Chapter Summaries

Su Wen’s team pursued Strat and Patience toward the ruins on Bornholm Island after agents seized the evacuation ship. There, Su Wen identified a Harold White Space Instability Phenomenon caused by the masquerade at the Mariinsky National Grand Theater, raising his estimate of the ruins’ danger as Leis Angton’s group neared them.

• Agents took control of key areas of the evacuation ship and signaled the Leningrad-class Destroyer to stop firing while Strat and Patience escaped by submarine.
• Strat asked a rival in Leis Angton to cooperate inside the ruins, and learned they had obtained three Patroller Identities but still lacked authority to analyze the Black Box Technology.
• Vanessa identified the Bornholm Island group as Leis Angton’s destination, and Su Wen chose to pursue them to an uninhabited docking point.
• Su Wen analyzed Appraisal Vision’s information and identified a Harold White Space Instability Phenomenon linked to the masquerade at the Mariinsky National Grand Theater.
• Su Wen warned Angelia that the spatial disturbance promised major research opportunities but also indicated that the ruins were more dangerous than he had thought.
• Leis Angton’s group struggled through the storm and came close to the ruins.

Strat and Patience opened the relic entrance and teleported inside, unaware that Christopher’s agent had tracked them. Su Wen and Angelia arrived afterward and entered using Lucia’s relic, where the system warned them that the Thirteenth Non-Purification Zone was a high-risk area.

• Strat and Patience reached the hidden cave on Bornholm Island and used their two halves of the key to open the stone door.
• Strat’s group teleported into the relic, leaving behind traces of Christopher Sifana’s female agent.
• Su Wen and Angelia arrived and used Lucia Ferdinand’s relic to open the stone door completely.
• Su Wen and Angelia entered the relic together after Su Wen agreed to let Angelia accompany him.
• The system identified the relic as the Thirteenth Non-Purification Zone and warned Su Wen to prioritize survival.

Su Wen entered the Thirteenth Non-Purification Zone, found a Leis Angton Military Industry scrap-processing base, and learned the relic faced devastating Railgun strikes and a rapidly spreading virus. He remained hidden in the base as he realized how dangerous the relic was.

• Su Wen and Angelia arrived at different locations, and Angelia reported finding an abandoned village filled with unfamiliar devices.
• Su Wen left his cave, entered a vast wasteland punk base, and hid from Leis Angton mercenaries searching the area.
• Su Wen overheard mercenaries say the base was a junkyard and that a Railgun belonging to Isaac Turs Eternal Dawn threatened the region.
• Su Wen realized the relic's Phase Task stressed survival because a Space-Based Railgun could vaporize him.
• Su Wen overheard a mercenary say colleagues had become infected by a virus within seconds and died within half a day.

Su Wen learned that Leis Angton was researching the Great Extinction Virus and accepted a quest to destroy the base, its virus source, and uncover the virus’s weakness. He infiltrated the base, subdued two men before they could raise an alarm, and found a set of keys.

• Su Wen discovered that Leis Angton’s group was researching the Great Extinction Virus and received the B-Rank hidden quest Seed of Calamity.
• Su Wen sent Angelia the relevant information and considered how an antidote might help the infected in the Eternal Night Kingdom.
• Su Wen followed Leis Angton’s men into the base beneath an abandoned waste recycling plant.
• When one man prepared to report signs of an intruder, Su Wen knocked him unconscious and blocked the other man’s escape before defeating him.
• Su Wen restrained both men and searched them, finding a set of keys.

Su Wen infiltrated Leis Angton’s base and found Kane-Abraham, a chained scholar who revealed plans to study Third Epoch technology and build the UME37-based Alien Sand Ringworm exoskeleton. The chapter ended with Kane-Abraham beginning to explain how Relic Scholars had deceived him after he opened the ruin’s Relic Gate.

• Su Wen assured Angelia that he was safe inside Leis Angton’s base and warned her about the mass-extinction virus in the village.
• Su Wen used the keys to reach the underground prison, where he discovered that most prisoners had been transferred.
• Su Wen met the chained Kane-Abraham and questioned him before agreeing to consider rescuing him.
• Kane-Abraham explained that Leis Angton planned to obtain Third Epoch technology and develop the Alien Sand Ringworm exoskeleton for the Arctic Ocean Border War.
• Su Wen received the Exoskeleton Mirage Overlay Travel Card after learning about the armor.
• Kane-Abraham said Relic Scholars had tricked him, leading to his imprisonment after he deciphered and opened the ruin’s Relic Gate.

Su Wen learned that Kane-Abraham had hidden part of the alchemy research Leis Angton obtained, and received a B+ Hidden Mission to survive the Space-Based Railgun’s cleansing beams. After freeing Old Ken, Su Wen went to retrieve the concealed book and information from the interrogation room.

• Su Wen asked Old Ken when Leis Angton began researching the virus, and Old Ken explained that the relic’s second phase had stalled and that a Railgun bombardment was approaching.
• Su Wen received the B+ Hidden Mission “Survive Beneath the Beams,” requiring him to survive the Railgun attack and preserve the relic’s key event chain.
• Su Wen cut the chains binding Old Ken, who revealed that he had concealed part of an alchemy text, leaving Leis Angton’s research incomplete.
• Old Ken identified the hidden book as Splendor Solis and said it was concealed in the interrogation room at the end of the corridor.
• Su Wen entered the interrogation room and examined its abandoned furnishings and documents.

Su Wen obtained an alchemical travel card from Old Ken and learned that a Resistance Army might help destroy the Space-Based Railgun. He and Old Ken headed for the survivors’ underground refuge, where Su Wen found Angelia but no native survivors.

• Old Ken gave Su Wen the alchemical tome Splendor Solis, which granted him a single-use travel card that could inscribe an item up to Rank Four.
• Old Ken warned Su Wen about the Dragon Descendant Research Association in Kassel and said the survivors’ Resistance Army might help destroy the Space-Based Railgun.
• Su Wen suspected his Prometheus card could protect him from the Great Extinction Virus and considered seeking information about Lucia Ferdinand from the Resistance Army.
• Su Wen and Old Ken escaped the base after Su Wen killed two unconscious members of Leis Angton’s research team and the alarm sounded.
• Old Ken led Su Wen to the survivor village, where he explained that the survivors lived underground, and Su Wen spotted Angelia.

Su Wen, Angelia, and Old Ken discussed how to find the scavengers and stop Leis Angton’s plan involving the Railgun. Su Wen argued that different civilizations could understand one another through convergent evolution, then declared his goal of reaching beyond the Solar System in three years.

• Angelia told Su Wen that reconnaissance teams were searching the vast Frontier Planet for the scavengers’ research bases.
• Su Wen introduced Old Ken to Angelia, and Old Ken realized that Su Wen’s group might be able to deal with the Railgun.
• Su Wen explained that Leis Angton planned to use virus-carrying test subjects and an Electromagnetic Storm to attack the Railgun’s ground forces and disrupt its operation.
• Old Ken revealed that Leis Angton and Ivanovich had taken the Current World captives to a biochemical research institute where the surviving scavengers were also being held.
• Su Wen reassured Angelia that different species and civilizations could communicate through convergent evolution, then set a three-year goal for humanity to leave the Solar System.

Angelia and Su Wen entered the scavengers’ underground settlement to seek information and help against the Third Era’s Great Extinction Virus. Su Wen convinced the wary survivors that they were allies, and Boyle Jones identified them as potential supporters of the Resistance Army.

• Angelia gathered five agents and led the group to the underground shelter, where they found a carefully built city inhabited by scavengers.
• Old Black and his armed followers confronted the visitors, and Su Wen addressed them fluently in their native language.
• Su Wen claimed they had come to assist the Resistance Army, prompting Boyle Jones to order Old Black to let them pass.
• Boyle Jones explained that the Resistance Army recognized the secret term because outsiders scorned their language and treated them as pollution.

Su Wen and Angelia gained the Survivor Camp’s trust by offering help against Eternal Dawn and learning about its gathered intelligence. When an infected patient broke through the isolation glass, Su Wen and Old Sage Kane contained the danger, revealing themselves as God Chosen; Old Ken explained that the Fifth Era had surpassed the Third in Spiritual Ascension.

• Su Wen presented his group as reinforcements, and Boyle ordered Bruce to take them to the Survivor Camp’s archives.
• Boyle led Su Wen and the others through the isolation area, showed them her infected father, and explained how the camp cared for patients and searched for a cure.
• A terminal-stage patient smashed through isolation glass and threatened to spread the Great Extinction Virus through the base.
• Su Wen shielded Angelia and sealed off the contaminated air while Old Sage Kane restrained the patient with magical chains.
• Boyle recognized Su Wen and Old Sage Kane as God Chosen, and Old Ken explained that the Fifth Era had advanced further in Spiritual Ascension than the Third.

Su Wen used his barrier to help Boyle’s Survivor Camp repair a breach, then gave her an Abyss Resistance Potion to try to save an infected patient. Boyle revealed that she led the Bloodstained Dawn Third Division and explained Eternal Dawn’s extermination of Eridanus Four; Su Wen ended the chapter asking whether she could pilot a Space Battleship.

• Su Wen received the Transcendent Monopoly Travel Card and considered how to use his advantage against the Horizon Star Ring observers.
• Boyle thanked Su Wen for saving the settlement and ordered medical staff to repair the isolation chamber breach.
• After the breach was repaired, Boyle ordered an infected patient killed, but Su Wen offered her an Abyss Resistance Potion to treat him.
• Boyle revealed that her group was the Resistance Army’s Bloodstained Dawn Third Division and recounted Eternal Dawn’s extermination policy for Non-Purification Zones.
• Boyle gave Su Wen and Angelia records showing Eternal Dawn’s bases and warned that the Resistance camps faced a Heavenly-Based Cannon strike.
• Su Wen asked Boyle whether her Space Battleship Military Academy training meant she could pilot and operate a Space Battleship.

Su Wen planned to seize a Space Battleship and use it to destroy the Space-Based Railgun, setting the Sand Bandits against the Inquisitors. He left the settlement’s residents with renewed hope and supplied food before the coming battle.

• Su Wen revealed his plan to destroy the Space-Based Railgun and proposed provoking a conflict between the Sand Bandits and the Inquisitors.
• Angelia reported that severe electromagnetic interference had made portable communicators useless, so Su Wen asked to borrow an off-road vehicle to contact Sifana and Yulis.
• The settlement’s residents thanked Su Wen for saving them, and Boyle explained that Dorn was under observation in an isolation ward.
• Su Wen urged the residents to make use of every means available and compared their resilience to swarms of bugs that had never been defeated.
• Su Wen brought out confiscated compressed rations so the settlement’s fighters would not go hungry before the war.

Su Wen and his companions prepared to leave the shelter on modified motorcycles and pursue the next stage of their plan inside the relic, while Strat sought to exploit the chaotic energy field. Strat told the Denmark Branch minister he could lure Grand Duke Christopher’s forces into a trap, but needed several orphans intended to become Virus Carriers.

• Angelia’s thoughts of her parents caused the World Influence deficit of Su Wen’s Mythical Trait to be replenished.
• Boyle opened a garage filled with modified desert motorcycles and joined Su Wen’s group instead of overseeing food distribution.
• Su Wen, Angelia, Old Sage Kane, Boyle, and the agents mounted the motorcycles and set out toward Angelia’s chosen meeting point with less than forty-two hours remaining in the crisis.
• Strat entered the Denmark Branch minister’s office and argued that the chaotic energy field offered the best chance to confront the Eternal Dawn inquisitors and guards.
• Strat claimed he could lure Grand Duke Christopher’s forces into a trap and requested an advance of several orphans meant to serve as Virus Carriers.

Su Wen’s group gathered at an abandoned observation platform after their agents completed reconnaissance of Leis Angton’s virus research base. Su Wen planned to use the site and a reckless mechanic to support an infiltration operation, leaving preparations underway for a conflict between Leis Angton and the Eternal Dawn Base garrison.

• At the Leis Angton Denmark Branch, the minister gave Strat a syringe of dark-green liquid as insurance and threatened him with a virus-fusion test if he failed.
• Su Wen and his group rode across the desert to an abandoned observation platform, where Yulis reported that agents had mapped the research base and located its captives.
• Sifana told Su Wen that she and Vanessa had also completed their mapping work, and Su Wen considered using the platform’s telescope to magnify Old Sage Kane’s runes.
• Su Wen asked Boyle for a mechanic and learned that the skilled candidate was a reckless battle maniac who usually obeyed her.
• Su Wen ordered Bruce to send the mechanic to Leis Angton in disguise as aid, where he would infiltrate and intensify the fighting when Leis Angton clashed with the Eternal Dawn Base garrison.

Su Wen analyzed the hidden virus base on Eridanus Four and planned to provoke Leis Angton into attacking, while Boyle revealed her brother Lawson Jones was willing to risk his life for revenge. After learning that Leis Angton had made kidnapped children the subjects of a public experiment, Su Wen decided to infiltrate the base himself.

• Vanessa mapped the concealed virus research cave and explained that Eternal Dawn underestimated the threat posed by Leis Angton.
• Su Wen planned to use the rescued mechanic as a conspicuous local rebel to draw the Inquisitors’ attention and provoke them into action.
• Boyle revealed that the mad scientist Lawson Jones was her younger brother and said he was ready to risk his life to avenge their mother.
• Sifana reported that Leis Angton had begun publicly conducting cruel experiments on children it had kidnapped from the Current World.
• Su Wen refused to launch an immediate rescue with the undercover agents and set out with Sifana to infiltrate the base using the Exoskeleton Mirage Overlay.

Su Wen explained how he would divert Leis Angton’s forces toward Eternal Dawn’s base while he infiltrated as an employee to stop the company from threatening them with children. He and Sifana donned disguises and prepared to enter the facility together.

• Su Wen told Angelia and the agents that Lawson Jones would feed Leis Angton information about Eternal Dawn’s base, drawing its forces into a costly battle.
• Su Wen explained that Strat would likely pursue the base for personal gain, leaving Patience Ivanovich as the likely opponent focused on them.
• Angelia agreed to draw attention and support Su Wen’s plan to infiltrate Leis Angton and end its use of children as leverage.
• Su Wen parked at Sifana’s marked hiding place and accepted the Disguise Mask she had made.
• Su Wen chose to infiltrate with only Sifana, whose Veil of Consciousness could reduce suspicion toward them.

Su Wen and Sifana prepared to infiltrate the Sand Bandits’ research base while Lawson Jones drew the guards’ attention by claiming he had information about Eternal Dawn. Su Wen entered through a concealed back door, where an agent had already secured a position inside.

• Su Wen and Sifana disguised themselves as researchers and waited for Lawson Jones to act on Su Wen’s plan.
• Bruce brought Lawson Jones to the Sand Bandits’ base, and Lawson declared that he had important information about Eternal Dawn.
• Lawson’s dramatic surrender attracted the guards and pulled researchers away from the base’s interior.
• Su Wen and Sifana confirmed that their disguises were based on people who had recently disappeared, then Su Wen entered through the concealed back door.
• Su Wen found a fire passage leading into the base and saw an agent posing as an unfamiliar woman inside.

Su Wen infiltrated Leis Angton while Lawson Jones risked his life to deliver a map of Eternal Dawn’s base. Lawson’s information caught the attention of Leis Angton’s leaders, including Strat, and revealed the strength of the forces they would face.

• A female agent gave Su Wen and Sifana identity tokens and promised to report Lawson Jones’s movements.
• Su Wen entered Leis Angton’s main laboratory in disguise and searched for intelligence while waiting for the plan to unfold.
• Lawson Jones offered Leis Angton information about Eternal Dawn, and a lie detector confirmed that his story was true.
• The minister ordered the guards to bring Lawson Jones inside, where Strat approached him and offered to help with his revenge.
• Lawson Jones presented a map of Eternal Dawn’s base and said it held five First-Order God Chosen and one Second-Order God Chosen.

Leis Angton’s leaders learned that a small team had entered the relic and, eager to claim its technology, prepared a massive assault after Lawson Jones revealed the barrier’s supposed weak points. Su Wen watched the forces mobilize, confident that their beliefs had been manipulated, and reflected on how difficult it was to expose a lie mixed with truth.

• Lawson Jones told Leis Angton’s leaders that only a few God Chosen had entered the relic and explained where to attack its barrier.
• Strat and Fulenkesi argued over who should lead the assault, but the fat minister ordered them to work together.
• A female agent reported the enemy’s reaction to Su Wen, who had anticipated that the revelation would make them act.
• Leis Angton assembled most of its combat forces and sent soldiers and War Weapons out of its base to begin the assault.
• Su Wen watched the mobilization from a laboratory and discussed with Angelia how a lie could be concealed among truths.

Su Wen explained how Lawson Jones’s carefully presented truths would mislead Leis Angton, while revealing that Eternal Dawn’s War Core, Seraph, was the real danger guarding its base. As Leis Angton prepared to attack Eternal Dawn, Su Wen and Angelia launched the next stage of their plan: an assault on the Eridanus Four Scrap Recycling Station.

• Su Wen reassured Angelia that Lawson Jones’s account was mostly accurate but concealed a crucial detail: the War Core Seraph guarded Eternal Dawn’s base and had kept Leis Angton at bay.
• Su Wen reported that the abducted Saint Petersburg children were safe for now because Leis Angton had prioritized capturing the Eternal Dawn base, delaying experiments on them.
• Su Wen and Sifana copied Leis Angton’s accessible databases, including research on viruses that could be used in warfare.
• After Leis Angton’s war machines began deploying, Su Wen put on a Disguise Mask and told Angelia to begin the operation.
• Angelia prepared her personnel to attack the Eridanus Four Scrap Recycling Station rather than the Virus Research Institute.