Chapter Summaries

He Ao uncovered Philip's embezzlement at Nolanka Orphanage and confronted him at a board meeting, blocking the plan to take Nolanka Group public. The meeting ended with Kaya City police arresting Philip on charges including hiring someone to commit murder and embezzling corporate assets.

• He Ao reviewed Nolanka Orphanage's reports and found that Philip had diverted its profits into his personal pocket.
• He Ao sent the documents to Danny, then entered the board meeting and took the seat at the head of the table.
• He Ao rejected the group's listing plan and offered to buy out directors who no longer wanted to work.
• Philip accused He Ao of turning against the elders who had helped build Nolanka Group.
• Ailiana let two Kaya City police officers into the meeting, and they told Philip he was under arrest.

He Ao had Philip arrested and offered the Nolanka Group directors the chance to sell their shares. After discussing Philip’s case with A Lian, He Ao worked with him on adapting the Adam 1 Type blueprint for mass production, until Danny brought information about the Church of the God of Chaos and its follower Chaos.

• The police took Philip away, and He Ao told the directors they could sell their shares back to him.
• A Lian asked whether Philip had arranged He Ao’s murder, and He Ao said the investigation would determine that.
• He Ao sent A Lian a simplified Adam 1 Type blueprint and asked whether it could be mass-produced.
• A Lian proposed replacing expensive materials, and he and He Ao began revising the design together.
• Danny arrived with information about the Church of the God of Chaos and its follower Chaos.

He Ao reviewed records about the God of Chaos and its supposed followers, then learned that a local interview show had invited a follower as a guest. The broadcast began on the giant screen across from his office, leaving He Ao watching as the host appeared.

• A Lian left after proposing a prototype for small, powerful armor, and He Ao praised his inventive ideas to Danny.
• He Ao studied reports on three people or groups called Chaos and learned about the widespread crimes and scattered followers of the God of Chaos.
• He Ao asked whether Kyle had been transferred to Kaya City, and Danny said the transport aircraft was due the following night.
• Danny told He Ao that an entertainment channel had invited a Follower of the God of Chaos to an interview show.
• He Ao went to the glass wall and watched the Kaya Trade Building's giant screen switch from an advertisement to the show's potbellied host.

He Ao learned that unemployment, debt, and housing inequality had driven hundreds of thousands of people into homelessness in Kaya City, and ordered Danny to find Group board members willing to sell their shares and replace the Nolanka Orphanage’s management. A livestream then revealed a horrifying masked figure claiming to be a Follower of the God of Chaos, who greeted the viewers.

• He Ao asked Danny about Kaya City’s homeless population, housing, rental vacancies, and the layoffs that left workers unable to repay loans and mortgages.
• He Ao told Danny to find Group Board of Directors members willing to sell their shares and ordered him to replace the Nolanka Orphanage management staff.
• He Ao watched a livestream in which a host introduced a supposed Follower of the God of Chaos as a way to explore Kaya City’s high crime rate.
• A masked figure approached the camera, revealed grotesque scars around his mouth, and said, “Good morning, little cuties.”

A masked Follower of the God of Chaos hijacked a live interview, murdered a captive on camera, and threatened the studio staff with explosives while the producer prioritized the audience count over their safety. He Ao suspected the attack was a diversion and looked to the cloudless sky as he considered what the real target might be.

• Lina recognized that the masked man was not the actor hired for the program and urged the Boss to end the broadcast, but he ordered the staff to keep it running.
• The masked man denounced the studio and its greed, then shot a bound captive on camera and claimed explosives had been planted in the studio.
• The masked man announced a twenty-minute countdown and said the studio door had been welded shut, sending the trapped staff into panic.
• The Boss refused to stop the livestream despite Lina's protests, and Security Guards seized her when she tried to intervene.
• He Ao questioned why the masked man had left the studio time to be rescued and was still revealing his location, then suspected he was creating a diversion.

He Ao deduced that the masked man's broadcast was a diversion aimed at Nolan Ka Bank and flew there to stop the robbers. After clearing the bank lobby, he reached the vault as the Fat Baby Mask robber's crew cut through its wall.

• He Ao realized Nolan Ka Bank's cryptocurrency server room could be the robbers' real target and flew to the bank in his armor.
• The Fat Baby Mask robber threatened a girl, then took an elevator with three underlings while the rest held the bank lobby.
• He Ao scanned the lobby, smashed through the glass curtain wall, and killed the five robbers on the first floor.
• The Fat Baby Mask robber's crew cut through the vault wall, creating an opening into the vault.

He Ao stopped an attack on Nolan Ka Bank by cutting power to its servers, capturing one robber and preventing an explosion from destroying the server room. After learning Norde Bank had also been robbed, he tracked the fleeing robbers, suspecting they had taken something especially important to the Church of the God of Chaos.

• He Ao entered Nolan Ka Bank's server room and cut its power, interrupting a virus attack intended to steal cryptocurrency keys.
• He Ao killed two armed robbers, knocked out another, and threw a bomber out of the server room before the explosives detonated.
• He Ao brought the surviving robber to Nolan Ka Bank's security guards and learned from Danny that Norde Bank had been robbed.
• He Ao concluded Norde Bank's robbers might have targeted something valuable to the Church of the God of Chaos and asked Eve to locate them.
• Eve found the fleeing robbers, and He Ao leaped into the air to pursue them.

He Ao confronted a masked man in an alley and discovered he was a Chaos priest who could transform into a giant. After dodging the giant’s attacks, He Ao overloaded the Adam 1 Type Mecha and gathered blazing energy in his hands, leaving the fight poised for a decisive strike.

• The Fat Baby Mask man killed the Circus Mask driver, took the van, and was confronted by He Ao in the Adam 1 Type Mecha.
• The masked man crashed the van into He Ao, escaped through the broken windshield, and punched through a nearby wall.
• He Ao dodged a surprise attack from the masked man, who revealed himself as a muscular giant resembling Mu Xiu.
• He Ao used the Mecha’s laser cannon and hit-and-run tactics to wound the stronger-than-Mu Xiu giant while avoiding his blows.
• The giant roared and leapt at He Ao, but Mental Interference briefly stopped him as He Ao combined two batteries and raised the Mecha’s output to 110 percent.

He Ao rescued the station’s boss from a planted bomb after the police discovered that the studio countdown was a hoax. The boss drew a pistol as He Ao tried to upload footage of his panic, and a gunshot rang out as Jielang approached.

• He Ao confirmed the masked giant was likely a stand-in for Chaos, ordered the Old Butler to inventory the stolen valuables, and asked him to investigate who had planned the talk show.
• Director Jielang broke into the studio, found an ordinary alarm clock instead of a bomb, and realized the countdown had been a prank.
• The countdown ended with an explosion upstairs, and Jielang rushed toward the boss’s office after learning the boss might still be inside.
• Jett, distraught after seeing the livestream mockery of his behavior, argued with a man in the crowd and jumped from the 27th floor.
• He Ao broke into the boss’s office, removed and disposed of the bomb, then transferred footage of the boss’s panicked pleas to his wristband.
• The boss gave He Ao his computer password, then drew a pistol as He Ao prepared to upload the footage; Jielang heard a gunshot nearby.

He Ao killed the television station Boss in self-defense after discovering that both the Boss and a Homeless Man possessed undecommissioned Nolanka Group guns. Lina, shaken by Jett’s apparent suicide and her own powerlessness, received Vian Nolanka’s business card and was left with the choice of seeking him out.

• He Ao noticed that the Homeless Man’s gun bore an intact City of Stars Emblem, then found the same emblem on the dead Boss’s pistol.
• Jielang arrived, and He Ao showed him camera footage proving the Boss had aimed at him before He Ao shot him; He Ao then left with a silver gray Metal Box.
• Lina left the office building after refusing to accept the Boss’s exploitative plans and reflected on how little control she had over her life.
• A bloodied Jett fell in front of Lina, and she believed he had died by suicide after being publicly humiliated.
• Vian Nolanka gave Lina his business card and invited her to find him if she decided she wanted to change things.

He Ao ordered an investigation into the Nolanka Group’s stolen assets and the creation of an intelligence team. Jack and Aisha struggled to afford preschool for Annie, while Lina weighed the risks of serving Vian and chose to embrace the chance to change the world.

• He Ao asked Danny about Kaya City’s food supply, then ordered an investigation into the Group’s fixed assets and the formation of a separate intelligence team.
• Jack came home to Aisha and Annie and discussed how their tight finances made preschool difficult to afford.
• Jack decided to withdraw 700 Federal currency from their savings and speak with his workshop supervisor about a preschool discount.
• Lina reflected on the dangers of accepting Vian’s favor and realized she still wanted to change the world, even if it meant dying.

At an amusement park, a haunted-house mannequin revealed a hidden photograph of a humanoid mech. He Ao brought Lina to his villa and warned her that working for him could lead to an unexpected death; she accepted and joined a meeting already in progress.

• A student saw the killer mannequin turn toward him and flee in terror.
• The killer mannequin swung its cleaver at the corpse prop, beneath which lay a photograph of a silver-and-black humanoid mech.
• He Ao personally met Lina and warned her that the work ahead could bring an unexpected death.
• Lina accepted He Ao's offer and followed him through the villa district to his mansion.
• He Ao led Lina into a conference room, where a group of people stopped their heated discussion and looked at them.

He Ao presented a reform plan to Nolanka Group’s executives, proposing employee benefits, investment in agriculture and education, military manufacturing, and new funding methods. He assigned the executives urgent plans to prepare and put Lina in charge of publicizing the reforms.

• He Ao introduced Lina as his personal secretary and asked the executives to assess his proposals for the Group.
• A Lian outlined the executives’ concerns about costs, profits, competition, and recruiting employees’ relatives into the mercenary corps.
• He Ao explained how the reforms could create jobs, increase demand, and support the Group, then removed profit-based bonuses to address objections.
• He Ao proposed issuing Nolanka Coin to raise funds and investing in accessible medical education to reduce healthcare costs.
• He Ao ordered the executives to prepare an employee-benefits plan by that night and an Agriculture Building construction draft by the next night.
• He Ao assigned Lina to publicize the plan and its benefits, then went to check on his Micro Fusion Reactor casing.

He Ao investigated a mysterious glove found among the valuables from the Norde Bank robbery and learned that the masked robber was called Chaos. After discovering that Kyle’s transport had been delayed by an aberrant beast attack, He Ao asked Danny to find out what had happened.

• He Ao examined Rockville Group’s unidentified supermetal and prepared to use it with the superconducting device to build a Miniature Fusion Reactor Container.
• Danny delivered the inventory of valuables from the Norde Bank robbery, including a Transcendent Item called the Thief Glove that could open most locked doors.
• He Ao read the captured robber’s statement and learned that a man in a Fat Baby Mask had recruited the gang and was known as Chaos.
• Danny reported that the aircraft transporting Kyle had been delayed by an aberrant beast attack, and He Ao asked him to investigate the details.

He Ao investigated Kyle’s planned transfer and prepared a fusion reactor test while directing a search for weapons and suspicious shipments. He urged Lina to push the Group’s reforms during Nold Corporation’s distraction over Dawn City’s mayoral election, then told her that he was and was not K, because everyone could be K.

• An FBI supervisor told Danny that Kyle had tried to use a mutated beast to escape, and He Ao asked Danny to place allies on the replacement support team.
• He Ao ordered Danny to investigate the Group’s weapons and freight orders and requested City Defense Army trade declarations for Eve to analyze.
• He Ao began an overnight deuterium–Helium-3 fusion test and planned repairs and upgrades for the damaged Adam 1 Type mech.
• Lina warned He Ao that Nold Corporation could exploit the Group’s internal opposition, and He Ao said the mayoral election would draw Nold’s attention away and create a strategic opening for reforms.
• Lina asked whether He Ao was K, and he replied that he was and was not K because everyone could be K.

Jack learned about the Nolanka Group’s new employee discounts and applied with his wife, Aisha, while He Ao monitored the rollout. He Ao’s review system was set to give larger discounts to workers in greater need, and Jack began spreading the news among his coworkers.

• Aisha called Jack and urged him to read Chairman of the Board Vian Sir’s email announcing school, childcare, and apartment discounts for Group employees.
• Jack doubted Aisha’s insider account of how the benefits came about, but agreed to send her the application documents and try applying.
• Jack returned to work and put away the red wine he had intended to give the workshop supervisor.
• When coworkers questioned the new benefits, Jack told them he had insider information and began sharing what Aisha had heard.
• He Ao and Lina watched the applications being screened by Eve and reviewed by assembled administrative staff.
• He Ao’s policy gave eligible employees discounts based on their circumstances, reserving only small deductions for high-income executives.

He Ao began rebuilding trust in the Nolanka Group by rapidly approving employee benefits and ordering a purge of corrupt managers. As working families saw costs fall and life improve, the chapter ended with Christos preparing to give his final speech before the Dawn City mayoral election.

• Lina worried about the welfare policy’s rushed rollout as applications surged, and He Ao told her to rest after her exhausting work.
• Danny and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Jamie and other managers for reselling group assets and related crimes, following He Ao’s order to remove them all.
• Aisha told Jack that their kindergarten fees and apartment costs had been reduced through newly approved discounts, and the family celebrated their improved finances.
• Jack and Aisha discussed the coming Dawn City mayoral election and agreed that Vian Sir had accomplished what they had hoped Christos would do.
• He Ao watched Christos take the stage before a cheering crowd to deliver his final speech before the election.

Lina read Joseph Thur’s book arguing that wealth in the Federation was distributed primarily according to ownership, allowing the rich to collect “interest” from others’ labor. She finished the book downstairs, stunned by the unfamiliar ideas, as someone asked whether she had finished reading.

• A maid gave Lina a worn book at Vian Sir’s request.
• Lina read Joseph Thur’s explanation that wealth came to the rich through forms of “interest” tied to resources such as land, housing, capital, and factories.
• The book compared the Federation’s wealth system to an older land-rent system and described how wealth accumulated among the rich while laborers struggled to save.
• Lina closed the book in the living room, feeling as if a new world of knowledge had opened before her.
• Someone asked Lina whether she had finished reading.

Lina learned that economics professor Joseph Thur, author of the book she was reading, was running mate to mayoral candidate Christos, whose speech called on the people to claim the Federation. He Ao received evidence linking Yalide to the bomb planted beneath his car, and Yalide appeared before the Nord Group directors under a false pretext.

• He Ao told Lina about Joseph Thur's academic career and said the book had no follow-up because Thur was still investigating.
• Christos delivered a campaign speech condemning corporate control and declaring that the Federation belonged to its people.
• He Ao received Director Jielang's message that Yalide had planted the bomb beneath his car with Philip's help and was likely still in Kaya City.
• An Old Man arrived at a private meeting of Nord Group directors, complaining that his son Jamie was being interrogated.
• Yalide introduced himself to the Old Man as Jamie's friend and claimed he had come from the Nord Group to help complete the listing.

Yalide gathered Nolanka Group directors and Kaya City’s business leaders, urging them to oppose Vian’s welfare policies and suggesting the City Defense Army’s armory would be robbed. Meanwhile, He Ao arrived at Kaya City Military Airport as the aircraft transporting Kyle descended.

• Yalide warned factory owners that Vian’s improved worker benefits would force them to raise wages or lose workers and profits.
• Yalide reminded the Nolanka Group directors that Vian had sidelined them and warned that their own past affairs could expose them to investigation.
• Jamie’s father said Vian’s Mecha and ties to the City Defense Army made it difficult to change the situation.
• Yalide claimed the City Defense Army’s armory would be robbed and argued that the army was loyal to the Nolanka Group, not the Nolanka Family.
• He Ao and the Old Butler reached Kaya City Military Airport as the A-23 transport aircraft carrying Kyle landed.