Chapter Summaries

Tuosidiwa and Aifu argued over whether the Land of Shelter should submit to the Star Palace or risk its people and legacy to resist. Aifu led the Oathbreakers toward the Eternal Tower to warn the mortal world, while outside the Shelter three deep-sea mining trucks charged the Deep Sea Pioneer.

• Tuosidiwa urged Aifu not to resist the Star Palace, arguing that submission offered the Shelter its best chance of survival and that the mortal world would exploit Yilan-Tai'er’s legacy.
• Aifu rejected life under the Star Palace and chose to preserve Yilan-Tai’er’s wisdom by helping the mortal world, even if her people did not survive.
• Aifu told the Oathbreakers to discard their armor and weapons, and Tuosidiwa offered to help them enter the Eternal Tower without being identified by its security screens.
• Aifu planned to contact the Council’s submersible and warn the mortal world while the Council was breaking the Shelter’s seal.
• The Deep Sea Pioneer’s crew spotted three enormous machines descending toward them, and the deep-sea mining trucks charged across the seabed.

Kang De tried to stop the Starry Sky Council from breaking the seal beneath the Yilan-Tai'er Ruins, but the Deep Diving Walker completed its injection and released the refuge. The God of the Star Palace armed the liberated inhabitants and called them to slaughter the fallen, while Kang De ordered the Broken Isles evacuated as Mass Projection began.

• The Deep Sea Pioneer disarmed when surrounded by Kang De’s mining machines, but the Starry Sky Council ordered it to cover the Deep Diving Walker’s final injection.
• Kang De rammed the Deep Diving Walker, but the Deep Sea Pioneer attacked; Kang De’s mining machines destroyed it, and he retreated when he could not stop the injection in time.
• The Deep Diving Walker broke the seal, prompting the Starry Sky Council to celebrate while the grand speaker worried about the danger hidden in the ruins.
• A Fu warned Nixiyasi that the broken seal threatened her fleet, and Nixiyasi rose to take command as the ruins began to shake and open.
• The refuge emerged beneath the sea, and the God of the Star Palace gave its inhabitants weapons and ordered them to slaughter the fallen.
• Kang De returned to the Broken Isles and ordered all living personnel to evacuate before Mass Projection commenced.

Kang De evacuated the Broken Isles and prepared for battle after discovering that the God of the Star Palace was allied with Yilan-Tai'er survivors. As the Azure Fleet remained in danger and Nixiyasi yielded to Osko’s coercion, the sealed ruins erupted and golden figures began shooting toward the surface.

• Kang De learned that the God of the Star Palace and Yilan-Tai'er survivors were gathered together, so he evacuated the Broken Isles and deployed weapons for battle.
• Kang De explained to Malegith and Parrot that he would protect his subjects and strike Yilan-Tai'er if its people showed hostility, while Malegith mourned the civilization’s possible destruction.
• A Fu reported that the Azure Fleet refused to evacuate and that Nixiyasi had smashed her communicator, while Horus warned Kang De that the ruins’ inhabitants were about to emerge.
• Osko threatened Anthony Syracuse and forced Nixiyasi to agree to lead the Azure Fleet to a designated position, while Councilor Aokexindun planned to blame her if the fleet suffered losses.
• The Eternal Tower erupted from the ruins, its shock wave scattered Kang De’s mines and threw the Jiaolong aside, and golden streaks shot upward as more towers emerged.

Yilan-Tai'er’s descendants emerged from the Land of Shelter in ancient armor, but the Star Palace’s supposed god had turned their awakening into a trap. As Tuosidiwa watched through a warrior’s eyes, the first arrivals mistook the Azure Fleet for enemies and attacked, while Kang De prepared to let the massacre draw out more arrivals before intervening.

• Chosen sinners donned ancient weapons and armor, while Bennu mocked Yilan-Tai'er’s revived war machines and waited for the outcome.
• Aifu realized the sinners’ devotion to Bennu made it impossible to unite them against him, and Tuosidiwa urged the Oathbreakers to arm themselves and leave for the mortal world.
• Tuosidiwa parted from Aifu and entered a hidden domain, where he used an ancient power to watch the first Yilan-Tai'er warriors ascend toward the surface.
• Aifu warned the Azure Fleet to leave, but its officers dismissed her ultimatum and ordered sailors to seize the emerging warriors for the Council.
• The first Yilan-Tai'er warrior surfaced, called the Azure Fleet enemies, and attacked, setting off a massacre across the fleet.
• Kang De refused to intervene at once, telling Horus that the fleet could draw out more arrivals before he used a forbidden spell to clear the area.

Yilan-Tai'er attacked the Azure Fleet with Aegis Battlesuits, while Kang De watched the battle and sent warships closer to lure the attackers and recover their technology. Tuosidiwa observed the fighting and was startled by Kang De’s steel warships.

• Yilan-Tai'er launched a sudden assault on the Azure Fleet, and Kang De ordered the shogunate and Distant Harbor to prepare.
• Aokexindun forced Osko to order Nixiyasi to counterattack and capture Yilan-Tai'er, then used Anthony to reassure her that her father was safe.
• Kang De studied the Aegis Battlesuits and ordered A Fu’s warships to approach the battle so they could kill attackers, recover wreckage, and capture intact equipment.
• Kang De asked Parrot to capture Yilan-Tai'er alive if possible, hoping to learn what had happened to them.
• Kang De’s steel warships approached the Azure Fleet, drawing Yilan-Tai'er fighters toward the ruins materials aboard the gunboat.
• Tuosidiwa watched the battle through the Mirror of the Deep Sea and reacted with surprise when he saw the steel warships.

The warships Knight Astolfo and Generous Boris annihilated the Aegis Guards and fought off the Celestial Mecha and Gaili'ou Golems, while Nixiyasi rallied the Azure Fleet to counterattack. Aifu learned about Kang De and his forbidden spell, and Tuosidiwa watched Kang De strip a captured sinner of everything and named him the Fire Thief.

• A Fu directed the Knight Astolfo and Generous Boris to destroy the charging Aegis Guards with concentrated gunfire.
• Tuosidiwa watched the sinners’ defeat and the warships’ advanced defenses, then saw their weapons overcome the Celestial Mecha and Gaili'ou Golems.
• Envoy Osko and the Azure Fleet’s officers begged Nixiyasi to resume command, and she ordered a counterattack after realizing Kang De’s warships had not moved to save her.
• Aifu approached the fleeing Council submarine, was taken aboard, and learned from its captain about Kang De and his forbidden spell.
• Tuosidiwa witnessed Kang De seize a captured sinner’s soul, bloodline, memories, and history, then called him the Fire Thief.

Tuosidiwa discovered that the Fire Thief was leading a powerful mortal civilization against Yilan-Tai'er, and realized the Star Palace had manipulated his people into fighting on the wrong side. As the battle threatened Aifu and the Oathbreakers’ future, he began using his authority to intervene, but the God of the Star Palace appeared before he could act.

• Tuosidiwa recognized the black-haired being who had stripped a captured sinner of his armor and life as the Fire Thief described in Yilan-Tai'er's secret histories.
• Tuosidiwa concluded that the Star Palace was using Yilan-Tai'er as cannon fodder against the Fire Thief and feared that the sinners’ attack would also destroy Aifu’s hopes for the Oathbreakers.
• Tuosidiwa watched the sinners turn from the steel warships toward the wooden Council Fleet and realized their assault could ruin Aifu’s future among the mortal peoples.
• Tuosidiwa invoked his authority and directed golden threads from the Eternal Tower toward the mortal world, intending to exclude the Oathbreakers from his action.
• Tuosidiwa called to Aifu through the Mirror of the Deep Sea, received no answer, and turned to find the God of the Star Palace arriving with a priest following behind him.

Kang De prepared to use a forbidden spell against Yilan-Tai'er’s invading forces as the Starry Sky Council argued over its losses and ordered the Abyss Walker to evacuate Aifu. After learning that the attack could destroy both her people and the fleet, Aifu refused evacuation and asked the captain to help her return to the Land of Shelter to stop it.

• Kang De learned through Extraction that Yilan-Tai'er’s attackers were oppressed fanatics manipulated by the Star Palace, but decided they had to be destroyed to protect the outside world.
• Kang De told the Azure Fleet to draw the attackers together so he could use Mass Projection, while refusing the Council’s request for help.
• The Starry Sky Council anticipated the Azure Fleet’s destruction and ordered the Abyss Walker to take Aifu and the other ancient survivors to Tula Xiaye.
• After the captain explained the forbidden spell and the Council’s evacuation order, Aifu realized the spell threatened both her people and the fleet’s soldiers.
• The captain insisted on taking Aifu to safety, but she refused and asked him to help her return to the Land of Shelter to prevent the forbidden spell.

Bennu forced Tuosidiwa to activate Yilan-Tai'er's ancient Thunder God's Cage and deep-sea spiral drill, intending to channel their power into a seabed fissure and devastate the mortal world. Tuosidiwa turned the machinery against the Shelter, triggering its emergency evacuation so it would carry Bennu into the mortal world, where the Fire Thief waited.

• Bennu revealed that he wanted Yilan-Tai'er's engineering marvels activated to channel energy into a seabed fissure and promised to spare the people if Tuosidiwa obeyed.
• Tuosidiwa activated the Thunder God's Cage and the deep-sea spiral drill under Bennu's watch.
• Tuosidiwa redirected the machinery's energy toward the Shelter, and Bennu discovered the surge and attacked him through the sacred pillars.
• Tuosidiwa resisted Bennu and explained that the Shelter's emergency mechanism would send its central hub to the surface before the explosion destroyed it.
• Tuosidiwa revealed that he had intended to force Bennu into the mortal world, where the Fire Thief was waiting.

Aokexindun tried to secure Yilan-Tai’er’s weapons while the Azure Fleet fought the ancient survivors, unaware that Kang De was preparing a forbidden spell. As the strike descended, Nixiyasi destroyed the flagship’s teleportation array and confronted the councilor, leaving the fleet and its enemies beneath the falling projectile.

• Aokexindun ordered Osko to demand more ancient weapons and live prisoners from Nixiyasi, while refusing to leave the besieged flagship.
• Nixiyasi reassured the Azure Fleet that Kang De would rescue them, then began directing what she expected to be her final battle.
• Kang De ordered a forbidden-spell strike and recalled his military assets, while deciding to postpone an attack on a nearby Council submarine.
• Aokexindun realized Kang De was preparing a forbidden spell and ordered the flagship to teleport away, but Nixiyasi’s fleet accidentally destroyed its teleportation array with a magic-device strike.
• Nixiyasi denounced Aokexindun and refused to yield as he ordered his guards to seize her and use her as a hostage.
• A forbidden spell opened a void in the sky, and an enormous mass plunged through a Phase Gate toward the sea.

Yilan-Tai’er’s evacuation began as its Shelter collapsed, while Aifu returned to the Hidden Domain and inherited the kings’ authority after Tuosidiwa sacrificed himself. Their intervention disabled the ancient combat systems just in time to stop Kang De’s forbidden spell, leaving Tuosidiwa and Aifu alive and the Abyss Walker’s crew relieved on the surface.

• Yilan-Tai’er’s Shelter activated its evacuation protocols and launched its people and legacies toward the mortal world as its core destabilized.
• Bennu captured Tuosidiwa, and Aifu returned to the Hidden Domain, where Tuosidiwa ordered her to kill Angxisi.
• Aifu killed Angxisi, and Tuosidiwa wounded himself to pass royal authority to her; Aifu then invoked the ancient kings’ power, and the two escaped in an evacuation pod.
• The Abyss Walker’s captain ordered an emergency surfacing, and his crew reached the surface to signal Kang De to stop the forbidden spell.
• Kang De’s attack ceased, and Yilan-Tai’er’s combat units lost power as the captain realized Aifu had fulfilled her promise.
• Tuosidiwa and Aifu escaped together, while the Abyss Walker’s crew celebrated their survival.

Kang De halted the forbidden spell after Aifu disabled Yilan-Tai'er's war machines, and Distant Harbor began securing the captured forces and confronting the Arcane Council. Aifu died after saving her people and preserving their future, leaving Tuosidiwa grieving as she became part of Yilan-Tai'er's civilization.

• Aifu disabled Yilan-Tai'er's war machines, and Kang De canceled Mass Projection after the submarine surfaced and asked for a chance to speak.
• Kang De ordered A Fu and Horus to secure the Azure Fleet and the Yilan-Tai'er survivors while Distant Harbor forces moved in to capture them.
• Kang De directed Tina to protest the Arcane Council, detain its mission in Distant Harbor, and demand an apology and compensation from the grand speaker.
• Tuosidiwa held the dying Aifu as she explained that she had stopped the forbidden spell, saved her people, and ensured Yilan-Tai'er could continue.
• Aifu died beneath the blue sky, telling Tuosidiwa that she would become part of their civilization.

The Azure Fleet surrendered to Kang De’s forces as Councilor Aokexindun tried to negotiate a dignified outcome. When Envoy Osko took Nixiyasi hostage, her father Anthony saved her and was mortally wounded, leaving her grieving beside him.

• Astolfo’s fleet surrounded the Azure Fleet, and Quilion’s boarding party secured the Crimson Fire Fierce Flame’s surrender after another ship resisted and exploded.
• Aokexindun ordered the remaining ships to gather around his flagship and tried to persuade Nixiyasi to arrange a secret meeting with Kang De.
• Anthony approached Nixiyasi with healing potions, but Osko seized her and threatened to kill her rather than face capture.
• Nixiyasi declared that no one cared about her and began to unleash her magic, so Anthony struck Osko with a Frost Missile and pulled her clear with Telekinesis.
• Osko wounded Anthony with Arcane Missiles before the Legal Department’s rangers subdued him, and Nixiyasi rushed to treat her father.
• Anthony asked Nixiyasi to protect their family, then told her to be well as his hand fell.

Kang De secured the Azure Fleet’s surrender and learned that Aifu had died while saving Yilan-Tai’er, leaving its grieving high priest Tuosidiwa as its likely new leader. As Bennu attacked, Kang De’s allies drove him off, and Tuosidiwa accepted Kang De’s hand and a role in rebuilding his people.

• A Fu reported that Anthony had died saving Nixiyasi, Osko had been captured, and Councilor Aokexindun was trapped aboard the Azure Fleet’s flagship.
• Kang De ordered Aokexindun held and asked A Fu to comfort Nixiyasi and secure her help in arranging the fleet’s orderly surrender.
• Horus reported that the Yilan-Tai’er survivors resisted rescue, then found Aifu dead beside the grieving Tuosidiwa, whom the survivors treated with deference.
• Kang De met Tuosidiwa, offered condolences for Aifu, and asked him to lead Yilan-Tai’er in rebuilding and opposing the Star Palace.
• Bennu attacked, but Kang De redirected his strike while Malegith and Dong Tianming pursued him into battle.
• Tuosidiwa entrusted Aifu’s body to Kang De and clasped his hand, accepting the beginning of an alliance as Yilan-Tai’er’s new king.

Tuosidiwa calmed Yilan-Tai’er by recasting the truth of their return as the mercy of their god, while secretly deciding to align his people with Kang De. After Kang De killed Bennu before the assembled crowd, Yilan-Tai’er worshipped him as its new god, and Kang De discovered a power that let him deploy troops through faster, more precise teleportation.

• Tuosidiwa addressed Yilan-Tai’er, blaming a false god for manipulating them and claiming their return to the mortal world had come through their god’s mercy and Aifu’s sacrifice.
• Tuosidiwa privately decided Yilan-Tai’er should trust and ally with Kang De against the Star Palace, though he hoped to reveal the truth and grant his people freedom someday.
• Malegith brought the captured Bennu to the ship, where Bennu recognized Kang De as a Fire Thief and demanded to know where he came from.
• Kang De used Paradox to overpower and devour Bennu as the execution was broadcast, and Tuosidiwa declared the false god dead before kneeling to Kang De.
• Kang De discovered that he could project a domain through Paradox crystal and use it to teleport troops and supplies more quickly and precisely.

Kang De settled the people of Yilan-Tai'er in comfortable ships and newly built shelters while Tuosidiwa sought the Oathbreakers’ help to reform their society. After the Starry Sky Council rejected Kang De’s ultimatum, he planned to invite other nations to Yilan-Tai’er and move first to secure the ancient civilization’s legacy.

• The people of Yilan-Tai'er boarded ferries and received blankets and comfortable seats, while Kang De prepared an abundant meal for them.
• Tuosidiwa welcomed the Oathbreakers’ scrutiny and asked them to help reform the priesthood and preserve Yilan-Tai’er’s ancestral knowledge; Dasuokasi agreed to stay and watch over him.
• Kang De finished building a camp for Yilan-Tai'er, then asked Horus and A Fu to prioritize translating their language and studying their technology.
• Tina told Kang De that the Starry Sky Council had rejected his ultimatum and demanded the release of the Azure Fleet’s officers and sailors.
• Kang De celebrated the Council’s public refusal and decided to invite other nations to Yilan-Tai'er, ordering someone to bring Aokexindun to him.

After Kang De seized the Azure Fleet and publicly condemned the Starry Sky Council, its leaders debated whether to wage war against him. The Grand Speaker pushed for rapid military preparations and sought an ally in the Holy Empire, believing Kang De had made the Council his enemy.

• Kang De’s denunciation of the Starry Sky Council spread across the continent, humiliating the councilors and shifting public opinion against them.
• The generals warned the councilors that the Council was unprepared for war and urged them to rescue the captured Azure Fleet personnel and expand the military.
• The Grand Speaker ordered the generals to prepare for war within three months, then argued that Kang De’s offer to share Yilan-Tai’er’s legacy with other nations would leave the Council isolated.
• The councilors agreed to consider military expansion while postponing a decision on war, and the Grand Speaker resolved to seek allies with interests opposed to Kang De.
• The Grand Speaker turned his attention to the Holy Empire, whose emperor he believed would never trust Kang De to leave the ruined harbor in Goth alone.

Kang De worked to win over the captured Azure Fleet by offering them comfort, food, and a path into his service, while preparing to reshape them into a force for a future conflict with the Arcane Council. After the Council threatened Distant Harbor with sanctions and military escalation, Kang De ordered preparations for a trade war and a shogunate meeting; the chapter ended with the emperor reading the Grand Speaker’s warning about Kang De and the elves.

• Kang De settled the Yilan-Tai'er survivors and Azure Fleet prisoners on separate islands and used warm beds, meals, and biscuits to raise their morale.
• Former suicide squad members persuaded Azure Fleet prisoners to abandon the Council and join Kang De, using work points, military merit, and Alset's success as incentives.
• Kang De told Horus that the Azure Fleet could become a model for a future puppet force, and he ordered Horus and A Fu to begin formulating war plans against the Arcane Council.
• Tina told Kang De that the Council had accused him of detaining the Azure Fleet and Yilan-Tai'er survivors, demanded he withdraw from the Broken Isles, and threatened trade and spellcraft sanctions.
• Kang De ordered the Ministry of Plenty and the West Goth Company to prepare a trade war and called a shogunate meeting.
• The emperor read the Grand Speaker's warning that Kang De might ally with the elves and that the emperor's attempts to recruit him had failed.

Kang De used reform, propaganda, entertainment, and memorial ceremonies to win over the Azure Fleet prisoners and honor the dead, while the Council and Distant Harbor escalated their public conflict. The chapter ended with Kang De arranging reflection meetings and the Abyss Walker crew paying their respects to Aifu.

• Kang De organized the Azure Fleet prisoners into reform classes, introduced new rules and military training, and rewarded top performers with access to games and other luxuries.
• The trainees watched a film about the Broken Isles evacuation, while the Yilan-Tai'er survivors watched Tom and Jerry; meanwhile, the Council and Distant Harbor traded accusations and threats.
• Kang De held a farewell for the Azure Fleet dead and erected a monument that prompted many trainees to question the war and their actions.
• Kang De told A Fu to prepare reflection meetings focused on the Council's role and the prisoners' treatment of Nixiyasi.
• Kang De attended Aifu's funeral and dedicated a monument to her, and the Abyss Walker crew left their captain's signet ring, sword, and gladioli at her statue.

Kang De authorized an assassination of the Council-backed separatists in the Broken Isles and planned closer cooperation with the Brotherhood. After learning that every invited nation was delaying his proposed alliance, he recognized that the great powers were underestimating Distant Harbor and called on Cathay to join him against the threat from the starry sky.

• Horus recommended an open assassination of the Broken Isles separatists, and Kang De authorized the Traitor Suppression Society to prepare the operation.
• Leona warned that the Council could retaliate against Goth, while Tina assured Kang De that he should proceed despite the risks.
• Kang De introduced a safe-zone teleportation capsule and proposed selling it to the Brotherhood in exchange for a non-aggression agreement, assassin instructors, and weapons collaboration.
• Tina told Kang De that every invited nation was delaying his alliance proposal, and Dong Tianming explained that they were asserting their status and protecting their interests.
• Kang De concluded that the nations underestimated Distant Harbor and reminded Dong Tianming that he had also invited Cathay to join the alliance against the starry sky threat.