Chapter Summaries

At the auction, Ronan used pointed remarks about the equipment and the people watching to seize control of the room and unsettle the General Assembly. He ended by promising to reveal the equipment’s true value and uncover more of the truth, leaving Romanus uncertain whether Ronan’s display was negotiation or served a deeper purpose.

• Ronan challenged the bidders to recognize the equipment’s value and singled out a man at table four for knowing more than his companions, unsettling the hall with his apparent insight.
• Ronan explained that the equipment’s worth lay in its location, research subject, and connection to keeping a grip on him, prompting attendees to seek exits and contact their protectors and organizers.
• Romanus fielded calls demanding that Ronan be stopped or reprimanded, repeating that the General Assembly was communicating with him while he awaited a response.
• Romanus considered whether Ronan’s behavior was a calculated negotiating tactic or reflected deeper knowledge and a more direct purpose.
• Ronan told the audience that he would demonstrate the equipment’s proper value and pursue truths that could not be changed by anyone’s will.

Kawahara Machiko faced pressure from Tomiya Shingo after Ronan disrupted the auction, then decided to leave the Emerald Light and plan a new life. As she tried to depart, someone blocked her path while the shattered exhibition stage began to collapse.

• Kawahara Machiko watched Ronan address the auction crowd and thought of her son, Haruya.
• Tomiya Shingo berated Kawahara Machiko for changing the auction procedures, but she defended her decision and ended the call.
• Kawahara Machiko realized the Board of Directors had intended to use her as a disposable pawn and planned to leave the Emerald Light.
• Kawahara Machiko turned to leave and contacted her secretary, but someone rushed ahead and blocked her.
• The shattered exhibition stage behind Kawahara Machiko began screeching as though it were about to collapse.

The Exhibition Stage overlapped with the auction hall, bringing Ronan before the bidders and revealing a new reach for his Closed System and Ronan Ruler. Ronan urged everyone to focus as he prepared to steer their perceptions, while Kawahara Machiko and the onlookers struggled to understand the impossible scene.

• The Exhibition Stage shook as Doctor Songkan adjusted the monitoring equipment, while Kawaguchi Shun confronted Kawahara Machiko and ordered her to return to Slope City.
• Kawaguchi Shun told Kawahara Machiko that powerful figures viewed her as a way to approach or exploit Ronan, and she struck at him when he pressed too close.
• Ronan appeared beside the shattered Exhibition Stage as the auction hall and the lower stage overlapped, leaving Kawahara Machiko and the bidders bewildered.
• Ronan used the Closed System to detect people observing him and explained that their thoughts and emotions had formed connections through the Ronan Ruler.
• Ronan clapped his hands and told everyone to focus and clear their minds.

Ronan staged a supernatural exhibition on the Emerald Light, replacing the chaotic backdrop with a living blackboard and drawing a detailed map that led toward a wilderness laboratory. He left the audience transfixed and gathering information as he prepared to reveal what lay at the site.

• The Star Witch, Constance, and Abner examined Ronan’s spatial distortion and discussed the skill it required.
• Ronan signaled Kawahara Machiko to evacuate Songkan, the researchers, and the backstage staff from the damaged Exhibition Stage.
• An attendee grabbed a passing staff member’s clothes, convincing the audience that the strange scene was physically real.
• Ronan retrieved his notebook and used the Covenant Book to cover the distorted backdrop in black.
• Ronan drew a world map and traced a route to a remote plateau, then refined it into a detailed wilderness landscape that guided the audience’s attention.
• The audience photographed and studied Ronan’s image as data transmission surged, and Ronan turned around while the animals in the drawing continued to move.

Ronan used the auction to connect the buried laboratory to the search for another Deep Blue World, while accusing investors of stirring up trouble before Li Wei’s permission. He then revealed images of Horned Demon, Gong Qi, and Jin Tong and transformed the screen wall into a terrifying gateway whose destination remained hidden.

• Ronan told the bidders that the laboratory studied space-time and that its founders had likely sought another New Plane where two space-times collided.
• Ronan challenged the attendees over their investments in Deep Blue and other ventures, then accused their capital of driving the trouble around his work.
• Ronan displayed Horned Demon and the final, frenzied images of Gong Qi and Jin Tong, shocking the Extraordinary Species watching from outside the hall.
• Ronan explained that Horned Demon had uncovered the buried laboratory and that he hoped to learn about it through him, warning the bidders that it was too late to leave.
• The screen wall became a shifting lakeside scene, and Horned Demon’s body split apart to form a gateway framed by flesh and electric fire.
• Ronan snapped his fingers, shattering the central image into a storm of dust that swept toward the terrified crowd and into the gateway’s dark background.

Ronan transported the auction attendees to a remote plateau lakeshore, exposed them to a deadly spatial anomaly, then left them stranded as the gateway closed. He later addressed the world’s leaders through the livestream, warning them that he could overturn space-time more readily than they could protect themselves.

• Ronan’s spatial gateway opened onto a plateau lakeshore, where the sandstorm tore through wild donkeys and terrified the transported auction attendees.
• Ronan explained that the gateway showed a collision between space-times, then closed it and left the attendees at the lakeshore with a lingering force connected to their souls.
• Abner coordinated with Star Witch, Constance, and other officials to mobilize nearby Extraordinary Species and rescue craft for the stranded attendees.
• Ronan restored the world map and added markers for Extraordinary Species around the globe, prompting Abner to confirm that Mou Zhengye had returned to his island.
• Ronan told the world’s observers that he could overturn space-time and that everyone sought to avoid death, then vanished as a dangerous force spread through the empty venue.

As the Exhibition Hall descended into chaos, Bai Xinyan warned Doctor Clay that Kawahara Machiko might be protected by Ronan and urged him to stay close to her. After Doctor Clay called out to Kawahara and gunfire broke out, Bai Xinyan encountered Black Lion, who said he had come for answers.

• The Martial Emperor and Blood Demon left the private room, and Meng Chong went to contact his order while Zhang Yingying considered contingencies.
• Bai Xinyan left the Exhibition Hall and called Wang Yu, who connected her to her mentor, Doctor Clay.
• Doctor Clay described the danger facing his group near Saltwater Lake, and Bai Xinyan advised him to stay close to Kawahara Machiko.
• Doctor Clay shouted for Kawahara to leave the lake's edge, and screams and gunfire followed.
• Black Lion approached Bai Xinyan and said he had come for answers.

Black Lion and Bai Xinyan watched Ronan's power reshape the Water Arrow Dragon and other remains into figures resembling Jin Tong and Gong Qi, while the One-Way Trip Group remained trapped in the magnetic fire's reach. Kawahara Machiko and Doctor Clay reached a tacit understanding, and Clay shouted an offer of ten million Credit Points.

• Black Lion showed Bai Xinyan a delayed projection of the Highland Wilderness, where the Water Arrow Dragon charged Kawahara Machiko and Doctor Clay warned the group about it.
• Electric light and magnetic fire struck the Water Arrow Dragon, twisting its flesh into a humanoid shape, while an aberrant bird exploded and was similarly reshaped.
• A Yan City drone arrived to support the group but was destroyed, and its wreckage joined the magnetic fire as a figure emerged resembling Jin Tong.
• Gong Qi appeared above the lake as remains gathered around him and Jin Tong, while the expanding magnetic fire trapped the group and made nearby creatures into raw material.
• Kawahara Machiko cleaned herself up and exchanged a knowing look with Doctor Clay, who shouted an offer of ten million Credit Points.

Doctor Clay’s offer sparked a bidding frenzy for Gong Qi and Jin Tong, while Ronan used the crowd’s thoughts and distant remnants of his Soul Cape to accelerate the Magneto-Optical Mica’s transformation. The Mica began behaving like a living structure exploring the world, and Ronan saw it approaching the form he had envisioned.

• Doctor Clay offered ten million for Jin Tong, and Mister Left Embrace Right Hug bid one hundred million for Gong Qi, prompting others to drive both prices above seven hundred million.
• Black Lion joined the Telephone Auction while he and Bai Xinyan discussed whether Ronan’s actions concealed a deeper purpose; they then noticed Ronan watching the clouds through the fog.
• Black Lion openly showed his desire for Ronan’s power, and Ronan sensed the thoughts of people across the world gathering around his magnetic field.
• Ronan used those magnetized thoughts to build the Magneto-Optical Mica Great Production Line’s Culture Dish framework and connect tiny sparks across distant sites where Mica and Cloak remnants remained.
• The Mica rapidly transformed, disturbing sea creatures and believers while gathering information from the world, and Ronan recognized its growing resemblance to a living, self-aware structure.

Ronan bound the newly awakened Magneto-Optical Mica and recognized both its benefits and the danger its perception posed to his Form and Spirit Framework. At the Amaterasu Divine Court, Mora arrived to assist with the notebook’s deciphering, but the Pope ordered her to wait, and the chapter ended with the Pope watching the darkening sky.

• Ronan used the Dark Heavy Chains to bond with Magneto-Optical Mica, whose probing perception reached into the deeper structure of his existence and strained his Form and Spirit Framework.
• Ronan considered Magneto-Optical Mica’s abilities, the insights it offered into his own flaws, and how its clearer perception could help him understand the Relay Station and develop a false plane.
• Mora arrived at the Amaterasu Divine Court, dismissed her driver, and drove directly to the Pope beneath a massive tree.
• The Pope moved the notebook away when Mora tried to inspect it and told her that the work’s direction had changed and she was to wait.
• Mora struck the tree with her elbow, prompting True God to emerge from its trunk and accuse her of being a Carrion Feeder.
• Mora asked whether the Pope was raising True God like an idiot son, and the Pope raised his gaze toward the darkening sky without answering.

Executive officer Claire joined Major Cao Kai on the Jade Dragon as its crew prepared to raise the aging vessel’s orbit for a research institute. Cao Kai assigned Claire to oversee a full warm-up test, which unexpectedly included charging the main gun.

• Claire entered the command compartment and saw the crew preparing to warm up the Jade Dragon’s systems.
• Claire spoke with Major Cao Kai, who explained that the platform would raise its orbital altitude from 392 kilometers to above 428 kilometers.
• Cao Kai asked Claire to oversee a full warm-up test and prepare a report that would likely be his final military document.
• A noncommissioned officer reported that the main gun’s power-on test was complete and asked whether to continue charging, startling Claire.

Claire watched the Jade Dragon’s systems while Major Cao Kai prepared to launch its main-gun ammunition at the Bansaka City Free Trade Zone in North Mountain Lake. Cao Kai revealed that he belonged to the Soul Order and intended to strike back against discrimination toward Aberration Infected, leaving Claire paralyzed as the attack proceeded.

• Major Cao Kai gave Claire the Crystal Ball and left to handle internal affairs, while Claire inspected the Jade Dragon’s systems.
• Claire noticed unauthorized changes to the vessel’s backup circuits and saw the No. 3 station lock onto a target, but the crew did not respond to him.
• The Crystal Ball’s miniature octopus apparently paralyzed Claire, and Cao Kai returned to the command seat and began overriding the launch safeguards.
• Claire confronted Cao Kai, who admitted he was targeting the Bansaka City Free Trade Zone because his wife and child were there and he wanted revenge for the mistreatment of Aberration Infected.
• Cao Kai revealed that he belonged to the Soul Order and described his plan as helping Aberration Infected escape their suffering, while Claire remained paralyzed and feared the coming attack.

Claire watched the possessed main cannon fire a nuclear missile toward Slope City’s Pingmao District, while Yin Le and He Yueyin scrambled to warn Ronan. As the warhead reached its target, a vast shadow split the sky and swallowed it, leaving a strange gorge-like rupture in space.

• Claire saw the main cannon’s countdown reach zero and watched the nuclear missile launch toward Pingmao District.
• The Octopus and the chanting in the command cabin warped, and bloody fragments splashed across Claire as people nearby were killed.
• He Yueyin warned Yin Le that a nuclear strike would hit in eighty-five seconds, and Yin Le found Ronan already awake aboard the yacht.
• Ronan told Yin Le it was too late to evacuate but said he would handle the situation.
• He Yueyin and Tian Bang watched interception attempts fail as the warhead neared Slope City.
• A straight shadow split the sky, swallowed the warhead, and remained as a vast gorge-like rupture in space.

Ronan’s void crack tore through the sky above Slope City, collided with the Amaterasu Divine Court’s hidden barrier, and then closed, leaving both sides in a fragile silence. Meanwhile, Aerospace Force troops recovered a twisted Crystal Ball and its living remains from the Jade Dragon and delivered them to a Luxury Cruise Ship in the stormy central Pacific.

• Ronan’s void crack raced east past Mora’s aircraft and tore through a gigantic tree revealed behind the Amaterasu Divine Court’s Invisible Barrier before the light faded and the crack closed.
• Mora redirected her damaged aircraft toward Xia City, while the Amaterasu Divine Court and North Mountain Lake fell into a tense silence.
• Ronan asked He Yueyin to retrieve anything left on the Jade Dragon in low Earth orbit, and He Yueyin agreed.
• Aerospace Force troops boarded the locked-down Jade Dragon, found its command crew restrained or dead, and recovered a warped Crystal Ball containing twitching mangled flesh.
• The assault team captain sealed the Crystal Ball in a metal Container and transported it to a Luxury Cruise Ship surrounded by fog in the stormy central Pacific.

Danilo delivered a sealed box containing a strange Crystal Ball and rotten flesh to Ronan’s group, but Ronan identified it as a contagious source of infection and contained it. As Black Lion considered why the world’s powers would try to test the limits of Ronan’s abilities, he concluded that Ronan might no longer be comprehensible as an ordinary human.

• Danilo flew to the luxury yacht in Exoskeleton Armor and handed the sealed metal box to Ronan’s associate while Zhang Yingying and others spoke nearby.
• A mysterious figure hovered over the pool and forced Danilo’s armor back onto the deck; his superior then ordered him to remain and assist with the mission.
• Ronan examined the Crystal Ball and rotten flesh, warned Zhang Yingying that the material was contagious, and sent the source of infection into a Space Fault.
• Ronan declined to attend the meeting, while Meng Chong removed the infected courier and began arranging containment measures.
• Black Lion ended a call with Old Elers and reflected that the mastermind and other powerful figures would try to discover the boundaries of Ronan’s abilities.

Ronan reflected on the new reach and limits of his power after intervening in the attempted nuclear explosion, then joined the Global High-Level Meeting of Extraordinary Species. The meeting had stalled on discussion of the incident, and it ended with Ronan asking which agenda item they were on.

• Ronan assessed how the Magneto-Optical Mica had expanded his perception and how his imitation of the Shadow Louse had torn open a rift in space.
• Ronan considered the risks of relying on power shaped by Earth’s environment and set his sights on creating a New Plane.
• Blood Demon observed that the meeting had abandoned Gong Qi’s death and the New Plane agenda to analyze the attempted nuclear explosion.
• Ronan entered the Virtual Venue and took his seat opposite Abner, drawing the attendees’ attention.
• Ronan greeted Blood Demon and asked which agenda item the meeting had reached, silencing the hall.

Ronan attended the Round Table Conference and listened as the Covenant Lord explained research linking Abyss Zone energy changes to the rising rate of aberration. The conference ended on a stark warning: Ha City had exceeded the controllable infection threshold and would abandon its containment measures.

• Ronan arrived late, greeted the Extraordinary Species, and used Blood Demon's Card Deck to identify the conference's core attendees.
• Ronan recognized the Justice Chief Priest, the Covenant Lord, Death Witch, and other powerful figures as they watched him at the Round Table.
• The Covenant Lord explained that Abyss Zone energy fluctuations correlated with Earth's aberration rate, though the cause-and-effect relationship remained uncertain.
• The Covenant Lord revealed that the Trend Line had entered exponential growth and that infection rates and spread had gone out of control.
• Mister Yabolun announced that Ha City had exceeded the 10% infection threshold and would immediately abandon aberration-control measures to conserve resources.

At the High-Level Meeting, Yabolun and other leaders revealed that aberration infections were out of control in several regions, while the Covenant Lord argued that the rising Trend Line was also affecting Ability Users directly. He linked unusual awakenings and Abyss Zone backlash to the Extreme Domain Light, leaving the meeting focused on how cultivation and the Abyss Zone had changed over time.

• Yabolun announced that aberration infection in Ha City was out of control, and Bat Master reported similar conditions in Xi City and Fan City.
• Black Lion acknowledged that his region had also long been out of control before the Covenant Lord redirected the discussion to Ronan.
• Ronan said aberration warranted sociological discussion and warnings, and the Covenant Lord explained that the rising Trend Line affected Ability Users as well as societies.
• Wan Liuhua reported a sharp increase in Body Cultivator awakenings and promising experiments, while the Covenant Lord described frequent Abyss Zone backlash among high-level practitioners and confirmed problems affecting Old You and Morgana.
• The Covenant Lord connected the changes to the Extreme Domain Light, recalling its occurrence in 1952 and the discovery of the Abyss Zone in 1959.

Covenant Lord argued that changes in the Abyss Zone might be driven by one or more external Radiation Sources, citing the Extreme Domain Lights and Daydream Nightmare. Ronan challenged the assumed link between the Abyss Zone and aberration, ending by declaring that they were not related and did not share the same trigger.

• Covenant Lord described the Abyss Zone’s long period of stability and said the Second Extreme Domain Light and Daydream Nightmare had disrupted its Trend Line.
• Covenant Lord argued that the two events suggested one or more external Radiation Sources, and speculated that the Deep Blue World might have caused the first Extreme Domain Light.
• Covenant Lord listed the New Plane, changes around Spring City and Xia City, and the Gate of Truth as possible signs of external influences.
• Mou Zhengye questioned how finding a Radiation Source would solve the problem, while Covenant Lord admitted that aberration could still be responsible for the changes.
• Ronan said both aberration and the Radiation Source required attention, then questioned whether aberration and the Abyss Zone were truly connected.
• Ronan declared that the Abyss Zone and aberration were unrelated and did not share the same cause.

Ronan argued that Extraordinary Power and aberration might be shaped by an external X Factor, then proposed investigating their effects on humanity. After Blood Demon described the vast, hard-to-detect population of Second Phase Infected, Ronan volunteered to conduct a baseline census.

• Ronan suggested that an unknown existence might have designed a Black Box system to connect spirit and matter, enabling human Extraordinary Power.
• Ronan described aberration as a chaotic mixture shaped by the current environment and warned that its apparent order could create future instability.
• The Justice Chief Priest asked about Ronan's drawings, and he explained that he was trying to model aberration's effects using Configuration and Super Configuration.
• Blood Demon estimated that at least thirty percent of Ha City's 190 million residents might be Second Phase Infected, while noting that current testing was too slow and difficult.
• Ronan offered to handle the baseline investigation and identify the scope and severity of Aberration Infection.