Chapter Summaries

Lister intervened when the mother Soul-Devouring Spider nearly killed Roland, then battled her in the cave. After she trapped him in her Soul Sight, Lister’s powerful soul overwhelmed hers and left her stunned.

• The mother Soul-Devouring Spider disrupted Roland’s photon form and tore open his chest with a barbed limb.
• Lister used Flash to protect Roland and severed two of the spider’s limbs, striking the human face on her abdomen with his Shadowless Blade.
• Lister activated Potential Burst and Soul Blade Domain, but the spider regenerated her limbs and attacked faster than he could match directly.
• The mother hit Lister with a stronger Soul-Devouring Roar and trapped him in her Soul Sight, where their souls clashed.
• Lister’s soul giant slashed the spider’s soul origin, dealing massive damage and leaving the mother stunned.

Lister and Roland fought the Soul-Devouring Spider broodmother as Lister used his bracers to land a devastating strike. The broodmother entered a stronger second phase, and Lister was left wounded and suffering toxin erosion.

• The broodmother nearly struck Lister, but Roland intervened and Lister’s Time Crystal Bracers absorbed the attack.
• Lister activated Merrick's Tyranny Bracers, boosted his attributes, and severed the broodmother’s legs before cutting through her upper body.
• The broodmother survived with little health, regenerated her legs, and unleashed a faster second phase that sent her offspring spilling from their cocoons.
• Lister blocked one of the broodmother’s attacks, but another leg pierced his left arm and inflicted toxin erosion.
• Lister’s Robust Soul destroyed the Parasitic Soul Pearl, but the toxin spread across most of his left arm and shoulder.

Lister killed the tier-17 Soul-Devouring Spider mother after Battle Intent Eruption sharply boosted his strength, while Roland survived by sealing himself inside Lightless Prison. They extracted and divided twelve Soul Crystals, and Jiji discovered an S-grade Spirit-Devouring Pearl before Lister returned to the A73 and sent Minister Gwent to collect materials from the cave.

• Roland fought the Soul-Devouring Spider mother while Lister cleared her offspring, but the exploding spiders’ poison drove Lister’s health dangerously low.
• Lister entered Battle Intent Eruption, resisted most of the poison, dodged the mother’s attacks, and killed her with a Knee Strike followed by a lethal blade strike.
• Roland emerged from Lightless Prison, apologized to Lister, and used an S-rank converter to extract twelve Soul Crystals from the mother.
• Lister and Roland divided the Soul Crystals, and Jiji uncovered an S-grade Spirit-Devouring Pearl that Lister kept.
• Lister returned to the A73 and asked Minister Gwent to lead soldiers into the cave to collect its rare materials.

Ten years after joining the Arcane Civilization Army, Lister had become a famous tier-18 Quasi-Hegemon and helped the Merrick Civilization gain influence, while his ship awaited a promised large warship. After harvesting Soul Crystals from another Soul-Devouring Spider extermination, Lister left Wang Yue to seal the surviving broodmother as he considered the long road to becoming a Hegemon.

• Lister intervened in Captain Boren’s dispute with Minister Atas and secured a promise that Ship A73 would receive a large warship within the year.
• Lister requested a half-month leave, and Boren agreed to take command of the ship while he was away.
• Lister, Roland, and Wang Yue divided twenty-one Soul Crystals from the Merrick Civilization’s latest Soul-Devouring Spider extermination, with Lister receiving ten and Wang Yue receiving one.
• Roland departed after wishing Lister well, and Lister discussed Wang Yue’s rise to Quasi-Hegemon strength and his own stalled progress toward level 180 and a fourth evolution.
• Wang Yue used a Leviathan’s Sealing Box to capture the new Soul-Devouring Spider broodmother, and Lister took her upstairs to catch up.

Lister absorbed ten soul crystals, broke through his soul’s limits, and reached World-Ending Level with an upgraded Merrick Saber Technique. He then visited Powell’s shop in the Yalan Civilization, where Jiji had awakened a consciousness, and renewed their symbiotic contract.

• Lister asked Wang Yue to guide Quint in the Galactic Federation House of Representatives when the Merrick Civilization became a level-three civilization, and Wang Yue agreed.
• Lister took ten soul crystals at once, endured intense soul pain, and raised Robust Soul to level 165.
• Lister upgraded Merrick Saber Technique to SS-grade and increased his overall evaluation to SS-grade, or World-Ending Level.
• Lister visited Powell’s expanded Blacksmith’s General Store and learned that Jiji had awakened his own consciousness after being forged.
• Jiji flew to Lister and renewed the symbiotic contract with him.

Lister discovered that Jiji had evolved into a conscious mechanical life-form with insectoid traits and arranged to keep her hidden until his fourth advancement. After A73 received a new large ship and an emergency Federation draft to destroy the Mechanical Civilization, Lister realized the mission targeted Kavin and contacted him secretly, learning that the Federation had already launched an earlier attack.

• Lister learned that Jiji had become a conscious mechanical life-form and agreed with Powell to conceal her until after his fourth advancement.
• Captain Boren announced that A73 had received its large ship, then Colonel Kali called the crew into an emergency Federation draft with at least two million military merit points on offer.
• Lister learned the operation was expected to be extremely dangerous and involved five other civilizations with Quasi-Hegemons, but he still hoped to earn enough merit to leave the Arcane Army Group.
• When A73 reached the RT Star Region, Lister recognized that the mission near Planet RT191 might target Kavin, whose location was Planet 433.
• Lister used Jiji's private communication channel to contact Kavin, who revealed that the Ninth Central Army Group had already attacked four months earlier and that more Central Army Groups and the Federation Government were joining the next assault.

At a Federation briefing, Tolon revealed that Kavin had destroyed an entire army formation, prompting Ailan to question the planned encirclement. Ailan then challenged Lister’s loyalty because he and Kavin shared a homeworld, and she also called Tolon a potential risk.

• Ailan questioned why so many forces were needed to defeat the seventeenth-rank Kavin, and Tolon explained that Kavin had wiped out the Ninth Army Group’s fleet and killed Tuan Fleming.
• Tolon outlined the encirclement plan, assigning Lister to command Ship A73’s route with support from Roland’s Glimmer Civilization ships.
• Ailan argued that Kavin might overpower the Quasi-Hegemons and escape, but Tolon explained that Kavin would not abandon his mechanical civilization and that higher-ups were coordinating the mission.
• Ailan objected to Lister leading a route, claiming he might help Kavin escape because they came from the same planet and country; Lister admitted their shared background.
• Tolon defended Lister and pointed out that he too belonged to the Leviathan Civilization, but Ailan replied that she considered him a risk as well.

Lister and Roland discussed Ailan’s feud with Hoffman and prepared to support Kavin while appearing to advance on the mission. Lister secretly reached Kavin’s mechanical civilization, helped Jiji establish a breeding chamber, and later Ailan’s fleet encountered a dangerous swarm that she destroyed herself.

• Ailan challenged Tolon’s authority and criticized his ties to Hoffman, but Tolon reaffirmed his command and ended the meeting by ordering the operation to begin in three days.
• Aboard A73, Roland explained Ailan’s longstanding rivalry with Hoffman and agreed with Lister that the Seventh Central Army might have a hidden plan against Kavin.
• Lister led his fleet to the first coordinate point, then secretly piloted a frigate along Kavin’s route to the core of the Church of Mechanical Truth civilization.
• Lister inspected the Stellar Energy Tower built for him, connected its output to Jiji, and watched Jiji create a metal fortress and breeding chamber before returning to A73.
• Lister ordered his fleet to resume a slow advance toward Planet RT203 while other fleets moved at varying speeds through the route.
• Ailan learned that mechanical birds had caused nearly seventy percent casualties among Ship DW-332’s troops, then used her power to crush the attacking mechanical life-forms into scrap.

Ailan overwhelmed the mechanical forces on a middle-section planet, but Lister used Jiji to direct the Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds in a devastating attack on the fleets. As the birds spread across the region and slowed both enemy offensives, Lister and Kavin prepared to evacuate the Church of Mechanical Truth through a Forbidden Magic Teleportation Array.

• Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds struck the battlefield and warships, and Lieutenant Colonel Lance reported that their wing blades could damage souls.
• Ailan arrived and crushed waves of mechanical lifeforms, then captured a bird to study it as the flock’s energy was absorbed and new birds grew stronger in the rear core region.
• Lister directed the remaining birds through Jiji and activated multiple auras, sending them into a suicidal assault that badly damaged Ailan’s ships while the mechanical forces retreated.
• More Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds emerged across the middle section, inflicting heavy losses on Ailan’s and Tolon’s fleets and slowing their advances.
• Lister spoke with Kavin, who reported that preparations for a Forbidden Magic Teleportation Array were underway and that the civilization-wide transfer would take about a month.

Lister learned that the Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds were multiplying and growing stronger, then sealed Jiji away before joining a major battle in the core region. There, he recognized Hoffman fighting him in a mechanical puppet and exchanged a few words before they separated to attack other opponents.

• Tolon held an emergency meeting where Ailan reported that the Strange Birds used soul-piercing wing blades, launched suicide attacks, and showed traits of an insectoid civilization.
• Tolon ordered every route to reach the core region within half a month, while Lister secretly directed the birds’ attacks and coordinated with Kavin as the migration continued.
• Lister sealed Jiji away and destroyed its breeding chamber and constant-energy tower before responding to Ailan’s request for reinforcements.
• Lister arrived to find Ailan, Tolon, and other quasi-hegemons fighting six tier-seventeen S-rank robots from Kavin’s personal guard.
• Ailan immobilized Kazan with spatial magic and struck through his chest, while Lister fought a disguised Hoffman and recognized his master-level Alchemical Technology martial arts.
• Hoffman revealed that he had returned to the Galactic Federation the previous day, then broke away from Lister and launched miniature alchemical warheads toward Ailan.

Ailan attacked Hoffman, but his Alchemy Thought Deconstruction overwhelmed her mind and left her under his control. As Kavin and Hoffman faced the Federation’s Quasi-Hegemons, Tolon urged retreat, but Ailan’s challenge became a disastrous opening for their opponents.

• Ailan destroyed Kazan and damaged Hoffman’s puppet, but the puppet survived her spatial attack and provoked her into escalating the fight.
• Kavin and Hoffman arrived with World-Ending Level auras, and Hoffman greeted Ailan while Tolon warned him against joining the conflict.
• Tolon secretly urged the nine Quasi-Hegemons to retreat, but Ailan ignored the plan and attacked Hoffman.
• Hoffman repelled Ailan’s spatial confinement and used Alchemy Thought Deconstruction to invade her mind and disrupt her control of the battlefield.
• Tolon tried to stop Hoffman, but Kavin’s beam forced him to dodge, and the attack struck Ailan in the neck.
• Hoffman straightened his tie, and Ailan involuntarily copied him, revealing that Hoffman had taken control of her.

Lister joined the battle against Kavin and Hoffman, helping the Federation force survive long enough to retreat after Ailan was turned into Hoffman's puppet. In the aftermath, Tolon insisted the conscription mission must continue, but the fleet looked to Lister as its only credible fighter and waited for his answer.

• Tolon ordered an all-out attack, but Ailan used her spatial powers under Hoffman's control to redirect the Federation fleet's cannon fire and devastate its ships.
• Kavin overwhelmed Tolon's Quasi-Hegemons, until Lister arrived and wounded Kavin with a slash that inflicted true damage.
• Lister and Kavin fought fiercely while secretly holding back, as Hoffman used Ailan to defeat the other Quasi-Hegemons and complete the deconstruction of her mind.
• Tolon ordered the fleet to retreat, and Lister helped the force escape while Kavin and Hoffman chose not to pursue them.
• At a holographic conference, Tolon declared that the mission had to continue, but officers questioned the decision and looked to Lister for his answer.

After Tolon revealed that the conscription fleet had only been tasked with containing Kavin until a Hegemon arrived, Admiral Vidal Martinez reached the fleet and led it toward Planet RT433. Vidal suppressed spatial teleportation and disabled the planet’s teleportation array, but Lister sensed that the powerful presence there belonged to Hoffman’s modified main puppet, not Kavin.

• Roland and the other captains challenged Tolon for a battle plan, and Tolon admitted the mission had been to contain Kavin while they waited for a Hegemon to act.
• Tolon received word that the Hegemon had arrived and ordered the fleet to prepare to rendezvous and depart.
• Lister met Admiral Vidal Martinez, who offered him a major general’s rank and a place in the Seventh Central Army; Lister declined and chose to form a Civilization Army.
• Vidal led the fleet toward Planet RT433, then used his gauntlets to confine space and shut down the spell-restricting teleportation array.
• Lister sensed that the immense aura on Planet RT433 belonged to Hoffman’s modified main puppet rather than Kavin.

Commander Vidal destroyed the core star region and killed Kavin’s decoy, while the real Kavin and Hoffman prepared to flee beyond the Galactic Federation. Lister learned of their plans and, after witnessing Vidal’s power and the Federation’s cruelty, agreed to help Kavin take revenge someday.

• Commander Vidal unleashed a dark abyss that swallowed Planet RT433 and every large celestial body in the core star region, then ordered Tolon to report the Forbidden Magic Teleportation Array and watch for the Church of Mechanical Truth’s remnants.
• Vidal left Hoffman’s punishment to Commander Boren and told Lister to train, while Lister sensed hidden hostility and returned to Ship A73.
• Lister contacted Hoffman and Kavin, learned that Hoffman’s puppet had died protecting Kavin’s escape, and heard that they planned to develop their Mechanical Civilization in other galaxies.
• Hoffman recalled failing to protect mechanical life three thousand years earlier, while Kavin vowed to destroy the Galactic Federation after building his strength.
• Lister told Kavin he would help when the time came and resolved to use Kavin’s future Galactic Big Bang to overthrow the Federation’s level-four civilizations.

After the conscription ended, Lister’s fame spread throughout the Galactic Federation, and he decided to leave the Arcane Civilization Army to establish the Merrick Civilization Army. As he prepared to depart, Zahn and Reck chose to follow him, and the Arcane Civilization Army gave the Merrick Civilization the warship A73 as a parting gift.

• After the conscription ended, Lister received nearly two million military merits, bringing his total to five million and setting up his departure from the Arcane Civilization Army.
• Reports across the Galactic Federation celebrated Lister as the foremost Quasi-Hegemon, and the special information database placed him above the other Quasi-Hegemons.
• Zahn asked to join Lister’s future Merrick Civilization Army, and Lister agreed to arrange his transfer.
• Reck also asked to follow Lister, and Lister agreed to take him along.
• At the Arcane Seat of Government Planet, Major General York failed to persuade Lister to stay and announced that the Arcane Civilization Army would give A73 to the Merrick Civilization.
• Lister accepted the Arcane Civilization Army’s support and promised to help it if it ever faced trouble.

Lister returned to the Merrick Civilization and secured its promotion to level three, then established its Civilization Army and began organizing recruitment. As Merrick’s territory and technology expanded, the new government faced heavy Federation resource demands, while Lister looked ahead to the players’ arrival to help him advance further.

• Reck identified Lister to the Merrick and Yalan escort ships, which escorted his warship to the ruling planet, where Quint and the legislators welcomed him.
• Lister learned the Merrick Civilization met the requirements for promotion, and the Galactic Federation approved its advancement to a level-three civilization, placing 67 recognized civilizations under its jurisdiction.
• Lister completed the final steps of establishing the Merrick Civilization Army, with himself as commander, Zahn promoted to major and assigned to Warship A01, and Reck also transferred to his military district.
• Lister tasked Tim with building a recruit camp on the fourth planet and told him to notify Quint to begin recruiting soldiers from Merrick and nearby civilizations.
• Over the next six months, Merrick’s technology and infrastructure advanced, but its promotion ended its grace period and brought heavy Federation taxes and resource obligations.
• Lister considered how to escape the Federation’s exploitative system and looked forward to the players’ arrival, hoping they would help him gain the experience needed for his next levels.

Lister oversaw the completion of the Merrick Recruit Camp as the seventh act of Divine Revelation began, opening new government and military factions to players. Player participation sent the recruit numbers soaring, and the chapter ended with more than two hundred thousand recruits qualifying for the new camp and the Expeditionary Army exceeding one hundred million members.

• Lister visited the enlistment office, where Adrian reported that only about four thousand reserve recruits met the standards and asked whether the requirements should be lowered.
• Lister refused to lower the standards yet and went with Adrian to inspect the nearly finished recruit camp, where Tim said its final defense system would be deployed within an hour.
• The seventh-act Expansion launched after the camp’s completion, announcing the Merrick Civilization’s promotion, new military organization, and a main quest that Lister accepted for the Merrick Civilization Army.
• Players returned to Divine Revelation, discussed the expanded Merrick territory, and chose factions in the government or military, with the top military tier requiring at least tier seven and a D combat rating.
• Players flooded recruitment as the deadline approached, raising the recruit camp’s qualified numbers from fewer than twenty thousand to more than two hundred thousand and the Expeditionary Army’s membership to over one hundred million.

Lister trained against his simulated self, then finalized the Merrick Civilization recruit camp’s preparations after recruiting 330,000 people. When the camp opened, players gathered for training and scanned Lister, whose system evaluation marked him as an extremely dangerous world-ending-level enemy.

• Lister defeated his tier-eleven simulated self and declined to update the simulation training hall’s record of his combat strength.
• Adrian reported that the Merrick Civilization had recruited 330,000 recruits, while Tim reported that the government had recruited nearly 300,000 people, mostly players.
• Lister assigned Zahn and Reck to remain as deputy camp commanders for three years and met Naris Waters, the Federation Military District officer appointed to oversee the camp.
• Lister told Naris there were no recruits from level-four civilizations or known potential Hegemons, and left the distribution of the camp’s special resource to Naris.
• Two days later, players arrived for recruit camp training, and their scans of Lister returned an SS-rank, world-ending-level warning.

Lister helped launch the recruit camp, where players competed for a rare resource and learned powerful skills, while he prepared for his fourth advancement. With the District 71 central AI's authorization, he accepted a harder exclusive quest requiring him to build up the Merrick Civilization Army and earn a high military rank.

• Lister assured Lieutenant Colonel Naris that Naris would remain in charge of the recruit camp while Lister coordinated its logistics and officers.
• Naris addressed more than 300,000 recruits, and Lister announced that the camp's strongest recruit would receive a special resource that could boost strength and potential toward Overlord Tier.
• Players began training at the recruit camp, learning Federation skills and Lister's SS-rank Merrick Saber Technique as interest in combat-power development and passive skills surged.
• After the camp's six-month term neared its end, Lister raised his level, skills, and base attributes to their current limits and opened his fourth advancement quest.
• Lister's attempt to use Disaster of Ikas failed, but the District 71 central AI authorized him to increase the quest's difficulty, and he accepted the exclusive quest to found the Merrick Civilization Army.
• The quest required Lister to expand the army's fleet, raise its officers' ranks, and attain at least the rank of major general himself.

Lister prepared to meet the requirements of his advancement missions, while Quint traveled to Akzi Planet with Wang Yue to secure Merrick Civilization seats in the Galactic Federation House of Representatives. Wang Yue revealed her identity and explained that Merrick would need Leviathan Civilization’s support, and they met Senator Teya to seek approval.

• Lister called Roland to ask about promotion to major general, and Roland recalled a precedent for a level-18 officer in a Civilization Army.
• Quint arrived on Akzi Planet and discovered that Berry, a Leviathan representative, was the mysterious Wang Yue appointed as Merrick’s deputy speaker.
• Wang Yue confirmed that she was the Wang Yue who had died in the Arcane Recruit Camp and explained that House seats required choosing a tier-four civilization to support Merrick.
• Wang Yue took Quint to the Porzingis Family residence to meet Senator Teya Milande, whose approval Merrick needed for the election.
• Teya praised Berry’s strength after greeting Wang Yue and Quint in her room.