Chapter Summaries

The Doctor suspected the Gate was failing as Anomalies appeared more frequently, then refused to transfer 301 until the Standing Management Council forced the motion through a vote. He secured compensation for its containment, and the meeting turned to a dispute over ownership of 09, the Contaminated Creator.

• The Doctor told the Warden and the Director that 292’s survival in the Dark Prison and rising Anomaly numbers suggested the Gate’s properties were failing, possibly because it had been contaminated.
• The Councilor praised the Doctor for containing 301 and asked him to let the Standing Management Council take charge of it, but the Doctor refused under the Warden Regulations.
• Artisan argued that 301’s importance justified breaking the regulations, and the Councilor held a vote that overwhelmingly approved its transfer.
• The Doctor agreed to share 301 after requesting compensation for the cost of containing it, and the Councilor approved the request.
• The Councilor began the next agenda item, a dispute over ownership of 09, the Contaminated Creator, at the Doctor’s C03 Containment Facility.

At the council meeting, Adam accused C03 and the Doctor of mishandling contained entities and used videos to press for the transfer of serial number 09. The Doctor exposed the Artisan's false account of serial number 137, but the first accusation remained unanswered as the Councilor asked whether he would defend himself against it.

• The Councilor said the proposal to transfer serial number 09 to A01 had to go to a vote, while the Doctor rejected the offer and sensed something was wrong.
• Lu Xiao asked the Driver to find materials for name badges for the Prison Doctor and Ivan, and the Driver reluctantly agreed.
• Adam presented videos of contained entity 292 killing Prison Warden soldiers and accused C03 of releasing it; he then had the Artisan accuse the Doctor of taking serial number 137.
• The Doctor said C03's video archives had been deleted but played a recording in which he refused to return the String Puppet after it appeared in C03's territory.
• The Artisan realized Adam had not erased the evidence and fell silent when the Councilor asked him to explain the recording.
• The Councilor asked the Doctor whether he still needed to defend himself against the first video.

The Doctor challenged Adam’s claim that Lu Xiao was dangerous by showing footage of Lu Xiao behaving affectionately toward the Prison Doctor, but Adam persuaded the leaders to approve transferring serial number 09 to A01. The chapter ended as the Councilor moved the meeting on to deciding who would hold serial number 02-Angel.

• The Doctor showed a live feed of Lu Xiao making a badge for the Prison Doctor and argued that serial number 292 was a caring child.
• Adam questioned the Doctor’s ability to contain serial number 09 and argued that A01 should take custody of him.
• The Councilor opened the vote and said an Investigation Team would investigate the possible containment breach at C03.
• Adam privately contacted leaders who had not yet voted, and the votes in favor overtook the votes against.
• The Councilor announced that the motion had passed, and Adam thanked him while the Doctor angrily condemned the result.
• The Councilor began the next agenda item, concerning who would hold serial number 02-Angel.

At the Round Table Conference, He Shang used a council vote to block Adam from taking 09-Polluted Creator, forcing Adam to agree to a private arrangement over 02-Angel. After the meeting collapsed, He Shang and the Doctor discussed the investigation into 292’s containment breach and the Doctor ordered 292 to cooperate with experiments on 097.

• The Council voted to place 02-Angel in C01 Containment Facility’s custody, with over forty percent in favor and the rest abstaining.
• Adam accused He Shang of orchestrating the vote, but He Shang denied involvement and proposed settling the custody issue privately to avoid transporting 02 and 09.
• Adam accepted He Shang’s suggestion, admitted defeat, and logged out after warning that their paths would cross again.
• The Councilors logged out without formally ending the meeting, while the Artisan mocked them as clowns.
• He Shang called the Doctor and told him to handle the follow-up investigation into 292’s containment breach, then asked whether 292 possessed divinity.
• The Doctor said 292’s cellular activity was unusual, and after He Shang ended the call, the Doctor ordered his assistant to tell 292 to cooperate with experiments on 097.

Lu Xiao tested the Cursed Toy Cap Gun with the Doctor and learned that its shots could pierce and destroy targets while randomly removing his flesh and causing extreme fear. After the Doctor warned him to use it sparingly, Lu Xiao took it to the Prison Doctor, whose own test shot left him injured; Ivan then picked up the revolver and fired it too.

• The Doctor gave Lu Xiao the Cursed Toy Cap Gun and explained that it corrupted ordinary people, while its bullets were made from the wielder’s flesh and blood.
• Lu Xiao fired at a steel plate, demonstrating the gun’s piercing and destructive properties, then lost flesh from his leg and neck as the shot’s cost took effect.
• The Doctor had Lu Xiao fire at the Butler, whose body was pierced, destroyed, and corrupted until he vanished.
• The Doctor gave Lu Xiao the revolver, warned him that each shot could bring him closer to death and cause a random extreme fear, and sent him to the Prison Doctor for treatment.
• The Prison Doctor applied medicine to Lu Xiao, then fired the revolver himself and lost the flesh on his thigh.
• Ivan found Lu Xiao and the Prison Doctor injured, picked up the revolver, and fired a shot after it began corrupting his bones.

Lu Xiao, Prison Doctor, and Ivan recovered from their injuries, while Dart developed a strange curse after being exposed to 292’s blood. With the Investigation Team due in two days, Doctor sent Dart into the Dark Prison with Lu Xiao and Driver, where Dart’s mission was to survive.

• Prison Doctor treated Lu Xiao and Ivan, then admitted he had forgotten to warn them about the revolver’s danger.
• Dart grew an eye on the back of his head after scratching it, and Doctor suspected it was linked to 292’s blood.
• Prison Doctor identified Dart’s condition as a curse different from 292’s and said it might even be beneficial.
• Doctor ordered Dart to hide in the Dark Prison before the Investigation Team arrived, and Lu Xiao offered to take him to Chainsaw Uncle.
• Doctor told Lu Xiao, Dart, and Driver to return within two days, and Driver drove them through the Gate into the Dark Prison.

Lu Xiao, Driver, and Dart entered the Dark Prison, where Lu Xiao used his blood to lure Chainsaw Uncle but attracted a huge monster instead. Meanwhile, Liuguang, Sly, and Xiao Yu volunteered to become Sacrificial Ones and began training under Dante.

• Lu Xiao cut his wrist and used his blood scent to try to summon Chainsaw Uncle, while Dart warned that it could attract dangerous creatures.
• At the C03 Containment Facility, Liuguang, Sly, and Xiao Yu volunteered for the Sacrificial Ones, and Dante took charge of training them.
• A massive monster blocked Lu Xiao's vehicle, so Driver teleported the Raptor to another street.
• Lu Xiao told Dart to flee from huge monsters, creatures with many eyes, and tentacled beings, and warned him not to eat food in the Dark Prison.
• The monster tracked the group after their teleport, and the ground began shaking again less than half a minute later.

Lu Xiao stabbed the Bone Spur into his heart as a gigantic monster caught up with him, and the crimson moon’s eye appeared and destroyed the creature. After waking, Lu Xiao reunited with Chainsaw Man, who tried to eat Dart.

• Driver repeatedly teleported the Raptor to escape the pursuing monster, but it found them faster each time and crushed the vehicle with a crushing pressure.
• Lu Xiao stabbed the Bone Spur into his heart, causing the Azure Gem to glow as the monster rushed toward them.
• A gigantic eye opened on the crimson full moon, making Dart faint and causing the monster’s many eyes to burst before it collapsed.
• Lu Xiao and Dart lost consciousness, and the Bone Spur withdrew from Lu Xiao’s chest as the moon’s eye closed.
• Dante put Liuguang, Sly, and Xiao Yu through smoke-filled training and said his own trainer had been called Smoke Gun.
• Lu Xiao woke to find Chainsaw Man preparing to cut up Dart, stopped him by saying Dart was his friend, and heard Chainsaw Man suggest eating Dart anyway.

Lu Xiao reunited with Chainsaw Uncle in the Dark Prison after surviving a monster attack, and the group ate a vampire Chainsaw Uncle had found. Dart's tentacles grew thicker after eating, leaving him questioning whether he still counted as human.

• Lu Xiao gave Chainsaw Uncle a name badge and called him a comrade, then collapsed from blood loss as Driver woke up.
• Chainsaw Uncle went to find food while Driver restored Serial Number 302-Vehicle into a taxi.
• Chainsaw Uncle returned with a vampire, and Lu Xiao told him to cut it into pieces for them to eat.
• Driver and Dart devoured much of the vampire, and Lu Xiao reassured Dart that it had not been transformed from a human.
• Dart's tentacles grew thicker, and he slumped down wondering whether he still counted as human.

Lu Xiao and his companions left the Gate to hunt for local food, while he pondered the Bone Spur and what it had done to the Flesh Mountain Monster. They encountered a rule-type Weird Life, and Driver’s attempt to approach her ended with his neck snapping.

• Lu Xiao reassured Dart that being alive mattered more than whether he was human, then the group got into the taxi and set out to find local specialties.
• After driving far from the Gate, Lu Xiao examined the Bone Spur and asked Dart what had happened after he stabbed himself with it; Dart said he had lost consciousness amid a wave of negative emotions.
• A pale woman in a red dress appeared in front of the taxi, and Driver got out to greet her despite Dart’s warning.
• Lu Xiao recognized the woman as likely a rule-type Weird Life and watched as she clung to Driver’s back, then snapped his neck and disappeared.

Lu Xiao returned from the Dark Prison with Driver and learned that Adam had joined the Investigation Team. Back in his containment room, he negotiated with the Omniscient Mirror to use it to predict the Corrupted Revolver’s costs before firing.

• Lu Xiao explained rule-based Weird Life to Dart, and Driver recovered after the taxi’s strange passenger twisted his neck.
• Chainsaw Man returned empty-handed, and Driver drove Lu Xiao through the Gate while Dart stayed behind with Chainsaw Man.
• Doctor told Lu Xiao to keep Serial Number 097 with him, then met the arriving Investigation Team, which included Adam.
• Lu Xiao found the Omniscient Mirror in his containment room and learned Doctor had made a deal with it.
• Lu Xiao asked the Mirror about predicting the Corrupted Revolver’s penalties, and it said each answer would cost one fingernail.
• Lu Xiao proposed paying with strands of hair instead, and the Mirror agreed as an image appeared on its surface.

Lu Xiao escaped custody after the Doctor helped him trigger a containment breach at the C03 Containment Facility. As inmates and dangerous contained entities began to move freely, the Driver arrived to take Lu Xiao on a new mission.

• Lu Xiao used the Bone Spur to incapacitate the staff and wound Adam, giving him a chance to escape the containment room.
• The Doctor ordered the emergency plan activated, sealing the facility and opening the expendables' cell doors, sparking a riot.
• The Prison Doctor and Ivan opened containment rooms D107 and R019, releasing a clay figure and drawing a soldier toward a mask.
• The clay figure killed an expendable who had hidden in room D107.
• The Driver stopped beside Lu Xiao and told him the Doctor had a new mission.

Dante took Lu Xiao and the others on a mission to find and recapture 292, who had escaped with 301, while Doctor blamed Adam for the escape. The group struggled to find a way to reach Japan, until Xiao Yu identified a small jet in Doctor’s blueprints and Lu Xiao claimed he could fly it.

• Doctor ordered Dante to work with 303 to locate and recapture 292, and Dante brought Lu Xiao along toward Japan.
• Doctor accused Adam of mishandling 292, while Adam threatened to bring charges against Doctor.
• Driver showed the group Doctor’s blueprints for transforming vehicles into military aircraft and weapons, but admitted he could not understand them.
• Xiao Yu explained that she had studied mechanical materials before becoming a Prison Warden and said she wanted to follow the path her deceased Prison Warden parents had walked.
• Xiao Yu found a Gulfstream 500 blueprint that could get the group to Japan, and Lu Xiao claimed he knew how to fly it.

Lu Xiao and the others decided to search a sealed town near Magic City for Ghost-Faced Moth larvae, which might strengthen Xiao Yu’s mental power enough to transform the vehicle. Dante revealed that his first mission there had cost his instructor’s life, then used his military credentials to get them through the checkpoint; they arrived at the camp to meet its commander.

• Lu Xiao recalled that Prison Doctor had said a Ghost-Faced Moth larva could increase mental power, and Dante remembered a sealed town where his first mission had targeted a Ghost-Faced Moth Brood Nest.
• Dante said his instructor had died during that mission and that the Brood Nest had been destroyed at great cost, while Liuguang worried the moths might have returned.
• Lu Xiao insisted they could search the town, and Liuguang suggested they might have a chance because Lu Xiao carried a Bone Spur.
• At the checkpoint, Dante showed his identification to a soldier, who saluted and opened the gate; Dante explained that he held a military rank as a Sacrificial One.
• The vehicle entered the camp, where a middle-aged man in camouflage fatigues came to meet them.

Lu Xiao’s team obtained military support and requisitioned weapons before heading deeper into town. Lu Xiao took a close-defense howitzer and nearly all its available shells, leaving Liu Guoliang to discover the weapon was gone.

• Dante identified the group as the Prison Guard, and Liu Guoliang verified their credentials and agreed to assist them.
• Dante explained that Sacrificial Ones held the rank of brigadier general, though Sly learned his pay would not increase.
• Xiao Yu finished memorizing the aircraft blueprint and said she needed a Ghost-Faced Moth larva to transform her ride.
• Liu Guoliang opened the armory to the group, and Lu Xiao chose a close-defense howitzer and requested about a hundred shells.
• Lu Xiao’s group left the armory equipped, and Liu Guoliang discovered the howitzer was missing as they drove deeper into town.

Lu Xiao and his companions reached the Ghost-Faced Moth Empress’s nest while Dante recounted how Butler had defeated the empress with a single-use contained object. Inside the tunnels, the group discovered countless human faces embedded in the ceiling.

• Dante explained that heavy weapons and contained objects had failed to kill the Ghost-Faced Moth Empress, so the Doctor proposed giving Intestine-Blocking Medicine to Sequence 077 - Butler and sending him into its mouth.
• Dante led Lu Xiao’s group to the nest, while Driver decided to join them rather than wait outside for fear of being attacked.
• Lu Xiao led the group through the branching passages and sensed a strong anomalous presence nearby.
• Sly said he saw his late great-grandmother waving at him, and the group looked up to find countless hollow-eyed human faces on the cave ceiling.

Lu Xiao bombarded the Ghost-Faced Moths with grenades, using the Bone Spur to repeatedly stun them until the swarm was wiped out. After the group recovered and continued searching for the moths’ eggs, they heard the Ghost-Faced Moth Empress nearby, and Dante shouted for everyone to run.

• Lu Xiao fired grenades into the Ghost-Faced Moths, then stabbed his thighs with the Bone Spur to stun them and land precise shots.
• Lu Xiao killed the swarm, while the Bone Spur healed his wounds and the other five people were left unconscious for hours.
• Driver and Dante woke first, and Dante roused Liuguang, Sly, and the remaining teammate.
• Dante explained that the Ghost-Faced Moths laid their eggs together, and Lu Xiao led the group deeper into the passage to search for them.
• Lu Xiao sensed a strong evil presence, then Dante recognized an eerie sound as the Ghost-Faced Moth Empress and ordered everyone to run.

The Ghost-Faced Moth Empress attacked Lu Xiao and his team, shrugging off their weapons and striking them with a devastating shriek. Lu Xiao used the Corrupted Revolver and Bone Spur to destroy her, but collapsed from his injuries as the Empress shattered.

• Dante and Lu Xiao’s team saw the Ghost-Faced Moth Empress arrive, and Dante’s bullets and Lu Xiao’s grenade failed to harm her.
• The Empress’s cry injured the team, so Lu Xiao fired the Corrupted Revolver twice and destroyed both of her wings at the cost of flesh from his limbs.
• The wingless Empress rushed Lu Xiao, and his next shot missed after he fell, costing him the flesh of his left thigh.
• Lu Xiao stabbed himself with the Bone Spur to stall the Empress, then shot her in the chest and spread cracks across her body.
• The Ghost-Faced Moth Empress shattered after reaching for Lu Xiao, and Lu Xiao passed out from his injuries.

After the Mother Empress nearly killed Lu Xiao, Dante used its hidden egg to heal him by placing it beside his heart, where its larva began living as a parasite. When Lu Xiao woke, Serial Number 097 made him terrified of thinking, so he gave himself a concussion and became an idiot to escape the fear.

• Xiao Yu and the others failed to pry Serial Number 097 from Lu Xiao's hand without touching him, even after Driver smashed it with a rock.
• Dante found the Mother Empress's hidden egg in the nearby pus and blood and placed it beside Lu Xiao's heart.
• The egg hatched into a parasitic larva that absorbed some of the revolver's curse and rapidly restored Lu Xiao's wounds.
• Dante explained that the larva would keep Lu Xiao alive and joked that he would welcome the parasite as a thrill.
• Hours later, Lu Xiao woke and heard the Omniscient Mirror command him to stop thinking because he would feel extreme terror toward thought.
• Lu Xiao struck his temple, apparently giving himself a concussion, and became an idiot; Dante said this was a side effect of Serial Number 097 and that idiots generally felt no fear.

After Lu Xiao recovered from Serial Number 097’s side effects, the group found the Ghost-Faced Moth Larva eggs and ate them to increase their mental power. Lu Xiao learned he was hosting a transformed Ghost-Faced Moth Queen Larva and chose to keep it after the Omniscient Mirror warned it could bring great benefits, then demanded five more fingernails for another answer.

• Dante led the group to the Ghost-Faced Moth eggs, where he demonstrated how to remove and eat the larvae safely.
• Driver, Xiao Yu, Liuguang, and Sly ate more than half the eggs, while Dante abstained; Lu Xiao woke after twelve hours and paid the Omniscient Mirror with five fingernails for five questions.
• Lu Xiao ate all the remaining eggs without feeling full, and Sly revealed that a Ghost-Faced Moth Queen Larva had parasitized him.
• Lu Xiao prepared to cut out the Queen Larva, but the Omniscient Mirror warned him that it had transformed after absorbing his cursed blood and would bring greater benefits if he kept it.
• The Omniscient Mirror demanded five more fingernails to answer whether the larva was more dangerous, and Lu Xiao saw that only four remained on his right hand.