Chapter Summaries

He Ao broke through the City Defense Army’s encirclement, killed General Ranke, and escaped with injured allies. The mayor then arranged for Ranke’s death to advance the Mining Consortium’s influence and secretly captured the fading shadows of Ranke and Vincent.

• He Ao used the Mechas around him to destroy his attackers, then broke into Ranke’s cockpit and killed the officer despite the Hunter’s lure and threats.
• He Ao announced Ranke’s death, found the injured middle-aged man, and rescued him while the remaining forces held back.
• He Ao joined the rescued pilots in a truck, caught a falling boy on the way, and escaped the City Defense Army’s pursuit toward a camp pharmacist.
• The mayor declared that Ranke had died defending Rock City and backed Ranke’s deputy as the next Chief of Staff.
• The mayor secretly restrained the fading shadows of Ranke and Vincent before leaving in his car.

He Ao brought the wounded Miner's Mutual Aid Society members to a pharmacy and church, where the pharmacist stabilized Ivo. While learning about Ivo’s past and the Old Foreman’s son Rock, He Ao realized a video on Vincent’s storage chip dated back at least ten years; the chapter ended as an unexplained force drew him deeper into the church.

• He Ao followed the wounded members to a pharmacy, where the pharmacist treated them and stabilized Ivo before sending the group to the nearby church.
• The Old Foreman told He Ao how Ivo had joined the Miner's Mutual Aid Society after the Mining Consortium tried to silence him and how he later attended Aines's Federal Military Academy.
• The Old Foreman revealed that Rock, the mine manager who had protected miners, was his son and had died by suicide ten years earlier after the Mining Consortium ruined him.
• He Ao realized the video featuring Rock on Fifth Sister’s storage chip was at least ten years old and wondered why Vincent had kept it and fought so hard to retrieve the videos.
• He Ao felt an attraction from deeper inside the church, like the pull he had sensed when he encountered Dancer in Dawn City.

He Ao discovered a hidden entrance beneath a chapel altar and found an underground library filled with books on mysticism. He learned about the Church of the God of Knowledge and ended the chapter by noticing a book titled "First District Martial Arts Cultivation Examination."

• He Ao found that the chapel cross could be flipped, activating a mechanism that opened a stairway beneath the altar.
• He Ao descended the dark stairs, saw an inverted-triangle symbol with an open eye, and passed a scarlet door surrounded by Vengeful Spirits.
• He Ao entered an underground library and examined its shelves of miscellaneous books.
• He Ao read about the Church of the God of Knowledge and its priests, believers, and contact rituals.
• He Ao spotted a yellowed book titled "First District Martial Arts Cultivation Examination."

He Ao read a five-hundred-year-old study of First District martial arts, which raised questions about the Great Disaster and the Talent Sequence. The book’s final chapter made him furrow his brows, but its contents were not revealed before the excerpt ended.

• He Ao read the preface, learning that the author had researched ancient martial arts texts and found that their Breathing Method could improve physical fitness and extend lifespan.
• He Ao memorized the book’s table matching ancient First District characters to their meanings.
• He Ao read the author’s theory that First District martial arts predated the Great Disaster and could lead to legendary beings after mysterious energy appeared.
• He Ao connected the author’s remarks about what martial arts never mentioned to the Talent Sequence and wondered whether it had originated with the Great Disaster.
• He Ao considered asking Christos and the Research Institute’s upper ranks for hidden historical records, then turned to the book’s final chapter and furrowed his brows.

He Ao discovered that Professor Norsen Steiner had developed the Body Tempering Art to make martial arts accessible to people with little aptitude, but Norsen died the year he planned to release it. In the underground library, He Ao found books containing genuine secret knowledge about gods and encountered the woman whose presence had drawn him there.

• He Ao read Professor Norsen Steiner’s research on the Body Tempering Art and recognized it as the method that had changed Regit’s fate.
• He Ao learned that Norsen died at forty-nine in the year his book was published, just as he planned to release the art and his research for free.
• He Ao memorized photographs of ancient martial arts texts and a surviving sea route map while exploring the underground library.
• He Ao reached bookshelf D and found books about gods that carried contamination from Great Existences.
• A blindfolded woman in a mechanical wheelchair warned He Ao that reading more than one of the books could overwhelm someone of C-Rank or below.

He Ao explored an underground library and learned from Ilia Ann that a God War had killed the God of War and another Great Existence, leaving behind the Great Storm and the Invertel Grand Canyon. He left the library at dawn and introduced himself as Nell, just as someone outside began calling for Nell and his brother.

• He Ao met the blind, powerful Ilia Ann in the underground library and asked her to recommend books about the deaths of gods.
• Ilia Ann showed He Ao The Origin of the Great Storm, which described a God War that killed the God of War and an unidentified Great Existence.
• He Ao read that the Goddess of Beauty, the God of Order, the God of Death, and the Eternal Light had fought the God of War, and that his corpse gave rise to the Invertel Grand Canyon.
• The book's contamination overwhelmed He Ao, and Ilia Ann soothed him before warning that he could not withstand the next book.
• Ilia Ann escorted He Ao out, told him that Old Foreman had not discovered the library, and introduced herself as Ilia Ann.
• He Ao left at dawn and said his name was Nell, then heard someone outside calling for Nell and his brother.

He Ao learned how Ilia Ann supported the Miner's Mutual Aid Society and argued that it needed to unite ordinary miners rather than rely only on hatred and violence. The mayor’s speech blamed the Society for Vincent’s death, and He Ao recognized him as the man who had ordered the miners’ massacre, leaving the Society threatened with a wider purge.

• Ivo teased He Ao into a forced smile, so He Ao tied him to a church pillar and left him there.
• He Ao told the Old Foreman that Ilia Ann had been the Society’s chief financial supporter and discussed the Society’s limits and dependence on aggro.
• He Ao argued that the Society could challenge the Mining Consortium only by organizing and uniting oppressed miners.
• The Old Foreman revealed that the Mining Consortium controlled most, but not all, of the City Defense Army before a young man interrupted them with the mayor’s live speech.
• The mayor blamed the Society for Vincent’s death and vowed to bring the alleged criminals to justice, while Ivo and the Old Foreman suspected he had used the Society to remove Vincent and prepare a purge.
• He Ao recognized the mayor as the supervisor who had ordered a massacre of miners and realized that the recorded video had been titled with the first letter of “mayor.”

He Ao connected the mayor to the massacre in the stolen video and reasoned that the mayor had arranged Vincent’s death and the Mining Consortium’s attack on the Miner's Mutual Aid Society. As the Old Foreman gathered people for a meeting with Ilia Ann, He Ao suspected the mayor had a mole inside the society and noticed the suspicious Youth among those assembled.

• He Ao recognized the mayor as the Mining Consortium supervisor who had ordered the miners’ massacre and inferred that the mayor had used Vincent and the Miner's Mutual Aid Society to eliminate one another.
• He Ao concluded that the mayor had built a public image as a just leader and was using Ranke’s death to justify a purge, despite the City Defense Army’s losses.
• Maid Miss invited the group to meet Ilia Ann and said the Old Foreman would choose who attended.
• He Ao and the Old Foreman realized the invitation could provide cover for gathering the society’s core members and identifying a possible mole.
• The Old Foreman brought several people over, including the Youth He Ao had earlier seen acting suspiciously outside the Old Foreman’s room.

He Ao exposed Yaz as a traitor during the Old Foreman’s investigation, but discovered that the apparent Yaz was a corpse disguised and controlled by a transcendent. The real Yaz remained missing as the Old Foreman received troubling news.

• He Ao assessed the group as they questioned Allen’s absence and suspected Yaz and Daya of being the mole.
• Daya proposed detaining everyone under suspicion, while Yaz stabbed himself and accused Watson of corruption.
• As Daya drew a pistol to distract the group, He Ao caught Yaz’s dagger before Yaz could stab the Old Foreman.
• Yaz revealed his betrayal and attacked He Ao, who cut him down; He Ao then incapacitated Daya, who had been controlled by a special ability.
• He Ao discovered that the apparent Yaz was a disguised corpse and warned that the real Yaz might still be at large.
• The brothers’ banter eased the tension before the Old Foreman’s Smart Bracelet vibrated and his expression darkened.

After Yaz’s betrayal brought the Mining Consortium’s forces to the church, the Old Foreman organized an escape while Ilia Ann agreed to delay the attackers. He Ao volunteered to draw the forces away and prepared to slip out as Ilia Ann confronted Eber and Yaz at the entrance.

• The Old Foreman learned that Eber’s forces would reach the church within minutes and sent Watson and Ivo to gather the Mutual Aid Society members at the Small Pond.
• The Old Foreman told He Ao that the Mining Consortium had a B-Rank commander, Eber, and explained how the City Defense Army’s 108th Division resisted the consortium’s control.
• Ilia Ann agreed to hold off the attackers while the Mutual Aid Society relocated, and He Ao volunteered to draw enemy forces away.
• Ilia Ann told He Ao about a warehouse at 157 Annano Street that Vincent may have used as a safehouse for the escaped Hell Apostle Mechas.
• Ilia Ann gave He Ao a bead that could make nearby people believe a group was following him, then went outside to face Eber while Yaz stayed close behind him.
• He Ao disappeared into the shadows near the entrance as the City Defense Army and Mercenary Group surrounded the church.

Eber confronted Ilia Ann at the church while the Mercenary Group pursued a reported escape, but a hidden attacker struck Yaz and escaped. Ilia Ann stalled Eber long enough for the red-lit figure to vanish, and He Ao changed clothes and disappeared into the market.

• Eber faced Ilia Ann at the church entrance, while Yaz urged him to attack and the soldiers surrounded the building.
• Eber sent several brigades to intercept a large group reported at a safety exit, but the troops failed to catch anyone.
• Eber advanced toward the church, and Yaz spotted a shadowy figure before the hidden C-Rank attacker flashed overhead.
• Eber's Prison missed the red-lit attacker, who showered Yaz with pebbles and left him fatally wounded.
• Ilia Ann blocked Eber from pursuing the attacker, and Yaz died outside the church as his memories returned to the Miner's Mutual Aid Society.
• He Ao changed into a new windbreaker and top hat, then disappeared into the market.

He Ao reflected on the risks of killing Yaz and explored how Rock City’s Mining Consortium and mayor profited from the city’s tax system. After rescuing a miner’s family from Ice Wolf Gang enforcers, he left the alley and spotted someone waiting for him.

• He Ao explained how he used precise mental interference and Ilia Ann’s brief intervention to kill Yaz and escape Eber.
• He Ao reviewed how the Mining Consortium avoided taxes while the mayor’s policies routed market fees to the Ice Wolf Gang.
• He Ao left the crowded market and came across Ice Wolf Gang members trying to abduct a miner and seize another family member for prison labor.
• He Ao defeated the gang members, burned a cigarette butt into their leader’s mouth, and warned the miner’s family to hide because the gang would return.
• He Ao gave candy to the family’s children, then left and saw a smiling figure waiting for him under the streetlights.

He Ao met Old Foreman, who revealed his past and entrusted him with the Miner's Mutual Aid Society’s leadership and a mining pickaxe containing vital contacts. As mass arrests and bounty hunting devastated North City, He Ao prepared to act under K’s mask.

• Old Foreman explained how his Thought Gatherer ability helped him find He Ao and described his life as a factory worker and the woman killed during a strike.
• Old Foreman asked He Ao to lead the Miner's Mutual Aid Society if he died and gave him a pickaxe containing the members’ list and Wright’s contact information, with the password “Tomorrow Will Always Come.”
• He Ao saw the escalating arrests of miners in North City and learned that private prisons were paying gangs bounties to capture them for forced labor.
• He Ao stopped Ice Wolf Gang members and City Defense Army soldiers who were seizing people, then bought a white mask and marker.
• He Ao drew K’s eerie black-and-white mask and put it on.

He Ao killed several monsters and used an FBI agent’s wristband to locate others, while the mayor blamed the Miner's Mutual Aid Society for the attacks. As the Final Curtain seemed close, the agent joined He Ao to help track the monsters.

• A masked He Ao killed a D-Rank spider monster, borrowed an injured FBI agent’s wristband, and memorized the locations of known monsters.
• The agent recognized He Ao as K and rode off to follow him after He Ao refused to take him along.
• He Ao killed a third War God-contaminated monster and watched General Tuo Lie blame the Miner's Mutual Aid Society for the monster attacks.
• The agent found He Ao and offered to provide FBI intelligence and motorcycle transport, so He Ao took him along.
• He Ao sped off with the agent on the motorcycle, while FBI agents later found another dead monster and reported it to headquarters.

He Ao finished hunting the monsters created by the dead god and then met Division Commander Wright to warn him that the Mining Consortium was drawing the 108th Division's soldiers away. He Ao began proposing a lawful way to counter the Consortium, leaving Wright waiting to hear his plan.

• He Ao learned from the FBI agent that no more monsters had been found, gave the agent his smiling mask, and left to begin the next stage of his plan.
• At a café, He Ao met Division Commander Wright and brought up the 1083rd Brigade receiving its delayed bonuses while the 1081st and 1082nd Brigades still waited.
• Wright warned He Ao that he would not help with anything illegal or improper, then tested him with a display of murderous pressure.
• He Ao argued that the Mining Consortium would keep weakening Wright's support and asked what would happen when the 108th Division's soldiers no longer stood behind him.
• He Ao insisted that he would not ask Wright to break the law and claimed that he was a law-abiding good person, despite Wright knowing he was wanted.

He Ao secured Wright’s cooperation, helped members of the Miner's Mutual Aid Society escape Rock City, and investigated the mayor’s past. As he studied campaign recordings at Church School, Ivo reported that the Old Foreman had been attacked and was near death.

• He Ao tested Wright’s attitude toward the mayor and persuaded him to use his authority to stop Eber if needed.
• He Ao asked about Vester Prison and learned that Nell's Third Brother was safe there.
• He Ao gathered hunted and captured members of the Miner's Mutual Aid Society, disguised them as a trade caravan, and helped them leave through West Gate.
• He Ao found a suppressed biography of the mayor and read it at Church School, but it revealed little about the mayor’s work for the Mining Consortium.
• He Ao reviewed Wright’s campaign materials and noticed the mayor had shown broad knowledge early in his campaign and maintained unusually upright posture while resting.
• Ivo messaged He Ao that the Old Foreman had been attacked and was near death.

He Ao traced a possible link between the mayor and the monsters, then learned that violent clashes between miners and the Mining Consortium had sharply escalated. He arrived at the industrial park as the Old Foreman was taken away by the alchemist, after giving a speech.

• He Ao compared the mayor's movements with the monster attacks and found that the mayor had stopped near the antique shop shortly before its Boss was killed.
• He Ao reached the abandoned industrial park and learned from Ivo and Watson that the Old Foreman had been taken away by the alchemist.
• Watson explained that the Old Foreman had led the Miner's Mutual Aid Society to seize Mecha, rescue imprisoned miners, and debate whether to flee or attack the mayor and the Mining Consortium's Board of Directors.
• A clash in a northwestern district left several City Defense Army soldiers, more than a dozen Ice Wolf Gang Members, over seventy miners, and a Mining Consortium director dead.
• He Ao learned that the Old Foreman had given a speech as the conflict spiraled further out of control.

He Ao realized the mayor’s apparent death was part of a trap and helped the Miner's Mutual Aid Society members escape through the West Gate. After investigating a mysterious symbol and finalizing a plan to exploit the coming conflict, he sent Ivo and Watson to rally the Wilderness Wanderers and walked into the night to carry out his own part.

• Watson and Ivo told He Ao that Old Foreman had been shot during a speech, and that the miners had gone to assassinate the mayor.
• He Ao recognized that the mayor’s death and the miners’ actions were part of a larger trap, then ordered Watson to recall the attackers and helped them escape through the West Gate.
• He Ao contacted Wright to confirm the West Gate remained open and sent a mysterious symbol to Christos for investigation.
• After receiving Christos’s reply, He Ao finalized a plan to take advantage of the conflict between the Mining Consortium and the miners.
• He Ao told Ivo and Watson to join the Wilderness Wanderers and deliver his plan, then walked into the darkness to carry out his own part.

He Ao reached the Mining Consortium Building after learning from a taxi driver how the Big Mine had become a profit-driven monopoly. While He Ao prepared to act in Rock City, the miners and Wilderness Wanderers launched a coordinated uprising at a mine, aided by Wick and a giant Mecha.

• The taxi driver told He Ao how the Big Mine’s takeover by financiers had led to cost-cutting, dangerous working conditions, and lower wages.
• He Ao arrived near the Mining Consortium Building, inferred that the person behind the unrest did not know they had been exposed, and drew his Short Sword to prepare.
• At a northern mine, Wilderness Wanderers and miners attacked the mercenaries guarding the site, killing one and capturing another.
• Wick arrived and praised the young Wilderness Wanderer as gunfire spread through the mine.
• A giant Mecha appeared overhead, silencing the fighting, and a callused hand reached for the Mining Consortium’s flagpole.

He Ao fought his way through the Mining Consortium Building, using the records in its server room to track down the executives responsible for crimes against workers and their families. After killing the guilty people on the seventieth floor and driving off the City Defense Army, he reached the Board of Directors conference room on the seventy-second floor.

• He Ao slaughtered the Mining Consortium's mercenaries, entered the building, and learned from an officer where the server room was.
• He Ao had Eve crack server room B104 and copy the Consortium's incident records and a list of responsible executives.
• He Ao climbed the fire exits and killed executives who attacked him, while ordinary people fled past him.
• He Ao reached the seventieth floor, defeated Tuo Lie, and caused the City Defense Army soldiers to abandon their posts.
• He Ao killed the executives who attacked him and the young man who had helped Tuo Lie target victims' families.
• He Ao reached the seventy-second floor and opened the Board of Directors conference room doors.