Chapter Summaries

After the Director’s experiment left his internal organs acting like brawling people, the Doctor questioned Lu Xiao about Lu Qian’s abilities. Lu Qian demonstrated her soul-rending scream and healing soul blessing, leaving the Doctor eager to study her further.

• The Prison Doctor examined the Director and found his organs fighting and posing inside his chest, while the Director asked for them to be removed.
• The Doctor asked Lu Xiao what abilities Lu Qian had, and Lu Xiao explained that she possessed Screech and Affinity.
• The Doctor recorded Lu Qian as Serial number 307 and asked her to demonstrate her abilities.
• Lu Qian’s scream shattered glass, hurt those nearby, and triggered the facility alarm before the Doctor ordered the soldiers to stand down.
• Lu Qian sang again, waking the unconscious staff and making those present feel clearer and healed as the Doctor identified the effect as a temporary boost to mental power.

Lu Xiao warned the Doctor that Lu Qian’s Affinity might bring C03 under her control, but the Doctor concluded the ending could not be changed and looked for a way to limit its effects. The chapter left the Director planning an agreement to keep anyone from provoking Lu Xiao into being deployed.

• Lu Xiao told the Doctor that the Omniscient Mirror had warned him Lu Qian’s Affinity might destroy C03, and the Doctor inferred that the facility’s people would come under her control.
• The Director suggested eliminating Lu Qian, but Lu Xiao refused to let anyone harm his daughter.
• The Doctor asked the Omniscient Mirror how to stop C03 personnel from growing close to Lu Qian, but it said he could not afford the price.
• The Doctor revealed his plan to keep the Omniscient Mirror by relying on Lu Xiao to deter anyone who tried to take it.
• The Director decided to return to his Containment Facility and draft an agreement titled “Terms and Conditions for Keeping Our Side from Deploying Lu Xiao First.”

Niclade oversaw a mass sacrifice that formed a flesh-and-blood gate, preparing for Cthulhu’s awakening in three days. He questioned the Saints about their preparations and offered War a reward, but War declined to ask for anything.

• Niclade led gray-robed believers in a sacrificial dance until their bodies burst into blood mist, which fed the magic circle and formed a gate of flesh and blood.
• Niclade confirmed with Pope that thirty High Priests were mentally assimilated and ready to offer their souls to Cthulhu.
• Niclade questioned Pride-Lucilla about the Prison Wardens’ anomaly deployment lists; she had only obtained U01’s list and said Doctor had handled the others.
• Niclade learned from Lucilla that War had concealed her identity, then praised War and offered him a reward.
• Gambler reminded Niclade that War had also restored Sloth’s mind, but War declined to request anything, calling service to Cthulhu an honor.

Niclade offered War a quick path to divinity, but War insisted on pursuing godhood himself. Niclade then persuaded the Pope to enter the flesh-and-blood gate for the Lord’s divinity, and the Pope stepped through believing it had restored his vitality.

• Niclade offered to ask the Master to grant War divinity, but War refused and said he wanted to become a god on his own.
• Niclade released the Saints from helping in the final battle and warned them to handle their own tasks.
• Niclade told the Pope he intended to have the Lord grant him divinity, and the Pope accepted without hesitation.
• Niclade swore the Pope would receive divinity through the flesh-and-blood gate, and the Pope approached it wearing the Church’s crown.
• The Pope reached through the gate, saw that his hand’s skin had tightened, and eagerly prepared to claim godhood.

The Pope crossed the gate of flesh, received Cthulhu’s divinity, and agreed to help Niclade advance the Lord’s plans. Meanwhile, Containment Facilities worldwide mobilized, and Antie ordered his Assistant to stop criticizing cooperation with C03.

• The Pope entered Cthulhu’s realm, where the crown transformed into the Flesh Crown and he awoke devoted to Cthulhu.
• The Pope emerged as a god, rejected his former faith, and promised Niclade he would help Cthulhu regain his authority.
• Niclade tasked the Pope with monitoring War, testing his loyalty, helping with his ascension if he proved loyal, and preventing the other seven from escaping.
• Niclade dismissed the Pope and watched over the enormous Magic Circle beneath his feet.
• Containment Facilities worldwide mobilized, while Antie ordered his Assistant not to criticize cooperation with C03.

Antie sent P02-Angel toward the battlefield and warned the Doctor that he would take responsibility if anything went wrong during its transport. The Warden and Shadow discussed He Shang’s disappearance and Shadow’s Deification Ritual, which had reached its final step.

• Antie killed the Assistant, arranged P02-Angel’s transport, and told the Doctor that only he and the pilot knew the route.
• The Doctor consulted the Warden, who said Antie would not interfere before the Sacrifice Plan was completed and would take responsibility for P02’s transport.
• The Doctor told the Warden he planned to travel to the battlefield in the Transforming Vehicle, while the Warden said he would remain at the Containment Facility.
• The Warden shared tea with Shadow, and they discussed Old Bai’s awakening and He Shang’s disappearance and mutation.
• The Warden realized the Highest Office had concealed He Shang’s disappearance to make a move on his seat, and Shadow said his Deification Ritual had nearly reached its end.

Shadow warned the Warden that becoming a god might change him, then confronted the newly ascended Pope, who threatened to expose and destroy him. The next day, Doctor and the Director took Lu Xiao and the others aboard the Transforming Vehicle to sacrifice a deity, and Lu Xiao ended up announcing the plane’s takeoff from the cockpit.

• Shadow told the Warden that becoming a god might change who he was, then vanished.
• The Pope confronted Shadow, revealed that Niclade had sent him to watch Shadow, and vowed to crush his hopes.
• Doctor and the Director visited Lu Xiao and invited him to join the trip to sacrifice a deity.
• Driver brought the group to Lu Xiao’s Containment Room in the cramped Transforming Vehicle, and the Director transformed it into a luxury airplane.
• Lu Xiao broke Driver’s arms and legs to get back at him for frightening him in a dream, then headed for the plane.
• Lu Xiao announced the plane’s takeoff over the speaker while the Director assured him he would still feel involved.

Lu Xiao learned that the Director had taken over piloting the plane while Liuguang revealed how he had punished Liu Wen and the wealthy people who had used Nini to cure their illnesses. Meanwhile, Niclade continued the ritual to awaken the entity behind the Flesh Gate, which he expected to descend in twenty hours.

• The Director took over flying the plane, and Lu Xiao told Ding Dan he wanted to pilot it himself.
• Sly asked Liuguang whether he had let Liu Wen go, and Liuguang explained that he had made her and the other people who exploited Nini drink milk containing blood from Nini’s transfusion.
• Sly learned that Liu Wen had been driven to ruin by Liu Mingsheng after Nini disappeared and that she had confessed to her crimes.
• Niclade led twenty strangely dressed old men in a ritual before the Flesh Gate as gray-robed believers died in flames.
• Niclade proclaimed that the entity would descend in twenty hours and reclaim its authority.

Niclade's ritual raised the island of R'lyeh and opened a gigantic gate of flesh and blood, drawing Doctor, the Director, and containment forces to the scene. As the group prepared to face the deity, the Green Mailbox delivered Niclade a letter from the Feis King, inviting him to hell.

• Niclade completed his incantation, and the temple collapsed as its blood and flesh fed the Magic Circle and enlarged the gate of flesh and blood.
• A hundred-meter wave swallowed the island, exposing R'lyeh, which Doctor identified as the legendary site.
• Doctor and the Director arrived as containment aircraft gathered, while Lu Xiao and Prison Doctor looked forward to tasting the deity.
• The Green Mailbox appeared before Niclade and delivered him a letter from the Feis King inviting him to hell.
• Niclade read the letter and remarked that he had drawn a King-level entity.

Niclade fought off King Feis, but the Doctor’s Contained Anomalies trapped him in a battle against the String Puppet and the Clay Figurine. After Niclade escaped their control and survived having his head twisted off, the Doctor summoned the Butler.

• Niclade summoned King Feis, then used Distortion to twist Feis and drive it back into Hell.
• The String Puppet immobilized Niclade while the old men continued drumming, and the Clay Figurine appeared within his sight.
• The Clay Figurine twisted the heads off nineteen drummers, whose headless bodies continued beating their drums.
• The Clay Figurine twisted Niclade’s head off, but Niclade broke free of the String Puppet’s control and gouged out his own eyeball to attack it.
• Aboard an aircraft, the Doctor rang the clapperless bell and summoned the Butler.

The Doctor ordered his butler to plant the Withered Branch in Niclade, while Niclade battled the Feis King. The branch consumed Niclade’s blood and grew into a towering tree bearing fruits that opened to reveal heads with Niclade’s face.

• The Doctor asked the butler to assassinate the deity below, then instructed him to insert a pure-lead box into its flesh when he refused.
• The Feis King repeatedly attacked Niclade from hiding, and Niclade distorted the area while trying to find it.
• The butler opened the box, took out the Withered Branch, and struggled through the distorted space toward Niclade.
• The Feis King hurled a cursed steel fork at Niclade, but Niclade reversed its course, sending it into the Feis King’s forehead as a gate dragged him back to hell.
• The butler drove the Withered Branch into Niclade’s neck, and it took root in his body and consumed his blood.
• The branch grew into a towering tree with blue hair instead of leaves, and its fruits burst open to reveal heads bearing Niclade’s face.

Doctor deployed 02-Angel against the bizarre tree on the island, and her single devastating strike erased nearly everything there. With Angel asleep and Niclade possibly still alive but badly injured, Prison Doctor, Lu Xiao, Chainsaw Man, and Ding Dan prepared to investigate and sacrifice him if they could.

• Doctor ordered 02-Angel deployed and the other aircraft withdrew as a transparent dome dropped her onto the island.
• 02-Angel transformed into a towering, winged figure and struck the bizarre tree with a holy sword, evaporating almost everything on the island.
• Angel fell asleep after her attack, while the Clay Statue, Green Mailbox, and other remaining anomalies were left behind; the String Puppet disappeared.
• Doctor told Prison Doctor, Lu Xiao, and Chainsaw Man to investigate, warning that Niclade might have survived the completed sacrifice but was likely seriously injured.
• Prison Doctor, Lu Xiao, and Chainsaw Man jumped from the Transforming Vehicle, and Ding Dan agreed to follow them after Doctor pointed out he could help identify the Contained Anomalies.

Lu Xiao, Ding Dan, Chainsaw Man, and Prison Doctor reached the island and confronted Niclade, who revealed how he survived Angel’s attack and merged with the String Puppet. Niclade summoned Cthulhu through the Flesh Gate, leaving the group facing the awakening deity.

• The group landed on the island, and Chainsaw Man set Ding Dan’s sprained ankle back in place.
• Ding Dan calmed down after an injection, while Lu Xiao examined the Green Mailbox and Angel and Prison Doctor studied the Clay Statue.
• Niclade emerged from the Flesh Gate, picked up Angel, and declared that she would become the Lord’s beloved pet.
• Niclade explained that he had distorted Serial Number 137’s rules, entered the Lord’s residence, and fused with the String Puppet.
• Niclade called for Cthulhu to awaken, and an enormous figure emerged from the Flesh Gate.

Niclade explained how he had manipulated the laws holding back technological progress, while the Omniscient Mirror revealed that he would die without his soul being claimed by Cthulhu. As the figure emerged from the Flesh Gate, Niclade discovered it was not his Lord but a thousand-meter-tall Black Cat.

• Niclade said he had made a deal with the Omniscient Mirror and that sacrificing him would restore humanity's ability to advance technologically.
• The Omniscient Mirror admitted it had to honor its deal with Niclade but assured Lu Xiao that it could not lie when answering questions for a price.
• Niclade promised to introduce the Omniscient Mirror to the Lord, and the mirror spat on him and predicted his death.
• Lu Xiao paid a fingernail for the Omniscient Mirror to explain that Cthulhu would not claim Niclade's soul and that Niclade would leave no soul behind.
• Niclade watched the Flesh Gate open and saw a thousand-meter-tall Black Cat emerge instead of his Lord.

Little Black revealed that Niclade had been trapped in a dreamscape, but Niclade transformed into a rampaging monster after the illusion shattered. Lu Xiao and the others fought to contain him, and the Doctor prepared to use Serial Number 306-Cage as the battle worsened.

• Little Black's dreamscape broke, revealing Niclade's treelike body and the group gathered around him.
• Niclade's branches bloomed into eyeballs, and he lost control, spreading madness through the group.
• Lu Xiao fired three shots from the Corrupted Revolver, damaging Niclade but losing the flesh on his face and suffering the weapon's other costs.
• Niclade's roar drove Ding Dan toward losing control, but the Prison Doctor's sedatives calmed him and the others.
• The Doctor told the Director to put Lu Qian in charge of C03 if he died, then took out Serial Number 306-Cage.

The Doctor used the Parchment Scroll and Fountain Pen to summon a terrifying being as Lu Xiao deliberately triggered his own sacrifice. When a scarlet moon and its enormous eye appeared over the island, Prison Doctor rejected the being’s offer to follow it and cursed it instead.

• The Doctor wrote that Niclade’s madness had drawn a terrifying being, and the Fountain Pen added that a madman had offered a sacrifice to bring it down.
• The Omniscient Mirror explained the cost of Lu Xiao’s shot, and Lu Xiao triggered it before plunging Bone Spur into his heart.
• A scarlet full moon appeared, and Ding Dan warned everyone not to look at it; Chainsaw Man destroyed the Doctor’s remaining eye.
• The enormous eye enveloped the island and sea, then offered Prison Doctor permission to follow it.
• Prison Doctor raised his middle finger and told the being, “Fuck you,” and Ding Dan called him the fucking Devil.

A mysterious presence took control of Lu Xiao, restored his body, and overwhelmed the immense eyeball after it erased Niclade. As the presence prepared to leave under pressure from other supreme beings, it rewarded the Omniscient Mirror and left the eyeball dead, while Lu Xiao sank to his knees.

• The eyeball erased Niclade and demanded Lu Xiao’s flesh and blood as payment, while the Omniscient Mirror welcomed it with fanatical reverence.
• Lu Xiao pulled the Bone Spur from his heart, regenerated his injuries, and frightened the eyeball by speaking through the mysterious presence.
• The presence forced the eyeball down onto the sea, and the Parchment Scroll reported that supreme beings were joining forces to descend into the world.
• The presence said it had to leave, praised the Omniscient Mirror, and gave the dead eyeball as its reward.
• The presence snapped its fingers, everything grew calm, and Lu Xiao sank to his knees.

Liuguang and Sly led aircraft carrying Contained Anomalies to false coordinates while the Doctor’s changed plan unfolded around R’lyeh. After the operation ended, the Omniscient Mirror swallowed Niclade’s giant eye and returned to the island, where Lu Qian emerged and found Lu Xiao unconscious.

• Liuguang and Sly joined dozens of aircraft at the assigned coordinates, where the sky turned scarlet with moonlight from the Dark Prison.
• The Director ordered the aircraft to retrieve their Contained Anomalies, while Serial Number 02 secretly received orders to deploy Serial Number 02-Angel.
• The Director learned from the Prison Doctor that the Doctor was alive, though unconscious, and reflected on how the Doctor had sent the other Containment Facilities false coordinates after receiving Shadow’s letter.
• The Omniscient Mirror swallowed Niclade’s giant eyeball, extracted Niclade’s Divinity, and returned to the island with the Bone Carving Castle.
• Lu Qian flew out of the castle, called to her unconscious father, Lu Xiao, and then greeted the Prison Doctor as her godfather.

The Director’s team searched Small Island after Niclade’s death and found no sign of Cthulhu, while a later cleanup operation exposed a stone statue beneath the island’s flesh. Gambler completed his Deification Ritual, took the name God of Fate, and discussed the coming enemy and War’s ritual with Antie.

• Driver landed the Transforming Vehicle on Small Island, and the Director ordered him to search for signs of Cthulhu.
• The Director, Driver, Ding Dan, and the others found only the flesh left by the collapsed Flesh Gate and concluded that Doctor may have disrupted Niclade’s ritual.
• Antie authorized the deployment of serial number 02-Angel, who burned away the flesh on Small Island with her massive sword.
• A huge wave broke apart the island’s dark-brown substance and exposed a stone statue, which the sea then swallowed.
• Gambler told Antie that he had completed his Deification Ritual and chose the name God of Fate instead of returning to the Highest Office.
• Gambler and Antie discussed War’s coming Deification Ritual and the new enemy before Gambler vanished to complete the final step of his ritual.

Antie visited the corrupted Adam, whom Gambler had captured, and prepared to begin the Gods Experiment. Elsewhere, the Pope received a command from a higher god, while He Shang advanced his plans for the Underground Buddha Land by transforming a wealthy follower into Bǎobǎo Bodhisattva.

• Antie visited Adam in the Containment Room and said his corruption had made him more valuable than restoring his sanity or making him a god.
• Antie’s assistant reported that preparations for the Gods Experiment were complete, and Antie approved moving forward.
• The Pope learned that the Prison Warden had sacrificed Niclade, then heard a higher god’s murmur and vowed to spread its faith.
• He Shang’s followers reported that the Underground Buddha Land was nearing completion, and He Shang transformed an elderly wealthy man into Bǎobǎo Bodhisattva.