Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and the others explored the seemingly empty underground shelter city and discovered that its systems and broadcasts were still operating. In a mall, the Nangong siblings sensed a water element and found two figures who appeared to be their parents.

• Hao Ren and his companions found the shelter city deserted, though its vehicles and maintenance robots continued to operate.
• Nangong Sanba noticed that the streets and facilities were clean and regularly maintained.
• Hao Ren and the others entered a mall and discovered a live news broadcast describing the Planet Ark’s route and an approaching asteroid belt.
• Nangong Sanba and Nangong May sensed a water element and followed its energy into a household goods shop.
• Nangong May saw two figures emerge from behind the shelves and recognized them as her parents.

Nangong May and Nangong Sanba reunited with their parents, Elsa and Nangong Wudi, in the deserted city. After the family caught up, the group continued investigating the place and followed the couple to their home.

• Nangong May and Nangong Sanba reunited with their parents, who had been living in the city for a hundred years.
• Hao Ren and the others gave the family time alone and explored the mall, where Lily and Izax took snacks from shelves that automated machines promptly restocked.
• The group met the Nangong family at the mall entrance, and Elsa and Nangong Wudi offered to help with the investigation.
• Nangong Wudi introduced himself, then led the group toward the couple’s home on a driverless floating bus.
• Hao Ren noticed that cheerful advertisements played on the bus while the city outside remained silent and deserted.

Hao Ren and his companions reunited Nangong May with her parents and learned how the couple had arrived on the Planet Ark. Their account suggested the planet began its voyage after they arrived, while their discovery that the city was sealed off deepened Hao Ren’s suspicion that its survivors were hidden elsewhere.

• Nangong Wudi told Hao Ren and the others that he and Elsa had arrived in a frozen wilderness before the Planet Ark’s pillars of light activated.
• Hao Ren and Vivian connected the couple’s memories of earthquakes and changes in gravity to the planet setting sail.
• Nangong Wudi reassured Nangong May that he and Elsa had adapted to life in the city, though they had endured loneliness.
• Nangong Wudi revealed that the city’s exits were sealed and machine people had stopped him and Elsa from forcing their way out.
• Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal to scan deep beneath the planet for signs of life and large shelters, and warned it to avoid provoking a conflict.

Hao Ren and his companions debated why the planet’s natives had hidden themselves and maintained an empty city as an apparent observation room. After Lily’s attempt to call them failed, the group ate with the Nangong family and watched news about Planet Ark preparing to slow down, before Izax suddenly caused an explosion in the city.

• Vivian, Izax, and the others discussed the purpose of the empty city, and Lily proposed calling out to the natives before forcing their way through the checkpoints.
• Lily howled from the balcony and shouted for the natives to come out, but no one responded, so the group prepared to test the city’s defenses.
• Elsa served a meal, and May and Elsa shared memories of the century they had spent apart.
• Lily turned on the television, and Hao Ren noted that the broadcasts made the city seem like a glass house built for an observer.
• The group watched news that Planet Ark’s engines were changing output, and Izax raised his hand toward distant buildings, triggering a huge explosion.

After Izax caused a huge explosion, Hao Ren’s group watched Deep River Station’s news and discovered that officials and reports appeared to be fabricated to make the empty city seem alive. They headed toward the city’s edge to expose whoever was behind the simulation, but a mechanical army gathered in their path.

• Izax caused a massive explosion in Deep River Station, and emergency crews and robots responded to the blaze.
• Hao Ren’s group watched the morning news and saw Deep River Station officials describe the unexplained explosion, though the Nangong couple had never heard of them.
• Lily brought in a freshly printed newspaper featuring the same officials, and Izax concluded that someone was pretending the world was still alive.
• Hao Ren led the group toward the city’s edge, while Nangong May told her parents it might be their last day there and Nangong Wudi went to retrieve his old gear.
• Billboards, robots, and vehicles urged the group to stay in the shelter, and a taxi refused to take them outside the city.
• Hao Ren took out his spear and sidearm as a mechanical army gathered ahead of the group.

Hao Ren’s group left the city after discovering that its robots were controlled by a rigid, malfunctioning system that tried to keep residents inside. Guided by the Data Terminal, they headed through the city’s outer gate toward an energy node near Earth’s core.

• The Data Terminal reported that no suitable shelter existed and located a planetary energy node near Earth’s core.
• Hao Ren’s group reached the city gate, where mechanical guards and traffic blocked their way.
• Hao Ren addressed the unseen controller, and the machines stopped advancing but silently watched as the group passed.
• Hao Ren cut through the city gate and gave Nangong Wudi and Elsa life-support collars.
• Hao Ren led the group into a tunnel toward the transportation hub and the passages descending toward Earth’s core.

Hao Ren and his group explored an abandoned subway hub beneath the planet and found evidence that the Starry Sky People had once warned its inhabitants. They discovered a deep shaft below the station, and Hao Ren and Vivian prepared to descend while the others waited.

• Hao Ren's group explored the dusty subway passage and found a memorial plaque identifying the dead Grand Commander.
• The group reached the subway interchange, where the station lights activated and they discovered a sculpture commemorating the Starry Sky People.
• Hao Ren connected the Starry Sky People to the "allies from the stars" mentioned on Planet Horleta.
• The group searched beneath the station and found a vast shaft with missing lift equipment and a seemingly bottomless descent.
• Hao Ren chose to descend with Vivian while the others stayed above.

Hao Ren and Vivian reached the ark’s mainframe deep beneath the planet and learned how the Firstborn destroyed its civilization. The mainframe’s account left Hao Ren asking who the Starry Sky People were.

• Hao Ren and Vivian descended the Vertical Shaft and found a platform above a weak magma lake, where the mainframe’s entrance opened for them.
• Inside the Control Center, the Ark Mainframe explained that its mission was to preserve the Creators, but the civilization had gone extinct before the ark set sail.
• The mainframe showed how the planet’s lights went dark after it survived a solar eruption, then identified the Calamity as the cause of the Creators’ destruction.
• The mainframe said the Starry Sky People helped the Creators cast the Firstborn into the sun and detonate it, but the Firstborn’s remaining soul killed the civilization afterward.
• Hao Ren realized the Firstborn’s soul had since dissipated and asked the Ark Mainframe who the Starry Sky People were.

Hao Ren and Vivian learned how the Starry Sky People and the Ark Mainframe tried to preserve the civilization of Planet Ark after the Firstborn destroyed its inhabitants. The Ark Mainframe accepted that its simulated city could not continue, and Hao Ren left with a library of its records and a sample of the planet’s moss.

• Hao Ren watched a record of the Starry Sky People dying as the sun expanded and learned that the Firstborn’s surviving soul had destroyed the planet’s ecosystem.
• The Ark Mainframe explained that the Nangong couple had restarted the ark’s launch protocol and that the city’s human society had been simulated to keep the creators’ civilization from ending.
• Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal to broadcast information about the Time-Space Administration Bureau to the Ark Mainframe, which then said it understood.
• Hao Ren returned to the Giant Turtle Rock Platform with a library of the ark’s records and a jar of moss from the planet.
• The Ark Mainframe shut down the simulated city as the Giant Turtle Rock Platform departed from Planet Ark.

Hao Ren and his companions returned to Io with the moss samples from the Planet Ark, intending to help life take root in the Sea of Io. The Ark continued its thousand-year voyage to revive its creators’ world, while Hao Ren entrusted the moss to Eva and left its future in the ocean.

• Nangong Wudi and Elsa met Doudou and mistakenly thought she was Nangong May’s child, prompting Hao Ren and May to explain the misunderstanding.
• Hao Ren explained that the Planet Ark would continue toward its chosen destination, where it could revive its creators’ world using the life that remained.
• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform emerged above Io, and Elsa reunited with the peaceful sea where the Siren originated.
• Hao Ren scattered the moss fragments and prepared green powder into the Sea of Io, asking Eva to care for them.

Hao Ren returned to Earth with the Nangong family after releasing alien life into the Sea of Io, and they settled into his chaotic household. Elsa and Nangong Wudi realized how much the world had changed during their century away, while Vivian urged them to adapt.

• Hao Ren watched Doudou leap into his arms after the Data Terminal explained how life could survive even catastrophic destruction.
• Hao Ren brought the Nangong couple through the spatial rift to Earth, where Elsa was startled by the dark snowfield and Nangong Wudi reflected on their narrow escape from the wrath spirit.
• Hao Ren and the others rested at Andre Castle before returning to his old house in the South Suburbs.
• Elizabeth tried to take a liquefied-gas cylinder out for refilling, while Doudou offered to light it with holy flame and frightened everyone.
• Elsa and Nangong Wudi discussed how unfamiliar Earth had become, and Vivian told them they would need to learn about the modern world rather than withdraw from it.

Hao Ren invited Nangong Wudi and Elsa to stay at his home while they adjusted to a world that had changed beyond recognition. He took them to report to Raven and deliver the recovered database, leaving them wondering why he said they were going to meet God.

• Hao Ren suggested that Nangong Wudi and Elsa stay at his home, and Lily told them their old home had become a tourist attraction.
• Vivian and Hao Ren's companions revealed their unusual backgrounds, astonishing Nangong Wudi and Elsa.
• Nangong Wudi and Elsa agreed to stay nearby while they reacclimated, and the Nangong siblings celebrated their reunion with them.
• Hao Ren said he was taking the couple to report to Raven and deliver the database recovered by the Time-Space Administration Bureau.
• The Nangong couple asked where Hao Ren was taking them, and he replied that they were going to meet God alive.

Hao Ren and Raven 12345 discussed the ancient Starry Sky People and the possibility that they had survived by hiding from the Firstborn. Unable to find a reliable way to locate them, Hao Ren set the search aside and began reviewing the Ark civilization’s database.

• Raven 12345 identified the Starry Sky People as naturally occurring spiritual entities, likely older than the Primordial Seed and possibly dating back to the Creation Goddess’s era.
• Raven 12345 suspected the Starry Sky People had survived the Firstborn by escaping its attacks and hiding, but left Hao Ren to figure out how to find them.
• The Nangong couple visited Raven 12345 and went home after eating her leftover noodles.
• Hao Ren and his family failed to devise a reliable way to find the Starry Sky People, and Lily’s idea to broadcast a missing-person notice was rejected as dangerous.
• Hao Ren discussed his role in seeing off doomed civilizations with the Data Terminal and connected to the Ark civilization’s database.

Hao Ren searched the Ark civilization’s database and uncovered Starry Sky People records claiming that intelligent beings had killed the Creation Goddess. The records offered no further explanation, leaving Hao Ren to continue investigating on his own.

• Hao Ren examined the Ark civilization’s final records and found a scientist’s account of the mysterious Red Nova Eaton, which had flared brightly and then vanished.
• Hao Ren discussed Eaton with the Data Terminal and considered whether its outburst was connected to the Creation Goddess’s fate.
• Hao Ren searched the database’s records of the Starry Sky People and found conversations recorded by the Spirit Speaker Freeman.
• Hao Ren learned from the Starry Sky People’s account that intelligent beings had disturbed the universe’s root and killed the Creation Goddess.
• Hao Ren searched the records for more details but found none, then compiled his discoveries and reported them to Raven 12345, who left him to investigate further.

After learning that mortals had killed the Creation Goddess, Hao Ren and his family discussed whether to tell Big Beard and waited for more evidence. During a quiet summer at home, Vivian examined an ancient grimoire that might be connected to her.

• Hao Ren told his family that the Ark database said the Creation Goddess had been killed by mortals, and Vivian urged him to wait before telling Big Beard until they found evidence.
• The Nangong couple settled at Hao Ren's home, while Lily continued tending to stray dogs and bickering with Vivian during the hot summer days.
• Vivian cooled the house with her powers and froze Lily after Lily teased her about not working.
• Vivian showed Hao Ren an ancient Latin book titled On Evil Spirits and Myths, which Heiserana had found at Athens Sanctuary and which Vivian suspected was connected to her.
• Vivian explained that the grimoire's pages were treated black goat hide and described how witches made elaborate magic books, often exposing themselves to Demon Hunters.

Hao Ren, Vivian, and Lily examined a strange magic book that described a ritual for summoning the King of Blood, whom Vivian suspected was herself. Hao Ren and Lily decided to try the ritual that night, since it was a full moon.

• Vivian explained how wizards and their magic books had spread during a chaotic period of European history.
• Vivian found an illustration and ritual in the book that resembled her, including a cross worn by the depicted Bloodkin.
• Vivian read that the ritual required two people to offer blood on a full moon and promised to transfer part of one person's lifespan at the cost of their life.
• Vivian said she could not remember whether she had met the book's author, and explained that Heiserana had sent her the book.
• Hao Ren proposed trying the ritual, and Lily agreed when she realized that night was a full moon.

The group examined a spellbook that described a ritual for summoning Vivian, and Lily persuaded them to try it on the full-moon night without telling Vivian. They began the ritual in the wilderness behind the house, where the moonlight revealed a faint blood-red glimmer.

• Nangong Wudi and Elsa decided to take over a nearby flatbread shop, and Nangong Wudi gave Hao Ren his old gold and silver to cover their debt.
• Nangong May examined the spellbook while Lily proposed using its ritual to summon Vivian, who dismissed the book as a worthless collectible.
• The group spent the day at home while Izax and Elizabeth continued dismantling Hao Ren's motorcycle as they tried to repair it.
• After nightfall, Lily set up the summoning ritual behind the house and kept Vivian occupied by having her bathe Roll.
• Hao Ren studied the spellbook by moonlight as the group prepared to test the ritual, and a blood-red glimmer appeared in the full moon.

Lily led Hao Ren and the others through a botched-looking ritual meant to summon Vivian, but the first attempts failed when her wounds healed too quickly. The ritual finally activated when Hao Ren opened the genuine magic book at the circle’s energy focal point, leaving a strange red glow spreading from its pages.

• Lily assembled a summoning circle with dubious offerings, and Hao Ren and the others questioned whether her ritual could work.
• Hao Ren and Lily tried to provide the required blood, but Lily’s wounds healed too quickly, so Nangong Sanba stepped in to complete the blood offering.
• The circle showed no immediate effect, and Lily blamed the failure on the lack of human blood while Hao Ren noted that everyone present was nonhuman.
• Hao Ren examined the magic book while standing at the circle’s center, and full-moon light struck the illustration of the Summoning of the King of Blood.
• A chill rose from the book as red light spread from its pages, revealing that the ritual had activated once the book reached the circle’s energy focal point.

Hao Ren and his companions accidentally summoned a dangerous, red-haired being resembling Vivian, which attacked them with a power that rapidly decayed living things and objects. They led it into the wilderness and launched a coordinated assault, but it vanished into the moonlight, which then began to affect them.

• The magic book and summoning array transformed, and a red-haired figure resembling Vivian emerged from the blood mist.
• The figure attacked Lily with a red light that withered plants and turned rocks to dust, while the Data Terminal warned everyone that it was not Vivian.
• Hao Ren drew the figure away from nearby homes and led it into the wilderness as it pursued him and damaged everything in its path.
• Hao Ren and the others surrounded the figure and attacked, but it became a beam of red light and disappeared into the moonlight.
• Hao Ren noticed the moonlight had turned red and was making his skin deathly gray-white, and he warned everyone to watch out.

Hao Ren and the others fought Vivian’s moon-summoning evil spirit, teleporting the group to Mars so they could attack without the deadly moonlight. As the battle turned against them, the real Vivian appeared with a frying pan and knocked the evil spirit flying.

• The evil spirit’s red moonlight drained life from the wilderness and made her nearly impossible to hit, while Lily and the others began to weaken.
• The Data Terminal struck the evil spirit with a brick and teleported everyone together to Mars, where the moonlight could not reach them.
• Hao Ren and the others attacked the evil spirit on Mars, discovering that her recovery had slowed but that her power was still rising.
• As Hao Ren charged to help Izax seal the evil spirit, the real Vivian appeared in an apron and struck her with a frying pan, sending her flying.