Chapter Summaries

Li Aoz and Du Zexin survived the White Knight’s attack, but the battle left Li Aoz shaken and Du Zexin’s body severely damaged. As they traveled toward the launch site, Du Zexin confessed why he wanted to escape the world and offered his reactor as another nuclear bomb to help Li Aoz reach space.

• Li Aoz found Du Zexin’s headless body in the cockpit, then learned Du Zexin had uploaded his consciousness into the Future Watch GAMMA.
• Du Zexin questioned Li Aoz about the Hidden Society, but Li Aoz admitted he knew nothing about it and confessed that the White Knight’s power had made him feel helpless.
• Du Zexin challenged Li Aoz’s belief that he could control events and explained that he wanted to escape the world, sharing how unfairness had shaped his life and how meaningful his time with Li Aoz had been.
• Du Zexin repaired his body and drove the Mobile Armor through the checkpoint blockade, carrying Li Aoz toward the abandoned camp near Triangle Town.
• Li Aoz told Du Zexin he planned to reach space with only his brain and the Biochemical Pool, since there was no time to find another nuclear bomb.
• Du Zexin pointed to the reactor in his chest and offered it as another bomb.

Li Aoz recorded his discoveries about Gaia, the Hidden Society, and its class-user citizens, while questioning why his knowledge of the world differed so sharply from reality. He ended by wondering whether his unusual name, often mispronounced as Lioz, was connected to his transmigration.

• Li Aoz explained that Societies were living civilizations whose citizens multiplied their collective strength, and that civilizations had to pit hostile Societies against each other to destroy them.
• Li Aoz reasoned that Gaia used Ether to transform humans into class-user citizens and sought to erode Reality Society, but he could find no records of it on Qiqiao Network.
• Li Aoz recounted Xiajian Jing's information that Gaia accepted only qualified C3 Luca-type Cosmic Humans, guided its class users, and strengthened citizens through ten stages of Reforging.
• Li Aoz learned that dead class users absorbed into Gaia's system were soon forgotten by ordinary people, and he looked forward to getting rid of Yuhelai.
• Li Aoz questioned whether his past-life memories or transmigration had been manipulated after recalling how Nomi, Alexia, the Imitation Humans, and Du Zexin differed from his memories.
• Li Aoz wondered what a hidden power could want from him and concluded that his unusual name, often mistaken for Lioz, might be the only special thing about him.

Li Aoz welcomed the selected players and arranged with Nethermark Heavy Industries for a biochemical clone, while Du Zexin prepared to leave Azure Planet. After giving Li Aoz a backup of his consciousness, Du Zexin chose to stay and take responsibility for changing Frostplate, asking Li Aoz to bring hope back to Azure Planet.

• Li Aoz introduced the Descenders to Du Zexin as the selected players gathered for their journey into space.
• Li Aoz recognized several professional players among the twenty-five chosen and earned experience by renting them Aoneng.
• Li Aoz contacted N4 to add a biochemical clone to their cooperation, offering to mortgage his Aoneng.
• Du Zexin gave Li Aoz a lotus Chip containing a copy of his consciousness and instructions for retrieving it if the Mobile Armor failed.
• Du Zexin decided he no longer wanted to escape to the universe and instead intended to rebuild Frostplate, asking Li Aoz to bring hope back to Azure Planet.

N4 arrived at the abandoned camp with a Nethermark Heavy Industries augmentation prepared for Li Aoz. After reviewing the MZ-117 'Pioneer' specifications, Li Aoz was offered the choice to wear it or replace his current body.

• N4 landed at the abandoned camp and greeted Li Aoz, while the players recognized her as Nethermark Heavy Industries' CEO and a level 80 'Pioneer'.
• Li Aoz asked N4 to show him what she had brought, and she led him to a refrigerated freezer delivered by Nethermark employees.
• Du Zexin scanned the freezer's contents and confirmed that nothing inside was wrong.
• Li Aoz read the specifications for the MZ-117 'Pioneer', a powerful biochemical augmentation built for Nethermark's senior employees and scientists.
• N4 told Li Aoz he could either wear the augmentation or replace his current body with it.

Li Aoz explained Azure Planet’s history, its place in the wider universe, and the dangers posed by the Entropy Lord and Society. He laid out two ways to save the planet, leaving the players and N4 to weigh the costs of evacuation against a solution that could take a century.

• N4 questioned Li Aoz about provoking major powers, and he said he needed to reach space because commercial interests would never fund the effort.
• Li Aoz showed the players footage of the Abandoned Mist and revealed that the Entropy Lord was a godlike source behind it and the Malefic Calamity.
• Li Aoz claimed that humanity’s extraordinary paths came from extraterrestrial civilizations and described how the Fiennes Federation had aided Azure Planet before the Malefic Calamity cut it off from space.
• Li Aoz argued that GTB’s control of extraordinary knowledge kept humanity weak, while N4 warned that widespread access could trigger a devastating war.
• Li Aoz said Azure Planet also faced Society, a Living Civilization drawn by the Entropy Lord, and described two solutions: evacuating and destroying the planet or repeatedly sending the Entropy Lord’s infant form into a black hole.
• Li Aoz said the second solution would preserve Azure Planet but might require the players to wait up to one hundred years.

The players debated what the Star Abyss’s six class Paths to Divinity meant and suspected advanced civilizations wanted to produce gods for their own purposes. Li Aoz then prepared to use the biochemical body called Pioneer against the White Knight and the Heavenly Ring People, asking Ms. N4 to limit its strength to Beta-rank.

• Cumin Powder urged the pro players to share their thoughts, and Ye Zhangjian revealed that Li Aoz’s fan clubs in the Colonies might also serve as intelligence networks.
• The players discussed GTB’s control of knowledge and concluded that the six class factions might each represent a path to godhood.
• Yu Tianxiao theorized that advanced civilizations encouraged superhuman development because they needed people to become gods, while the others speculated that gods might be mass-produced tools or workers.
• Li Aoz recalled the dangers of confronting society as an individual and turned his attention to the biochemical body Pioneer in the freezer.
• Li Aoz asked Ms. N4 to limit Pioneer’s stats to Beta-rank so he could teach the White Knight and the Heavenly Ring People a lesson without relying on toxic blood.

Yuhelai recovered from his wounds and spoke with Bellringer Horst, who explained that the Hidden Society’s councilor had been taken and warned him about the Society’s past. Horst sent Yuhelai back to his task involving Gretwar Night Song, while Yuhelai said he had made an agreement with the Heavenly Ring People and planned to take revenge on Li Aoz.

• Yuhelai used an Ether Concoction to heal after the battle, and Bellringer Horst arrived, explaining that Death Knell Intertwining let him track Yuhelai’s soul.
• Horst told Yuhelai that the Hidden Society’s councilor had been taken after its traitors escaped into the Star Abyss, but the Society would continue searching for her.
• Horst explained the Society’s infiltration process and described Morphedria, the God of Reality, as the entity that had dealt the Society its greatest blow.
• Yuhelai asked why the Society did not seek out more C3 Luca-type Human Races, and Horst said such races were scattered across the Star Abyss and difficult to find.
• Horst reminded Yuhelai that his assignment was Gretwar Night Song, and Yuhelai said he had reached an agreement with the Heavenly Ring People and intended to take revenge on Li Aoz.
• Horst told Yuhelai not to mention Li Aoz’s name again because it reminded him of something disgusting.

Yuhelai demanded the Black Whale from the Heavenly Ring officers, but fled after learning that Gretwar Night Song had been rescued from Shiratori Town Prison by the Red Squad. Quan Xianzhong turned the incident into an opportunity to rally the military against the clans and mobilize an elite force to pursue Li Aoz, whose movements Du Zexin observed.

• Yuhelai demanded payment for intercepting Li Aoz and threatened to poison the camp when Quan Xianzhong refused to hand over the Black Whale.
• The officers learned that Gretwar Night Song had been rescued from Shiratori Town Prison by the Red Squad, and Yuhelai sped away to pursue them.
• Quan Xianzhong urged the officers to exploit the deaths of two clan Gamma-ranks to expand military power and capture Li Aoz.
• An Onmyoji rallied five thousand Heavenly Ring Warriors, who mobilized under cover of the natural disaster.
• Five Mobile Armor units departed at two in the morning, and Du Zexin saw their movements.

Li Aoz recruited Gretwar Night Song and the Red Squad to help resist the approaching Heavenly Ring army after revealing the threat to Azure Planet. Xiajian Jing struggled to let Gretwar fight, then gave him permission and sent him to join Li Aoz.

• Du Zexin warned Li Aoz that the Heavenly Ring People were advancing along Storm Edge and could arrive before their repairs were finished.
• Li Aoz contacted Xiajian Jing and invited Gretwar Night Song and the Red Squad to help defend Azure Planet, explaining the dangers posed by the Entropy Lord, Malefic Calamity, and the Four Nations' secrecy.
• Xiajian Jing and Gretwar condemned the Four Nations and GTB for exploiting the Outland People, and Gretwar volunteered to fight alongside Li Aoz.
• Xiajian Jing objected because she feared losing Gretwar, but he formally requested permission to fight as a Red Squad private.
• Xiajian Jing gave Gretwar permission, offered him her vehicle, and told him to find Li Aoz, their Black Knight.

Gretvor raced across the Outland while rejecting White Shark’s demands to submit to the Hidden Society, then fought Yuhelai and escaped into the subway tunnels. Yuhelai vowed that their battle had only begun.

• Gretvor rode his motorcycle through the Old Era ruins and into the Outland as White Shark urged him to join the Hidden Society.
• Gretvor told White Shark that he believed in justice and that people were still fighting for the planet.
• Yuhelai emerged from the mountainside on a blade shark and attacked Gretvor with a longsword.
• Gretvor struck Yuhelai with an arm shield, took a sword wound to his shoulder, then knocked Yuhelai away.
• Gretvor escaped through the subway tracks, and Yuhelai lost his trail in the maze of tunnels.

Li Aoz mobilized Azure Planet players to prepare defenses and supplies while Du Zexin modified the Mobile Armor to launch the Biochemical Pool into space and disperse the Malefic Calamity. As the Heavenly Ring Soldiers approached, Li Aoz called for reinforcements and ordered Nimoting to join him.

• Players spent their money and experience on weapons, equipment, and fortifications, while Li Aoz circulated quests to draw more people into the work.
• A cycle of player spending, quest rewards, and Auckland Lord’s kickbacks enriched Li Aoz and supplied the players as Du Zexin cleared out his parts inventory.
• Du Zexin modified the Mobile Armor to carry the Biochemical Pool into space, where Li Aoz planned to use a Hydrogen Bomb and the reactor to disperse the Malefic Calamity.
• Li Aoz saw the Heavenly Ring Soldiers advancing and called Alexia, who promised to contact President Sisron and meet him soon.
• Li Aoz called Nimoting at the Qiongan Capital Holiday Hotel and ordered her to reach his location within three hours, despite her insistence that she was on vacation.

Li Aoz called Ya Wen for help, but her despair over her past mistakes and Si Jia’s sacrifice led him to comfort her instead. He urged her to keep living for those who cared about her, and she confessed that she loved him.

• Li Aoz reached Ya Wen and asked her to come help him, then realized she was in the Outland and asked if she was in trouble.
• Ya Wen said she felt happy that Li Aoz needed her, but confessed she believed the world rejected her and that she was afraid to die.
• Li Aoz told Ya Wen he did not hate her and reminded her that Si Jia had chosen to sacrifice herself and continued to love and protect her.
• Li Aoz urged Ya Wen to live for the people who cared about her and to seek redemption by carrying on.
• Ya Wen asked whether Li Aoz would like her, and then told him she loved him.

Yuhelai concluded that Li Aoz and Gretwar were working together and raced to intercept them, while Li Aoz gathered allies and prepared a strike against the advancing Heavenly Ring forces. After organizing the players and linking himself to the Pioneer biological armor, Li Aoz was ready to greet the enemy.

• Yuhelai lost Black Whale's trail, then decided that Li Aoz and Gretwar were working together and set off to pursue them.
• Gretwar met Li Aoz, who explained that a heavily armed Heavenly Ring regiment was advancing through the Outland.
• Li Aoz proposed using Sunny Garden and Track No. 1012 to outflank the troops, then assembled eight hundred players and a fleet of Triangle Town vehicles for the interception.
• Li Aoz granted Caramel Snail the Soul-Inscribed Sword Saint Aoneng, while Du Zexin stayed behind to maintain the defenses.
• Li Aoz connected his cells to the Pioneer biological armor, renamed it True, and prepared to attack the Heavenly Ring forces.

Kano Asaichi cautiously led Sky Ring forces through a massive storm, convinced that Li Aoz’s influence and battlefield abilities made him a serious threat despite being alone. After scouts detected a convoy beneath Sunny Garden, Kano ordered an attack that would also strike the Greening Base and force Li Aoz’s group into the open.

• Kano Asaichi recalled Sky Ring’s costly invasion of Frostplate and assessed Li Aoz as a powerful, well-connected commander who might have hidden forces ready to ambush them.
• Kano deployed Ninja scouts and aerial drones to search for threats as the Sky Ring army advanced through the storm.
• The Ninja units detected thermal activity at ten o’clock, and Kano identified it as a likely armed convoy whose movements had exposed Sky Ring’s approach.
• Kano learned that the convoy was beneath Sunny Garden near the Greening Base, but rejected the adjutant’s warning about attacking the biochemists.
• Kano ordered the Skyhawk Fighters to drop Bunker Busters and called on the troops to prepare to wipe away their humiliation.

Heavenly Ring forces launched a devastating assault on the Greening Base, bombing its residential district and killing civilians before the base’s biochemists and war beasts fought back. The chapter ended with Heavenly Ring warriors using Aura Infusion and coordinated sword techniques to decimate the attacking beasts.

• Two Sky Eagle fighters dropped bunker-buster bombs on Sunny Garden, destroying school buildings and killing teachers, students, and residents.
• After the Greening Base’s spokesperson condemned the attack, Kano Asaichi ordered the bombardment of civilian residences and the shutdown of the Artificial Sun.
• Heavenly Ring troops fired on fleeing civilians as the Greening Base counterattacked with biochemical war beasts, toxic weapons, and aerial monsters.
• The Heavenly Ring commander ordered the warriors to draw blades and use Vacuum Slash, killing vast numbers of beasts in a wide attack zone.
• The warriors switched to the Vermilion Bird stance and unleashed waves of flame that tore apart and incinerated the next wave of beasts.

Sky Ring forces massacred Greening Base’s civilians and biochemists while searching for Li Aoz, but Caramel Snail attacked the invading soldiers and killed a female ninja. He left the battlefield with the ninja’s jewelry equipment, hoping Li Aoz would appreciate it.

• Kano Asaichi ordered Sky Ring troops to enter Greening Base and search for Li Aoz after bombardment erased the underground biological signals.
• Sky Ring warriors slaughtered civilians, captured biochemists for the Hojo Conglomerate, and threatened an old biochemist’s family to make him burn the greenhouses.
• A rocket attack interrupted the atrocities, and a female ninja used a Mist Array to conceal herself before Caramel Snail ambushed her.
• Caramel Snail defeated the ninja with his tachi and firearms, searched her armor, and took her +4 Charisma jewelry equipment for Li Aoz.
• Caramel Snail humiliated the dying ninja with squat-taunting until she blacked out and died.

Li Aoz’s players ambushed Sky Ring’s warriors inside the Greening Base and used coordinated tactics, rented Aoneng, and specialized equipment to overwhelm them. Kano Asaichi realized the battle was a trap, while command’s casualty estimates suggested the enemy force was impossibly large.

• Li Aoz watched the players attack Sky Ring’s warriors and dismissed their belief that he cared about the Greening Base.
• Ye Zhangjian, Cumin Powder, Yu Tianxiao, Garryton, and other players used stealth, firepower, hacking, and guerrilla tactics to kill Heavenly Ring Warriors.
• The players combined rented Aoneng with their class abilities, while Mutant players used boosted Charm to immobilize and crush the warriors with gravity.
• Sky Ring’s dispersed squads struggled to obtain fire support, and their commanders argued over priority as the players pressed their attack.
• Kano Asaichi recognized that Li Aoz had deliberately made the Greening Base a battlefield, then questioned command’s estimate that the enemy had suffered casualties equivalent to thirteen hundred people.

Kano deployed two Fang-type Mobile Armors to overwhelm the undead defenders at Sunny Garden, but Li Aoz revealed a powerful biochemical body and destroyed both mechs. He warned the Heavenly Ring army that he was nearing Gamma-rank and activated Overlord Form.

• Kano ordered two Fang-type Mobile Armors into Sunny Garden after authorizing the execution of a Gamma-rank prisoner.
• Shibuki Shingo and the other Mobile Armor crew tore through the players' defenses, forcing many players to retreat or respawn in Triangle Town.
• The players realized they could not stop the Mobile Armors and noticed Li Aoz was missing.
• Li Aoz pulled Shibuki Shingo from his burning cockpit and crushed him, while both Fang-type Mobile Armors lay destroyed.
• Li Aoz identified himself as a Mutant career instructor seeking revenge and activated Overlord Form as he challenged the Heavenly Ring army.

Li Aoz overwhelmed the Sky Ring forces with his enhanced body, destroying aircraft and turning their own attacks against them. As the soldiers’ morale collapsed and he prepared to withdraw, Yuhelai charged at him in the sky.

• Li Aoz used his Stardust Wings and ten-Mach speed to tear through the Sky Ring ground forces and evade their fighters.
• Li Aoz destroyed two fighters with Heavenly Falling Flames, then dodged attacks from three pursuing Mobile Armors.
• Li Aoz linked 204 soldiers to himself and used transferred lightning damage to trigger a chain of deaths across the battlefield.
• Kano Asaichi learned that the capital’s forces had never truly shot Li Aoz down, while the Sky Ring soldiers panicked and some prayed for divine heroes to save them.
• Li Aoz decided to retreat as his enhanced body neared genetic overload, but Yuhelai charged at him with a blade.

Li Aoz revealed that Yuhelai’s White Knight armor offered no real defense, then challenged him to fight without weapons or his full enhancements. Their brutal duel ended with both launching flying kicks at each other, leaving the collision unresolved.

• Yuhelai attacked Li Aoz, who confirmed that the White Knight’s armor was made of blades growing from Yuhelai’s body and shocked him with high-voltage electricity.
• Yuhelai recovered, drank an Ether Concoction, and faced Li Aoz in a valley while Li Aoz disabled his enhancements and removed his armor plates.
• Yuhelai used Bloodthirsty Soul and Sharpen Teeth to launch an Iai Slash, but Li Aoz knocked it aside and battered him with punches, kicks, and elbows.
• Li Aoz used Natural Ignition to launch Yuhelai with magma, then bound him with neural tendrils and struck him with a knee.
• Li Aoz manipulated gravity to send himself and Yuhelai hurtling toward each other, and they collided in matching flying kicks.