Recaps

The Warden explained to the Doctor why the Gambler was delaying the reveal during the livestream: lowering expectations would make people doubt the claim about biological blood as fuel immediately, rather than after the lie had already become reality. The Doctor understood the strategy, and the chapter left the Gambler’s reveal still underway.

• The Warden told the Doctor that the Gambler was using awkward performances to stall and lower the audience’s expectations.
• The Warden explained that revealing the claim at the height of anticipation could cause disappointment and later doubts, while exhausting the audience’s patience would make them question it from the start.
• The Doctor asked the Warden to return his Fountain Pen, which the Warden had secretly taken from his White Lab Coat sleeve.
• The Warden used an analogy about claiming to have three pieces of candy to show how a lie could become reality while an audience watched.
• The Doctor agreed that the Gambler’s strategy was clever because doubts arising early could be addressed, while doubts arising at the critical moment would leave no time to resolve them.

During a live broadcast, Gambler showed reporters a rare V8 twin-turbocharged engine and told a story about how he had obtained it. He deliberately used the display to build a mysterious image, and the crowd’s growing admiration convinced him his self-packaging was working.

• Gambler led Fangfang and the reporters into a repair workshop and revealed a massive engine beneath a spotlight.
• Gambler identified it as the first V8 twin-turbocharged engine in human industrial history and said he had nearly lost an arm acquiring it.
• Gambler stroked the engine and recalled how luxury cars made him feel connected to the times, while viewers watched his display live.
• Car enthusiasts and other viewers became impressed by Gambler, and some women grew more curious about him.
• Gambler recognized the crowd’s growing approval and concluded that his self-packaging had succeeded through people’s tendency to follow others.

Gambler demonstrated that the scarlet liquid he had refined could power a V8 engine, then revealed the creature from which the energy source was produced. After its cage fell and it escaped, Gambler stood between it and Fangfang as the livestream captured the encounter.

• Gambler showed Fangfang a fuel can of refined scarlet liquid and explained that it was similar to gasoline.
• Fangfang examined the liquid and told the camera that it felt different from gasoline.
• Gambler poured the liquid into the engine’s fuel tank, and the V8 started and ran smoothly until the fuel was used up.
• Gambler promised to show how the energy source was produced, and the camera revealed a large, five-armed creature locked in an iron cage.
• The cage chains snapped and the creature vanished in a blur before appearing beside Fangfang.
• Gambler stood between Fangfang and the creature and calmly told her not to worry.

Gambler killed the five-armed creature on camera and revealed that its blood was the supposed energy source. As he drained the creature into a bucket, Doctor identified the blood’s appearance as a flaw in Gambler’s deception.

• Gambler tore the creature’s heart from its chest while Fangfang watched, then posed with the heart for the cameras.
• The livestream replay showed Gambler killing the creature, and Warden and Doctor discussed how he had built trust through deliberate suggestions and his past as a casino owner.
• Doctor asked whether Gambler had lured Niclade into a trap in the same way, but Warden said he did not know how Gambler had deceived the deity.
• Gambler wrung the creature’s blood into a plastic bucket and confirmed to the cameraman that it was the energy source.
• Doctor warned that the blood’s appearance, unlike gasoline, could expose Gambler’s deception to anyone who looked closely.

Gambler’s blood-burning demonstration was exposed as a deception, but the audience accepted it amid their appetite for ever-greater shocks. Back at the C01 Containment Facility, Doctor prepared to lead C03 into Hell, and the Warden proposed that Gambler help secure the reassignment of a commander.

• The Warden explained that the livestream audience overlooked inconsistencies because they wanted more shocking revelations, and Gambler used the excitement to tell them Hell Creatures’ blood could fuel industry.
• After the broadcast, Fangfang asked Gambler for a private interview, but he vanished before anyone could react.
• At the C01 Containment Facility, Gambler admitted to Doctor that he had used colored oil for the first blood-burning demonstration.
• Doctor told the Warden that he had nearly worked out how to reproduce the teleportation circle and would take C03’s top combat forces into Hell, leaving Gambler to protect the Present World.
• The Warden suggested assigning Zhang Weidong, commander of the Ninth Group Army, to lead the forces, but Doctor raised concerns about withdrawing the army from the Southeastern Coastline.
• The Warden and Doctor looked to Gambler, then clarified that they wanted him to con someone rather than command an army.

The Warden and the Doctor tasked the Gambler with deceiving R058, the Flying Jellyfish, so the Ninth Group Army could be sent to fight in Hell while it guarded the Southeastern Coastline. In Hell, Lu Xiao took control of a Wanderer tribe and considered making its leader Isaac a deity, but he was puzzled by Isaac’s unusually hard Royal Family horns.

• The Doctor identified R058, the Flying Jellyfish, as the target the Gambler needed to deceive, and the Gambler protested that the task could get him killed.
• The Warden explained that R058 had protected them during the previous tsunami and might guard the Southeastern Coastline, allowing the Ninth Group Army to join the war in Hell.
• The Doctor argued that bringing R058 to Hell was impractical and dangerous for the Present World, so the Warden decided the Gambler would approach it.
• Lu Xiao stayed with a large Wanderer tribe rather than the Minotaur Tribe, hoping to use the Wanderers as leverage in his cooperation with the Minotaur Tribe.
• Lu Xiao had taken control of the tribe behind the scenes and planned to make its leader, Isaac, a deity, potentially by feeding him his own flesh and blood.
• Lu Xiao noticed Isaac’s three Royal Family horns and wondered why they were so hard, since even he struggled to damage horns like them.

Lu Xiao fed his flesh to Isaac and a near-adult Hell Worm, causing the creature to mutate and grow. After leaving the cavern, Calamity asked to taste Lu Xiao’s flesh too.

• Lu Xiao tested Isaac’s horns, then fed him a piece of flesh before sending him away.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity speculated about how the Royal Family originated, with Lu Xiao suspecting someone had placed their species in Hell.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity visited Isaac’s Hell Worm, which had become attached to Lu Xiao after he fed it his flesh and used his authority on it.
• Lu Xiao repeatedly fed the Hell Worm his regenerating flesh, and its tentacles grew thicker as he urged it to grow.
• Calamity asked to try Lu Xiao’s flesh, joking that it might make him a god.

Lu Xiao learned that Wanderers across southern Hell were migrating toward the Holy City, making the South a promising refuge for humanity. He rejected the idea of leading his tribe there and decided to continue north toward the Royal City, which he suspected was the center of Hell’s coming conflict.

• Lu Xiao focused on Hell and visited Ruiqi with Calamity to ask about the Succubus Clan’s scouts.
• Ruiqi told Lu Xiao that southern Wanderers were pledging allegiance to the Holy City and moving toward its new settlement, while northern tribes faced delays because powerful clans controlled the region.
• Lu Xiao considered how the Holy City could shield a human settlement in the South from northern powers.
• Lu Xiao rejected leading his tribe south because he wanted to remain behind the scenes and chose to head farther north toward the Royal City.

Lu Xiao discussed Ruiqi and the Succubus Clan with Calamity, then wondered about the relationship between 'Fate' and 'Death.' Calamity reasoned that 'Death' had spared Lu Xiao because the two entities likely got along, leaving Lu Xiao to consider how their interests might be connected.

• Lu Xiao told Calamity he was avoiding getting involved with Ruiqi because of her Authority, his fear of losing himself in 'Desire,' and the Succubus Clan's connection to him as Kin.
• Ruiqi overheard their conversation and realized why Lu Xiao was keeping his distance.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity returned to the surface and wondered whether the setting sun was a creature's eye; Calamity warned that its owner might be too powerful to face.
• Lu Xiao asked Calamity about the relationship between 'Fate' and 'Death,' and Calamity argued that 'Death' had not retaliated against Lu Xiao because the two likely got along.

Lu Xiao considered why powerful beings in the Universe might embrace madness and focused on securing Authorities for himself and his allies. After returning underground, he followed Big Good Boy and the Wanderer tribe through the tunnels while Calamity debated how the Hell Worm digested dirt.

• Lu Xiao suspected powerful beings feared something so deeply that they drove themselves mad, but he abandoned the thought when he could find no more clues.
• Lu Xiao reflected on the Director's disappearance and considered merging another Authority into his right Eye of Truth, while noting that Big Good Boy and the Omniscient Mirror also needed Authorities.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity returned underground and fed Big Good Boy, which then dug ahead with Isaac and the other Hell creatures following.
• Isaac felt close to becoming a deity and watched Ruiqi as he followed the group through the tunnel.
• Calamity asked how Big Good Boy excreted dirt, and Lu Xiao concluded that it must spit it out through its mouth, making Ruiqi's mouth twitch.

The Prison Doctor and Liu Ni were turned away from the route to Hell because the Teleportation Array had been destroyed. In Hell, Ding Dan’s army reached the Nightmare Demon Clan, whose leader submitted rather than risk extermination, then collapsed after reading a document.

• The Prison Doctor and Liu Ni encountered a Demon Squad blocking their way to Hell and learned the Teleportation Array had been destroyed.
• The Prison Doctor left with Liu Ni, deciding to return and ask Mr. Doctor for another solution.
• Ding Dan traveled through Hell on his Throne with the Holy City Army and approached the Nightmare Demon Clan’s settlement.
• The Nightmare Demon leader ordered his clan to submit to Ding Dan, and the clansmen knelt as the army arrived.
• A Great Two-Horned Demon helped the Nightmare Demon leader up and gave him a roll of cloth, whose contents made his vision go black.

Ding Dan’s campaign swept through northern Hell and reached the Royal City, whose demons submitted to him. Lu Xiao and Calamity speculated about his motives, while Ding Dan confronted the priest who had helped arrange the Royal City’s surrender.

• The Nightmare Demon Deity accepted Ding Dan’s demands and prepared to surrender most of his clan’s wealth.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity discussed whether Ding Dan was eliminating weaker demon clans to prevent them from joining forces before a final battle.
• Ding Dan’s forces reached the Royal City, and the city’s demons offered no resistance as his Throne entered.
• The priest and the Royal City’s demons knelt and hailed Ding Dan as their ruler.
• Ding Dan questioned the priest about the six opposing demon Deities, then challenged him for suggesting they be spared until the battlefield.

Ding Dan appointed Morati lord of the renamed Morati City, and Wayne revealed the truth about Morati’s father and the prophecy. Morati learned that the Royal Family had secretly supported him and planned to draw the attention of “Them” while preparing for a final battle.

• Ding Dan spared the priest, then appointed Morati lord of the Royal City and ordered Wayne to rename it Morati City.
• Wayne and Morati toured the city, and Morati asked him to reveal what had happened to his father.
• Wayne explained that the prophecy’s original Savior was from the Devilfish Clan, which the High Priest’s era had massacred after discovering it.
• Wayne said Morati’s father publicly changed the prophecy to name a one-horned demon as the Savior, leading the Royal Family to hunt him.
• Wayne revealed that the clan had secretly supplied Morati with resources and devised a plan to draw “Them” out while awakening the past Great Lords for the final battle.

Wayne revealed to Morati that outsiders destroyed Hell’s original world and killed its first Great Lord, whose body became the land and whose eye became the sun. He explained that the other races descended from Royal Family members captured by those outsiders, leaving Morati furious and understanding why Ding Dan rejected some races’ surrender.

• Wayne told Morati that past Great Lords had faked their deaths because hidden outsiders wanted them gone.
• Wayne described how the outsiders destroyed the World Will and shattered the planet, and said the first Great Lord’s body and eye became Hell’s land and sun.
• Wayne said the outsiders retreated to Hell’s reverse side after the battle and continued watching over the Royal Family.
• Wayne revealed that the other races were born from Royal Family members captured by the outsiders.
• Morati grew enraged and understood why Ding Dan would not accept the surrender of certain races.

Lu Xiao and Calamity discussed replacing Isaac with another Deity when Old Feis emerged from the ground. Old Feis offered himself as a possible substitute and watched Lu Xiao with unusual interest.

• Lu Xiao complained that Isaac had not become a Deity despite being fed, and suggested killing him and finding a replacement.
• Old Feis spoke from beneath the soil, startling Calamity and prompting Lu Xiao to stomp on the thing emerging from the ground.
• Old Feis grabbed Lu Xiao’s ankle, then asked them to wait while he climbed out.
• Calamity recognized Old Feis and stopped Lu Xiao from attacking; Old Feis complained about Lu Xiao’s stomp.
• Old Feis said he had overheard their discussion and found it interesting, keeping his gaze fixed on Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao recruited Old Feis to impersonate Isaac and traveled with him and Calamity to confront the Minotaur Tribe. They demanded that the tribe bring out Niu Bo, but their threatening arrival ended with an elder getting struck in the face by a glob of phlegm.

• Old Feis offered to impersonate Isaac, and Lu Xiao agreed to use him to draw attention.
• Old Feis disguised himself with Isaac's skin, while Lu Xiao sent Ruiqi to lead the Wanderers south toward the Holy City.
• Old Feis flew Lu Xiao and Calamity to the Minotaur Tribe's settlement in less than half an hour.
• Lu Xiao demanded that the Minotaur Tribe bring out Niu Bo, while Old Feis revealed his Deity's aura.
• A Minotaur brought out a huge waterskin, and a glob of phlegm landed on the face of the elder who had ordered it.

Lu Xiao, Old Feis, and Calamity confronted the Minotaurs and met Elder Niu Bo, who recognized them and renewed his offer to cooperate. Niu Bo agreed to reveal key information in exchange for Lu Xiao telling him about his world, leaving Lu Xiao to consider the terms.

• Old Feis and Calamity revealed the aura of deities, and Lu Xiao claimed he was one too, prompting the Minotaurs to bring out Niu Bo.
• Niu Bo recognized Lu Xiao and invited him, Old Feis, and Calamity into the Elders' Council to speak privately.
• Old Feis confronted Niu Bo, who identified him as the first of the Gods to appear and called him a devilfish.
• Niu Bo said his agreement to cooperate with Lu Xiao still stood, but he would approach His Majesty the Great Lord if Lu Xiao refused.
• Lu Xiao asked for greater honesty, and Niu Bo agreed to share key information if Lu Xiao later told him about his world.

Niu Bo explained that the Minotaur Tribe had been exiled to Hell and survived the Royal Family’s war through a wager with a former Great Lord. He left Lu Xiao with the explanation that the Royal Family had allowed the tribe to remain, but had cursed it as a precaution.

• Niu Bo confirmed that Lu Xiao already knew what had happened to the Minotaur Tribe and explained that the Royal Family’s attack had deeper causes than the tribe’s threat to its position.
• Old Feis and Niu Bo clarified that the Minotaur Tribe had not allied with the bandits and that the Royal Family had halted its attempt to wipe them out after other races attacked the Royal City.
• Niu Bo revealed that his tribe had been exiled to Hell and that he had wagered with the Great Lord of that generation that the Outsiders would besiege the Royal City to exploit his Authority of 'Wisdom.'
• Niu Bo explained that the Royal Family agreed to let his tribe stay if his prediction came true, while the tribe would become its dependents if he lost the wager.
• Niu Bo told Lu Xiao that the Royal Family protected the tribe’s brickmaking business and received priority access to its bricks at a low price.
• Niu Bo explained that the Royal Family had cursed his tribe as insurance, so that its descendants would be a burden rather than a threat if his prediction proved false.

Niu Bo revealed that the Great Lord succession struggle was a scheme to draw attention while the First-Generation Demon Great Lord’s corrupted authority sought to resurrect him. He suspected that Death had entered the conflict to obtain something for someone else, and said Death’s involvement had nearly settled the outcome.

• Lu Xiao realized the Royal Family had used Niu Bo’s wisdom to devise plans and test his loyalty.
• Niu Bo explained that anyone who inherited the Tyrant authority would be assimilated by the First-Generation Demon Great Lord’s lingering soul and become an anchor for his return.
• Lu Xiao understood that Hell lay over the corpse of a Great Old One, while Niu Bo said powerful beings could not descend freely without attracting an even greater threat.
• Niu Bo questioned why Old Feis’s master had joined the conflict, and Old Feis said he did not know.
• Niu Bo guessed that Death had entered the fray to fulfill a deal with someone who wanted the Great Old One’s corpse, then said Death’s involvement made the outcome nearly certain.

Lu Xiao told Niu Bo about the Present World's crisis, and Niu Bo decided the Minotaur Tribe could not safely move there. Niu Bo proposed creating a Great Old One to protect Lu Xiao's people, then hinted at a second, more demanding solution.

• Lu Xiao described the Present World's situation to Niu Bo, hoping for advice and to dissuade the Minotaur Tribe from relocating there.
• Niu Bo used his Authority to consider Lu Xiao's account, exhausting himself before deciding their cooperation would have to end.
• Niu Bo explained that Hell offered a safer refuge than the Present World and suggested Lu Xiao move his people there.
• Niu Bo proposed that a Great Old One could hide Lu Xiao's planet in an interstitial space and deter their enemies.
• Lu Xiao asked whether there was another option, and Niu Bo said there was one with considerably more demanding requirements.

Niu Bo explained why Lu Xiao’s star had gone dark and described two ways to respond to the region’s transformation from order toward chaos. He warned that the transformation could create a Black Domain Battlefield, leaving Lu Xiao to consider whether his race could withstand the corruption of chaos.

• Niu Bo told Lu Xiao that a star had been extinguished to conceal the region’s transformation from beings opposed to chaos.
• Niu Bo proposed spreading word to attract those beings, but warned that they might bring destruction and could not locate the region unless the star was reignited and its guardian dealt with.
• Niu Bo said producing a Great Old One would be a more reliable solution, and explained that completed transformations could turn the region into a Black Domain Battlefield filled with divine flesh and blood.
• Niu Bo warned that consuming such flesh could corrupt orderly beings or let the original owner seize their minds.
• Lu Xiao asked how to tell whether his race suited order or chaos, and Niu Bo explained that the key was resisting external divinity while retaining consciousness and reason.

Niu Bo explained the differences between Orderly, Chaotic, and Neutral Lifeforms, and Lu Xiao considered what their conflicting interests meant for Earth. With stopping the transformation seeming too risky and becoming a Great Old One too slow, Lu Xiao decided to pass the information to Doctor and the others and try to get Niu Bo involved.

• Niu Bo explained that Orderly Lifeforms served rules, Chaotic Lifeforms resisted or sought to replace them, and Neutral Lifeforms acted according to their own whims.
• Lu Xiao questioned whether his status as a Chosen One of Fate made him orderly, and considered how his humanity might push him toward chaos.
• Old Feis warned Lu Xiao that a fully transformed Earth would become a Black Domain Battlefield, while Niu Bo clarified that the worst destruction came from Great Old Ones, who rarely appeared there.
• Lu Xiao concluded that Earth’s transformation had to be stopped, but decided he lacked time to become a Great Old One and would have to explore the riskier alternative.
• Lu Xiao decided to relay Niu Bo’s information to Doctor and the others, then look for a way to persuade Niu Bo to help.

The Ninth Group Army prepared to enter Hell as humanity’s advance force, carrying supplies and nuclear warheads while the Warden briefed Commander Zhang Weidong. The departure ceremony ended with Zhang entrusting the soldiers’ final letters to the Warden.

• The Warden warned Zhang Weidong that the twelve nuclear warheads represented everything Huaxia and America had produced so far, and Zhang chose to take only two.
• The Warden told Zhang Weidong to wait for someone to explain Hell and taught him a ritual to call Lu Xiao if he encountered a problem he could not solve.
• Reporters described the Ninth Group Army’s supplies and equipment as the army prepared to enter Hell through the Gate.
• A truck arrived with the final letters of all 68,632 officers and soldiers, and Zhang Weidong asked the Warden to keep them safe.

The Ninth Group Army entered the one-way Gate to Hell after Zhang Weidong and the Warden exchanged farewells, while the Doctor prepared to meet Niu Bo and find materials to rebuild the Gate. At the southeastern coastline, the Gambler tried to persuade a wary jellyfish to make another bet, but its offer left the jellyfish suspicious.

• The Warden saluted Zhang Weidong and the Ninth Group Army, then promised to safeguard their farewell letters and wished them a victorious return.
• The Doctor told the Warden that the Gate was a one-way, single-use portal and that rebuilding it would require finding materials in Hell.
• The Doctor said he would travel to Hell with the C03 Containment Facility, hidden in the vessel "Zhou," and meet Lu Xiao and the Minotaur Niu Bo.
• After roll call, the Ninth Group Army entered the Gate, with the Doctor and Zhang Weidong going in alongside the Mechanized Forces; the Gate went dark after the last supply truck passed through.
• The Gambler asked the jellyfish to bet again, and it complained that he had cheated in their earlier bets.
• The Gambler offered the jellyfish a chance to gain the ability to transform into a human if it lost, making the jellyfish question his motives.

Gambler wagered his life against the jellyfish in a game of Three-Card Poker, and the jellyfish took human form after losing. Gambler survived when she restored him, then persuaded her to explore the human world and named her Nico.

• Gambler proposed a wager with the jellyfish, staking his life and teaching it Three-Card Poker.
• The jellyfish chose three cards and got a king-high flush, but Gambler won with an ace-high flush.
• The jellyfish transformed into a humanlike girl while Gambler became a desiccated corpse from overtaxing his Authority.
• The girl touched Gambler between the eyebrows and restored his body and vitality; he revealed he had been betting on whether she would save him.
• Gambler encouraged the girl to visit his casino, promised to protect her from strange wagers, and named her Nico.