The Cyborg Doesn't Laugh at Dad Jokes

In 2254, New Chang'an is a city where every joy, sorrow, anger, and delight can be packaged into crystals and displayed on shelves with a price tag.

Ling Xiao was a promising investigator with the Bureau of Emotional Stability until an accident involving a "happiness bomb" wrecked his sense of humor. He became a private detective incapable of understanding jokes. He can analyze the logic behind a punchline with pinpoint accuracy, yet feels not the slightest bit of happiness.

When the city's greatest comedian, "J the Clown," has all his "humor" and "inspiration" drained away, leaving him a living statue that can't laugh, Ling Xiao takes on the case least suited to him.

Jealous rivals, a mysterious agent, crazed fans... Everyone is a suspect. To uncover the truth, Ling Xiao plunges into the city's black market, where lies, desires, and cheap synthetic happiness abound. He must pit his unflappable logic against "emotional weapons" capable of triggering mass hysteria, and deconstruct "the last joke," a riddle with the power to overturn the entire world.

In an age when even a smile comes at a price, how will a detective who can't laugh recover the happiness that was stolen, and the genuine feelings he himself lost long ago?