Chapter Summaries

McCleary discovered that Colonel Caesar had taken Belle to the Sanctuary of Rest to serve as a vessel for the Virtues. Caesar had scrambled Belle’s mind so she would consent to the ritual, and he urged Bishop Gibron to begin it.

• Caesar’s soldiers stopped McCleary from intervening as Caesar knocked Belle unconscious and ordered her taken away.
• McCleary learned from Anton that Belle was being sent to the Sanctuary of Rest and realized she was intended as a vessel for the Angel of Strength.
• Caesar brought the bound Belle before Gibron, who warned that a god’s descent required the vessel’s willing consent.
• Caesar revealed that Belle’s mind had been scrambled so she would agree, and argued that the Virtues would become a powerful weapon for their faction.
• Gibron condemned Caesar’s actions, but Caesar demanded that he begin the descent ritual.

Caesar forced Bishop Gibron to perform a ritual that let the Angel of Strength, Oya, descend into Belle and remake her as a saint. As Belle confronted General Morton, he revealed that he too had become a saint while retaining his will.

• Gibron refused Caesar's demand to perform the ritual, but Caesar threatened him by revealing that his family had been taken to Dawn Bunker.
• Gibron invoked Oya, who used him as a bridge to pour power into Belle after she agreed to offer her body and everything she possessed.
• Belle's eyes regrew, her restraints broke, and silver-white flames strengthened her body as Oya declared that she could wield only a fraction of its power.
• Belle formed enormous silver-white flame wings and challenged General Morton to honor his promise to Oya.
• Belle's pressure nearly forced Morton to his knees, but golden wings and a phantom appeared behind him, revealing that he was also someone's saint and had retained his will.

Morton secured Belle’s promise to attend a global conference and ordered Caesar to pursue an infiltration lead in the Strategic Affairs Department. Byrne, living in quiet exile, experienced a vision of Belle and wondered whether she had become Sariel’s vessel, while an experiment involving Miss Loki produced useful data.

• Belle agreed to appear at the location Morton specified for the global conference in about forty days, then vanished in silver-white flames.
• Caesar told Morton that Gibron was recovering but opposed their actions, and that an agent had contacted a Dragon Rider Captain without learning his stance.
• Morton ordered Caesar’s agent to press the Dragon Rider Captain, hoping to find a way into the Strategic Affairs Department.
• Byrne, content with his ordinary life after leaving Freedom Wings, saw a vision of Belle with golden Cross Patterns in her eyes and wondered whether she had become Sariel’s vessel.
• Across the ocean, someone thanked Miss Loki for cooperating and said her data would help speed up the project.

Wu Zhiqi rode a dragon-headed giant beast through the sea and damaged sensors while venting his anger after encountering a Nightmare Level ship. After Dongfeng Island detected the unusual activity, Supervisor Gu Yun asked Luo Yan and Ji Ying to investigate why Wu Zhiqi had appeared nearby.

• Wu Zhiqi traveled east through the sea on a dragon-headed giant beast and encountered an Overlord Giant Crab covered in human faces.
• A black, multi-deck ship with the aura of a Nightmare Level giant beast appeared, and Wu Zhiqi fled before unleashing lightning with his trident.
• Wu Zhiqi's rampage damaged several marine sensors, prompting Supervisor Gu Yun's team to review footage of him and other giant beasts.
• Luo Yan opened another branch vein in his inner world, then went to the Command Center after Ji Ying summoned him.
• Supervisor Gu Yun explained Wu Zhiqi's appearance, and Ji Ying asked Luo Yan whether they should investigate.

Luo Yan asserted his authority over Ye Wusheng after Ye tried to direct the investigation into an overlord near Dongfeng Island. As the investigation team departed, Luo Yan sensed the Nether Fish’s anxiety again through the Life Talisman.

• Ye Wusheng arrived at the Command Hall and urged Luo Yan to investigate the overlord near Dongfeng Island.
• Luo Yan reminded Ye Wusheng that he was responsible for the island’s security and ordered him to escort Gu Yun’s team and submit a report.
• Ye Wusheng agreed, then vented his anger inside his mecha and vowed to prove he was the number one Dragon Rider.
• Luo Yan stayed in the Command Hall to monitor the investigation with Ji Ying while Ye Wusheng escorted Gu Yun’s team toward the site.
• Luo Yan sensed another trace of anxiety from the Nether Fish through the Life Talisman.

Luo Yan’s investigation team searched Sector C9 for signs of Wu Zhiqi, but an unrecorded Overlord Giant Beast emerged and attacked the expedition. The chapter ended with the team facing a giant crab that carried Human-faced Fish on its shell, deepening Luo Yan and Ji Ying’s concern that Overlord Giant Beasts were leaving the Forbidden Land.

• Luo Yan used the Life Talisman to confirm that Nether Fish was still asleep and changing after devouring Yufu.
• The investigation team reached Sector C9, where Gu Feng’s staff sent three Qing Jiao robots to retrieve a damaged sensor and search the seabed for Wu Zhiqi.
• A Human-faced Scaleless Fish destroyed one Qing Jiao, and Ye Wusheng used You Jue’s sound wave to kill the attacking fish.
• Luo Yan told Ye Wusheng to prioritize the team’s safety, and Ye Wusheng ordered the ships to withdraw while he held off the approaching Overlord Giant Beast.
• Ye Wusheng illuminated a giant crab with Black Robe, revealing Human-faced Fish emerging from faces embedded in its shell.
• Luo Yan and Ji Ying realized that multiple Overlord Giant Beasts had left the Forbidden Land and worried about what was happening in the sea.

Ye Wusheng fought the Giant Crab near Dongfeng Island, but the Overlord escaped after breaking free of his Yin Spirit’s attacks. Captain Luo assigned the Heavenly Fire Squad to hunt the Overlords while the Tianji Squad stayed on the island, and Qin Feng approached Captain Luo to speak.

• Captain Luo decided to eliminate the Giant Crab and Wu Zhiqi before the Joint Summit because they threatened Dongfeng Island.
• Ye Wusheng used Black Robe and his Yin Spirit to attack the Giant Crab, but the Overlord escaped by stirring up a cloud of mud and sand.
• Captain Luo ordered the Heavenly Fire Squad to spend two weeks clearing giant beasts and hunting the Overlords, while the Tianji Squad remained on Dongfeng Island.
• Ye Wusheng complained that Captain Luo had claimed the dangerous work for his own squad, while Qin Feng defended Captain Luo and went to find him.
• After Captain Luo discussed defensive strategies with Ji Ying, Qin Feng approached him and asked to talk.

Luo Yan rejected Qin Feng’s appeal for understanding Ye Wusheng, then led the Heavenly Fire Squad underwater to track the Giant Crab and hunt two Overlord Giant Beasts. The squad found the Giant Crab’s trail leading into a deep fissure.

• Qin Feng explained Ye Wusheng’s background and asked Luo Yan not to hold a grudge, but Luo Yan said he understood without approving of Ye Wusheng’s actions.
• Luo Yan returned to the base, joined Deputy Captain Bai and the Heavenly Fire Squad, and led them out on an approved mission.
• The squad traveled to Area C-9, where Luo Yan used Divine Treasure to track the Giant Crab’s movements and briefed the others on their plan to eliminate it and Wu Zhiqi.
• Luo Yan and the squad followed the Giant Crab’s trail across the seafloor until they reached a deep fissure, where Luo Yan saw the Giant Crab’s phantom enter.

Luo Yan discovered Wu Zhiqi in the Underground Crevice and pursued it with Zhurong, while the rest of the Heavenly Fire Squad fought the Giant Crab above. The Giant Crab was bound by Li Yuqing’s Jiaolong, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Luo Yan sent Murong Xuan’s underwater robot Qing Jiao into the Underground Crevice, where it recorded boiling currents, strange sea creatures, and a giant beast’s skull.
• Qing Jiao spotted Wu Zhiqi riding a dragon-headed beast, and the Giant Beast Radar detected another Overlord behind the Heavenly Fire Squad.
• Luo Yan charged into the crevice with Zhurong, extinguished Wu Zhiqi’s lightning attack, and pursued the fleeing beast deeper into the fissure.
• The Giant Crab charged the Heavenly Fire Squad, and Yang Kui’s Rock stopped its claw while Zhang Tianyi’s Great Swordsman severed two of its legs.
• The Giant Crab attacked with fire and human-faced fish parasites, but Li Yuqing’s Five Elements summoned Jiaolong that restrained it.

Yang Kui, Zhang Tianyi, and Murong Xuan fought the Giant Crab overlord with their mecha and wounded it badly. The overlord fled into the dark sea, where Bai? revealed that Heiwu had trapped it and offered to release it when the others were ready.

• Yang Kui charged the Giant Crab to draw its attention, while the beast manifested a flame-armored beast soul and unleashed violent currents and fire.
• Zhang Tianyi attacked from behind with the Great Swordsman's heavy sword, but the Giant Crab blocked the strike and fired a crimson-flamed water cannon through a series of stone walls.
• Murong Xuan's Guandi Wusheng struck the Giant Crab with Battle Across the Nine Provinces, breaking one of its pincers and knocking it back onto the seabed.
• The Giant Crab spread a torrent of fire to force the mecha apart, then fled toward the dark sea.
• Heiwu enveloped the fleeing Giant Crab in darkness, and Bai? told the others that it was trapped and could be released when they were ready.

Bai trapped an Overlord so Yang Kui and the others could fight it, and Heavenly Fire Squad defeated the giant crab and Wu Zhiqi. The squad returned to Dongfeng Island with both Overlord corpses, while Ye Wusheng vowed that Tianji Squad would surpass them after he obtained a Divine Engine.

• Bai had Black Nether Heaven release the giant crab, and Yang Kui and the others attacked it while Rock withstood the Overlord's flames.
• Yang Kui hurled the giant crab onto the seabed, currents pinned it belly-up, and Guandi Wusheng struck its exposed armor with the Yanyue Saber.
• Staff at Dongfeng Island's Command Hall announced that the giant crab and Wu Zhiqi were dead, and they praised Heavenly Fire Squad's victory.
• Ye Wusheng overheard staff comparing Tianji Squad unfavorably to Heavenly Fire Squad and vowed to surpass them once he obtained a Divine Engine.
• Heavenly Fire Squad returned to Dongfeng Island carrying the corpses of both Overlords, and Dongfeng Base's recovery team began salvaging them at sea.
• An unseen observer with inhuman eyes watched the recovery operation.

A Giant Softshell Turtle watched as humans salvaged the corpses of Wu Zhiqi and the Giant Crab, then remembered the scene. Two weeks later, Luo Yan and the Heavenly Fire Squad prepared to secure Dongfeng Island for the Global Mecha Alliance Summit as the first delegation arrived.

• A golden octopus showed the Giant Softshell Turtle footage of the Heavenly Fire Squad recovering Wu Zhiqi and the Giant Crab’s corpses, and the turtle watched with a vicious gleam.
• Luo Yan met Ye Wusheng in the dining hall before dawn on the summit’s opening day, and Ye Wusheng headed to the docking bay.
• Luo Yan ate breakfast with Deputy Captain Bai, Li Yuqing, and Yang Kui, then warned the team to stay alert and asked Deputy Captain Bai to have Black Wu monitor key locations.
• Luo Yan took position in Zhurong around seven in the morning and saw the Strategic Affairs Department’s delegation arrive by warship.

As the summit delegations arrived at Dongfeng Island, Bai Shaotang and Zhao Ruifeng suspected the Freedom Wings had made Hart Robert Tactical Minister as a sacrificial pawn for a hidden plan. Bai Shaotang stayed aboard the ship while his double prepared to attend the summit and approach Hart.

• Luo Yan and his squad noticed that Hart Robert had replaced Wade Osborne as the Freedom Wings' Tactical Minister, and Luo Yan told them to focus on securing the island.
• Bai Shaotang told Zhao Ruifeng that Wade's sudden illness and Hart's promotion from strategy group leader suggested the Freedom Wings planned to use Hart as a shield for an unknown objective.
• Bai Shaotang said he would prepare strategies for several possibilities, including persuading Hart to defect, while Zhao Ruifeng warned him not to risk his own life.
• Bai Shaotang revealed that his double would attend the summit in his place while he remained aboard the ship under Li Meng's protection.
• Shi Beiluo brought Bai Shaotang's double to him as the delegation prepared to disembark, and Bai Shaotang told the double to be careful.

Luo Yan oversaw the delegations’ arrival on Dongfeng Island and the opening of the Global Mecha Summit. After Bai Shaotang’s substitute called for cooperation, a Freedom Wings representative immediately demanded that the Strategic Affairs Department return the Golden Apple.

• Luo Yan reviewed Freedom Wings’ application, verified its Mecha and pilots, approved their landing, and deployed their squads under a temporary agreement.
• The delegations toured the summit venue and gathered in the conference hall, where Bai Shaotang’s substitute welcomed them and urged cooperation.
• A Freedom Wings representative challenged the Strategic Affairs Department to return the Golden Apple, setting a confrontational tone at the summit.

At the global summit, Bai Shaotang’s substitute defended the Strategic Affairs Department against Hart Robert’s accusations over the Golden Apple and the Divine Remnant. He argued that the Golden Apple should remain with the Strategic Affairs Department, while the Divine Remnant belonged exclusively to those descended from its ancient makers.

• Bai Shaotang’s substitute asked whether the Freedom Wings delegate’s challenge represented his own view or the organization’s, leaving the delegation unable to answer.
• Hart Robert accused the Strategic Affairs Department of seizing the Golden Apple and causing Freedom Wings casualties, and the substitute admitted that their forces had clashed while accusing Freedom Wings of blaming subordinates for its decisions.
• Hart demanded that the Golden Apple be returned, but the substitute said the Strategic Affairs Department had permission from the Spartan Iron Blood Army to safeguard it, and the Greek representative rejected transferring it to Freedom Wings.
• Hart argued that the Divine Remnant should also be shared by humanity, and the substitute compared that demand to digging up Hart’s ancestors for research.
• The substitute claimed that the Divine Remnant belonged to the Strategic Affairs Department because only people of its bloodline could pilot mechas made from it.

At the summit, Bai Shaotang’s double countered Freedom Wings’ accusations by presenting evidence of its attacks on civilians and its role in the Pearl incident. The confrontation ended with a Freedom Wings representative inadvertently confirming Jiang Hua’s claim that the group had framed the Giant Beast Strategy Department.

• Hart questioned the Strategic Affairs Department’s response to the Golden Apple dispute, and Bai Shaotang’s double showed footage of McCleary firing a rocket into a civilian camp.
• Bai Shaotang’s double accused Freedom Wings of harming civilians and showed how Luo Yan and his team evacuated residents before raiding McCleary’s camp.
• Hart brought up the Pearl incident, and Bai Shaotang’s double announced that the summit would hear new evidence about it.
• Jiang Hua said Colonel Caesar had hired him to recruit pirates to attack the Pearl and frame the Giant Beast Strategy Department.
• A Freedom Wings representative called Jiang Hua a liar, inadvertently admitting that Freedom Wings had an agent by that name.

Bai Shaotang’s double exposed Freedom Wings’ plot against the Pearl using recordings Jiang Hua had hidden, and Hart blamed Colonel Caesar while restoring cordial relations with Bai Shaotang. Later, Caesar told General Morton that their operation was ready and that contact between Bai Shaotang and Hart would provide an opportunity to act.

• Bai Shaotang’s double revealed that the Jiang Hua at the summit was a fake and explained that the real Jiang Hua had left behind a coded document and an information storage card.
• Bai Shaotang’s double played recordings of Jiang Hua speaking with Colonel Caesar about the pirate plot to frame the Strategic Affairs Department and plunder the Pearl.
• Hart blamed Caesar for the scheme, ordered Derick to investigate Caesar’s collaborators, and invited Bai Shaotang to discuss dealing with Yanfu and the giant beasts.
• Luo Yan watched Hart’s response from Zhurong and told Yang Kui and the others to focus on their mission.
• Caesar told General Morton that their operation was ready and predicted that Bai Shaotang would contact Hart, creating their opportunity to act.

Bai Shaotang’s double visited Freedom Wings with Shi Beiluo to sound out Tactical Minister Hart, but their communications suddenly failed and a translucent figure attacked the double. The chapter left Shi Beiluo realizing that communications inside the building had been cut off.

• Luo Yan’s squad returned to the Mecha Docking Bay, then drove to a restaurant while discussing the summit’s lack of progress.
• Luo Yan saw Shi Beiluo escorting Bai Shaotang’s double to Freedom Wings’ delegation for a visit and an attempt to assess Hart.
• Olf Monroe welcomed Bai Shaotang’s double and Shi Beiluo, then Shi Beiluo waited in a neighboring room while Hart met with the double.
• Bai Shaotang’s remote voice vanished during the conversation, and a pale translucent figure rendered the double unconscious and pointed a gun at Hart.
• Shi Beiluo found that he could not reach Ding Xiangyun and suspected that communications inside the building had been cut off.

A double of Bai Shaotang shot and killed Tactical Minister Hart, and a video of the killing was sent across Dongfeng Island, making the Strategic Affairs Department appear responsible. Bai Shaotang placed the island under armed control while Shi Beiluo's forces protected the double, and the chapter ended with a tense confrontation between the Strategic Affairs Department and Freedom Wings.

• Shi Beiluo burst into the room and saw Bai Shaotang's double shoot Tactical Minister Hart, while Colonel Olf accused Bai Shaotang of murder.
• Luo Yan and others received a video of the shooting, and Bai Shaotang ordered Luo Yan's Heavenly Fire Squad to help prevent anyone from leaving the island.
• Bai Shaotang ordered Dongfeng Island placed under armed control and reported the incident to Zhao Ruifeng as broadcasts urged summit attendees to remain in their rooms.
• Ji Ying ordered Luo Yan to escort Commander Bai safely back from Freedom Wings, and Luo Yan piloted Zhu Rong to the lodgings.
• Shi Beiluo refused Colonel Olf's demand to hand over Bai Shaotang's double, and Ding Xiangyun shouted at Olf after he called the Dragon Riders cowards.

Shi Beiluo refused Olf’s demand to hand over Bai Shaotang, but Freedom Wings threatened the delegation with mechas until Luo Yan arrived in Zhurong and drove them back. Luo Yan escorted Shi Beiluo’s group away, drew a boundary Olf could not cross, and watched as Olf summoned a powerful presence associated with Virtues Oya.

• Shi Beiluo rejected Olf’s demand to surrender Bai Shaotang and prepared to help the substitute escape as Freedom Wings’ mechas aimed their weapons at them.
• Luo Yan arrived in Zhurong, overwhelmed the soldiers and mechas with flames, and forced Freedom Wings back.
• Luo Yan let Shi Beiluo and the others leave, then warned Olf that anyone crossing the line he had drawn would be executed.
• Olf summoned Virtues Oya using a feather of silver fire, and Luo Yan saw a star flare in the night sky.