Chapter Summaries

The narrator explained how Gaia created humanity and the Ramla Ant Nest to resist the universe’s heat death, and revealed that the Itza People were ancient parasites who had sabotaged Earth’s mental power field. With the parasitic consciousnesses returning, the narrator said humanity could restore Gaia by activating five altars and reversing the Hourglass of Time and the Mirror of Space.

• The narrator described Gaia as a pure consciousness that depended on the Chaos Nebula and its black hole to preserve her memories and mental energy.
• Gaia devised a plan to give matter-based organisms consciousness, creating life capable of evolving and breaking the universe’s isolation.
• Gaia used the Ramla Ant Nest to spread seeds of consciousness, and humanity received her consciousness through Earth’s mental power field.
• Three-eyed beings attacked Ramla, destroyed Earth’s mental power field, and sealed the Ramla Ant Nest before humanity drove them away.
• The narrator identified the Itza People as ancient parasites who had destroyed Ramla’s mental altars and sought to prevent Gaia civilizations from spreading.
• The narrator said activating five altars and reversing the Hourglass of Time and the Mirror of Space could restore Earth’s mental power field and bring Gaia back.

Qingmu and the others discovered that the red coral branch was half of an artifact called the Soul of Fire, whose mental power only a sufficiently strong Awakened could withstand. Ronald Cohen's letter revealed that the other half was hidden in a church spire on Earth and warned that activating the Altar of Fire might have set it ablaze.

• Mrs. Larry and Alice recoiled from the coral branch when it made them feel as though it was burning hot.
• Qingmu touched the branch and experienced an illusion of fire consuming his body, while his ebony scepter seemed to ignite; he realized the effect came from mental power.
• Situ found the branch's burning sensation too strong to hold, so he gave it to Su Huilan, who managed to take it.
• Mrs. Larry turned the letter's page and read that the coral was half of the Soul of Fire and could only be handled by a powerful Awakened.
• Mrs. Larry read that the Soul of Fire's other half was hidden in an ancient church spire on Earth and that activating the Altar of Fire might have started a fire there.

An old man explained the Sacred Staffs, the Awakeners' Alliance, and the mission to restore Earth's Mental Power field by reconnecting Ramla and Gaia. He urged the listeners to reclaim the staffs and activate Ramla's altars, then asked them to bring his remains and the Swordfish home if they could.

• The old man explained that the five Sacred Staffs came from Ramla's five endpoints and could help restore Earth's Mental Power field and contact with Gaia.
• He recounted how the Awakeners' Alliance guarded the ancient sanctuaries, later suffered a devastating blow, and was rebuilt as the Dream Society.
• He described how Redbeard Hayreddin seized half of the Soul of Fire from the Itza People, and how Lasus later hid it atop the cathedral spire on Île de la Cité.
• The old man revealed that he had entered Ramla's Altar of Fire and recovered half of the Soul of Fire, but the unstable altar sent him and his companions into the deep well.
• He instructed the listeners to obtain the Sacred Staffs from Itza shamans and use them at the hourglass symbols in their altars to activate Ramla.
• The old man asked the listeners to activate the five sanctuaries, restore Earth's Mental Power field, and bring him and the Swordfish back to Earth.

After Ronald Cohen's last words raised doubts about the Dream Society and the Awakeners' Alliance, Anderson demanded that the group share what they knew and explain their influence over the Itza People. Petru then said he might be able to verify part of Cohen's account.

• Qingmu suffered a severe headache as he struggled to recall memories after Cohen's last words were read.
• Su Huilan and Qingmu questioned Cohen's account, noting that it left important matters about the Alliance and the Dream Society unexplained.
• Anderson argued that the group needed to verify Cohen's words and accused Situ and Qingmu of withholding information, including the truth about their connection to the Itza People.
• Alice defended Qingmu and Situ, while Anderson apologized for getting agitated and explained that he trusted Qingmu enough to ask his questions openly.
• Petru, who had been silent, said he might be able to prove part of Cohen's account.

Petru revealed that his family descended from Redbeard Hayreddin and inherited a mission to guard the pyramids of Giza and recover the Soul of Fire. He also explained how his search for the nautical chart’s islands led him to discover an underwater pyramid and contact Professor Silva.

• Petru said that red hair persisted among certain members of his family, who were taught its history and mission as pure heirs.
• Petru confirmed that Hayreddin was his ancestor and that his family was tasked with guarding the Sacred Land of Fire and reclaiming the Soul of Fire.
• Petru explained that his father had told him about Hayreddin and the Soul of Fire before dying, while a pastor later taught him about his awakened abilities.
• Petru said he believed unseen forces had guided his life and identified the Sacred Land as the three great pyramids of Giza.
• Petru recounted following the nautical chart to the South Pacific, finding Tapu and an underwater pyramid, and anonymously emailing photos to Professor Silva.

Mrs. Larry recognized the nautical charts as Ludwig Yeg’s and explained how they connected his research on the Gendaya Civilization to the underwater pyramid and his death. Su Huilan returned one half of the Soul of Fire to Petru, who was surprised that it did not feel hot.

• Su Huilan handed Mrs. Larry the nautical charts, and Alice and Mrs. Larry recognized them as Ludwig Yeg’s charts.
• Mrs. Larry explained Ludwig’s theory that the underwater pyramid corresponded to the Pyramid of Khufu and described how he had obtained and studied the charts.
• Mrs. Larry recounted finding Ludwig unconscious after a coral snake bite and discovering that his charts and manuscripts were missing.
• Su Huilan gave Petru one half of the Soul of Fire and said they would search for the other half after returning to Earth.
• Petru accepted the Soul of Fire but found that it did not feel hot to the touch.

Situ explained Master Nanke’s Multilayer Dream Entropy Equilibrium Theory, which described dreams as a way to preserve memories against information’s heat death. The group remained aboard a ship where the Mental Power field seemed cut off, and Crow suggested that amnesia was the brain suffering heat death.

• Petru discovered that the Soul of Fire felt ordinary to him, and Su Huilan suggested that it had chosen him as its master.
• Mrs. Larry speculated that the Sacred Staffs’ radiation might have caused genetic mutations, while Crow corrected her description of Qingmu’s hair.
• Situ said the ship’s metal hull should not block Mental Power and discussed the uncertain history of the Awakeners’ Alliance and Master Nanke.
• Situ explained how Nanke had proposed that dreams organized memories and maintained low entropy in the brain and consciousness.
• Crow joked that amnesia was the brain suffering heat death.

Situ recounted how Master Nanke’s multilayer dream entropy equilibrium theory divided the Awakeners' Alliance and explained that he alone had openly supported the idea that humanity lived in a dream and should return to the real universe. He ended by suggesting that the legendary City of Sin was actually a mental black hole.

• Boss Coal heard what seemed to be laughter from Ronald Cohen’s corpse and the zombies outside, but the others laughed at its warning.
• Situ explained how a vast shared dream might absorb the universe’s entropy and prevent heat death, raising the possibility that their universe existed to sustain another.
• Situ described the Alliance’s divisions over whether to escape the dream, create another dream, or preserve the Alliance’s authority as the world descended into war.
• Qingmu realized Situ had supported the view that humanity was inside a dream, and Situ said he had been the only one to voice that position.
• Su Huilan asked about the City of Sin, and Situ said he suspected its legendary power to trap consciousness came from it being a mental black hole.

Situ explained multilayer space and his theory that unseen forces could influence people’s decisions, then revealed that he had located two possible Awakening Sacred Lands. He left the second location as a question to Mrs. Larry, asking whether it was where Mr. Yeger had his accident north of Santa Fe City.

• Situ described the Original Space, First Space, Third Space, and the individual dreams known as the Second Space.
• Situ said the Alliance’s division and World War II might have been shaped by unseen influences on people’s minds.
• Situ explained that the scepters could manipulate the savages’ thoughts without their realizing it.
• Situ said he had searched for the sacred lands as possible routes back to the Original Space and had identified the area marked on Petru’s nautical chart as one candidate.
• Situ asked Mrs. Larry whether the second possible sacred land was the site of Mr. Yeger’s accident north of Santa Fe City.

Situ revealed that he was an Indian guardian of the Vera Gold Mine, which he believed was one of the Alliance’s sacred lands, and explained how he identified several of the five worldwide sites. He identified Liuying Lane in Wuzhong City as the Sacred Land of Wood and Qingmu as its guardian, while the fifth sacred land remained undisclosed.

• Mrs. Larry recounted how Mr. Yeger went north alone to investigate Maya ruins, was bitten by a snake, and died before she could get help.
• Situ revealed that he was Indian and had inherited guardianship of the Vera Gold Mine, whose tunnels he believed connected to Ramla Space.
• Situ explained that he had given Yeger clues about the ruins near the Vera Gold Mine and regretted that Yeger later died during his expedition.
• Situ said he had identified the South Pacific islands, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Vera Gold Mine as three of the Alliance’s sacred lands, each associated with a mental power field.
• Situ identified Liuying Lane’s former Mulberry Garden as the Sacred Land of Wood and named Qingmu its guardian.

Situ deduced that the five Awakening Sacred Lands formed a pyramid aligned with the Earth's magnetic poles, with the fifth likely hidden in the Arctic ice fields. Qingmu then realized the group’s strange conversation in the captain’s cabin might have been affecting their consciousness, and they left just as the torch went out.

• Situ used the coordinates of the Egyptian pyramids, the underwater pyramid, the Vera gold mine, and the suspected Mulberry Garden site to show that the four sacred lands formed a square around the Earth.
• Mrs. Larry explained that connecting the four sites to the north magnetic pole would form a square pyramid, and Situ proposed that the fifth sacred land lay somewhere in the Arctic ice fields.
• Situ identified the Soul of Ice with the suspected Arctic sacred land and the Soul of Wind with the island where the group was staying.
• Qingmu emerged from his daze and questioned why everyone had been sitting in the cabin discussing the dead for so long without noticing how strange it was.
• Alice urged the group to leave as the torch weakened, and Mrs. Larry gathered the papers before they headed back through the passageway.
• Crow spotted a dark shadow at the captain’s cabin doorway, then the torch went out and plunged the passageway into darkness.

Cui Shuying and Park Jae-won visited the pyramids at Giza, bribed their way onto the Pyramid of Menkaure, and made wishes at its peak. A sandstorm engulfed them, and a pillar of light struck the pyramid, reducing them to dust as three blue beams hit the three pyramids.

• Cui Shuying told Park Jae-won she wanted to leave the scorching Giza Plateau, but he persuaded her to keep exploring.
• Park Jae-won and Cui Shuying argued with camel handlers over an inflated fee, then paid a caretaker and bribed patrol officers to climb the Pyramid of Menkaure.
• Park Jae-won and Cui Shuying reached the pyramid’s peak and shared their wishes as clouds gathered and the wind strengthened.
• A sandstorm swallowed the couple at the pyramid’s tip, and a pillar of light struck them as three blue beams descended onto the pyramids.
• Cui Shuying and Park Jae-won melted into sand and dust before everything vanished into a void.

Ahmed was summoned from his canceled vacation to investigate tourists who had died in a newly opened chamber beneath the Pyramid of Khufu. At the cordoned site, a shaken patrolman reported seeing a ghost, and the attendant began to explain what happened.

• Ahmed drove toward Hurghada, but a sudden sandstorm forced him to stop near Cairo.
• Ahmed’s chief called to cancel his vacation and ordered him to accompany Professor Alef to the pyramid after an underground chamber was discovered and tourists died inside.
• Ahmed reached Giza, crossed the military cordon, and learned that the chamber had opened during a minor earthquake and that tourists had gone inside.
• Basaimu told Ahmed that four or five people were dead and claimed there was a ghost in the chamber.
• Abdullah Rashad Rashid Bucibulaxi Yicijeilaxi Cishalasha Mudezhile identified himself as the site attendant and offered to tell Ahmed what had happened.

Ahmed questioned caretaker Abdullah about the sandstorm, the strange lights over the pyramids, and the newly revealed underground passage where bodies had been found. Before Ahmed could investigate alone, Professor Alef arrived, and they argued over protecting archaeological artifacts versus preserving evidence at the murder scene.

• Ahmed gave Abdullah a cigarette and asked him to explain what he had witnessed at the pyramids.
• Abdullah said three beams of light struck the pyramid tips during the sandstorm, the pyramids caught fire, and the couple who had climbed Menkaure disappeared.
• Abdullah recounted entering a newly opened passage in the Pyramid of Khufu and finding bodies with their bellies slit open; Basaimu vomited as he recalled it.
• Ahmed decided to enter the underground palace before Professor Alef arrived, but Alef soon reached the site and questioned Ahmed about his archaeological knowledge.
• Alef warned Ahmed not to damage antiquities, and Ahmed retorted that Alef must avoid disturbing evidence at the murder scene.

Ahmed led Professor Alef and their party into a newly revealed passage beneath the Pyramid of Khufu, where they found brutally mutilated bodies and an empty sarcophagus concealing a route farther underground. Alef insisted they descend into the passage, and Ahmed prepared to follow despite the unknown danger.

• Ahmed recruited Abdullah as his guide and armed him before the group entered the pyramid.
• Ahmed and the others followed Abdullah down a hidden staircase and found bloody handprints and a disemboweled body.
• Abdullah stumbled upon a second mutilated body, so Ahmed took the lead through the passage.
• Ahmed entered a decorated chamber and found blood trails leading to a half-open sarcophagus.
• Ahmed pushed open the sarcophagus and discovered it was empty, with a passage leading downward inside.
• Alef insisted they investigate the passage, and Ahmed agreed to go down despite suspecting danger.

Ahmed, Professor Alef, Abdullah, and two soldiers descended into a hidden burial chamber beneath the Pyramid of Khufu, where five bodies had been arranged as sacrifices. They opened the central sarcophagus and found its mummy missing, leaving Alef to identify the linen wrapping and scattered artifacts.

• Ahmed and Alef concluded that the pyramid aboveground had been a decoy for an underground burial chamber, then climbed into the passage beneath the empty sarcophagus.
• Ahmed, Alef, Abdullah, and two soldiers entered a pentagonal chamber and found five bodies hollowed out and arranged around a central sarcophagus.
• Alef examined five steles bearing an unfamiliar pictographic script, while Abdullah determined the characters were not modern Chinese.
• Alef dismissed Ahmed's concerns about the deaths and ordered the soldiers to open the central sarcophagus.
• Alef lifted the gold mask and blanket, revealing only tangled linen and scattered objects instead of a pharaoh's body, and identified the linen as mummy wrapping.

Ahmed investigated the stripped mummy and mutilated corpses, but living corpses attacked the group and the chamber’s steles filled the pyramid with light. The light revealed a strange vision of the Giza Plateau, where a golden-lit man carrying red coral approached Ahmed.

• Alef explained how Ancient Egyptians made mummies, and Ahmed considered whether the killer had staged the bodies to mislead the police.
• Ahmed examined a corpse and felt an inexplicable urge to stuff its empty abdomen with spices and wrap it in cloth.
• Abdullah warned Ahmed, who turned to see the corpse standing with its heart still beating and fired at it.
• The other corpses rose, and Ahmed shouted for everyone to escape; as he ran, he struck a stone stele, causing it and the other steles to shine.
• The light let Ahmed see across the Giza Plateau and through the pyramid, as a golden-lit man carrying a red coral branch walked toward him.

Ahmed witnessed a blazing hourglass consume the stone tablets and draw the desert sand into a black hole before waking in the sarcophagus. He escaped the pyramid and discovered that Abdullah was alive and working as Menkaure’s caretaker just as a sandstorm approached.

• Ahmed watched the coral branch ignite, destroy the five stone tablets, and awaken a giant hourglass that sucked the desert sand into a black hole.
• Ahmed woke in the sarcophagus among the wounded Professor Alef and soldiers, while Abdullah lay beside it and his four companions were dead.
• Ahmed tried to carry Abdullah out but left him behind after his body fell back into the sarcophagus.
• Ahmed emerged from the pyramid to find the soldiers and police gone and tourists moving around Giza as usual.
• Ahmed recognized the caretaker of Menkaure as Abdullah Rashad Rashid Butsburahi Yitsjerahi Tsishalasha Mudezhile while a sandstorm advanced toward the pyramid.

Ahmed returned from his vacation to investigate Professor Alef’s death, which matched the gruesome deaths in the pyramid’s underground chamber. The case left Ahmed confronting evidence of a killer who used a pointed object resembling fingernails, while the pyramid remained sealed off.

• Ahmed finished his vacation in Hurghada and returned to Cairo, where the chief assigned him Professor Alef’s case.
• Ahmed learned that Alef and two military policemen had died after entering the underground chamber, while the tourists who had gone inside had also been killed.
• Ahmed realized his experience in the pyramid had not been a dream and discovered that Abdullah had survived because he had not entered the chamber.
• Ahmed examined the case details and learned that Alef, two military policemen, and a female intern had been killed at the research institute.
• The autopsy suggested the killer had opened the victims with a sharp, pointed object that may have been fingernails.

Ahmed viewed the National Museum’s restricted surveillance footage and discovered that Dr. Alef had brought the real mummy of Ramesses II to the institute. The footage showed a disguised figure killing two military policemen, and the museum administrator identified him as Ramesses II.

• Ahmed learned that the institute’s surveillance footage required high-level authorization and viewed it at the National Museum under strict conditions.
• Ahmed saw Dr. Alef bring the real mummy of Ramesses II into a room, followed later by the female intern who would die that night.
• Ahmed watched Dr. Alef emerge at two in the morning with bloodstains on his lab coat, strengthening his suspicion that Alef had killed the intern.
• A taller figure wearing a bedsheet emerged from the mummy room and killed both sleeping military policemen.
• The bedsheet fell away, and the figure turned toward the camera, prompting the museum administrator to identify him as Ramesses II.