Chapter Summaries

After the Inspector claimed there were no anomalies and evacuated, the public blamed the Emperor for shielding Qian Liu, while Han Bi’s approval surged on the strength of the Free Electorate. Kaleidoscope put Shadow Long in charge of the campaign, leaving Huang Ji to pursue a risky path toward winning the election.

• The Inspector arrested Han Bi and several Qian Liu engineers, then fled the scene as the crowd demanded answers and accused the Emperor of protecting criminals.
• Han Bi’s supporters and Anunnaki spread claims that Qian Liu’s conspiracy had been directed by the Emperor, intensifying public anger.
• Shadow Long argued with Alshaz over the failed operation, but Kaleidoscope ordered everyone to follow Shadow Long and blamed Alshaz for ignoring earlier advice.
• Dulan discovered that Han Bi had climbed to ninth place with eight percent support, all from the Free Electorate, and Huang Ji explained how those votes could challenge the conglomerates.
• Alshaz warned that the conglomerates could unite to block Han Bi from becoming Emperor, but Kaleidoscope told Shadow Long to proceed and urged him to survive.

Han Bi’s investigation exposed a conflict between public demands for justice and the emperor’s order to conceal Qian Liu’s crimes. As Qian Liu sent A Qing to destroy the evidence, Huang Ji arranged for Alshaz to fire a cannon that killed the emperor’s mosaic envoy.

• The Inspector released Qian Liu under orders from the emperor, then told Han Bi that the emperor might have directed Qian Liu’s crimes.
• Han Bi urged the Inspector to protect the evidence and said public scrutiny would force the cabinet or emperor to answer for the case.
• Qian Liu ordered A Qing to destroy the production line and kill Han Bi, while A Qing struggled with the order and spoke with Huang Ji.
• Huang Ji sent Alshaz coordinates and ordered him to fire a shot, prompting Alshaz to launch an Atomic Fission Cannon.
• The cannon struck and destroyed the mosaic envoy as he flew through a shell world, and the authorities locked onto Alshaz for illegal weapons use.

The cabinet cleared Han Bi after public pressure over the Qian Liu case threatened to escalate into a Grand Imperial Inspection. Huang Ji then arranged for his allies to be arrested and sent others to the royal capital as part of a plan to gain Free Electorate votes and foil an assassin.

• As crowds demanded inspections of the production line and Han Bi’s case, Anunnaki’s ministers pushed the cabinet to clear Han Bi, arguing that his rising ranking would bring more Free Electorate voters to his side.
• Sa Guala objected to releasing Han Bi, but the other ministers agreed, and the cabinet announced that Han Bi was innocent and released the report clearing him of charges.
• Huang Ji rejected Dulan’s suggestion to let the Qian Liu matter go and told him he needed to keep gaining Free Electorate votes.
• Huang Ji told Dulan that Alshaz should remain in prison until Han Bi became emperor, and Alshaz was arrested by the Law Enforcement Team.
• Huang Ji ordered Yu Guo to attack him and destroy the production line at the royal capital, explaining that the staged chaos would prevent A Qing from carrying out Qian Liu’s assassination plot.

The emperor’s attempt to protect Qian Liu failed when Yu Guo was exposed attacking the production line and surrendered. The emperor appeared, prepared to abandon Qian Liu, while Huang Ji privately instructed Cypher to counter the emperor’s authority if necessary.

• Sa Guala announced Han Bi’s release and Qian Liu’s innocence, but the crowd demanded a public inspection of the production line, forcing the cabinet to call for a Grand Imperial Inspection.
• The emperor secretly allowed Yu Guo to approach the production line, but Han Bi alerted Leqi King and exposed the attacker.
• Yu Guo attacked the Inspector and the production line, then surrendered when the Imperial Guards arrived; the Inspector stopped the guards from killing him.
• The emperor appeared and privately concluded that Qian Liu had to be abandoned after Yu Guo failed to destroy the evidence.
• Huang Ji privately told Cypher to counter the emperor’s supreme authority if he used it.

Qian Liu faced arrest for sabotaging wormhole engines, but he used hidden technology to resist and exposed the emperor’s crimes across the civilization’s network. Thirteen blocked the emperor from deleting the evidence, leaving the emperor to turn to the Shell System and ask it to remove his backup modules.

• The emperor rejected Qian Liu’s pleas for mercy and publicly opened the production line for inspection, while Huang Ji confirmed that it contained evidence implicating Qian Liu.
• The emperor ordered Qian Liu’s arrest, but Qian Liu transformed his liquid flying ship into a giant armored figure and repelled the Imperial Guard with a powerful force field.
• Qian Liu accused the emperor of ordering the Wandering Boots Project and other crimes, then released evidence across the civilization’s network.
• The emperor tried to delete the evidence, but the Shell System blocked him, and he realized that Thirteen had betrayed him using imperial authority.
• The emperor sent the Shell System a message asking who he was, where he came from, where he was going, and whether it could remove all his backup modules.

The emperor ordered Qian Liu killed after revoking the imperial modules and unleashing the Imperial Guard, but Qian Liu’s strange field overwhelmed his pursuers. Huang Ji captured Qian Liu with a detached Junba Armor hand, and Han Bi then challenged the emperor to answer for his own actions.

• The emperor revoked all imperial modules, denied Qian Liu’s revelations, and ordered the Imperial Guard to execute him.
• Qian Liu escaped the closed wormhole and defeated more than a dozen Imperial Guards, using his Matter-Energy Field to destroy their Junba Armors.
• Huang Ji attacked Qian Liu with a detached mechanical hand and Lawkeeper’s Spears, pierced the field’s weaknesses, and captured him.
• The emperor prepared to kill Qian Liu, but Han Bi intervened and the emperor offered him titles and control of the restructured wormhole company.
• Han Bi projected Qian Liu’s evidence and told the emperor that Qian Liu’s case was over, but the emperor’s was not.

Han Bi confronted the emperor with evidence linking him to Qian Liu’s crimes, but the emperor tried to end the Grand Imperial Inspection and ordered Qian Liu executed. Huang Ji prepared to provide the spark that could turn the wavering crowd against him.

• Han Bi demanded that the emperor answer Qian Liu’s accusations, while the emperor denied them and declared the Grand Imperial Inspection over.
• Qian Liu revealed that the emperor’s trusted envoy, Mosaic, might possess an Empire Module containing permanent evidence.
• The Fourth Star Shell Legion arrived, and the emperor used its presence to intimidate Han Bi and urge the crowd to disperse.
• Han Bi presented records connecting the emperor to more than fifty murders, prompting the crowd and the Leqi King to question him.
• The emperor demanded conclusive evidence, ordered the Star Shell Warriors to take Qian Liu away for execution, and Huang Ji told Cypher to stay ready.

The emperor tried to use Alshaz’s arrest to distract Shacha from Han Bi’s accusations, but Alshaz’s Empire Module was identified as belonging to the emperor’s special envoy, Thirteen. After the emperor’s attempt to conceal the evidence failed in front of the crowd, he accused Han Bi of being used by Thirteen.

• A Star Shell Warrior captured Alshaz and handed his Empire Module to the Inspector, while Alshaz admitted his crimes to avoid exposing the Heavenfall Project and Shadow Long’s identity.
• The emperor used Alshaz’s arrest to redirect public anger, ordered an investigation into the person Alshaz had killed, and left the square.
• The Inspector recognized Alshaz’s module as belonging to the emperor’s special envoy, codename Thirteen, and the emperor, Han Bi, and the Inspector vanished from public view.
• The emperor’s concealment failed, and the crowd saw him trying to hide the proceedings as interest in the case surged.
• The emperor admitted that Thirteen had been his envoy and accused Han Bi of serving as a pawn in Thirteen’s scheme.

Han Bi confronted the Emperor over his crimes, but Huang Ji and the Inspector helped expose the evidence and break the Emperor’s control. Han Bi launched a National Referendum to execute the Emperor, and the vote surged as Huang Ji unexpectedly pierced Han Bi’s armor to offer him an orange.

• The Emperor justified his killings as necessary for civilization, while Han Bi condemned him for trampling the law and vowed to seek justice and revenge.
• The Emperor tried to replace the Empire Module and ordered the Star Shell Legion to seize Han Bi and the Inspector, but Huang Ji shattered the barrier with the Ultimate Alloy Palm.
• The Inspector projected the Empire Module’s records to the public, and the Emperor’s authority failed to suppress the evidence as citizens demanded his death.
• Han Bi called for a National Referendum to execute the Emperor, and support for the sentence rapidly surpassed forty percent.
• Huang Ji thanked Han Bi for his help, pierced his Black Square Stele energy armor with golden flecks, and handed him an orange.

Han Bi’s supporters made him Crown Prince, then rallied enough votes to approve the Emperor’s execution. As the Emperor collapsed from Gene Collapse and Han Bi refused to strike him, Huang Ji arrived to treat him, leaving the Emperor’s fate unresolved.

• Han Bi discovered that votes to execute the Emperor had stalled because voters wanted him to inherit the throne first.
• Si Pike, the Leqi King, and the Anunnaki-controlled conglomerates campaigned for Han Bi, whose support surged to first place.
• The financial conglomerates redirected controlled votes to the Ninth Prince, briefly pushing him ahead of Han Bi.
• Han Bi’s supporters rallied Free Electorate voters, raising his share to 20% and the execution vote to 93%.
• The Emperor collapsed from Gene Collapse, and Han Bi chose not to execute him.
• Huang Ji arrived with medical equipment and began treating the Emperor.

Huang Ji cured the Emperor despite the Shacha People's overwhelming demand for his execution, allowing the Ninth Prince to take the lead in the succession vote and costing Han Bi his chance at the throne. When the crowd blamed him, Huang Ji reminded them that their own votes had put the Ninth Prince first, leaving the Shacha People ashamed.

• Huang Ji treated the Emperor's Gene Collapse while Han Bi and the Cabinet kept the crowd from interfering.
• The Emperor began recovering, and the Ninth Prince overtook Han Bi in the succession vote with 21% approval.
• The Emperor thanked Huang Ji, who said he had saved him simply because he was a Doctor and disliked seeing people die of illness.
• Shacha citizens blamed Huang Ji for Han Bi losing the lead, but Huang Ji challenged them to take responsibility for their own votes.
• The crowd fell silent and realized their support for Han Bi had not translated into enough votes, leaving them humiliated.

The emperor exposed how the consortiums had manipulated the succession and tried to keep him alive, while Han Bi declared he would dismantle their power. As citizens abandoned the consortiums and Han Bi’s support surged, A Qing killed the emperor, and the Shell System announced Han Bi as the new emperor.

• The emperor explained that the consortiums had planned to put the Old Nine on the throne at the precise moment of his death, angering the Shacha People and hardening Han Bi’s resolve to oppose them.
• Han Bi declared that he would become emperor and dismantle the consortiums, and Huang Ji’s snap sent Anunnaki-controlled votes to Han Bi, putting him in first place.
• The consortiums’ fighters shielded the emperor, while the Fourth Star Shell Legion malfunctioned; citizens resisted company voting orders, and Han Bi’s support climbed as the consortiums began to crumble.
• The consortiums raised benefits and tried to delay Han Bi, then moved the emperor toward a wormhole as their Armored Soldiers overwhelmed the available defenders.
• Huang Ji pointed Han Bi toward A Qing, who infiltrated the emperor’s escort, killed the emperor with the Chaos Bringer’s Blade, and triggered the system’s announcement that Han Bi had ascended the throne.

Han Bi ascended the throne after the consortiums’ attempt to control the succession collapsed, while A Qing’s unexpected killing of the emperor helped seal their defeat. As exposed consortium figures fled, Stubi was confronted by Dulan and the Anunnaki.

• The consortiums’ protection of the emperor and manipulation of the Star Shell Legion turned public opinion against them, and Han Bi won the throne with overwhelming support.
• A Qing, believing he had killed an enemy of justice, waited to be executed, but the cheering crowd and authorities treated him as a hero instead.
• A Qing admitted that Qian Liu had sent him to kill Han Bi and revealed that Stubi’s Black Army Industrial City supplied weapons to assassins.
• A Qing’s disclosures implicated Stubi and other consortium interests, prompting Stubi and consortium cadres to flee as Han Bi took power.
• Dulan and a group of Anunnaki blocked Stubi at a wormhole and confronted him over his past provocation of them.

After Han Bi became emperor, Anunnaki used its influence over three conglomerates to help him arrest rival corporate leaders, while Dulan killed Stubi and revealed that Han Bi was one of them. When evidence of Dulan’s confession surfaced, Han Bi turned against Anunnaki, banned the corporation, and began a civilization-wide manhunt.

• Dulan used auxiliary police authority to capture Stubi, then killed him and ordered his subordinates to claim Stubi had resisted arrest.
• Anunnaki-controlled Meteorfall, Collapse, and Dead End helped Han Bi arrest leaders and officials across the Shacha Civilization as Han Bi began sweeping reforms.
• A recording of Dulan killing Stubi and claiming Han Bi was one of them spread, raising public fears that the emperor was controlled by Anunnaki.
• Han Bi moved against Meteorfall, Collapse, and Dead End, and the rumor that Anunnaki supported him lost credibility.
• Han Bi banned Anunnaki Corporation, accused it of slander and illegal trade, and promised to eradicate it as the Shacha Civilization prepared sanctions across the Milky Way.

Shadow Long explained why he had sanctioned Anunnaki after Dulan’s boastful remarks and a Ziwei spy’s leak threatened his new rule. The spy’s access to Han Bi’s corpse revealed that Huang Ji might be able to prove Han Bi was an Anunnaki puppet, leaving the group alarmed about the emperor’s precarious position.

• Anunnaki members confronted Shadow Long over his ban and sanctions, and he blamed Dulan’s public claim that Han Bi would use Shacha Civilization to destroy Ziwei.
• Dulan argued that Shadow Long had leaked the recording, but Shadow Long revealed that Cypher had reported them to the Civilization Security Department.
• Dulan admitted Cypher had been recruited as an undercover agent from Lingzhu Group, and Shadow Long identified him as a spy working for Great Emperor Ziwei.
• Shadow Long said he had acted against the conglomerates to protect his unstable new regime from Ziwei’s possible plans.
• Dulan revealed he had tasked Cypher with monitoring Shadow Long and disposing of Han Bi’s corpse, making the group fear Huang Ji could expose Han Bi as their puppet.

Dulan’s revelation that Cypher had served Huang Ji left Shadow Long and Anunnaki exposed to accusations over the Heavenfall Project. Kaleidoscope arranged for Dulan to take the blame and asked Shadow Long to ensure he died with some dignity.

• Dulan realized Cypher had been Huang Ji’s mole and described how Cypher had earned his trust, alarming the gathered Anunnaki leaders.
• Shadow Long said he could not openly kill Huang Ji in the Shacha Civilization and claimed he would blacklist Anunnaki only as a show, while Kaleidoscope ordered the group to withdraw to the Ninth Abyss.
• Kaleidoscope suggested Dulan confess publicly and take the blame, but Shadow Long objected because the Shacha People would execute him.
• Dulan confronted Shadow Long for risking the company to protect him, and Kaleidoscope asked whether Dulan had made the accusations against Han Bi.
• Dulan admitted that he had done it all, and Kaleidoscope told Shadow Long to let him die with some dignity.

The Truth Society’s Ou Ran Tuo and Yu Zhenbo watched the Shacha Civilization’s wormhole experiment and realized its result could overturn their understanding of spacetime. They set out to verify the finding and target the Imperial Technology Center.

• Dulan was executed by wormhole tearing in a broadcast watched across the Shacha Civilization.
• Ou Ran Tuo and Yu Zhenbo discussed the Death Omen Star’s unexplained black hole surge and considered provoking the Shacha Civilization to test its technology.
• Ou Ran Tuo noticed the live wormhole experiment and saw evidence that light did not travel in a straight line through flat true vacuum.
• The Superconducting Master reacted to the result by declaring that the universe spun, then the broadcast was cut off.
• Ou Ran Tuo and Yu Zhenbo concluded that spacetime might have particle attributes and ordered the Truth Society to repeat the experiment at the Ninth Abyss.
• Yu Zhenbo headed to the Ninth Abyss to organize verification while Ou Ran Tuo set out to find the Imperial Technology Center for the Truth Society to capture.

After confirming that spacetime had intrinsic spin, Huang Ji and Superconducting Master speculated about its effects and the possibility of antispacetime. Huang Ji then told Han Bi that Ziwei would enter the Ninth Abyss to destroy the Anunnaki, while Han Bi agreed to provide equipment and funding but refused to send troops.

• Superconducting Master confirmed that spacetime possessed intrinsic spin and discussed its implications with Huang Ji.
• Huang Ji and Superconducting Master theorized that spacetime’s spin might explain parity violation and the matter-antimatter imbalance, then speculated about what positive and negative spacetime annihilation could release.
• Superconducting Master approved Huang Ji’s purchase of Shacha Civilization’s industrial and research equipment and urged Han Bi to befriend Ziwei.
• Huang Ji told Han Bi he planned to loot the Ninth Abyss and destroy the Anunnaki, but Han Bi warned him about the Abyss and the Truth Society and refused to send troops.
• Han Bi promised to fund and equip Ziwei’s campaign against the Anunnaki, while Huang Ji left Cypher behind in Shacha Civilization to assist Han Bi.

Ziwei acquired Shacha Civilization’s advanced industrial equipment, and Huang Ji designed a new technological system for Ziwei while preparing to leave for the Ninth Abyss. When Bessel Civilization tried to bully Ziwei into a discounted sale, Shacha delivered powerful military aid, forcing the Besselians to reconsider their demands.

• Ziwei publicly registered itself as a Micro-particle Flourishing Stage civilization, prompting Shacha Civilization’s lesser partners to seek equipment and learn that Huang Ji had helped Shacha make a theoretical breakthrough.
• Huang Ji told Luo Yan to sell the equipment at high prices, then explained that Ziwei would produce better, locally designed machinery before delivering the orders.
• Huang Ji and Nai Di entered Shacha’s technical knowledge into a giant quantum computer, adapted it for humans, and established the first generation of Ziwei industry.
• Bessel representatives refused to cede star systems and threatened Ziwei, then pursued Huang Ji after he declined to negotiate with them directly.
• Shacha soldiers delivered two Star Shells and one hundred sets of Junba Armor to Huang Ji, who ordered Lin Li to load them onto the Saint Ship for the journey to the Ninth Abyss.
• Seeing the military aid, the Besselians backed down and agreed to discuss the star-system terms with Luo Yan.

Bone Fan tried to keep her starving pirate crew alive by recalling the Legendary Empress’s example and preserving their last battle reserves. After three days of waiting, a dazzling, enormous collector’s ship emerged from the wormhole, leaving Bone Fan torn between its immense wealth and the danger it might pose.

• Bone Fan rallied her starving Skyworm pirates and promised they would attack whatever vessel next emerged from the wormhole.
• Bone Fan told the crew how the Legendary Empress had endured starvation, stopped a riot, and sacrificed her brood sac before leading her group to victory.
• The crew pledged not to consume the ship’s remaining energy reserves, and Bone Fan secretly hoped their next target would be a newcomer they could defeat.
• After three days without prey, a brilliant rainbow bridge appeared from the Black Wormhole and brought a colossal golden-toad-shaped ship into the Ninth Abyss.
• Bone Fan recognized the vessel as a wealthy newcomer, but its Atomic Peak craftsmanship and immense scale made her fear her small Pirate Gang could not capture it.