Chapter Summaries

Vine Tendril gave Wen Wen a self by changing its Synchronization Orbit, then watched it begin to think independently. As chaos and extinctions spread across worlds, Vine Tendril sought answers from the Eternal Thirster, who promised to consult other races.

• Vine Tendril sent Wen Wen's thoughts into the future and restored its Synchronization Rate, allowing Wen Wen to become a self-aware former Shadow Servant.
• Wen Wen could not yet separate its own desires from Vine Tendril's copied thoughts, so Vine Tendril told it to answer when it understood itself.
• While traveling, Wen Wen began asking questions from its own perspective, and Vine Tendril patiently answered them.
• Vine Tendril noticed extinctions and conflict increasing across unrelated worlds despite normal Synchronization Rates.
• Vine Tendril told the Eternal Thirster about the rising chaos, and the Eternal Thirster said it would consult other races to investigate.

The vine learned that rising Entropy Worms from Abyss Bottom were making the world increasingly chaotic and sought a way to stop them. It rejected using Wen Wen as a living Filter Net and left with Wen Wen for the abyssal hole, while the Eternal Thirster reopened a locked book titled "Traveler."

• The Eternal Thirster explained that Entropy Worms were multiplying beneath the abyssal hole and spreading chaos as they crawled upward.
• The vine learned that the Entropy Worms could not be killed or escaped by anyone inside their isolated system.
• The Eternal Thirster proposed blocking the abyssal hole with an orderly living Filter Net to keep the Entropy Worms from rising.
• The vine refused to use Wen Wen, saying Wen Wen could not yet choose for itself, and left with it toward the abyssal hole.
• The Eternal Thirster opened a locked book titled "Traveler" and said its title would have to be changed again.

Vine began embedding itself into the Abyss Hole as a reverse-turning Life Orbit to resist the Entropy Worm, with Wen Wen assisting. As Vine prepared to leave Wen Wen and the little animals behind, Wen Wen revealed it had gained a self and understood that having one meant pain and grief.

• Vine asked Wen Wen whether it was willing to plug the Abyss Hole, and Wen Wen firmly agreed.
• Vine created jelly tools and began forging a Life Orbit into the Abyss Hole, instructing Wen Wen to imitate its actions.
• Vine embedded itself in the orbit and told the little animals to leave with Wen Wen, but they stayed beside it.
• Vine asked Wen Wen to push the orbit into stable operation, and Wen Wen refused, saying the choice was its own.
• Wen Wen explained that it wished it had not gained a self, because then it could have taken Vine's place and would not feel the pain of losing Vine.

Wen Wen watched the vine sacrifice itself to restore the Filter Net and seal the abyssal hole, gaining a shadow and a self but losing its connection to the vine. Unable to understand the vine’s reasons or find purpose, Wen Wen left alone to retrace the vine’s journey through worlds where its efforts and the lives it had known had vanished.

• The vine urged Wen Wen to push the track, then joined its own tendril to Wen Wen’s and used the force to set the track moving.
• Wen Wen chased the departing vine and asked why it had sacrificed itself for others, but the track accelerated before it could hear the answer.
• The Filter Net resumed normal operation as Entropy Increase reduced the vine to chaos, and the track sealed the abyssal hole.
• Wen Wen gained a shadow identical to the vine’s, but their connection was severed, leaving Wen Wen grieving and confused.
• Wen Wen asked the little animals to travel with it, but they chose to stay with the vine’s remnants, so Wen Wen set off alone.
• Wen Wen revisited the vine’s birthplace and the worlds along its route, finding a transformed desert and vanished species and lifeforms.

Wen Wen learned from the Eternal Thirster that living things could grow stronger through struggle, then was sent to experiment in the World in the Book. In the present, Mo Ling discovered that a falling luminous fragment was withered vine bark that transformed into an eye in his palm.

• Wen Wen wanted to make every race stronger so they could survive without the vine’s protection and asked the Eternal Thirster how to do it.
• The Eternal Thirster explained that struggle could drive growth and gave Wen Wen books about evolution and survival.
• After Wen Wen struggled to understand the books, the Eternal Thirster threw one of its Vine Tendrils into the World in the Book to learn through experience.
• The shadow watched Wen Wen’s past and realized the supposed culprit had been a child, while gripping a black Vine Tendril.
• Mo Ling noticed that the falling fragments followed a hidden spiral flow that the shadow could not sense.
• Mo Ling brought a luminous fragment into the Cube, where it lost its glow, revealed itself as withered vine bark, and transformed into an eye.

Mo Ling used the jelly eye to see the creatures gathered around the Cube and discovered the vine had merged with the orbital laws to protect life from the Entropy Worms. He traced the debris’s flow and found the Entropy Worms’ outlines on the vine.

• Mo Ling used the jelly eye to see small creatures hidden around the Cube and learned the vine had brought them along through Behavioral Bonds.
• The creatures guided Mo Ling’s vision upward, where he saw the vine bound into the orbital network at the center of the abyssal hole.
• Mo Ling understood that the vine had embedded itself in the orbits to protect living beings from the Entropy Worms, at the cost of losing its former life.
• Mo Ling studied the debris’s flow, isolated the force of the Life Orbit, and traced the Entropy Worms’ outlines on the vine.

Mo Ling used the Cube to isolate and destroy an Entropy Worm, but the butterfly recovered inside and then vanished. He suspected its apparent return to life had actually been its death, because Entropy Worms had reversed life and death.

• Mo Ling sensed that Entropy Worms had spread across the orbit, draining life from the Vine Tendrils.
• Mo Ling aimed the Cube at an Entropy Worm and teleported it inside, where outside intervention shattered the butterfly.
• The Entropy Worm's cracked wings repaired themselves, and it began fluttering inside the Cube.
• The butterfly struck the Cube's metal wall and vanished, leaving no trace behind.
• Mo Ling recalled the Eternal Thirster's words that Entropy Worms had reversed life and death, and wondered if the butterfly had actually died.

Mo Ling used the Cube to teleport Entropy Worms away from the Life Orbit, reversing the damage they had caused and restoring the vine. The shadow discovered that the vine was coming back to life and suspected the Cube was responsible.

• Mo Ling confirmed that teleportation killed the Entropy Worms and rapidly teleported them into the Cube.
• As the Entropy Worms vanished, the vine’s entropy damage was erased and its life began returning.
• The little animals felt their bonds with the vine and their eyesight gradually restoring.
• A black Vine Tendril escaped the shadow, then stopped near the orbit and told it that the light had returned.
• The shadow noticed the Cube-shaped voids and realized the Cube might be restoring the vine by removing the Entropy Worms.

The vine returned from the disorder after the Cube destroyed the Entropy Worms that had consumed it, and reunited with Wen Wen and the little animals. It thanked the Cube and described how it had glimpsed a world of characters and watching transcendents, leaving uncertain whether its experience was real.

• The vine regained its senses as the Entropy Worms vanished, saw Wen Wen with the shadow, and reunited with the little animals.
• The vine and Wen Wen greeted each other, and the shadow asked whether the vine was Wen Wen’s Master.
• The shadow explained Wen Wen’s troublemaking, and the vine promised to apologize to the Eternal Thirster and the humans before learning the Eternal Thirster was likely gone.
• The vine thanked the silent Cube for saving it and asked how it had killed the Entropy Worms.
• The vine described being broken into meaningful characters amid disorder and sensing bonds connecting living beings to transcendents who watched them.

The vine sent Mo Ling and the black shadow back to Pipeline Fortress, while Mo Ling used the melting jelly eye to glimpse the linked worlds and their limited perceptions. Back at Sky's End Mountain, the Bubble Eyeball revealed that it had watched Mo Ling's actions and addressed him as Fire Thief.

• The vine sent Cube and the black shadow through a jelly passage to Pipeline Fortress and planned to repair the World in the Book before contacting humanity.
• Mo Ling questioned the vine's account and used the fading jelly eye to see how different worlds shared Time Orbits and Space Orbits.
• Mo Ling observed that creatures such as Finger Worms, Ear Flies, and Fragrance Transformation Bees perceived only fragments of the world through their senses.
• Cube returned Mo Ling to Sky's End Mountain, where he found the Bubble Eyeball waiting beside him.
• The Bubble Eyeball said it had seen Mo Ling save the vine and kill the Entropy Worms, then asked whether he liked reading books and called him Fire Thief.

Mo Ling encountered the supposedly dead Eternal Thirster inside the World in the Book, then returned to Room 0122 and found Li Luo reading a book called "Eat." The chapter ended with Mo Ling reading its vivid account of tasting sand, sea life, and companions.

• Mo Ling recognized that the Bubble Eyeball was actually the Eternal Thirster, which said it had survived because knowledge had not died.
• The Eternal Thirster questioned Mo Ling about his powers, then sent him back into the Cube and said it planned to write a book about him.
• Mo Ling realized the Eternal Thirster might still be a danger to Pipeline Fortress and planned to tell Li Luo when he returned.
• The Vine Tendrils released the Cube, and Mo Ling emerged into Room 0122, where Li Luo was reading a book beneath the pipes.
• Mo Ling read the book's account of tasting sea sand, ancient life, and companions, describing their lives as flavors.

Li Luo read a strange book in Room 0122 about a bird seeking the sky, then found no clue to the Pain Transfer Tablets among the room’s hidden books. As she wondered whether “0122” meant something other than a room number, footsteps approached.

• Li Luo read a book describing a bird that flew upward in search of the sky and found loneliness, death, and dust.
• Li Luo finished the book without suffering any apparent ill effects and closed it as a speck of dust drifted away.
• Li Luo reflected that the books hidden beneath the floor had no connection to the Pain Transfer Tablets and left her without a lead.
• Li Luo wondered whether “0122” referred to something other than a room number as footsteps sounded in the corridor.

Li Luo met Liu Ying, a Fortress Guard who explained that the Pain Transfer Tablet carried the mental pain and obsession of its previous owner, Liu Quanxian. Liu Ying began revealing that Liu Quanxian’s final torment came from wanting to return to someone important, and that Li Luo was connected to his obsession.

• Liu Ying entered Room 0122 and warned Li Luo that the abandoned Zero District was dangerous.
• Liu Ying recognized Li Luo’s Pain Transfer Tablet and explained that he had donated it after his friend Liu Quanxian died.
• Li Luo told Liu Ying about her recurring Dreams, and he explained that the Relic had transferred Liu Quanxian’s preserved mental pain to her.
• Liu Ying said the Relic had affected him too, but that Li Luo was connected to Liu Quanxian’s obsession.
• Liu Ying explained that Liu Quanxian’s final torment came from wanting to return to someone important to him.

Li Luo agreed to leave Zero District with Youth, who promised to explain the important person they had seen in a dream. Youth began recounting how Doctor Liu was assigned to a dangerous patient with an unusual Abyss Disease, and the chapter ended as Doctor Liu met the girl.

• Li Luo gathered the books she had dug up and followed Youth out of Zero District toward the Thirteenth Residential District.
• Youth told Li Luo that his friend Liu Quanxian had been a doctor during the Abyss invasion.
• Doctor Liu was assigned to treat a dangerous patient whose previous doctor had cut open his own chest and given her his heart.
• Doctor Liu read the patient's records, which described an overwhelming feeling of pity that grew stronger the closer someone came to her.
• Doctor Liu entered the patient's room and saw a pale girl who looked about ten years old reading inside concentric rings of glass.
• The girl raised her head and looked at Doctor Liu through the glass, and he felt as though something had struck him.

Doctor Liu tried to take Lan Xin out of the hospital, but she trapped him in an illusion that revealed her Abyss Disease could replace reality and her records. He reluctantly accepted the role of her attending doctor and began considering how to treat her.

• Doctor Liu dragged Lan Xin out of her ward after telling her that Doctor Zeng was dead, but an illusion made him believe they were escaping together.
• Lan Xin’s adult self revealed herself, and Doctor Liu realized he was still at the ward entrance with the file bag he had dropped.
• Doctor Liu called his superior, who told him to keep looking after Lan Xin despite his fear and request for help.
• Lan Xin explained that her other self came from another world and was replacing her, including changing her age and records from twelve to twenty-four.
• Doctor Liu declared himself Lan Xin’s attending doctor, reported the discovery to his superior, and decided to consider a treatment plan.

Doctor Liu reentered Lan Xin’s hallucination to discover the source of her illness, but touching her brought back memories that made him question his own identity and reality. He realized he and Lan Xin were both experimental subjects, and that the people overseeing them cared only whether they continued to function.

• Doctor Liu found no physical cause for Lan Xin’s illness and decided to enter her hallucination again despite his fear.
• Doctor Liu met the adult Lan Xin, who said he had promised to take her away, and her touch triggered memories of their earlier meeting.
• Doctor Liu remembered that Lan Xin had claimed he was Doctor Zeng in the real world and had asked him to come save her.
• Doctor Liu discovered a stitched scar on his chest and questioned his superior, who compared curing illness to replacing a decayed tooth.
• Doctor Liu saw the child and adult versions of Lan Xin together and realized he and Lan Xin were subjects in an experiment.

Doctor Liu used a Relic to cure Lan Xin’s Abyss Disease and saw her off to the Welfare Institute, promising to visit. His superior hinted that he knew about Doctor Liu and the two Lan Xins, then explained how human choices differ from inhuman ones.

• Doctor Liu obtained a Relic that could eliminate hallucinations and used it to cure Lan Xin.
• Examinations confirmed that Lan Xin’s Abyss Disease had vanished, and Doctor Liu’s superior approved her discharge to the Welfare Institute.
• Doctor Liu saw Lan Xin off, promised to visit, and heard that her sister would take control of her body and report him if he did not come.
• Doctor Liu’s superior revealed that he knew about him and the two Lan Xins, then compared human choices to the logic behind different responses to an eagle chasing a bird.

Li Luo heard Liu Ying explain Doctor Liu’s obsession and wondered whether his account was really about himself. Back in her room, she read “Shadow Born,” a martial arts novel about shadows that fought demons and were later discarded and forgotten.

• Liu Ying told Li Luo that Doctor Liu had promised to find separate bodies for the two Lan Xins, but his failure to fulfill that promise left him with an obsession.
• Liu Ying warned Li Luo to avoid Zero District and offered suggestions for dealing with the obsession before leaving her at the residential district.
• Li Luo searched for Liu Ying on her electronic screen but found no information about him, deepening her suspicions about his connection to Room 0122 and the Pain Transfer Tablet.
• Li Luo returned to her room and found that “Shadow Born” was a martial arts novel about a demonic art that created second selves and a swordplay that turned them into obedient shadows.
• The novel recounted how the shadows helped defeat the demons but were killed by their former Masters, then erased from the martial world’s records.

After learning that Rainbow Light City on the Abyss Fifth Layer might resolve her obsession, Li Luo traveled to the Anchoring Detection Center to check whether she qualified to reach that layer. She learned that the test required jumping into a simulated Abyss Hole, but the chapter ended before she attempted it.

• Li Luo contacted the staff member who had helped her obtain Pain Transfer Tablets, and the staff member suggested Rainbow Light City as a way to resolve her obsession.
• The staff member sent Li Luo a map to the Anchoring Detection Center and explained that passing its test could qualify her to go to the Fifth Layer.
• Li Luo crossed Pipeline Fortress's confusing and dangerous pipe routes until she reached the sunlit Anchoring Detection Center.
• A staff member led Li Luo to a simulated Abyss Hole and explained that unanchored objects would be rejected, while someone whose anchoring was complete could fall through.
• Li Luo felt the Hole's intense cold and wondered whether it rejected sunlight, but she had not yet jumped in.

Li Luo entered the Abyss Hole for the anchoring test and nearly lost herself in the Black River before the Cube carried her through the darkness. She understood the Abyss’s cycle of life and death, then heard her mother’s nursery rhyme again as forgotten lyrics and memories returned.

• A staff member told Li Luo that things belonging to her were included in the test, and she jumped into the Simulated Abyss Hole.
• The Black River’s cold, darkness, and strange voices overwhelmed Li Luo as she sank through the Abyss.
• Li Luo caught hold of the Cube, which carried her above the river and restored her focus.
• Li Luo sensed the Abyss’s cycle of disorder and order, life and death, and imagined it as a dying creature.
• The Cube carried Li Luo out of the darkness and into sunlight while she heard her mother’s nursery rhyme and remembered its forgotten lyrics.