Chapter Summaries

He Ao and Ye Yun pursued Iver through the Navigator and discovered a blood-soaked tram filled with the echoes of people who had been trapped and killed. He Ao activated the tram’s artificial intelligence, A02, while in the Main World his avatar found that 8753 withheld key information and considered the mysterious Painter’s resemblance to Hao Yi.

• He Ao arranged to meet Li Cheng in Wislanka two hours later, then returned to the Navigator with Ye Yun to follow Iver’s trail.
• He Ao and Ye Yun found a blood-covered tram and saw echoes of trapped passengers being killed inside it.
• He Ao repaired the tram’s wiring, powering its controls and summoning its artificial intelligence, A02.
• In the Main World, He Ao questioned 8753 about translation and the Navigator, but the AI refused access or malfunctioned.
• He Ao reviewed Noding’s file on the mysterious Painter and connected the man’s fabricated identity to Hao Yi.

He Ao and Ye Yun taught Navigator’s AI A02 their language and learned that the First Mate’s key in the Core Control Room could grant control of the ship. As they rode toward the Core Control Room and fought pursuing monsters, He Ao copied A02 onto a portable device, while Ye Yun proposed a way to verify their identities if they were separated.

• He Ao and Ye Yun taught A02 Central Land language, allowing them to communicate with Navigator’s main artificial intelligence.
• A02 explained that the train’s engine could reach the Core Control Room and revealed that the First Mate’s key there could grant authority over the ship and its remaining weapons.
• He Ao learned that the Core Control Room’s defenses could delay a peak C-rank combatant for about forty-five minutes, giving them a chance to reach it before Iver.
• He Ao and Ye Yun rode the train through the tunnel, taking turns fighting monsters that pursued them from behind.
• He Ao copied A02 onto a portable computer using the train’s network module, then took over fighting the monsters as Ye Yun rested.
• Ye Yun suggested that they establish a way to verify each other’s identities in case monsters disguised themselves as them.

He Ao and Ye Yun agreed on ways to verify each other’s identities, but a giant mechanical monster attacked them as they neared the Core Control Room. After A02 guided them through the laboratory, the two were forced through separate gates, leaving them to continue along different routes.

• Ye Yun suggested that he and He Ao establish identity checks, and they agreed on separate code phrases.
• As the monsters chasing their tram dwindled, a giant mechanical monster tore through the tunnel and attacked them with a Plasma Cannon.
• He Ao and Ye Yun fled through the corridors while He Ao connected A02, who guided them around the monster’s attacks.
• A02 showed He Ao that two gates led to the Core Control Room, and He Ao chose the shorter, more dangerous route on the right.
• The monster blocked Ye Yun from following He Ao, so Ye Yun jumped through the left gate before both gates shut, separating them.

Li Cheng sought He Ao’s judgment on the Ruins’ abnormal changes, and He Ao hinted that the incident might be connected to the Ruins’ destruction before beginning to forge a sword with Li Cheng. Meanwhile, aboard the Navigator, He Ao reached the Space-Time Coordinate Research Institute and found its Space-Time Beacons destroyed.

• Li Cheng told He Ao that a Prophecy Class Transcendent Item predicted that those who entered the Ruins normally would return normally, but its prophecies were unreliable and offered no way to intervene.
• He Ao suggested the Ruins incident was likely connected to the reason the Ruins were destroyed, then asked Li Cheng to finish forging his sword first.
• Li Cheng opened the wooden box and revealed the lightning-wreathed Spear of Andarville, while He Ao used its lightning to forge the sword and reinforced its Control Array with his blood.
• He Ao’s main body defeated a giant-brain monster aboard the Navigator, repaired A02’s loose microphone and speaker cables, and learned he was near the Space-Time Coordinate Research Institute.
• He Ao found broken Space-Time Beacons throughout the laboratory and learned from A02 that they stored the Navigator’s Space-Time Coordinates and could not be repaired if their screens no longer lit up.

He Ao explored the Navigator’s ruined laboratory, learned that the Space-Time Beacon Correctors were damaged, and began having A02 unlock the barrier to the Core Control Room. A Monkey Monster ambushed him and trapped him in a deadly attack, leaving He Ao facing a scorching greatsword with his thrown Bone Sword deflected.

• He Ao found the Space-Time Beacons destroyed and identified three damaged machines as Space-Time Beacon Correctors, one of which he secretly recognized as controllable.
• A02 told He Ao that the Space-Time Jump Tester might still work and explained that the shut gate ahead was the Core Control Room’s Outer Barrier Door.
• He Ao connected A02 to the ruined switch so she could crack the barrier’s password system, a process expected to take eight to ten minutes.
• A Monkey Monster dropped from the darkness and attacked He Ao with a Mechanical Greatsword, but He Ao blocked its opening strike and knocked it into a collapsed machine.
• The Monkey Monster used its heated greatsword and eye lasers to anticipate He Ao’s escape, while He Ao’s thrown Bone Sword struck its steel-like skin and was deflected.
• The Monkey Monster’s rising, scorching greatsword closed in on He Ao’s lower back as he remained airborne.

He Ao repaired the Space-Time Beacon, endured the pollution of reading Space-Time Coordinates, and uncovered a way to record the current coordinates. He then used the ship’s Space-Time Jump Tester to make the stars flicker, leaving Zhang Yusi to recognize the signal as a code without knowing its Cipher Head.

• He Ao killed the Monkey Monster, collected its Energy Blocks, and took its heated Mechanical Greatsword.
• He Ao repaired the Space-Time Beacon with a Space-Time Beacon Corrector and memorized one set of coordinates despite their dangerous pollution.
• He Ao learned from A02 that space-time-travel equipment could read its current coordinates, then saved the ship’s coordinates in the beacon.
• He Ao repeatedly activated the Space-Time Jump Tester, making the spacecraft shudder and the stars flicker.
• Zhang Yusi recorded the flickering and identified it as a Research Institute Standard Cipher code, but she did not know its Cipher Head.

He Ao and Ye Yun agreed on secret identity checks while traveling toward the Core Control Room, then were attacked by a giant, flesh-covered machine. A02 guided them to two gates, but the machine forced them through separate routes, leaving them to continue alone toward the Core Control Room.

• He Ao and Ye Yun agreed on passwords so they could verify each other if they became separated.
• A giant mechanical monster broke into the tunnel and attacked them with a Plasma Cannon, forcing them to flee through a blasted opening.
• He Ao connected a network card to a miniature computer, and A02 guided them through the laboratory passages to evade the monster.
• A02 showed He Ao two routes to the Core Control Room, and He Ao chose the shorter, more dangerous route through the right gate.
• The monster blocked Ye Yun's path, so he jumped through the left gate as both gates closed, separating him from He Ao.

He Ao confronted Yin Weier in the Navigator’s Core Control Room, where they fought over a golden bracelet and the First Mate’s Authority Key. The battle left both men badly wounded, and as Yin Weier embraced the power corrupting him, He Ao prepared to draw the Bone Sword.

• A hunched figure entered the Core Control Room and reached for the golden bracelet, but the Metal Pillars’ invisible barrier drained his strength until He Ao arrived.
• He Ao questioned Yin Weier about the bracelet, the Authority Key, and his information about the ship; Yin Weier offered to cooperate and led him to the skeleton holding the key.
• When He Ao recognized the Authority Key, Yin Weier attacked, and the two fought with their weapons in the hall.
• He Ao’s avatar reviewed the organizations’ lists and his own research aboard Verola, then resisted the strange urges and whispers beyond the vehicle’s windows.
• After their fight continued through the hatch, Yin Weier declared that He Ao had to die and charged again, his body consumed by gray patterns.
• Yin Weier admitted he knowingly embraced the corrupting power and gathered bloodstained steel beneath his feet as He Ao gripped the Bone Sword.

He Ao accelerated the Verola with Angel-level energy, then fought Yin Weier in the Core Control Room and discovered that its energy circuits weakened Yin Weier’s contamination and power. As the battle continued, He Ao detected a hidden anomaly in the circuits but had not yet found a way to reach it.

• He Ao used Angel-level energy to accelerate the Verola.
• Yin Weier attacked He Ao with metal weapons and a massive steel arm, while He Ao charged him and cut through the arm with an energy-fed Mechanical Greatsword.
• He Ao retreated into the Core Control Room, where its energy circuits suppressed Yin Weier’s contamination, strength, and control over the steel wreckage.
• Yin Weier pressed He Ao against a glass wall, and He Ao noticed that one energy circuit fluctuated differently from the others.
• He Ao continued fighting as his injuries and exhaustion mounted, studying the circuits and deciding to use other methods to decipher the hidden anomaly.

He Ao analyzed the hall’s energy circuit, found the Lucky Brooch, and killed Yin Weier after turning the fight in his favor. Badly wounded and paying the brooch’s price, he learned he needed First Mate authority to reach the infirmary as footsteps approached through the airlock.

• He Ao used the Forged Knowledge Book Page to decipher the hall’s main energy circuit and learned how to enhance himself and his weapons more efficiently.
• He Ao traced the circuit’s flow, opened a hidden vent in the wall, and retrieved the Lucky Brooch left behind by the skeleton.
• He Ao pinned on the brooch and defeated Yin Weier, breaking his spear and killing him with the Bone Sword.
• He Ao collapsed from his injuries and removed the brooch as its fickle favor began collecting its price.
• A02 told He Ao that the infirmary was sealed and required First Mate authority, which he could obtain by destroying the Core Control Room’s glass wall.
• He Ao questioned A02 about its appearance and hypnotic pupil rings as footsteps approached from the airlock.

He Ao exposed David as Painter, a defector from the Ruodan Restoration Organization, after David tried to kill him in the Navigator’s Core Control Room. David threatened Yuan Guo to force He Ao to surrender, but He Ao revealed that the safehouse was burning and launched a rescue.

• A bandaged woman waited alone in the Navigator Ring Cabin, hoping the ruin would return survivors home after three days.
• Ye Yun arrived in the Core Control Room and attacked He Ao with concealed daggers, but He Ao caught his wrist and exposed him as David.
• He Ao explained how he traced David’s identity to Painter and the Ruodan Restoration Organization, while David admitted he had underestimated He Ao.
• David summoned the giant flesh-and-machine robot and offered He Ao eternal life, then threatened Yuan Guo, who was trapped in a safehouse.
• He Ao pointed out flames in the fourth ring cabin and told David he was going to rescue Yuan Guo before appearing in front of him.

He Ao uncovered A02’s plan to become human and David’s plot to free her, while Zhang Yusi and Shu Gui rescued Yuan Guo. David invoked a god and merged with the mechanical giant, leaving He Ao to face him at the sealed control-room gate.

• Zhang Yusi and Shu Gui rescued Yuan Guo from the Navigator Ring Cabin and fled back toward safety as monsters pursued them.
• A02 deduced how He Ao had sent coded instructions to his companions, and He Ao revealed that he had suspected her because she was the only surviving artificial intelligence aboard the ruined ship.
• He Ao saw that the dodecahedron crystal contained a polluted human form sealed by the Energy Circuit and golden bracelet, and he recognized that A02 was trying to become human.
• David performed a ritual that merged him with the mechanical giant and strengthened them, then threatened He Ao and his companions with death in the ship’s depths.
• He Ao stood before the gate to stop David from reaching the seal and declared that his longing for his hometown was why he would fight, then identified David’s scheme as a ritual.

He Ao deduced that the deaths and homesickness aboard the Navigator were part of a ritual meant to obtain the Main World's Space-Time Coordinates, then fought and killed David after exposing the futility of his faith in an Evil God. The Navigator continued to shake as its dome opened to Deep Space, and He Ao heard a whistle in the void.

• He Ao explained how the Boss's plans for the Verola and Space-Time Beacon had been part of a scheme to bring the Main World's coordinates into the ruins, and connected that scheme to the Navigator's ritual of homesick sacrifices.
• David argued that summoning his god was necessary to save their world from destruction, but He Ao challenged him by asking why the god had failed to protect believers in the ruins or aboard the Navigator.
• David admitted that his god did not care and attacked He Ao, who used his swords and the Miracle Wand's Mountain Collapse and Tsunami ability to destroy David's Energy Convergence Points and kill him.
• After David died, A02 spoke through a steel bird and told He Ao that everything should be over, while the Navigator kept trembling and its glass dome opened onto Deep Space.
• He Ao spotted combat spacecraft beyond the dome and heard a whistle sounding in the void.

Zhang Yusi and the others drove back the monsters with the Plasma Cannon, only to find a colossal ship aiming at them; an Old Train destroyed it and arrived to take them aboard. Meanwhile, He Ao fought A02 and the attacking warships in space, ending the chapter after slicing through one of them.

• Zhang Yusi, Shu Gui, Yaxin, and Yuan Guo held the corridor against the monsters until Zhang Yusi used all three Plasma Cannon shots to destroy the Sea Anemone Monsters and drive the swarm away.
• The four entered the Round Hall and saw a massive ship aiming its cannon at them, but an Old Train burst from the void, destroyed the ship, and stopped to let them aboard.
• He Ao used Adam 1 Type Exoskeleton Armor to survive the opening dome and escaping air, then killed A02's mechanical bird with the Mechanical Greatsword.
• He Ao flew toward the attacking warships, dodged their cannon fire, and lengthened the Mechanical Greatsword with alloy rods.
• He Ao cut through a warship's armor, leaving a massive wound as its cannon exploded behind him.

He Ao fought through A02’s battleships to buy time, then used the Verola, a Lucky Brooch, and a damaged knowledge page to obtain clues to his future Talent Sequences and invoke the God of Knowledge. As the train escaped, the seal broke and A02 emerged, but the prayer’s power struck through the Navigator and its enemies, leaving the ship silent.

• He Ao cleared the battleships beneath the dome, escaped into space aboard the Verola, and sent his armored clone Hao Yi to fight the fleet with Mountain Collapse and Tsunami.
• He Ao used the Lucky Brooch to make the Forged Knowledge Book Page reveal clues to Hyperthymesia’s and Hidden Magician’s B-class Talent Sequences.
• He Ao took the mechanical wristband from the skeleton, then used the damaged page to ask for the God of Knowledge’s prayer incantation before fleeing aboard the Verola.
• A02’s battleships destroyed the seal, freeing the being inside the gray crystal, but He Ao’s train escaped with the golden bracelet as the page’s prayer activated.
• The prayer’s radiance pierced the battleships, the crystal, and the shadow within, after which the Navigator fell silent.

Zhang Yusi, Yuan Guo, Shu Gui, and Yaxin escaped the corridor after Zhang Yusi destroyed the Sea Anemone Monsters with the Plasma Cannon, but an enormous spacecraft then threatened them. The Old Train rescued them, while He Ao used Adam 1 Type armor to fight A02’s warships as they attacked the Core Control Room.

• Zhang Yusi used the Plasma Cannon’s final three shots to kill the Sea Anemone Monsters, causing the other monsters to retreat.
• The four survivors entered the Round Hall and discovered a giant spacecraft aiming its cannon at them.
• An Old Train burst from the void, destroyed the spacecraft, and stopped so the Youth wearing glasses could invite the group aboard.
• A02 warned He Ao that the opening dome would leave him without air and tried to recruit him to her Lord.
• He Ao donned Adam 1 Type armor, killed A02’s mechanical bird with the Mechanical Greatsword, and flew toward the attacking warships.
• He Ao extended the Mechanical Greatsword with Alloy Rods and sliced through a warship as its cannon exploded.

He Ao reunited with the surviving Research Institute members aboard the Verola, recounted what had happened, and studied the contaminated golden bracelet. After a colossal creature passed through the darkness and briefly contaminated him, the train continued toward home.

• Zhang Yusi asked He Ao to return for the minister left behind, and He Ao reassured her and the other survivors that they were safe.
• He Ao told Zhang Yusi, Yuan Guo, Shu Gui, and Yaxin what had happened after they separated, and they reacted with astonishment as Yaxin and the others explained the events to Shu Gui.
• 'Hao Yi' arranged sleeping compartments for the survivors, while He Ao examined the golden bracelet and sensed its connection to the God of War.
• He Ao used the Nutrient Can's hunger side effect to consume the Research Institute's Transcendent food and restore his Divine Senses during the return trip.
• The Verola shook as a colossal creature passed through the darkness, and He Ao used the bracelet to purify contamination before the creature glanced at his avatar and moved on.
• He Ao shut the train windows, noted that the avatar suffered no further misfortune after a full day without the Lucky Brooch, and looked ahead as the Verola continued home.

Li Cheng welcomed He Ao and his companions back, then chose knowledge about Talent Sequences as payment and learned their foundational structure from Hao Yi. After He Ao reunited with his colleagues and continued investigating the threat connected to the ruins, he began a new life simulation as Grain Group Employee Sito.

• Li Cheng waited for He Ao despite Liu Zhengyun urging him to begin arranging compensation for the missing explorers, and He Ao returned to the café with Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo.
• Li Cheng chose He Ao’s knowledge about talents over knowledge about angels, and He Ao explained the sequence pattern, its nine Rank F foundations, and the branching structure of higher ranks.
• Li Cheng thanked He Ao for sharing knowledge that could transform the Research Institute’s understanding of talents, then left the Verola after He Ao suggested he speak with a promising young researcher.
• He Ao saw Zhang Yusi and Yuan Guo off, then reunited with Wu Lan, Yang De, and Ji Po, while his Hao Yi avatar considered how the Painter might have been connected to contamination from the ruins.
• He Ao consumed materials from Moonlight and the World Tree, increased his divine consciousness to seven strands, and started a new simulation as Grain Group Employee Sito.

Sito lived through a long life of work, family hardship, and loss, ending after his son and daughter-in-law died in a car accident and he fell asleep beside his granddaughter. He then awoke in scorching flames with a mission to investigate the truth of Winding Hill.

• Sito grew up in poverty, worked his way through school, and built a career at Saint Jon Tewei Grain Group while supporting his parents and starting a family.
• He endured the deaths of his father and mother, lost his job after Kajet Group took over Tewei Group, and later watched his wife die after a prolonged illness.
• Sito cared for his granddaughter in old age, then learned his son and daughter-in-law had died in a car accident and returned to their home with the child.
• A mission appeared telling him to investigate the truth of Winding Hill and wishing him a pleasant game.
• He Ao suddenly opened his eyes as scorching flames swept across his skin.

He Ao rescued his granddaughter from a deliberately set fire in Sito's son's apartment and pursued the drone used by the arsonists. He confronted the two men in an alley, where they learned the supposed victims had survived.

• He Ao woke to find the apartment burning, carried the Little Girl out, and forced open the damaged front door lock.
• He Ao took his granddaughter down the fire exit and concluded that the fire had been set to destroy items in the apartment.
• He Ao spotted the arsonist's drone flying away and chased it through the night.
• The two men packed away the drone and discussed how they had drugged the apartment's occupants and expected them to die in the fire.
• He Ao appeared behind the men in the alley and asked if they wanted to go to heaven and enjoy its blessings.