Chapter Summaries

Yang Bo returned to the academy after helping rout the Thieves Guild, and the City Lord praised him before ordering an investigation into how the attackers had organized their assault. As Green City went on alert and the search for traitors began, Yang Bo asked Su Wei to train her strength using methods from the game.

• Yang Bo returned to the academy, where the City Lord and the nobles praised him for helping disrupt the Thieves Guild's retreat and kill its leader.
• A report identified the attackers as members of the Red Headscarf Thieves Guild, the Fierce Tiger Thieves, and the Little Knife Thieves Guild, with Eagle Eye likely commanding the operation.
• The City Lord suspected that someone had blocked Green City's intelligence network and ordered the search for moles, a city lockdown, and the defense and pursuit of the attackers.
• The City Lord told Yang Bo to remain at the academy, then left to report the attack to the king.
• Green City's forces cleared the battlefield while the academy stayed on alert, and Yang Bo told Su Wei that the game's strength-training methods seemed real and asked her to train.

Yang Bo taught Su Wei the force principles behind Meteor Fist before returning to Second World, where the Dean reported his battlefield achievements and offered him training and equipment. Yang Bo chose light armor and an infantry longbow while considering how to trade his merits for a territory, and Su Wei later saw his newly armored character.

• Yang Bo demonstrated Meteor Fist to Su Wei, who repeatedly lost her balance until he explained how to redirect the reaction force against a target.
• The Dean told Handy that the battle had killed 507 bandits and that Handy had killed fifteen cavalrymen, including Eagle Eye, whose body carried an Eagle Taming Secret Art.
• The Dean praised Handy as Green Academy’s top archer, offered him a chance at an officer’s position, and advised him to train in light armor and mounted archery.
• Handy declined the officer position and agreed to trade all his Cavalry Merit, including Eagle Eye’s, while considering a territory more useful than gold.
• Yang Bo chose a Fish Scale Armor set and an infantry longbow from the Academy armory, and Su Wei later saw his armored character in the game.

Yang Bo exchanged Eagle Eye’s merit for a ranch near Green City and considered how to use the territory as a foothold in the Second World. After settling the deal, he grew wary of Locke’s unexplained source of merit and suspected the Aquamarine Empire’s scheme could be exposed.

• Yang Bo told Su Wei he would trade his merits for territory and recruit players, while privately planning to use the land as a future foothold.
• Yang Bo trained in his new light armor and practiced with an archer’s longbow after Su Wei logged out.
• Locke told Yang Bo that someone would exchange a ranch for Eagle Eye’s merit and showed him the land near Green City.
• Yang Bo inspected the rocky ranch, confirmed its taxes and five households, and agreed to the exchange.
• Locke asked about trading another Cavalry Merit, and Yang Bo questioned him about keeping merits and the possibility of a promotion.
• Yang Bo worried that Locke’s merit-farming scheme could expose other agents and asked whether Locke was about to be promoted.

Yang Bo established West Mountain Ranch and organized paid winter roadwork while preparing the property against bandit attacks. After returning to Devon Star, he learned Li Yong wanted his mecha skills for a remote-control mission and entered the Mecha Game’s war-mode internal beta.

• Yang Bo completed the paperwork for West Mountain Ranch, gave Butler Tony money for expenses, and planned mountain roads and caves for safety.
• Yang Bo inspected the mountain with Butler Tony and his sons, then offered the ranch’s commoners two Copper Coins per meter of road they built, with meals included.
• Yang Bo learned that Li Yong wanted to contact him, received a list of young women the Altena Family Clan Leader wanted him to pursue, and requested a dedicated line for Alliance games.
• Yang Bo met Li Yong in a business simulation game, agreed to help with a Mecha Game mission, and learned Li Yong was serving as a reconnaissance-ship captain during his internship.
• Yang Bo passed the Mecha Game’s internal beta test as Bart and named his character Old Dao before entering the war-mode mission system.

Yang Bo entered the Mecha Game to raise his rank so he could qualify for remote-control missions, then joined a canyon skirmish in a free starter mech. He outmaneuvered the enemy team and destroyed their signal relay station, leaving his teammates stunned by his performance.

• Yang Bo joined a five-versus-five match, and his four teammates mocked him for bringing a free starter mech.
• Yang Bo took the right river valley while his teammates advanced through the left, and he dodged an Eleventh Generation Mecha’s attack before eliminating it with a thrown weapon.
• Yang Bo used rocks and a small ravine to sneak behind the Red Team’s blockade and eliminate another opponent.
• Yang Bo drew the remaining defenders’ fire while his teammates drove the enemy snipers back.
• Yang Bo waited for a defender’s high-energy Laser Gun to run out of charge, knocked the defender down, and destroyed the mission target in the cave.

Yang Bo dominated the Mecha War Game Internal Beta as Old Dao, then returned to March Star and spent time with Su Wei and Shen Gongbao. He planned to keep gaming and explore ways to develop his Second World territory, while Su Wei focused on superpower training.

• Yang Bo won match after match with a Third Generation Xiao Bai Mecha, tricking opponents who tried to hunt him and earning a 100% win rate across more than 240 matches.
• After opponents began targeting him with groups of mechas, Yang Bo switched to a Ninth Generation Mecha and still climbed to first place among more than six thousand beta players.
• Yang Bo returned to March Star, logged into Second World, and left Handy training automatically while considering how to develop his territory.
• Shen Gongbao repeatedly rang the bell to wake Su Wei for dinner, then watched over his two companions while Su Wei petted them.
• Yang Bo and Su Wei discussed Meteor Fist, the Swordplay Association, and the approaching mechas before Su Wei declined to pursue nobility in Second World.

Yang Bo trained Su Wei, explored the Mecha Game and learned about Li Yong’s reconnaissance mission before deciding to abduct a bride from Devon Star’s luxury mall. His attempt to take Wu Mei failed when Ning Xue intervened, so he knocked the Sword Saint’s granddaughter unconscious and carried her back to his territory, where he prepared its defenses against retaliation.

• Yang Bo coached Su Wei through power training, and they spent the night together before he returned as Bart to his territory.
• Yang Bo read about a Sword Saint’s granddaughter’s engagement, noticed the Doomsday Instance had opened access to heavy weapons, and played several Mecha Game missions as Old Dao.
• Li Yong worried about investigating a dangerous gaseous planet that might shelter an Anti-Government Armed Forces base, while Yang Bo’s game performance earned him another MVP.
• Yang Bo decided to snatch a bride and abducted Wu Mei at a shopping mall, but Ning Xue confronted him outside and escaped his grasp on Wu Mei.
• Yang Bo knocked Ning Xue unconscious, took her to his territory, and ordered Absolute Butler to activate the defenses as Jerry Butler warned him that Sword Saint Ning had a terrible temper.

Yang Bo took Ning Xue to his protected territory after she disrupted his plans, then publicly claimed they were married and refused to release her despite pressure from her grandfather and the Altena Family. Ning Qingshan could not breach Yang Bo’s defenses, and Yang Bo left Ning Xue alone while logging into the Mecha Game, where he found a mission email.

• Allen confronted Yang Bo over taking Ning Xue, and Yang Bo announced that he would marry her and posted a wedding photo alongside images of his Laser Defense Towers.
• Ning Xue called Ning Qingshan for help, and he warned her to stay safe while contacting the Altena Family Clan Leader and the Emperor.
• Yang Bo refused the Altena Family Clan Leader’s demand to release Ning Xue, and the Emperor told Ning Qingshan that Yang Bo claimed they were already husband and wife.
• Yang Bo cursed out Su Ruoxin, blocked her, and began practicing with a mecha while people approaching his territory turned back at the defense system’s warnings.
• The Altena Family Clan Leader and Ning Qingshan stopped outside Yang Bo’s territory, where Yang Bo refused to meet them and said he was on his honeymoon.
• Ning Xue spent the night anxious but was left alone, while Yang Bo logged into the Mecha Game the next morning and found a mission email.

Yang Bo joined a five-mecha mission to investigate a mining ship inside a dangerous gaseous planet and discovered an Anti-Government Armed Forces base with strange insects and Modified Humans. He fought through the base, gained Mecha Repair, and continued battling enemy mechas after his companions were defeated.

• Yang Bo joined four other players on a reconnaissance mission to find the Anti-Government Armed Forces inside a mining ship drifting in a gaseous planet.
• Yang Bo spotted a damaged unmanned mecha with a tiny drilled hole and suspected that metal-chewing insects had attacked it.
• Yang Bo and his teammates entered the ice-covered mining ship, where he found signs of insects and used bombs to expose them and reveal enemy communications.
• Yang Bo and Old Dao fought the Anti-Government Armed Forces, and Yang Bo dragged out several dead Modified Humans from concealed machines.
• Yang Bo charged into the enemy base, defeated Modified Humans and enemy mechas, and gained Mecha Repair as his companions were taken out by two remaining mechas.

Yang Bo completed a reconnaissance mission by defeating Anti-Government Armed Forces mechas at a production base, then returned to Devon Star and provoked public outrage as Bart. Ning Xue, trapped at the estate and abandoned by friends and former suitors, was left furious and desperate.

• Yang Bo defeated two Anti-Government Armed Forces mechas, discovered stolen Artificial Energy Stones, and called for reinforcements after suspecting civilians were inside the factory.
• Six more mechas ambushed Yang Bo, but he escaped their barrage, destroyed their missiles with an Electromagnetic Bomb, and crushed the attackers before completing the reconnaissance mission.
• After logging out, Yang Bo learned that the family would not protect him from Sword Saint Ning, ordered the territory closed, and demanded the best combat armor.
• Yang Bo posted a threat and wedding announcement on Bart's social media account, prompting widespread condemnation and a public statement distancing the Altena Family from Bart.
• Ning Xue tried to contact her best friend and former suitors for help, but they blocked or rejected her, leaving her to curse Bart and smash objects in her room.

Yang Bo shaped an Interstellar Creature into a remotely controlled spider and visited the flower-filled garden with Su Wei, while Su Hai heard about Yang Bo’s Second World territory. At Bart’s territory, Yang Bo considered making private custom mechas and asked Jerry Butler to investigate a bankrupt Alliance manufacturer.

• Yang Bo used a Mental Seed and a water-attribute Energy Stone to shape an Interstellar Creature into a blue spider that could fire energy beams, though controlling its movements felt awkward.
• Yang Bo and Su Wei toured the completed garden, admired its flowers and Black Rock Honeybees, and discussed placing Interstellar Creatures there for observation.
• Su Wei sent Su Hai photos of the garden and told him Yang Bo had a ranch in the Second World; Su Hai doubted her and resolved to investigate Yang Bo’s methods.
• Yang Bo tested his mecha with White and the others and discussed selling mecha Energy Engines, but concluded that powerful Great Nobles controlled the industry.
• Yang Bo considered making private custom mechas and had Jerry Butler investigate Golden Shield Technology Co., Ltd., a bankrupt Alliance mecha company.

Yang Bo considered what to manufacture from his Ultra-High Temperature Material and settled on developing simple, powerful bombs, especially Electromagnetic Bombs. After donating his swordsmanship prize money to the association, he returned home to Su Wei with fruit.

• Yang Bo asked Jerry Butler to make contacts while he considered what kind of mecha to manufacture, then dismissed Su Ruoxin and brushed off concerns about his wife and her grandfather.
• Yang Bo asked White about the material’s uses and decided he could make Energy Weapons powered by Energy Stones, but online research led him to favor mechanically operated Electromagnetic Bombs because they were simpler to build.
• Yang Bo used Sand Rat fur to camouflage himself as a giant Sand Rat, then returned to March Star and browsed weapon designs online.
• Yang Bo visited the Swordplay Association, learned that he had placed ninety-ninth internationally and first among Alliance competitors, and donated his fifteen million Credit Points in prize money to the association.
• The Guild Master and his assistant discussed Yang Bo’s distrust of outsiders and the higher-ups’ decision to leave his game character alone because it could help their plan.
• Yang Bo returned home with fruit for Su Wei and kissed her while Shen Gongbao waited to be fed.

Yang Bo spent time with Su Wei before investigating his territory and testing his growing strength in the Second World. He proved capable of using a continent-ranked metal bow, while Ash Organization agents planned to approach people close to him.

• Yang Bo and Su Wei enjoyed the sea view, cooked together, and planned to take a yacht out after the storms passed.
• Ash Organization operatives discussed Yang Bo and their setbacks, and their leader decided to approach Liu Jingxiang and Zhou Kexin at the Swordplay Association banquet.
• Yang Bo inspected his territory, praised the roadwork, promised his workers salted dried meat, and warned them to flee if bandits appeared.
• Yang Bo visited Green Academy and found his strength and reflexes had improved enough to master a heavy bow.
• Dean Eddie let Yang Bo use a metal bow ranked sixth on the continent, but told him to return it when he was not using it.

Yang Bo received a powerful bow from Eddie and began experimenting on Black Rock Honeybee eggs while managing his other projects. After learning that the Second Game World was overseen by the Swordplay Association, he targeted Lin Di, a corrupt noble who had publicly called for Yang Bo’s punishment.

• Eddie gave Handy a powerful bow, and Yang Bo ordered a hundred heavy-piercing arrows while the City Lord planned to keep Handy at the academy as a hidden defender.
• Yang Bo tested different energies on Black Rock Honeybee eggs and discovered that two Invisibility Rats were pregnant.
• Yang Bo prepared an elaborate dinner for Su Wei, and they spent the evening together before he went to Devon Star the next day.
• Yang Bo learned that the Swordplay Association managed the Second Game World and considered investigating its officials to find a route there.
• Yang Bo asked Jerry Butler for information on people who deserved punishment and chose Lin Di, a noble and Hui Dun Star Swordplay Association vice guild master hostile to the Altera Family.
• Yang Bo challenged Lin Di through Bart’s social media account to fight in a Free-for-all Competition.

Yang Bo, posing as Bart, accepted Lin Di’s challenge to an unrestricted mecha life-and-death duel with a five-billion wager. Though rumors painted Bart as a poor pilot preparing to rely on bombs, Yang Bo secretly demonstrated extraordinary skill and left Allen speculating about his plans.

• Lin Di challenged Bart to a life-and-death mecha duel after their online insults escalated, and Bart agreed to wager five billion.
• Both men deposited the money with the Empire’s duel agency, which scheduled their match for half a month later.
• Jerry Butler urged Bart to hire a coach, but Yang Bo instead asked the best pilot in Bart Territory to spar with him.
• Yang Bo defeated the Guard Platoon captain with a fast, highly controlled mecha maneuver and told Jerry Butler to bet five hundred million on him.
• Allen warned Yang Bo that Lin Di was a formidable pilot, while Yang Bo teased him and refused his offer to hold the spaceship.
• Rumors spread that Bart was buying top-grade mechas, Mecha Bombs, and possibly a Nuclear Bomb for the duel.

Yang Bo met Liu Zhijie, who asked him for advice about pursuing a woman he had met at the Swordplay Association. They also discussed March Star’s development and Yang Bo’s place in Liu Zhijie’s company, leaving Yang Bo wondering whether the woman had ulterior motives.

• Yang Bo checked Second World and learned that bets on the duel between Lin Di and Bart had surpassed twenty billion, with fifteen days remaining.
• Liu Zhijie met Yang Bo at a teahouse and asked how to pursue a woman he had encountered at the Swordplay Association.
• Yang Bo suggested that Liu Zhijie find chances to talk with her and discover their shared interests, while Liu Zhijie said the association would soon hold a gathering.
• Liu Zhijie told Yang Bo that March Star’s Gene Serum materials faced pressure from established companies, and Yang Bo warned that attracting capital too quickly could cause problems.
• Yang Bo decided to keep his cleaner identity after Liu Zhijie explained that it helped the company, and Liu Zhijie invited him on a vacation after the storm.
• After they parted, Yang Bo wondered whether Liu Zhijie’s new romantic interest might be connected to political rivals or other forces targeting March Star.

Yang Bo prepared to build a private force, trained in mechas, and finalized his equipment for the duel with Lin Di. As the duel approached, Lin Di’s superior mecha configuration alarmed the public, while Ning Xue’s family urged her to secure Bart’s fortune by marrying him.

• Yang Bo, disguised as Bart, asked White to develop bombs and promised his researchers a guaranteed annual salary once the Ultra-High Temperature Material was ready.
• Yang Bo planned to build a small elite force, using his influence over the Ninth Fleet and First Fleet while making arrangements in the Aquamarine Empire.
• Yang Bo trained in a mecha at Bart Territory while Ning Xue watched, fumed over her confinement, and privately anticipated her grandfather capturing Bart after the duel.
• The duel authority announced Lin Di’s expensive customized 15th Generation Mecha and Bart’s modest 13th Generation Mecha, prompting online commenters to predict Bart’s defeat.
• Ning Xue confronted Bart, who teased her and asked her family to persuade her to marry him so she could inherit his wealth if he died.
• Ning Xue’s mother, grandmother, and sisters urged her to obtain a marriage certificate with Bart, and she began to consider taking his money.

Ning Xue married Bart to secure a claim on his fortune if he died, just before Bart entered his duel with Lin Di. The duel began in a swamp, where Bart submerged his Mecha and headed toward the map’s edge while Lin Di searched for him.

• After her family urged her to claim Bart’s assets, Ning Xue decided to marry him and obtained a marriage certificate before the duel.
• Bart named his private spaceship Snowy, provoking anger among the spectators, and then prepared to fight Lin Di in the Great Arena’s Mecha duel.
• The organizers selected a swamp as the battlefield, and both Bart and Lin Di agreed to fight voluntarily.
• Lin Di’s Mecha flew toward Bart’s landing site, while Bart’s Mecha dived underwater to evade detection.
• Unable to find Bart underwater, Lin Di prepared to drop a Shockwave Bomb as Bart headed beneath the swamp toward the map’s edge.

Yang Bo used the cliffside river gully to evade Lin Di’s flying mecha and draw him into a close-range trap. Just before the map began shrinking, Yang Bo destroyed Lin Di’s flight attachment with a thrown hammer, sending his opponent plummeting.

• Yang Bo hid his mecha beneath an eroded cliff at the swamp’s edge while Lin Di searched overhead and the arena audience grew impatient.
• Lin Di detected movement near the cliff, found Yang Bo’s hiding place, and tried to attack from the air without crossing the boundary.
• Lin Di descended and fired into the hollows, forcing Yang Bo’s mecha through the gully while its Energy Shield absorbed the attacks.
• Yang Bo used his Energy Hammer to break rocks and fill the hollow with dust as Lin Di continued firing and waited for the thirty-minute mark.
• With seconds left before the map shrank, Yang Bo launched toward Lin Di, curved his approach, and threw his hammer into Lin Di’s flight attachment.
• The hammer smashed the flight attachment, and Lin Di’s mecha began falling from the air.

Bart used terrain and an unexpected attack on foot to defeat Lin Di after destroying his flight equipment. The officials ruled that Bart had not violated the duel rules, and Bart celebrated his victory online.

• Bart damaged Lin Di's flight attachment and Rocket Pack, then threw rocks to drive him toward the shrinking map while he waited safely in the swamp.
• Bart evaded Lin Di's Energy Gun by moving underwater and through terrain, then left his mecha behind and sprinted through a ravine toward Lin Di.
• As Lin Di fired at Bart's abandoned mecha, Bart leaped onto Lin Di's mecha and sent fire through its damaged rear section, disabling its Energy Control System.
• Bart planted a Mental Seed in Lin Di, learned of his ties to the Royal Family, and set fire to Lin Di's mecha before escaping back to his own.
• Lin Di's mecha was destroyed by its antimatter battery protection system, and officials declared Bart the winner because the rules did not forbid using superpowers in a mecha duel.
• Bart posted a selfie celebrating his victory on social media.