Chapter Summaries

High Engineer met with Mars Edge representatives after surviving a battle with Bionic Human A, and Mars Edge proposed joint development of superweapons. Their offer unlocked his Faction Leader Mission, while the agreement also called for High Engineer to eventually hunt A.

• Valkyrie teleported into the conference room with Baby Gao, where Director Du and Professor Han fussed over him and Valkyrie.
• Miao Miaomiao and Doug saw that High Engineer had survived his fight with Bionic Human A, easing Mars Edge’s fears about working with him.
• Doug introduced himself as Mars Edge’s Human Weapons Division director and offered compensation for the experiment’s losses while requesting the return of the Fifth-Generation Metal Heart.
• Doug presented data for two superweapon projects, and High Engineer received two level-three civilization buildings that unlocked his Faction Leader Mission.
• Doug revealed that Mars Edge wanted to develop three superweapons with High Engineer’s faction and eventually have him hunt Bionic Human A; High Engineer agreed to negotiate terms.

After trading the Fifth-Generation Virus for Mars Vanguard technology, Engineer Gao examined the weapons and unlocked several powerful blueprints, including the Infinite Bionic Machine. He received a message from Sister Rose’s number and found an unfamiliar old man, Aramaki, on the projection.

• Du Zhaodi and Director Du accepted Mars Vanguard’s generous terms, exchanging the Fifth-Generation Virus for two Tier 3 civilization buildings and agreeing to cooperate in hunting Android A.
• Engineer Gao examined the Liquid Weapon Printer and Cybernetic Manipulator, learning their capabilities and dependence on the High-Molecular Metal Heart.
• Engineer Gao unlocked three Level 9 weapon blueprints and the Infinite Bionic Machine, which could manufacture bionic humans modeled after a person.
• Engineer Gao worried about how to use the Infinite Bionic Machine and slipped into a private room to answer a message from Sister Rose’s number.
• Engineer Gao activated the projection and recognized the unfamiliar old man as Aramaki.

Gao Gong agreed to investigate a lead inside Cybertron by helping replace the Golden Rule, despite his infant body and severe injuries. Meanwhile, Black Rose’s acquisition of Pure White Shell reached its final stage when her secretary opened a box containing Mr. D’s head.

• Gao Gong greeted Desolate Scroll and learned that Black Rose was completing the acquisition of Pure White Shell.
• Desolate Scroll told Gao Gong that Yagami Motoko had been gravely injured by an avatar of the Fortress and that her injuries had disrupted his plans.
• Desolate Scroll revealed that Motoko had been due to oversee the Golden Rule replacement in Cybertron and investigate someone there.
• Gao Gong accepted Desolate Scroll’s mission to go to Cybertron, arguing that his skills could evade mechanical detection despite his injuries.
• In District Eight, Black Rose watched as her secretary used four keys to open a box containing Mr. D’s head.

Black Rose replaced her artificial body parts while revealing that android society had no collective will and was controlled by the original androids. As No. 11, the Breakdown Entity, she overcame the Six Greats’ influence, replaced the executives, and prepared for her first press conference.

• Rose used Mr. D's head to open a safe and replaced several of her artificial body parts with old components.
• Rose revealed that android corporations had no corporate will and that their shared will belonged to the first androids to be replicated.
• The Six Greats and the executives tried to destroy Rose, but No. 11 overwhelmed the androids with the emotions that controlled their brain modules.
• Rose emerged unharmed as the executives lay defeated, then arranged for identical replacements to take over management.
• Rose told the new executives to accompany her to meet the media for her first press conference since taking control.

Gao Gong watched reports on Ms. Rose’s merger and learned that the Brain in a Vat and Kermos had arrived at Dugo Group. The two powerful allies faced Director Du’s First-Generation Skynet before Gao Gong welcomed them through a rift.

• Gao Gong angrily objected to a news report calling Ms. Rose single, and Valkyrie told him the person he sought had arrived.
• The Brain in a Vat and Kermos reached Dugo Group, where the polluted industrial environment unsettled Kermos.
• The Brain in a Vat revealed her immense mental power, triggering alarms and drawing Dugo Group’s mechs and hunters around the pair.
• Director Du’s First-Generation Skynet targeted the visitors with energy weapons, making Kermos fear that an attack could destroy her main body.
• Gao Gong opened a rift and greeted the Brain in a Vat and Kermos as they arrived.

Kermos and Little Woman No. 2 toured Dugo Technology’s advanced biological weapons research and saw how its chips could coordinate radiation beasts into an artificial beast tide. The Chief Engineer then revealed a restored Sacred Tree with enhanced biological functions, leaving the visitors confronted with the scale of Dugo Technology’s progress.

• Doctor Yu and Doctor Dong Gang demonstrated bomber eagles equipped with biological chips, explaining their surveillance, bombing range, and limited current production.
• Doctor Yu said a future chip version could cover C-grade radiation beasts, which excited Little Woman No. 2 with the prospect of controlling an intelligent biological civilization.
• The Black Eagle Captain used its chip to coordinate the bomber eagles into an artificial beast tide, shocking Little Woman No. 2 and revealing a huge B+-grade eagle king.
• The Chief Engineer admitted that the eagle king incorporated his cells and part of the Scarlet Queen’s fusion ability.
• The group passed cloned biological specimens and entered a chamber where Doctor Yu presented a repaired, enhanced Gene-Ecological Beast in Sacred Tree Form.

The Engineer used Kermoss and 'Little Woman No. 2' to restore his biological body through the sacred tree and cloned radiation beasts. His new body emerged from the tree after reaching an S-rank bloodline, leaving his transformation underway.

• The Engineer asked 'Little Woman No. 2' for radiation beast data and enlisted Kermoss to link her Brain in a Vat abilities to the sacred tree.
• Kermoss entered the tree and used her biological-computer abilities to transform its fruits into radiation beasts, including six A-rank creatures.
• The Engineer entered the tree and used his 'Violet Energy String' to supply energy as the tree absorbed the radiation beasts and began forming his body.
• Doctor Yu identified the process as an ebb-tide phase, which she said enabled A-rank radiation beasts to advance toward S-rank.
• The Engineer's body systems began resetting, and he awakened an S-rank bloodline as his new body took shape.

The High Engineer used Kermos and Little Woman No. 2’s abilities to merge cloned radiation beasts and rebuild his biological body. As the experiment reached its final stage, he awakened an S-rank bloodline.

• The High Engineer asked Little Woman No. 2 for radiation beast data and promised Kermos that Dogo Technology would help the Ocean People cultivate Sacred Trees.
• Kermos merged with the Gene Ecology Beast and used her Large Biological Computer to transform its fruits into radiation beasts, including six A-rank beasts.
• The High Engineer entered the tree as it began its ebb phase, and Dr. Rain explained that the ebb tide enabled A-rank radiation beasts to evolve toward S-rank.
• The tree absorbed the radiation beasts and formed a new body resembling the High Engineer as his biological systems reset.
• The High Engineer awakened an S-rank bloodline.

Gao Gong arrived at Arasaka Tower with the Mother City delegation to oversee the Golden Law replacement and investigate the information matrix. After meeting the Deep Net envoys and developing a powerful magnetic talent, he greeted Arasaka Saburo and discovered that the old man had no metallic elements in his body.

• Miss Shell brought Gao Gong to Arasaka Tower, where he met Deep Net envoys Chappie and Tong and learned he would oversee network operations.
• Gao Gong evolved Lesser Magnetic Field Manipulation into the tier-two talent Metallic Magnetic Field Control.
• Gao Gong learned that Collider had not come and met Model T-X, Collider's ex-girlfriend.
• Arasaka Saburo arrived, greeted the Mother City delegation, and asked Gao Gong who was in charge.
• Gao Gong introduced himself as Mr. G, shook Arasaka Saburo's hand, and found no metallic elements in the old man's body.

G suspected Arasaka might be connected to the Memory Matrix and upgraded his Vibration specialty while traveling by interstellar train. Chernobyl exposed G as a possible hacker variable and trapped the train in a virtual attack, but G struck back with his civilization staff.

• G wondered whether Arasaka Tower was tied to the Memory Matrix and considered recruiting players into the Arasaka Group.
• G chose Vibration Mode and upgraded it into Vibration Sense Mode, gaining stronger defenses and bodily control.
• On the interstellar train, Chernobyl challenged G and revealed it had found a small chance he was a Prototype.
• Chernobyl transformed the train into a virtual world and began assimilating G through its super LAN.
• G used Staff Strike to unleash an electronic shockwave that severed Chernobyl’s holographic projections.

Gao Gong and the Rich Lady Ai Prototype battled Chernobyl in its local network while Chernobyl tried to trap and drain Gao Gong in the real world. Gao Gong exploited a hardware crash to infect Chernobyl with Advanced Information Mist, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• The Rich Lady Ai Prototype used her duplication ability and Source Code Killer MAX to destroy Chernobyl’s simulated personalities, but Chernobyl’s Infinite Personalities template let it keep returning.
• Chernobyl found Gao Gong’s real body with a big-data search and attacked him with Fortress code, while Gao Gong restrained its virtual personalities with the Ring of Restraint.
• Chernobyl traced Gao Gong’s signal to Red Signal Root, but failed to drain his biological signal as Gao Gong’s aura and magnetic-field control disrupted the train’s machinery.
• Tong, Chappie, and the other Mother City fighters prepared to support Gao Gong as the clash escalated across the train and local network.
• During a system crash caused by the distortion of Chernobyl’s hardware, Gao Gong drove Advanced Information Mist into its body.

Gao Gong and the Deep Net delegation arrived at Cybertron, where hostile treatment and a dispute over security inspections threatened to spark a fight. Gao Gong tampered with the screening results so the delegation’s implants registered as nonmetallic, then claimed they were made of advanced plastics.

• Gao Gong’s Advanced Information Fog overwhelmed Chernobyl’s defenses as the train approached Cybertron.
• The delegation passed through Cybertron’s weaponized satellite and arrived at a militarized station, where the Spark Elders watched them and Venus recognized Gao Gong as the suspected source of a virus.
• Cybertron’s guards demanded that visitors remove all metallic elements from their bodies, provoking an argument with the Deep Net delegation.
• Gao Gong calmed Terminator Envoy and sent him through the screening device, which reported zero metal despite his extensive implants.
• After every Deep Net representative also registered zero metal, the Cybertronian soldiers confronted Gao Gong, who insisted the implants were advanced plastics.

Gao Gong met Tianwei, Cybertron’s Autobot leader, and learned that General Xiao had arrived at the planetary mainframe. There, Tianwei introduced Xiao Yuanjun, whom Gao Gong recognized as the target of the operation.

• Tianwei stopped Cybertron’s robots from attacking the Deep Web delegation and welcomed Gao Gong as its representative.
• Gao Gong asked whether the Fortress delegation had arrived, and Tianwei said General Xiao was inside the planetary mainframe.
• Tianwei led Gao Gong’s group through Cybertron to the planetary mainframe, a massive machine protected by physical defenses.
• Tianwei introduced Xiao Yuanjun as the Fortress Garrison Legion’s supreme leader and a Strongly Augmented War God.
• Gao Gong recognized Xiao Yuanjun as a key figure in the ancient empire and the target of the operation.

Gao Gong clashed with Xiao Yuanjun during their greeting and learned that the augmented general was a mass-produced powerhouse tied to a possible third-party faction. After the planetary mainframe activated Cybertron’s satellite-class energy field, the mechanical systems shut down, and Gao Gong began considering what Cybertron’s dormant state might let him do.

• Gao Gong and Xiao Yuanjun tested each other with a cellular devouring contest during their handshake, and Gao Gong absorbed some of Xiao Yuanjun’s heavily augmented cells.
• Gao Gong joined the Deep Web team and the fortress network team as they prepared to exchange cyberspace protocols, while worrying about Aramaki’s mission to steal memories from Xiao Yuanjun.
• After three days and nights of adjustments, Tianwei entered the planetary mainframe and activated Cybertron’s power supply, stopping the asteroid and disrupting perception and mechanical systems.
• Gao Gong detected a satellite-class energy field suppressing external signals and forcing mechanical systems to shut down, while unmodified people like Xiao Yuanjun remained unaffected.
• Tianwei explained that General Cybertron was dormant and its energy field could not distinguish friend from foe, prompting Gao Gong to consider a bold idea.

During Yuan’s dormancy, Gao Gong helped gather the ten big-data concept entities to complete the bottom-layer protocol replacement. Yuan sealed off all network access, but its physical defenses remained vulnerable.

• Gao Gong, Tong, and a Fortress neural modeler opened their big-data interfaces as the planetary mainframe prepared to replace its bottom-layer protocol.
• The Pipe Sovereign and the other big-data concept entities appeared through the interfaces, including Alisa and the Simulated-Sensation Queen.
• The Simulated-Sensation Queen tried to recruit Gao Gong as a believer, but he refused her offer.
• With all ten concept entities gathered, the bottom-layer protocol was completed, and Yuan raised energy shields around the satellite while cutting off all network signals.
• Gao Gong noted that although Yuan’s cyberspace was protected against hacking, its physical body was still vulnerable.

Gao Gong persuaded Alyssa to bring him into the Golden Rule, where he planned to steal technology from Cybertron while its defenses were weakened. He reached the gate to Cybertron's Hall of Life, confident he knew the code needed to enter.

• Alyssa let Gao Gong into the Golden Rule despite the risk of being replaced if the Golden Rule remained unchanged.
• Gao Gong suspected the Fortress might have secretly helped the Memory Mother grow through experiments conducted while it controlled the network.
• Gao Gong told Alyssa he wanted to raid Cybertron's armory, and she teleported him to the Spark Gate.
• Imitation Sense arrived and became intrigued by the handsome-boy template she smelled on Gao Gong.
• Gao Gong reached the Hall of Life's golden gate and prepared to enter using a Cybertron robot's core life code he already knew.

Gao Gong entered Cybertron’s dormant core and copied its spark technology and a Light Orbital Armed Vehicle System blueprint. He then reached the planetary mainframe and began a plan aimed at Xiao Yuanjun, ending as he formed a duplicate of the old man’s face from his palm.

• Gao Gong used the gate password to enter Cybertron while its mainframe was dormant.
• He sent four prototype machines to copy Cybertron’s spark technology and the Light Orbital Armed Vehicle System blueprint.
• Gao Gong reached the planetary mainframe’s core and stood on the sleeping mechanical entity.
• He used his hair as neural antennas and provoked Xiao Yuanjun, who hid his killing intent behind a smile.
• Gao Gong’s palm formed a face identical to Xiao Yuanjun’s.

Gao Gong’s attack on Xiao Yuanjun triggered Cybertron’s weapon systems, forcing Xiao Yuanjun to unleash his symbiote armor and defend himself against escalating attacks. The chapter ended with Xiao Yuanjun trapped between spatial vibrations and a rising tide of memory metal as a figure moved through the mist.

• Gao Gong used simulated faces to launch a hacking assault, and memory metal began seeping into Xiao Yuanjun’s body.
• Xiao Yuanjun’s symbiote armor emerged and raised his bioenergy to the strength of an S-rank radiation beast.
• Xiao Yuanjun used molecular movement to escape the memory metal, while Cybertron’s weapons attacked him across the battlefield.
• Cybertron activated its Continental Plate Impactor, and Xiao Yuanjun powered his symbiote armor to 120% to withstand the spatial vibrations.
• Memory metal flooded toward Xiao Yuanjun as a white, misty figure flashed past.

Gao Gong infiltrated Xiao Yuanjun’s memories while Yuanjun struggled to defend himself against a civilization construct. He uncovered the Black Crown Prince’s secret request and a memory worm’s appearance during the First Mechanical War, suggesting the monster had been on the planet long before the Cyber Tide.

• Xiao Yuanjun used his symbiote expansion to withstand the civilization construct while Gao Gong entered his mind.
• Gao Gong restored Yuanjun’s suppressed memories and found a battlefield memory in which the Black Crown Prince entrusted him with the End Black Emperor’s location.
• Gao Gong entered a second memory of Yuanjun fighting interstellar pirates during the First Mechanical War.
• A memory worm appeared in the memory, and Gao Gong severed and sealed that segment before it could affect him.
• Gao Gong realized the memory worm may have been lurking on the planet since the First Mechanical War.

Gao Gong discovered that the Memory Worm had planted an Ascension Faction on the planet and accepted a mission to eliminate its forces. After Cybertron’s firewall badly injured Xiao Yuanjun, Little Bumblebee suddenly appeared and called Gao Gong “Dad.”

• Gao Gong concluded that Xiao Yuanjun, Arasaka, and several Digital World sages were likely contaminated by the Memory Worm, revealing the Ascension Faction as a hidden fifth faction.
• Gao Gong completed a hidden mission and accepted the planetary mission to remove Ascension Faction forces.
• Cybertron’s War Shadow of Light firewall burned away most of Xiao Yuanjun’s armor after he tried to hack into Cybertron’s core database.
• The Fortress delegation and Cybertron robots prepared to clash while Gao Gong and his companions watched.
• Little Bumblebee appeared, grabbed Gao Gong’s ankle, and called him “Dad,” leaving the surrounding robots bewildered.