Chapter Summaries

Michel negotiated a legal compromise between the Colossus Civilization's government and the church, persuading the governor to establish a Transcendent Management Agency led by Ganis. With the immediate crisis temporarily settled, Michel invited the governor to speak privately.

• Michel asked the governor and Ganis to send everyone else away so they could negotiate privately.
• The governor demanded that the church hand over those involved, while Ganis refused to surrender them.
• Michel argued that the government should create a Transcendent Management Agency and appoint Ganis to represent Transcendent civilians.
• The governor reluctantly agreed to establish the agency, and Ganis began handling the incident.
• Michel invited the governor for a private walk, and the governor agreed.

Michel offered the Governor a Transcendent Potion in exchange for cooperating with the New Church, and the Governor accepted while secretly preparing to retain control over the Colossus Sect. After publicly vowing to resist the Sect, the Governor drank the potion and felt a Transcendent ability awaken within him.

• Michel offered the Governor faith and the possibility of Transcendent Power as a way to shackle the Colossus Sect.
• The Governor accepted Michel’s potion and concealed his cooperation, while worrying that others in his government might also have defected.
• The Governor returned to the scene, ordered Ganis watched, and then arranged measures to monitor and restrict the Sect’s new organization.
• The Governor publicly vowed to fight the Sect, then returned home and drank the Transcendent Potion.
• The potion filled the Governor with warmth, and he felt a Transcendent ability begin to grow within him.

The Governor became a Transcendent and realized Michel had maneuvered him into betraying the Colossus Civilization’s ruling class before anyone else. Meanwhile, Ganis faced a choice between obeying the law and imprisoning a sect member who had killed someone or defying the regime and endangering the sect.

• The Governor decided to join the Angel Civilization’s side, believing the Colossus Civilization would betray him and that striking first was safer.
• At the government meeting, the Governor discovered he was the only Transcendent among the senior officials and understood that Michel had isolated him from the ruling class.
• The Governor called for limits on Transcendents’ power, while the government continued treating the sect as an adversary.
• Ganis took office in the Transcendent Affairs Bureau and found that the sect’s new authority required it to follow existing laws.
• Ganis explained that the sect member who had killed an official would have to face prison if the sect respected the law, prompting members to argue over whether to compromise or fight.

Ganis accepted responsibility for being set up and ordered the Colossus Sect to cooperate with legal proceedings, despite his guilt over the sacrifice this required. After securing a fellow believer’s agreement to remain in prison, he completed the case-closing procedures and prepared to fight the powerful figures he blamed.

• Ganis acknowledged his mistake and declared that the sect would cooperate with the legal proceedings, urging everyone to ensure their brother’s sacrifice was not wasted.
• Ganis went to the Security Office prison and bent open the cell bars to visit the detained sect member.
• Ganis explained why the prisoner had to stay and ordered him, as Patriarch, to cooperate with the sect’s plan.
• The prisoner agreed to remain in custody but told Ganis that he owed him, and the two shared wine.
• Ganis completed the case-closing procedures and prepared to await the verdict before purging the powerful figures he considered corrupt.

After the Sect members received harsh sentences, Ganis applied to hold a large publicity campaign and was granted an audience with the Governor. He discovered that the Governor had secretly become a Transcendent, leaving him stunned.

• At the closed trial, Ganis and the other Sect members calmly accepted the verdicts and declared their determination to overthrow the government and establish a sacred nation.
• After the trial, Ganis went to the Governor's office to submit an application for a large-scale publicity campaign.
• The Secretary-General reluctantly agreed to pass Ganis's request to the Governor, who chose to receive him personally.
• The Governor reassured the Secretary-General that they should understand their enemy, then sent him to escort Ganis in.
• Ganis sensed Transcendent Power near the Governor's office and was shocked when he realized the Governor himself had become a Transcendent.

The Consul used a tale about his past to convince Ganis that he was a believer and offer covert help against the cult. After Ganis left, the Consul warned the Secretary-General that the Transcendent Affairs Bureau might target them soon.

• The Consul sent the Secretary-General out and told Ganis a version of his own history with the Winged Human Society and the Angel Civilization.
• The Consul showed Ganis crimson flames and claimed the sacred flames would cleanse his bloodline, persuading Ganis that his faith was genuine.
• The Consul refused to join Ganis's campaign openly but signed his application and offered secret support, warning that they planned to smear the cult using personal dirt.
• Ganis admitted that the group planned entrapment operations, and the Consul advised him to seek official endorsement while keeping the true objective hidden.
• After Ganis left, the Consul reviewed their conversation, then warned the Secretary-General to make sure everyone had cleared away compromising evidence.

Ganis and the Colossus Sect prepared to use their authority over Transcendent-related cases to target a corrupt elite family. They chose the Durs Family, and the chapter ended as Aiqi Durs heard an unknown voice confront him about his supposed nobility.

• The Consul told the Secretary-General that Ganis planned to act, while secretly hoping the two sides would clash so he could profit.
• Ganis gathered the Colossus Sect, announced that their application had been approved, and led them in prayer before setting their plan in motion.
• The Sect chose the Durs Family as its target and planned to use a sting operation to expose corruption in the education system.
• Aiqi Durs arranged for a subcontractor to take the blame for serving expired food and called his big sister to contain the scandal.
• An unknown voice spoke beside Aiqi and asked whether he considered himself very noble.

A Transcendent assaulted Aiqi to force the Durs Family’s alleged school cafeteria corruption into a Transcendent Affairs Bureau investigation, but Aiqi denied the accusations and was released. The chapter ended with the family’s flying car crashing and the same attacker beating them again, warning that the pressure would continue.

• A Transcendent beat Aiqi at his office, called the police on himself, and warned him to answer the Transcendent Affairs Bureau honestly.
• The Bureau took over the assault case and questioned Aiqi about suspected expired-food cases and the Durs Family’s alleged abuse of the cafeteria bidding process.
• Aiqi denied the allegations and was released, leaving his family baffled because he insisted he had told the Bureau nothing.
• The Durs Family argued with Aiqi in their flying car as they worried about the investigation.
• The flying car crashed into a bridge pillar, and the Transcendent appeared with an ornament from Aiqi’s desk and slapped the family, calling it mutual assault.

The Transcendent Affairs Bureau and Colossus Sect targeted House Durles, using relentless pressure to bring the family down. Aiqi’s confessions exposed its crimes, and the Bureau sent the evidence to court as the family’s collapse shook the Colossus Civilization’s privileged class.

• Aiqi’s sister recognized the Bureau’s power and begged its visitor to spare House Durles, but he refused.
• The Transcendent Affairs Bureau detained Aiqi and his sister, then launched a full-scale operation against the Durs Family.
• After confessing to minor crimes, Aiqi was tormented by prisoners and guards who repeatedly moved him between cells and healed him after each beating.
• Aiqi broke down and revealed everything he knew about the Durs Family’s crimes, helping bring the family down.
• The Transcendent Affairs Bureau compiled the evidence and submitted the case files to court, prompting intense scrutiny and alarm among the privileged class.

Ganis’s crackdown brought down House Durles, whose members confessed despite the prosecutor’s attempts to give them a chance to recant. When the Governor ordered Ganis to suspend the operations, Ganis refused and threatened to investigate anyone who objected.

• A prosecutor inspected the Transcendent Affairs Bureau’s case files and questioned Aiqi, who insisted his confession was true and begged to be sentenced.
• Aiqi’s sister admitted every charge, and after two days of review the prosecutor accepted the case against House Durles as valid.
• News of House Durles’s fall spread, and Ganis organized more operations that frightened the powerful and influential.
• The Governor summoned Ganis and praised the Bureau’s work but told him to suspend the arrests in response to complaints.
• Ganis refused to stop investigating and warned the Secretary-General that he might soon have an accident.

The Consul suspended the Transcendent Affairs Bureau’s authority, and Ganis agreed to pause the Sect’s purge while it pursued a publicity campaign. Meanwhile, List launched the Self-Destruction Plan to expose Maple Leaf Mining’s origins to Minister He and give the Blue Star Federation’s leaders a new target.

• The Consul suspended the Transcendent Affairs Bureau, and Ganis left after arguing with him.
• The Consul told the Secretary-General that he had restrained Ganis by giving him something to lose, but warned that the government would need to offer the Bureau benefits as well.
• The Secretary-General passed on the news and traveled home in an armed spacecraft while Ganis watched it depart.
• Ganis told his followers to pause their investigations and focus on a publicity campaign to recruit more warriors for the Lord.
• List explained to Simon, Virut, and other senior figures that Minister He had noticed irregularities surrounding Maple Leaf Mining.
• List declared that he would pose as an illegitimate Augusta heir and Palmer-surnamed traitor representing the Twelve-Winged Holy Spirit Fallen Angel, exposing the group’s origins to Minister He as part of the Self-Destruction Plan.

List declared himself Duke Palmer and prepared Maple Leaf Mining Group for its break from the Great Xia Empire. Minister He met him on Pegasus Star, learned of List’s ties to the Dark Empire, and heard his demand for the Pegasus and Sirius Galaxies as personal fiefdoms.

• List ordered his followers to recognize him as Duke Palmer, equip the Transcendent Knights, and invite Minister He to a banquet.
• Minister He weighed exposing Maple Leaf Mining Group against the risks to his position and the Pegasus Galaxy, then accepted List’s invitation.
• Minister He met List aboard a cruise ship on Pegasus Star and asked whether to address him as Mr. List or His Highness Augusta.
• List explained that he was Qin’s younger brother and a duke of the Dark Empire, which worshiped the Fallen Angel rather than the Seraphim.
• Minister He offered to persuade the Cabinet, and List demanded the Pegasus and Sirius Galaxies as his personal fiefdoms.

Minister He accepted List’s offer to help the Dark Empire infiltrate the Blue Star Federation, then advised him to back a small group of allies and seize planetary systems to establish a nominal federal government. After returning with Transcendent Potions, Minister He gathered his supporters and revealed his Transcendent Power, leaving them to question which empire he had joined.

• Minister He agreed to become List’s ally after List offered Transcendent Potions and Sacred Armaments.
• Minister He explained that the Dark Empire could not buy off the entire Federation and advised it to win a small number of allies, seize several planetary systems, and establish a new federal government.
• Minister He returned with Transcendent Potions, which turned him and others into Transcendents.
• Minister He gathered his trusted supporters at a private meeting and crushed a glass with his Transcendent Power.
• The attendees asked Minister He whether he had defected to the Great Xia Empire.

Minister He persuaded Federation elites to support the Dark Empire by promising benefits and the chance to weaken the central government, then helped stir hostility toward the Great Xia Empire. At an emergency cabinet meeting, he suggested that hostile Angel Civilization forces had contacted people in the Federation with an irresistible offer.

• Minister He told the assembled elites that the Dark Empire wanted faith and would accept either a Blue Star Federation or a Blue Star Confederation.
• The elites, enticed by the prospect of weakening the central government and gaining wealth, agreed to support Minister He.
• Minister He directed his allies to incite public hostility toward the Great Xia Empire and quietly build their strength.
• The Director-General convened an emergency meeting and authorized an investigation into the campaign against the Great Xia Empire.
• Minister He suggested that Angel Civilization forces hostile to the Great Xia Empire had offered Federation insiders a windfall.

Minister He persuaded the cabinet to let Duke List act quickly, and List’s forces seized the Pegasus Fortress before advancing toward Sirius. The Sirius Fortress commander mistook the approaching fleet for Pegasus Group and prepared to fight, hoping to profit from the conflict.

• Minister He urged the cabinet to avoid a prolonged political tug-of-war and ordered his faction to cooperate with Duke List.
• A forged military reassignment order briefly left a Pegasus Galaxy fortress exposed, allowing the Anti-Smuggling Command fleet to seize it.
• List’s newly built warships passed through the fortress and headed for the Sirius Galaxy.
• The Sirius Fortress commander learned that Pegasus Galaxy had lost contact and saw unidentified ships gathering outside the fortress.
• The Sirius Fortress commander and his adjutant mistook the attack for an advance by Pegasus Group and prepared to fight for a share of the spoils.

Duke List’s forces captured the Sirius Galaxy fortress with a surprise attack by Gargoyle Mecha, while news of the fortress’s fall and the Pegasus Galaxy’s isolation sent Pegasus Group into confusion. As the shareholders feared outside interference, Ma Jiahe ordered Ma Zhi to form a fleet to protect the group.

• Gargoyle Mecha stormed the fortress commander’s residence, and the commander surrendered to Duke List’s forces to stop further casualties.
• List’s forces took control of the fortress, repaired its facilities, and prepared for a counterattack by the Great Xia Federation.
• Pegasus Group realized that the fortress had fallen after communications failed and a fleet passed through it into the Sirius Galaxy.
• Pegasus Group’s shareholders argued over whether the federal government would use the conflict to interfere in the Pegasus Galaxy.
• Ma Jiahe dismissed the shareholders’ speculation and asked Ma Zhi to form a fleet capable of protecting Pegasus Group.

Ma Zhi gained command authority in Pegasus Group while secretly passing its plans to Maple Leaf Mining Group. Ma Jiahe then told the family elders that Maple Leaf Mining Group had powerful outside backing and at least an eighty percent chance of winning, leaving Pegasus Group facing likely destruction.

• Ma Jiahe trusted Ma Zhi and appointed him deputy commander of Pegasus Group's fleet as the group prepared to reclaim the Pegasus Galaxy.
• Ma Zhi accepted the role, then contacted Maple Leaf Mining Group and revealed Pegasus Group's plans; they promised the Dark Empire would remember his contributions.
• Ma Zhi reflected that he had no way back if Pegasus Group discovered his betrayal and doubted whether the Dark Empire would keep its promises.
• Ma Jiahe showed the family elders footage of Gargoyle Mechas attacking Pegasus Fortress and said Maple Leaf Mining Group likely had support from an extraterrestrial civilization.
• Ma Jiahe estimated Maple Leaf Mining Group had at least an eighty percent chance of winning and warned that its confidence meant Pegasus Group was in grave danger.

Pegasus Group decided to surrender to Maple Leaf Mining Group, but List refused to negotiate until the fighting was over. As Ma Jiahe prepared to confront Maple Leaf, List focused on crushing the Sirius Allied Forces with the Paramount Family's support.

• Ma Jiahe and Pegasus Group's leaders chose to surrender to Maple Leaf Mining Group and tasked him with negotiating a favorable deal.
• List rejected Pegasus Group's request to negotiate and told Virut to seize the Pegasus Fleet if necessary.
• Ma Jiahe told Ma Zhi they needed to demonstrate their resolve, and Ma Zhi proposed waiting for Maple Leaf's fleet to deploy before attacking its weakened rear.
• List reassured the Paramount Family head that he would defeat the Sirius Allied Forces and then ordered his staff officers to prepare and simulate a battle plan.

List’s forces defeated the Sirius Allied Forces after Paramount leaked their intelligence, allowing Maple Leaf Mining Group to take control of the Sirius Galaxy and prepare support for Sirius Fortress. In the Pegasus Galaxy, Ma Jiahe planned an attack to gain bargaining power, but Ma Zhi secretly sent the battle plan to List, who decided it was time to deal with Pegasus Group.

• Paramount leaked the Sirius Allied Forces’ secret intelligence, and List’s artillery, fleets, and Mecha Knights ambushed and defeated them.
• List ordered the Paramount Family to help absorb the Sirius Galaxy and integrate its resources to support Sirius Fortress.
• Ma Jiahe concluded that Maple Leaf Mining Group’s reinforcements had stopped and ordered Pegasus Group to strike, claiming it would ease pressure on Federation forces.
• Ma Zhi accepted the assignment while secretly sending Pegasus Group’s detailed battle plan to List.
• List decided to deal with Pegasus Group and put its production lines to use after modifying them.

Ma Zhi learned that Pegasus Group planned to use the Blue Star Federation military to inflict losses on Maple Leaf Mining Group before negotiating a surrender. As List rejected Ma Zhi’s proposal to stay undercover, Ma Zhi continued directing Pegasus Group’s fleet and forced the military to take the vanguard position.

• Ma Jiahe revised Ma Zhi’s plan and revealed that Pegasus Group intended to cause Maple Leaf Mining Group casualties before negotiating.
• Ma Jiahe told Ma Zhi that Pegasus Group might return to the Federation’s side if its government came back, but would otherwise have to make peace with Maple Leaf Mining Group.
• Ma Zhi pledged loyalty to Ma Jiahe, then sent List intelligence and proposed sacrificing part of Pegasus Group’s fleet to remain undercover.
• List rejected Ma Zhi’s proposal, deciding that Pegasus Group no longer had value to exploit and that Ma Zhi could pressure Ma Jiahe from within.
• Ma Zhi told the Blue Star Federation military that Pegasus Group would surrender unless the military took the front, and the military eventually compromised.