Chapter Summaries

Shen Lang sent the Amazon Legion into Azure Gold City to rescue the gravely ill Duke Deborah, while rebels led by Doyle Russo and Finch Shaw tried to seize power. After Shen Lang saved Deborah and captured the city, he revealed that his half-sister was Princess Helen, leaving Deborah to ask him to fulfill his promise before he departed.

• Dina delivered Duke Russo's seal and Deborah's plea, and Shen Lang ordered five thousand Amazon soldiers to take over Azure Gold City's defenses.
• Earl Biting was poisoned by his daughter Cece's husband, Finch, but fought through the rebel army before Finch and Doyle Russo killed him with arrows.
• Doyle Russo's rebels stormed the ducal residence, where the dying Deborah killed several attackers before Shen Lang's Amazon warriors arrived and routed them.
• Shen Lang treated Deborah with Penicillin, then told her that the captured rebels awaited her punishment and that Earl Biting was still fighting for his life.
• Shen Lang told Deborah he was leaving to meet his half-sister Princess Helen, and Deborah asked whether he would fulfill his promise before departing.

Shen Lang consolidated his control of Azure Gold City through his marriage to Duke Deborah and the execution of the rebels, then returned to MuLan City expecting to meet Princess Helen. Instead, he encountered a fierce woman named Hella, who revealed that she was his sister Jiang Mi and the third leader of the Skull Gang Pirate Legion.

• Duke Deborah proposed joining Shen Lang to meet Princess Helen and travel to the imperial capital, while Shen Lang revealed that they shared the father Jiang Li.
• Shen Lang ended his relationship with Black Widow Hill, who kept their porcelain trade partnership, and Earl Biting recovered after Shen Lang's operations.
• Duke Deborah and Shen Lang publicly presided over the execution of the captured rebels, completing Shen Lang's takeover of Azure Gold City.
• After returning to MuLan City with General Kuining, Shen Lang met Hella, who said her Eastern name was Jiang Mi and that she led the Skull Gang Pirate Legion's third division.

Shen Lang learned that Hella was his older sister and heard how the Skull Gang became trapped in the Lost Kingdom after Angela’s death. Hella took him toward Seed-Borrowing Island to meet Queen Eda, but Adolf arrived first and demanded Eda’s loyalty.

• Hella revealed that Jiang Li had led the first-generation Skull Gang and that her mother, Angela, died after being swallowed during a Sea Burial.
• Hella explained that the Skull Gang had spent years trapped in the Lost Kingdom’s cursed waters, and that a volcanic eruption had helped her escape.
• Shen Lang told Hella he intended to return east and destroy his enemies; she agreed to help him build a fleet but forbade him from entering the Lost Kingdom.
• Hella took Shen Lang toward Seed-Borrowing Island, while Black Pearl asked to join them and Hella refused.
• Adolf appeared before Queen Eda and ordered her to kneel, swear loyalty, and become his woman or die.

Queen Eda and Hella fought Adolf, but neither could touch him until Shen Lang used a hidden Hand Cannon and a Nightmare Stone to wound him. Shen Lang then revealed that Adolf Vida was his father Jiang Li’s disciple in the Western World, leaving Adolf and the others stunned.

• Queen Eda attacked Adolf repeatedly, but his strange movement let him evade every strike, and he explained that her Golden Bloodline surpassed his own.
• Hella joined Queen Eda, and the two women ground saltpeter into powder and ignited it, scorching Adolf’s clothing without injuring him.
• Adolf threatened Shen Lang and wagered that he could not wound him, so Shen Lang accepted and secretly fired a Hand Cannon after throwing a flying knife.
• The shot briefly stalled Adolf’s movement because Shen Lang’s Nightmare Stone interfered with Adolf’s, allowing the bullet to cut his face and win the wager.
• Adolf put a sword to Shen Lang’s throat and threatened to kill him, but Shen Lang identified him as Adolf Vida, his father Jiang Li’s disciple in the Western World.

Shen Lang outmaneuvered Adolf, who seized control of the fleets blockading Azure Gold City and urged Shen Lang into the Lost Kingdom. Hella joined Shen Lang on the voyage to rescue the Skull Gang Fleet, and they crossed a vast mirage into the changed Lost Kingdom, where Shen Lang was stunned by what he saw.

• Shen Lang exposed Adolf's past and challenged his authority to kill him, forcing Adolf to retreat and reveal the fleet he had taken from Duke Deborah and Bloody Baron.
• Adolf ordered a naval blockade of Shen Lang's and Deborah's ships, while Shen Lang discussed the threat and his plan to rescue the Skull Gang Fleet with Hella and Queen Eda.
• Queen Eda refused to be with Shen Lang until she had restored her pride by defeating Adolf without relying on ancient equipment, and Hella agreed to guide Shen Lang to the Lost Kingdom.
• Shen Lang returned to MuLan City, arranged for Zhang Chunhua to manage affairs during his absence, and sailed south with Hella and twenty sailors.
• After half a month at sea, Shen Lang's party encountered a vast curtain of light unlike anything Hella had seen, and Hella warned him that the Lost Kingdom had changed.
• Shen Lang and Hella sailed through the curtain into the Lost Kingdom, where Shen Lang was stunned by the unfamiliar world before him.

Shen Lang and Hella crossed the Lost Kingdom Ruins after escaping a horde of Sea Monsters, and discovered the Skull Gang had gathered at Empress Harbor. Hella presented Shen Lang as the son of Monarch Loki and the Skull Gang’s true leader, leaving the pirates facing his claim to command them.

• Shen Lang and Hella watched a mirage of the Empress Medusa enthrall the Sea Monsters, then fled when the creatures awoke and attacked; five sailors were devoured and their ship was destroyed.
• Hella took Shen Lang into the Lost Kingdom Ruins, where he sensed ghostly ultrasonic sobs and saw the ruined city and a snow-covered mountain topped by a mysterious Pyramid.
• Hella found her castle base empty and feared the Skull Gang had died, but she and Shen Lang hurried to Empress Harbor to look for them.
• Shen Lang and Hella found the Skull Gang Legion celebrating beside its fleet of more than three hundred ships, including iron-armored warships.
• Hella announced that Shen Lang was Monarch Loki’s son and the Skull Gang’s true leader, then knelt and declared her allegiance to him.

Shen Lang joined the Skull Gang and challenged Douglas Xilun for its leadership, despite the pirates’ support for Douglas and contempt for him. During his campaign speech, Shen Lang leaped from the Empress Dam into the sea monster-filled waters to prove himself the gang’s chosen sea god.

• Hella claimed Shen Lang should inherit the Skull Gang as Loki’s son, but the pirates rejected bloodline as a basis for leadership and mocked Shen Lang’s weakness.
• Jack Tang confirmed Shen Lang was Loki’s son, while Hai Wang announced that Douglas Xilun would run for leader after rescuing the gang, defeating a thousand pirates, and stopping the mental torment of the Lost Kingdom Ruins.
• Hella rejected Douglas as her brother and pleaded for Shen Lang’s chance, but Shen Lang joined the Skull Gang and formally entered the election against Douglas.
• The pirates cheered Douglas and booed Shen Lang at the election on the Empress Dam, while hundreds of thousands of sea monsters gathered beyond it.
• Shen Lang challenged Douglas to undergo Sea Burial, then leaped from the dam into the sea monster-filled waters and declared himself the true sea god and the Skull Gang’s chosen one.

Shen Lang survived the Sea Monsters and won the support of seven thousand Skull Gang members, while Douglas led the majority away, confident he could guide them home. Shen Lang expected Douglas’s plan to fail, and Princess Helen emerged from an underwater Pyramid in the Lost Kingdom Ruins.

• Shen Lang jumped into the Sea Monsters, and Hella followed before Jack Tang caught and saved her.
• Shen Lang emerged unharmed as the Sea Monsters fled from his poisonous blood, then returned to the dam with Hella.
• Douglas and Shen Lang competed for the Skull Gang’s allegiance; Douglas won about fifty-three thousand votes, while seven thousand chose Shen Lang.
• Douglas led his fleet out of Empress Harbor, leaving Shen Lang and his supporters behind as Shen Lang predicted Douglas’s escape plan would fail.
• Princess Helen broke out of an underwater Pyramid after traveling through the Lost Kingdom Ruins and wondered where she had emerged.

Princess Helen crossed a dangerous underwater passage into the Lost Kingdom Ruins and investigated the strange explosion that Douglas Xilun used to claim he had freed the Skull Gang from the Cursed Sea. Douglas led the fleet back to what he believed was White Harbor, but Shen Lang revealed that they had returned to the Lost Kingdom Ruins and mocked Douglas’s failed escape.

• Helen reflected on her past, her family, and her conflicted desire to preserve Queen Helen’s racial integration policies before choosing the Devil’s Triangle as her next dangerous adventure.
• After searching for Shen Lang and failing to escape the Devil’s Triangle, Helen discovered a lengthy underwater passage and traveled through its hazards into the Lost Kingdom Ruins.
• Helen emerged from the sea, identified the ruins as part of the New Lost Empire, and headed toward an Ancient Energy Core explosion.
• Douglas Xilun used the explosions and the disappearance of the Human-Faced Snake Island to convince the Skull Gang that he had broken the Cursed Sea’s barrier and saved them.
• Douglas led the Skull Gang north for thirteen days, and the pirates celebrated when they mistook the Lost Kingdom Ruins for the Xilun Empire’s White Harbor.
• Shen Lang and the seven thousand pirates waiting ashore revealed that the fleet had returned to its starting point, then Shen Lang mocked Douglas and demanded the Skull Gang’s loyalty.

Princess Helen arrived, stopped the Skull Gang’s civil war, and reunited with Shen Lang, bringing news that MuLan and the children were safe inside the Devil’s Triangle. Shen Lang then revealed that the Lost Demon Mother trapped the Skull Gang and challenged them to join him in battle; after he sounded Angela’s red conch, the monster army and its castle-sized queen appeared as he sailed toward them.

• Douglas blamed Shen Lang for his failed escape plan, and Hai Wang led thousands of pirates in a charge against him.
• Princess Helen killed Hai Wang, forced Douglas to admit he had lied, and marked his face before reuniting with Shen Lang.
• Helen told Shen Lang that MuLan and the children were safe in the Devil’s Triangle, though she had been unable to bring them out.
• Shen Lang explained that Angela had died fighting the Lost Demon Mother and urged the Skull Gang to save themselves by fighting instead of waiting for rescue.
• Shen Lang sounded Angela’s red battle conch, summoning countless sea monsters and the Lost Demon Mother, then boarded a small boat and headed toward her.

Shen Lang and his sisters confronted the Lost Demon Mother, whose terrifying size and power were illusions created by the Curse Queen. As the Skull Gang regained its fighting spirit and joined the battle, Shen Lang uncovered the Curse Queen’s possession of Angela and helped Angela seize control long enough to destroy the octopus with an Ancient Energy Core.

• Shen Lang injected Hella and Princess Helen with medicine that let them see through the Lost Demon Mother’s illusions, and the sisters attacked the octopus while he entered its body.
• Jack Tang, Hai Meng, and tens of thousands of Skull Gang pirates overcame their fear and charged into battle against the Sea Monsters.
• Inside the octopus, Shen Lang confronted the Curse Queen and discovered that Angela’s body and soul had been taken over by her.
• Shen Lang used a modified Nightmare Stone to awaken Angela, and a mirage of Empress Medusa briefly gave Angela control of her body.
• Angela threw Shen Lang out of the octopus, declared him the Skull Gang’s new leader, and steered the creature toward an underwater Pyramid.
• Angela triggered the Ancient Energy Core’s explosion, destroying the Lost Demon Mother and its octopus body.

Shen Lang rescued the Skull Gang from the Sea Monsters after Angela sacrificed herself to destroy the Lost Demon Mother, and the surviving pirates swore fealty to him. As the fleet sailed back toward Azure Gold City, it learned that Deborah was pregnant while she faced a blockade and rebellion.

• The Lost Demon Mother died in the Pyramid explosion, causing the Sea Monsters to abandon their attack on the Skull Gang.
• Shen Lang and Princess Helen searched for Angela but found only the Lost Demon Mother's remains, while the Sea Monsters mourned around the corpse.
• Jack Tang, Hai Meng, and the surviving Skull Gang pirates knelt before Shen Lang and swore fealty, and the fleet sailed north from the Lost Kingdom Ruins.
• On the voyage home, Shen Lang resolved to destroy Bloody Baron Sean Monroe's fleet, while Princess Helen prepared to fulfill her responsibility to the southern empire.
• Deborah struggled against a naval blockade and political isolation, and a female physician revealed that Deborah was pregnant.

Duke Deborah learned she was pregnant while Azure Gold City faced a blockade and Duke Russell’s arrival with an army of one hundred thousand. Black Pearl’s fleet was trapped at sea, but Shen Lang returned with the Skull Island Fleet and began destroying the Bloody Baron’s forces.

• Duke Deborah decided to keep supporting Shen Lang’s Queen City despite shortages and growing hostility from the southern nobles.
• Duke Deborah learned Duke Russell had entered Bibo Province with one hundred thousand soldiers and prepared Azure Gold City for possible war.
• Black Pearl led fifty ships carrying Saltpeter north, but the Bloody Baron’s ambush forced her fleet to flee and dump its cargo.
• The Bloody Baron’s fleet pursued Black Pearl through a storm until the returning Skull Island Fleet appeared behind them.
• The Bloody Baron and Dodge Russo rallied their larger fleet to fight, but the Skull Island Fleet overwhelmed them in a one-sided slaughter.

Shen Lang’s fleet annihilated Bloody Baron’s forces, and Shen Lang executed Bloody Baron and Dodge Russo despite their pleas. After reuniting with her adoptive parents, Black Pearl sailed with the fleet toward Azure Gold City, where Shen Lang spotted signs of a major crisis as they approached.

• The Skull Gang overwhelmed Bloody Baron’s fleet in a brutal battle, captured his flagship, and forced its surviving pirates into the sea to swim away.
• Bloody Baron knelt, pledged loyalty, and castrated himself, but Shen Lang ordered his tongue cut out and had him tortured and executed by Death by a Thousand Cuts.
• Dodge Russo claimed noble privilege and begged Shen Lang for mercy, but Shen Lang killed him with his own sword.
• Princess Helen told Shen Lang that she understood his idea of No Enmity Under Heaven, while Black Pearl found and embraced her adoptive parents among the surviving Skull Gang members.
• Shen Lang left the stranded pirates to drown and sailed toward Azure Gold City with Princess Helen; as the city came into view, he ordered the fleet to speed up after noticing that something serious had happened.

Duke Russell marched on Azure Gold City to depose Deborah and drive out Shen Lang, while Adolf tried to persuade Deborah to betray Shen Lang and save her title. As the battle began, Princess Helen arrived, proved her royal authority and kinship with Shen Lang, and ordered Russell to stop fighting.

• Duke Russell rejected Shen Lang's claim to Azure Gold City, demanded that Deborah abdicate, and threatened war if Shen Lang's forces did not leave the Western World.
• Deborah refused Russell's ultimatum and Adolf's offer to poison the Amazon Legion, choosing to remain loyal to Shen Lang despite the danger to her city and her unborn child.
• Russell assembled 250,000 troops and attacked Azure Gold City as explosions and fires threw the city into chaos.
• Deborah, Princess Dora, and Earl Biting prepared the city's defenses while Shen Lang hurried toward the battle with the Skull Gang Fleet.
• Princess Helen carried Shen Lang across the sea, arrived during the fighting, declared that Shen Lang was her half-brother and Deborah had acted in the empire's interests, then ordered the armies to cease hostilities.
• Duke Russell recognized Helen's authority, knelt before her, and agreed to stop the fighting.

Princess Helen ended the Russo Family civil war, confirmed Shen Lang as her brother, and helped restore Duke Deborah’s authority. She declared that she would confront Sauron over the Xilun throne, while Queen Eda challenged Adolf to a duel to the death.

• Duke Russell halted the fighting and led the soldiers in greeting Princess Helen, while Talun reported that the Skull Gang Fleet had returned and Bloody Baron and Dodge Russo were dead.
• Duke Deborah welcomed Helen and, with Duke Russell, confirmed Shen Lang’s lineage and ruled that Deborah’s alliance with him had not harmed the Russo Family; the vassals renewed their fealty to her.
• Helen told Duke Russell that she supported establishing the Xilun Third Empire but would not seek its throne for personal ambition, and she named herself Sauron’s true final opponent in Queen City.
• Adolf refused Helen’s duel and began to leave, but Queen Eda challenged him over his past humiliation of her, and Duke Russell ruled that Adolf could not refuse.
• Queen Eda declared that the duel would end with Adolf’s defeat and castration or her own death, and Adolf accepted as they prepared to fight atop the cliff.

Shen Lang and the others watched Queen Eda defeat Adolf after she used a magnetic whip to disable his Ancient Civilization equipment, then overwhelmed him in a prolonged fight. As Adolf revealed secrets about Jiang Li and Shen Lang’s family, a voice from White Jade Capital appeared, saying she had come specifically for Shen Lang.

• Shen Lang explained to Duke Russell and Duke Deborah that the Western World’s Ancient Civilization discoveries lagged behind the Eastern World, whose powerful forces had concealed their ruins.
• Queen Eda injured Adolf with her blade, then used a barbed metal whip and lightning to disrupt his Nightmare Stone device and tear it from his chest.
• Queen Eda and Adolf continued fighting without his Ancient Equipment; after hours of combat, she exhausted his Inner Force, castrated him, and dragged him before Shen Lang.
• Adolf revealed that he was one of the Veda People, denied being Jiang Li’s disciple, and hinted at secrets about Shen Lang’s mother and Jiang Li’s rise to power.
• Snow fell as a voice from White Jade Capital addressed Shen Lang and told him she had come specifically for him.

Shen Lang dealt with Adolf, helped Princess Helen secure support in the south, and prepared to return to the Eastern World with his own forces. As Emperor Sauron requested an audience with the sleeping Medusa Queen, she awakened and prepared to return Chou Yao'er to Shen Lang.

• Shen Lang maimed Adolf and sent him north on a green Snowdrift Boat after learning of his resentment toward Jiang Li and White Capital.
• A White Capital messenger urged Shen Lang to seek refuge there, but he refused to go before settling matters in the Eastern World.
• Duke Deborah freed the slaves of Azure Gold City and publicly welcomed Princess Helen, then pledged her family’s support by agreeing that Earl Austin would marry a Vida woman.
• Shen Lang visited Queen Eda on Saltpeter Island, accepted the island as a base, and discussed returning east with about fifty thousand Amazon and Skull Island troops.
• After ten months in Queen City, Yaoyao grew increasingly weak while Medusa Queen remained asleep beneath the palace and Sauron’s army surrounded the city.
• Sauron requested an audience, and Medusa Queen awakened, announcing that she was about to return the complete Chou Yao'er to Shen Lang.

Medusa Queen prepared Yaoyao for separation, then met Sauron on a snowy mountain for their final battle. After the mountain was devastated by their fight, an altered figure descended and said she had returned Medusa Queen whole to Shen Lang.

• Medusa Queen gave Yaoyao a mysterious bead, sang her to sleep along with the babies throughout Queen City, and left for the mountain north of the city.
• Shen Lang returned to MuLan City, where cannon production and fleet preparations expanded with support from Bibo Province.
• Duke Deborah hosted Princess Helen’s grand welcome banquet, where southern nobles backed Helen and showered Shen Lang with gifts.
• Earl Austin Russo attended with his Vida Tribe fiancée, and the southern nobles celebrated their engagement as a sign of support for Helen’s policies.
• Medusa Queen and Sauron fought atop the snowy mountain, unleashing a storm that stripped the summit bare and triggered a vast avalanche.
• A shifting, snow-covered figure descended from the mountain and told Shen Lang that she had returned Medusa Queen to him whole.

Shen Lang hurried to Queen City and reunited with Yaoyao, whose health had improved after Medusa Queen left. He took Yaoyao to wait by the coast, where Chou Yao'er finally arrived.

• Duke Deborah introduced Shen Lang to the Fire God Sect's High Priest, who apologized for the assassination and gave him an ancient tome.
• After the High Priest urged him to go to Queen City soon, Shen Lang left Azure Gold City and sailed north with the Amazon Legion.
• Shen Lang passed through Shiva City and reached Queen City, where Duke Hall told him that Medusa Queen had departed thirteen nights earlier.
• Shen Lang found Yaoyao in Dustless Palace, reunited with her, and carried her outside to see Queen City.
• Shen Lang took Yaoyao to a beach east of Queen City, and three days later Chou Yao'er arrived from the north.