Hotei tunes in on a dream he's been having lately, one he's been having every night where some monk has fallen into the deep vast sea after a long, long journey. He comments on how lonely the place is, and he wonders who the monk even is. It's been happening so often that he's gotten used to this dream. But more on the location, it's some featureless blue expanse where directionality and gravity have no meaning. He keeps coming back here though, like he's been tied there somehow.
Hotei comments that the place is pretty, but seeing it so often has made it pretty boring. He's not even floating in a current, but rather fluttering around in place on an all express trip to Dullsville. All he really can do is wait for the dream to end already and accompany himself with his thoughts. And for lack of anything better to do he starts hoping he hasn't wet the bed when he wakes up and gets out of there. He never once considers that being so unbothered by this sequence of events might be strange in itself, at least on his own. He does however decide to think back to what happened at Umamichi earlier in the day.
Flashback kicks in to Harlot showing up, greeting everyone by being glad you could all see her as promised and thanking you guys for hanging out with Azathoth. She's also glad that Azathoth is looking entertained since things go to hell when he isn't. Harlot thanks Arc for showing her the way there since she was in a hurry, then finally gets down to business as she asks you how Halloween has been with it being different than usual. You ask Harlot if she's the incident mastermind, ask if she manipulated the children, or stay quiet. Harlot brings up the state of the world and asks if you really think so when you look at it, so you either say yes or no. Her answer only slightly changes in response as she says after a moment that she'd never choose to make use of children even if it were to save them.
Harlot says that if things are left alone, Tokyo will be destroyed once Halloween ends. That's what she and the other Top Seven Pranksters have concluded from their findings. You express shock at the terms Harlot throws around and can ask if she's messing with you. C gets an extra bit with Harlot being somewhat taken aback as she calls you rude and denies toying with you whatsoever in this situation.
Anyways, Harlot starts explaining that the group she's in is a group of trick-playing pioneers who surprise and trick everyone, and that they have been observing the little kids' tricks up close this Halloween. She finds it rather deplorable that some children have been influenced to copy them, and she tells you guys the top pranksters have been working behind the scenes while you guys have been up front as the Halloween Police. You either complain about all the nuisance things have been, ask if it's okay to arrest her, or shrug and ask Harlot to go on.
Harlot chuckles that those on the cutting edge are always hard to understand, but sometimes people like that can see certain things. She asks if you've noticed that Something is Different this Halloween too. Things like stuff that normally stays hidden getting brought out, or people you thought were alive turned out to be dead, or a dream of something you yourself have never seen before. Touji, Ebisu, and Hotei react in shock at this. Alp is merely confused and says he's never seen any weird dreams not his own, but then he remembers he never has since he lives in other people's dreams to begin with. Azathoth just has a little laugh to himself. You agree with that but point out that there's not enough commonalities, or you gasp as you realize something. C has an extra bit of Harlot laughing, pleased to see you have picked up on things after all.
Harlot agrees that it's all been a nonsensical mess, and at first glance nothing seems to be connected. There definitely is a connection though, and Harlot rhetorically asks you what a trick is on a basic level. You suggest something that surprises someone, a practical joke, or something pointless. Harlot then asks why tricks are considered mean-spirited and surprising before saying it's because they tread upon taboos and rules that shouldn't be broken.
You think on Harlot's last point some more, and she continues talking about how bad and shocking they are when at first they were harmless jokes. Trick or Treat is turning into Trick and Treat this Halloween, and she compares this to a revolutionary uprising against the rules of Halloween with the dead coming back to life. She was fine with indulging the children in all the tricks and candy they'd want, but whoops the revolution got too out of hand.
Harlot says she can't sufficiently explain the truth herself, but she will tell you what she's learned. She talks about how rules are binding commands you put upon yourself, things that define and give meaning to people's lives and actions. When these rules are broken, the border the dead and the living, the self and the others can blur. You can also extend this to the border of dreams and reality. A sealed oni and a self that isn't supposed to be are things that can show up in anyone's dreams. Harlot and the other top pranksters have confirmed that these things may have been dreams of people's past selves. While she may always prioritize the children who are alone, she isn't necessarily forsaking everyone else not fitting that description. She asks if you understand that she currently isn't despairing in Tokyo, and that's the reason why she doesn't want everything in it to be destroyed.
Harlot says that when the thin wall of fantasy that is Halloween is torn down, the reality of Tokyo will be laid bare. She believes no one will be able to handle that as they'll madden from fear and anxiety of life losing all meaning. That's what it means to know about everything being made clear, and it's the same as knowing nothing she says as she turns to Azathoth the Almighty Idiot. Azathoth starts cackling madly, and Harlot sighs before changing the subject of you taking Azathoth to Toyosu Marine Academy. There's a specialist you can talk to there, someone more logical than her. Azathoth should be able to help there better than anyone in Tokyo. While there are several world saviors in Tokyo, Azathoth is also a world destroyer, different from her and Surt who she describes as perfectly fulfilled.
Things tune back to the present over at Toyosu Marine Academy, a school built facing the mouth of a river that runs through the city and filled with the scent of the tide and endless ocean. Their curriculum revolves around the fields of study that relate to the seas of Tokyo and the other worlds, and the knowledge of many otherworld seas collect here as Transients who come from these seas gather at this school. And here, Halloween is in full swing too.
Title card pops up, and this episode is titled VR Infiltration! Halloween Cyberspace!
Makara and some mermaids greets you as they welcome you to Toyosu Academy. Makara asks what you guys think and hopes you all enjoy things here since they've worked hard on making it happen. Azathoth laughs madly about being near the sea and how illegal it is to be there despite it being Halloween. Alp cheers about grilled squid being sold and asks if Azathoth wants some too, but Azathoth looks discomfited at the offer and declines since it'll look like cannibalism coming from him. His home is the sea after all.
You react excitedly at the school, say this might be your first time coming there, or say you always smell the tides whenever you come over. Li Chou looks around in interest as he tells you he's looking forward to the place. He quickly adds that he's totally talking about scoping the place out and not about playing around. Eita is around advertising the Ebisu-maki being sold at the school, and some kids chatter in excitement about how cute they are. Hotei placidly notes that Ebisu's new food item is being sold and is happy that the children are so taken with it. Alp asks Ebisu if he's fine with not going over there since this could be a chance for him to get some attention and popularity. Ebisu answers it's enough for him if people enjoy his food. He's already given them the recipe, so he'll just leave them to it.
Hotei comments that it's been a bumpy road, but you guys made it here to Toyosu. He asks how you guys are supposed to save the world now. Touji adds that he was told by Hougen to help save the city from destruction, though for whatever reason Hougen hasn't actually told him why they'd be going here. He asks what's at Toyosu, so Arc asks him not to stress out as they're just doing what they've been asked to do too. Hotei casually says you guys can't just brush off being told the world will end, and Ebisu comments that the Halloween Police work can be a lot like how being one of the Seven Lucky Gods was. Hotei agrees, and since he doesn't have an idea of what to do he suggests trusting in Arc and following along. Arc thanks him, and Azathoth laughs again.
Time passes as the party heads over to the college department's sea research area, which Ebisu internally notes with some surprise. A voice calls out to you guys about finally arriving and calling you his beloved treasures as he urges you all to get in. Aegir welcomes you all to his research auditorium and greets you a Happy Halloween. Ebisu reacts in recognition of him and corrects himself to refer to Aegir more formally as a professor when he initially just calls him by name. Surtr's here too, and he thanks you all for coming as he refers to you all as the Halloween Police and brave children.
You react in surprise to seeing Surtr and Aegir, and Azathoth cackles about how it's suddenly a boss rush of last bosses. Arc greets Surtr and thanks Aegir for helping you guys. Aegir prompts you all to sit down so he can start explaining things, saying it's been a while before backtracking and asking if he saw you lately. Aegir also notices that Benten isn't around, so Ebisu says she's off doing something else. He's about to ask Aegir something when Aegir says he can stop calling him Professor since he knows how good he is. But anyways, Aegir notes that there's people here he doesn't know either and asks for an introduction, so you go ahead and tell him who everyone is.
After everyone introduces themselves to Aegir, everyone pulls up some chairs and sits in a circle. Aegir takes interest in Hotei being another member of the Treasure Ship and calls him another quirky treasure. Hotei laughs as he says he's heard Aegir's done a lot for Ebisu too, but Ebisu freaks out in embarrassment and asks him to stop. Surtr says he's bought a bunch of different foods from the stalls outside and a cake he made for dessert, then starts lining them up on the table.
Alp giggles about how tasty the Ebisu-maki is and says he could eat tons of them. Hotei compliments the salt level and nori on the rice balls and says he likes how it's called Makara's Omusubi. Ebisu compliments Surtr's cake and asks if he'll teach him how to make Western sweets another time. Aegir laughs about how into the food everyone is and says his students in the fishery department would be happy to see this too. Hotei asks if there's anything in the room given how plain it is compare to the decorations outside. Aegir says there's some research equipment and that there's plenty he wants to show off soon, but he stops to smirk and glance at Azathoth when he says the healing items taste great and asks what was used in the tsukudani.
After everyone's done eating, Aegir prompts you all to open your ears up as he says it's true that Tokyo is facing destruction. Hotei asks about why and wonders if the Bad Brats Brigade really is that powerful, but Aegir says it's because of the rumor going around Tokyo. He asks if you know what he's talking about, so Ebisu asks if he's talking about the one about how you can play as many tricks as you want if you don't get candy. Surtr confirms as he says it spread on social media and was some joke that children started believing in. At first it was just some passing thought, but then more and more people started believing in it. Alp says he can understand that since he's the type to get swept up in things. Leib always scolds him after that happens.
Surtr talks about how many children in Tokyo are divided into smaller closed-off communities like clubs, sports, and cram school. And sometimes, people start puzzling over what-ifs and maybes. Aegir says that's where the talks of suspending the school Halloween events, and when the police started doing something its credibility went up. Touji is taken aback and asks if he's saying the police trying to keep things peaceful turned out to be counterproductive, but Aegir tells him to slow down and points out that's just the end result. But that said nothing is impossible in Tokyo, so people believed and that's how we got this incident on our hands.
You ask about the rumor having snowballed from there and spread, so Aegir says it gained the influence of being a majority belief. Alp however jumps in to defend the kids involved, saying they're good kids who do regret what they've done and have been given candy. Ebisu also agrees as he tries to bring up how everyone is doing their best and solving problems at the school. Aegir however says it's only delayed things when considering the spread of information. Surtr adds that the rumor is spreading even faster, but what you guys have done hasn't been a waste of time. It's bought them the time to figure out how to solve the whole incident between your efforts as the Halloween Police and the people who believe in you.
You notice that Toyosu looks fine and ask if the trickster brigade never came by. Aegir assures you he took care of them, which shocks the entire party as he calls them promising and mentioning they ran away when he gave them candy. You express sympathy for the tricksters, say they had a bad matchup, and/or comment on how Aegir likes his own little tricks.
Touji brings up how that would still just be stalling for time based on what Aegir and Surtr said earlier, which Surtr gives a light nod to. Surtr brings up how Harlot probably told you guys already about Tokyo being on the brink of destruction. With it being Halloween now, the holiday's faith is overtaking common sense and bringing the world to one without rules. Aegir says it won't be limited to the dead returning alive, as even meaningless dreams will become reality. Even things that would be thought impossible in Tokyo could happen. There is one world out there that's much like that, and you react in horror as you turn to Azathoth.
Aegir confirms that he was talking about Old Ones, though he concedes its situation is pretty similar to what he's talking about. Tokyo is currently being eroded by madness, and he's sure he doesn't need to say what would happen next for you to know. Old Ones is a world where the border of dreams and reality has been lost, so random meaningless things happen there all the time. Nightmares happen as well. Alp yells as he realizes what's happening and asks if that's why he's been faintly smelling a dream. You express alarm about having to stop that, worry about Tokyo being turned upside down, or ask to no one in particular about Halloween being the cause of all that.
Hotei yells that this cannot stand, surprising the party with his outburst. Ebisu tries to talk to him, and Hotei rants that Halloween is an event where people get candy and everyone smiles. A nightmare has no place in that, and he asks Aegir and Surtr what you guys can do about it. A voice joins in apologizing for being late and says they'll explain that part, and you either express surprise at Dagon showing up or note to yourself that he's a teacher at Toyosu too.
Dagon greets you with a smile in response before turning back to the party in general to continue. Dagon starts by introducing himself to everyone as Toyosu's marine construction professor and saying he believes his past experience can explain what's happening. As Aegir mentioned before, what's happening now is eerily similar to what happened before in Old Ones, with Azathoth's nightmares fusing with reality. Dagon is noted to deliberately not look at Azathoth while saying this, like he believes looking at him would cause him to go insane.
Dagon says that if you look at it another way, people from Old Ones are the only ones to know their past failures and are able to pick a new path. But anyways, Dagon says he'll skip to the end and say the main problem here is the continually escalating pranks. You guys will need to collect that faith, and to do that you'll need a power that can endlessly store immaterial concepts. That in turn means you'll need Hotei's lucky bag artifact, but Hotei himself is confused by the specific mention of the lucky bag part. Ebisu asks Dagon why he knows about Hotei's old artifact, so Dagon explains he specializes in structures related to the sea, which extends to the people who use and ride them. Dagon says he'll explain more later and prompts Hotei to bring the lucky bag out, but you stop to ask him what that actually is. Dagon is confused, so Ebisu says he'll step in to explain the artifact Hotei currently has.
One explanation later, Dagon is surprised to hear the artifact Hotei has is referred to as a carry-all bag. Hotei says it's what he's always had, and nothing he can do can change that fact. It's the carry-all bag that can store anything that has shape to it, which means it can't work on something immaterial like pranks. Arc says it's not that weird a story, but at this point they ask if Hotei could prove that. Hotei awkwardly apologizes, so Arc quickly apologizes themselves saying that they weren't pushing for Hotei to say sorry or anything. It does make figuring out what to do next hard though.
Surtr is quiet for a moment before he brings up that he's heard that Hotei is currently a spirit. He asks where his actual body is and asks if Hotei had always been like that before he was summoned over. Ebisu says that Hotei wasn't a spirit when they were on the Treasure Ship at least, so Surtr suggests that maybe his body still has the other bag. Dagon nods at this and suggests looking for the body first, asking Hotei if he has any ideas as to where it is.
Hotei is surprised at being put on the spot, protesting at the idea he could think up where his body could be before a flash of the bottom of the sea crosses his mind, which he vocalizes. Touji is surprised at that, and Hotei says he doesn't know why he thinks that, but that's what's coming to him. Ebisu questions if this is okay, and Hotei adds that he saw it in a dream. Ebisu is surprised at that, and Hotei elaborates on how weird the dream is with him just wavering down there in place. Y'all have no idea how BORING it is until he wakes up! Surtr wonders if that means his body has sunk down there, though given how fat he is he ought to be good at floating. Dagon says it could be passed off as a dream, but there's still something off about it.
Ebisu starts bringing up the possibility that it could be an effect of the artifact Hotei got from the Treasure Ship. You ask Ebisu what he means or remember what he's talking about, and either way Ebisu explains that each of the Seven Lucky Gods took an artifact that moves the Treasure Ship before splitting off. Ebisu has the sail, and he says Hotei has the anchor. Aegir finds that cool. Dagon says that makes things sound more believable as he asks if the anchor is why Hotei's body is sinking. Ebisu thinks that should be the case, but Hotei wonders if he ever had anything like that. He's not sure, but it feels both familiar and not.
Anyways, Aegir gets fired up now that there's an apparent lead, by which he means diving into Hotei's dream to find his body. His lucky bag artifact should be there too, so bring that back too. You are baffled at this plan and wonder how you guys can even do that. Touji suggests using Alp's artifact to switch around dream and reality, but Dagon suggests against it given how thin the border is. Maybe you can use it as a ace in the hole at the last moment, but not now. Arc asks Aegir if he has a plan to get to dreamworld. Aegir says he does, but technically it's not based on his power as he turns to Ebisu. Ebisu nods and says it's time to use his artifact, and the episode part ends as he says it's time to set sail with the his Treasure Ship Sail and its power to cross dreams.
