrael as a bishop in the West District, Lin En prepared to launch the Grand Tribunal Office’s first arrests.

• Ophiel told Lin En that the Red Moon’s influence had been stronger in Clockwork City and its appearances had grown erratic around the battle twenty years ago and again recently.
• Lin En connected the Lord of Crimson’s visit to the King of the Red Moon’s death and questioned why she had waited ten years to use Hana Ye as a vessel.
• Ophiel warned Lin En that the Red Moon had appeared irregularly on the night of the Nine Chimes and again that morning.
• Lin En showed Ophiel Mirror’s portrait, and she identified the man as Tyrael, one of Clockwork City’s eight bishops, who was likely at Abraham Church.
• Lin En asked Ophiel to summon the two Tribunal Office commanders and prepared to arrest the people shown in Mirror’s portraits.

Bishop Tyrael received an invitation to Archbishop Ophiel’s banquet, where a new Church institution would be announced, and recognized the Grand Tribunal Office as a powerful development. Meanwhile, Lin En placed Mirror in command of a team of Ability Users and ordered her to arrest Tyrael’s supporters after dark.

• A clergyman invited Tyrael to Archbishop Ophiel’s banquet and told him that bishops, commanders, and nobles would attend to discuss a new Church institution.
• Tyrael privately recognized the Grand Tribunal Office and reflected on how a Weird had won a lofty position in the Church.
• Mirror met a Tribunal Squad appointed by Archbishop Ophiel, Mr. Mogans, and Lord Nero, and learned that Lin En had sent them to serve her.
• Lin En told Mirror that the squad included twenty Three-Origin Substance Full Sequences and seven Four-Origin Substance Full Sequences, and ordered her to arrest everyone on his list after dark.
• Mirror cried at the prospect of finally receiving an answer from her master, then ordered the Tribunal Squad to move when darkness fell.

At a lavish banquet welcoming Lin En, he prepared to arrest Bishop Tyrael over the unresolved Vessel Incident, despite lacking direct evidence. He asked Mogans and Nero to join the operation, then told them he answered to the Valkyrie.

• Anthony boasted to the banquet guests that the Divine Chosen was his student and claimed his granddaughter Luo Luotiya had admired him for years.
• Bishop Tyrael arrived and drew a crowd, while Anthony explained his reputation for sealing a Spirit Realm breach with Holy Flame.
• Lin En watched the banquet through an Impression Crystal with Ophiel, Mogans, and Nero, then revealed that he planned to arrest a bishop.
• Ophiel confirmed that Lin En's target was connected to the Vessel Incident from over ten years earlier, shocking Mogans and Nero.
• Lin En acknowledged that he had no direct evidence and offered Mogans and Nero the choice to withdraw or help with the arrest.
• Lin En told the hesitant men that he answered to the Valkyrie.

Lin En gathered Clockwork City's Church leaders and nobles, then announced the establishment of the Religious Tribunal to deal with heretics and corruption within the Church. The banquet hall remained sealed as his first case loomed.

• Lin En reassured Mogans and Nero of his authority and ordered them to prepare for the Grand Tribunal Office's first case.
• A barrier sealed the banquet hall, trapping the nobles, guests, and Church bishops inside.
• Lin En arrived with Ophiel, Mogans, and Nero, and the gathered guests knelt to greet him.
• Lin En accused hidden Church members of corruption and collusion with Spirit Realm beings, and said an assassination attempt had angered him.
• Lin En announced that the Church's Religious Tribunal was formally established.

Lin En established the Grand Tribunal Office and ordered Mogans and Nero to seize Tyrael, while Mirror confronted the Church clergy involved in the Vessel incident. The captured men recognized her as the survivor they had tormented ten years earlier.

• Lin En declared himself Archbishop of the Tribunal Office, appointed Ophiel as his deputy, and named Mogans and Nero as enforcers.
• Tyrael publicly supported Lin En’s reforms, and Lin En ordered Mogans and Nero to arrest him.
• Masked operatives raided Abraham Church in Clockwork City and captured more than a dozen people involved in the Vessel incident.
• Mirror entered the rear hall alone and removed her mask before the prisoners.
• The prisoners recognized Mirror, and she asked whether they still remembered her.

Lin En publicly accused Bishop Tyrael of serving the Crimson Secret Cult and masterminding the Vessel experiments, while Mogans and Nero restrained him. Tyrael denied the charges and invoked his popularity and Lin En’s authority, and Lin En ordered the guards to bring in evidence.

• Mogans and Nero pinned Tyrael to the floor before he could fight back.
• Lin En accused Tyrael of masterminding the Vessel incident and burning evidence beneath his church.
• Tyrael denied the accusations, while nobles defended him and cited his longstanding reputation.
• Tyrael privately told Lin En that he knew what Lin En was, but Lin En dismissed the threat.
• Lin En said he would provide decisive evidence and ordered the guards to bring everyone in.

Lin En exposed Tyrael as the mastermind behind the Vessel incident, using disguised subordinates to secure the Church’s support. Tyrael was taken to the dungeon, and Lin En promised to judge him later.

• Exorcists brought in Abraham Church clergy and reported that they had confessed to participating in the Vessel incident and named Tyrael as its mastermind.
• Tyrael recognized several prisoners as impostors but could not convince the assembled Bishops that he was being framed.
• Lin En accused Tyrael of serving a Great Demon and used his anger and protests to present him as guilty.
• Tyrael appealed to Lady Ophiel and the Bishops, but Lin En admitted that his people had used origin substance to disguise themselves and pointed to his allies’ influence.
• Lin En ordered Tyrael taken to the dungeon and said he would pass judgment on him later.

Lin En established his authority over Clockwork City by having Tyrael taken into custody and intimidating the assembled nobles and bishops. After promising Mogans and Nero protection, he entered the dungeon alone to deal with Tyrael and pursue his real objective: finding a suitable vessel.

• Ophiel personally subdued Tyrael, who threatened Lin En as he was led away.
• Lin En warned the nobles that he would decide Clockwork City's future, and they raised their glasses to him in fear.
• Luo Luotiya declared that she wanted to have Lin En's babies, while Anthony rapped her on the head and pointed out her competition.
• Lin En left the banquet after establishing the Grand Tribunal Office and promised Mogans and Nero that their families would remain prosperous.
• Lin En sent Mogans and Nero away with instructions to follow their plan only if he signaled, then entered the dungeon alone to confront Tyrael.

Lin En interrogated the imprisoned Tyrael about the Vessel he had created and tried to recruit him. He threatened to destroy Hana Ye before the Lord of Crimson could descend, provoking a furious reaction from Tyrael.

• Lin En sealed the dungeon with Holy Flame and told Tyrael he was interested in his work, not merely in their factional struggle.
• Lin En deduced that Tyrael had created Hana Ye as a Vessel capable of bearing the Lord of Crimson's soul and the King of the Red Moon's authority.
• Tyrael denied knowing what Lin En meant, but Lin En pointed to Hana Ye's ability to bring forth the Red Moon as evidence of her potential.
• Lin En offered Tyrael a chance to create Vessels for him, but Tyrael rejected the offer and said his life's greatest wish had already been fulfilled.
• Lin En threatened to destroy Hana Ye before the Lord of Crimson descended, and Tyrael reacted with fury.

Lin En exposed Tyrael’s resentment over being overshadowed in Vessel research and offered him a chance to continue his work. He revealed his true nature by dragging Tyrael’s soul into the Warp and telling him that he was an Outer God.

• Lin En taunted Tyrael for being only an assistant in creating Hana Ye’s Vessel, provoking him to defend his contributions to the research.
• Tyrael explained that his Mentor forbade him from making Vessels for other Outer Gods because she wanted only the Lord of Crimson in the world.
• Lin En offered Tyrael the chance to create another Vessel, then seized his head and pulled his soul into the Warp.
• Tyrael saw Lin En’s monstrous Outer God form, and Lin En told him, “Because I am an Outer God.”

Lin En revealed his identity as the Lord of Writhing to Tyrael and showed him the Valkyrie and the Lord of Crimson imprisoned and tormented in the Warp, shattering his faith. Tyrael agreed to help create a vessel for Lin En, but Lin En rejected his ten-year estimate and tore a piece of golden origin substance from his abdomen.

• Lin En revealed to Tyrael that he was the Lord of Writhing, one of the Seven Outer Gods, and explained that the Crimson Secret Cult had mistaken him for a Great Demon.
• Lin En showed Tyrael the Valkyrie imprisoned in the black mist and claimed he had held her there for ten years.
• Lin En showed Tyrael the Lord of Crimson bound and subjected to experiments, and taunted him about both goddesses becoming his toys.
• Lin En asked Tyrael to help create a vessel capable of housing an Outer God, and Tyrael estimated the work could take ten years or longer.
• Lin En plunged his hand into Tyrael's abdomen, removed a golden piece of sixth-tier origin substance, and questioned why he needed Tyrael if the work would take ten years.

Lin En brought Tyrael back to his realm after learning that Little Red could remove the restrictions on Tyrael and the other vessel-makers by speaking a command. He planned to trick Little Red into saying it and offered her a powerful origin substance, but she remained hostile.

• Tyrael told Lin En he could restart a factory in the Spirit Realm to make a low-quality vessel, and explained that Little Red could remove the restrictions on him by issuing a command.
• Lin En doubted Tyrael's claim, extracted another origin substance from him, then brought his soul back beyond the heavens.
• Lin En put Tyrael in a room and prepared his top-quality [Happy and High Fertility Fool] origin substance to use on Little Red.
• Lin En found Little Red exhausted and numb after the tentacles' torment, but she spat at him and insulted him.
• Lin En showed Little Red the origin substance and asked whether she wanted to try it.

Lin En implanted a top-grade Origin Substance with nine negative Sequences into Crimson Shadow, transforming her body and beginning to alter her mind. The chapter ended with her forgetting why she needed to resist and lying happily on the floor.

• Lin En revealed the Origin Substance and threatened to implant it unless Crimson Shadow obeyed, but she refused.
• Lin En restrained Crimson Shadow, knocked her unconscious, and implanted the Origin Substance into her body.
• Crimson Shadow woke to find her body smaller and weaker, with a babyish voice and an inability to walk.
• Crimson Shadow tried to remove the Origin Substance but felt pleasure and struggled to hold on to her original thoughts.
• Crimson Shadow gradually forgot why the Origin Substance was dangerous and gave in to a strange, overwhelming happiness.

Lin En watched the Crimson Shadow’s intelligence and personality change after the Origin Substance took effect, then entered her room to test how much she remembered. She still recognized him and suspected his intentions, but her confusion left her vulnerable to his increasingly dubious explanations.

• Lin En realized the Crimson Shadow’s transformation showed how difficult it might be to remove an Origin Substance after it altered someone.
• Lin En entered the room and frightened the Crimson Shadow, who accused him of bullying her and called him a monster.
• The Crimson Shadow remembered that Lin En had questioned and restrained her, but struggled to understand how she had ended up in his room.
• Lin En asked whether she had enjoyed his tentacle play, and the Crimson Shadow admitted she felt some satisfaction remembering it.
• Lin En claimed he had kept her close because he loved her and swore he had never tried to get information from her.
• The Crimson Shadow remained suspicious but struggled to find a flaw in Lin En’s oath.

Lin En spun a tragic love story to convince Crimson Shadow that she was the returning King of the Red Moon, then used their tentacle game to press her into agreeing to remove the restrictions. Shinsen Saya heard them through the wall and seethed with disgust.

• Lin En claimed he loved Crimson Shadow and invented a tearful tale about their past lives and the Red Moon’s fall.
• He told Crimson Shadow she was the Red Moon’s lingering will and said their tentacle game could help her remember.
• Crimson Shadow refused Lin En’s sudden marriage proposal but hesitated when he offered to play their game again.
• Lin En continued the game for hours as Crimson Shadow said she liked the pain and agreed to keep going.
• Shinsen Saya heard the exchange from the neighboring room and silently condemned Lin En’s behavior.

Lin En used Crimson to help Tyrael break the Lord of Crimson’s control, then stripped most of Tyrael’s Origin Substances before taking him to find his factory. Tyrael eagerly followed Lin En into the Second Layer of the Spirit Realm, hoping to prove his worth.

• Lin En left Crimson in a state of frustrated need, and Tyrael’s scarlet soul-bindings faded after the command took effect.
• Tyrael pledged himself to Lin En, who refused to accept him as a master until he proved his usefulness.
• Back in the dungeon, Tyrael offered to lead Lin En to his factory and create a Vessel, and Lin En extracted all but the Origin Substances in his heart and brain.
• Lin En freed Tyrael from his chains, gave him a recovery potion, and led him out of the dungeon.
• Lin En concealed their route through Daylight’s return, then restored Tyrael’s senses in the Second Layer of the Spirit Realm and told him to lead the way.