Chapter Summaries

Liu Ma and Old Jack dealt with the Blood Skull gang at the Rust Nail Bar, then went upstairs to check on the young White Eagle. At the Star Envoy Association headquarters, Caroline recognized that her memories contained an error but continued her unexplained habit of eating sweets and setting aside a second portion.

• Liu Ma threw Cicero and the Blood Skull grunts out of the Rust Nail Bar while Old Jack watched.
• Liu Ma took a video call from the Boss Lady, promised to complete her mission, and left Old Jack to handle the gang members outside.
• Old Jack told Liu Ma they should check on the young White Eagle, and the two went upstairs.
• Caroline reflected that her memories contained an error and ate a strawberry cake despite not liking sweets.

Caroline led the Spirit Realm Experiment toward success, hoping to use its virtual space to suppress her Mechanoid Personality and investigate memories she believed were false. She resolved to uncover the truth about Chen Xing and her Dolphin Necklace, no matter the cost.

• Lina asked Caroline why she ordered an extra serving for afternoon tea and ate so little, but Caroline refused to answer and sent her to prepare Research Room Three.
• Caroline analyzed the Spirit Realm Experiment's latest data and told the researchers that success was getting closer.
• After dismissing the researchers, Caroline revealed that she wanted Spirit Realm to suppress her Mechanoid Personality so she could examine memories she believed had been distorted.
• Caroline studied her Dolphin Necklace and recalled that her memory identified it as a birthday gift from Chen Xing, though other clues suggested the memory was wrong.
• Caroline decided to trap her rational Mechanoid Personality by making it process humanity's illogical emotions, then vowed to find the truth no matter the cost.

Caroline received Chen Xing’s message about investigating Sentient Species Star Beasts and reflected on how she had discovered their infiltration of the Star Envoy Association. The chapter ended with Chen Xing preparing to investigate possible Sentient Species in the Steam Capital.

• The Dimensional Audience watched Caroline alone at the Star Envoy Association headquarters and worried that she and Tiandao might not reunite.
• Caroline returned to her room, where White Dolphin told her she had an unread private message.
• Caroline read Chen Xing’s message saying she had found artificially modified Star Beast specimens and would investigate the Steam Capital.
• Caroline recalled discovering disguised Sentient Species Star Beasts through her Star Core Frequency perception after her awakening.
• Caroline secretly reported her findings to Enit, who made her his disciple and entrusted the investigation to her.
• Caroline assigned the field investigation to Chen Xing, who willingly took it on as part of her Perfect Awakening ceremony.

Chen Xing arrived in Steam Capital and judged its rulers for exploiting the Lower City's workers and resisting automation. As she prepared to meet the local Star Envoy Association, she reflected on her regret over failing to understand someone from her past, then learned she might encounter that person again.

• Chen Xing and Fox arrived at Steam Capital's Upper City, where Chen Xing saw workers cleaning enormous steam pipes above the squalid Lower City.
• Chen Xing condemned Steam Capital's corrupt, conservative rulers, and Fox agreed that they could be used to pave the way for the Blazing Sun Family.
• Fox asked why Chen Xing kept her sunglasses close, and Chen Xing explained that they reminded her of missed chances to understand someone she had tried to surpass.
• Chen Xing and Fox headed to the Steam Capital Branch of the Star Envoy Association to report her arrival.
• Chen Xing discovered that the branch was selecting a captain for the Fifth Squad and that someone from her past might be there.

Tiandao disguised himself as Shui Mo and brought Little Danika to the Steam Capital Branch of the Star Envoy Association, planning to use the city’s coming upheaval to prove his value and clear his Wanted Order. He arrived at the Gear Tower determined to rise to the summit and attract General President Enit’s attention.

• Tiandao changed his appearance with black hair, dark contacts, and Passerby’s Glasses, then dyed Little Danika’s hair pink to conceal their identities.
• Tiandao introduced Shui Mo as a refined genius calligrapher, swordsmanship master, and Star Energy Techniques expert from the Deep Blue Metropolis.
• Tiandao reflected that Vivian and Chen Kong’s fated meeting would spark reform in Steam Capital and create an opportunity for him to enter the spotlight.
• Tiandao planned to prove his usefulness to humanity by overcoming the Steam Branch’s challenges and earning Enit’s support to revoke his Wanted Order.
• Tiandao and Little Danika reached the Gear Tower, where Little Danika complained about the industrial smells and Tiandao declared that he intended to climb higher.

Tiandao registered at the Steam Capital branch of the Star Envoy Association under the identity Shui Mo and entered a Star Energy scanning room. Chen Xing briefly suspected she recognized something about him, but Tiandao’s disguise held and he proceeded with the scan.

• Tiandao registered as Shui Mo, a Rank 2 Mid-Tier Star Envoy with Ink Wash Control, and presented a genuine Association Emblem.
• A staff member escorted Tiandao to a Star Energy scanning room while Little Danika waited outside.
• Tiandao noticed an elderly silver-haired Old Man nearby and sensed a familiar aura of calamity.
• Chen Xing glimpsed Tiandao entering the opposite scanning room and felt an inexplicable familiarity, though Fox described him as an ordinary young man.
• Chen Xing left still troubled by her intuition, while Tiandao observed her through the Dimensional Screen and wondered if she had detected his disguise.
• Tiandao used Vector Control to produce the specific Star Energy Fluctuation required for the scan.

Tiandao and Danika passed the first stage of the Steam Branch Fifth Squad captain assessment with ease, but Chen Xing unexpectedly asked to become chief examiner and test the candidates herself. Tiandao suspected she had noticed something about him and feared the assessment would no longer follow the original plot.

• Tiandao completed a Star Energy scan confirming Star Source · Ink Wash Control, then arrived with Danika at the Fifth Squad captain assessment venue.
• The examiner introduced the Star Energy Water Curtain, which required precise control and more than eight thousand Star Energy points to cross.
• The crimson-cloaked Rank 2 Upper-Tier candidate struggled through the curtain, while Yu Chen passed by observing its fluctuations.
• Tiandao and Danika crossed the curtain effortlessly, surprising the assessors and the Steam Branch captains.
• Chen Xing asked President Liam to appoint her chief examiner so she could personally test the candidates, alarming Tiandao.

The Fifth Squad assessment narrowed to four candidates, but Chen Xing arrived to test them herself and revealed a crushing difference in strength. Tiandao realized Chen Xing had come for him and resolved to hide his identity as the assessment began.

• Yu Chen probed Tiandao about the next assessment while secretly watching Little Danika, whose ability to cross the Star Energy Water Curtain had impressed him.
• The candidates who failed the first assessment left, and the assessor announced that a powerhouse at or above Branch Captain Rank would test the four remaining candidates.
• Chen Xing entered the arena and set a three-minute test, increasing her strength from twenty to forty to sixty percent, with surviving three minutes as one way to pass.
• Chen Xing's gaze lingered on Tiandao and Little Danika, confirming Tiandao's suspicion that she had come for him, so he decided to conceal his identity.
• Lord Kong challenged Chen Xing's terms, but her pressure forced him to his knees, and Tiandao recognized the scene as resembling one from his own script.

Chen Xing dominated the Fifth Squad assessment, effortlessly defeating most challengers and leaving Tiandao as the final examinee. Her intense interest in him unsettled Tiandao, who entered the arena pretending to be an ordinary calligraphy enthusiast.

• Kong Cheng unleashed his Raging Flame and charged Chen Xing, but she knocked him out of the arena with a single palm strike.
• Yu Chen lasted a full minute against Chen Xing with the Unmissable Silver Spear, while another examinee was quickly sent flying.
• Several squad captains criticized Chen Xing for preventing examinees from showing their abilities, though she had volunteered to test someone she suspected was familiar.
• Chen Xing focused on Tiandao and told him she expected a surprise, drawing the attention of the other observers and making him fear his identity would be exposed.
• Tiandao hid his unease behind a gentle smile and entered the arena, claiming he was only an ordinary calligraphy enthusiast.

Tiandao realized Chen Xing’s Demonic Star Intuition had exposed his disguise, so he used Myriad Manifestations to distort her perceptions. Chen Xing overcame the distortion, and after Tiandao deliberately lost the duel, she told him he had passed her test.

• Tiandao concluded that Chen Xing had recognized him through his ingrained habits and Demonic Star Intuition.
• Tiandao used Myriad Manifestations to distort the information around him, weakening Chen Xing’s intuition.
• Chen Xing drew Bloodflame, whose killing intent broke through the informational fog and restored her intuition.
• Chen Xing attacked Tiandao, who used Shattered Star to stage a convincing defeat and fall outside the arena.
• Chen Xing told Tiandao that he had passed the test, leaving him stunned.

Chen Xing recognized Tiandao beneath his disguise after her Demonic Blade absorbed his star energy, then confronted him at his villa. Tiandao agreed to take her along on his mission, while their reunion left him uncertain about his feelings and the changes to his plans.

• Chen Xing declared that Tiandao had passed the assessment, and she secretly realized his star energy revealed his true identity.
• Tiandao inferred that Chen Xing had seen through his disguise and worried she would seek him out in private.
• At his villa, Tiandao sent Danika to bed and restored his original appearance before catching Chen Xing's ambush.
• Chen Xing explained that she had sensed Danika was Star Source itself and asked whether Tiandao's disguise was connected to her.
• Chen Xing insisted that Tiandao take her with him, and Tiandao agreed, telling her he had never considered her a nuisance.

Tiandao and Chen Xing discussed the Iron Dome Family’s pursuit of him and his plan to gain Enit’s protection by proving his worth. Chen Xing offered to help him, leaving Tiandao unsettled by the debt and feelings her choice might create.

• Tiandao asked Chen Xing whether anyone had followed her, and she revealed she had known for years that her brother Chen Kong was in the Federation.
• Chen Xing connected Doctor Dragon’s Miracle Stone to the destruction of Ember Base and the Iron Dome Family’s refusal to withdraw Tiandao’s Wanted Order.
• Chen Xing inferred that Tiandao was staying disguised to avoid drawing attention while aiming to become General President Enit’s successor.
• Chen Xing explained that her Demonic Star Intuition meant choosing what she would never regret, and Tiandao understood the principle behind it.
• Tiandao asked Chen Xing to help with obstacles surrounding Chen Kong and the coming struggle over the Key of Miracles; she agreed to earn Tiandao’s recognition.
• After Chen Xing left, Tiandao felt troubled by what he might owe her and by pressure he could not overcome through strength.

Tiandao caught Danika trying to accept a bribe while using her Information Vivification ability to process documents at Bolt Hub Station. After spotting a suspicious cargo request tied to District 4, he took Danika to Rust Iron Hell to pursue a plan he called “catching butterflies,” as a storm began to gather.

• Danika used Information Vivification to make documents handle their own approval tasks, and one violation document offered her money to overlook its case.
• Tiandao took the bribe money, scolded Danika, and examined a cargo slip for three barrels of Gold-Corroding Flower Concentrate requested by Kelva of District 4.
• Tiandao connected the cargo request to the Blood Skulls and powerful Upper City interests but decided that the time for change had not yet arrived.
• Tiandao took down Vivian Howard’s wanted poster and told Danika they were going to District 4 to catch butterflies.
• Tiandao and Danika descended to Level -1, where Danika rushed eagerly into Rust Iron Hell as Tiandao sensed the coming storm.

Tiandao and Little Danika entered Blood Skull-controlled District Four, where their presence as Upper City Star Envoys drew suspicion and prompted locals to report them. While eating the district’s notorious Spring Ramen, Tiandao reviewed the Church’s persecution of Vivian and Chen Kong and learned that they remained cornered in Rust Iron Hell.

• Tiandao and Little Danika walked through District Four, where residents watched them warily because Upper City Star Envoys were forbidden from casually entering the Lower City.
• District Four residents tipped off Blood Skull about the pair’s presence.
• At Two Tears Ramen Shop, Tiandao read Dimensional Screen comments and considered the events surrounding Euphemia, Vivian, and Chen Kong.
• Tiandao concluded that Vivian and Chen Kong had escaped the destruction of Rust Nail Bar but were still trapped by false accusations and tightened routes to the Upper City.
• Tiandao ate the bitter Spring Ramen without showing his discomfort, and Little Danika tried it before recoiling from its taste.

Tiandao tracked Blood Skull through Cicero and found Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian hiding in Rust Iron Hell. As Tiandao moved to take Vivian to the Branch, Danika’s mishap disrupted the confrontation, while the Dimensional Audience debated whether Shui Mo was secretly Tiandao.

• Tiandao paid the noodle shop owner extra before Cicero and the Blood Skull gang arrived, then threw Cicero out and forced him to lead the way to Blood Skull’s new boss.
• Chen Kong and Liu Ma tried to persuade Vivian to flee while the Church framed her for stealing its Holy Relic, but Vivian refused to abandon her father William’s knightly legacy.
• Tiandao cut through the potion factory ceiling and asked Vivian to come with him to the Branch under the Association’s rules.
• Danika got stuck in a ceiling crack and cried for help, abruptly breaking the tension between Tiandao and Chen Kong’s group.
• The Dimensional Audience argued over whether Shui Mo was the Mysterious Masked Man and whether either identity belonged to Tiandao.

Tiandao confronted Chen Kong and Liu Ma over the wanted fugitive Vivian, overwhelmed them with his captain-rank aura, and explained the limits of Star Envoy ranks and awakenings. He began escorting Vivian away, while Chen Kong watched with growing resolve.

• Chen Kong questioned whether Vivian had really stolen the Church's Holy Relic, but Tiandao said the Association wanted an outcome and offered to protect her by taking her back.
• Liu Ma challenged Tiandao and prepared to attack, so Tiandao defended the Association's rules and advanced under an oppressive aura that forced Liu Ma to activate his Star Mark.
• Tiandao explained that Star Envoy strength depended on six attributes as well as Star Source Awakening, then identified Liu Ma's undeveloped Strength and vitality potential and credited his trainer for guiding him.
• Tiandao pinned Liu Ma to the floor and told Chen Kong that his early Perfect Awakening had traded future potential for premature strength, while revealing that a captain needed at least one A-grade attribute and could possess more.
• Tiandao asked Vivian to come with him; she agreed after he promised not to trouble Chen Kong and Liu Ma, but Chen Kong's gaze grew resolute as they left.

Captain Shui Mo’s explanation revealed that Tiandao’s overwhelming strength came from his own attributes, not merely his Star Source. Chen Kong used Sweet Dream Candy - Blue to break free of Tiandao’s pressure, but their fight left Chen Kong struggling against Tiandao’s swordsmanship.

• The Dimensional Audience realized Tiandao had been a monster among Starborn even without Vector Control and wished he were there to confront Shui Mo.
• Chen Kong declared that surviving to see tomorrow mattered more than preserving his potential, then swallowed Sweet Dream Candy - Blue and broke free of Tiandao’s pressure.
• Tiandao said his task was to return Miss Knight to the Association, and Chen Kong refused to let him take her.
• Chen Kong fired a Mark of the Void bullet, but Tiandao blocked it with Shattered Star and countered with ink sword energy.
• Chen Kong dodged Tiandao’s attack and fired three more bullets, which Tiandao cut down as Chen Kong knelt, exhausted, with his gun trembling.

Chen Kong stood against Tiandao to protect Vivian, inspiring Liu Ma and Vivian to join the fight. Their combined attack failed to challenge Tiandao, who effortlessly defended himself and remained confident as Little Danika watched.

• Chen Kong explained that he could not ignore Vivian after once being protected himself, awakened his Star Mark, and challenged Tiandao to take her only over his corpse.
• Liu Ma broke free of Tiandao’s pressure, praised Chen Kong, and urged Vivian to fight for herself.
• Vivian stepped away from Tiandao and drew her Seconds Hand Rapier, choosing to resist rather than surrender.
• Liu Ma and Vivian attacked Tiandao together, but he blocked them with an ink barrier and countered with black arrows.
• Little Danika watched Tiandao fend off the three attackers and remarked that he was enjoying himself.

Tiandao defeated Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian, then took Vivian into custody while sparing the two Starborn and promising to try to clear their companion’s name. The battered Chen Kong and Liu Ma were left to confront the limits of their strength as Tiandao departed with Danika.

• Tiandao overwhelmed Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian with a final ink-wash sword strike, leaving all three unable to fight.
• Tiandao acknowledged the group’s strength, tied up Vivian, and explained that other Branch captains might have been defeated by them.
• Tiandao spared Chen Kong and Liu Ma, asked Danika to alter the mission record to say only that he had taken away wanted criminal Vivian, and promised to try to clear their companion’s name.
• Tiandao left with Vivian and Danika while Chen Kong and Liu Ma could not rise, and their defeat humbled them about their Starborn abilities.

Yu Qianxia arrived after Liu Ma and Chen Kong were defeated by Shui Mo, then took them under her wing and brought them toward Steam Capital’s Upper City. Liu Ma and Chen Kong began to find resolve in the wake of their defeat.

• Yu Qianxia revealed she had watched Liu Ma’s fight and said Shui Mo had injured him without causing lasting damage.
• Yu Qianxia mocked Liu Ma for giving in after one defeat, then told him to stand and begin the training she had arranged.
• Liu Ma asked Yu Qianxia to take Chen Kong along, and she agreed while warning that training alone would not make them strong enough to defeat Shui Mo.
• Yu Qianxia’s suited entourage greeted her outside the factory, and she ordered Chen Kong and Liu Ma into her hovercar.
• Yu Qianxia explained she had come because Liu Ma broke the Qianxia Group’s rules and a client complained, but she was especially angry about rumors damaging the group’s reputation.
• As the hovercar entered the Upper City, Liu Ma and Chen Kong began to feel resolve rekindle after their defeat.