Recaps

Great Lord Kaitlin confronted Ding Dan and pressed him to choose who should rule the Royal City, then revealed Morati badly injured in Daimon's grasp. After Kaitlin vanished, Daimon explained that Morati had likely challenged him and had his blood drained, while Ding Dan demanded an answer and continued on his way.

• Great Lord Kaitlin stopped Ding Dan's Throne and asked whether Daimon or Morati should be in charge of the Royal City.
• Ding Dan avoided choosing, and Daimon appeared carrying a barely breathing Morati.
• Ding Dan demanded to know what Kaitlin had done to Morati, and Kaitlin vanished after Daimon took Ding Dan's side.
• Daimon told Ding Dan that Kaitlin had likely drained Morati's blood after Morati challenged him as city lord, and promised to give Ding Dan an answer.
• Ding Dan accepted Daimon's promise and departed on his Throne.

Gambler’s team captured a hidden Wanderer Clan and brought them back as bait, while Dart and Ruiqi waited at another settlement for a Deity to arrive. When the Deity appeared and approached Ruiqi, Dart opened his many eyes and trapped him in a terrifying vision, leaving him on his knees in fear.

• Gambler sent Nico to seize every creature in a hidden Wanderer Clan, intending to use its unidentified Deity as bait for a rescue attempt.
• Niu Bo returned to Doctor’s Experiment Room, while Gambler went to wash dishes and the settlement’s forces prepared an ambush.
• Dart and Ruiqi arrived at a small Wanderer Settlement and waited without attacking its residents.
• Ruiqi’s Desire Authority overwhelmed the Wanderers, and the Deity they sought arrived after about half a day.
• The Deity approached Ruiqi, but Dart opened the eyes on his tentacles and made the Deity see a nightmare of monstrous spiders.
• The Deity dropped his spiked club and slowly sank to his knees in terror.

Dart returned to the Base with Ruiqi after killing a deity who died in terror when Dart stirred his despair. Calamity explained that Gambler’s capture of an intelligence deity was bait for an expected attack, while Ruiqi admitted she wanted to sign a contract with Lu Xiao because he was handsome.

• Dart picked up the dead deity’s Authority Change and headed back to the Base with Ruiqi.
• Calamity told Dart that Gambler had captured an intelligence deity alive and prepared the Base for the faction’s likely counterattack.
• Dart described the spider-like creature he had seen, but Calamity said he did not recognize it and advised him not to dwell on it.
• Dart took the corpse to Chef, while Ruiqi asked Calamity whether she could still sign a Succubus Contract with Lu Xiao.
• Ruiqi told Calamity she wanted the contract because Lu Xiao was handsome, and denied that she was trying to attach herself to someone powerful.

As the enemy approached, Calamity reflected on the human soldiers’ courage and admitted that their fighting spirit made him think of his lost home. Meanwhile, Prison Doctor and Liu Ni began feeding the incapacitated Lu Xiao through a needle inserted into his stomach.

• Calamity told Ruiqi that the human soldiers feared failure despite showing no fear, and said their determination made him think of his own race.
• Ruiqi reflected on humanity’s unity and relentless training, and Amilia appeared to signal that the enemy had arrived.
• Chef prepared liquid food for Lu Xiao while Prison Doctor carried it to the hospital room.
• Prison Doctor instructed Liu Ni to operate on Lu Xiao, and she cut open his abdomen and inserted an indwelling needle.
• Prison Doctor poured the liquid food through a funnel into Lu Xiao’s stomach, leaving Liu Ni unnerved by the rough procedure.

Lu Xiao recovered after Prison Doctor and Liu Ni fed him Deities' flesh and blood through a funnel inserted into his abdomen. He piloted the First Prototype to the surface, where he saw an enemy swarm whose creatures resisted shellfire and corroded the mechanical dogs with green slime.

• Prison Doctor poured four buckets of prepared Deities' flesh and blood into Lu Xiao, temporarily slowing Night's expansion in his Consciousness World.
• Lu Xiao woke, discovered the funnel and needle in his belly, and complained that the others had not treated him like a human.
• Liu Ni and the others surgically removed the needle from Lu Xiao's stomach.
• Lu Xiao asked Gambler about events outside, then visited Shuns and piloted the First Prototype to the surface.
• Lu Xiao saw caterpillar-like creatures corrode the mechanical dogs with slime and beetle-like creatures shrug off shells with their dark carapaces.

Lu Xiao learned that the Ninth Group Army was being overwhelmed by the Zerg and helped Commander Zhang Weidong prepare to retreat. Calamity revealed that their only chance to turn the battle around was to kill the Brain Worm, which was protected by every Zerg above King-level.

• Calamity told Lu Xiao that the Zerg had pushed the Ninth Group Army back and that Old Feis, Dart, and another god were tied down fighting three Zerg gods.
• Lu Xiao found Zhang Weidong retreating with the army’s equipment, and Zhang explained that the Zerg’s formations and resistance to thermal weapons made withdrawal necessary.
• Calamity explained that the Zerg had adapted to artillery and developed ranged attackers, making the battle appear lost.
• Calamity said the swarm would scatter if its Brain Worm were killed, but its defenses were formidable.
• Lu Xiao realized that the Zerg’s high-level fighters were likely guarding the Brain Worm, and Calamity confirmed that every Zerg above King-level was protecting it.

Lu Xiao and Calamity went underground to reach the Swarm and attempt to kill its Brain Worm in a single strike. Lu Xiao found the Brain Worm inhabiting a general and destroyed it, but the general’s body was left headless as the Swarm began to screech.

• Calamity explained that nuclear weapons could prompt the Zerg to evolve and overwhelm humanity, and said the Brain Worm was as fragile as an ordinary human.
• Lu Xiao proposed entering the Swarm’s territory underground and killing the Brain Worm instantly, so he and Calamity set out without the First Prototype.
• As they approached, Calamity explained the roles of the Brain Worm and Mother Worm and warned Lu Xiao to flee if his first strike failed.
• Lu Xiao burst from the ground during Calamity’s diversion and spotted a general with antennae and medals who was hosting the Brain Worm.
• The general pierced Lu Xiao’s body, but Lu Xiao reappeared beside him and smashed his head, killing the Brain Worm.
• As the Swarm screeched, Lu Xiao caught the general’s headless body and apologized for not being able to leave it whole.

Lu Xiao killed the Brain Worm, letting the Ninth Group Army turn back and defeat the disorganized swarm. At the memorial for the Second Infantry Division, Lu Xiao stayed away and asked Doctor to withdraw the army to the Present World, but Doctor refused, then went to Shuns's Experiment Room.

• Lu Xiao killed the Brain Worm, threw the swarm into chaos, and told Calamity to notify the army that it no longer needed to retreat.
• After learning the Brain Worm was dead, Zhang Weidong ordered the Ninth Group Army to turn around and attack the bugs.
• At the Base, Zhang Weidong presided over a memorial for the Second Infantry Division, whose 8,792 members, including commander Li Liguo, had been wiped out.
• Lu Xiao left the memorial and told Doctor he was not used to such scenes.
• Lu Xiao asked Doctor to withdraw the army to the Present World, but Doctor said humanity could not retreat from the war.
• Doctor left for Shuns's Experiment Room while Lu Xiao stayed behind on the sofa.

The Doctor proposed using Swarm shells and bodies for the Biological Armor project, then told Shuns he would begin his Deification Ritual. At the infirmary, Liu Ni asked Zhang Weidong about Liu Commander, while Zhang comforted the wounded soldiers before finally admitting his own grief.

• The Doctor gave Shuns a plan to use beetle-like Swarm shells for armor and the remaining insects as material for extracting crude oil, and Shuns agreed to research it using the Mother Worm.
• The Doctor told Shuns he was suspending his other projects to begin his Deification Ritual.
• After the memorial service, Liu Ni asked Zhang Weidong whether the man he remembered was Shadow, and Zhang said he preferred to call him Liu Commander.
• Zhang Weidong comforted wounded soldiers by promising to ask the state to find them wives once they returned, lifting the mood in the infirmary.
• Outside the tent, Zhang Weidong struggled to smoke as Liu Ni sat beside him, and he said the soldiers could cry but he could not.

Zhang Weidong told Liu Ni how he had come to respect Liu Guang, while she still failed to learn why Liu Guang had treated his own child cruelly. Meanwhile, Ivan gathered Calamity’s elemental waste and began an alchemy ritual to create an authority, with Lu Xiao and the others watching.

• Zhang Weidong recounted his rivalry with Liu Guang and explained how Liu Guang’s charisma had won the Ninth Group Army’s loyalty.
• Zhang Weidong asked Liu Ni what Lu Xiao meant to her, then compared their attachments to Liu Guang and Lu Xiao.
• Liu Ni left the conversation without learning why Liu Guang had been cruel to his own flesh and blood.
• Chef served the group sliced remains of a god, and Calamity ate the most as Ivan repeatedly added food to his plate.
• Calamity went to the toilet, where Ivan collected the pure elemental substance he excreted and carried it to his Experiment Room.
• Ivan drew an intricate alchemy array outside the Base as Lu Xiao, Old Feis, and Niu Bo watched his attempt to create an authority.

Ivan completed an alchemy array to exchange rare elements for authority, and the resulting upheaval left him with a beating multicolored heart. The chapter ended as an emerald flame appeared in his eye sockets, signaling that his attempt to attain godhood had worked.

• Lu Xiao worried that a being might already hold authority over alchemy, while Shuns tried to reassure him as Ivan slowly engraved the array over two days.
• When Ivan completed the array, a pillar of light rose into the sky, dark clouds gathered, and rain fell across Hell.
• Calamity explained that his excreted elements contained water, and Niu Bo’s reaction brought forth wind and fire that evaporated the rain.
• The array’s light dimmed, Ivan’s soul fire went out, and aggregated elements crawled into his rib cage and formed a heart.
• Prison Doctor recognized the heart’s steady rhythm as a sign of success, and an emerald flame appeared in Ivan’s eye sockets.

Ivan became a Deity and revealed that his Authority was Exchange, while publicly claiming it was alchemy. Niu Bo revealed that he was one of the Gods and asked to become Ivan’s Chosen One so he could study alchemy.

• The Prison Doctor tested Ivan with the first doll he had carved, and Ivan calmly recalled its history, confirming that he had not been corrupted.
• Ivan privately told Lu Xiao that his Authority was Exchange, then told everyone that it was alchemy.
• Niu Bo asked to become Ivan’s Chosen One, explaining that someone who mastered a Rule could decide who was allowed to use it.
• Lu Xiao asked Niu Bo to reveal his Ontological Rank, and Niu Bo transformed into a Minotaur a kilometer tall, revealing that he was one of the Gods.
• Ivan looked to Lu Xiao for his opinion on Niu Bo’s request, while the Prison Doctor privately grumbled about Ivan’s success.

Lu Xiao learned that Great Lord Kaitlin had seized control of the Holy City and stripped Ding Dan of his authority. He went to Nico’s Containment Room, where he found her gambling amid smoke and machines.

• Amilia returned late and told Lu Xiao that his Holy City informants had been rooted out.
• Amilia revealed that Great Lord Kaitlin, not Yi Hao, had taken control of the Holy City and removed Ding Dan from power.
• Amilia described Kaitlin’s brutal rule, during which slavery spread, Hell’s population plunged, and thirteen races were wiped out.
• Lu Xiao recognized Kaitlin as a dangerous opponent and went with Dart to visit Nico.
• Lu Xiao entered Nico’s Containment Room and found it filled with gambling tables, slot machines, smoke, and foul air.
• Nico smoked a cigar and fed coins into a slot machine.

Lu Xiao and Dart left for the Holy City with Nico after deciding to deal with the threat there before confronting the Gambler. In the city, Kaitlin tortured Yi Hao and mocked him for Ding Dan’s failure to return, while Lu Xiao’s group arrived at the rebuilt Holy City.

• Nico broke a slot machine, and Lu Xiao destroyed the garish cap on her head before they left the Containment Room.
• Lu Xiao asked Dart how many layers of skin the Gambler had, and Dart said the Deity’s skin would quickly grow back.
• Dart carried Lu Xiao and Nico toward the Holy City instead of using Doctor to teleport them, since they did not know Kaitlin’s power.
• Kaitlin tortured the battered Yi Hao in Ding Dan’s bedchamber and taunted him about Ding Dan not returning to see him.
• Lu Xiao, Dart, and Nico arrived outside the rebuilt Holy City and saw its white, salt-crystal-adorned buildings and central palace dome.

Lu Xiao and his companions reached the Holy City, disguised themselves, and encountered Ding Dan, who needed Lu Xiao’s help. Morati explained that Great Lord Kaitlin had attacked him and pursued Ding Dan after Ding Dan met with Great Lord Daimon, and that Kaitlin had come directly to the Holy City.

• Lu Xiao, Dart, and Nico admired the glittering city and traded jokes and poetic lines before deciding to disguise themselves.
• Lu Xiao used his Authority to turn Nico into a Succubus and Dart into a two-horned Demon, though Dart’s tentacles remained visible.
• Ding Dan approached with Morati and two unfamiliar Succubi, and Morati asked Lu Xiao for help.
• Morati told Lu Xiao that Ding Dan had reached an understanding with Great Lord Daimon in the Demon Royal City and attracted Great Lord Kaitlin’s attention.
• Morati explained that Kaitlin attacked him and pursued Ding Dan, then unexpectedly came straight to the Holy City after Great Lord Daimon intervened.

Lu Xiao learned how Kaitlin had seized Ding Dan’s rule of the Holy City and agreed to help Ding Dan reclaim it in exchange for his future cooperation. The group reached Kaitlin’s divine hall, where Ding Dan faced the usurper, while Lu Xiao recognized that fear and a lack of loyalty left Ding Dan with little support.

• Morati told Lu Xiao that Kaitlin had taken over the Holy City after defeating Ding Dan, who had now returned after recovering from his injuries.
• Lu Xiao agreed to help Ding Dan reclaim the city, asking him to accompany him somewhere afterward, and Ding Dan accepted without asking where.
• Ding Dan led Lu Xiao, Morati, Dart, Nico, and two Succubi through the Holy City as its people knelt to him.
• The group reached the empty divine hall, where Kaitlin sat alone on the throne and mocked Ding Dan for returning.
• Morati explained that no one knew Kaitlin’s authority, while Ding Dan said fear kept the city’s people from rising against him.
• Lu Xiao realized that Ding Dan’s harsh rule had left him without broad loyalty, making his return to power depend on the small group that still supported him.

Ding Dan confronted Kaitlin in the great hall and revealed that Kaitlin's brutality and desire to submit to him came from feeling inferior because he had no authority. Kaitlin reacted with anger and humiliation as Lu Xiao and the others stood nearby.

• Kaitlin questioned Ding Dan about who should rule the Demon Clan, and Ding Dan called him a tyrant and said Daimon was better suited to lead.
• Kaitlin spread his wings and released a god's pressure over the group, prompting Lu Xiao to inject Morati with a sedative as a precaution.
• Kaitlin told Ding Dan he had once intended to submit to him but now wanted to kill him.
• Ding Dan explained that Daimon had wanted Kaitlin to receive the corrupted authority of the King, then accused Kaitlin of using brutality to conceal his inferiority over having no authority.
• Kaitlin trembled as Ding Dan exposed his motives, while Nico joked about whether lacking authority meant losing human rights and praised Lu Xiao's reply.

Lu Xiao watched Daimon punish Kaitlin for attacking Ding Dan and harming Morati and Yi Hao, while Ding Dan accepted the punishment and affirmed their cooperation. After Daimon carried Kaitlin away, Ding Dan turned to Lu Xiao and asked him to sit on the Throne.

• Lu Xiao realized Ding Dan had brought Daimon as support, and Daimon joined Ding Dan in confronting Kaitlin.
• Daimon apologized to Ding Dan and said Kaitlin had to answer for attacking the Great Lord and harming Morati and Yi Hao.
• Daimon broke off Kaitlin’s arms, wings, and legs, then asked Ding Dan whether the punishment satisfied him.
• Ding Dan said he was satisfied, and Daimon carried the helpless Kaitlin away while asking that their cooperation remain unaffected.
• Ding Dan looked at the Throne, sighed, and asked Lu Xiao to sit on it.

Lu Xiao climbed the nine steps to the Throne and was overwhelmed by its power, briefly acting like a sovereign while seated. Ding Dan pulled him away and explained that the Throne’s influence showed why Lu Xiao was unsuited to lead humanity, leaving Nico to restrain his furious response.

• Lu Xiao climbed the steps toward the Throne as a growing pressure made his heart race and left him exhausted.
• Lu Xiao sat on the Throne and felt as though he held the Holy City and its power in his grasp.
• Lu Xiao rebuked Ding Dan for approaching the Throne, then threatened him when Ding Dan lifted him from the seat.
• Ding Dan set Lu Xiao down and said the Throne’s influence explained why Lu Xiao was unsuited to lead humanity.
• Nico wrapped her arms around Lu Xiao and urged him to calm down.

Lu Xiao confronted Ding Dan about power, responsibility, and the Crown that bound him, then realized Ding Dan had planned to use Lu Xiao to resolve the crisis. As their conversation ended, two succubi brought a battered, bleeding figure into the hall.

• Lu Xiao broke free from Nico and admitted that the Throne's power had intoxicated him.
• Ding Dan explained that power came with responsibility, and that Lu Xiao had avoided accepting it on the way to the Throne.
• Lu Xiao realized Ding Dan might have to die to relinquish the Crown, but Ding Dan said he had counted on Lu Xiao to take him somewhere once the crisis ended.
• Ding Dan revealed that his plan had begun after Calamity destroyed the Holy City and that he wanted to see how Lu Xiao would resolve a similar problem.
• Two succubi entered the hall supporting a mangled, bloody figure, and Lu Xiao remarked on how miserable the figure looked.

After Lu Xiao and his companions left the Holy City, Daimon carried Kaitlin toward the North Royal City and confronted three enormous figures who demanded he release him. Daimon refused and overwhelmed them with his black flames, while Kaitlin remained his captive.

• Ding Dan thanked Yi Hao for his work and gave him two succubi, then agreed to meet Lu Xiao at the human encampment in two days.
• Lu Xiao, Dart, and Nico left the Holy City, joking about giving up their royal roles as Lu Xiao reflected on the lure of power and Liu Guang.
• Daimon flew toward the North Royal City with the limbless Kaitlin, who pleaded to be released and denied being a fragment of the progenitor's soul.
• Daimon ignored Kaitlin's pleas, struck him, and confronted three giant figures who demanded he put Kaitlin down.
• Daimon transformed into a flame giant and covered the area in pitch-black fire, causing the three figures to withdraw after threatening him.

Daimon brought Kaitlin to the Royal City and prepared to use him as the vessel for the Progenitor’s Advent, while Lu Xiao returned to the Base and learned that Old Feis and Calamity had a dangerous mission from Death. After they left, Lu Xiao went to check on Lu Qian in class.

• Daimon reached the Royal City with Kaitlin, where six Great Two-Horned Demons emerged from his body and discussed the Gods who had tried to stop them.
• Daimon warned the others to stay vigilant so nothing would disrupt the ritual for the Progenitor’s Advent, then told the despairing Kaitlin that becoming its vessel was the highest honor.
• Lu Xiao returned to the Base with Kaitlin’s severed limbs and wings, and Chef prepared them for a meal that Old Feis and Calamity shared with him.
• Old Feis told Lu Xiao that Death had given him and Calamity a confidential, dangerous mission, and Calamity said they might be gone for about a month.
• Old Feis and Calamity left before finishing the meal, and Lu Xiao learned he would have to ask Death himself about resurrecting someone.
• Lu Xiao walked outside Lu Qian’s classroom and watched the peaceful lesson through the window.

Lu Xiao took Xiao Yu to the Prison Doctor’s Containment Room, hoping to have her Vocal Cords restored, but the Prison Doctor said she was healthy and Xiao Yu refused to cooperate. The chapter ended with the Prison Doctor explaining that Xiao Yu’s reliance on her External Vocal Cords could make her lose the ability to speak.

• Lu Xiao interrupted Xiao Yu’s class and carried her toward the Prison Doctor’s Containment Room, despite her struggles and screams.
• Xiao Yu bit Lu Xiao’s God-skin coat and lost all her teeth, which Lu Xiao gathered and put in his pocket.
• Lu Xiao found Liu Ni alone in the Containment Room, where she answered his questions with nonsense before the Prison Doctor returned.
• The Prison Doctor made an awkward joke, then asked Lu Xiao to put Xiao Yu down and helped calm her.
• The Prison Doctor told Xiao Yu to stop relying on her External Vocal Cords, but she said she liked using them, so he told Lu Xiao she refused to cooperate.

Lu Xiao sought the Prison Doctor’s help to remove the contamination in Xiao Yu’s mind, but learned the treatment required entering her consciousness and the Doctor was away preparing a deification ritual. Shuns offered to try extracting and storing Xiao Yu’s consciousness, leaving Lu Xiao unsure whether the plan was reliable.

• Lu Xiao had Xiao Yu knocked unconscious, and the Prison Doctor explained that removing her mental contamination required entering her consciousness world with her cooperation.
• Lu Xiao decided to get Xiao Yu a day off and left a blood-written note on the classroom door while the students studied in a confused, heated discussion.
• Lu Xiao went to the Doctor’s office, where the assistant told him the Doctor had been missing for over two days.
• Shuns told Lu Xiao that the Doctor had left to prepare his deification ritual and offered to help with Xiao Yu using his consciousness-extraction project.
• Lu Xiao asked Shuns whether extracting and storing Xiao Yu’s consciousness was reliable.

Lu Xiao agreed to help Shuns test a consciousness-transfer procedure after the Black Cat could stabilize a subject’s consciousness in a dream. The first experiment began with a Minotaur, whose Consciousness World revealed a bizarre fantasy of cow-bodied seductresses.

• Shuns admitted that consciousness uploads could lose or damage consciousness, and that his earlier test subjects had collapsed during experiments.
• Lu Xiao suggested that Shuns stop fixating on human test subjects, but Shuns insisted that the technology needed human-specific testing.
• Shuns realized that a dream-weaving creature could keep a subject’s consciousness stable during extraction, and Lu Xiao agreed to help test the idea without using Xiao Yu.
• Lu Xiao obtained Minotaur test subjects, while Shuns brought the Black Cat and the unconscious Xiao Yu to the Experiment Room.
• Little Black placed an anesthetized Minotaur in a dream as the Prison Doctor operated and Shuns implanted a chip and activated the equipment.
• The display showed the Minotaur’s Consciousness World filled with cow-bodied seductresses, prompting Shuns to remark on the subject’s apparent dream life.