Chapter Summaries

As Bai Zhou’s blows caused the world to be swallowed by the carved character for “immortal,” Mo Ling fell into a blue sea and witnessed Bai Zhou create the first Little Fish Fry before vanishing into the water. Mo Ling recognized the fish school’s origin but hesitated to kill the Little Fish Fry, weighed down by memories of Fishman Island.

• Bai Zhou’s strikes made the boulder and Mo Ling’s carved character for “immortal” expand until their ravines swallowed the world and Mo Ling.
• Mo Ling awoke in a pure blue sea and recognized it as the sea from Bai Zhou’s memories.
• Mo Ling found Bai Zhou talking about freedom, the burdens of being a Kun Peng, and his wish to escape by becoming a little fish.
• Bai Zhou shaped a Little Fish Fry, apologized to his disciple, and disappeared into the sea as the fry swam away.
• Mo Ling realized the Little Fish Fry’s birth marked the origin of the fish school and aimed his Teleportation Frame at it, but could not decide whether to kill it.
• Mo Ling recalled the fish school, the Cha Li Clan, the Fishman Clan, and the repeated fog and moon as Bai Zhou’s words echoed in his mind.

Mo Ling returned from the world of spirits after learning that Bai Zhou had become immortal and that the world would eventually fall into reality. Back in the present, the Root Carving Figurine absorbed the Time Eaters surrounding a sphere, revealing an unconscious person whom Mo Ling recognized by his Diving Helmet.

• Bai Zhou's disciple pulled Mo Ling out of the world of spirits, where Mo Ling realized that the ravines had formed from the character for immortal he had helped Bai Zhou carve.
• The disciple explained that Bai Zhou had become immortal and that the world of spirits would fall into reality after losing its Master, so they needed to leave.
• The tree root dragged Mo Ling through the membrane and out of the collapsing world, returning him to the present with the figurine.
• The Root Carving Figurine absorbed the Time Eaters surrounding the transparent sphere, causing the sphere to shrink.
• Mo Ling caught the unconscious person revealed inside the sphere and recognized his Diving Helmet.

Mo Ling learned why Bai Zhou's body had been hidden among the Time Eaters and helped the little man return it to Fishman Village. The little man revealed that the Cha Li Clan planned to take the island's mist away with them.

• The little man recovered from absorbing the Time Eaters and explained that Bai Zhou's helmet had distorted the Newborn Soul's identity as a fishman.
• The little man recounted how Bai Zhou had hidden his body while his soul retreated into the Soul Spirit World, and how a Newborn Soul began controlling the body.
• The little man controlled Bai Zhou's sleeping body through the Underground Passage, while Mo Ling followed and mistakenly copied its occasional jumps.
• They emerged from a hidden tree hollow near Fishman Village, and the little man sent Bai Zhou's body back before explaining that Bai Zhou had become immortal.
• The little man told Mo Ling that the Cha Li Clan would take the island's mist away by leaving the island with it.

Mo Ling helped the little man prepare to lead the Cha Li Clan off the island by gathering them inside the Relic and absorbing the Time Eaters. After the little man absorbed the last of them, the fog pressed down around Mo Ling, and the little man recovered only to complain that it was noisy.

• The little man told Mo Ling that the Cha Li Clan wanted to leave the island and asked him to gather them at the Moon Altar.
• At the Moon Altar, the little man absorbed the Time Eaters stored in an Undying Wood sphere and explained that the Relic could hold the entire clan.
• Mo Ling followed the little man to the shore, where he danced with the waves and drew Time Eaters from across the sea into himself.
• After the last Time Eater entered him, the little man collapsed onto the beach, and Mo Ling picked him up before the waves could sweep him away.
• The fog pressed heavily around Mo Ling, and the little man regained his senses and said it was noisy.

Mo Ling tried to carry the little man out of the fog by flying, while the fog used eerie sounds and the image of a little girl to stop him. The little girl warned that the Time Eaters would release immortality and bring eternal stillness to the Abyss, but Mo Ling pressed on, saying he did not understand immortality.

• The little man explained that the awakened Time Eaters kept asking him questions, then told Mo Ling he needed a faster ship to escape the fog.
• Mo Ling revealed that he could fly and carried the little man toward the edge of the fog without a ship.
• The fog grew darker and surrounded Mo Ling with sobbing sounds and sensations of breath, but he ignored them and continued flying.
• A little girl who had followed Bai Zhou appeared and pleaded with Mo Ling not to leave, warning that immortality would fill the Abyss and bring eternal stillness.
• Mo Ling charged through the little girl’s image again and said he did not understand immortality.

Mo Ling faced the Little Girl and the figures in the fog, who urged him to stop the Cha Li Clan from spreading eternal life. He teleported away three figures who described their suffering, then admitted he still did not understand eternal life and insisted the islanders only wanted to see the sun.

• The Little Girl and the fog figures blamed eternal life for the island’s tragedy and warned Mo Ling not to spread its curse.
• Mo Ling asked which figure wanted to die a natural death, found him, and teleported him away.
• Mo Ling teleported away two more figures who said they were muddleheaded and terminally ill.
• Mo Ling told the remaining figures that they were focused on distant eternal life while the islanders only wanted to go outside and see the sun.
• Mo Ling apologized and said he still did not understand eternal life.

Mo Ling forced his way through the mist after teleporting away the figures who tried to stop him, and emerged into sunlight with the little person he had been carrying. As they looked out over the Infinite Sea, the little person declared that it should be called the No Immortal Sea.

• Mo Ling teleported away the figures in the mist, including the little girl who warned that immortality’s spread would bring another tragedy.
• Mo Ling continued through the thinning mist as the little person woke and confirmed that it no longer affected her.
• Mo Ling and the little person emerged from the mist into sunlight above a calm sea.
• The little person thanked Mo Ling and said her people had spent two thousand two hundred years passing through the mist.
• The little person explained that her people had once mistaken the island’s unknown places for infinity, then decided the sea should be called the No Immortal Sea.

Mo Ling reunited with the wooden little man on the sea, then returned to the Cube after the fog dispersed and found Fishman Island basking in sunlight. At the village library, Jeff wondered whether humans could become immortal before revealing that the Great Chieftain had not woken up.

• The little man fashioned a propeller from his roots, said he hoped to meet Mo Ling again, and set off across the sea.
• Mo Ling followed the little man's foam trail to a right angle resembling a Cube corner and found himself back inside the Cube on Fishman Island's beach.
• Mo Ling saw that the fog had cleared and found fishmen sunbathing; he concluded that they had adapted to the changed environment.
• Mo Ling reached the library, where Li Luo spoke with Bai Zhou, who had just woken after an unexplained sleep and was sent for a medical checkup.
• Jeff asked Li Luo how long humans could live and whether immortality was possible, then said that the Great Chieftain had not woken up.

Jeff recounted the late Great Chieftain’s strict leadership and failed attempts to make the Fishmen laugh as the village mourned its dead. The surviving elders chose Jeff to become the new chieftain, and new leaves appeared on the village’s decaying tree.

• Jeff told Li Luo that most of the old Fishmen, including the Great Chieftain, had died, while the younger Fishmen had survived with only occasional dizziness.
• Jeff recalled how the Great Chieftain’s rules organized Fishman Village and shared the story of the chieftain’s gruesome joke about how fish slept.
• An older Fishman told Jeff that the elders had chosen him to take the vacant chieftain position because they could no longer bear the responsibility.
• Jeff asked when he would take office, and the older Fishman told him he would begin immediately.
• The older Fishman murmured that Jeff’s name meant “hope” as new green leaves appeared on the village’s decaying tree.

Jeff planned to integrate the False Fishmen into the village and expand Fishman Island’s contact with humans and other races. Meanwhile, Li Luo reunited with Mo Ling and accompanied the Cube to the hospital, where Bai Zhou’s strange behavior prompted her to investigate.

• Jeff told Li Luo he would gradually allow the False Fishmen to return to the village and encourage trade and cultural exchange with humans.
• Li Luo waited for Mo Ling’s Cube, cleaned sand from it, and asked whether it was staying; the Cube answered yes.
• Li Luo and the Cube visited the hospital, where a Fishman doctor examined Bai Zhou and found no obvious problems.
• Bai Zhou reported seeing glowing stars after removing his Diving Helmet and suspected they were monitoring him.
• Li Luo pulled Bai Zhou aside and asked him to hold his breath again to check whether the stars returned.

Bai Zhou and Li Luo discussed the Fishman Clan’s plans to rebuild and eventually explore other islands, while learning that their next destination was Paradise Island. Bai Zhou then demonstrated his unusual technique for grilling Fishman Island fish and handed Li Luo the finished meal.

• Bai Zhou and Li Luo wandered through the village and discussed how the cleared mist had changed it.
• Bai Zhou told Li Luo he could not leave while the village needed rebuilding, but hoped to build a ship and explore other islands someday.
• Bai Zhou described the unreliable ferry service and said it sailed between Fishman Island and Paradise Island.
• Bai Zhou caught fish, explained his grilling method, and used heated Water Flow Tentacles to cook one for Li Luo.
• Bai Zhou gave the grilled fish to Li Luo to try.

Li Luo shared grilled fish with Bai Zhou and Mo Ling, then spent several peaceful days on Fishman Island before preparing to leave. Jeff arrived with a ship, and the group set out for the shore, where an advanced white vessel awaited them.

• Li Luo enjoyed Bai Zhou’s grilled fish as he recalled failing to make it to Little Nurse and wondered whether he had a Calamity Physique.
• Bai Zhou prepared grilled fish for Cube, and Mo Ling savored it while longing to return home.
• Li Luo and Bai Zhou watched the sunset together before she spent several more peaceful days on Fishman Island.
• Jeff arrived to escort Li Luo, and Bai Zhou discussed his flexible identity as both a fishman and a human.
• Jeff led Li Luo, Bai Zhou, and the others to the dock, where a white ship was waiting.

Li Luo boarded the white ship Paradise, whose robot captain Ji Ting welcomed her and showed her around. As the ship prepared to depart, Li Luo left the Fishmen and Bai Zhou behind, while Mo Ling learned that the Paradise had long been operated entirely by machines.

• Jeff pointed out the Paradise as Li Luo’s ship and explained that the Fishmen had delivered only some of their goods because of the recent crisis.
• Ji Ting greeted Li Luo, verified her nameplate, introduced itself as the Paradise’s captain, and accepted the Fishmen’s cargo without questioning its shortfall.
• Li Luo boarded the Paradise while Bai Zhou, Jeff, and the Fishmen waved her off and wished her luck in finding treasures at the Abyss Bottom.
• Ji Ting showed Li Luo the ship’s facilities and explained that no humans had been aboard for a long time because the robots could navigate it independently.
• Mo Ling realized that the Paradise had no human crew and that machines had handled the Fishmen’s trades with it.

Aboard Paradise, Mo Ling read a news report claiming that Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines could possess true souls and that regulators had halted their development. He realized the robots aboard the ship matched the machines in the report, while Li Luo remained lost in thought about her past.

• Li Luo and Mo Ling explored Paradise, where the robots greeted Li Luo and she appeared unsettled by the familiar surroundings.
• Ji Ting showed Li Luo to her room and told her to ask the ship's machines for help if she needed anything.
• Li Luo searched the room's electronic screen and handed Mo Ling a news report about Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines.
• Mo Ling read that regulators had stopped Abyss Heart Technology's Digital Brain research after the company claimed its machines could develop true souls.
• Mo Ling recognized the blurred robots in the report as identical to the machines aboard Paradise and realized they were Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines.

Mo Ling learned from Li Luo that Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines had been strictly banned and their project erased, though experimental components had survived. The machines aboard the Paradise were genuine, but Li Luo did not know how they had returned or who had continued their research.

• Mo Ling questioned how banned Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines had appeared aboard the Paradise, and Li Luo explained that the report came from opponents of Abyss Heart Technology.
• Li Luo revealed that officials had dissolved the project, destroyed all complete units, and sealed its records after investigating Abyss Heart Technology.
• Li Luo explained that experimental components had escaped destruction because officials judged them indistinguishable from previous-generation parts, and the company later reused related technology in other products.
• Mo Ling realized that Li Luo lived in the building shown in the report and suspected she had ties to Abyss Heart Technology.
• Mo Ling asked why Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines were on the Paradise, and Li Luo confirmed their identity but said she did not know where the surviving components had gone.
• Li Luo said she would cautiously make contact with the robots over the next few days and warned Mo Ling not to wander around.

Li Luo tested Paradise’s robots and discovered that the ship’s cleaning and gym robots were highly intelligent, though the cleaner claimed they were locally developed rather than sixth-generation machines. She remained suspicious of their true origins as she continued investigating Paradise.

• Li Luo tested the Cleaning Robot by leaving trash outside her door, and it explained that it had not advised her because it knew she was testing its reaction.
• The Cleaning Robot said it was a first-generation Island Defense Robot developed by Paradise Island, and claimed its resemblance to Abyss Heart Technology’s machines was imitation.
• Li Luo doubted the robot’s explanation because its intelligence seemed too advanced for an island-developed machine.
• Li Luo and Cube searched Paradise and found a gym robot that eagerly welcomed her, complained about having no guests, and explained that it could only teach exercise.
• Li Luo declined the gym robot’s lengthy treadmill introduction and began using the machine, leaving the robot confused.

Li Luo reasoned that the Paradise’s highly humanlike robots had been upgraded repeatedly and likely relied on Digital Brain technology rather than an island-scale Database. She began explaining the Relic behind Digital Brain, tracing it to the deadly Blade Forest, where a lone hunter had fallen in from the sky.

• Li Luo refused the gym robot’s offers to exercise and left with Mo Ling and the Cube.
• In the corridor, Li Luo explained that humanlike robot emotions could be simulated with sufficiently extensive preset reactions and data.
• Li Luo concluded that Paradise’s robots were not first-generation models and that the island probably used Digital Brain technology to support them.
• Li Luo explained that Digital Brain was a name coined by Abyss Heart Technology for an application of an ordinary Relic discovered in the Blade Forest.
• Li Luo described how the forest’s suspended leaves became blades that attacked creatures, then said a lone hunter had entered the forest from the sky.

After crash-landing in a Blade Forest, Tang Su used a mysterious needle to stitch his wounds and discovered it could turn nearby materials into patches that healed and altered his body. He reached a Monitoring Station and explained the Relic’s abilities, ending by revealing that his black left-leg patch was made from his own shadow.

• Tang Su landed in a Blade Forest with injuries, lost his backpack, and found a rust-free needle that he recognized as a Relic.
• Tang Su stitched his wounds with thread from his Combat Suit, and the needle’s patches healed his injuries and spread across his body.
• Tang Su used Rainforest Giant Eagle feathers, claws, bones, and nearby materials to patch himself, discovering the needle could draw materials from within about one meter.
• Tang Su arrived at a nearby Monitoring Station and gave the guards his identification tag.
• Tang Su told an investigator how the needle worked and revealed that the black patch covering his left leg was his own shadow.

Li Luo explained how the Patch Relic led Abyss Heart Technology to develop Digital Brain technology by repairing living brains with data, despite the authorities’ warnings. She questioned whether Paradise Island had obtained the destroyed technology when a Cleaning Robot mentioned that its teacher had taught it to clean.

• Tang Su described how he used shadows to patch his injured thigh, and an inspector recorded his account and examined the patches.
• Tang Su developed a craving to turn the inspector’s table into patches, so officials restrained him and sealed the Patch Relic in a warehouse.
• Researchers determined that the Patch Relic could use any material, including conceptual materials, to patch objects while preserving the patched object’s properties.
• Li Luo explained that Abyss Heart Technology secretly used data patches on mouse brains, developing Mouse-Machine Communication and eventually Digital Brain technology for Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines.
• Li Luo wondered how Paradise Island had obtained technology that the authorities had destroyed, then asked a Cleaning Robot whether it had learned its work from a teacher.
• The Cleaning Robot said it had been blank when it was born and that its teacher had taught it to clean.

Li Luo questioned a Cleaning Robot about its teacher and learned that Paradise Island’s robots had fixed roles despite being capable of many tasks. She and Mo Ling suspected the role restrictions contradicted the robots’ design, and Li Luo concluded that Paradise Island was hiding a secret.

• Mo Ling recognized the Cleaning Robot’s relaxed manner as deliberate slacking rather than emotional dullness.
• Li Luo questioned the Cleaning Robot and learned that a Teacher Robot taught robots their duties and that each robot’s role determined its actions.
• Li Luo asked whether the Teacher Robot could perform other tasks, and the Cleaning Robot confirmed it could but was assigned only to teach.
• Li Luo compared the humanoid robots to Sixth Generation Intelligent Machines and wondered why seemingly identical robots had separate roles.
• Li Luo told Cube that Paradise Island’s unusual restrictions suggested its people were hiding a secret.