Chapter Summaries

Xia Xiu met two prospective recruits for the Mysterious Animal Research Club at the Three Portlands Observatory Cafe. Muji questioned why Camille, rather than Xia Xiu, was the club president.

• Xia Xiu teased Camille and Ushas by biting the heads off their cat-shaped pastries, then asked Camille about the club’s preparations.
• Camille said her recruitment post had drawn interest but talks often failed over grade-point allocation, and she had arranged to meet two prospective members.
• Muji and Lifenel arrived at the Cafe, ordered drinks, and joined Xia Xiu, Camille, and Ushas.
• Camille outlined the club’s plans, including activities centered on the House of Languages, and Muji and Lifenel expressed interest.
• Muji asked whether Xia Xiu was the club president, then learned Camille held the position and privately wondered why she had been chosen.

Camille proved her qualification to lead the Mysterious Animal Research Club by using her synesthesia to reveal Muji’s thoughts, and the members signed up. After the meeting, Xia Xiu considered the troubled factions behind Muji and Lifenel, who grew uneasy because they knew he belonged to the Heaven lineage.

• Camille secretly used synesthesia to repeat Muji’s unspoken doubts, startling him and Lifenel.
• Muji accepted Camille as the club leader, and he and Lifenel signed the membership list.
• Camille and Ushas discussed club plans with the others before ending the meeting and leaving Xia Xiu, Muji, and Lifenel alone.
• Xia Xiu reflected on the struggles of [Dimension Express] and [Haunted Spirit Street], whose members Muji and Lifenel faced him across the table.
• Xia Xiu tapped the table while Muji and Lifenel grew uneasy, knowing he belonged to the Heaven lineage.

Xia Xiu befriended Muji and Lifenel after recognizing that Muji wanted information about the Sanctum’s political future. He used the [Abnormal Community Life Guide] and [Dimension Express]’s financial troubles to pressure Muji into offering help, leaving Muji uneasy about their new friendship.

• Muji explained that Xia Xiu’s study abroad might signal a coming change in the Sanctum’s Resolution Assembly, and Xia Xiu guessed that he wanted inside information.
• Xia Xiu said he would be friends with Muji and Lifenel regardless of their motives, then brought up [Dimension Express]’s supernatural-item sales channels.
• Xia Xiu showed Muji the [Abnormal Community Life Guide] and hinted that the Inquisition could fine [Dimension Express] and impound its shipments.
• Muji prostrated himself and promised to pass Xia Xiu’s requests to his superiors, while Xia Xiu cheerfully called him a warm and hospitable friend.

Xia Xiu manipulated Muji and Lifenel into helping him obtain the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing technique and pay his cafe bill, then met Camille to collect their club members and visit their new clubroom. The chapter left Ushas waiting at the observatory cafe with Muji and Lifenel while Xia Xiu and Camille headed there.

• Xia Xiu persuaded Muji to find him the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing technique through [Dimension Express].
• Xia Xiu unnerved Lifenel by suggesting they spend more time together, then left the cafe and made Muji and Lifenel split his bill.
• Muji and Lifenel bought old Philip's golden retriever pastries after noticing their familiar smiles.
• On the day off, Camille met Xia Xiu beneath an umbrella and told him the club's application had been approved and they had been assigned a clubroom.
• Xia Xiu and Camille headed to the observatory to meet their club members, while Ushas waited there with Muji and Lifenel.

Camille and the newly formed club went to the Wonderful Science District to find their assigned clubroom. The clubroom’s key revealed a hidden dimensional interlayer, and Camille began opening the way inside.

• Xia Xiu, Camille, Ushas, Muji, and Lifenel met at the Cafe, where Camille revealed that their club had been approved and assigned a clubroom.
• Camille led the club members into the Wonderful Science District, where Xia Xiu connected to its community app after passing a contamination scan.
• Camille used the district’s navigation service to locate the clubroom, while Xia Xiu explained the Wand People’s role in providing maps and navigation.
• The group found a dead end, and Lifenel recognized it as a dimensional interlayer that required a token to open.
• Camille took out the clubroom key, which glowed and allowed her to reach through the rippling space.

The Mysterious Animal Research Club settled into its new room and discussed how to earn credits by taking missions. Xia Xiu requested Camille’s approval to feed a dangerous Black Demon Hound, leaving Camille alarmed and mistaking his claim that he had no family for a tragic past.

• Ushas admired the club’s new room, and Camille explained that adding equipment would cost credits.
• Xia Xiu checked the Academy Bulletin while the club discussed getting an Animal Communication Certificate to access missions in the House of Languages.
• Camille explained that she could take the certificate exam using her Synesthesia, and Muji noted that extra credits could be exchanged for resources.
• Xia Xiu asked Camille to approve a mission to feed the Black Demon Hound for a week, and Camille read its deadly abilities and guidelines.
• Camille objected that the mission could kill Xia Xiu and his family, but Xia Xiu said he had no family, prompting Camille to imagine a tragic past.

After accepting the Black Demon Hound mission, Xia Xiu met Muji for a drink and introduced him to the hidden music organization Vortex Music. Xia Xiu explained why Heaven had expelled the group from the Terra Main Plane and hinted that he was willing to deal with its members, leaving Muji alarmed and free to report their conversation to his elders.

• Xia Xiu accepted the Black Demon Hound mission after Camille warned him about its ability.
• Camille established a communal club fund, ended the meeting, and told members they could enter the dimensional interlayer without a token.
• Xia Xiu invited Muji to a restaurant, where they met Quinn, a member of Vortex Music.
• Xia Xiu explained Vortex Music's sensory-resonance music and its expulsion after a disastrous festival caused demonic-fall mutations.
• Xia Xiu told Muji he supported Heaven's decision but preferred to preserve Vortex Music in Three Portlands, then invited Muji to share their conversation with his elders.

Xia Xiu outwitted Muji during their meeting, secured a promise that the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing method would arrive soon, and took a recorder and a promised Constantine-style trench coat. The story then shifted to Deer College, where Professor Tom Humphrey explained the history of dimensional formalwear before class ended.

• Xia Xiu tricked Muji into revealing that he had recorded their conversation, then deleted the recording and kept the device.
• Muji told Xia Xiu that the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing method was being negotiated for purchase in Farlan and would likely reach Three Portlands within the week.
• Xia Xiu got Muji to agree to send him a Constantine-style exorcist trench coat, paid the restaurant bill, and left Muji lamenting his losses.
• At Deer College, Professor Tom Humphrey taught his students about dimensional formalwear, its shrinking pockets, and its association with the Heaven Lineage.
• The class bell rang, and Professor Tom dismissed the students.

Xia Xiu entered Deer College’s medium-security control area to feed the Black Demon Hound, whose fear-based contamination made it difficult to feed safely. When the Hound tried to intimidate him, Xia Xiu resisted and pinned it down, leaving it subdued in its cage.

• Xia Xiu reached the Black Demon Hound’s chamber and read the forced-reading liability waiver before entering.
• Xia Xiu inspected the Hound’s containment equipment and approached it with the food from the Think Tank.
• The Black Demon Hound unleashed a giant form of black smoke and used fear intimidation against Xia Xiu.
• Xia Xiu activated his Type III Light Attendant Circuit, seized the real Hound through the cage, and pinned it to the floor.

Xia Xiu completed his first feeding of Deer College’s Black Demon Hound after provoking it and discovering a mind-corruption seed. Back at his dorm, he received a Constantine Exorcist Trench Coat and turned to unpack the Heavenly Lock Wheel.

• Xia Xiu stroked the Black Demon Hound and recalled Deer College’s interest in the Gevaudan Beast and the coming disaster in Farlan.
• Xia Xiu crushed the mind-corruption seed that had formed over the Mark of Ya'en, causing the Black Demon Hound to snarl at him.
• Xia Xiu taunted the Black Demon Hound while it ate, then left after completing the day’s feeding task.
• Xia Xiu returned to Anderson Dormitory and found two parcels from Muji in Storage Locker 404.
• Xia Xiu unpacked the Constantine Exorcist Trench Coat and then turned to the Heavenly Lock Wheel.

Xia Xiu read a dangerous scroll and was dragged into the Ether Sea, where the Heavenly Lock Serpent devoured a White Jade Giant Elephant and nearly attacked him. After being forcibly logged out, he learned the scroll contained the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing method and planned to obtain Heavenly Lock Serpent blood to avoid its side effects.

• Xia Xiu opened the scroll despite its warning and was pulled into the Ether Sea.
• Xia Xiu watched the Heavenly Lock Serpent paralyze and swallow the White Jade Giant Elephant.
• The Heavenly Lock Serpent turned on Xia Xiu, whose body began developing serpent scales before he was forcibly logged out.
• Xia Xiu examined the Heavenly Lock Wheel breathing method and learned it could greatly increase his EVE particle capacity but caused serpent-like traits and lethargy.
• Xia Xiu decided to obtain Heavenly Lock Serpent blood through the college exchange platform so he could accommodate the species and avoid relying on Homogenizing Contamination.

Xia Xiu tormented the Black Demon Hound with photographs of it eating dog food until it submitted, then sold the pictures to Deer College’s News Department. He also encountered Muji and Lifenel, who had been assigned a burdensome campus cleanup campaign.

• Xia Xiu teased the Black Demon Hound with photographs of it eating dog food and threatened to display them around Deer College.
• The Black Demon Hound surrendered, let Xia Xiu pet it, and eagerly ate its food after Xia Xiu promised to burn the pictures.
• Xia Xiu met Muji and Lifenel, who complained that they had to follow cleaning ghosts and write ten-thousand-word reflections for a city sanitation campaign.
• Xia Xiu met a News Department member at Prometheus Plaza and sold more Black Demon Hound photographs for a total of twenty merit points.

Xia Xiu took Professor Laugen’s memetics test and earned a score of 98, qualifying for early instruction. Professor Laugen then asked which Module and Art Installation Xia Xiu wanted for his studies.

• Xia Xiu asked why he was the only student in Professor Laugen’s memetics classroom, and Laugen explained that memetics instruction was delayed because it was dangerous.
• Laugen confronted Xia Xiu about buying meme antibodies and using the Sword of Judgment to disinfect an app containing 124 hidden backdoors.
• Xia Xiu completed Laugen’s memetics test in thirty-four minutes, and Laugen graded it 98, deducting two points for his handwriting.
• Xia Xiu explained Deer College’s supernatural lineage ranks and how students usually advanced through them.
• Laugen said the Heaven Lineage required a different teaching approach and asked Xia Xiu which Module and Art Installation he wanted.

Xia Xiu chose the components for his [Hat Trick] [Module], favoring concealment, escape, and familiar-summoning techniques. Professor Laugen began teaching him how to observe and counter meme contamination, leaving Xia Xiu to continue the lessons and later practice the procedure himself.

• Xia Xiu told Professor Laugen he wanted the [Hat Trick] [Module], a dimensional hat, and the Presence Reduction pheromone.
• Xia Xiu chose the Bird Collection and the entries [Partial Body Intangibility], [Substitute Swap], and [Gestalt Collapse Impression Art].
• Professor Laugen recorded Xia Xiu's module combination and warned that its final effects would depend on his luck.
• Professor Laugen gave Xia Xiu a monocle and data sheet, then demonstrated how to observe and surgically counter low-level meme contamination in a mouse.
• Professor Laugen ended the lesson and said Xia Xiu would practice the procedure after learning about contamination through all five senses.

Xia Xiu spent his free day preparing to reshape his body with the Heavenly Lock Serpent’s organs. After implanting BIO-006, he gained authorization for Organ Shaping.

• Xia Xiu bid farewell to the Black Demon Hound, collected his mission reward, and redeemed a voucher for Heavenly Lock Serpent blood.
• Xia Xiu considered the merit points he needed for future courses and techniques, then skipped a trip to the Flower City to handle his own plans.
• Xia Xiu collected the Heavenly Lock Serpent blood after spending time at the cafeteria and Prometheus Plaza.
• Xia Xiu rented an alchemy and observation room and prepared BIO-006, Heavenly Lock Serpent blood, Divine Feast Elixir, and Febrile Delirium Antipyretic for his body modification.
• Xia Xiu implanted BIO-006 into his left forearm, and the system granted him authorization for Organ Shaping.

Xia Xiu performed his second Divine Feast ritual to implant a Heavenly Lock Serpent lung and eyes, then escaped the Ether Sea after encountering [The Boundless Covered by It]. Back in Room 6, he checked his new abilities and increased stats, leaving his Measurer proficiency at 47%.

• Xia Xiu used the Organ Shaping interface to prepare a third lung and Heavenly Lock eyes from the Heavenly Lock Serpent template.
• Xia Xiu injected the [Febrile Delirium Antipyretic] and [Divine Feast Elixir], beginning the second Divine Feast ritual.
• Xia Xiu endured the ritual’s bodily transformations, glimpsed [The Boundless Covered by It], and logged out of the Ether Sea.
• Xia Xiu recovered in Room 6 and confirmed that his new lung absorbed EVE particles and his eyes could inflict enhanced paralysis.
• Xia Xiu checked his lineage status and found his EVE particle content had risen to 2000 spirit units and his Measurer proficiency to 47%.

After completing a ritual, Xia Xiu accepted a mission to capture a Gevaudan Beast for merit points and considered how to get involved in the conflict surrounding it. He learned that Old Diva’s anomalous weapon project had caused the beast incident in Farlan and began planning whom to approach for information.

• Xia Xiu finished the ritual, returned to Deer College, and accepted a mission to capture a Gevaudan Beast for 300 merit points.
• Xia Xiu reviewed the history of the Ghosts of the City of Sin and their ongoing covert war with Heaven over anomalous weapons.
• Xia Xiu connected the Gevaudan Beast rampaging in Farlan to an anomalous weapon project buried by Old Diva and coordinated by Mr. Night.
• Xia Xiu considered asking the Flesh-Eating Cult, the Factory, and the Wilson Wildlife Response Team for information and assistance.