Chapter Summaries

Gwen treated Helena.META’s METAization and learned that Enterprise.META needed to remain untreated until the other Ember Fleet shipgirls were disconnected from the fleet’s Psionic Energy hub. A week later, Enterprise and Yorktown discussed political opposition to Gwen’s plans, while Bumblebee arrived as they shared tea.

• Gwen treated Helena.META, purifying her soul and removing the abnormal Psionic Energy that caused her METAization.
• Enterprise.META explained that she needed to be treated last so she could authorize the decryption of the Origin Cubes after the other Ember Fleet shipgirls disconnected from the Psionic Energy hub.
• Gwen promised Enterprise.META that he would treat the rest of the fleet first and then help her cast off her burden.
• With Gwen’s permission, Empress reported the situation to the Mainframe as Gwen began locating the Ember Fleet shipgirls for treatment.
• A week later, Enterprise told Yorktown that people in the human world were coordinating against Gwen’s arrangements and threatening war to demand benefits; Yorktown urged her not to worry about them.
• Bumblebee burst into the room and complained that Yorktown and Enterprise had started drinking tea without her.

Yorktown accepted Gwen’s Oath Ring, prompting widespread excitement among the shipgirls. St. Louis then gave Gwen a ring of her own and kissed him, beginning her promised lesson in being pursued.

• Yorktown told Enterprise and Bumblebee that Gwen had made her an Oath Ring and accepted his proposal.
• A photo of Yorktown’s ring topped the Juus community headlines as shipgirls shared congratulations and discussed pursuing Gwen.
• St. Louis told Gwen that several factions were planning ways to win him over, and Gwen said he was ready to accept the responsibilities of being Commander.
• St. Louis placed a ring on Gwen’s finger and said she wanted the right to pursue him, while warning him to prepare for shipgirls taking the initiative.
• St. Louis drank the wine from Gwen’s glass, braced his shoulders, and kissed him.

St. Louis shared a drink and a kiss with Gwen before Observer delivered news that the Mainframe was ready to meet him. Observer Zero led Gwen to its hidden lunar base, where he stood before a massive Mind Cube-like structure.

• St. Louis fed Gwen sweet liquor and offered him another glass, but Observer interrupted with word that Dream Weaver had finished correcting the natural calculation system.
• Gwen declined to bring guards, accepted St. Louis's kiss, and used spatial travel to leave for his meeting with Observer Zero.
• Observer Zero explained that the Mainframe's protections had taken a week to remove and that it had only recently stabilized on the moon.
• Observer Zero guided Gwen through a hidden lunar base to the Mainframe's deepest chamber.
• Gwen found a massive Mind Cube-like structure resembling the construction machines scattered across Earth.

Gwen entered the oversized Mind Cube and met Record Player, an autonomous record modeled on Anzeel, who offered to answer his questions. Their exchange revealed that Gwen came from a world on the Imaginary Tree and had personal experience with the Sea of Quantum, prompting Record Player to adjust how she would share the Mainframe’s information.

• Gwen entered the glowing Mind Cube and found himself in a laboratory with a recorded version of Anzeel called Record Player.
• Record Player explained that she was a record in an information space within the Mind Cube Network and agreed to answer Gwen’s questions.
• Record Player asked whether Gwen came from a world on the Imaginary Tree, and Gwen confirmed that he had traveled here through his own ability.
• Gwen summarized his knowledge of the Imaginary Tree and revealed that he had entered the Sea of Quantum and carried its power.
• Record Player reacted with surprise to the quantum darkness on Gwen’s fingertip, then paused to reorganize the information exchange.

Gwen learned that Record Player was using the identity of Dr. Anjie, a Genius Society member whose world had fallen into the Sea of Quantum after she severed its connection to the Imaginary Tree to stop the Great Cosmic Plague. Record Player recounted how the Insect Swarm returned and left Dr. Anjie fighting both political enemies and a new threat, with the insect hive now looming.

• Gwen failed to sense Alicia, Mei, and his other companions, and Record Player warned that his mental force could attract enemies in the unusual space.
• Record Player identified her form as Dr. Anjie, the fifty-ninth member of the Genius Society, who had fallen into the Sea of Quantum with her Native World.
• Record Player explained that Dr. Anjie had used an Imaginary Bomb to sever her world from the starry sky and cut off the Insect Swarm’s reinforcements.
• After the Swarm returned, military-industrial corporations attacked Dr. Anjie politically and tried to seize her shipgirl technology.
• The Swarm’s renewed invasion broke the political stalemate, and Dr. Anjie regained control of the government before facing the menacing insect hive.

Record Player revealed that she was a fragment of Anjie's consciousness, left behind to meet Gwen and explain the danger facing the Native World. She warned him that the Insect Swarm might be backed by the Sea of Quantum, leaving Gwen prepared to face an Aeon-level enemy.

• Record Player explained that Anjie began the ship girls' evolution experiments in the Sea of Quantum after the Native World fell into chaos, and Gwen promised to protect the girls' futures.
• Anjie revealed that Record Player was a fragment of her consciousness and refused Gwen's offer to try to revive her.
• Anjie warned Gwen that an enemy at least as powerful as an Emanator remained, and Gwen connected the threat to Taiziyuros and the Path of Propagation.
• Anjie theorized that parts of the Insect Swarm, possibly including fragments of Taiziyuros, had gained a deep connection to the Sea of Quantum's power.
• Gwen accepted the possibility of facing an Aeon supported by the Sea of Quantum and told Anjie he was already prepared to face other Aeons as enemies.

Gwen and Anzeel assessed the Aeons threatening him and discussed the Sea of Quantum as a possible refuge. Anzeel revealed that her second-stage experiment would let Gwen use Psionic Energy to wield Quantum Energy at Emissary-level strength, and hinted that his potential might extend further.

• Anzeel judged Hoo the Aeon most likely to target Gwen, while Nanook and The Last King of the End posed less certain threats.
• Gwen said he preferred to prepare for the worst, and Anzeel advised him to keep the Sea of Quantum as an escape route because Imaginary Tree power might be weakened there.
• Anzeel explained that the shipgirls' Mental Awakening experiment also increased Gwen's Psionic Energy and that the second-stage experiment depended on that growth.
• Anzeel revealed that her technology could let a Commander use Psionic Energy to control Quantum Energy, potentially reaching Emissary-level power and helping the shipgirls fight the Insect Swarm.
• Gwen acknowledged that Anzeel's plan could work, and Anzeel suggested that he might be able to aim even higher.

Gwen accepted Anjie’s offer of Mainframe authority, taking control of its systems and the shipgirls’ core data while preserving the concealment subsystem against the approaching Insect Swarm. After learning more about Gwen’s powers, Anjie judged that he might be able to face an Aeon, while Gwen studied her research on drawing power from the Sea of Quantum and weighed the danger posed by the Aeons.

• Gwen asked Anjie for details about her plan before deciding whether to pursue the power to reach an Aeon’s height.
• Anjie offered Gwen all Mainframe permissions, including supreme command of the Sirens and access to the shipgirls’ core data, and warned him that unlocking the data could remove their protection.
• Anjie advised Gwen to take control of the Mainframe’s core with his Authority of Corrosion but preserve its concealment subsystem because the Insect Swarm’s vanguard had entered its control range.
• Gwen used Ksitigarbha’s Soul to take over the Mainframe, transferred the girls’ core data to himself, and examined information about the META shipgirls and Anjie’s Sea of Quantum research.
• After Gwen revealed more about his abilities, Anjie called him a monster and concluded he might be capable of confronting an Aeon head-on.
• Gwen considered the uncertainty surrounding Aeons and their power while studying Anjie’s technology for drawing on the Sea of Quantum.

Gwen took control of the Mainframe and learned that converting Prometheus into a shipgirl could alter her underlying logic or risk failure. He returned to Observer Zero and invited her to join him, and she accepted as their Psionic Energy intertwined.

• Anzeel told Gwen to focus on specific sections of her plan and warned that converting an artificial intelligence into a shipgirl could change its consciousness or fail.
• Gwen completed the Mainframe's concealment program, became its owner, and left after Anzeel said she needed a proper research environment to verify his information.
• Gwen reappeared beside Observer Zero, whose weapons were locked by his new authority over the Mainframe.
• Gwen invited Observer Zero to join his ranks and offered her an unlimited supply of his Psionic Energy outside emergencies.
• Observer Zero accepted Gwen's terms, and their Psionic Energy intertwined in a burst of golden light.

Gwen defended his vision of social change to Observer Zero, brought her back to the Port, and prepared the shipgirls for an approaching enemy by upgrading their hulls. Later, during a command meeting, Vanguard stopped Cheshire as she rushed into Gwen’s office.

• Gwen told Observer Zero that he would pursue the society he wanted rather than compromise with those he considered unworthy, while rejecting the use of absolute force to impose justice.
• Observer Zero called Gwen out of his reverie, and he returned with her to the Port, where the girls eagerly invited him to their gatherings.
• Gwen chose the Eagle Union evening party, which became a faction-wide gathering, and then upgraded all the girls’ hulls to the top of the technology tree as the external enemy approached.
• Gwen assigned Void Archives to represent the Port in dealings with world leaders while he focused on planning and researching psionic energy.
• During a training report in Gwen’s office, Cheshire charged toward him, but Vanguard blocked her with a psionic barrier and caught her before she fell.

Gwen reunited with Cheshire and Anchorage, then took the girls to Dunkerque’s newly opened dessert shop, where they shared a peaceful outing. As the girls’ Psionic Energy began linking together in the relaxed atmosphere, the chapter left open whether they could coordinate it without Gwen directing them.

• Gwen released Cheshire from Vanguard’s restraint, and Cheshire eagerly clung to him while Augustus privately sought his attention.
• Anchorage arrived and told Gwen she had beaten Akashi at bargaining, though she had forgotten to bring home the fruit she bought.
• Gwen invited the girls to get ice cream together at Dunkerque’s dessert shop, where Cheshire fed him and the port’s shipgirls gathered to enjoy desserts.
• Gwen reflected on rumors about his abilities and on Alicia while the girls relaxed, feeling reassured by his calm mood.
• The girls’ Psionic Energy quietly linked together, though their earlier experiments had shown that their differing reactions made sustained coordination difficult without Gwen as their command core.

Gwen detected the Giant Borer, a colossal quantum creature that devoured World Bubbles and spread insect-like contamination, and decided to revise the plan to keep it away from the inner lines and the girls. He returned to the laboratory to brief Anzeel and began asking how the Mainframe controlled the World Bubbles in its range.

• The girls' linked Psionic Energy pushed Gwen's gaze into the Sea of Quantum, where he spotted the approaching Giant Borer devouring World Bubbles.
• The Giant Borer detected Gwen, contaminated his Psionic Energy, and conveyed its desire to eat him.
• Anchorage comforted Gwen with ice cream, and he reassured the concerned Shangri-La without revealing the danger to the girls.
• Gwen observed that the Giant Borer's feeding transformed life in consumed worlds into insects and decided the girls should be kept away from it.
• Gwen left the girls and told Anzeel what he had seen, prompting them to discard the existing plan and discuss how to protect their inner lines.
• Gwen asked Anzeel whether the Mainframe controlled all World Bubbles within its range, and she confirmed that it did.

Gwen and Anzeel planned to unite the Mainframe’s World Bubbles inside Gwen and prepare a way for their inhabitants to support him against the Giant Borer. After six months of calculations and probing, the preparations were complete, and Gwen was about to begin.

• Gwen told Anzeel he intended to link the World Bubbles and take them into his body before confronting the Giant Borer.
• Anzeel agreed to recalculate the risks and research a lag-free way for the girls in the World Bubbles to provide Gwen with Psionic Energy support.
• Prometheus accepted Gwen’s invitation to become a shipgirl and helped with the preparations, while Gwen teased her by patting her head.
• Prometheus accused Gwen of sharing Royal Ark’s personal hobbies, but said she had chosen to remain by his side.
• After six months of calculations and probing the Giant Borer with thought-forms, Gwen said he would check Anzeel’s preparations before beginning the plan.

Gwen completed the final preparations to confront the enemy consuming World Bubbles, while the others prepared to support him through a psionic link. Yorktown.META joined Yorktown in a temporary fusion to increase their combined Psionic Energy, despite the minor cost to herself.

• Gwen visited Tori and received the final research calculations and prototype design from Ingraham, then encouraged her to enjoy the coming vacation.
• Gwen confirmed to Observer Zero that he would face the enemy without an elite strike team, while Observer Zero and Yorktown prepared to act as psionic-link hubs.
• Bumblebee worried about Gwen containing entire worlds and embarrassed herself by comparing a past experience to an armor-piercing shell passing through her.
• Yorktown reassured Yorktown.META that Gwen's choices had brought hope to their world and urged her to help rather than dwell on powerlessness.
• Yorktown.META enveloped herself and Yorktown in blue Psionic Energy, beginning a temporary fusion to combine their strength.

Gwen absorbed hundreds of thousands of World Bubbles while drawing quantum energy from the Sea of Quantum, which proved unexpectedly easy to assimilate. As he increased the energy flow, the Giant Borer ambushed him and trapped him among its tentacles.

• Yorktown and the other shipgirls prepared for the operation, with most allowing their META selves to take control; Vengeance and Brest readied themselves to provide Psionic Energy support.
• Gwen, Prometheus, and Anzeel connected the experimental worlds and began the operation outside the Sea of Quantum.
• Gwen drew the World Bubbles into himself, deepened his bond with them, and absorbed quantum energy to replenish them.
• Gwen found that the quantum energy became usable without resistance, so he increased his absorption and shattered approaching debris with the Land of Nothingness.
• A dried insect corpse in the debris unleashed a tremendous explosion, and the Giant Borer emerged, sealed off the light, and trapped Gwen with its tentacles.

Gwen transformed into Wingless Noah, destroyed the Giant Borer’s first body, and fought its swarms while searching for the hidden leader. He summoned a fleet powered by the shipgirls’ Psionic Energy, letting them attack and train while he conserved power and sought a decisive way to eliminate the Insect Swarm.

• Gwen’s radiance shattered the Giant Borer’s tentacles and insect nest, revealing its countless compound eyes, before he transformed into Wingless Noah.
• Gwen struck the Giant Borer with Noah Hellfire, breaking its barrier and exploding its body, but the enemy survived by splitting into smaller Giant Borers.
• The Giant Borers polluted the surrounding Sea of Quantum and sent insect clouds against Gwen, who manifested a fleet using the shipgirls’ Psionic Energy.
• Yorktown and Observer Zero monitored the girls’ connection through the signal amplification tower as the shipgirls began attacking the swarm under Gwen’s protection.
• Gwen replenished his energy from the Sea of Quantum and searched for the Insect Swarm’s true leader, knowing that killing the swarm alone would not end the threat.

Gwen destroyed the Insect Swarm and its hidden Emanator king, but a surviving beetle accepted an unseen offer and became a new Reproduction Aeon. Gwen cut off the girls’ view of the Sea of Quantum and faced the newly ascended being.

• Gwen found the hidden insect king, unleashed Core Final and a Quasi-Black Hole, and dragged the swarm toward its destruction.
• A weakened insect king ambushed Gwen with a corrosive dark-blue torrent, but Gwen caught it, sealed its sphere of reproductive concept, and threw the king into the black hole.
• Gwen and Yorktown discussed the victory as Gwen exterminated the remaining swarm and carefully controlled the black hole.
• An overlooked beetle survived in a pocket of twisted gravity, accepted an unseen offer, and triggered Reproduction’s apotheosis.
• Gwen sensed the newborn Reproduction Aeon, burned away its influence on himself, and cut off the girls’ ability to observe the outside.

Gwen fought the resurrected Taiziyuros in the Sea of Quantum, unleashing his newly evolved Divine Cloth and Lightning Noah. Taiziyuros II survived by escaping through the concept of Propagation, but Gwen’s relentless attacks taught him fear and drove him to flee.

• Taiziyuros destroyed the black hole beside it, but the collapsing gravity engulfed its body and scattered its swarm.
• Gwen stopped replenishing himself from World Bubbles as Yorktown and Observer Zero linked the shipgirls and Sirens to amplify his Psionic Energy.
• Gwen combined his powers, awakened the Gemini Divine Cloth, and struck Taiziyuros with a faster-than-light Noah Punch.
• Taiziyuros shed its burning shell and began propagating again, but Gwen’s Lightning Noah erased its body and swarm while Taiziyuros escaped through Propagation.
• Taiziyuros II restored itself far away, but Gwen pursued and attacked until it fled by compressing energy and exploding outward.
• Gwen annihilated the remaining Insect Swarm with Gravity Noah.

Gwen absorbed the energy Taiziyuros II had gathered, then repeatedly killed the revived Insect Emperor while testing his powers and recording the results. After fifty-seven deaths, Gwen asked Prometheus and Anzeel to report their findings.

• Gwen reassured Yorktown and the other girls, then cut off their Psionic Energy support so they could rest.
• Gwen and Prometheus outlined experiments to test Taiziyuros II's evolution, intelligence, energy control, and resistance to Gwen's attacks.
• Gwen used his Divine Cloth and the Shield of Paraj to open a passage through the Sea of Quantum and transform his golden wings into a greatbow.
• Gwen fired an Arrow of Light that destroyed Taiziyuros II and the Insect Swarm, but Taiziyuros II revived soon afterward.
• Gwen repeatedly killed Taiziyuros II with different attacks, recorded each result, and absorbed the energy gathered during his death throes.
• After killing Taiziyuros II for the fifty-seventh time, Gwen asked Prometheus and Anzeel for their analysis.

Gwen discovered that his Heart of Light could slow Taiziyuros II’s resurrection, but the repeated deaths left the Insect Emperor terrified enough to flee instead of attacking. Gwen pursued him through the Sea of Quantum, absorbing the energy along his trail to strengthen himself and develop his Heart of Light further.

• Anzeel and Prometheus reported that repeated physical kills delayed Taiziyuros II’s resurrection, while his intelligence faded over time but his energy techniques remained recorded.
• Gwen concluded that his Heart of Light had injured Taiziyuros II at the root after the Insect Emperor’s resurrection slowed following their prolonged fight.
• When Gwen next appeared, Taiziyuros II remembered being killed fifty-seven times and fled in terror, attacking Gwen with a surge of quantum energy before escaping.
• Gwen and Prometheus determined that the Heart of Light had caused Taiziyuros II’s fear, and Gwen decided to pursue him while gathering energy to reach a more complete state.
• Gwen followed Taiziyuros II through the Sea of Quantum, absorbing energy along the escape route as he began developing his Heart of Light and Gene Lock more deeply.