Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Crossing the High Wall”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Keskaine’s mayor receives an urgent report that Vice President Bode has seized the control room after being attacked. Initially, he doubts the report, especially the claim that Secret Intelligence Bureau agents assaulted Bode.
• The mayor realizes that the attackers are actually cultists disguised as Bureau agents and orders his people to protect Bode.
• Bode—actually He Ao—escapes aboard a heavily modified private aircraft. He tells the captain and his assistant that cultists have kidnapped his daughter and that he must pursue them immediately.
• The assistant leaves, but the veteran pilot Mark chooses to remain and fly the aircraft despite the danger. He Ao accepts his help and orders him to fly to Visen.
• The plane takes off without official clearance and approaches Keskaine’s high defensive wall. Although searchlights and warning systems track the aircraft, the mayor refuses to authorize an interception, fearing the political consequences of harming a vice president who might someday become president.
• The aircraft safely crosses the wall and leaves Keskaine. He Ao showers and prepares for the journey while Mark continues flying.
• After they depart, radar detects a large mecha unit approaching from the northwest. Deputy Commander Es learns that Bode has left the city and mobilizes every available mecha.
• He Ao and Mark determine that the mechas are attempting to intercept them. The aircraft cannot easily maneuver through the mountains, while the smaller mechas can take shortcuts through dangerous terrain.
• He Ao orders Mark to accelerate, hoping to exploit the aircraft’s superior speed. However, Deputy Commander Es predicts this move and realizes the plane can only follow the standard route.
• The pursuing mechas move through the mountain forests at low altitude to avoid provoking flying Exotic Beasts. Es reveals that the aircraft is heading into a trap.

Character Developments

• He Ao/Bode: He remains composed and decisive despite being covered in blood and under pursuit. He presents the kidnapping of his daughter as the reason for his escape, but his observations suggest he suspects a larger conspiracy involving the military and the consortium. He demonstrates strategic thinking by questioning whether the forces pursuing him had been stationed outside Keskaine in advance.
• Mark: Mark develops from a hesitant pilot into a loyal and courageous ally. His military background gives him confidence under pressure, and he refuses to abandon He Ao even when warned that he could die.
• Keskaine’s mayor: He is politically cautious and self-interested. Rather than risk confronting Bode, he chooses inaction, reasoning that Bode may become president and that interference could have serious consequences.
• Deputy Commander Es: He is introduced as an experienced and capable military leader. He quickly interprets the situation, mobilizes the mecha forces, anticipates He Ao’s likely decisions, and prepares an ambush.
• The assistant and captain’s crew: The assistant is frightened and withdraws once the danger becomes clear, while Mark’s willingness to stay highlights the contrast between ordinary fear and military loyalty.

Significant Themes

• Political survival and opportunism: Officials avoid taking action not out of justice or duty, but because they are calculating who may hold power in the future.
• Trust and loyalty: Mark’s decision to remain with He Ao emphasizes loyalty in contrast to the uncertainty and cowardice of the other officials.
• Conspiracy and deception: Cultists impersonate government agents, while He Ao’s identity and motives remain partly concealed. The chapter suggests that the apparent attack may be connected to a broader political or military plot.
• Flight versus entrapment: The aircraft’s escape over the high wall represents temporary freedom, but the approaching mechas show that leaving the city does not mean escaping danger.
• Technology and strategy: Aircraft, radar, mechas, defensive walls, and automated systems shape the pursuit. Superior equipment matters, but terrain knowledge and tactical planning may prove more important.

Character Interactions

• The mayor argues with his informant and redirects the response once he understands the attackers are cultists.
• He Ao reassures—or dismisses—the aircraft crew while warning them of the danger, testing their willingness to follow him.
• Mark questions He Ao’s decisions but ultimately accepts his authority and commits to helping him.
• The mayor and military officer discuss whether to stop the aircraft, revealing their fear of political repercussions.
• He Ao and Mark analyze the pursuing force together, with He Ao relying on Mark’s technical knowledge while contributing his own strategic insight.
• Deputy Commander Es commands his officers and pilots, using his understanding of the terrain and the aircraft’s limitations to prepare an interception.

Chapter Summary: “Raiding Their Home”

Key Plot Points and Events

• He Ao and Mark escape by fighter jet while being pursued by drones and armor forces. He Ao correctly realizes that many of the “drones” are actually disguised armor reinforcements, since the consortiums would not spend so many resources pursuing him without a larger force.
• A powerful flying exotic beast shadows their route but deliberately avoids attacking, suggesting that it may have been waiting for the pursuit force to pass or was otherwise acting unusually.
• The pursuing military unit encounters a dense region of hostile flying exotic beasts. Deputy Commander Es initially orders the force to continue, believing they will soon pass through the danger zone, but growing suspicion and the lack of intelligence make him realize that something is wrong. He orders the troops to turn back.
• He Ao and Mark discover the mercenary groups’ encampment by tracing the direction of the pursuing fighters. Since most of the mercenaries’ combat forces have left to chase them, the camp is poorly defended.
• He Ao decides to raid the encampment alone. He equips his flight armor and jumps from the fighter jet, despite Mark’s concerns that the main enemy force may return.
• The armor’s operating system initially crashes because a virus had been implanted in it remotely. However, Eve, He Ao’s own artificial intelligence, restores control and allows him to activate the armor.
• He Ao lands inside the mercenary encampment, triggering alarms and quickly incapacitating the soldiers stationed there.
• He enters the camp’s command tent, where several inexperienced soldiers aim their weapons at him. He calmly tells them that he will not shoot if they do not, then connects his armor to the command computer and hacks into its records.
• Eve retrieves radar, surveillance, and drone data. Although the camp’s radar never detected the target fighter, its network of monitoring drones recorded enough information to reveal that the aircraft flew southeast rather than east toward Visen.
• He Ao identifies the destination as Teron, the only city accessible by crossing the vast southeastern Gobi. At the chapter’s end, he receives an incoming communication.

Character Developments

• He Ao: Demonstrates strategic intelligence, resourcefulness, and confidence. He predicts enemy behavior, recognizes the weakness created by their overextended pursuit, and turns the enemy’s base into a source of information. His calm handling of the frightened soldiers further emphasizes his control and restraint. He also relies on Eve rather than the compromised armor system, showing his preparation and adaptability.
• Mark: Continues to serve as He Ao’s pilot and support, but remains impressed and somewhat intimidated by He Ao’s ability to predict events. His caution contrasts with He Ao’s willingness to take risks, especially when He Ao chooses to attack the camp alone.
• Deputy Commander Es: Shows strong tactical instincts and caution. Unlike the younger officer, he senses that the lack of intelligence is suspicious and correctly suspects that the enemy has not followed the expected route. His authority and judgment are challenged by the younger officer, creating tension within the pursuing force.
• Young Officer: Represents impatience and overconfidence. He believes the enemy is already trapped and criticizes Es for turning back, underestimating the possibility that the pursuit plan has failed.
• Eve: Proves essential by repairing or bypassing the armor’s infected operating system and rapidly analyzing the camp’s data. Her appearance as a little girl reinforces her distinctive, almost playful personality.

Significant Themes

• Intelligence versus brute force: He Ao succeeds through deduction, surveillance analysis, and anticipation rather than superior firepower.
• Preparation and counter-preparation: The enemy has carefully planted a virus in the armor and established a drone-monitoring network, but He Ao’s own preparation through Eve allows him to overcome these measures.
• The danger of assumptions: The pursuing forces assume He Ao will follow the normal route, while He Ao exploits their expectations. Es recognizes that “no news” may signal a serious problem.
• Resourcefulness under pressure: Both sides improvise, but He Ao is better at turning unexpected obstacles—such as the crashed armor system and the enemy camp—into advantages.
• Power and restraint: He Ao has the ability to kill the camp’s remaining soldiers but chooses to intimidate and bypass them instead, suggesting that violence is not always his first option.
• Hidden forces and uncertainty: The strange behavior of the flying exotic beast and the unexplained absence of expected threats hint that larger, unseen factors may be influencing events.

Character Interactions

• He Ao and Mark discuss the pursuit force, revealing Mark’s admiration for He Ao’s understanding of the consortiums.
• Mark questions He Ao’s plan to raid the camp, while He Ao insists that the mission is his alone.
• Deputy Commander Es clashes with the young officer over whether to continue pursuing or return, highlighting the difference between caution and overconfidence.
• He Ao confronts the inexperienced soldiers in the command tent. His calm statement that he will not shoot unless they do prevents an immediate firefight and leaves them too frightened to resist.
• He Ao works indirectly with Eve, whose intervention restores the armor and uncovers the enemy’s true flight data.

Chapter Summary: “Heading to Teron”

Key plot points and events

• He Ao, disguised as Bode, escapes the garrison in a superior aircraft after sabotaging its central computer and deleting much of its data. He also appears to have examined the camp’s radar and surveillance systems.
• Commander Es returns too late to catch him. A young officer blames Es for the failed operation and threatens to report him to the board of directors.
• The officer tries to execute several soldiers who surrendered during Bode’s attack. Es stops him, dismisses the soldiers for violating discipline, but ensures they receive their wages and a safe ride back to the city.
• Es declares the mission is not a failure because he has worked out where Bode is headed. He suspects the route to Visen and prepares to pursue him.
• In flight, He Ao explains to Mark how he saw through Es’s decoy-and-ambush strategy. Es had used drones and knowledge of the surrounding terrain to track possible routes, but He Ao recognized that the supposed pursuing force was too large to be a genuine conglomerate deployment.
• He Ao insists on flying directly across the dangerous Great Gobi rather than taking the safer, slower route. Mark agrees to stay with him.
• He Ao reflects on the Life Church, whose members seem more like loosely organized researchers than a disciplined group capable of kidnapping Bode’s daughter. He also senses that his clone in the main world remains safe, with no sign that the Sage Master has bypassed the Mechanical God’s interference.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao/Bode demonstrates tactical insight by anticipating Es’s strategy and exploiting its weak point. He remains focused on reaching his destination quickly, even when the route is dangerous.
• Es shows competence and restraint: he recognizes the pursuit has failed, protects the surrendered soldiers from the young officer’s violence, and reasons out Bode’s likely destination.
• The young officer is ambitious and openly hostile toward Es, prioritizing blame and career advancement over the soldiers’ welfare. Es’s authority forces him to stand down.
• Mark is impressed by He Ao’s deductions and remains loyal, choosing to follow him across the Gobi despite the risk.
• Es and the young officer clash over responsibility for the failed operation; He Ao and Mark discuss the pursuit and its risks; Es’s intervention spares the soldiers from execution.

Significant themes

• Strategy and counterstrategy: Both Es and He Ao are capable planners, and the pursuit becomes a contest of observation, preparation, and inference.
• Leadership and accountability: Es accepts command responsibility while refusing to let the young officer use military discipline as an excuse for cruelty.
• Ambition versus duty: The young officer’s desire for promotion contrasts with Es’s attention to the mission and the soldiers under his command.
• Uncertainty and suspicion: He Ao questions whether the Life Church could be responsible for the kidnapping, since its known structure seems ill-suited to such an operation.
• Risk in pursuit of a goal: He Ao chooses speed over safety, accepting the danger of crossing the Great Gobi.

Key plot points and events

• He Ao and pilot Mark reach Teron, a desert trading city, after an uneventful crossing of the Great Gobi. He Ao believes the cultists who attacked him and kidnapped his daughter may be there.
• Though Teron’s air-traffic control demands formal clearance and verification, He Ao orders Mark to fly directly over the city wall. He insists the City Defense Army will not fire because he is still the legally appointed vice president.
• The city’s defenses lock onto the fighter, but the soldiers hold their fire. He Ao explains that Teron’s leaders need to avoid appearing connected to Dawn City, especially amid political tensions. He also accepts that his defiance could bring an impeachment attempt.
• At Teron Airport, He Ao asks the mayor for access to the arrival and departure records. Eve searches them and finds the Floating Fighter Jet still parked there.
• He Ao receives a reply from Roger: the Life Church likely did not organize the kidnapping, though someone may be using its name. He Ao asks whether any prominent church figures are living in Teron.
• Roger is puzzled by the question and looks toward the Dean’s Office, suggesting he may seek help or information there.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao acts decisively and uses his vice-presidential authority as leverage, accepting political and personal risk to pursue his daughter. He remains composed under threat and understands that Teron’s officials’ apparent anger may be a performance to preserve appearances.
• Mark is frightened by the reckless flight but follows He Ao’s orders. He is relieved when the city does not fire and offers to protect He Ao, while acknowledging his limited ability to do so.
• Teron’s officials initially insist on procedure, then cooperate after He Ao forces the issue. Their caution reflects the city’s political position as much as concern for safety.
• Roger confirms that the Life Church is unlikely to have carried out the kidnapping and is unsettled by He Ao’s question about church leaders in Teron.

Significant themes

• Authority versus procedure: He Ao bypasses official channels, arguing that emergency circumstances justify immediate action.
• Political image and responsibility: Teron’s officials must appear angry even as they cooperate, while He Ao takes the blame for forcing their hand.
• Urgency and personal duty: He Ao’s search for his kidnapped daughter drives him to risk his position and the safety of the aircraft.
• Uncertainty and misdirection: The Life Church may be a false lead—or its name may be exploited—leaving the kidnappers’ identity unresolved.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• He Ao investigates the disappearance of Bode’s daughter after surveillance footage shows white-robed figures carrying the sleeping child away from the airport. The group enters an alley without camera coverage, leaving their destination uncertain.
• A lead from Roger reveals that Vikel, a reclusive Archbishop of the Life Church and former biologist, lives somewhere in Teron. He Ao uses Eve’s databases and his Hyper-memory ability to identify Rui Kai, a respected white-haired private doctor whose identity appears connected to Vikel.
• He Ao travels to Vikel’s heavily defended villa with a pilot and airport staff member, entering by rope ladder from a Floating Fighter Jet and forcibly destroying the front door.
• Inside, Vikel is negotiating with Teron’s deputy mayor. The deputy mayor helped authorize the suspicious aircraft permit and wants exclusive rights to sell Vikel’s powerful wound medicine. Vikel agrees only to limited sales rights, remaining confident that Bode cannot reach or threaten him.
• Their confidence collapses when He Ao arrives. The airport employee recognizes the deputy mayor, exposing his presence and possible corruption.
• Vikel recognizes He Ao as vice president but insults his upbringing and dismisses him as “gutter trash.” He Ao remains calm, confronts Vikel about investigating him, and demands to know where his daughter is.

Character Developments

• He Ao: Demonstrates patience, investigative skill, and controlled use of Hyper-memory. Despite the emotional pressure of his daughter’s disappearance, he remains composed until directly confronting Vikel. His sudden movement and aggressive entrance reveal his willingness to abandon formal procedures.
• Vikel: Introduced as a powerful, arrogant, and well-connected Life Church Archbishop disguised as a private doctor. He is confident in his wealth, defenses, and status, but his composure weakens when He Ao penetrates his security.
• Deputy Mayor: Revealed as opportunistic and potentially complicit in the child’s abduction. He attempts to exploit Vikel’s wartime wound medicine for personal profit, while also fearing He Ao’s authority and possible retaliation.
• Roger and Eve: Roger provides intelligence on Vikel’s background, while Eve helps narrow down Teron’s medical and biological figures. Their information enables He Ao to locate his target.
• Bode’s Daughter: Though not physically present, her disappearance drives the investigation and raises the stakes of He Ao’s confrontation.

Significant Themes

• Power versus authority: Vikel trusts private security, influence, and supernatural strength, while He Ao represents official authority backed by personal power.
• Corruption and profiteering: The deputy mayor attempts to monopolize life-saving medicine during wartime, showing how public crises create opportunities for exploitation.
• Pride and underestimation: Vikel dismisses He Ao because of his background and rank, failing to recognize the danger posed by his determination.
• Truth hidden behind respectability: Vikel’s image as an elderly doctor conceals his identity as a Life Church Archbishop and possible involvement in criminal activity.
• Parental desperation and justice: He Ao’s calm investigation is motivated by the urgent need to find Bode’s daughter, suggesting that personal loss may push him beyond normal legal boundaries.

Character Interactions

• He Ao questions airport staff while Mark supports the investigation and observes his reaction.
• Roger supplies He Ao with information about Vikel, and Eve assists in identifying likely medical contacts.
• Vikel and the deputy mayor negotiate over the commercial rights to Vikel’s wound medicine, with the mayor threatening to expose Vikel and Vikel calmly dismissing him.
• He Ao’s arrival exposes the deputy mayor’s secret visit and immediately shifts the balance of power.
• Vikel verbally attacks He Ao’s origins, but He Ao refuses to be provoked and instead presses him for information about the missing child.

Key plot points and events

• He Ao confronts Vikel, an archbishop of the Life Church, demanding to know what happened to Bode’s daughter. Vikel denies knowing her and openly insults He Ao as a “lowborn.”
• The Deputy Mayor flees the villa as He Ao and Vikel’s clash shakes the building. Mark refuses to take him aboard the Floating Fighter Jet, leaving him to escape on foot.
• Vikel unleashes power that exceeds Rank B and activates an incomplete white Magic Formation in the villa. The formation tries to drain He Ao’s life, but an unseen defense renders it ineffective.
• Vikel’s rapid attacks repeatedly miss He Ao. He Ao then overwhelms him with a series of blows, leaving him near death.
• He Ao probes Vikel’s memories and sees two hooded figures deliver a girl to him. Vikel says the girl is wanted by “the Cardinal” and must be taken away before Teron’s gates close.
• A distorted white entity appears in the memories, having taught Vikel life-related knowledge and the villa’s Magic Formation. It detects He Ao’s intrusion; Vikel’s soul then collapses before He Ao can learn more.
• He Ao’s brief gleanings include an oddly shaped, flame-covered rock creature and the clues “Forest Corridor” and “East.”

Character developments

• He Ao combines overwhelming combat skill with careful deduction. His probing suggests Vikel’s power comes from an entity other than the Goddess of Life, making him suspect betrayal within the church. He also recognizes that the white presence may be an angel or something even more powerful.
• Vikel is revealed as both deeply classist and connected to a secret scheme involving Bode’s daughter. Despite his confidence and unusual borrowed power, he is defeated and dies—or at least loses his soul—before he can be fully interrogated.
• Mark remains wry and unhelpful to the Deputy Mayor, using the confusion to leave.
• Bode’s background is recalled through He Ao’s thoughts: Bode endured prejudice as a lowborn, while his wife was the one person who treated him sincerely from the start.

Significant themes

• Class prejudice and dignity: Vikel’s contempt for common-born people echoes the discrimination Bode experienced; He Ao refuses to accept Vikel’s sense of superiority.
• Betrayal and religious corruption: Vikel’s foreign power and secret dealings raise the possibility that he—or even the Cardinal/Pope—has turned against the Goddess of Life.
• Power and its limits: Vikel’s strength and elaborate attacks prove ineffective against He Ao, while He Ao’s victory still fails to provide complete answers.
• Knowledge carries risk: The white entity’s awareness of He Ao’s memory intrusion triggers Vikel’s soul collapse, abruptly cutting off the investigation.

Character interactions

• He Ao repeatedly presses Vikel about Bode’s daughter, while Vikel responds with denial, insults, and boasts.
• The Deputy Mayor tries to escape alongside Mark, but Mark refuses him a place on the jet and leaves him behind.
• In Vikel’s memories, the Cardinal’s agents deliver the girl; Vikel directs them to leave before the city gates close.
• He Ao’s confrontation with Vikel turns from interrogation into combat, then into a dangerous mental intrusion that brings him into contact with the hidden white entity.

Key plot points and events

• He Ao considers a clue in Vikel’s memories suggesting that the Life Church’s Pope may be east of the Forest Corridor, perhaps in Vissenclo. He suspects Bode’s Daughter is the Pope’s target.
• Vikel’s corpse suddenly mutates into a towering giant. He Ao uses his unusual sight to discover that fragments of Vikel’s shattered soul are sustaining both the creature’s rudimentary mind and its divine power.
• The giant attacks He Ao and the Floating Fighter Jet. He Ao evades its blows, then unleashes a powerful force that destroys it in a single strike, devastating the villa and courtyard while leaving nearby buildings untouched.
• The attack strains He Ao’s body. He realizes the God of Death has invested unusually great power in Vikel and may be taking a personal interest in events. Vikel’s Talent Sequence is lost when the god consumes it.
• Mark and the airport worker investigate a passage He Ao opens beneath the ruins. They find an underground chamber holding emaciated people in cages, apparently being used for medical experiments. The worker recognizes one captive as someone who had disappeared from his neighborhood.
• Mark tells the worker to call the FBI. When the worker asks about the captives, Mark coldly calls them “experimental materials.” The group then flies back toward the airport in uneasy silence.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao remains composed through the fight, showing overwhelming power but also physical limits. His analysis of Vikel reveals his growing concern about the God of Death’s involvement.
• Mark is initially frightened by the giant and focused on keeping the jet at a safe distance. Afterward, he takes practical steps to report the prisoners, but his dismissive description of them exposes a morally hardened view of human experimentation.
• The airport worker shifts from nervous observer to witness of the underground atrocity. His recognition of a missing neighbor makes the prisoners’ suffering immediate and personal.
• He Ao, Mark, and the worker respond very differently to the discovery: He Ao stays silent, Mark treats it pragmatically, and the worker is visibly shaken.

Significant themes

• Divine power and hidden schemes: Vikel’s transformation suggests a god can sustain power through fragments of a soul, while He Ao wonders whether the God of Death is backing the Life Church’s Pope.
• The cost of power: He Ao’s victory is decisive, but it injures him and leaves him unable to recover Vikel’s Talent Sequence.
• Dehumanization and exploitation: The prisoners are reduced to “experimental materials,” highlighting the cruelty hidden beneath the Federation’s ordinary institutions.
• Appearance versus reality: A quiet villa conceals a mass prison, and the apparently straightforward battle points toward a much larger supernatural conflict.

Plot points and events

• Mark and a young staffing-company worker discuss the war while traveling with He Ao. Federation broadcasts claim victory is near, but Mark explains that the fighting has reached Monit City, much closer to Aines than Dawn City. The battle has stalled, and Skvis is trying to wear down Christos’s forces.
• They discuss Christos’s debt-cancellation law and the worker’s crushing payday and student loans. Their calculations reveal how extreme and normalized borrowing costs are in the Federation.
• Skvis calls He Ao, pretending concern and urging him to return to Aines. He warns that Christos might use an Evil God’s power against someone close to He Ao, while claiming to have important work for him.
• He Ao answers with a pointed saying about people skilled in betrayal fearing betrayal themselves, implicitly challenging Skvis’s innocence in the attack on him.
• After the call, Skvis privately flies into a rage, interpreting He Ao’s remark as mockery. He smashes objects, discovers a supposedly porcelain vase is plastic, and nearly shoots a staff member. He instead fires both that employee and the colleague who intervened, then orders them to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Character developments

• He Ao remains composed and perceptive. His measured response to Skvis suggests he suspects the president’s role in the attack and is willing to signal that suspicion without openly accusing him.
• Mark offers a grounded, skeptical view of the war and shares his own experience with debt, making him a practical guide for the younger worker.
• The young worker shifts from anxious curiosity about the war to a candid account of financial insecurity. His admiration and nervousness around He Ao’s call with the president reveal how distant and intimidating power feels to ordinary people.
• Skvis presents public confidence and private concern, but his callous temper and paranoia emerge once he is no longer performing for He Ao.

Significant themes

• Propaganda versus reality: Official claims of imminent victory contrast with the Federation’s retreat and the stalemate at Monit.
• Debt and inequality: Predatory loans and political influence by financial conglomerates trap ordinary citizens, while Christos’s debt cancellation offers a stark alternative.
• Power, deception, and fear: Skvis speaks as a protector but reacts violently to perceived disrespect and tries to conceal his actions.
• Public image versus private conduct: The president’s polished public persona contrasts sharply with his private volatility.

Character interactions

• Mark explains the military situation and debt system to the young worker, who tests his understanding by asking questions.
• He Ao contributes precise calculations and listens quietly, briefly stopping Mark when the conversation approaches sensitive subjects.
• In their call, Skvis adopts a warm, protective tone, while He Ao answers with controlled, indirect criticism.
• Skvis’s staff attempt to restrain him and protect the president’s reputation; he responds by firing them and demanding secrecy.

Key events

• At Treon Airport, He Ao tells Mark to head south without contacting the municipal government, aiming for the South Gate and the shortest route toward the Forest Corridor. Mark asks an airport employee to notify his superiors, while warning him to keep their earlier discussion secret.
• A mercenary force, led by Deputy Commander Es, correctly predicts that He Ao is pursuing the unusual Floating Fighter Jet and waits outside Treon. The Mercenary Group’s commander arrives, takes charge, and orders Es to lead the mechanized force in an attack to kill Bode.
• He Ao studies the Nisk Desert and its dangers, including enormous, noise-sensitive sandworms. Despite the risks, he orders Mark to fly directly through the desert to reach the Forest Corridor quickly.
• Over the dunes, Mark spots a wide trail in the sand. Radar then reveals pursuing mechas behind them and a formation of aircraft ahead: the fighter is surrounded.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao remains focused and decisive, accepting the desert’s dangers to pursue the kidnappers and rescue his daughter. He quickly recognizes that the radar threat is human pursuers, not a sandworm.
• Mark is cautious but increasingly trusts He Ao’s judgment. He voices concern about the desert, then follows He Ao’s order without further objection.
• Es demonstrates sound tactical judgment by anticipating their route and timing the ambush for when they leave Treon’s defenses. Though wary of the commander’s motives, he accepts the frontline role.
• The young officer and the commander maneuver around credit and authority: the officer calls the commander “Uncle,” is reprimanded, and appears to have summoned him to claim part of the operation’s glory. The commander publicly praises Es while ordering him to bring back Bode’s corpse.
• The airport employee agrees to relay the flight’s departure, while Secret Intelligence Bureau agents arrive too late to protect the vice president.

Significant themes

• Urgency versus safety: He Ao chooses the shortest route despite the desert’s severe hazards.
• Trust and secrecy: Mark and He Ao rely on the airport employee while insisting that sensitive information remain confidential.
• Ambition and command politics: The mercenary leaders’ struggle over recognition complicates the military operation.
• Nature’s danger and human danger: The desert’s legendary creatures loom over the journey, but the immediate threat proves to be a coordinated human ambush.

Plot points and events

• He Ao (Bode) orders Mark to draw off the pursuing fighters while he attacks the mercenaries’ armored suits. He leaps from the fighter and uses his armor’s speed and maneuverability to evade enemy fire.
• He steals a large broadsword from a leading suit, destroys it, then cuts down two more before diving away from a much larger formation. The suits belong to the Ives Space System Mercenary Group, commanded by Es, who suspects Bode is nearby but loses track of him in the dust.
• Mark uses the opening to fight off the pursuing fighters, dodging their missiles and counterattacking with his own. A radar alarm then detects a huge object rising from the ground.
• At the mercenary command post, an ambitious young officer schemes with the white-haired commander to gain Es’s position. The commander gives him control of an elite unit, and the officer plans to claim credit by killing Bode himself.
• Bode has already infiltrated the command post. He reveals himself beside the two men, removing his helmet. The young officer retreats behind the commander.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao/Bode demonstrates cool judgment, command authority, and improvisation, turning an ill-equipped escape suit into an effective weapon. His infiltration shows that his real target is the enemy command structure, not simply the pursuing troops.
• Mark obeys Bode despite his fear, then regains confidence and shows that his old piloting skills remain sharp.
• Es appears capable and hardworking, but is under pressure: he needs the job and its merit bonus to help pay for his ill mother’s treatment. The commander recognizes his circumstances, though the young officer is willing to exploit them.
• The young officer is revealed as entitled, ruthless, and politically ambitious. He seeks promotion through family influence and plans to kill Bode for personal advancement. The older commander both indulges his ambition and cautions him about Es.
• Bode’s sudden appearance reverses the power dynamic: the men plotting his death are now confronted by their target.

Significant themes

• Strategy and misdirection: Bode and Mark divide the enemy’s attention, while Bode uses speed, surprise, and infiltration to strike where it matters.
• Ambition and corruption: The young officer treats a mission and a human life as tools for career advancement.
• Merit versus privilege: Es’s position depends on dangerous service, while the young officer expects advancement through family connections.
• Composure under pressure: Both Bode and Mark remain effective in combat despite overwhelming odds.

Key plot points and events

• Vice President Bode (He Ao) confronts the elderly mercenary commander, who has apparently colluded with a cult and rebelled against the Federation. The commander’s young officer tries to shoot He Ao, then abandons the commander and flees with a mechanical key.
• He Ao argues that the troops may refuse to carry out treasonous orders once their commander is dead. The commander attacks with a magically empowered sword, but He Ao stops it effortlessly and kills him.
• He Ao identifies the commander’s talent as Sword Apprentice: it lets its user nurture a weapon into a transcendent item, but also binds the user to the sword. After the commander dies, his power completes the sword’s transformation, making it a powerful Class B item.
• The young officer tries to summon the troops with the key, but the old commander had ordered them to attack if the key appeared without him. A Plasma Cannon kills the officer.
• He Ao uses the military communicator to identify himself, accuse the commander and officer of treason, and order the forces to surrender and await investigation. The warplanes halt and withdraw rather than attack.
• Es arrives in a red-and-white mecha. He confirms the failed plan and, believing he must take the blame and lose his job, considers suicide. He Ao challenges his assumptions and suggests he take his ill mother east to Dawn City, where medical care may be cheaper.
• Though Es initially dismisses the idea as futile, He Ao asks whether trying could really be worse than his present situation. Es reconsiders, puts away his gun, and agrees.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao remains composed and confident in danger, defeating the commander with little effort. He uses both political authority and physical strength to prevent further bloodshed, then turns his attention to Es’s personal crisis.
• The commander is proud and politically calculating, but his reliance on the sword reveals both his power and its limitation. His son-like subordinate’s betrayal and the death of both men end his command.
• The young officer proves self-serving: he attempts to kill He Ao, pushes the commander into danger, and flees. His attempt to use the key ends in his death.
• Es begins defeated and convinced that poverty leaves no real choices. He sees He Ao’s rise as an exceptional accident, not a path others can follow. He Ao’s questions make him consider acting for his mother’s sake rather than surrendering to despair.
• The central interaction shifts from a tense clash between He Ao and the commander to a quieter, compassionate exchange between He Ao and Es.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: He Ao’s status as vice president gives him political leverage; the troops’ willingness to obey depends on whether they believe their orders are legitimate.
• Agency versus fatalism: Es believes the system has already decided his and his mother’s fate. He Ao urges him to test another possibility rather than assume failure is inevitable.
• Class inequality and healthcare: Es’s despair is rooted in the lack of affordable treatment for his mother and the precarious lives of ordinary people.
• Weapon and wielder: The Sword Apprentice’s talent makes its user powerful but also subservient to the weapon, suggesting that strength can carry a cost.
• Pragmatic hope: He Ao offers no guarantee that Dawn City will solve Es’s problems; instead, he points out that trying may be better than accepting certain defeat.

Key plot points and events

• He Ao encourages Es to take a dangerous chance, arguing that having a possible path forward is reason enough to try. Es is surprised by the advice, thanks him, and takes off in his mecha. He Ao is relieved that the pursuing troops stop, though he knows the forces already engaged in battle may still be a problem.
• He Ao receives Mark’s faint distress signal: “Sandworm!” Returning to the battlefield, he sees a gigantic worm destroying fighter jets. Mark has been protecting the other pilots, but his aircraft is badly damaged and forced to land.
• Mark begins repairs, only to learn that a damaged wing component has also disabled communications. A repair robot estimates that fixing the aircraft will take three and a half hours.
• He Ao notices the sandworm nearby and secretly uses his power to disrupt its thoughts. Rather than attacking them, the creature carries the fighter—and the two men—across the desert on its back. They hope to leave the desert before nightfall.

Character developments

• Es regains his composure and chooses to act despite the danger. He also revises his judgment of He Ao, calling him a hero rather than a lucky opportunist.
• He Ao demonstrates resolve and restraint: he is willing to face political consequences for his advice and avoids violence when possible, since using powerful abilities harms him. His calm control of the sandworm further reveals his unusual abilities.
• Mark shows courage and skill under pressure, protecting other pilots and assessing the damage methodically. He is frightened by the sandworm but trusts He Ao enough to follow his lead.

Character interactions

• Es and He Ao share an honest exchange: Es thanks him and admits his earlier contempt, while He Ao privately takes issue with the insult even as he accepts the praise.
• He Ao and Mark reunite after the battle. Mark explains the damage and repair delay; He Ao proposes using the sandworm as transport. Mark gradually realizes He Ao has influenced the creature but chooses not to press him for an explanation.

Significant themes

• Taking a chance despite uncertainty: Es moves forward once he sees a possible path.
• Leadership and conviction: He Ao accepts the risk of acting on his beliefs rather than merely protecting his position.
• Cooperation with the natural world: In a desert too hostile for ordinary travel, He Ao turns a dangerous creature into a means of escape.
• Trust and restraint: Mark relies on He Ao without demanding answers, while He Ao uses power to prevent violence rather than provoke it.

Plot points and events

• He Ao rides a sandworm across the desert and reaches the edge of the Lightless Land, a vast region untouched by sunlight and lit by unfamiliar stars. The sandworm instinctively fears it, and He Ao has to force it onward.
• He Ao sends a trace of spiritual sense into the darkness. He sees a vision of a primitive-looking walled city being built, then destroyed in a flash, followed by a hazy figure walking into the desert. The contact also stirs a terrifying force, so He Ao withdraws his spiritual sense before the disturbance grows worse.
• He Ao suspects the Lightless Land and the Nisk Desert are remnants of the God War: divine power may still be trapped in a fragile balance there. He connects the war to other great scars in the Copy World, including the Storm Sea, but recognizes that major pieces of the world’s history remain unexplained.
• The sandworm carries He Ao and Mark across the desert in only two and a half hours. Near the meadow, He Ao notices tracks suggesting another sandworm recently passed through.
• Mark wakes and marvels at their speed. He Ao explains from the desert guidebook that the sandworm’s teeth suggest it hunts large prey, likely giant flying creatures such as eagles.
• As they near the meadow, He Ao leaves Mark with the aircraft and its still-repairing wing. He flies toward a nearby wanderers’ camp to seek information, while Mark agrees to guard the aircraft.

Character developments and interactions

• He Ao remains analytical and cautious. He investigates the Lightless Land despite its danger, draws tentative conclusions about its divine origins, and refuses to assume the cultists are far behind. He also shares practical knowledge with Mark and delegates the aircraft’s protection to him.
• Mark moves from groggy confusion to alert enthusiasm. He is impressed by the sandworm and He Ao’s deductions, but admits he has barely read the guidebook. He takes his guard duty seriously, saluting He Ao.
• He Ao and Mark interact as a capable leader and a willing subordinate: He Ao explains the situation and gives clear instructions, while Mark trusts his judgment and accepts responsibility.

Significant themes

• The lingering consequences of divine conflict: The Lightless Land appears to preserve traces of a past God War, suggesting the gods’ influence on the world is deeper than He Ao had realized.
• Knowledge has limits and risks: He Ao’s spiritual investigation reveals clues but nearly awakens a dangerous power, showing that uncovering the past can have immediate consequences.
• Caution amid uncertainty: He Ao keeps multiple explanations open and avoids relying on assumptions about the cultists or the world’s history.
• Adaptation and cooperation: Supernatural creatures enable rapid travel, while He Ao and Mark combine knowledge, leadership, and trust to continue their mission.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• He Ao arrives at a thriving Wilderness Wanderers Camp near the Nisk Desert and the Forest Corridor. Unlike many eastern camps, it is busy, commercially developed, and caters to visitors from nearby Skyland.
• At a shop, he learns that troops regularly pass through the area, the camp is controlled by a strict mayor, and two white-robed travelers recently bought supplies and headed east. He Ao uses a supernatural ability to question the shopkeeper, then heads toward the camp’s center.
• He inspects the mayor’s surveillance tower, bypasses its defenses, and scans the camp from above. He spots a crowd gathered at the southern gate and goes to investigate.
• Outside the gate, mushroom-covered people approach. Their appearance and the irresistible aroma of their burning mushrooms affect the crowd, making people crave them and move toward them despite the danger.
• The mayor—wearing a long black windbreaker—throws a torch at the foremost figure, but it continues advancing through the flames. The mayor briefly succumbs to the same craving, nearly reaching for the charred mushrooms, before a sharp sound in his mind restores his clarity. He retreats and shuts the gate as the crowd surges forward.

Character developments

• He Ao is observant, resourceful, and unruffled. He gathers information through both conversation and supernatural influence, then quietly investigates the camp’s layout and the strange disturbance.
• The mayor is revealed as vigilant and practical, willing to act decisively, but vulnerable to the mushroom creatures’ influence. His recovery and quick retreat show strong instincts and self-control.
• The crowd shifts from curious spectators to people driven by an unnatural, compulsive hunger.

Character interactions

• He Ao questions the shopkeeper about the camp, the military presence, cultists, and the white-robed travelers; the shopkeeper provides information while under He Ao’s influence.
• At the southern gate, the mayor tries to control the crowd and repel the approaching figures. The crowd largely ignores him, while the approaching mushroom-covered people silently draw them closer.

Significant themes

• Temptation and loss of agency: The mushrooms’ appealing smell and appearance override judgment and push people toward danger.
• Order versus lawlessness: The camp presents itself as a lawless frontier, yet its prosperity and safety depend on the mayor’s tight control and constant surveillance.
• Hidden danger beneath ordinary commerce: A busy tourist hub and entertainment district sit alongside an unexplained, supernatural threat.

He Ao confronted a swarm of unusually powerful ghost mushrooms outside the town while the Windbreaker Man sealed the gates against infected townspeople. After He Ao burned the mushrooms and discovered their vast, reflexive soul could retreat when it sensed high-level power, he learned from the mayor’s memories that two White Robe Figures had reached the town ahead of him.

• The Windbreaker Man fought off infected townspeople and shut the compound’s inner doors as ghost mushrooms battered the outer gate.
• He Ao watched the ghost mushrooms approach, and their shadowy soul abandoned its hosts when it sensed his power.
• He Ao spread fire across the infected bodies and nearby mushrooms, then recalled that the mayor had seen the two White Robe Figures who abducted Bode’s daughter.
• The Windbreaker Man reopened the entrance, kept the South Gate closed, and ordered safety training after identifying the attack as a ghost mushroom incident.

He Ao flew toward the Forest Corridor while Christos and the New Federation’s army remained stalled outside Monit City. At the Graystone Palace, Skvis learned that Bode had survived his fight with Ives Space System’s mercenaries and erupted in anger after Glasses Man left.

• He Ao returned to the repaired fighter jet and told Mark to fly toward the Forest Corridor.
• Christos learned that Monit City’s terrain, defenses, and commander made it the only viable route to Aines, while Limen City could not help break the stalemate.
• Christos and the general discussed the Monit City commander’s ties to the Vist Steel Mercenary Group and his hostility toward the New Federation.
• Skvis celebrated Senjie’s success in stopping Christos’s advance and said he would not wait months for the rebels’ momentum to fade.
• Skvis heard that Bode had left Teron and was believed to have encountered Ives Space System mercenaries near the Nisk Desert.
• Glasses Man told Skvis that Bode had defeated the mercenaries and escaped, and Skvis smashed objects in his office after Glasses Man departed.

He Ao and Mark flew across the Forest Corridor, where the trade road vanished despite their aircraft's route bringing them to it. After discovering they had drifted southeast into an area saturated with vitality, He Ao warned Mark that something was wrong, just as a giant flying creature attacked.

• He Ao and Mark discussed the Forest Corridor's dangerous legends and their past experiences in the Central Army.
• Mark found that the trade road was missing even where their navigation map showed it should be.
• He Ao used Eve to recalculate the fighter's flight path and learned they had veered southeast toward the Molten Gorge.
• He Ao sensed unusually intense vitality and suspected the area might be connected to the Life Church.
• He Ao warned Mark that something was wrong, and an enormous winged creature lunged at their fighter.

He Ao killed a giant eagle that attacked the fighter, but the aircraft crash-landed in the Forest Corridor. While investigating the eagle and discovering ghost mushroom mycelium inside it, he spotted a brightly lit settlement nearby, which Mark hoped could provide supplies to repair the fighter.

• A giant eagle first flew past the fighter, then circled back and attacked from above, crushing its roof.
• He Ao killed the eagle with supernatural power, while Mark manually stabilized the damaged fighter and crash-landed it in the forest.
• He Ao examined the eagle and found ghost mushroom mycelium in its body, as well as an unusually weak soul that had disappeared.
• He Ao spotted a brightly lit town or Wilderness Wanderers Camp ahead, and Mark reported that the fighter needed reinforcement supplies, alloy parts, and electrical wire.