Chapter Summaries

After more than three hundred years of growth, the Machine-Slaying Federation became a recognized superpower, while Lister prepared for the coming war of World Annihilation. When the Emerald Royal Court began attacking veteran Hegemons as part of a great purge, Lister ordered the Federation’s forces to prepare for a campaign.

• Hoffman completed his fourth evolution with help from Kavin’s Holy Grail energy, becoming a Hegemon, while Wang Yue gained insight into her own advancement and settled matters with the Berry Family.
• Lister and his allies returned to the Milky Way, where Wang Yue sought a chance to evolve and Lister focused on nurturing talent and securing resources.
• More than three hundred years passed, and the Machine-Slaying Federation grew into the universe’s eighth great superpower, with the Milky Way at its center flourishing.
• Lilina delivered intelligence that the Emerald Royal Court had attacked the N77 and M91 galaxies with four elders and the Third Guard Corps.
• Lister ordered Quint and the Federation’s major battle teams to prepare to assemble, and told the Intelligence Agency to intensify surveillance of the other seven superpowers.
• Hoffman and Kavin reported the Emerald Royal Court’s actions, and Lister decided the Federation would prepare to join the great purge before the war of World Annihilation.

Lister accepted the new main quest to purge Hegemon factions and renamed the Undying Legion the Scourge Legion. Hoffman’s fleet invaded the Steel Remains Star Alliance’s central system, where Iron Skull Omega rejected Hoffman’s demand that he kill himself.

• Lister accepted the Contestation: Prelude quest to purge powerful Hegemons around the Machine-Slaying Federation.
• Lister renamed the Undying Legion the Scourge Legion, and the system notified all Legion members.
• Hoffman’s fleet occupied the TR-09 Star System while its warning alarms went unheeded by the Steel Remains Star Alliance.
• Hoffman spared two repairmen, planted chaotic matter in them, and sent them back to tell their leader to come and die.
• Iron Skull Omega confronted Hoffman, offered to comply with his demands, then erupted in anger when Hoffman named him the operation’s target and demanded his death.

Iron Skull Omega attacked Hoffman as the Steel Remains Star Alliance fought the Machine-Slaying Federation, but Hoffman used Alchemy Thought Deconstruction to immobilize him. The Crimson Archbishop emerged and killed Omega, sealing his blood core in his book and leaving the alliance fleet disabled.

• Omega summoned the Steel Remains Star Alliance's Living Fleet and threatened Hoffman without declaring war on the Machine-Slaying Federation.
• Millions of Scourge Legion players poured into battle, using reckless attacks, revivals, and rising tiers to overwhelm the alliance fighters.
• Omega attacked Hoffman with molten spatial slashes, burning away his shield and clothes as he prepared to unleash his full strength.
• Hoffman used Alchemy Thought Deconstruction to seize control of Omega's body, then called on the Crimson Archbishop for help.
• The Crimson Archbishop emerged from hiding, drained Omega's living metal into a blood core, and sealed it in his book, causing the alliance fleet to fall motionless.

Hoffman’s forces defeated Iron Skull Omega’s fleet and continued the purge while Lister learned that the other major factions had begun moving. Lister agreed to share future Power of the Plane with Ocas in exchange for high-purity Soul Crystals, then signed a Crimson Covenant rule scroll that triggered a warning about an unknown intrusion into universal rules.

• The Crimson Archbishop left Hoffman to finish the battle, and Hoffman’s forces destroyed the Steel Remains Star Alliance fleet after Iron Skull Omega died.
• Hoffman ordered the fleet onward to the next star system, leaving a Quasi-Hegemon to restore order and search for resources.
• Lilina reported to Lister that the other six superpowers had begun their purges, and Lister reviewed their movements on an encrypted star map.
• Ocas offered Lister high-purity Soul Crystals in exchange for a share of the Power of the Plane produced by the Eternity Tree Seed, and Lister agreed to give the Church of the End ten percent if the Seed survived and power remained.
• Lister signed Ocas’s Crimson Covenant Rule Scroll, after which his system warned that universal rules had been intruded upon and that District 71 Mastermind had intervened.

The central intelligence erased the Power of the Plane from Lister, but the contract with Ocas remained intact, binding their factions more deeply. At the Ruins of Alcaso, Lister and Ocas confronted Curtis, Ruler Two, and Dominator One over the Soul Crystals, and the standoff erupted into battle.

• The central intelligence removed the Power of the Plane from Lister, while Ocas remained unaware and completed the contract with him.
• Lister learned from Ocas that the Ruins of Alcaso held high-purity Soul Crystals and that the Star Machine Civilization and Void Corridor were competing for them.
• Lister reached the ruins and found a vast sea of souls, a giant tree of soul power, and the remains of powerful beings.
• Lister and Ocas encountered Curtis, Ruler Two, and Dominator One; Curtis asked to leave, but Ocas refused and attacked him and Ruler Two.
• Lister formed a scarlet saber and slashed at Dominator One, who responded by unleashing his defenses.

Lister fought Dominator One after gravely injuring his soul, while Ocas overwhelmed Curtis and Ruler Two. Curtis unleashed his strongest form but was annihilated by Ocas, leaving Ruler Two still facing him as Lister battled Dominator One.

• Lister's spatially confining saber slash severed Dominator One and gravely injured his soul, prompting One to activate his final protocol and transform into a powerful geometric Machine God Armament.
• Dominator One attacked Lister with Star Core Disintegration Rays and manipulated gravity, but Lister used Flash to evade the attacks and sought an opening to strike.
• Ocas tormented Curtis and Ruler Two with his chains until they entered their strongest phases and joined forces against him.
• Curtis summoned planar energy and a phantom expert to attack Ocas, but Ocas's chains bound them and drained their power.
• Ocas unleashed the Power of the End, annihilating Curtis and the expert's phantom.

Ocas killed Ruler Two while Lister critically wounded Dominator One, then let the injured leader escape with the Soul Crystals. The Void Corridor’s other two World-Ending leaders arrived at their headquarters, learned how Curtis had died, and questioned Damon about Lister’s growing strength.

• Ocas attacked Ruler Two with his chain of the End, and Dominator One’s attempt to intercept it left him open to Lister’s killing blow.
• Ocas’s chain pierced and dissolved Ruler Two, while Lister’s saber struck Dominator One’s central hub and cut his health below half.
• Dominator One threw the Soul Crystals away and escaped as Lister caught them; Ocas explained that he wanted the Void Corridor and Star Machine Civilization to turn against each other.
• The Void Corridor’s elders gathered after learning that Curtis had died, and the Lord of Void Spirits and the Lord of Phantoms appeared before them.
• Damon recounted the events at the Ruins of Alcaso, and the two leaders questioned him about Lister’s strength.

After Curtis fell, the Void Corridor and other major forces reacted to the growing crisis while the universe retreated into fear of an imminent war. Lister absorbed two high-purity soul crystals and endured their violent effects as a new power began forming within his saber soul.

• Benjamin considered retaliating against the Star Machine Civilization, but Geli persuaded him to keep the Void Corridor out of the conflict and close its intelligence networks to all but the Emerald Royal Court.
• Aiselyn dismissed the Void Corridor’s loss and pressured an elder who urged her to support their ally, while Alkas decided the Star Machine Civilization could not be relied upon.
• Lister’s intelligence workers reported that the major forces were withdrawing, trade had sharply declined, and the Emerald Royal Court had not acted.
• The deaths of two World Annihilation experts in the Ruins of Alcaso alarmed forces across the universe and brought widespread withdrawals and a halt to many conflicts.
• Lister swallowed two high-purity soul crystals and endured the assault of powerful souls’ lingering thoughts as his saber soul began to form a new, sharper power.

Lister emerged from meditation and met Kavin as Wang Yue advanced to the Hegemon tier, gaining extraordinary control over her presence. Half a month later, Lilina brought three player blacksmiths to Merrick Castle, where one claimed to have visited it in the kingdom’s early days.

• Lister spent more than half his stored experience improving his Saber Soul Mastery, then emerged a month later as the federation’s trade and visitor numbers continued to decline.
• Kavin discussed Dominator One and the Star Machine Civilization with Lister, claimed Dominator One as his target, and gave Lister blueprints for Jiji’s next advancement.
• Wang Yue completed her breakthrough, and Lister discovered that her Hidden One skill could nearly erase her presence from others’ perception.
• Wang Yue thanked Lister and Kavin, then left to familiarize herself with her new abilities as the federation gained another Hegemon.
• Half a month later, Lilina escorted three player blacksmiths to Merrick Castle, where I'll Hammer Your Balls claimed he had once learned the Merrick Saber Technique from Count Merrick.

Lister recruited three player forgers to create replacement parts for Jiji, prompting a surge of interest among secondary-profession players eager to visit Merrick Castle and meet him. Meanwhile, Hoffman and Crimson discussed the Scourge Legion’s growing strength as Hoffman considered the federation’s next target.

• Lilina told Big Hammer Bro that Butler Tim was her grandfather, then led him, Caliper Sis, and Iron Anvil to meet Lister in Merrick Castle.
• Lister offered the three forgers a side quest to forge special items and invited them to recommend other skilled forgers, explaining that the work would support Jiji’s advancement to Hegemon.
• Caliper Sis shared screenshots of the castle in public chat, and news of Lister’s quest drew a flood of applications from forgers hoping to visit Merrick Castle.
• The forging quest became a large competition among secondary-profession players, while Lister watched the players’ enthusiasm and reflected on his influence.
• Hoffman asked Crimson about the Scourge Legion’s rise to rank 18 and its new Quasi-Hegemons, and Crimson wondered whether future hibernations could produce an Overlord Tier undead.
• Hoffman withheld further information about the Scourge Legion and told Crimson to ask Lister directly.

Lister negotiated an alliance with Arkas and the Crimson Covenant, adding the destruction of the Star Machine Civilization to their terms. After the contract scroll’s binding was secretly severed by the District 71 Mastermind, Lister gathered the forged components and rare items needed to begin Jiji’s upgrades.

• Arkas offered the Crimson Covenant’s full support in the Seed of Eternity war, protection for its three World Annihilation experts, and shared intelligence; Lister added a demand for intelligence on the Star Machine Civilization and its destruction.
• Arkas and Lister signed the Crimson Covenant’s rules scroll, but the District 71 Mastermind intervened and removed the contract’s binding force without Arkas noticing.
• As the purge of nearby veteran Hegemon factions neared its end, Lister received the forged components for Jiji, including pieces crafted by the player Hurry and Escape.
• Lilina presented the Eye of Ashes Barrier Key and Lister’s payment to the smith, who accepted the reward after taking screenshots.
• Lister arranged the new components, the Tear of the Shattered Star, the Core of Hermes, and the String of Orpheus around Jiji, then ordered Jiji to begin.

Jiji completed its advancement, while Lister prepared for a fifth class advancement after reaching LV240. The system required him to sign an exclusive contract binding him to the player universe before it would issue his advancement quest.

• Jiji absorbed the Tear of the Shattered Star, the players’ components, and other treasures, then advanced to S-rank and strengthened its offspring.
• Two years later, Lister exchanged intelligence with Grand Duke Alkas about escalating battles and the awakening of powerful figures across the universe.
• After the players logged off, Lister spent his experience to reach LV240 and consumed Eternal Fruits of Life until his attributes reached 480.
• Lister received a fifth advancement quest notification, but Mastermind District Seventy-One required him to review and sign an exclusive contract first.
• Lister signed the 314-article contract, and the system began selecting his exclusive fifth advancement quest.

Lister learned that his Fifth Advancement quest required him to help the Mastermind Universe merge with the Divine Revelation universe and raise ten Hegemons. As the Church of the End and the Emerald Royal Court attacked the Void Corridor, Lister joined Kavin in launching a strike against the Star Machine Civilization, whose leader Dominator One was believed to be in the Machine Creation Galaxy.

• Lister considered his quest’s requirements and wondered whether his transmigration and the Divine Revelation game were connected to the universes’ impending fusion.
• Lister told the Lord of Qingteng to move the Seed of Eternity’s birth site from the Milky Way Galaxy to the Divine Rise Galaxy.
• Lilina and several Hegemons informed Lister that the Church of the End had attacked the Void Corridor, and Ocas explained that Archbishops Isaac and Emily had led the strike.
• Ocas urged Lister to exploit the conflict by attacking the Star Machine Civilization, and Lister agreed with Kavin’s support.
• Kavin’s forces slipped past the Star Machine Civilization’s outer defenses using his control of their detection systems, while he judged that Dominator One was likely in the Machine Creation Galaxy rather than the Data Abyss Galaxy.

Lister, Kavin, and Ocas entered the Machine Creation Ring and discovered that the Star Machine Civilization had transformed its four core galaxies into a single ultimate war machine. After surviving Dominator One’s amplified Star Core Disintegration Rays, Lister unleashed his newly strengthened Saber Soul and struck at the galaxy-sized weapon.

• Kavin realized the Machine Creation Ring had been purified and that its mechanical planets formed one connected entity.
• Dominator One revealed a war machine built from the galaxy and welcomed Lister and the Holy Grail’s bearer, while Ocas arrived to join them.
• The war machine fired Star Core Disintegration Rays, and Lister evaded them, Ocas absorbed them through his chains, and Kavin shielded the group.
• Dominator One reflected and amplified the rays through all four core galaxies, forcing Kavin to protect Lister and Ocas with a shield reinforced by the Holy Grail.
• Lister activated Battle Intent Eruption and manifested a solid Saber Soul, alarming Ocas and frightening Dominator One.
• Lister swung his saber and sent a scarlet slash through the Machine Creation Ring toward Dominator One.

Lister killed Dominator One with a single soul-piercing saber slash, and Kavin dismantled and claimed the Star Machine Civilization’s war machines. As the planets migrated toward the Machine-Slaying Federation, news of Dominator One’s death spread, and the Void Corridor battle intensified.

• Lister’s saber technique destroyed Dominator One’s war machine and split his soul, killing him with one slash.
• Lister and Ocas went with Kavin to the Data Abyss and the remaining galaxies, where Kavin took control of and dismantled their war machines.
• Kavin revealed that Dominator One had planned to escape by moving the Star Machine Civilization’s planets, and he began migrating the valuable mechanized planets toward Babylon.
• Faction leaders in the Abika Galaxy witnessed the migrating planets and recognized Lister and the direction of the Machine-Slaying Federation.
• News of Dominator One’s fall spread among the major powers, while Isaac and the Church of the End unleashed the Power of the End against the Lord of Void Spirits in the Void Corridor.

The Void Corridor’s intelligence network was crippled as Isaac’s attack detonated its spatial anchor stations, while the Emerald Royal Court urged the surviving powers to unite against the Church of the End. After the Machine-Slaying Federation absorbed the Star Machine Civilization’s mechanized planets, Lister approved a system update that would collapse the player universe and began integrating it with his own; when players logged back in, they discovered they could not log out.

• Isaac’s concealed Power of the End destroyed tens of thousands of spatial anchor stations, and Aiselyn arrived on Sailianna’s orders to propose uniting the powers against the Church of the End.
• Binn praised Arkas for secretly aligning the Crimson Covenant with Lister and instructed him to keep watching Lister.
• Kavin brought the Star Machine Civilization’s mechanized planets into the Babylon Galaxy, where Federation citizens and Hegemons gathered to see the captured assets.
• Lister agreed to the system update, which warned that the player universe would begin collapsing and asked him to help integrate the universes.
• After the server reopened, Lister sensed the Mastermind Universe falling apart, accepted a Main Quest whose rewards were issued immediately, and heard players report that they could not log out.

Players discovered they could no longer log out of Divine Revelation, and their panic sparked destructive riots before they accepted that they had truly transmigrated. Six months later, the player universe collapsed and a shattered node appeared in the Divine Revelation universe, where thirteen World-Ending experts gathered as Xavier suspected another universe was merging into theirs.

• Players found that they could enter Divine Revelation but could not log out, while Lister ordered Lilina to place the Scourge Legion under level-three alert and forbid its mobilization.
• As players panicked over their nutrient pods, the Scourge Legion rioted across the Machine-Slaying Federation, but Lister’s preparations limited the damage.
• Players learned they would not die when their nutrient solutions ran out, accepted their transmigration, and received a system announcement removing privacy IDs and character customization.
• Over the next six months, the Machine-Slaying Federation absorbed the Star Machine Civilization’s legacy and players worked to grow stronger; then the player universe collapsed.
• A shattered node tore open the Divine Revelation universe’s barrier, drawing thirteen World-Ending experts, including Lister and Xavier.
• Sailianna asked Xavier what the Church of the End made of the cosmic wonder, and Xavier said another universe appeared to be merging into theirs.

Lister helped secure support from most World Annihilation factions for the merging universe, then felt the merger removing constraints on his soul and abilities. After Chen Shanqiang reached the Overlord Tier and came to speak with Lister about a change in the universe, Lister revealed that he already knew about the fusion.

• Sailianna and the Lord of Void Spirits argued against allowing the other universe to merge, while Binn and Lister supported the merger for its potential resources.
• King Soren and the Lord of Spirit Remains also backed the merger, and Xavier voiced the Church of the End's support before Lister displayed his powerful killing intent.
• The World Annihilation factions left protective barriers and ended their gathering with most of them favoring the merger.
• Lister sensed the merging universe removing constraints on his soul, restoring his natural pace of learning and increasing his grasp of the rules.
• Lilina told Lister that Chen Shanqiang had reached the Overlord Tier and requested an audience with several other players.
• Chen Shanqiang told Lister that a change had occurred in their universe, and Lister identified it as the fusion of the two universes, stunning the players.

Chen Shanqiang and three Scourge Legion representatives told Count Merrick that the legion could sense the universe fusion and was gradually losing its immortality. Lister agreed to hold the legion back from deployment and granted it resources, while he privately focused on advancing his own plans.

• Chen Shanqiang asked whether other Scourge Legion members had told Lister about the universe fusion, and Lister said the four were the first to approach him in years.
• Chen Shanqiang explained that the Scourge Legion sensed the fusion and that its traits, including immortality, were changing.
• Lister said the legion’s changes could require a new combat strategy and decided not to deploy it for the time being.
• Chen Shanqiang requested Federation resources, and Lister agreed to provide potions, Eye of Ashes Barrier resources, and Soul Crystals, with some distributed through a combat trial.
• After the representatives left, Lister reviewed the resources allocated to the Scourge Legion and checked the progress of his Fifth Advancement quest.

Lister joined Isaac, Emily, and Ocas at the Void Corridor, where the Church of the End fought its defenders and Emily destroyed a resistant World Annihilation beast. After receiving proof that Lister was away, Sailianna decided the Emerald Royal Court would strike the Machine-Slaying Federation while Aiwei engaged the Crimson Covenant.

• Ocas brought Lister to the Void Corridor, where Isaac and Emily prepared to fight Void Spirit and Phantom.
• Void Spirit and Phantom opened a passage to another plane, and the Hegemon forces battled the creatures and defenders that emerged.
• A World Annihilation beast attacked Emily, but she erased it with her power of destruction.
• The Lord of Void Spirits sent the Emerald Royal Court a recording showing Lister on the battlefield, prompting its leaders to debate attacking the Machine-Slaying Federation.
• Sailianna ordered Aiwei to engage the Crimson Covenant and announced that she would lead Aiselyn and Varalos against the Machine-Slaying Federation.