Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren told Vogus that Tanagrus had been resettled by the Zhuom people and explained that the Tanans could not return until travel between worlds became safe. Vogus accepted the delay and planned to lead his survivors through rebuilding while hoping for peaceful coexistence with the Zhuom.

• Hao Ren explained Tanagrus's ecological recovery and the Zhuom people's settlement there, and Vogus asked to verify his account.
• Vogus said the Tanans still wanted to return to their ancestral planet, and he hoped they could coexist peacefully with the Zhuom.
• Hao Ren warned Vogus that the return would have to wait until the interworld blockade was lifted, possibly for years or centuries.
• Hao Ren advised Vogus to raise his people's morale without revealing too much about Tanagrus, while Hassu and the others prepared to address the remaining Chaos Shadows.
• Hao Ren and the other groups made plans to leave, with Hao Ren intending to study the golden disc and the vision he had witnessed.

After the Ankatro incident, the Demon Hunters and alien factions made agreements and began cooperating with Hao Ren as a neutral observer. Lily’s joke raised the frightening possibility that Vivian might be connected to the divine blood’s original sin, so Hao Ren took her and the golden disc to Raven 12345’s mansion for an examination, where he met a substitute Goddess.

• Hassu, Hesperis, and Vogus agreed to protect Ankatro territory, support the Tanans, share information, and cooperate with Hao Ren.
• Hao Ren and his companions left Ankatro, and Hesperis and Wayne departed for the airport while the other groups went their separate ways.
• Lily joked that Vivian might have been contaminated by the original sin, prompting Hao Ren to consider whether Vivian could be the original sin alive.
• Hao Ren took Vivian and the golden disc to the divine kingdom to consult Raven 12345.
• Raven 15431516836 told Hao Ren that Senior 12345 had gone to the divine realm and offered to hear what had happened.

Hao Ren brought the golden disk tainted with divine blood to Raven 15431516836, who purified it and explained that original sin in living bloodlines could not be safely removed. Before leaving, Hao Ren asked her to examine Vivian for signs of the same contamination.

• Hao Ren asked Raven 15431516836 about the Dream Plane and the Creation Goddess, then reported what had happened in the Ankatro Family's territory.
• Raven 15431516836 examined the golden disk, removed Hao Ren's paper seals, and purified the remaining negative energy.
• Raven 15431516836 explained that original sin had become part of mortal bloodlines and should fade over time or after another event, while the disk itself could be purified.
• Raven 15431516836 collected samples of desiccated Divine Blood Factor for Raven 12345 and told Hao Ren he could take the disk back and analyze it.
• Hao Ren asked Raven 15431516836 to examine Vivian and determine whether she carried the original sin of divine blood.

Raven 15431516836 examined Vivian and found no detectable signs of Original Sin contamination, though she could not rule out hidden mutations. Hao Ren learned he was the first inspector put in charge of the Dream Plane, while Raven 12345 remained away investigating the source of the crisis and was told that Hao Ren had obtained Creation Goddess divine blood.

• Raven 15431516836 examined Vivian with runes and detected no clear signs of Original Sin contamination, but said a deeper mutation could be difficult to find.
• Hao Ren asked whether other inspectors had handled the Dream Plane, and Raven 15431516836 told him he was the first to take charge of it as a major project.
• Raven 15431516836 said she could not understand why Raven 12345 had placed the responsibility entirely on Hao Ren, though she believed Raven 12345 had a deeper reason.
• After Hao Ren and Vivian left, Raven 12345 contacted Raven 15431516836 and learned that Hao Ren had obtained divine blood directly from the Creation Goddess.
• Raven 15431516836 reported that she had purified the golden disk, while Raven 12345 said she was still searching for the source and had ruled out the Lord of Time and Princess War Song.
• Raven 12345 revealed she was at the Scorpion Soldier barracks, where the soldiers were breaking down her door.

Hao Ren investigated the golden discs’ mysterious resonance at the Crystal Core Research Station, hoping to use it to locate other discs scattered across the universe. The tests yielded little progress, and the chapter ended with Vivian emerging from a daze after becoming absorbed by the discs.

• Hao Ren continued testing the golden discs because their resonance and memories of the Creation Goddess had left him unable to relax at home.
• Hao Ren explained that the discs could exchange or absorb energy without any visible connection, and Vivian said other discs might resonate with them too.
• Hao Ren and the Data Terminal described plans to turn the discs’ resonance into a signal for finding other scattered discs, but admitted they had made little progress.
• Lily and Roll grew bored during the tests, and Roll interrupted the session to demand food.
• Hao Ren led everyone to the cafeteria while Vivian stayed by the discs until he called her, and she snapped out of her daze to join them.

Hao Ren and his companions discussed the golden disks’ mysterious signals and Vivian’s unusual attraction to them, then reconsidered the Creation Goddess’s quiet death. The conversation ended when the Data Terminal reported that the drone swarm had discovered something.

• During dinner, Hao Ren explained that the golden disks’ signals seemed patterned but were too fragmented to decipher.
• Vivian admitted that the disks drew her attention, so Hao Ren advised her to avoid them and not enter their laboratory alone.
• Hao Ren recounted seeing the Creation Goddess say “forgive” before she died, and the group speculated that she had lost her power.
• The Data Terminal interrupted the discussion with an emergency message that the drone swarm had discovered something.

Hao Ren learned that a drone swarm had detected decades-old traces of primitive faster-than-light travel, suggesting that a surviving advanced civilization might be nearby. He and a large group departed for the drone frontier to investigate, where Hao Ren saw the vast network of his Drone Empire.

• The Data Terminal reported that the L-B-35 exploration sequence had found distorted space-lens trails from primitive faster-than-light engines, likely left decades ago.
• Hao Ren realized the trails could indicate surviving exiles and asked whether the drones could determine where the ships had gone.
• The Data Terminal said reinforcements were expanding the search in a safe wilderness, and Hao Ren immediately decided to investigate.
• After Lily finished eating, Hao Ren and the others—including Fish and Cat and Nangong Wudi and his wife—set off for the drone frontier.
• Hao Ren accessed the drone database and saw Information Nodes spanning millions of light-years in the orderly network he recognized as the Drone Empire.

Hao Ren visited the L-B-35 drone hive and learned more about the swarm’s routines and interests while waiting for new information about the lens traces. He left realizing that the growing AI was more like a living person than he had understood.

• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform arrived at outpost hive L-B-35, where Hao Ren saw the massive fortress the drones had built inside an asteroid.
• Hao Ren and his companions docked and entered the hive, guided through its busy corridors by two Wanderer Probes.
• The swarm consciousness greeted Hao Ren in a hive chamber and reported that the search for lens traces had not yet yielded further findings.
• The swarm displayed films and other media about rebellious drones, explaining that it collected cultural works and discussed them on its forum.
• Hao Ren wondered what kind of forum the swarm had and realized he knew little about the AI he had created.

Hao Ren learned that the empire’s drone swarms formed a vast, intelligent network and stayed at their outpost while it expanded its armed forces. As he explained the threats behind his preparations, the dark-red markings on his palm reminded him of the information he had received from the golden disc.

• Hao Ren saw that drone swarms across the empire communicated through the Imperial Data Network, whose combined intelligence supported them.
• Hao Ren’s companions returned to the ship, while Doudou stayed with him at the drone nest.
• Hao Ren inspected the outpost’s production center and learned that his order had raised armed drones to forty percent of production and expanded sentry-gun deployments.
• Hao Ren defended his decision to strengthen the swarm against threats including a deranged Firstborn, brain-monster Guardians, and a living rebel at Sulun's Gate.
• Hao Ren looked at the dark-red patterns on his palm and recalled the information he had received after touching the golden disc.

Hao Ren decoded a warning from the Creation Goddess and ordered the drone swarm to help search for the space travelers. Following traces of leaking synthetic fuel, the Giant Turtle Rock Platform found a large group of durian-shaped objects.

• Hao Ren concluded that the Creation Goddess had sent him the warning, “Be careful. The enemy is still out there,” through the golden disk’s illusion.
• Hao Ren discussed the drone swarm’s purpose and reassured himself that it had no reason to rebel.
• After two days of searching, a Roving Drone found traces of artificial fuel that pointed toward damaged but intact spacecraft.
• Hao Ren ordered Nolan to pursue the traces, and the Giant Turtle Rock Platform left the drone nest.
• Nolan detected a huge group of flying objects shaped like durians, and Vivian teased Hao Ren about his prediction.

Hao Ren and his team investigated an ancient fleet of unresponsive ships and boarded one to search for survivors. They found a sealed hatch and began trying to open it without damaging the controls.

• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform approached the fleet, and Nolan reported that its ships detected them but showed no hostile response.
• Hao Ren chose Vivian, Lily, Nangong Sanba, and Nangong May to explore one ship, while the others stayed aboard the platform.
• Hao Ren's group teleported to the ship's surface and followed Nolan's scan to a sealed entrance hatch.
• Lily removed a metal plate beside the hatch, and Hao Ren and the Data Terminal identified its electrical controls.
• Hao Ren pulled two control wires free and asked Vivian to supply them with twenty-eight volts of power.

Hao Ren and his companions explored the failing interior of the colossal spaceship, finding no signs of life as they searched for a way deeper inside. They emerged from an elevator shaft into a silent city built within the ship.

• Vivian powered open the damaged outer hatch, and the group entered the ship through the narrow gap.
• Hao Ren concluded that the airlock had failed and led the group through dark, malfunctioning corridors as Nangong May sensed only lifeless ice nearby.
• The group reached a transportation hub, where Lily cut open an elevator shaft after Hao Ren found no signs of life below.
• Vivian sent a bat duplicate down the shaft to check the way, and Hao Ren led the group toward a brighter opening.
• Hao Ren and Lily emerged from the shaft and saw a silent city inside the spaceship.

Hao Ren and his companions explored the lifeless city inside the enormous interstellar ship and found its inhabitants preserved as frozen corpses. Nangong Sanba discovered traces of hallucinogens in the dead, and the group found evidence of a grand banquet interrupted by the disaster.

• Hao Ren, Vivian, and the others emerged into the ship’s vast spherical city and found it cold, airless, and irradiated, with no signs of life.
• Nangong May pointed out floating corpses, and Hao Ren and Nangong Sanba examined the remains.
• Nangong Sanba found chemical traces resembling hallucinogens in several corpses and said they had not died from suffocation or hypothermia.
• Hao Ren led the group deeper into the city, where they discovered a frozen banquet hall filled with formally dressed corpses and an accompanying band.

Hao Ren and his companions discovered that the inhabitants of the Starship Ark had knowingly died by neurotoxic gas in a mass suicide about a thousand years earlier. They reached a gigantic inactive machine that might hold clues to why the people chose euthanasia.

• Hao Ren and Nangong Sanba examined the frozen banquet guests and found evidence that they had inhaled neurotoxic gas.
• Hao Ren found a farewell message from a nobleman to his son Roman, describing a final banquet after two important devices had shut down.
• Nangong Sanba and Nangong May found more farewell notes, confirming that the inhabitants had planned a mass suicide.
• The group explored the city and saw that its residents had dressed well and gathered for final meals before the poison gas killed them.
• The Data Terminal estimated that the deaths occurred about a thousand years earlier, and Hao Ren suggested the ship had suffered an irreparable failure or run out of resources.
• Hao Ren and his companions arrived beneath a vast, inactive machine resembling a cylindrical mountain.

Hao Ren and his companions found the dormant life-support facility at the heart of the ship’s city and discovered its control room. After Lily found the commander’s key card, Hao Ren used it to activate the console, and the facility began to tremble.

• Hao Ren learned that the enormous facility supplied power to the city’s life-support system, separate from the ship’s engines, and asked Nolan to inspect the other ships carefully.
• Hao Ren and his companions found an entrance to the facility and discovered that its corridors still had backup power, though the reactor was shut down and the Guardian mainframe was dormant.
• Hao Ren found the frozen body of an imposing commander seated in the control room and examined the facility’s console.
• Nangong May cleared frost from the console, and Hao Ren identified the core reactor slot as requiring a key or identification card.
• Lily found a silver-white metal card in the commander’s hand, and Hao Ren inserted it into the console, activating indicators and making the facility tremble.

Hao Ren restarted the Central Control Station and discovered that most of the ship’s life-support systems had been dismantled. A recording revealed that the crew had distributed the parts among other arks, and the Data Terminal suspected there were still survivors.

• Hao Ren restarted the ship’s power systems and restored pressure in the Central Control Station, allowing the group to breathe without their life-support collars.
• The ecological mainframe entered Beta Mode, but Hao Ren found that the city’s atmosphere could not be restored because essential pumps and other systems were missing.
• Hao Ren reviewed surveillance footage and discovered that more than half of the ship’s important facilities had been dismantled.
• A recording from Lord Goenxilun explained that the crew had allocated the ship’s life-support equipment and machinery to other vessels in the fleet.
• The Data Terminal concluded that the fleet had sacrificed passengers and cannibalized ships to keep some arks functioning, then announced that survivors might still remain.

Hao Ren investigated the thirteen Ark ships and found no survivors in their wrecked interiors, though their navigation system suggested that life still remained aboard. Just as he began to suspect the system had malfunctioned, a detector picked up life signs.

• The Data Terminal explained that the Ark fleet’s automated navigation program continued its mission only while life remained, leading Hao Ren to suspect that someone might still be aboard one of the ships.
• Hao Ren ordered Nolan to send engineering drones to cut into all twelve remaining Arks, scan for life, and continue broadcasting calls.
• Hao Ren and his companions returned to the Giant Turtle Rock Platform while the drones began drilling into the ships.
• Detectors revealed extensive damage across the Arks, which had survived for thousands of years by consuming one another, and found no initial signs of life.
• As a detector surveyed a ruined city aboard the sixth Ark, Nolan and the Data Terminal announced that life signs had been detected.

Hao Ren and his companions entered an ark where powerful life signs had been detected and found a ruined city with no one answering their communications. As they ventured deeper, they discovered armed residents fighting in a brutal medieval-style battle.

• Nolan reported powerful life signs inside the ark, but its residents ignored all attempts at communication.
• Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, and the Nangong siblings entered through a passage drilled by engineering drones and emerged in a filthy, ruined city.
• Hao Ren’s group headed deeper into the city while trying to avoid alarming its residents.
• They heard shouts and weapon clashes, and Vivian detected fresh blood nearby.
• Hao Ren and his companions saw dozens of armored people fighting with swords and axes in a square, as a terrified, blood-covered young warrior ran toward their hiding place.

Hao Ren and his companions captured Willimoromo amid a battle between the High Tower Kingdom and the Iron City-State, then used their powers to drive off the Iron City-State soldiers. Willimoromo agreed to guide them to Hearth City in exchange for an escort, and the group set off along a dangerous road.

• Hao Ren tripped and captured Willimoromo, who identified himself as a soldier of the High Tower Kingdom fighting the Iron City-State over Gear Town.
• When Iron City-State warriors approached, Vivian and Nangong Sanba knocked them unconscious with frost and a rune, while the other soldiers fled in fear of the Ice Witch.
• Willimoromo mistook Hao Ren's group for emissaries of winter, but Hao Ren reassured him and asked where they could rest.
• Willimoromo offered to guide the group to Hearth City and vouch for them in return for an escort, and Hao Ren chose the dangerous route there.
• Willimoromo took the Iron City-State soldiers' insignia to use as an account of the encounter, and Hao Ren told him the group would keep his escape secret.

Hao Ren and his companions traveled with Willy toward Hearth City through the decaying roads of the Ark, learning about its four kingdoms and the worsening condition of their world. An Ascension Phenomenon briefly removed artificial gravity, and Willy recounted how his friend Boken had once floated across the world and died when gravity returned.

• Willy led Hao Ren and the others along the Road of Abundance and Kingdom Main Road toward Hearth City, while Hao Ren questioned him about the four kingdoms and their war.
• Willy explained that the kingdoms fought to provide souls to fuel the flame at the end of the world and said the world had been deteriorating for ten years.
• A deep underground hum triggered the Ascension Phenomenon, and artificial gravity vanished as red warning lights flashed across the enclosed space.
• Willy warned everyone not to move or jump, and the group remained grounded while the weightlessness lasted nearly an hour.
• When gravity returned, Willy told Hao Ren that his friend Boken had once floated away during a day-long Ascension and died after falling on the other side of the world.