Chapter Summaries

Ding Chang advised Lin Ye to rely on others and keep himself safe, then asked for one last naval battle in the Instance. Lin Ye gave him command of Dragon Country’s fleets to attack Eastern Ocean Island, leaving them to press on despite a Firmament warning about possible intervention by Eagle Sauce Country.

• Ding Chang told Lin Ye to seek help from Long Yuan and the Great Xia people, and warned him not to challenge the Firmament without preparation.
• Ding Chang said he wanted to end his life with a naval battle, and Lin Ye let him choose Eastern Ocean Island as their target.
• Lin Ye ordered Dragon Country’s fleets and the Challengers to advance, then handed full command of the navy to Ding Chang.
• Ding Chang ordered Dragon Country’s three fleets to surround Eastern Ocean Island and bombard it, while the island’s warships were destroyed by missiles.
• The Firmament warned that Eastern Ocean Island would resist and that Eagle Sauce Country might intervene, but Lin Ye reassured Ding Chang and told him to enjoy the battle.

Lin Ye and the Great Xia Challengers escorted Ding Chang through his final days in the Instance, which ended in failure when the time limit ran out. After Ding Chang sacrificed himself to transfer more points to Lin Ye, spectators and Settlement Commanders reflected on the compassion and solidarity he had shown.

• The Challengers gathered around Ding Chang as the Instance countdown began, and he thanked Lin Ye and his compatriots for accompanying him.
• Ding Chang gave Lin Ye his remaining points, then drowned himself before the Instance ended so the Firmament would deduct more points from him.
• The Firmament declared the mission a failure, deducted 100 points from each Challenger, and teleported them back to the real world.
• Azure Star's spectators praised the Challengers for seeing Ding Chang off, and many reconsidered their view of Lin Ye.
• Xi'er ordered the Nirmaner Settlement to close its Instances for a day, while Fulangche reflected on Lin Ye and wondered whether his own people would see him off.

Lin Ye returned from The Last Road Instance and received 3.46 million points from his Instances, bringing his reserves to 58 million. After the Firmament revised and approved Winter Is Coming, Lin Ye resolved to design a stronger Instance and entered Creation Space to pursue 100 million points sooner.

• Lin Ye returned from The Last Road after three days, and the Firmament awarded him 2.02 million points from its missions.
• The Firmament settled Lin Ye's earnings from Raging Waves and Winter Is Coming, bringing his total reserves to 58 million points.
• The Firmament approved The Great Wall Watch after reducing its Challenger count and penalties, removing its settlement participation mode, weapon sales, and VIP Spawn Points.
• Lin Ye recognized that the Firmament's changes seemed designed to prevent certain outcomes rather than improve Challengers' abilities.
• Lin Ye decided not to wait for his Instances to earn enough points and entered Creation Space to design a stronger Instance.

Lin Ye planned to complete Earth Online and expand it into an interstellar setting, beginning with the moon and future technology for the Five Permanent Members. He left Creation Space generating the moon and the two unfinished countries while preparing to develop their interstellar technology trees.

• Lin Ye sent maps, weapons, population, and other data for Rotten Cow Country and Rooster Country to Creation Space so it could complete the Five Permanent Members.
• Lin Ye began expanding Earth Online toward a Solar System Online map, starting by entering detailed information about the moon.
• Creation Space began generating the moon and simulating its surface environment.
• Lin Ye planned distinct interstellar technology trees for the Five Permanent Members, drawing on advanced research and science fiction for ideas.

Lin Ye assigned advanced technology projects to the Five Permanent Members to gradually move Earth Online toward the interstellar age. Creation Space began researching Controlled Nuclear Fusion and generating a Moon Base as he laid out plans for future planetary and space forces.

• Lin Ye decided to develop Earth Online incrementally, expanding interstellar technology beyond the Five Permanent Members while keeping Dragon Country in the lead.
• Lin Ye assigned Dragon Country the Penglai, Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Houyi projects, covering naval forces, infantry upgrades, Divine Beast Mechas, space missiles, and stellar-level nuclear bombs.
• Lin Ye submitted his Controlled Nuclear Fusion research to Creation Space, which accepted the data and began simulation research.
• Lin Ye planned Mental Seals and Gene Serum for Bear Country to enhance Yuri and create specialized troop types.
• Lin Ye tasked Eagle Sauce Country with lunar bases, space stations, orbital cities, and an Earth-Moon Elevator, then began generating a Moon Base in Creation Space.
• Creation Space verified the lunar military base's design logic and began generating it, estimating completion in two hours.

Lin Ye planned quantum weapons, a quantum ghost legion, a supercomputer, and a robot army for Earth Online, then made Ding Chang an NPC in his Instance. After Creation Space began simulations, Lin Ye learned that Katerina had completed the Lin Ye Settlement’s Central City and promised she could join him in an Instance later.

• Lin Ye ordered a quantum laboratory and Ball Lightning launcher in Rotten Cow Country to develop weapons and a Quantum Ghost Legion.
• Lin Ye planned a super quantum computer beneath the Louvre and a robot factory in Rooster Country, and Creation Space began simulating the designs.
• Lin Ye transferred Ding Chang’s data into his Instance, making him an NPC who served as Dragon Country’s chairman and Earth Alliance’s supreme commander.
• Lin Ye left Creation Space after starting the technology simulations and received a report from Katerina that the Lin Ye Settlement’s Central City could support at least one hundred million residents.
• Katerina asked Lin Ye to take her along to conquer an Instance, and Lin Ye told her to wait for a future opportunity.

Lin Ye accepted Prince Singh’s migration application and explored the prosperous Great Xia Settlement, reflecting on the Firmament’s mysteries. After Long Yuan invited him to discuss those questions, Lin Ye drove to a strange observatory-like building in the desert and went inside.

• Lin Ye approved Prince Singh’s application to join his Settlement in exchange for reserve points and asked him to abandon his royal identity and bring more points.
• Lin Ye drove through Central City, where residents recognized and praised him, but he refused their offers of points.
• Long Yuan called Lin Ye and invited him to meet in person to discuss the Firmament.
• Lin Ye drove three hours to a white, domed building in the desert and entered to investigate it.

Lin Ye visited Long Yuan’s visualization space and learned that Long Yuan had spent ten years investigating the Firmament. Long Yuan showed him a hidden chamber containing a mysterious computer connected to a girl in a cultivation pod, leaving Lin Ye stunned.

• Lin Ye entered Long Yuan’s visualization space and saw a vast astronomical instrument that appeared to track the world beyond the Firmament.
• Long Yuan explained that he had questioned why people designed and cleared Instances instead of using their advanced technology in the real world.
• Lin Ye proposed that the Firmament might be an alien artificial intelligence or a mechanism governing an enormous Instance.
• Long Yuan praised Lin Ye’s theories and said his research had reached similar conclusions, then led him through the instrument’s base to a hidden stone gate.
• Long Yuan opened the gate and revealed a computer-like device connected by wires to a girl immersed in a cultivation pod.

Lin Ye learned that Zhao Jianxin, Zhao Jianyu’s twin sister, had been kept alive in a cultivation chamber because she could visualize the world beyond Azure Star. Long Yuan explained that her visions supported his theory that the Firmament was an advanced system imposed on their world, and he urged Lin Ye to defeat it.

• Lin Ye examined the strange apparatus and recognized Zhao Jianxin’s face from the message thanking him for avenging her sister.
• Long Yuan explained that Zhao Jianxin was Zhao Jianyu’s twin sister, and that Ding Chang had preserved her after discovering her unusual ability to see things others could not.
• Long Yuan showed Lin Ye Zhao Jianxin’s visualization of Azure Star as a planet hidden beneath a dome of fog.
• Long Yuan said he believed the Firmament was an advanced system imposed by another civilization and that defeating it could restore their world.
• Zhao Jianxin sent Lin Ye a message encouraging him to defeat the Firmament.

Lin Ye accepted ten million points from Long Yuan on behalf of Great Xia, bringing him closer to the hundred million needed to challenge the Firmament. He returned to Creation Space and found that several technology projects had advanced rapidly, though others had encountered errors.

• Long Yuan gave Lin Ye a card containing ten million points donated by Great Xia's Level 3 and higher Challengers.
• Long Yuan warned Lin Ye that revealing too many Instances could help the Firmament understand his abilities, and urged him not to shoulder everything alone.
• Lin Ye accepted the points, which together with Singh's ten million left him twenty million short of the challenge requirement.
• Lin Ye returned to his Cliffside Villa and entered Creation Space, hoping to challenge the Firmament as soon as he reached a hundred million points.
• Creation Space reported that Dragon Country's controlled nuclear fusion and Eagle Sauce Country's lunar military base were complete, while several other projects had stalled or failed.
• Lin Ye judged that the technology projects could mostly be completed within a week if he kept reviewing Creation Space's feedback.

Lin Ye finished transforming Earth Online into a technologically advanced world with formidable military forces, while Azure Star grew more violent as people copied his Instances and competition intensified. With 108 million points and his creation complete, Lin Ye prepared to challenge the Firmament.

• Lin Ye spent a week designing Earth Online and watched Azure Star Settlements imitate his military technology as Instance wars became increasingly brutal.
• News reports described mass migration to Lin Ye's Settlement, the dissolution of Dahe Settlement, and other Settlements racing to develop powerful Instances and military forces.
• Lin Ye completed Earth Online, transforming its cities, energy systems, transportation, and armies with advanced technologies and enormous military projects.
• Lin Ye received 3.56 million points from his three Instances and saw his total rise to 108 million.
• Lin Ye concluded that his completed Instance and points were sufficient, and the time had come to challenge the Firmament.

Lin Ye confirmed that he would challenge the Firmament, triggering a planetwide preparation phase and widespread backlash across Azure Star. As the Firmament began showing everyone an Instance of its own design, Lin Ye remained determined to proceed.

• Lin Ye confirmed his challenge to the Firmament despite its warning that failure would erase him and harm Azure Star’s Challengers and Settlements.
• The Firmament suspended all Instances, announced the challenge’s risks to Azure Star, and displayed Lin Ye’s challenge across the Dome.
• People across Azure Star reacted with shock and divided opinions, while Xi'er and Fulangche voiced support for Lin Ye.
• Katerina and Prince Singh celebrated Lin Ye’s challenge in Lin Ye Settlement, and Singh credited his contributions to Lin Ye’s rise.
• Lin Ye demanded that the procedure continue, and the Firmament began a planetwide presentation of its Instance, "Heart of the Swarm."

The Firmament demonstrated Heart of the Swarm, an Endless-level Instance on Insect Star, to Lin Ye and Azure Star. After seeing the Queen, the Zerg swarm, and the Instance’s overwhelming abilities, the frightened spectators pleaded with Lin Ye not to challenge the Firmament.

• Lin Ye recognized the Firmament’s preview as a deterrent but welcomed the chance to study its Instance.
• The Firmament introduced Insect Star, a toxic planet whose terrain was covered in slime, spores, and living growths.
• The Firmament revealed the Queen and explained how Drones and specialized Zerg units served and protected her.
• The Firmament described the Zerg’s rapid reproduction, consumption, infection, underground tunnels, wormhole travel, and powerful defenses.
• The Firmament stated that challengers had to destroy the true Queen among thousands of plague-spreading decoys.
• Azure Star spectators panicked at the Zerg’s strength and urged Lin Ye to abandon his challenge.

Lin Ye learned that the Firmament challenge would merge Earth Online and Heart of the Swarm, forcing their forces into a war to the death, and he decided to proceed. After judging Heart of the Swarm’s technology and weapons far inferior to Earth Online’s, he told Long Yuan he was certain to win, while Long Yuan pledged Great Xia’s support.

• The Firmament explained that the challenge would connect the two Instances through dimensional gates, with victory going to the side that wiped out the other’s forces.
• The Firmament warned Lin Ye that failure would destroy him and cost Azure Star half its infrastructure and population, then gave him one day to decide whether to continue.
• Lin Ye concluded that Heart of the Swarm’s bugs could not match Earth Online’s interstellar forces and resolved to take the challenge.
• Long Yuan called Lin Ye, condemned Azure Star’s doubters, and offered Great Xia’s support and resources.
• Lin Ye assured Long Yuan that his chance of victory was one hundred percent, and Long Yuan celebrated the chance to break free of the Firmament.

Lin Ye equipped Earth Online with weapons designed to destroy the insect swarm, then confirmed his challenge to the Firmament. The Firmament fused his Instance with Heart of the Swarm, reset Azure Star’s infrastructure, and began the duel with everyone watching.

• Lin Ye added Chainswords, Incendiary Breakers, and other powerful weapons to Earth Online to prepare for the insect race.
• Lin Ye dismissed public protests and slept before the battle, while major Settlements publicly supported his challenge.
• The Creation Space finished Lin Ye’s upgrades, and he named his Instance Earth Online: Blue Star Empire.
• Lin Ye confirmed that he would challenge the Firmament, which fused Heart of the Swarm with his Instance.
• The Firmament froze Azure Star’s infrastructure and reset the planet, leaving its people stranded in the wilderness.
• The Firmament opened the fused Instance Heart of the Swarm VS Earth Online: Interstellar Age and began Lin Ye’s challenge.

The Firmament began the decisive showdown between Lin Ye’s Earth Online and Insect Star, whose overwhelming insect population left the spectators despairing. The Dimensional Gates opened between the two worlds, and three enormous Super Giant Insects emerged into Earth Online.

• The spectators saw Earth Online’s advanced cities, five great territories, orbital infrastructure, and warships, while Insect Star appeared engulfed by a planet-spanning swarm.
• Viewers argued over whether Lin Ye had prepared a hidden advantage, but most believed Earth Online could not defeat the insects.
• The Firmament completed the countdown and declared the life-or-death showdown officially underway.
• The Firmament opened Dimensional Gates in Earth Online’s African Great Rift Valley and Insect Star’s Rotting Nebula.
• Three immense Super Giant Insects flew through the gate into Earth Online.

The Zerg’s three Leviathans rapidly turned the East African Rift Valley into a sprawling base, using Creep and Drones to build a thousand structures in under ten minutes. Lin Ye let the Zerg continue reproducing, believing their choice of Africa gave the Earth Alliance time to prepare for the coming battle.

• The three Leviathans arrived on Earth Online and spread Creep across the East African Rift Valley.
• The Leviathans released countless Drones, which rapidly formed Hatcheries, Spawning Pools, and other Zerg structures.
• Within five minutes, the Rift Valley held at least a thousand Zerg buildings, and new Drones began mutating into cocoons.
• Azure Star viewers panicked at the Zerg’s rapid reproduction and questioned why Lin Ye had left Africa so poorly defended.
• Lin Ye decided to let the Zerg build up in Africa, reasoning that their choice of landing site gave the Earth Alliance time to prepare.

The Zerg swarm emerged from its Cocoons and rapidly overran several poorly equipped African countries, overwhelming their forces with sheer numbers and on-the-spot mutations. The livestream spectators watched in despair as they concluded Lin Ye and Azure Star were likely doomed against the Firmament.

• The Cocoons cracked open and released Zerg units, which formed a coordinated swarm under Leviathan’s control.
• The Zerg attacked several weak African countries, whose tribal chiefs and soldiers could not withstand the creatures.
• Roaches mutated into Ravagers and other specialized forms, while Mutalisks evolved into Vipers that disrupted human troops.
• The Zerg slaughtered the African forces, and livestream viewers expressed shock and blamed Lin Ye for provoking the Firmament.

The Zerg conquered Africa, converted its buildings and corpses into breeding grounds, and advanced toward Europe and Asia. In the Forbidden City, Ding Chang led the Five Permanent Members as they activated their military projects and prepared to defend Earth.

• The Zerg overran Africa, while overseers transformed human buildings and corpses into Zerg breeding grounds.
• The Zerg split into forces advancing toward Europe and Asia, aiming to reach North America later through the Arctic.
• Lin Ye recognized that the Firmament had revealed its tactics, while the Five Permanent Members had been monitoring the Zerg through their satellite network.
• Ding Chang presided over the Earth Alliance command center in the Forbidden City's Hall of Supreme Harmony and called on the four other powers to join the fight.
• The Five Permanent Members pledged their forces, and their governments announced the activation of their military projects.

Lin Ye’s plans for Earth Online’s counterattack prompted hope among some viewers, though most still doubted Azure Star could defeat the Zerg. As the swarm reached Europe, Rotten Cow Country deployed its Ball Lightning weapon, whose strange electrical spheres stopped the Zerg’s venom but left the swarm bewildered.

• Viewers in the Great Xia Settlement recognized that Lin Ye had preserved Ding Chang’s life in the Instance, and Commander Long Yuan hoped Ding Chang’s spirit would watch over Lin Ye.
• The five great nations’ leaders appeared together in the Forbidden City, while livestream viewers debated whether Lin Ye had hidden methods capable of defeating the Zerg.
• The rapidly multiplying Zerg crossed the Mediterranean, and their vanguard reached the Rome area near Rooster Country.
• Rotten Cow Country’s Ball Lightning weapon targeted the Rome area and filled the sky above the swarm with white electrical spheres.
• The Zerg’s venom projectiles struck the lightning balls without effect, and the ground units stopped to stare at the descending spheres.