Chapter Summaries

After the Savior Army routed the swarm, Lu PingAn gathered feedback on his weapons and supplies while the legion processed the battlefield and cared for survivors. A report on hundreds of rescued captives and their Insectification mutations led to a visit from an Awakened Insectoid representative.

• The Savior Army's Grand Marshal turned the battle around, and Lu Lu, Lu PingAn, and the officers began post-battle work and reviewed the Insecticide weapons' performance.
• Lu PingAn assessed soldiers' feedback on Models A, B, and C, while Miss Rou and her assistants collected insect materials to make targeted potions.
• Guan Xinxian reported that the legion had rescued more than 360 people from an insect nest, most of them severely injured, and that over seventy had undergone Insectification.
• An intelligence officer explained that some captives had transformed after swallowing special insect eggs and connecting to the swarm's collective consciousness.
• An Awakened Insectoid representative arrived, prompting Lu PingAn to ask whether Ancient Heroes from the previous era had joined the war.

Lu PingAn reunited with Mudar, who represented the Free Armored Horn Clan, and heard that they wanted to fight the Abyss Insectoids and gain a place in the New Country. He promised to support their inclusion if they proved their worth, leaving the clan ready to join the war.

• Mudar arrived aboard Lu PingAn’s ship, and the two old friends greeted each other.
• Mudar explained that the Awakened Insectoids now called themselves the Free Armored Horn Clan and wanted Lu PingAn’s help securing a place in the New Country.
• Mudar said the clan had brought specialized weapons to fight the Abyss Armored Horn Clan, and Lu PingAn welcomed their help.
• Mudar explained that the Long-Hand Tribe and Free Fishmen feared the clan, leaving it with few allies.
• Lu PingAn promised to support the Free Armored Horn Clan’s inclusion as a minority race if they performed well.

As the Abyssal Swarm spread across Mercury 42, Lu PingAn decided to advance his Soldier Path and turn his dangerous Shadow Abominations into battlefield tools. He sought guidance from Lu Lu and prepared to use the ability module provided by his Tier 8 disciple to evolve his Shadowspawn Warlord profession.

• The Abyssal Swarm broke through the West Hill Mountain defenses, raided in multiple directions, and massacred dozens of cities while gathering biomass and opening paths for the Abyss Will.
• The Awakened Insectoids chose a difficult front, while Lu Lu explained that the Savior Army's Professionals and beastification helped them withstand the swarm better than other forces.
• Lu PingAn recognized that the defenders needed more Battlefield Commanders and asked Lu Lu to explain the Soldier Path from frontline experience.
• Lu PingAn reviewed his Black Knight advancements and recalled receiving the Tier 6 profession Shadowspawn Warlord after his fight with Barn.
• He learned that Shadow Abominations formed from the souls and life force of those he killed, but shelved the ability because the creatures attacked nearby allies indiscriminately.
• Lu PingAn decided to make Shadowspawn Warlord his second Tier 7 profession and transform its Shadow Abominations into War Tools, using an ability module from his Tier 8 disciple.

Lu PingAn examined how to advance his Soldier Path and decided that the pure Black Knight route did not suit his need to strengthen his legions. He planned to use the Lover of Chess’s Rules to reshape his abilities into a battlefield system, intending to complete the transformation in war.

• Lu PingAn recognized that his Shadowspawn Warlord abilities had grown powerful enough to approach the next tier, but advancing required choosing a lasting direction for his path.
• Lu PingAn concluded that sacrificing allies as ammunition did not fit his principles or his need to support his Magical Pets, plants, and legions.
• Lu PingAn considered turning his Death- and Life-based Rules into a cycle and recalled the Lover of Chess path’s battlefield Rules.
• Lu PingAn decided to have the Forbidden Library adjust his abilities using the Lover of Chess’s Rules, despite the likely cost.
• Lu PingAn accepted the integrated ability system as a sufficient foundation and resolved to complete its evolution in war.

Lu PingAn took command of Mudar’s Awakened Insectoids during a battle against the Abyss Insectoids and used their Mind Network to identify his allies. His Professional ability spread through the network as the War Game began, setting up a delicate but lethal tactic.

• Lu Mouren reflected on how Professionals grew through accumulated parts and concluded that the Forbidden Library’s Rule-level components cost too many points to rely on.
• Lu PingAn arrived at a battlefield where Awakened Insectoids and Abyss Insectoids had been slaughtering one another for a day.
• Lu PingAn asked Mudar to hand over command, and Mudar gave him an orb that connected him to the Insectoids’ Mind Network.
• Lu PingAn connected to the lower-level commanders, declared that he was taking command, and started the War Game.
• Lu PingAn’s Professional ability spread through the Mind Network, marking the Awakened Insectoids as allies and preparing his next move.

Lu PingAn used his War Game ability across the battlefield, marking allies and enemies and turning kills into creatures, weapons, and supplies. His side swiftly won the battle, leaving him surprised by the power of his new Rule-level war commander ability.

• Lu PingAn activated War Game over the battlefield, marking allies and enemies and making opponents seem detestable to his forces.
• The marked allies slaughtered enemies more efficiently, and a slain beetle produced a Shadow Spawn Creature that became an allied warrior’s Magical Pet.
• An allied warrior killed ten targets and received a treasure chest containing a living Demon Sword that bonded with him.
• Lu PingAn’s forces gained pets, equipment, and supplies through kills, reversing the battle’s tide and winning in just over ten minutes.
• Lu PingAn was surprised the battle had ended before he finished collecting data, and he judged his Rule-level ability’s war prowess comparable to an ordinary Tier 8 commander.

Lu PingAn rejected the God of War’s blessing and assessed the temporary battlefield powers his abilities had granted, recognizing that his combat system still needed ways to preserve and strengthen them. After honoring the Horned Helmet Tribe’s dead, he turned his attention to the wider war and Lu Lu’s fight against the Insect Kings.

• Lu PingAn rejected the God of War’s blessing because it could bind him to the deity’s rules and exploit his power.
• Mudar marveled at how Lu PingAn’s command had changed the battle, while Lu PingAn noted that the battlefield contracts and their summoned weapons and pets would soon fade.
• Lu PingAn considered adding Creation- and craftsman-type abilities to make his combat system’s powers last, but held back from trying to save the Horned Helmet Tribe’s fallen.
• The Horned Helmet Tribe mourned its dead, and Lu PingAn thanked the survivors, telling them to fight for themselves.
• Lu PingAn reviewed the wider Abyssal Swarm crisis and learned that Lu Lu had killed another Rule-level Insectoid, then decided to check the intelligence and join the fight against the Insect Kings.

Lu PingAn discussed the front lines and Lu Lu’s record of killing three Rule-level enemies before learning that military headquarters had ordered her back to the capital. Lu Lu left to oversee military academy construction, and Lu PingAn resolved to cover the gap her departure left on the front.

• Lu PingAn learned that Abyss Lord incarnations had appeared in several places and that demigods were helping hold the front lines.
• Lu PingAn and Lu Lu discussed Anderson’s “Black Lightning” nickname and the racial insult it carried in his culture.
• Lu Lu told Lu PingAn that headquarters had ordered her to return to the capital, officially to recover from injuries, though the real assignment was overseeing military academies.
• Lu PingAn recognized that Lu Lu would obey the order to preserve military authority, despite the recall taking her away from the front.
• Lu PingAn watched Lu Lu’s ship depart and decided he would try to kill more enemies to compensate for her absence.

Lu PingAn supported the front line with specialized weapons and medical services while researching ways to counter the Abyssal Swarm. His attempts to revive insectoids revealed that they followed a collective consciousness despite apparently lacking souls, and Little Cat suggested comparing it to Your Excellency Xiu Yi’s network.

• Lu PingAn used customized weapons and tactics to help several Professionals kill the King of Scarlet Fangs, earning an indirect kill and recognition for his strategic and logistical abilities.
• Lu Lu persuaded Lu PingAn to stay at the rear base, where his support could help the war more than fighting on the front line.
• Lu PingAn experimented with reassembling dead Abyss Insectoids, but the revived creatures soon self-destructed and could not be sensed by Mudar.
• Lu PingAn and Mudar concluded that psychic shock could not affect the revived insectoids, even though they still seemed controlled by the swarm’s collective consciousness.
• Little Cat suggested that the swarm’s collective network might resemble Your Excellency Xiu Yi’s network.

Lu PingAn visited Shuichi’s fief and learned that she was a higher-dimensional principle whose many bodies were merely parts of a greater whole. Shuichi explained that the Abyss Insectoids’ collective consciousness was not a god but could rival an ordinary god, leaving Lu PingAn with crucial guidance for facing it.

• Lu PingAn asked Shuichi about her power, and she agreed to explain its nature.
• By observing a crystal with his abilities, Lu PingAn entered Shuichi’s fief and encountered her there with Chris.
• Shuichi described her existence as a higher-dimensional principle spread across countless cells and warned Lu PingAn not to mistake her for an ordinary god.
• Lu PingAn glimpsed a green planet that Shuichi identified as the largest piece of her main body, then stopped probing further when his eyes began to bleed.
• Shuichi warned that the Abyss Will could not be killed, but explained that the Abyss Insectoids’ collective consciousness was a biological aggregate capable of matching an ordinary god.
• Shuichi spoke with Lu PingAn and Chris simultaneously through her eyes, as if they were the same person in parallel worlds.

Lu PingAn discovered that the Abyss Insectoids’ collective consciousness relied on a network that suppressed their individual selves, making it a pseudo-higher-dimensional consciousness rather than a true integration. He shared possible countermeasures, and battlefield experiments soon began producing practical results.

• Lu PingAn dissected Abyss Insectoids and identified their suppressed self-consciousness as a network connection controlled by a special gland.
• Lu PingAn explained that severing the network allowed the insectoids’ selves to awaken and made psychic techniques effective against them.
• Lu PingAn posted his findings and proposed three ways to disrupt or hijack the swarm consciousness.
• Demigods and eighth-rank Life-types formed teams and developed thirteen anti-insect weapons, several of which worked in battle.
• Lu PingAn observed that the growing battlefield results showed the countermeasure research could turn the fight against the swarm.

Lady Lin’s experts tested psychic weapons that disrupted the Abyssal Swarm, while new demigods and reinforcements helped turn the defensive battle into a hunt. Lu PingAn built influence through his merchant group and discovered that an unnamed Long-Hand Tribe spearman had reached the eighth rank.

• Lady Lin’s researchers used a Stillness Worm and hand grenades to disrupt the low-level swarms, though the weapons had no effect on King Worms.
• Lu PingAn recognized that the New Kingdom’s support and rewards had drawn experts and powerful fighters into the war.
• A newly arrived Half-Dragon demigod joined the battlefield with Phosphorus People warriors, and Wang Xi'er explained that their people had begun migrating centuries earlier.
• Lu PingAn gained fame among newcomer races by selling language knowledge, services, and equipment while the battle shifted into a hunt.
• Lu PingAn was nearly driven to distraction when he learned that an unnamed Long-Hand Tribe member had reached the eighth rank as a spearman.

Lu PingAn returned toward the capital after the Military Department launched a new offensive against a Tier 8 divine descendant, disrupting his plans. On the journey, he began considering a Long-Hand Tribe advancement pathway, but his remarks sparked a rumor that he intended to ascend to godhood.

• Lu PingAn met a devoted Tier 8 Lancer who praised the Mentor and gave the Library useful class-system references.
• The Military Department ordered an offensive to reclaim territory from an Octopus Overlord, whose ruler was a Tier 8 divine descendant with ties to the Eight-Clawed.
• Lu PingAn suspected the new Minister of the Military Department wanted quick military achievements, then hurried back toward the capital after checking that the other front remained stable.
• Lu PingAn considered creating a pathway to help the Long-Hand Tribe and other Wish Granters advance beyond their low-tier professions.
• Cat Cat offered to help, and Lu PingAn proposed combining her Cliff Walker experience with the Tier 8 Lancer's pathway.
• Lu PingAn suggested involving other High-Level Professionals, and a rumor spread that he was considering ascending to godhood.

After the Kingdom of Dawn was founded, outsiders invested in the National Defense War to earn prestige and secure a place in its history. Lu PingAn’s proposal to create a pathway for the country’s soldiers drew interest from powerful figures, while he explained why deities offered pathways and needed mortal followers.

• Researchers and technicians welcomed having a government and nation to serve, while outsiders sought contributions that would earn them prestige in the Kingdom of Dawn.
• Lu PingAn’s efforts helped send the First Batch of East Country People expeditionaries toward the New World to seek wealth and build a home.
• The Forest Goddess Church’s leaders increased their Investment in the fighting, seeing the National Defense War as an opportunity to gain lasting prestige.
• Lu PingAn proposed creating an exclusive pathway for the Kingdom of Dawn’s soldiers, prompting high-ranking figures to discuss which deity might provide it.
• Lu PingAn explained that deities used pathways to expand their influence, guide mortals, and gain anchors of order and humanity.

Lu PingAn learned that his plan to establish a universal path for combat professions was being treated as a bid for the New Country’s God of Guardianship, potentially provoking a God War. He accepted the stakes and directed his allies to expand the effort and support Guan Xinxian’s rise.

• Lu PingAn announced his intention to establish a universal path, and several powerful figures publicly supported him.
• Big Cat explained that others saw Lu PingAn’s plan as a contest for the God of Guardianship and an exclusive struggle between competing paths.
• Lu PingAn realized people thought he was using the plan to push Guan Xinxian toward godhood, and he chose not to correct their assumption.
• Lu PingAn agreed to pursue the opportunity despite the risk of a God War and ordered Guan Xinxian to establish a church and advance the plan.
• Lu PingAn directed Lu Lu to provide warrior pioneers, sought support from their classmates, and told Catherine to expand the merchant guild worldwide and prepare for competitors.

Lu PingAn turned the Rebirth Merchant Guild into a profit-focused company, expanding its organization and launching arms dealing as its first major business. As the team began hiring and preparing for Eastern Kingdom immigrants arriving from Ancient City, Lu PingAn also planned to shape Guan Xinxian’s future doctrine through public response to its slogans.

• Lu PingAn registered the Rebirth United Company and found that the Ark name drew strong support from locals and the guild’s members.
• Lu PingAn told the idealistic staff that the company would suspend unprofitable relief tours and prioritize profit, but no one resigned.
• Lu PingAn assigned veteran Ark cadres to key roles and planned branch offices in major cities under the Forest Goddess Faction.
• Lu PingAn chose arms dealing as the company’s first main business and planned to market possible interpretations of Guan Xinxian’s future divinity as slogans.
• Lu PingAn’s team began hiring and prepared to welcome immigrants from the Eastern Kingdom arriving from Ancient City.

Lu PingAn welcomed more than a thousand people from the Eastern Kingdom, including officials, educators, and business representatives, to help build New Ancient Town. As he outlined plans for security, a practical vocational school, and industrial investment, representatives from outside Gu City arrived seeking to join the project.

• Lu PingAn welcomed the arrivals from Gu City and learned that Captain Ma’s Special Task Force would help secure New Ancient Town.
• At the banquet, Lu PingAn congratulated Principal Qian and discussed launching combat and logistics departments within a month.
• Lu PingAn told Principal Qian that practical supernatural training should take priority while cultural programs and publicity developed over time.
• Lu PingAn directed the business representatives to his chamber of commerce for local intelligence and promised to help adapt their industries.
• Representatives from outside Gu City announced their interest in joining the first batch of New Ancient Town investors.

Lu PingAn courted outside investors and outlined how they could help build his territory while establishing a university on the Mingxi Islands. He left the investors with a plan to make the island campus the main institution and Flower City's campus its branch.

• Lu PingAn welcomed investors from outside Ancient City and assured them his territory was safe and open to investment.
• Lu PingAn explained that he needed outside businesses and personnel to develop industries his city could not yet support.
• Lu PingAn rejected the proposal to place Gu City University in Flower City, arguing that it needed a presence in the Mingxi Islands, the New Kingdom's political and cultural center.
• Lu PingAn offered the investors an introduction to Lu Lu and urged them to establish a university framework on the Mingxi Islands while keeping their main personnel in his territory.
• Lu PingAn proposed making the Mingxi Islands campus the main campus and Flower City the branch, with Lu Lu sending trusted staff and junior officers to help build the institution.

Lu PingAn expanded his trade, settlement, and training networks while the New Kingdom’s disastrous Great Counterattack strained the war effort. Lu Lu considered backing a weaker candidate for the next military minister to buy time for their plans.

• Lu PingAn’s immigrants settled in Flower City as his branch offices, Lamp Tree network, and thirteen-ship fleet expanded across the world.
• Lu PingAn and Lu Lu coordinated medicine, military supplies, and Professional training through their growing network.
• Lu Lu told Lu PingAn that the commander-in-chief’s Thunder Strategy had spread the counterattack across too many fronts and failed to achieve its aims.
• Lu Lu said military officials wanted her support in becoming the third minister, but she preferred to delay taking office while the nation strengthened.
• Lu PingAn advised Lu Lu to back a timid, weak candidate, and offered to have Lady Lin and the Eastern Kingdom government support the choice.

Over six months, Lu PingAn’s Ancient Town Archipelago grew into a major center of trade, industry, and Professional training, while he negotiated with the Eastern Kingdom and expanded his own power. He continued studying Life-type abilities and experimenting with ecosystems, leaving a newly cleared research zone ready for its next project.

• Lu PingAn reflected on the Great Counterattack’s failing claims of victory and considered making a move if the deception continued.
• Ancient Town expanded into the Ancient Town Archipelago, attracting tens of thousands of East Country People, businesses, visitors, and Professionals.
• Lu PingAn used his ability to become a Professional as leverage in negotiations, while the Eastern Kingdom sent more personnel and supplies to the region.
• Lu PingAn continued training as a Life-type Professional, using the Courtyard, the Forbidden Library, and Big Cat’s guidance to study and manipulate life.
• Lu Mouren sterilized the failed C11 Experimental Zone and considered asking Old Liu for Stone Men to use in his next experiment.