Chapter Summaries

Lin Shuo learned that Lao Mo had become the Thymefield Family’s security contractor to protect Alice and her family’s corrosion inhibitor patent from TOPS. After seeing Lao Mo care for Alice and promise to keep her safe, Lin Shuo returned to the ramen stall and shared the story with Yuzuha and the Bangboos.

• Lin Shuo asked Lao Mo about the Thymefield Family’s new partner and learned that Lao Mo had taken a long-term job protecting the family and its patent from TOPS.
• Lao Mo explained that Alice reminded him of Elidel and that he had begun teaching her self-defense because her family was in danger and she was taking on too much alone.
• Lin Shuo watched Alice collect modified Ether sensors from Lao Mo, who also gave her mint chocolates and urged her to rest.
• Lao Mo told Lin Shuo that Alice was worth protecting and promised he would be there if she faced real danger.
• Lin Shuo told Yuzuha and the Bangboos about Lao Mo and Alice, and they teased him about their bond.

Lin Shuo and Lao Mo stopped Qian An’s Order soldiers from abducting Alice Thymefield and defeated Qian An at the Thymefield estate. Alice was safe, Qian An was captured, and Lin Shuo received a mission reward as the Order’s wider threat remained.

• Lin Shuo and Lao Mo learned that Qian An’s half-Ethereal soldiers planned to abduct Alice and force her grandfather to surrender the corrosion-inhibiting potion formula.
• Lin Shuo defended Alice in the basement while Lao Mo covered him; Alice finished backing up the data, but returned to the estate courtyard instead of staying hidden.
• Lin Shuo incapacitated seven soldiers as Qian An appeared and threatened Alice, forcing Lao Mo to choose between protecting her and fighting.
• Lin Shuo used Amaterasu to distract Qian An while Lao Mo rescued Alice and activated the mansion’s optical camouflage and Ether disruptors.
• Lao Mo’s corrosion-inhibitor sprinklers weakened Qian An, and Lao Mo shot away the syringe he planned to use before Qian An passed out.
• Lin Shuo called the Defense Force to collect Qian An, and the system awarded him rewards for protecting Alice and unlocked the achievement “Steel Tenderness.”

After Qian An escaped and slaughtered his escort, Lin Shuo learned the fugitive had used an unknown enhancer and was likely heading for his family. A call from Lumina Square reported that Little Mu, Lin You, and Lin Yue were in danger, so Lin Shuo left the outpost to save them.

• Lao Mo told Lin Shuo that Qian An had escaped during transport after killing the six-person escort squad and breaking his Ether-suppression restraints.
• Lin Shuo and Lao Mo examined a broken syringe containing a Sacrifice Potion-like enhancer and concluded Qian An had become stronger and dangerously unstable.
• Lao Mo reported that Hoshimi Miyabi had taken half of Section 6's elite personnel to pursue Qian An, though he doubted she could handle him.
• Yuzuha called Lin Shuo from Lumina Square and reported that Little Mu had gone berserk at Kaidan House and that something was wrong with Lin You and Lin Yue.
• Lin Shuo told Lao Mo to hold Hoshimi Miyabi back, then leaped from the medical room window to fly to Lumina Square.

Lin Shuo erased Qian An’s hypnotic command from Little Mu’s mind, stopping her rampage but leaving himself temporarily blind. Five days later, Qian An remained at large after badly injuring Hoshimi Miyabi and Section 6, while Lin Shuo recovered at the ramen stall.

• Lin Shuo discovered that Qian An’s mental command had triggered Little Mu’s rampage and sent Yuzuha, Lucia, Lin You, and Lin Yue out of the room.
• Lin Shuo entered Little Mu’s mental world and burned away the hypnotic command with his Mangekyō, helping her recover her memories of Qian An’s capture and the needle he injected into her neck.
• Lin Shuo’s ocular power gave out, leaving him blind for several days, while Yuzuha and the others cared for him and Little Mu recovered.
• Five days later, Lin Shuo learned that Qian An had escaped Section 6 after a six-hour battle in which Hoshimi Miyabi was severely injured and over half the unit were killed or wounded.
• Lin Shuo sat recovering at the ramen stall as Qian An remained at large with a ten-billion-Denny bounty.

Lin Shuo reported to Hollow Special Operations Section 6 after it summoned him to discuss Qian An. He spoke with Asaba Harumasa about their complicated past and his determination to catch Qian An for threatening his family, while the conversation continued at Section 6 headquarters.

• A Section 6 soldier delivered Lin Shuo an encrypted summons, and Lin Shuo agreed to report within the hour.
• Lin Shuo reassured Yuzuha and Lucia that he would answer Section 6's questions carefully, then brought a honeydew melon as a possible courtesy gift for Hoshimi Miyabi.
• At Section 6 headquarters, Lin Shuo learned that Tsukishiro Yanagi was away and Hoshimi Miyabi was doing rehabilitation, so Asaba Harumasa received him instead.
• Asaba Harumasa asked Lin Shuo about Qian An, the laboratory, and their recent encounters, and Lin Shuo said Qian An had smiled when Lin Shuo wounded him.
• Lin Shuo admitted that his relationship with Qian An was complicated and said he wanted to catch him because Qian An had targeted Lin Shuo's family.
• Asaba Harumasa praised Lin Shuo's candor, gave him a can of coffee, and Lin Shuo asked whether their conversation was over.

Lin Shuo discovered that Hoshimi Saki, a twelve-year-old girl from a parallel spacetime and his daughter there, had arrived in New Eridu with the Nine-Tails sealed inside her. As Saki reunited with him, he learned how Section 6 had protected her for a month and that Kurama sensed other tailed beasts nearby.

• A system alert identified the tearful girl as Hoshimi Saki, Lin Shuo's daughter from another spacetime, with Kurama sealed inside her.
• Saki called Lin Shuo Dad and told him she had wanted to meet him despite knowing he had not met her mother, Hoshimi Miyabi, in this spacetime.
• Asaba Harumasa explained that Hoshimi Miyabi and Section 6 had taken Saki in after finding her near Hollow Zero a month earlier.
• Lin Shuo learned that Saki could barely control Kurama's power and that Kurama was sleeping because this world was rejecting him.
• Asaba Harumasa said Section 6 knew only that Saki carried a special Ether life-form, while Kurama had sensed other tailed beasts.

Lin Shuo received the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and its new Karmic Fire Mark ability, then agreed to train Hoshimi Saki to control her Nine-Tails chakra. He took Saki to meet Hoshimi Miyabi and request access to Section 6’s underground training ground.

• The system identified Hoshimi Saki as a new family member and assigned Lin Shuo a mission to stabilize her Nine-Tails chakra within thirty days.
• Saki showed Lin Shuo her unstable Nine-Tails chakra and explained that her original father had taught her to meditate without Sharingan assistance.
• Lin Shuo fused with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, unlocking Perfect Susanoo and the Karmic Fire Mark technique while ending his ocular side effects.
• Lin Shuo promised to train Saki and asked Asaba Harumasa to help secure Section 6’s underground training ground.
• Lin Shuo, Saki, and Asaba Harumasa went to Hoshimi Miyabi’s office, where Lin Shuo found Miyabi reviewing documents while Tsukishiro Yanagi changed her cast.

Lin Shuo negotiated temporary guardianship and a training arrangement with Hoshimi Miyabi so he could help Saki control her power while still caring for his family. He left Section 6 for a week to make arrangements, unaware that Saki had begun plotting to bring him and Miyabi together.

• Lin Shuo met Hoshimi Miyabi at Section 6 and reviewed a temporary guardianship permit requiring him to live near the base while Saki trained.
• Miyabi showed Lin Shuo Saki’s specialized training area and explained the danger of keeping Saki far from the base if her power went berserk.
• Lin Shuo agreed to move near Section 6 after a week and secured permission to take Saki out one day each weekend with an escort.
• Miyabi offered intelligence support in exchange for Lin Shuo guiding Section 6 members’ training, and Lin Shuo agreed to teach basic tactics.
• Lin Shuo said goodbye to Saki, received an encrypted communicator from Miyabi, and told Yuzuha he might be away for weeks or months.
• Saki recorded a matchmaking plan to bring Lin Shuo and Miyabi together, while Lin Shuo received a new side quest to serve as Section 6’s temporary instructor.

Lin Shuo spent a week with Yuzuha, his daughters, and the Bangboo Tailed Beasts before leaving for Section 6 to help Hoshimi Saki stabilize the Nine-Tails’ power. As he headed to the base, he promised himself he would protect his daughter from another world and spacetime.

• Lin Shuo decided to leave his family temporarily to help Hoshimi Saki, and told everyone he would spend as much time with them as possible during the coming week.
• Lin Shuo and his family went shopping on Lumina Square and explored a safe area of Lemnos Hollow, where Yuzuha reassured him that she would visit him at Section 6.
• Lin Shuo, Yuzuha, and the family held a cooking competition, shared a hot pot, and spent the rest of the week enjoying activities together.
• On the final evening, Lin Shuo promised to return at least once a week, accepted gifts and a lunch box from his family, and received a red cord bracelet from Yuzuha.
• Lin Shuo left the ramen stall the next morning and headed toward Section 6’s base to help Hoshimi Saki stabilize the Nine-Tails’ power.

Lin Shuo trained Hoshimi Saki and learned how she had crossed into this world, while Saki discovered that her new father still wanted to protect her. After promising she could consider his home hers, Lin Shuo agreed to join Hoshimi Miyabi’s squad on a patrol the next day.

• Lin Shuo asked Saki how she crossed over, and she recalled a sky split by black cracks before she awoke outside Hollow Zero.
• Saki described her original father as a gentle H.A.N.D. tactical specialist who had married Miyabi and found a home in Section 6.
• Miyabi watched Lin Shuo and Saki train and admitted to Tsukishiro Yanagi that she felt an emptiness knowing her other self had been close to him.
• Lin Shuo promised Saki that she was his daughter and that his home was hers, whether or not she could return to her original world.
• Asaba Harumasa delivered dinner and told Lin Shuo that Miyabi had invited him on a routine patrol to Lemnos Hollow the next morning; Lin Shuo accepted.
• Saki asked whether she could call Miyabi Mom and teased Lin Shuo about liking her, then privately decided to help bring them closer.