Chapter Summaries

Nixiyasi woke from an intimate dream about Kang De, then faced her father as he pressed her about their relationship and demanded a meeting with Kang De. She refused to arrange one, and her father threatened to sail into the Broken Sea and be captured by Distant Harbor’s navy.

• Nixiyasi recalled the pain and confusion that had kept her awake, including her subordinates’ gossip and her growing respect for Kang De and his cause.
• Nixiyasi realized her dream had turned into a sexual fantasy involving Kang De and Dairila, blamed the Phoenix King for its disturbing ending, and destroyed the clothes she had slept in.
• Nixiyasi looked toward Distant Harbor and longed for the previous night to have lasted longer before her father came to her door.
• Nixiyasi’s father insinuated that she had been intimate with Kang De, and she angrily denied it before lowering her head.
• Nixiyasi’s father accused her of endangering her command and family, then demanded that she arrange a meeting with Kang De.
• Nixiyasi refused, so her father threatened to sail into the Broken Sea and let Distant Harbor’s navy capture him.

Nixiyasi defied her father when he demanded that she arrange a meeting with Kang De, and Anthony backed down after realizing she might act against him. He left with a Council-backed raiding party headed for the Broken Isles, intending to exploit his daughter’s relationship with Kang De for the family’s benefit.

• Anthony demanded that Nixiyasi arrange a meeting with Kang De so he could discuss her future and the family’s interests.
• Nixiyasi recalled how Anthony had taught her that she owed her family, then compared their relationship with the more caring families she had seen and heard about.
• Nixiyasi shouted that she did not want Anthony to meet Kang De, and her magic stirred as she stood up to him.
• Anthony asked why she opposed him, apologized for pressuring her, and said he would find his own way to see Kang De.
• Anthony boarded an assault boat with soldiers eager to raid the Broken Isles, while he resented that Nixiyasi’s sacrifices had helped make the operation seem safe.
• Anthony reflected that Nixiyasi was slipping beyond his control and planned to present himself to Kang De as a devoted father to secure benefits for the Xugula Family.

The Azure Fleet sent assault boats into Kang De’s waters to seize valuable substances, unaware that its officers had deliberately sent dissenters into danger. Kang De’s new Frozen Legion captured the boats, and he learned that a prisoner claiming to be Nixiyasi’s father wanted to meet him.

• Azure Fleet officers stripped Nixiyasi of authority and sent soldiers, including her loyalists, toward the Broken Isles to pursue the Council’s promised rewards.
• Anthony and his spell guards approached Kang De’s waters, where aircraft warned the assault boats to turn back, but the sailors pressed on.
• Kang De ordered Horus to begin the denial operation as Parrot discussed turning copied advertising airships into Kirov airships.
• Malegith’s armored Frozen Legion descended onto the sea and used frost-powered weapons, helicopters, and electric speedboats to freeze and capture the assault boats.
• Horus informed Kang De that a prisoner claiming to be Nixiyasi’s father had asked to see him.

Kang De suspected that Nixiyasi’s father, Anthony, had been sent by the Council for a hidden purpose, while Horus argued that Nixiyasi had lost control of the fleet. Kang De later met Anthony at the Broken Isles command post and demanded proof that he was really Nixiyasi’s father.

• Horus reported that Anthony had hidden aboard a death-squad ship, claimed Nixiyasi was in danger, and brought several skilled guards.
• Kang De inferred that the Council had sent Anthony with a scheme, but Horus concluded that Nixiyasi had lost control of the fleet and her father had submitted to a higher power.
• Parrot and Horus teased Kang De about his deductions and recorded his earnest remarks about wanting Nixiyasi to be treated gently.
• Kang De realized Horus was competing with A Fu for Parrot’s favor, then Parrot tricked him into swooning and mocked him as a virgin.
• Kang De met Anthony Syracuse at the Broken Isles Defense Force command post and asked how he could prove he was Nixiyasi’s father.

Kang De captured Anthony Syracuse after doubting his identity, then heard him claim that Nixiyasi had fallen in love with Kang De and was being punished for refusing the Council’s orders. Anthony revealed the Council’s deadline and quota for the Azure Fleet, and Kang De deduced that the Council urgently needed extraterrestrial materials for its secret operation at the Yilan-Tai'er Civilization ruins.

• Kang De ordered his guards to seize Anthony Syracuse and send for Nixiyasi to confirm his identity.
• Anthony warned Kang De that Nixiyasi had lost command in all but name after refusing the Council’s orders to seize extraterrestrial materials.
• Anthony claimed that Nixiyasi loved Kang De and had endured hardship to reach him, while Kang De concealed his delight and played along.
• Anthony explained that the Council had set the Azure Fleet a mandatory quota and would strip Nixiyasi of her honors and posts if she failed to meet it.
• Kang De asked how much material the Council demanded, noticed Anthony’s reaction, and inferred that the Council urgently needed the materials for its secret operation at the Yilan-Tai'er Civilization ruins.

Kang De saw through the Council’s attempt to trade Nixiyasi for Yilan-Tai’er relics and maneuvered Anthony into accepting his authority over her rescue. The chapter ended with Anthony agreeing to act as Kang De’s intermediary in negotiations with the Council.

• Kang De concluded that the Council was desperate for Civilization relics and was using Nixiyasi as bait to obtain them.
• Kang De rebuked Anthony for trying to direct the rescue, then used stories of his influence, elven mage attendants, and Distant Harbor’s food to impress him.
• Anthony realized that helping Kang De could bring him greater advantages than simply accepting the Council’s promised reward.
• Kang De proposed negotiating Nixiyasi’s freedom and asked Anthony to carry his terms to the Council and advocate for better conditions.
• Anthony agreed to serve as Kang De’s intermediary, and Kang De recognized that his plan had succeeded.

Anthony Syracuse flew to Distant Harbor to represent Kang De in negotiations with the Arcane Council, while Kang De discussed his plans for the Yilan-Tai'er ruins with Parrot and Malegith. The Council’s negotiators prepared to leave for Distant Harbor, while Nixiyasi remained unaware that her fate was part of the tacit deal.

• Anthony Syracuse accepted Kang De’s offer to act as his intermediary in the Council talks in exchange for exclusive sugar-product sales rights.
• Kang De told Parrot and Malegith he planned to sell the Council three Yilan-Tai'er materials at a high price, then pursue the ruins after they opened them.
• Kang De reassured Malegith that she no longer had to bear responsibility for the mortal world, and she punched him for trying to PUA her.
• Anthony arrived in Distant Harbor and sent the Council details of Kang De’s proposed negotiations, including prisoner returns, trade, research cooperation, and compensation.
• The Council’s negotiators set out for Distant Harbor as the shogunate prepared for the talks, while Nixiyasi remained unaware of the arrangements concerning her.

Nixiyasi learned that her father, Anthony, had gone to Distant Harbor to negotiate an end to the conflict between the Arcane Council and Kang De. Kang De explained that she had been used as a pretext for the talks, set firm terms for any future attempts to exploit her, and left her with A Fu as negotiations began.

• Nixiyasi visited Kang De and learned that Anthony had gone to Distant Harbor to take part in negotiations.
• Kang De described his proposed trade with the Council and reassured Nixiyasi that he had not bargained for her loyalty or treated her as merchandise.
• Nixiyasi realized that her father’s role in the negotiations was connected to her and feared she had been traded for Kang De’s concessions.
• Kang De explained how the Council had used Nixiyasi as a pretext, promised that she would face no punishment, and warned her that future attempts to use her against him would bring no further help without her joining Distant Harbor.
• Kang De summoned A Fu and left, while Nixiyasi remained behind and broke down crying in A Fu’s arms.
• Kang De emerged from the Phase Gate and asked Horus whether everything was normal, and Horus reacted with alarm.

Kang De sent Tina and Hong San to negotiate with the Arcane Council while he prepared a military plan to exploit the Council’s need for three relic materials. The negotiations began with Tina facing Councilor Aokexindun as Kang De organized preparations for a possible confrontation.

• Kang De discussed propaganda honoring labor and military service with Tina as the Doom Warriors’ posters and public image gained admiration in Distant Harbor.
• Tina comforted Kang De during the drive, and they shared a kiss before arriving at city hall.
• Kang De introduced himself to Councilor Aokexindun, unsettled his negotiating strategy by threatening to end the talks, and then left Hong San to proceed with Tina.
• Tina opened the negotiations by noting that Distant Harbor had planned to delay them, while the Council’s team relayed updates and warnings to Tula Xiaye.
• Kang De joined Horus, A Fu, and the Ministry of Peace’s generals and ordered them to prepare to exploit the Council’s pursuit of the three relic materials.

Aokexindun tried to use Anthony to reach Kang De while secretly pursuing the Council’s plan to obtain the ruins materials and keep war imminent for his own benefit. Kang De and Hong San analyzed the negotiations and prepared to exploit Aokexindun, the Council, and their secret operation.

• Distant Harbor spread evidence of the Azure Fleet’s defeat around the world, damaging the Arcane Council’s reputation before negotiations began.
• Aokexindun asked Anthony to convey his position to Kang De, while privately deciding that war must remain close enough to protect his business and political interests.
• Kang De and Hong San reviewed a recording of Aokexindun and inferred that the Council wanted the three ruins materials for a secret underwater operation.
• Kang De proposed forcing Council concessions, targeting Aokexindun’s family businesses, and undermining the councilor by discovering and seizing the prize from the Council’s hidden submarine.

The Arcane Council approved an expensive first trade with Distant Harbor to obtain extraterrestrial materials, while its members planned to exploit the deal later. In the Star Palace, Apophis heard his awakened master identify Kang De as the enemy and command him to stop.

• The Starry Sky Council argued over the stalled negotiations, and the grand speaker proposed offering Distant Harbor a monthly trade with advance payment.
• The councilors approved the proposal, but Distant Harbor demanded military equipment, supplies, and patented knowledge for the first shipment and charged a high fee for Kang De to transport them.
• The Arcane Council agreed to pay for Kang Express, advancing the negotiations while leaving the other disputes unresolved.
• Nixiyasi remained isolated in her room, while the survivors of Yilan-Tai'er continued waiting in their sealed prison.
• Apophis prayed in the Star Palace and heard his master command him to stop the enemy, naming Kang De.

At a banquet, Hong San announced a preliminary agreement with the Arcane Council while publicly condemning its actions, leaving Aokexindun furious and humiliated. Kang De and Malegith discussed their plan to intercept the Council’s research, and Malegith promised to protect him as the next stage approached.

• Hong San brought Aokexindun to the podium and announced a ceasefire, future negotiations, and an agreement to exchange supplies for the three exotic substances.
• Hong San denounced the Council’s military adventure and announced the creation of the Continental Humanitarian Observation Group, while Aokexindun held his anger in public.
• Banquet guests received photographs and translated records of Hong San’s speech, and Kang De later visited Malegith to laugh about Aokexindun’s humiliation.
• Kang De explained that he planned to intercept the fruits of the Council’s research after it received the Yilan-Tai'er substances, and Malegith warned that the Council could retaliate through political and economic pressure.
• Malegith told Kang De that the elves would help him and promised to protect him as the Council’s plan neared its start.

The Starry Sky Council accepted Kang De’s demands and received the goods through his Phase Gates, then panicked over the military threat posed by his spatial abilities. As the Council prepared to deliver the ruin materials to Yilan-Tai’er’s survivors, a hidden figure beneath the sea declared that events were about to begin.

• The Starry Sky Council agreed to Kang De’s list of goods, hoping to obtain the ruin materials from Yilan-Tai’er’s survivors.
• Kang De’s armored warriors collected the supplies through Phase Gates and warned the Council not to tamper with them.
• The Council debated how to defend Tula Xiaye from Kang De’s spatial attacks, but its aircraft and detection projects proved inadequate.
• The Council asked Yilan-Tai’er’s survivors for advice, and they described methods for detecting and blocking dimensional overlap.
• The Council began sending the ruin materials toward the submarines so the seal could be undone.
• Beneath the sea in the Broken Isles, a hidden figure set down a crystal plate and murmured that it was about to begin.

Kang De concluded that the Arcane Council was preparing to rescue Yilan-Tai’er’s surviving people and decided to intervene, intending to persuade them that he had helped free them. As the Council began its operation despite a severed connection to Yilan-Tai’er, the chapter left the survivors preparing to fight their way into the Eternal Tower.

• Kang De and the shogunate ministers deduced that the Azure Fleet was staying in the Broken Sea to support the Council’s secret search for Yilan-Tai’er’s last people.
• Kang De ordered the shogunate to stop the Council’s rescue operation, but said he would reason with the survivors rather than force them to join Distant Harbor.
• The Grand Speaker learned that the sanctuary’s escape system would activate when its seal was lifted and heard that Aokexindun had proposed using Nixiyasi to hinder Kang De.
• A Yilan-Tai’er message instructed the Council to begin immediately, but the connection was severed; the Grand Speaker ordered the operation to proceed anyway.
• The Knight Astolfo detected the two submarines moving, and A Fu alerted Kang De.
• A blue-haired woman rallied her companions to fight their way into the Eternal Tower and burn the prison.

Aifu confronted Tuosidiwa and the people of the City of Redemption, exposing the truth that they were descendants of Yilan-Tai'er rather than sinners condemned to atone. When Tuosidiwa refused to yield and ordered his forces to attack, Aifu unleashed three war vehicles built from the Sea Traveler, beginning a battle for the Eternal Tower.

• Aifu recalled how her father had taught her that her people were heirs to Yilan-Tai'er, then remembered learning that they were called Oathbreakers and lived in the Land of Atonement.
• Aifu faced a hostile crowd and accused Tuosidiwa of deceiving the people with the story that they were sinners, while insisting they were survivors entrusted with rebuilding Yilan-Tai'er.
• Aifu explained that she had contacted the Arcane Council to unseal the shelter and planned to use the Eternal Tower to bring the survivors back into the outside world.
• Aifu knelt to apologize to the generations who had suffered before declaring that the Oathbreakers would continue, hoping this would be Yilan-Tai'er's last civil war.
• Tuosidiwa ordered his forces to prepare for battle, and Aifu revealed three heavy war vehicles assembled from the Sea Traveler before ordering them to burn the city.

Aifu led the Oathbreakers’ chariots through the City of Atonement’s forces, destroying a giant sea scorpion and driving toward the Eternal Tower. As the Council submarines prepared to undo the Shelter’s seal, a voice in the tower declared that it was the people’s god.

• Aifu used the chariots’ weapons and the Oathbreakers’ armor to break through the slave army and advance toward the Eternal Tower.
• Tuosidiwa ordered the Condemnation Warriors to attack, but the chariots detected and ambushed a giant sea scorpion carrying six warriors.
• Aifu’s cannon bolt destroyed the sea scorpion and killed the Condemnation Warriors riding it.
• Aifu reflected on the slaughter and her hope that Tuosidiwa would eventually help release the Shelter and return Yilan-Tai’er to the sunlight.
• Tuosidiwa realized that the City of Atonement could not stop the chariots, while two Council submarines prepared to begin undoing the seal.
• In the Eternal Tower, an intrigued voice asked the kneeling survivors whether it was their god.

Kang De prepared the Broken Isles for the Council’s underwater operation while Dong Tianming considered how to seize the benefits of the Yilan-Tai’er ruins. Kang De agreed to inspect the seabed in a submersible, leaving Dong Tianming and Parrot an opening to tamper with the Azure Fleet.

• Kang De brought reinforcements and heavy weapons to the Broken Isles as the Council’s submarines approached the ruins.
• Dong Tianming reflected on his plans to transfer his accumulated power to Kang De and keep the Council from gaining Yilan-Tai’er’s discoveries.
• Kang De and Dong Tianming reviewed a sonar image showing the two submarines approaching the underground city.
• Parrot suggested Kang De inspect the site from a submersible with A Xing, and Kang De agreed.
• Dong Tianming exchanged a knowing glance with Parrot and planned to tamper with the Azure Fleet while Kang De was away.

Kang De sent the Jiaolong toward the seabed while preparing the Broken Isles for a possible attack, and he dispatched Dong Tianming to scout the Azure Fleet and capture Osko if possible. Meanwhile, the Starry Sky Council chose to proceed with the Yilan-Tai'er rescue despite losing contact, as Bennu ordered the sealed survivors to return to the mortal world and slaughter everything they saw.

• Kang De sent Horus piloting the Jiaolong toward the seabed and ordered the islands to prepare for battle after noticing the Council and Azure Fleet had gone quiet.
• Kang De asked Dong Tianming to focus on Yilan-Tai'er and capture Osko only if circumstances allowed, and Dong Tianming flew toward the Azure Fleet.
• Kang De learned that two people had teleported away from the Council's temporary embassy and suspected the Council was acting hastily because of an unexpected crisis.
• The Starry Sky Council lost contact with Yilan-Tai'er, debated the dangers of unsealing it, and voted to proceed while shifting the risk toward Kang De and the Azure Fleet.
• The Council arranged for Nixiyasi's father to return to the Azure Fleet, expecting Nixiyasi to seek Kang De's help if danger arose.
• Bennu proclaimed himself the God of the Heavens and ordered Yilan-Tai'er's descendants to wield his weapons, return to the mortal world, and slaughter everything they saw.

Bennu descended into Yilan-Tai'er’s shelter and manipulated its devout survivors into preparing for war against the mortal world. As Aifu tried to stop them and Tuosidiwa fled, Kang De spotted a Star Palace god from a submarine and charged toward it.

• Apophis sent Phaethon east to search for Kang De and dispatched Bennu to Yilan-Tai'er’s shelter to prevent its survivors from escaping.
• Bennu slaughtered people in the shelter, learned that Yilan-Tai'er’s survivors worshipped the Star Palace as gods, and decided to use them against the mortal world.
• Bennu appeared above the Eternal Tower and ordered the survivors to gather weapons and fight their enemies as atonement.
• Aifu recognized the Star Palace apparition and ordered her vehicle squad to flee, while Tuosidiwa tore off his ornate robes.
• Kang De and Horus approached the ruins aboard the Jiaolong, spotted the Star Palace god inside a submarine, and accelerated toward it.
• A submarine officer saw the Jiaolong’s blazing lights and screamed at the sight of its enormous silhouette in the darkness.

Kang De mistook the Council submarines’ attack for hostility while they mistook the Jiaolong for a monster, then discovered a God of the Star Palace was beneath the ruins and tried to warn the Council. The Council continued its ritual as Yilan-Tai’er began to awaken, while Aifu tried to stop the scheme and Tuosidiwa questioned her motives.

• The Deep Sea Pioneer crew mistook the Jiaolong for a giant sea monster and attacked it, while Kang De and Horus believed the Council submarine had attacked them knowingly.
• Kang De fled the submarine’s weapons, sensed the God of the Star Palace beneath the ruins, and returned to the Broken Isles to warn Parrot and Malegith.
• Kang De ordered A Fu to launch a spatial beacon by torpedo, then went to the Council’s temporary embassy and demanded an immediate call to the Starry Sky Council.
• The Councilors dismissed Kang De’s warning as a ploy to claim a share of their gains and refused to halt the mission as the extract injection neared completion.
• Yilan-Tai’er began to tremble awake, and Aifu urged Tuosidiwa to help stop the Star Palace’s plan, but he asked her why.