Chapter Summaries

Shadow’s livestream exposed the Highest Office and helped turn public opinion toward the Containment Facility, then he recruited its disgraced members into the Saints. Lu Xiao killed Adams and later learned that Shadow had fired the shot at him.

• The livestream ended as authorities and Prison Wardens exposed the Highest Office’s scandals, prompting widespread condemnation and support for the Containment Facility.
• Shadow asked the Highest Office members to join the Saints, and Adams called him despicable.
• Lu Xiao tore out Adams’s tongue and Adams died, while Shadow confirmed the violence had not been livestreamed.
• The remaining members agreed to join the Saints, and Shadow welcomed them without requiring conditions.
• Lu Xiao asked Shadow who had shot at him, and Shadow admitted that he had fired the shot.

Lu Xiao accepted the Warden’s invitation to a seafood feast, while Shadow sent Driver to tell He Shang to establish a public organization called Great Brahma and complete the Transforming Vehicle’s combat form. At C03 Containment Facility, Doctor and Shuns discussed implementing Flesh Machinery as Lu Qian tried to stop the facility’s frenzied staff.

• Lu Xiao and Shadow returned to the building, where Zhang Chu gave Lu Xiao the Warden’s note inviting him to a free seafood feast, and Lu Xiao agreed to go.
• Driver met He Shang at Mocking Heaven Palace and relayed Shadow’s order to establish a visible organization; they settled on the name Great Brahma.
• Driver told He Shang that Shadow had also ordered him to stay and help complete the Transforming Vehicle’s combat form, which Shadow believed could rival a deity’s power.
• At C03 Containment Facility, two staff members attacked each other in the chaotic office until Lu Qian intervened and made them apologize.
• Doctor and Shuns discussed the details of implementing Flesh Machinery.

Shuns, the Doctor, and the Director discussed how to conceal C03 and establish leadership at the new C04 facility, following Shadow’s instructions. As they considered who could lead C02, Shuns revealed that the Doctor’s mentor had lived since the catastrophe.

• The Director told Shuns and the Doctor that the C04 Public Containment Facility was complete, and they agreed not to move the System Core there because it would undermine trust in the Saints.
• The Director proposed hiding C03, announcing it was shut down, and saying C04’s system came from C03; the Doctor and Shuns agreed to follow Shadow’s plan.
• The Director told the Doctor to lead C03 into joining the Saints, and the Doctor chose Lu Qian to take C03’s seat among them.
• The Director said he would lead C04 and offered Shuns leadership of C02, but Shuns declined in favor of research.
• The Director and the Doctor worried about finding a leader for C02, and Shuns said the Doctor’s mentor had been alive since the catastrophe.

After Sacrificial One Yao Ling returned from investigating the fog, she began vomiting her organs while still showing strong vital signs, forcing Warden and Jailer into quarantine. Warden suspected her collapse was a provocation aimed at him, while Shadow arrived at the restricted military zone as the Commander of the Ninth Group Army.

• Jailer told Warden that sea creatures had attacked the coast twice and that Yao Ling had returned from a brief investigation inside the fog.
• Yao Ling reported poor visibility, seawater beneath the fog, lung corrosion, and murmurs calling her deeper into it.
• Yao Ling suddenly vomited flesh and her organs, but medical personnel found that her vital signs remained strong.
• Jailer arranged for the command post to be burned and for Warden and Jailer to enter quarantine, while Yao Ling was restrained and kept under observation.
• Warden noted that Yao Ling had collapsed just after he returned and wondered whether the incident was a provocation aimed at him.
• Shadow arrived at the restricted military zone, where Lu Xiao saw that Shadow's identification named him Commander of the Ninth Group Army.

Shadow brought Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu to the military camp, where they visited the quarantined Warden and learned that the mist had contaminated Yao Ling. Shadow said only the final eruption remained, while elsewhere Ding Dan discovered a hidden message on the cigarette pack Shadow had given him.

• Lu Xiao questioned Shadow about his many identities, and Shadow explained that the Ninth Group Army was the Prison Wardens' military force for handling Anomaly incidents.
• Shadow drove Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu into the military camp, ordered an operational meeting for the next day, and used a Safe-class Researcher identity to reach the quarantine area.
• Lu Xiao showed the Warden his note, and the Warden recognized him and invited Shadow inside, but Shadow chose to follow the quarantine rules.
• The Warden explained that Yao Ling had been contaminated by the mist while investigating it, and Shadow connected the mist to the grayish-white mist in the Prison.
• The Warden asked whether Shadow had finished setting everything up, and Shadow replied that only the final eruption remained.
• Ding Dan found Shadow's cigarette pack in his pocket and noticed a line of small text on its lid.

Ding Dan learned how Hell Creatures communicated and discovered that his Crown could help him command them. He ordered Feis to gather Hell Creatures at the post office for future summons, and learned that his blood could be used to bargain with powerful ones.

• Ding Dan arranged the slips from the pack while Feis arrived through a Gate and waited for him.
• Ding Dan asked Feis about Hell, and Feis described it as vast, empty, dangerous, and home to a post office where Hell Creatures exchanged information and letters.
• Feis explained that threats had made other Hell Creatures join his letters, which was why he appeared beside Ding Dan each time.
• Ding Dan learned that the Gate led to the post office and that his Crown was a Trait acknowledged by Hell's will.
• Ding Dan ordered Feis to gather Hell Creatures at the post office, and Feis said Ding Dan's Crown could suppress them after they were summoned.
• Feis suggested Ding Dan could bargain with powerful Hell Creatures using his blood, which held a fatal allure for them.

Ding Dan began building Paradise Lost with Hell Creatures and recruited Assistant to manage construction, then entered Hell to investigate how to control the Green Mailbox’s summoning rule. Meanwhile, the Director oversaw the newly occupied C04 Public Containment Facility and was told that preparations to construct the Gate were complete.

• Ding Dan named the desolate land near Magic City Paradise Lost and used the Green Mailbox to summon a Hell Creature, whose fear of his Crown let him recruit Hell Creatures to dig.
• Ding Dan summoned Feis again, learned Feis could not stay longer, and decided he needed a strategist and a lasting workforce.
• Ding Dan asked Doctor to send Assistant and provide construction resources, then learned he might control the mailbox by visiting the Hell Post Office and gaining control of its rule.
• Ding Dan assigned Assistant to receive construction resources and stepped through the gate into Hell.
• The Director watched researchers handle anomalies at the newly occupied C04 Public Containment Facility, where preparations to construct the Gate were complete.

The Director oversaw the construction of a new Gate and sent a squad into the Dark Prison to establish communications. Meanwhile, the Gray Fog spread across every sea, isolating the world’s landmasses as deformed sea creatures attacked coastal defenses, and the Warden concluded the force behind the fog wanted to savor humanity’s despair.

• The Director gave a multilingual speech at the Gate construction site, then ordered the staff to begin construction.
• The Director sent a squad of Prison Warden Special Operations Soldiers through the Gate, and they reported that their mission was proceeding smoothly.
• The Director noticed that U01 had not sent the contained anomalies according to the list and wondered why Shadow and the Standing Management Council had not addressed the matter.
• Hairy Bear learned that the Gray Fog had spread across all the seas, while deformed sea creatures attacked shore defenses and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared in the fog.
• The Warden told Jailer that the fog was isolating humanity so its controller could savor despair and please themselves.

Shadow explained why he joined the Saints and recalled how Gambler’s extraordinary luck led him from a death-row experiment subject to a fighter for humanity and eventually a Pioneer with the traits of fate and greed. As Shadow considered whether Niclade might have survived, Gambler’s history led him to suspect he had understood something important about the Saints’ traits.

• Shadow told Lu Xiao and Zhang Chu that he had joined the Saints to watch over Gambler, then stayed after discovering that the Saints were gathering people with powerful sin traits.
• Shadow explained that only life born on Earth could use or fuse with the traits, and that someone who fused with a sin trait could become a deity without a Deification Ritual.
• Zhang Chu challenged Shadow’s assumption that Niclade was dead, prompting Shadow to consider whether resurrection might be possible despite Niclade’s apparent death.
• Lu Xiao asked about Gambler, and Shadow recalled that Gambler had been a celebrated Las Vegas gambler who was framed, extradited to Huaxia, and sentenced to death.
• Shadow remembered how Gambler survived repeated experiments at the base, was recruited into a special squad, and later fought for humanity with Antie.
• Shadow recalled that Gambler gained the traits of fate and greed after joining the Saints, chose fate for his Deification Ritual, and seemed to have found a way to attain godhood.

Shadow, Warden, and Antie investigated the attacks by sea creatures and concluded that the fog and attacks might be part of a deliberate effort to eliminate weaker countries. They left Yao Ling in the care of C03, while Antie asked how they could aid countries isolated by the fog.

• Shadow arranged for Yao Ling to be sent to C03 after medical staff could not wake her, and Warden said she had vomited up her internal organs.
• At the shore, Warden told Shadow that the sea creatures seemed to have fled ashore and that a creature in the fog might be challenging him.
• Shadow contacted Antie, who reported exploring two kilometers into the fog and finding frenzied sea creatures but nothing else.
• Antie explained that the creatures attacked weaker countries fiercely while probing countries with powerful militaries, and warned that the fog contaminated ordinary people.
• Warden told Antie about their suspicions that someone had leaked information, and Shadow said they had to aid other countries before investigating further.
• Antie said planes could not pass through the fog and asked Shadow whether he had a way to provide aid.

Shadow recognized that the fog commander might be forcing two countries into a prisoner's dilemma, where losing communication could make each choose between surrender and resistance. He convened an emergency Round Table Conference, which ended with five elderly men bowing to the Containment Facility leaders.

• Zhang Chu suggested that the commander in the fog was trying to create a prisoner's dilemma, and Shadow called Antie to convene the Round Table Conference.
• Shadow explained that the countries might face a choice between giving up resistance, accepting contamination, or risking extinction, while the Warden warned that communications would be cut off.
• Antie organized the emergency conference, and Shadow brought Lu Xiao as the representative of C03 Containment Facility.
• The Director asked why Lu Xiao was sitting in the Doctor's seat, and Lu Xiao brusquely told him it was none of his business.
• Containment Facility leaders gathered and started private discussions before five elderly men arrived and bowed deeply to them.

At the Round Table Conference, the councilors announced the dissolution of the Standing Management Council and the Highest Office, while the leaders welcomed the new C04 Public Containment Facility. Antie then revealed that the Mist Event had escalated and presented the prisoner’s dilemma facing the facilities, leaving everyone waiting for a plan.

• A councilor announced that the five Standing Management Council members would resign and that both the council and the Highest Office would be dissolved.
• The councilors congratulated the leaders on establishing C04 and named the Director its first leader.
• The Warden said Lu Xiao was representing C03 and had been chosen as its new leader, which the Director confirmed was lawful under the Warden Regulations.
• Antie asked why Doctor had not attended, then accepted Lu Xiao in Doctor’s place and returned to the meeting’s agenda.
• Antie described the Mist Event’s escalation and explained the prisoner’s dilemma he had uncovered with the Warden and Shadow, leaving the leaders silent.

Antie proposed revoking subsystem access and relocating populations to consolidate resources against the mysterious beings, leaving Australia isolated by the fog. The Director offered a way to evacuate Australians using Contained Anomaly Serial Number 302-Vehicle, prompting the Warden to criticize Antie’s handling of people.

• Antie told the leaders that the first step was to revoke all subsystem access privileges and assigned Huaxia’s Prison Wardens to recover the system’s main unit from the Saints.
• Antie proposed moving Europe’s population to his side and Asia’s population to Huaxia, and the leaders agreed after he promised them refuge.
• When Australia’s leader demanded to know what would happen to his people, Antie said Australia was isolated and could relocate only if it found a way across the fog or through the Dark Prison.
• The Director proposed using Contained Anomaly Serial Number 302-Vehicle to transport Australians across the sea, and Australia’s leader agreed to evacuate as many people as possible.
• The Warden told the Director that Antie should spend some time learning how to handle people.

Antie demanded that the facility leaders defend their territories until civilian evacuations were complete, knowingly using an overt scheme to pressure them into risking their lives. The Councilors and leaders committed to helping with the transfers, and the Warden pledged to do his part.

• Antie praised the Director’s appointment, then told the leaders they must defend their territories until civilian migration was complete.
• Shadow explained to the Director that Antie wanted leaders to risk their lives for the greatest chance of saving civilians, and that his original plan to pressure them had been disrupted.
• The leaders recognized that Antie’s plan left them little room to refuse, while the five Councilors announced they would stay to coordinate civilian transfers.
• The leader of the R01 Containment Facility, Hairy Bear, entrusted his facility’s civilians and researchers to the Warden and promised to hold out until the last moment.
• The Warden stood, placed his hand over his heart, and called for them to strive together.

The Warden, Antie, and the leaders of A02 and A03 persuaded the other leaders to support Antie’s proposal without sacrificing them, and the leaders agreed to face the danger together. After negotiations began, the Warden revealed he planned to enter the mist to meet the life-form that challenged him and buy more time, while Lu Xiao reminded him about the promised seafood feast.

• The Warden, the leaders of A02 and A03, and Antie declared their willingness to face the danger, prompting the other leaders to insist that they survive and lead their facilities.
• Shadow told the Director to record those who spoke up so their people could receive more resources, and Antie promised to honor their contributions.
• The leaders began negotiating the details, while Lu Xiao, the Warden, and Shadow discussed how the display of solidarity had helped secure agreement.
• Shadow asked how the Warden would investigate the mist, and the Warden said he planned to meet the life-form that had challenged him and try to gain more time.
• Lu Xiao asked about the promised seafood feast, and the Warden explained that the meeting had delayed their trip to the shore.
• Lu Xiao said he liked seafood but warned that eating too much could raise uric acid and cause gout.

After the meeting, Lu Xiao joined the Warden and Shadow on the shore to watch sea creatures emerge from the mist. The first catch was too small, and the larger crabs proved so grotesque that Lu Xiao rejected them as food, while the Warden promised more creatures were coming.

• Lu Xiao stayed behind in the meeting venue after the Warden and Shadow logged off, then logged off from the throne when Shadow urged him to hurry.
• The Warden took Lu Xiao to the shore, where sea creatures surged from the mist and the first bombardment left their remains scattered across the beach.
• A wave swept away most of the remains, and Lu Xiao and Shadow noticed a tentacled creature before the Warden announced that a second wave had begun.
• Washbasin-sized crabs covered in steel-like hairs charged ashore, and the Warden ordered Jailer to arrange for soldiers to capture some.
• The soldiers brought over crabs with human-like arms and a rotten human face on each underside, and Lu Xiao refused to eat them as the Warden assured him better seafood was still coming.

Lu Xiao stopped the bombardment to fight an enormous King-level sea turtle and forced his way through its defenses to battle it inside its shell. Two hours later, the turtle’s roars had weakened, and Shadow believed Lu Xiao had gained the upper hand.

• After the bombardment ended, an enormous sea turtle charged out of the fog, and Lu Xiao ordered Shadow to stop the artillery so it would not be damaged.
• Shadow judged the turtle to be King-level with formidable defenses, and Lu Xiao charged at it while Shadow stayed back.
• Lu Xiao landed on the turtle’s shell, failed to damage it, and then struck the membrane over its opening until he broke through.
• Lu Xiao climbed inside the shell and fought the turtle at close quarters, shouting curses while Shadow wondered whether he had brought a club.
• After two hours, Shadow heard Lu Xiao still shouting and the turtle’s roars weakening, suggesting Lu Xiao was winning.

Lu Xiao learned that a powerful, unfamiliar group of creatures had driven sea life ashore, then brought the giant sea turtle to the military camp. He decided the King-level turtle would make a good mount, and the Warden offered to modify it with heavy weapons.

• Shadow found Lu Xiao inside the turtle shell, where Lu Xiao had bonded with the turtle and learned to understand it after it swallowed a piece of his flesh.
• Lu Xiao told Shadow that the turtle and other sea creatures had been driven ashore by a powerful creature, and Shadow urged him to return before the Warden fired missiles.
• At the military camp, Lu Xiao explained that unfamiliar creatures had claimed the ocean and forced its inhabitants onto land, though the turtle knew little more.
• Lu Xiao rejected the turtle as food because its flesh seemed rubbery, but decided it would make a powerful mount.
• Lu Xiao wound Zhang Chu with a metal key to restore his focus, then told him to wind himself up next time.
• The Warden offered to modify the sea turtle with heavy weapons if Lu Xiao wanted it as his mount.

Warden and Shadow arranged for Doctor to use Yao Ling and a giant sea turtle as experimental subjects, while Ding Dan struggled to survive after arriving in Hell. Ding Dan collapsed in the wasteland as an underground monster emerged beside him.

• Warden considered modifying the giant sea turtle into a war fortress, and Shadow suggested Doctor use the Dreamscape World to implant a Thought Imprint and secure its loyalty.
• Doctor and Shuns decided Yao Ling would be the final subject in their God-Making Plan after preliminary experiments on disabled Prison Warden soldiers, and Doctor planned to implant a Thought Imprint in her first.
• Doctor received Shadow's message about another subject suitable for Flesh Machinery experiments.
• Ding Dan wandered through Hell's desolate, scorching wasteland after arriving there through the Green Mailbox's gate, unable to find the Post Office Feis had described.
• Ding Dan pretended to faint, seized and killed a crow for its blood, then continued onward while a small mound secretly followed him.
• Ding Dan eventually collapsed beneath the unchanging twilight, and an ugly, maggot-like monster burrowed out of the earth beside him.

Ding Dan captured a white maggot and learned that water was the currency and key to survival in Hell. As the maggot led him toward a post office where he hoped to contact Feis, Ding Dan considered Hell’s hierarchy and Shadow’s plan for him to build a force and help Shadow attain Godhood.

• Ding Dan pretended to collapse, seized the white maggot, and questioned it before agreeing to let it live.
• Ding Dan persuaded the maggot to give him some of its stored water and lead him to a post office so he could contact Feis.
• The white maggot guided Ding Dan underground, where they could avoid the sun and conserve water.
• Ding Dan learned that water served as currency in Hell and that its society ranked Sovereigns, Kings, and slaves beneath a legendary Great Lord.
• Ding Dan realized Shadow’s Instigation had influenced him since he accepted the pack of Incense Sticks and recalled Shadow’s request that he build a force and help him attain Godhood.