Chapter Summaries

The Jieko Group’s mech force crossed the Bilaoshan Mountains, destroyed the Siamese Four Countries’ retreating armies, and broke through the Khrim Defense Line. After the Jieko Group announced its victory, Siamese King Poom sought Beautiful Country’s help, but Shawang refused to promise a troop deployment.

• The Siamese military ordered rear troops to abandon the Khrim Defense Line and retreat while frontline soldiers held their positions, but Jieko Group air raids disrupted their escape routes.
• Hao Guyu and the Jieko Group’s mech force crossed the Bilaoshan Mountains, caught a retreating Annamese infantry division on the plains, and annihilated it.
• The Jieko Group’s mechs, aircraft, and ground forces hunted down retreating units, while soldiers at the defense line surrendered; the Khrim Defense Line fell after two and a half days of fighting.
• The Khrim Campaign ended with the Siamese Four Countries suffering 163,000 deaths and 172,000 prisoners, while the Jieko Group reported 3,034 casualties.
• After the victory became public, Siamese King Poom blamed his generals and Chief of Staff Wanyan Ting, then asked Shawang and Smith of Beautiful Country’s CIA for help.
• Shawang told Poom that Beautiful Country was unlikely to send troops, citing the risks of fighting the Jieko Group’s mechs.

Shawang refused Poom’s demand for Beautiful Country troops, leaving Siam to face the Jieko Group alone. As Jieko forces occupied sixteen southern provinces, some local residents welcomed them, while Malays in three provinces declared independence.

• Shawang rejected Poom’s demand for Beautiful Country to enter the war, offering only intelligence, equipment, and diplomatic support.
• Poom threatened to side with the Jieko Group, but Shawang reminded him that Su Jie would not forgive his past insults and left him with no safe way to surrender.
• Poom resolved to rally his remaining troops and resist the Jieko Group’s advance.
• After taking the Khrim defense line, the Jieko Group occupied Nonthaburi Province and sent fifty thousand troops south to seize sixteen provinces with little resistance.
• Many residents in the southern provinces welcomed Jieko rule, while Malays in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat declared independence and announced their own countries.

Su Jie rejected Jia Wen Xunliang’s demand for independence for the Three Prefectures of Tainan and ordered a military crackdown on its Malay nobles. Two days later, Jieko Group troops surrounded a gathering of independence supporters, leaving Jia Wen Xunliang watching the operation begin.

• Jia Wen Xunliang visited Su Jie at the military camp and argued against Su Jie’s plan to dig a canal through the Kra Isthmus.
• Jia Wen Xunliang asked Su Jie to approve independence for the Three Prefectures of Tainan, but Su Jie refused and had him removed.
• Su Jie marked the Three Prefectures of Tainan on a map and ordered troops to begin a cleansing operation.
• At a manor reception, Chikapei and other nobles discussed staging protests and provoking Jieko Group troops to create an international scandal.
• Jieko Group helicopters and ground forces surrounded the manor, while Jia Wen Xunliang received news that the Forty-Fifth Infantry Division had mobilized across the region.

Jieko Group’s army purged the powerful Malay elite in the Three Prefectures of Tainan, seized their wealth, and imposed policies that won support from many ordinary people. After suppressing opposition across the other twelve Siamese-occupied prefectures, Jieko Group annexed the territories into Zen Country.

• Jieko Group soldiers stormed Chikapei’s manor, killed resisting security guards, and captured the powerful figures sheltering there.
• The company commander executed Chikapei after he offered his fortune in exchange for his life, while soldiers hooded and arrested the others, including Jia Wen Xunliang.
• Jieko Group’s soldiers and financial auditors confiscated the manor’s wealth as coordinated arrests and purges swept the Three Prefectures of Tainan.
• After three days, Jieko Group had arrested or dismissed most local officials, imprisoned many merchants, and begun redistributing land and introducing benefits for ordinary people.
• Jieko Group purged opposition across the other twelve Siamese-occupied prefectures and incorporated the territories into Zen Country.

Jieko Group's army surrounded Man City and halted its assault to avoid mass civilian casualties while Siam's King Poom fled and was exposed for urging others to fight in his place. As Jieko Group captured more territory, Hao Guyu confronted young Man City civilians caught attacking its forces and blamed Siam's king for starting the war.

• Jieko Group's troops advanced toward Man City, and Hao Guang ordered them to surround the city rather than storm it because millions of civilians remained inside.
• King Poom urged Man City's people to resist in a prerecorded speech, but Jieko Group released footage showing his palace deserted and challenged him to appear in public.
• Man City's civilians protested Poom's flight as Jieko Group repelled Siamese reinforcements and seized more territory.
• Hao Guyu encountered young Siamese civilians caught trying to set fires and damage roads, then ordered soldiers to photograph them and demand ransom from their parents.
• Hao Guyu argued with Aqitu, saying Siam's king had started the war and that defeat carried a price, before leaving her and the others to reconsider his words.

Miao Lun’s Steel Battalion soldiers rescued Siam’s Ninth Prince Biya from prison, and Su Jie offered to help him seize the throne in exchange for Siam becoming a Jieko Group-controlled puppet state. Biya accepted the deal and agreed to add even more concessions, leaving to record videos that would support his claim to power.

• Miao Lun’s soldiers broke into Paxi Prison and rescued Biya, then delivered him to the Jieko Group’s intelligence department.
• Shao Meng told Su Jie that nine princes had been recovered, all were willing to cooperate, and three others were missing and presumed killed by Poom.
• Su Jie offered to help Biya overthrow Poom and become king if he signed an agreement stripping Siam of territory and sovereignty.
• Biya accepted the agreement and asked to add more clauses, rationalizing that his betrayal would bring peace and save Siamese lives.
• Su Jie told Liu Yingying to take Biya downstairs and record videos for release the next day, while Steel Battalion soldiers became Biya’s personal guards.

As Poom’s rule crumbled under military defeats and revelations about his seizure of the throne, Biya called on Siam to surrender and form a new government. Manchester fell without bloodshed, and defections spread until Poom was left isolated and his regime collapsed.

• Poom learned that the prince had escaped and that his brothers had publicly accused him of murdering their father and stealing Biya’s throne, then ordered a statement denouncing them.
• Biya addressed Manchester’s defenders and civilians, called for surrender and peace negotiations, and promised to establish a new Siamese government.
• Siamese troops began defecting to Biya, and Manchester surrendered when he entered the city with reporters.
• Poom denounced Biya as a puppet, but Biya gained popular support and recruited captured soldiers and generals to his side.
• With the Jieko Group’s assistance, Biya’s forces advanced while Siamese troops and officials defected, leaving Poom isolated as his regime collapsed.

After Jieko Group captured Siam, Su Jie's forces swiftly conquered Laos and Cambodia and massed on the Annamese border. The chapter ended with Su Jie gaining worldwide recognition as the Tsar of Southeast Asia.

• Poom, Shawang, and Smith fled Ubon Ratchathani Province toward Laos, but Jieko Group attacked their convoy and captured them.
• Miao Lun killed Shawang and Smith, then took Poom back to Siam to meet Commander Su.
• Jieko Group completed its conquest of Siam after a forty-six-day war and launched simultaneous invasions of Laos and Cambodia.
• Lao forces surrendered or collapsed, and Laos accepted Jieko Group's terms after its army reached the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
• Jieko Group occupied Cambodia in three days and gathered its forces along the Annamese border as Annam requested peace talks.
• The Washington Post called Su Jie the Tsar of Southeast Asia, a title that gained worldwide recognition.

Su Jie oversaw Siam Country’s surrender and led Jieko Group’s victory parade through Manchester before opening war negotiations with the Indochina Peninsula countries. He demanded sweeping reparations and concessions, and threatened to resume the war when Annan Country objected.

• Su Jie told former King Poom that Zhenla and Laos had surrendered and Annan Country had sought peace, then let Biya choose Poom’s public execution.
• Hao Guang led Spider Mechs and Jieko Group troops into Manchester as Siam Country’s flags came down and Zen Country’s flags went up.
• Su Jie, Biya, Liu Yingying, and the representatives of Zhenla, Laos, and Annan Country posed before the Grand Palace while the mech honor guard fired a fifty-one-shot salute.
• Liu Yingying demanded reparations, territorial concessions, military bases, and extensive economic and legal privileges from the defeated countries; Biya immediately agreed.
• When Annan Country’s representative rejected the terms, Su Jie ordered Jieko Group’s forces and the armies of Siam Country, Zhenla, and Laos to prepare to invade unless Annan Country signed.

Jieko Group invaded Annan after negotiations failed, using gene warriors and mechanized forces to overwhelm its defenses and threaten its two largest cities. Annan signed the Bangkok Treaty, leaving Jieko Group as the dominant power on the Indochina Peninsula while Su Jie faced worldwide condemnation.

• Annan rejected Jieko Group's initial demands and sought Western support, but the Western countries provided weapons without sending troops.
• Jieko Group invaded from Chenla with 150,000 troops and auxiliary forces from Siam, Chenla, and Laos; Annan's guerrillas first routed the auxiliary troops in the jungle.
• Gene warriors hunted down Annan's soldiers in the rainforest, while Jieko Group's Army Groups A and B advanced to the gates of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
• With its capital and economic center threatened, Annan requested renewed peace talks and signed Jieko Group's harsher treaty.
• On March 1, the five countries signed the Bangkok Treaty in Siam, granting Jieko Group sweeping economic and military influence over the defeated countries.
• World media condemned the treaty and Su Jie, while Jieko Group remained unmoved and Beautiful Country lamented that its plan had strengthened its rival.

After losing its influence in Indochina to the Jieko Group, Beautiful Country’s leaders approved a plan to contain it with a new military alliance and expanded mech research. The Thousand Island Strategy Alliance formed, leaving the Jieko Group facing an unprecedented regional blockade.

• CIA Director Judien warned President Lawrence that the Jieko Group had defeated Beautiful Country’s Indochina operations and proposed the Thousand Island Strategy to contain its expansion.
• Brian urged Lawrence to fund domestic mech development, and Lawrence agreed to seek congressional approval and issue national bonds.
• Congress approved the mech funding, and Lawrence toured Sakura Country and South Korea to promote the Thousand Island Strategy Alliance.
• Southeast Asian nations and Country A backed the alliance, which Lawrence presented as a response to the Jieko Group threat.
• Representatives from the member countries signed the alliance’s draft document, establishing military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural measures to blockade the Jieko Group.

Su Jie prepared to execute former Siamese king Poom while the Thousand Island Strategy Alliance and its backers pressured Jieko Group. The Sangharaja Pamomu arrived to demand Poom’s release and seek Su Jie’s submission to Buddhism, but Su Jie refused and faced the monks’ anger.

• Beautiful Country organized the Thousand Island Strategy Alliance, and Southeast Asian island nations expanded their navies while factories withdrew from Siam and Annan.
• Su Jie told Liu Yingying to use the factory closures and unemployment to expand Jieko Group’s markets and hire workers to raise insects and pigs.
• Su Jie attended Poom’s public execution in Bangkok, where King Biya was assigned to carry it out.
• The Sangharaja Pamomu arrived and asked Su Jie to spare Poom by allowing him to become a monk.
• Pamomu urged Su Jie to take Buddhist precepts and warned that executing Poom would anger Buddhists, but Su Jie refused and called him a bald donkey.

Su Jie forced Biya to carry out Poom’s execution despite Sangharaja Pamomu’s protest, then ordered Pamomu to place the Committee of Eminent Monks under Jieko Group control. When Pamomu refused, Su Jie announced a wider Buddhist rectification and had gene warriors seize him.

• Su Jie dismissed Pamomu’s appeal to Buddhist believers and pressured Biya to choose between the Sangharaja and Jieko Group.
• After Liu Yingying reminded Biya how he had gained power, Biya ordered Poom’s execution, and Su Jie’s forces halted the crowd’s attempt to intervene.
• Biya took the execution remote from a hesitant executioner and activated the guillotine, beheading Poom as Pamomu chanted prayers.
• Su Jie revealed that Poom’s soul had entered his Myriad Soul Banner and told Pamomu to place the Committee of Eminent Monks under Jieko Group management.
• When Pamomu refused, Su Jie ordered a Buddhist rectification across Siam Country and neighboring countries, and gene warriors seized Pamomu.

Su Jie took Pamomu and the other eminent monks to Moran Buddhist Temple to investigate its secrets. Beneath the temple, he discovered imprisoned and tortured women, exposing the monks’ hidden crimes.

• Su Jie ordered the gene warriors to seize Pamomu and the other eminent monks, then led an armed force toward their temple despite civilians’ protests.
• Jieko Group’s troops and Spider Mechs arrived, and Hao Guang joined Su Jie as the army transported the monks to Moran Buddhist Temple.
• Su Jie ordered soldiers to search the temple, while Pamomu protested and Biya guided Su Jie through the lavish complex.
• Hao Guang reported a hidden chamber, and Su Jie forced Pamomu and the others down a concealed passage beneath a Buddha statue.
• Su Jie and Liu Yingying found naked, injured women locked in underground cells, and Su Jie confronted Pamomu over the monks’ secret prison.

Su Jie uncovered Pamomu’s hidden fortune and crimes, then ordered the Jieko Group to massacre a Buddhist crowd that demanded the monks’ release. He condemned Pamomu and the other eminent monks to mutilation and execution, leaving the battered prisoners terrified and pleading for their lives.

• Su Jie discovered Pamomu’s enormous hoard of wealth and ordered the monks interrogated while the imprisoned women were rescued.
• A crowd of Buddhists gathered outside the temple to demand Pamomu’s release, and Pamomu urged them to attack the Jieko Group soldiers.
• Su Jie ordered the soldiers to fire on the crowd, killing and wounding thousands before the surviving Buddhists and monks surrendered.
• After reading the monks’ crimes, Su Jie ordered their senses and worldly desires mutilated before they were to be executed by artillery.
• Pamomu and the other eminent monks cursed Su Jie and begged for mercy, but he defended his sentence by pointing to the women they had tortured.

Su Jie ordered the execution of corrupt high monks and launched a campaign to dismantle Buddhism across the Indochina Peninsula, seizing temples, land, and wealth for the Jieko Group. Months later, Buddhist leaders were praising him as a reincarnated Buddha, leaving the Jieko Group unchallenged in Siam.

• Su Jie let abused women help punish the high monks, then had Spider Main Battle Mechs execute Pamomu and the other leaders.
• Su Jie ordered Buddhist privileges abolished and sent the rioters to labor mines, while Biya agreed to carry out his orders.
• The Jieko Group dismantled Buddhist institutions across Siam, confiscating temples, land, and wealth while arresting guilty monks and defrocking hundreds of thousands.
• The campaign spread through the Indochina Peninsula, leaving the Jieko Group with extensive assets and several new Mech Combat Brigades planned.
• On Su Jie's birthday, eminent monks gathered before the Grand Palace to praise him as Buddha reincarnated and proclaim their loyalty.

Two months after returning from Siam, Su Jie received a hero’s welcome in Mande City before visiting Hundred Ghosts Film Company to review Han Ruyan’s completed horror film, The Red Wedding Dress. Pleased with the film and its fear-inducing 3D glasses, he planned a wider horror-film universe and left its global release in the Jieko Group’s hands.

• Su Jie returned to Mande City with victorious troops and prisoners of war, and Zen State’s people celebrated his arrival.
• Su Jie announced three days off for all of Zen State after addressing the crowds at Jieko Group headquarters.
• Su Jie visited Hundred Ghosts Film Company with Han Ruyan and learned that post-production on The Red Wedding Dress had been delayed by staff members’ frightening reactions.
• Han Ruyan showed Su Jie the film’s specially made 3D glasses, and Su Jie watched the completed film with her and Nishimura Taka.
• Su Jie praised the film and proposed making more horror films featuring malicious ghosts from Nightmare Park.
• Nishimura Taka raised concerns about Western distributors and Hollywood’s influence, but Su Jie said the Jieko Group would handle the release.

Jieko Group expanded publicity for Bridal Dress across Southeast Asia and brought the film to Hua Country through the Magic City Film Charity Gala. Su Jie and Liu Yingying used their influence to secure support from Wanda Group, leaving the film poised for a major release and Jieko Group open to infrastructure cooperation.

• At Su Jie's direction, Jieko Group subsidized cinemas, lowered ticket prices, offered free screenings, and launched a ticket-stub prize draw to attract audiences to Bridal Dress.
• Jieko Group expanded the campaign into Southeast Asia, where distributors and cinemas accepted its proposals and governments avoided opposing the company.
• Su Jie and Liu Yingying arrived at the Magic City Film Charity Gala with a high-profile motorcade, startling reporters and drawing attention to the Bridal Dress crew.
• Liu Yingying told Wanda Group chairman Wang Lin that Jieko Group wanted Wanda Cinemas to give Bridal Dress more screenings, and Wang Lin promised the maximum number.
• Liu Yingying offered Wanda Group assistance with investment in the Indochina Peninsula, and Wang Lin welcomed the opportunity to join Jieko Group's infrastructure projects.
• Su Jie and Wang Lin took a commemorative photo with Liu Yingying after the gala.

The six Hollywood giants debated how to respond to the Jieko Group’s demand for a favorable rating and release for The Wedding Dress. Arsen Ganaber and the other executives each tried to manipulate their rivals, but all six ultimately approved a PG rating, clearing the way for the film’s worldwide premiere.

• The heads of the six Hollywood giants met to discuss the Jieko Group’s request for preferential treatment and a release for The Wedding Dress.
• Arsen Ganaber urged the giants to block the film, secretly hoping to provoke the Jieko Group and benefit from his rivals’ downfall.
• Arsen went to the rating board intending to approve a PG rating, where he discovered that the other five executives had already done the same.
• Arsen and the other executives accused one another of plotting to manipulate their rivals, then unanimously approved the film’s PG rating.
• Hundred Ghosts Film Company premiered The Wedding Dress worldwide on July 3.

Film critic Jia Changxu watched The Bridal Dress in a cinema, dismissing its hype until the Hundred Ghosts 3D glasses made the horror seem to spill into reality. When he saw water and moving hair on his shoes, he screamed and startled the audience.

• Jia Changxu chose the Hundred Ghosts 3D glasses despite Shen Xueqing's warning that the Jieko Group's technology could make the film unusually frightening.
• Jia Changxu and Shen Xueqing watched The Bridal Dress begin with a student who had hanged herself and a lake filled with drowned students.
• The film revealed that only forty-one of forty-nine students had been found, and its police and student protagonists investigated the deaths and an evil ghost.
• Jia Changxu watched a missing student die in a villa as water and black hair emerged, while servants and bodyguards were found drowned in the swimming pool.
• Jia Changxu noticed water and strands of hair on his shoes, sprang up screaming that there was a ghost, and saw other viewers react in fear.