Chapter Summaries

Xia Xiu learned that Rat King O'Brien was tied to Eliyan and went to Linden Tree Street to investigate O'Brien's Reality-Projection Writing business. He intimidated a local troublemaker into revealing which businesses were famous, though Bryce had not yet answered.

• Wendell told Xia Xiu that Rat King O'Brien accompanied Eliyan and explained that O'Brien used the Doublethink Module to control people and create lifelike combat dolls.
• Wendell directed Xia Xiu toward Linden Tree Street, where young anomalous community members might know O'Brien's whereabouts.
• Xia Xiu arrived on Linden Tree Street and confronted Bryce after Bryce mocked his Emoticon Mask and threatened him.
• Xia Xiu used his intimidating gaze to make Bryce submit, then took him to have his mohawk dyed green.
• Xia Xiu asked Bryce which Reality-Projection Writing business was most famous, and Bryce had not yet replied.

Xia Xiu visited Linden Tree Street’s Realistic Doll Shop to investigate O’Brien and learned that the [Thirteenth Department] had cut off [Qingling Meme Cleanser] supplies while restricting departures from the Berlin Region. Peluoqi described O’Brien’s horrific human-transmutation work, leaving Xia Xiu with a clearer sense of the threat he was pursuing.

• Bryce told Xia Xiu about the Realistic Doll Shop and complained that the [Thirteenth Department] had halted [Qingling Meme Cleanser] supplies and imposed strict exit checks.
• Xia Xiu warned Bryce to leave the Berlin Region before vanishing, then found Lili assembling a dismembered ragdoll cat in an alley.
• Xia Xiu restored the cat with [Flesh Sculpting], sent it away, and entered the Virtual Songstress Sales Outlet.
• Peluoqi introduced herself as the shop’s owner and explained how she created realistic dolls through detailed character settings and connections.
• Xia Xiu asked Peluoqi where to find O’Brien, and she described him as a lunatic who turned people into dolls by removing and modifying their souls.
• Xia Xiu recalled O’Brien’s reputation and his [Six-Round Massacre], in which he killed over a thousand innocent people.

Xia Xiu learned that the House of Hohenzollern supported anomalous artists, then rushed to St. Thomas Church after O'Brien's dolls attacked the [Thirteenth Department]. He killed O'Brien No. 1 with a giant of light, while the remaining dolls invoked a strange phrase.

• Peluoqi told Xia Xiu that the House of Hohenzollern funded anomalous artists, and he commissioned a blank female doll from her.
• Wendell urgently informed Xia Xiu that a new victim had appeared at St. Thomas Church and that the [Thirteenth Department] was fighting twelve of O'Brien's dolls.
• Wendell reported that six [Cornflower] constructs had been killed and explained that O'Brien projected his abilities into the dolls.
• Xia Xiu went to the church roof and fought six dolls, using [Aether Manifestation · Mimicry] to kill O'Brien No. 1 with a giant punch.
• The five surviving dolls looked up at Xia Xiu and spoke in unison: “War Is Peace!”

Xia Xiu tested the O'Brien Dolls' composite module and discovered how to bypass its rule-based protection, then killed the dolls and demolished St. Thomas Church. At Eliyan's exhibition site, 002 encountered a holy woman who questioned her freedom of choice, leaving her shaken despite Wendell's warning and offer of a Meme Cleanser.

• Xia Xiu isolated Number Four and tested the O'Brien Dolls' abilities, identifying their spoken commands as triggers for protection, mind control, and a burst of power.
• Xia Xiu inferred that [War Is Peace] protected dolls only when an enemy had locked onto them with hostility, then used concealment and a crystal javelin to kill the remaining dolls.
• Xia Xiu confirmed the dolls' deaths with his boltgun and realized he had wrecked St. Thomas Church.
• Wendell's [Cornflower] troops surrounded Eliyan's exhibition site, where 002 became entranced by a woman bound to a cross and encountered a holy woman identical to her.
• The holy woman questioned whether 002 had the right to choose and compared her to a bird in a cage; Wendell roused 002, warned her not to believe the experience, and gave her a Meme Cleanser.

Wendell and Xia Xiu investigated Eliyan’s Meme-contaminated artwork at St. Thomas Church while [Thirteenth Department] personnel tried to control the crowd. After 002 fought a hooded attacker and exposed herself to civilians, O'Brien emerged at the West District Factory and hinted that his church attack had been a gift connected to Eliyan.

• Wendell brought Xia Xiu to inspect Eliyan’s crucifix artwork after explaining that [Cornflower-002] had been cleansed of its Meme contamination.
• Wendell sent 002 to help control the growing crowd of Thaumaturgists outside St. Thomas Church, while he and Xia Xiu left to retrieve Eliyan’s victims’ files.
• A hooded attacker struck a [Thirteenth Department] member and fled into a shopping street, where 002 dodged his lightning attack and shot through his arm with her EVE Pulse Gun.
• [Thirteenth Department] personnel used [Memory Erasure Grenades] on the witnesses, then received a report that the crowd outside the church had formed a human wall and was pushing through the perimeter.
• O'Brien emerged from a silkworm cocoon at the West District Factory and told Eliyan that his attack had delivered a gift, while admitting he had lost puppets to a powerful opponent.

Xia Xiu planned to use a genuine flesh-and-blood creation to deceive O'Brien and asked Wendell to arrange an identity for it. After joining Moles Instant Messaging, he learned that the Berlin Region’s anomalous community was under growing pressure and feared the situation might worsen.

• Wendell told Xia Xiu that the Thirteenth Department’s artificial doll had failed to lure Eliyan because O'Brien could sense that it was not made of flesh.
• Xia Xiu decided to turn Peluoqi’s unfinished product into a temporary BIO Species and asked Wendell to create a mundane identity for the doll.
• At Variety Bar, Xia Xiu confronted Bryce about his role in the protest at St. Thomas Church and persuaded him to share access to Moles Instant Messaging.
• Xia Xiu asked Bryce to watch the Thirteenth Department’s movements, especially anything involving the House of Hohenzollern.
• Xia Xiu read forum messages about arrests, censorship, construct units surrounding the anomalous community, and people fleeing Berlin before the meeting room was closed.
• Xia Xiu hoped the situation would not take a turn for the worst.

Xia Xiu created the doll Rachel and tracked the kidnapper Eliyan to the Hohenzollern Grand Theater, where he discovered a connection to O'Brien. Meanwhile, Professor Nimus confronted his former student Young Werther and then set out for the theater after receiving Xia Xiu’s report.

• Peluoqi delivered an unfinished homunculus doll to Xia Xiu, who sculpted her face, shaped her mind, and named her Rachel.
• Rachel attended C.C University, missed her bus, and was deceived and abducted by Eliyan.
• Xia Xiu followed Eliyan to the Hohenzollern Grand Theater, where an EVE Particles suppression field stopped him from entering, and Bryce’s message led him to identify O'Brien.
• Professor Nimus confronted his former student Young Werther, a follower of the Ether Sovereign, and defeated his doll body with Epicurus’s Four Remedies of Philosophy.
• After receiving Xia Xiu’s report that the target was linked to President Joachim Friedrich of the Hohenzollern Group, Professor Nimus headed to the theater.

Wendell’s forces cornered Eliyan at the Hohenzollern Grand Theater, but he escaped their first attack by using a translocation sigil to take Friedrich hostage. 002 shot both men, and while Eliyan was subdued, Friedrich collapsed in critical condition; Charlotte Corday said the incident had merely detonated a pawn before the coming show on Linden Tree Street.

• Wendell led the [Cornflowers] to surround the Hohenzollern Grand Theater while Professor Nimus confronted Charlotte, who summoned Salome’s Dance of the Seven Veils against his [dominion avatar].
• Wendell’s team attacked Eliyan in the parking lot, but Eliyan used a shadow decoy and a translocation sigil to appear beside Friedrich and take him hostage.
• 002 fired her EVE pulse rifle, striking Friedrich in the waist and Eliyan in the abdomen, and the operatives subdued Eliyan after a three-minute fight.
• Friedrich collapsed in cardiogenic shock, and Wendell realized 002’s shot had caused a catastrophe.
• Charlotte Corday told a bandaged man that the Hohenzollern incident was a pawn detonated ahead of schedule and that the show on Linden Tree Street was about to begin.

Xia Xiu tracked O'Brien to an abandoned factory, destroyed the EVE Extraction Engine, and forced him into an exile space. After O'Brien unleashed the Rat King Module, Xia Xiu used deception and an imitation of War Is Peace to stab him through the heart.

• Xia Xiu transformed into a giant of light and destroyed the EVE Extraction Engine, revealing O'Brien and Cú Chulainn.
• O'Brien used Cú Chulainn to destroy Xia Xiu's light giant, but Xia Xiu severed their connecting cord and subdued O'Brien.
• Xia Xiu activated Meta Field and transported himself and O'Brien into an exile space.
• O'Brien activated the Rat King Module and flooded the battlefield with multiplying rats, while Xia Xiu fought back with successive light giants.
• Xia Xiu disguised his position and imitated War Is Peace, then pierced O'Brien's heart with his chainsword.

Xia Xiu killed O'Brien, returned to the burning West District Factory, and forcibly bound [Gáe Bolg] by sacrificing [Cú Chulainn], triggering his rank advancement. After reading urgent messages from Wendell and Bryce, he realized Berlin was facing an upheaval, as [Cornflower] personnel massacred abnormal residents on Linden Tree Street.

• Xia Xiu finished O'Brien with [Stheno] and returned to the present world as the collapsing [Rat King Module] ended.
• Xia Xiu forcibly bound [Gáe Bolg] and used Flesh Divine Descent to devour [Cú Chulainn], settling the 50,000 Shaping Point debt and beginning rank advancement.
• A tentacle retrieved the scarlet one-eyed monster into the [Ether Sea] after it consumed [Cú Chulainn].
• Xia Xiu read dozens of messages from Wendell and Bryce and concluded that Berlin was in for an upheaval.
• At 20:00, [Cornflower] personnel entered Linden Tree Street and slaughtered its abnormal residents, including Lili and her mother.

Xia Xiu investigated the aftermath of the Linden Tree Street disaster, where Cornflower-002 was destroyed and Bryce died, while the [Thirteenth Department] concealed the truth. Charlotte explained that factions in Heaven had radical plans for the Veil, and 0-02 revealed the Utopia Project before being cleared in an Ethics Committee review.

• Xia Xiu learned that Professor Nimus had received no instructions from Heaven and signed the Information Secrecy Regulation without accepting the [Thirteenth Department]'s reward.
• Wendell told Cornflower-002 that her apparent independent choice came from meme contamination, and she died as her programs were destroyed.
• Xia Xiu visited the dying Bryce, who questioned the Veil and the concealment of anomalies before dying.
• Xia Xiu and Wendell attended the victims' memorial, where Xia Xiu criticized the [Thirteenth Department] and Wendell admitted they were all compromised.
• Charlotte told Jasmine that factions within Heaven supported radical plans, including tearing open the Veil and establishing a unified human government.
• 0-02 revealed the Utopia Project to Charles Furnell, and the Heaven Committee later ruled 0-02 not guilty after review.

After a spiritual vision about Yarn and Terra, Xia Xiu read a report on the Linden Tree Street massacre before it was censored and began preparing for the Crimson King's approaching Reprise Performance. He summoned his new spear, Gáe Bolg, and reviewed the performance's rules as he awaited an admission ticket.

• Xia Xiu woke from a vision in which Yarn pleaded for someone to save Terra, then recognized the red ring on his hand as a sign of his Innate Key's awakening cycle.
• Xia Xiu read a report detailing the Linden Tree Street massacre, the Thirteenth Department's response, and the backlash against the anomalous community before the report and his Lineage Link disappeared.
• Xia Xiu considered his preparations for the Reprise Performance, including graduation arrangements, the Great Demon Hound's modification, and his Non-Spirit-Medium Weapon's next evolution.
• Xia Xiu summoned Gáe Bolg and inspected its piercing, slashing, and disembowelment abilities.
• Xia Xiu reviewed the Crimson King's rules for Red, Yellow, and White Performance Cards, their conversions and ascensions, and the rewards for the performance's champion and supporters.

Xia Xiu chose the second-generation Great Demon Hound A7 as his Familiar, named him Jam, and transformed him into a three-headed hound using supernatural DNA. Jam survived the procedure and showed he could retract his new heads, leaving Xia Xiu with another powerful subordinate.

• Xia Xiu visited Deer College’s shelter with Professor Laugen, chose A7, and arranged to tame him before leaving for the Unknown Lands.
• Xia Xiu defeated A7 in a fight, then forced him to sign a Familiar contract and named him Jam.
• Xia Xiu explained that he planned to give Jam a spiritual vision of Cerberus and injected him with an anesthetic.
• Xia Xiu used the Chimera Construction Module to implant Petroshapian and Flame Beast DNA into Jam, repairing his body throughout the procedure.
• Jam awoke with crystalline and flaming heads in addition to his original head, then showed Xia Xiu he could retract them.

After finishing his studies, Xia Xiu bid farewell to his friends at Deer College and left Camille behind as he headed for the Vienna Region. He crossed the Reality Rainbow Bridge back to the [Unknown Lands], where a mysterious old man named Mu greeted him.

• Xia Xiu told Ushas and the Mysterious Animal Research Club that he had finished his studies and was returning to the [Unknown Lands].
• Xia Xiu walked Camille to the dormitories, discussed the Brain in a Vat and his way of facing life, and warned her to be wary of her feelings before leaving her with his umbrella.
• In Vienna, Von Hansen welcomed Xia Xiu as Abraham and escorted him through the Golden Hall to the Reality Rainbow Bridge.
• Xia Xiu and Jam climbed the Heavenly Road, recited its required phrases, and teleported to the [Unknown Lands].
• An old man named Mu greeted Xia Xiu, addressed him as Xiu Abraham, and said everyone knew his name.

Xia Xiu met Mu, Heaven’s Third Swordbearer, who explained Heaven’s institutions and the tensions slowing its vast system. After declaring that the Resolution Assembly should be restructured, Xia Xiu entered the hall to link with the Holy Ark.

• Mu welcomed Xia Xiu and offered to take him to the Holy Ark, explaining that he had come after learning a child was returning home.
• Mu described the Resolution Assembly and Heaven’s four other core institutions, their roles, and the checks that constrained their power.
• Mu warned Xia Xiu that Heaven’s complicated structure operated too slowly to face its many threats and asked what he would choose.
• Xia Xiu said the Resolution Assembly should be restructured, revealing his ambition to reach Heaven’s decision-making body and access Yahweh.
• Mu brought Xia Xiu to the Holy Ark’s hall and told him that linking with it might grant him a unique word spirit.
• Xia Xiu left Jam outside to guard the entrance and stepped into the hall.

Xia Xiu logged into the Holy Ark, awakened the Word Spirit Judgment and Redemption, and left the assembly hall as Mu recognized him as the uncrowned Vicegerent. Meanwhile, a memetic weapon killed 013’s Angels and erased a file, leaving 013 to investigate a new development near the Chaos Sea.

• Xia Xiu logged into the Holy Ark and received the Angel Sequence’s Word Spirit, Judgment and Redemption.
• Xia Xiu tested the Word Spirit by stabbing himself and discovered that it forcibly purified Smyrna.
• Mu suppressed the radiance from the assembly hall, saw Xia Xiu’s transformed appearance, and called him the uncrowned Vicegerent.
• Mu began questioning the Supreme Procedure about backed-up souls and matter on Terra, but a countermeasure erased the discussion.
• A memetic weapon called the Fallen Twins killed 013’s subordinate Angels and erased files in his safe.
• 013 received a report of a new development near the Chaos Sea and left, telling himself to wait a little longer.

Xia Xiu traveled to Queen Street, trusting fate to lead him to an admission ticket for "Reprise Performance." After finding Lindbergh Addison’s wallet and office, he took over a client’s case under the name Sherlock Holmes, while the missing detective ended up hospitalized after a string of mishaps.

• Xia Xiu left the Monastery with Jam and used a coin toss to choose Stockholm as their next destination.
• At the Skansen Museum, Xia Xiu explained that he was seeking a ticket to "Reprise Performance" by entrusting himself to fate, then boarded a bus to Queen Street with Jam hidden by mimesis.
• Xia Xiu found Lindbergh Addison’s wallet beneath his foot and followed the address on a postcard to Addison’s private detective office.
• When Henry arrived looking for Addison, Xia Xiu claimed the detective had fled his debts, introduced himself as Sherlock Holmes, named Jam as John Watson, and accepted Henry’s case.
• Lindbergh Addison lay in Karolinska University Hospital, recalling how he had left his office unlocked before losing his wallet and falling into a sewer with its manhole cover missing.

Xia Xiu accepted Henry’s request to investigate whether Lina’s traffic death had been murder and searched her records at the Karolinska Institute hospital. He found evidence that a killer may have engineered a series of dangerous “accidents” and began narrowing down who benefited.

• Henry told Xia Xiu that he suspected his daughter Lina’s death was not an accident and hired him to investigate.
• Xia Xiu followed a doctor into the hospital archives and briefly encountered the badly injured Lindbergh Addison, whose wallet he returned after taking 500 Youyang Currency.
• Xia Xiu found Lina’s death certificate, which confirmed that her injuries came from the collision, along with her earlier medical records.
• Xia Xiu noticed that Lina had suffered repeated life-threatening incidents before her death, including two serious illnesses and a near-fatal gas leak.
• Xia Xiu concluded that someone had used stacked probabilities to kill Lina and began investigating who stood to benefit.

Xia Xiu investigated the fatal tram and track-guided bus collision by questioning Primo and Hughes Robin, then confronted Hughes with evidence suggesting he had plotted to kill his wife, Lina, for insurance money. The chapter ended with Xia Xiu denouncing Hughes as the “ugly beast,” while Hughes sat facing the accusation.

• Xia Xiu visited Primo in Stockholm Prison, gave him food, and asked about Hughes Robin’s work on Route 101 before the accident.
• Primo told Xia Xiu that Hughes had resigned a month before the collision and had later been imprisoned over a sexual offense; Xia Xiu revealed that Lina, the woman who died, had been Hughes’s wife.
• Xia Xiu met Hughes at a rain shelter, offered him coffee in exchange for a story, and listened as Hughes described his happy marriage to Wendy.
• Xia Xiu recounted a suspicious fatal car crash involving multiple insurance policies and presented it as the inspiration for a story about a man plotting to murder his wife for money.
• Xia Xiu showed Hughes a photograph and accused him of being the ugly beast behind Lina’s death.

Xia Xiu confronted Hughes Robin with evidence that he had murdered his wife Lina for insurance money, tracing the crime back to the violence that awakened his cruelty. After Hughes dismissed the evidence as speculation, Old Henry revealed that Lina was his daughter and attacked him.

• Xia Xiu recounted how the economic crisis and Hughes's poverty led him to murder Jenny Aviva at Swallow Alley End and discover his taste for violence.
• Xia Xiu presented records showing Hughes borrowed money, bought accident insurance in Lina's name, and repeatedly caused or exploited her illnesses.
• Xia Xiu explained how Hughes tampered with Route 101's tracks and conditioned Lina to sit near the front before the fatal tram crash.
• Hughes mocked Xia Xiu, arguing that the evidence was speculation and too slow to bring justice through court.
• Xia Xiu left Hughes to Old Henry, who revealed that Lina was his daughter and beat Hughes in revenge.