Chapter Summaries

Lu Xiao broke free of Sloth’s sleep-inducing ability when the Alchemy Array Ivan had carved into his bones collapsed, then fought Sloth in a burst of bloodlust. Sloth overwhelmed him with his daggers and ability, leaving Lu Xiao exhausted and wondering whether he would become mindless rotten flesh as Sloth prepared to eat.

• Sloth’s ability made Driver fall asleep, but the Alchemy Array on Lu Xiao’s bones broke apart and Lu Xiao woke with renewed strength.
• Lu Xiao punched a hole through the Transforming Vehicle, emerged, and attacked Sloth, who revealed himself as the Saints’ seventh seat.
• Sloth struck Lu Xiao with a powerful punch, while Lu Xiao’s halo briefly made Sloth dizzy and allowed him to attack at high speed.
• Sloth stabbed himself with Positivity to increase his power, then struck Lu Xiao and drove Confusion into his abdomen.
• Lu Xiao lost his bloodlust and lay confused and exhausted, while Sloth wondered how he had escaped the ability and decided to eat before continuing to search for Gambler.

Lu Xiao tried repeatedly to kill himself after the crimson eye appeared over Dark Prison, but Driver stopped him when he woke. Lu Xiao remained convinced that life was exhausting and pleaded to die, leaving Driver and Ding Dan confused about what had happened to him.

• Lu Xiao stabbed himself with the Bone Spur as his pendant swallowed the Bone Carving Castle, and a vast crimson eye appeared above Dark Prison.
• Sloth gouged out his own eyes and fled, but an eye that grew on his neck was torn out and crushed by a hand.
• Driver woke in the Transforming Vehicle, found Lu Xiao missing, and discovered him holding the Bone Spur and Corrupted Revolver as he tried to kill himself.
• Driver kicked the Bone Spur away and woke Ding Dan, who found Chainsaw Man about to start a chainsaw against his neck.
• Ding Dan and Driver confronted Lu Xiao, who said he wanted to die because he feared the curse would turn him into rotten flesh.

Ding Dan used the Omniscient Mirror to learn that Lu Xiao had been affected by the Seventh Seat of Saints' 'Confusion' Trait and that a 'Positivity' Trait could neutralize it. The Mirror demanded Ding Dan's remaining hair as payment for a third question, leaving him to decide whether to accept its price.

• Ding Dan removed Lu Xiao's pendant, and the Omniscient Mirror released the Bone Carving Castle and Lu Qian, whose presence brought a little light back to Lu Xiao's eyes.
• Ding Dan paid one horn to learn that the Seventh Seat of Saints' 'Confusion' Trait had affected Lu Xiao.
• Ding Dan paid a second horn to learn that something with the 'Positivity' Trait could neutralize Lu Xiao's 'Confusion' Trait.
• The Omniscient Mirror demanded all of Ding Dan's hair, shaved off with Chainsaw Man's cursed chainsaw, as payment for a third question.
• Driver considered paying in Ding Dan's place, but the Omniscient Mirror warned him that the price would be worse and asked Ding Dan whether he had made up his mind.

Ding Dan used Positivity to free Lu Xiao from confusion, and the group regrouped. In Magic City, Liuguang and Sly received a secret mission to investigate a child at the orphanage where Liuguang grew up, which had closed after he left.

• Ding Dan returned to the search site and found Positivity, the shorter of two daggers.
• Chainsaw Man stabbed Positivity into Lu Xiao's thigh, restoring Lu Xiao's clarity.
• Lu Xiao thanked Driver for frightening him, leaving Driver confused.
• Liuguang and Sly opened Doctor's handwritten mission file after leaving Magic City.
• Liuguang recognized the mission location as the orphanage where he had grown up, and said the target was a child there.

Liuguang and Sly reached the orphanage where Liuguang had grown up, but its director did not recognize him. After gaining entry by posing as military visitors, they armed themselves with Divine Blood Warheads and prepared to inspect the children.

• Liuguang found the orphanage’s director, who dismissed him as a swindler when he said he was Little Rascal, grown up.
• Sly showed the director his identification and claimed he was a brigadier general selecting children for military service; Liuguang pretended to be his driver.
• The director opened the gate despite the rusted padlock still hanging in place, and Sly and Liuguang returned to the ambulance to collect their equipment.
• Sly and Liuguang loaded their rifles with Divine Blood Warheads, ammunition reserved for dealing with Weird Life, and Sly warned that he would act without hesitation if anything went wrong.
• Sly and Liuguang entered the orphanage carrying rifles, and Sly told the director they were looking for promising children to train for the military.

Sly and Liuguang investigated Liuguang’s former orphanage, where the director believed Sly’s promises to recruit the children and improve their living conditions. The chapter ended as the children returned from working in the fields and gathered around the ambulance.

• Sly reassured the director that he would raise funds for the orphanage, while Liuguang reflected that their mission required caution around potentially disguised weird life.
• Sly warned Liuguang that he would shoot if anything unexpected happened, and Liuguang agreed not to stop him despite his attachment to the orphanage.
• The director gave Sly a long-rotted pack of cigarettes, and Liuguang reacted with alarm when he saw it.
• The director led Sly and Liuguang inside and said he hoped they would take all the children if they qualified.
• The children returned carrying farming tools and gathered around the ambulance, and the director called for Little Rascal to bring them over.

At an orphanage, Liuguang was affected by an Anomaly and lost consciousness. In the Dark Prison, Lu Xiao and Ding Dan experimented with daggers that boosted strength, fought for over an hour, and then continued their journey with their minds clouded by Confusion.

• At the orphanage, Liuguang froze after seeing Xiaopidan and was affected by an Anomaly, while Sly realized what had happened just before Liuguang lost consciousness.
• In the Dark Prison vehicle, Lu Xiao explained that a dagger had strengthened someone who stabbed their heart and let Ding Dan test it.
• Lu Xiao accidentally gave Ding Dan the wrong dagger, then used Positivity to clear Ding Dan's confusion before handing him the strength-boosting dagger.
• Lu Xiao pushed Ding Dan's hand so the dagger plunged into Ding Dan's heart, causing his muscles to swell; Lu Xiao then stabbed his own heart as well.
• Lu Xiao and Ding Dan jumped out of the vehicle and traded punches for over an hour until Driver told them to move on.
• Lu Xiao stabbed himself in the thigh with Confusion and passed it to Ding Dan, who also stabbed his thigh without noticing Lu Xiao's growing confusion.

Lu Xiao, Ding Dan, and Driver learned that the muscle transformation would wear off after twenty-four hours and continued through the Dark Prison. As Ding Dan considered why Lu Xiao had become confused about his curse, he suspected the curse was influencing Lu Xiao’s subconscious.

• Driver used Positivity to clear Lu Xiao and Ding Dan’s confusion, but their muscles remained, so Lu Xiao asked the Omniscient Mirror how to change back.
• The Omniscient Mirror said the transformation would last twenty-four hours and required no payment, and the group returned to the vehicle.
• Driver drove the group out of the desert while Lu Xiao explained that Ivan’s bone-carved array had stopped working and he feared becoming a mindless mass of rotting flesh.
• Driver and Ding Dan questioned why Lu Xiao feared death and felt confused, while Lu Xiao said he could ask Ivan to carve another Alchemy Array.
• Ding Dan concluded that Lu Xiao’s curse might be affecting his subconscious, while recalling how Confusion had magnified his own worries and despair.

Ding Dan told himself he would consult Doctor about his discovery while Lu Xiao and his companions teleported toward C02. At the C03 Containment Facility, Doctor watched footage of Sly and Liuguang behaving as though they were back at the Orphanage, where Liuguang cried as the headmaster played with Nini.

• Ding Dan decided to ask Doctor about his discovery, while Lu Xiao gave him two daggers and Driver teleported their vehicle to C03, then toward C02.
• Adam watched the vehicle disappear and hid from it, then vowed that he would soon confront Doctor as his mutations continued.
• Lu Xiao inventoried gifts for Doctor, Lu Qian, and Mr. Ivan, learned the Director wanted to study the Transforming Vehicle, and was warned that he and Ding Dan were dressed inappropriately.
• Doctor failed to reach Liuguang and viewed satellite footage of Liuguang and Sly playing at an Orphanage.
• Sly and Liuguang made food with the headmaster and Nini, and Liuguang shed tears as the headmaster gave Nini a ride on his shoulders.

Sly saw the steamed buns turn into wet mud and heard a voice warn him not to eat, but the children and Liuguang saw nothing unusual. After apologizing to Nini and returning to bed, Sly left the dumplings behind as Liuguang served them to the director.

• Nini shared part of her steamed bun with Sly, but Sly saw it and the other children’s buns turn into foul mud and warned them not to eat.
• The buns appeared normal again, and Nini became upset when Sly threw his bun away; Sly told Liuguang he had dropped it by accident and claimed he had hallucinated.
• Sly went to Nini’s room and apologized, and Nini forgave him after he promised he had not lied.
• Nini promised to hide dumplings for Sly, then went out while Sly returned to bed to rest.
• Liuguang gave the director a plate of dumplings; the director praised them and told Liuguang to share them with the other children.

Lu Xiao and Ding Dan returned from the Dark Prison with ingredients and information, while the Director joined Doctor to investigate a troubled mission. They reported that Dart had grown much stronger and stayed behind to buy C03 time as the Gate failed.

• Liuguang secretly told Nini he had saved a large plate of food for Sly.
• Lu Xiao and Ding Dan endured Positivity’s side effects, borrowed clothes from Driver and Chef, and rode the Transforming Vehicle out of the Dark Prison.
• The Director greeted them and became absorbed in the Transforming Vehicle while Ding Dan reported their return and their encounter with Dart to Doctor.
• Doctor asked the Director to come to C03, where the Director watched videos about a mission that had gone wrong.
• Lu Xiao presented Doctor with ingredients from the Dark Prison, and Ding Dan explained that Dart had grown stronger, refused to return, and confirmed the Gate was failing through R019-Source of Contamination.
• Doctor asked whether Dart had said anything else, but Ding Dan glanced at the Director, so Doctor told him to explain later.

The Doctor sent the Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver to investigate the orphanage, where a weak Weird Life had apparently controlled Liuguang and another person. After the Director explained his past and prepared for the mission, the group arrived at night and found signs that the pair had entered armed; he told Lu Xiao to prioritize containing the anomaly, leaving Lu Xiao’s question about danger unanswered.

• The Director and the Doctor reviewed the videos and the Doctor shared reports about a farmer who had spoken to thin air at the orphanage.
• The Director concluded Liuguang had likely escaped the Weird Life’s control and hidden the Accessibility Communicators, while the Doctor urged a swift containment mission.
• The Director agreed to help in exchange for studying 302-Transforming Vehicle, and the Doctor sent Lu Xiao and Driver with him.
• On the drive, the Director said he became a leader by giving it his all with his father, then explained that the Doctor’s teacher had established C03 for him.
• At the orphanage, the Director found Mercury Bullets in the ambulance and warned Lu Xiao that containing the anomaly mattered more than protecting a Sacrificial One.
• Lu Xiao asked what to do if he was in danger, and the Director replied that he had once been a Sacrificial One too.

Lu Xiao entered the courtyard with the Director and Driver, but an anomaly trapped him in the body of a scarred young woman named Nini. He found himself in a wealthy household, where Liu Wen brought him to meet a client named Mr. Chen.

• The Director revealed his mechanical hand, tore off the gate's padlock, and proposed a code phrase for detecting anomalous influence.
• The Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver entered the courtyard and froze as their surroundings changed.
• Lu Xiao woke in a girl's room as a scarred young woman, and Liu Wen called him Nini and told him to get ready for a client.
• Lu Xiao tried to use the code phrase, but his words changed to "Okay... Mom," and Liu Wen dismissed his claim about a district chief father.
• Lu Xiao counted 363 dolls in the room, then followed Liu Wen to meet Mr. Chen and his family.
• Liu Wen told Mr. Chen that her husband was away, and Mr. Chen said he had already transferred development rights for a commercial plot to Zhang Zong's company.

Liu Wen demanded that Mr. Chen transfer his luxury goods company before she would treat his terminally ill son, while Zhang Chaoya refused to undo their land deal. Mr. Chen realized he had been trapped but, with his son’s life at stake, remained dependent on the treatment as Liu Wen delayed it for a meal.

• Liu Wen told Mr. Chen that she wanted his luxury goods company as payment for treating his son, and he refused.
• Mr. Chen called Zhang Chaoya, who denied knowing about Liu Wen’s demand until she took the phone and insisted she would not treat the boy without the company.
• Zhang Chaoya berated Liu Wen, then apologized to Mr. Chen but refused to return the land development rights because his construction crew was already on the site.
• Mr. Chen recognized that Zhang Chaoya and Liu Wen had trapped him and called his secretary, knowing he had already surrendered the development rights and still needed their help.
• Mr. Chen asked Liu Wen to begin the treatment, but she invited everyone to eat first.

Lu Xiao observed a dream in which his adopted body transferred a little boy’s illness, while the Director and Driver realized they were trapped in a dream too. The Director called a woman listed as “Darling,” learned he had an affair in the dream, and promised to visit her.

• Mr. Chen and Liu Wen signed a transfer agreement, and Lu Xiao’s body took the little boy’s illness away.
• Liu Wen dismissed Lu Xiao’s pain, and he returned to his room, where he realized a dream-bound Weird Life had pulled him into a dream.
• The Director and Driver discovered they could move freely again and concluded they were inside a dream or hallucination.
• The Director called a number saved as “Darling” to ask about Mr. Chen, but the woman flirted with him and asked when he would visit.
• The Director told the woman he would come see her after finishing his business, and Driver praised him.

The Director and Driver followed Zhang Chaoya back to his villa, where they learned Liu Wen and Zhang Chaoya planned to sell Nini to Liu Mingsheng. The Director reunited with Lu Xiao in Nini’s room and began examining his body, while Driver slipped into Liu Wen’s room.

• The Director and Driver returned to Zhang Chaoya’s villa and witnessed Zhang Chaoya and Liu Wen discuss Nini’s illness and their plan to give her to Liu Mingsheng for a final deal.
• The Director entered Nini’s room as Zhang Chaoya and regained control of his body, then exchanged code phrases with Lu Xiao to confirm their identities.
• The Director, Driver, and Lu Xiao reunited and shared information before the Director offered to examine Lu Xiao’s body for clues.
• Driver followed Liu Wen to her room, slipped inside, and put his arm around her waist; Liu Wen laughed and warned him that Zhang Chaoya was still home.

The Director examined Lu Xiao’s severely damaged body and discussed why Nini had drawn them into her dream, while Lu Xiao proposed killing everyone to escape. Elsewhere, the Doctor prepared an experiment with Ding Dan, and Niclade ordered Gambler to help restore Sloth, whose attempt to gamble for his recovery ended with the bet declared invalid.

• Driver continued his affair with Liu Wen while Zhang Chaoya remained unable to control the body.
• The Director found that Lu Xiao’s body had numerous illnesses and missing organs, then discussed Nini’s dream with him; Lu Xiao suggested killing every living thing to escape.
• The Doctor watched Lu Xiao and the others moving in circles in the wasteland, then told Ding Dan he needed him for an experiment.
• Niclade scolded Gambler for sending Sloth to a place where he was transformed, then ordered Gambler to restore him.
• Gambler offered Sloth a card-drawing bet with his life as the stake, but concluded that the bet was invalid.

Gambler summoned War while Liuguang found Blackie beside a sick girl at the Orphanage. Meanwhile, the Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver set out to learn what happened to Nini, but the black cat secretly redirected their car away from Liu Mingsheng’s Manor.

• Niclade banished Gambler and Sloth, and Gambler called on War for help.
• Liuguang found Blackie beside a girl covered in rashes at the Orphanage and grew tearful when he looked at her.
• A black cat appeared at Lu Xiao’s window, vanished when he opened it, and left him drowsy.
• Zhang Chaoya arranged to take Nini to Liu Mingsheng the following night, and the Director and Lu Xiao prepared to go with him.
• The Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver left the Villa, but none of them noticed the black cat on the car roof or that their route did not lead to Liu Mingsheng’s Manor.

Lu Xiao, the Director, and Driver witnessed Zhang Chaoya’s death in the black cat’s Dreamscape, then investigated his records and returned to the Orphanage. The black cat revealed itself as the Dreamscape’s creator, and Lu Xiao fired his Corrupted Revolver at it.

• Zhang Chaoya was killed by the driver after the car brought him to a dilapidated building, while Nini watched from inside.
• The Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver woke in the wilderness and learned from police records that Zhang Chaoya’s body had been found, but Nini had vanished.
• The Director led Lu Xiao and Driver back to the Orphanage, where they encountered the white-haired Orphanage Director, the black cat, and a group of children.
• The black cat revealed that it had created the Dreamscape and claimed to be a god within it.
• Lu Xiao aimed his Corrupted Revolver at the black cat and pulled the trigger.

Lu Xiao, the Director, and Driver fought the children and figures Black Cat conjured in his dream, while the Director reasoned that the dream’s powers depended on Black Cat’s understanding. Driver challenged Black Cat to bring out something worse, and the chapter ended with Driver enduring a barrage of weak bullets and asking for heavier attacks.

• Black Cat claimed he was God in the dream, but the Corrupted Revolver produced a Clown Doll and Lu Xiao’s Bone Spur became a balloon.
• The Director argued that Black Cat could not kill them and that his dream powers depended on his understanding; the children attacked, and the Director, Lu Xiao, and Driver fought them off.
• Black Cat summoned Zhang Chaoya’s drivers and half-headed figures, but the three remained unfazed, and Driver taunted Black Cat to create something nastier.
• Black Cat gave the orphanage director an RPG launcher, but its rocket did nothing, leading the Director to conclude Black Cat did not understand the weapon.
• Black Cat conjured automatic rifles that fired at Driver for more than ten seconds, but the bullets only hurt him; Driver asked Black Cat for heavier stuff.