Chapter Summaries

Kavin and Lister launched the Church of Mechanical Truth’s campaign to take control of the Babylon Galaxy, defeating the Oz Civilization’s first resistance. The arrival of an immensely powerful stranger left Henry Oz recognizing the newcomer as a Hegemon.

• Kavin ordered his mechanical army and Jiji’s newly bred Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds to advance into the Babylon Galaxy.
• The Oz Civilization assembled under Henry Oz, but the Evil Shadow Mechanical Birds and mechanical army devastated its first wave of warriors.
• Henry Oz fought the Church’s mechanical guard and demanded to know why it was attacking while Hegemon Yatke threatened the galaxy.
• Kavin arrived with a black-haired stranger, and the mechanical army bowed before them.
• The stranger released an overwhelming aura that suppressed Henry Oz, who recognized him as a Hegemon.

Lister’s forces reached the Star Matrix Civilization, whose elders resisted while waiting for their rising genius Yata to become a Hegemon. After Lister’s killing intent devastated their forces, Yata appeared as a newly advanced Hegemon and proposed dividing the Babylon Galaxy with him; Lister rejected the offer and challenged Yata’s worth.

• Hendeli Oz submitted the Oz Civilization to Lister, who placed Kavin in charge of its forces as they began conquering the Babylon Galaxy.
• The Star Matrix elders chose to resist Lister’s advance while Yata completed his evolution, raising a mental barrier to defend their territory.
• Hendeli led the assault on the barrier, but the Star Matrix elders’ mental attacks stalled the Oz and mechanical forces until Lister arrived.
• Lister’s killing intent overwhelmed the elders and killed more than 70 percent of the Star Matrix Civilization’s elite psionics, extinguishing Hendeli’s lingering defiance.
• Yata appeared as a newly advanced Hegemon, and he and the grand elder offered to share the Babylon Galaxy with Lister.
• Lister dismissed Yata as a newly made Hegemon and asked whether he thought himself worthy.

Lister defeated and killed Yata, the newly risen Hegemon, then destroyed the Star Matrix Civilization and continued consolidating the Babylon Galaxy. When Hegemon Yatke’s fleet arrived, Lister’s assembled forces fought back against the Blue Cluster Galaxy’s vanguard, leaving the battle underway.

• Yata combined the Star Matrix Civilization’s mental energy to attack Lister, but Lister resisted the Mental Matrix and overwhelmed him with knee strikes.
• Lister killed Yata with the Shadowless Blade, slew the eleven elders, and destroyed the Star Matrix Civilization’s core planet and espers.
• Lister ordered news of the destruction spread, and a week later the Church of Mechanical Truth had taken control of 85% of the Babylon Galaxy.
• Hoffman warned Lister that Hegemon Yatke was leading the Blue Cluster Galaxy’s fleet and would arrive in seven days, so Lister ordered the forces in the Babylon Galaxy to assemble in the NS Star Region.
• The Blue Cluster Galaxy’s vanguard attacked the gathered forces, and Lister’s mechanical birds, Hendeli Oz’s Thunder Warriors, surviving Star Matrix espers, and mechanical guards launched a counterattack.

The mechanical coalition’s battle against the Blue Cluster fleet turned against them when the fleet’s living warships and elite Scarlet Hunters overwhelmed their forces. Lister killed hundreds of hunters and confronted Hegemon Yatke, whose failed ambush and clash with Lister left him badly wounded before he began transforming to unleash his full strength.

• The Blue Cluster warships activated self-control mode, healing their hulls and killing the Oz Civilization thunder warriors trapped inside them.
• The fleet’s Scarlet Hunters entered the battle and drove back the coalition until Lister appeared and killed hundreds with a single blade strike.
• Hegemon Yatke confronted Lister, demanded that he withdraw, and offered him a share of the Babylon Galaxy while claiming the Star Matrix Civilization’s territory.
• Lister revealed that he knew about the Star Matrix Civilization’s soul-nurturing space, prompting Yatke to attack him with Star Shattering: Falling Destruction.
• Lister avoided Yatke’s ambush and wounded him with soul-damaging slashes, then damaged the Staff of Star Shattering in their next clash.
• With less than half his health remaining, Yatke’s armor cracked and his body grew from five meters to eight as scarlet light burst from within.

Lister activated Saber Soul Embodiment and used its power to kill Yatke Blue Cluster in the NS Star Region. With Yatke dead, Lister ordered his forces to destroy the Blue Cluster fleet, leaving seventeen prisoners in custody.

• Yatke entered his second stage and used his staff’s gravitational attacks to injure Lister, breaking his armor as the Tyranny Bracers’ power ran low.
• Lister summoned the Saber Soul, entered Battle Intent Eruption, and gained a dramatic increase in saber power.
• Lister countered Yatke’s Star Shattering attack and killed him with a crimson saber strike that annihilated his soul.
• Yatke’s death caused the Blue Cluster fleet and its biological enhancements to falter, and Lister ordered his allied forces to leave none alive.
• Three hours later, the last Blue Cluster warship was destroyed, and Lister learned that seventeen prisoners had been taken to the Church of Mechanical Truth.

After Lister consolidated control of the Babylon Galaxy, he agreed to let Kavin’s mechanical coalition pursue Hoffman’s plan to occupy the resource-rich Blue Cluster Galaxy. The group tested the Star Matrix Civilization’s soul-nurturing space, which dramatically strengthened mechanical lifeforms by reshaping their bodies and exposing them to psychic memories, and Jiji began undergoing a similar transformation.

• Lister’s forces purged the remaining resistance in the Babylon Galaxy, and Kavin’s Church of Mechanical Truth began transforming its planets for the Mechanical Civilization.
• Hoffman urged Lister to seize the Blue Cluster Galaxy, and Lister agreed that Kavin could send the mechanical coalition after Hoffman finished his experiment there.
• Kavin explained that the Star Matrix Civilization’s core space repaired souls but could also mutate minds and bodies; Hoffman entered it to recover while thirteen mechanical lifeforms began testing it.
• The space triggered violent changes in the mechanical lifeforms, but their soul strength rose by about thirty percent, and Dinar emerged stronger with his identity intact.
• Lister brought Jiji into the space, where its body absorbed soul energy and silver-blue material, its appearance changed, and its aura began to soar.

After Jiji’s evolution, Lister’s allied army entered the Blue Cluster Galaxy, where the dependent factions rapidly submitted and Yawente offered tribute. News of Yatke’s death reached rival overlords, who began reconsidering their plans and reaching out to Lister.

• Jiji’s skills and offspring improved, and Lister agreed that Jiji could live in the Babylon Galaxy or Blue Cluster Galaxy; Kavin said Jiji would need to find suitable materials to advance further.
• The Babylon Allied Army set out for the Blue Cluster Galaxy, while Yawente Lanqun and the other faction leaders argued over whether to submit to Lister; Hoffman, posing as Amasi, helped stir their divisions.
• Lister’s army breached the Blue Cluster Galaxy, and its factions disabled their defenses and gathered to welcome the new overlord; Jieao Pakesen pledged allegiance, and Yawente offered Lister star core crystals as tribute.
• A reconnaissance ship reported Yatke’s death to Overlord Gebeier, who suspended development of the M-77 Galaxy and ordered contact with Lister.
• The Green Vine Overlord viewed footage of Lister’s battle, increased the resource quota for the Church of Mechanical Truth, and sent tree speakers to exchange knowledge.

Lister took control of the Blue Cluster Galaxy, renamed it the God's Rise Civilization, and assigned Hoffman to govern it. As Hoffman reorganized its government and began a new puppet experiment, envoys from the Eternal Sea of Trees stayed behind to discuss something privately with Lister.

• Yawente Lanqun surrendered his staff and presented Lister with the Tear of the Shattered Star and a detailed star-sector map, then pledged the Blue Cluster Civilization's loyalty.
• The Moruk Race and other powers presented Lister with gifts, while envoys from the Eternal Sea of Trees and the Bloodred Galaxy arrived bearing offerings and accepting his rule.
• Lister renamed the Blue Cluster Galaxy the God's Rise Civilization and put Hoffman in charge of governing it.
• Hoffman reorganized the government into the Mechanical, Puppet, and War Institutes, assigning Yawente and Jieao to lead the War Institute and Amasi to oversee the Puppet Institute.
• Hoffman began the seventeenth stage of his puppet civilization experiment, using a network of 300,000 puppets and a modified Mind Splitting skill.
• After the Bloodred Galaxy's representative departed, the Eternal Sea of Trees' attendants asked to speak with Lister privately.

Lister accepted Qingteng’s invitation to a Hegemon conference in exchange for a Mother Tree Heart Core, then traveled to the Eternal Sea of Trees and received a strengthening baptism from the Tree of Eternity. At the conference, Qingteng proposed that the gathered Hegemons form a new faction, but several rejected the idea.

• Lister initially declined the invitation to the Hegemon conference, then agreed after the tree speaker offered him a Mother Tree Heart Core.
• Three years later, Lister arrived at the Eternal Sea of Trees, where Qingteng welcomed him and the Tree of Eternity’s baptism improved his physical defense, regeneration, recovery, and toughness.
• Qingteng gave Lister the Mother Tree Heart Core and revealed that the conference would discuss forming a new faction, though she did not explain why the meeting’s purpose had changed.
• The Hegemons assembled, including a red-robed elder, Extreme Cold Hegemon Ewaer, a Mechanical Holy See archbishop, an insect queen, and a representative of the Divine Rise Galaxy.
• Qingteng presented three resource-rich galaxies as the basis for a new faction, but the red-robed elder and Ewaer rejected her proposal.

Lister learned that the Emerald Royal Court planned to seize the Seed of Eternity and use it to invade other planes, and the Lord of Qingteng asked him to protect the Tree of Eternity. Intrigued by the promised Power of the Plane, Lister agreed to consider helping in exchange for strict conditions.

• The Lord of Qingteng offered seven Eternal Branches to persuade the gathered Hegemons to join an alliance, but they left after learning the three galaxies lay beside the Emerald Royal Court's territory.
• The Lord of Qingteng revealed that the Emerald Royal Court wanted the Seed of Eternity to study cross-plane invasion, while the Tree of Eternity was due to produce the seed in 740 years.
• Lister initially refused to get involved, but reconsidered when the Lord of Qingteng offered him the right to cultivate the next Seed of Eternity and receive Power of the Plane.
• Lister demanded the Eternal Branch and galaxy coordinates immediately, access to some of the Eternal Sea of Trees' forces, and the right to withdraw if the seed was not delivered or the Emerald Royal Court attacked early.
• The Lord of Qingteng considered Lister's three conditions.

Lister agreed to protect the Seed of Eternity in exchange for the Lord of Qingteng’s support, then spent three hundred years strengthening the Merrick Civilization. After learning that Beta and Witchcraft were restricting Merrick’s growth, he traveled to the Babylon Galaxy, where Kavin was undergoing an evolution.

• Lister accepted the Lord of Qingteng’s contract to plant and protect the Seed of Eternity, gaining three star-core keys, access to the Eternal Sea of Trees’ forces, and a three-hundred-year-old token.
• Three hundred years later, Sariel reported that the rearmed Seventh Central Army had grown into a formidable force under the Merrick Civilization.
• Wang Yue told Lister that Beta and Witchcraft were increasing surveillance and restricting technology, and Lister instructed Quint to prepare for a future move without acting yet.
• Hoffman contacted Lister with news of an opportunity, and Lister set out for the Babylon Galaxy.
• Lister met Hoffman, who had restored his master puppet’s former strength, and learned that Kavin had entered a nurturing barrier to undergo his evolution.

Kavin completed his evolution into a Truth Sage and joined Lister, Wang Yue, and Hoffman in preparing to attack the Milky Way Galaxy with Boren Leviathan’s support. At the Leviathan Civilization’s core, Kavin found that Boren’s symbiotic mechanical core was already collapsing through a connection to a higher dimension, leaving the group facing an uncontrollable threat.

• Kavin completed his evolution, reached Level 181 as a Truth Sage, and emerged from the soul-nurturing space two months later.
• Lister, Kavin, Wang Yue, and Hoffman agreed to begin their revenge plan, and Wang Yue reported that Boren Leviathan would join them in exchange for a role in shaping the galaxy’s new rules.
• Lister explained that Kavin needed to decipher Boren’s unstable symbiotic mechanical core so it could be transported and detonated in the territories of the two great civilizations.
• The group traveled to the core beneath Leviathan’s first administrative planet, where Boren transferred authorization and information to Kavin.
• Kavin detected high-dimensional collapse on the mechanical core and warned that he could not control its collapse, only try to use it according to its rules.

Lister prepared to challenge the Witchcraft and Beta Civilizations by modifying a galaxy-scale bomb, gathering allies, and setting up forces in the WR Star Region. Sailuo learned that the Soul-Devouring Spider was evolving near the Beta Civilization and planned to turn it against the Merrick Civilization.

• Kavin estimated that he needed two months to modify the Leviathan core into a bomb whose theoretical blast could destroy half the Milky Way Galaxy, and Lister approved the plan after Kavin explained its likely effects.
• Lister learned from Quint that the Glimmer and Arcane Civilizations had joined Merrick's secret plan and that Merrick's forces were ready to mobilize.
• Lister ordered Sariel to clear the WR Star Region and Hunter to secretly build teleportation arrays for allied forces arriving from other galaxies.
• Sailuo told Pas Hawke to pressure the Merrick Civilization and make Lister strike first, then ordered Pas to redirect the evolving Soul-Devouring Spider toward Merrick's territory.

The Omega Civilization Army was destroyed after Pas sent subordinate fleets against the evolved Soul-Devouring Spider mother, which had reached the Overlord Tier. Pas confronted the mother himself and threatened it with a choice involving death or the Merrick Star Region, but its fear of Lister made its response unexpected.

• Colonel Shi'en led the Omega Civilization Army into the Soul-Devouring Spider territory, where the spiders quickly devoured three small ships and their crews.
• Shi'en’s remaining ships discovered the mother producing tier-eighteen offspring, but the swarm overwhelmed his fleet after he disobeyed Colonel Riana’s order to stay and observe.
• Pas ordered the Layas Civilization Army and Deep Science Civilization Army into the core area, and the Overlord-tier mother destroyed both fleets after they arrived.
• Pas went alone to attack the mother, broke several of its legs, and absorbed its soul mist into his armor’s crystal lattice.
• Pas offered the mother a choice between dying and laying eggs in the Merrick Star Region, then showed it a crystal ball containing an imitation of Lister’s aura.
• The mother trembled in fear at Lister’s aura, and Pas raised his fist again while asking whether it had chosen the first option.

Lister and Kavin detonated the companion mechanical core in the Beta Civilization's QR Star Region, unleashing a high-dimensional collapse that tore through the Milky Way. The blast began destroying nearby regions as the Beta and Witchcraft Civilizations raised emergency shields.

• The Soul-Devouring Spider mother fought Pas with poison, soul attacks, and its exploding venom sac, then fled when it sensed an approaching threat.
• Lister and Kavin prepared the companion mechanical core in the QR Star Region while Hoffman reported that Pas was confronting the Soul-Devouring Spider.
• Sailuo and Morris arrived and demanded that Lister and Kavin stop the core, but they continued stalling while it absorbed energy.
• Morris moved to attack, but Kavin locked in the detonation sequence, forcing Morris and Sailuo to withdraw.
• Lister and Kavin escaped to Leviathan's First Ruling Planet using Boren's temporary teleportation array as the core detonated.
• The high-dimensional collapse twisted the QR Star Region, destroyed the Beta Civilization's Third Ruling Planet, and annihilated parts of the Witchcraft Civilization's core region, prompting both civilizations to deploy emergency shields.

The destruction of the Beta and Witchcraft civilizations’ territories left their surviving Hegemons facing Lister’s forces at the Merrick Civilization’s ruling planet. As both sides assembled for the final battle, Lister unleashed a killing intent that made his enemies suspect he had reached World Annihilation strength.

• Sailuo activated the Star Ring Barrier and Zion ordered the Witchcraft Civilization’s defenses, but the mechanical core’s higher-dimensional explosion destroyed most of both civilizations and their vassals.
• Boren reported the blast’s growing devastation, while Kavin assured Wang Yue that the Merrick Star Region was within the safe zone.
• Sailuo, Zion, Morris, and their surviving Hegemons confronted Lister at the Merrick ruling planet as their armies gathered.
• Lister’s allies arrived, including Sariel, the Lord of Qingteng and the Eternal Sea of Trees, the Babylon Galaxy’s mechanical army, and Hoffman’s puppet legion.
• Morris warned Sailuo against attacking Qingteng because the Emerald Royal Court was watching her, then offered to spare the Merrick Civilization if Lister sent her away.
• Lister rejected Morris’s demands and released a killing intent that drove back the opposing forces and made the Hegemons suspect he had become a World Annihilation expert.

Lister and Kavin revealed World-Ending strength as their allies launched a battle against the Federation’s Hegemons. After Lister killed Pas and Kavin dismantled Aogelie, Boren and Kavin struggled against Zion’s annihilation magic, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Lister’s Killing Intent Wave revealed his World-Ending strength, and he ordered his forces to attack the Federation army.
• Lister broke through Sailuo’s interference and Zion’s ice shield to kill the weakened Pas with one slash.
• Kavin used Mechanical Truth: Dimensional Dissociation to dismantle and kill Aogelie, convincing Morris that Kavin was also World-Ending Level.
• The Lord of Qingteng intercepted Morris’s crystal while Boren summoned his enhanced Mechanical Kingdom army against Zion.
• Zion unleashed his Star-Burning Ring and pushed Boren’s army back, but Kavin shielded Boren and moved him away from the flames.
• Zion locked down the space around Kavin and Boren as he gathered another annihilation spell.

Lister defeated Sailuo Beta with a Saber Soul-enhanced slash, then saved Kavin and Boren from Zion’s annihilation attack. Lister began fighting Zion, survived the mage’s ultimate spell through Death Resistance, and prepared to counterattack.

• Sailuo trapped Lister in the Abyss of Disorder and wounded him with a chaotic singularity, but Lister awakened Saber Soul Possession and crushed Sailuo’s domain with a slash.
• Lister overwhelmed Sailuo, pierced his forehead, and killed him before his recovering power could save him.
• Kavin and Boren faced Zion’s expanding Rings of Annihilation, and Lister cut through the attack to protect them before taking Zion on himself.
• Lister clashed with Zion and damaged the Staff of Annihilation, leaving Zion near death, but Zion unleashed an ultimate annihilation spell that reduced Lister’s health to zero.
• Jiji’s Death Resistance restored Lister’s health and boosted his attributes, and Lister activated Merrick’s Tyranny Bracers as he prepared to counterattack.

Lister defeated Zion, slew Morris after learning he had helped Sailuo for a share of the soul crystals, and helped end the battle for the Merrick Star Region. He announced the abolition of the Galactic Federation Constitution and established a new order jointly governed by the Merrick and Leviathan Civilizations.

• Lister entered his true third phase and shattered Zion's Annihilation Totem with a saber slash, leaving Zion gravely wounded.
• An ancient soul entity awakened within the First Governing Star, but Lister killed Zion and the entity before it could take hold.
• After Kavin and Boren defeated their opponents, Lister killed Morris when he learned Morris had aided Sailuo for a share of the soul crystals.
• The surviving forces surrendered, and Boren began counting the heavy losses on both sides.
• Lister declared the Galactic Federation Constitution abolished and ordered civilizations to send representatives to the Merrick First Governing Planet to establish the new Federation.

After the Witchcraft Civilization and the Beta Civilization were destroyed, Lister recovered Soul Crystals from the Soul-Devouring Spider matriarch and contracted with the Milky Way Galaxy’s Soul Barrier. He gained control of the barrier and its keys, then led his companions away to restore order across the galaxy.

• Major General York held back the Arcane Civilization’s reinforcements until Lister announced victory, prompting the Arcane Civilization and Merrick’s allies to celebrate.
• Lister and his companions found the shattered Soul-Devouring Spider matriarch and recovered 21 ordinary Soul Crystals, two high-quality Soul Crystals, and a damaged Overlord Tier Soul Core.
• Lister found the Soul Barrier and contracted with it after its soul power recognized him as the strongest soul present.
• Lister entered the barrier’s core, discovered the remains of the first Witchcraft leader, and learned that the damaged barrier needed 107 years to complete repairs.
• Lister created single-use Keys to the Soul Barrier, gave keys to his companions, and led them away to restore order in the Milky Way Galaxy.