Chapter Summaries

Zhao Bai, Durandal, and Bronya advanced through a cave filled with Honkai crystals, with Durandal leading the charge toward a sleeping creature that seemed to be a dragon. Durandal broke through the crystal formations as they approached it.

• Zhao Bai transformed the gold-plated spatula Otto had given him into an energy sword, while Durandal and Bronya readied their weapons.
• The group detected high concentrations of Honkai crystals and continued through the cave, making enough noise that they could no longer hide their approach.
• Durandal led the group through the crystal formations as a sulfurous wind and a deep snoring sound came from the darkness.
• Zhao Bai glimpsed a pale shell marked with black and crimson as sparks briefly lit the cave.
• Durandal charged ahead and shattered the beautiful crystal formations with her knight's lance.

Zhao Bai, Durandal, and Bronya encountered a mutated Lava Emperor in a cave, where it transformed into a crystal-covered giant lizard. Durandal overcame her fear of the creature and advanced to fight it, while Zhao Bai realized he could simply watch.

• The awakened creature revealed itself as a Lava Emperor, and Zhao Bai named it.
• The Lava Emperor merged with the nearby crystals and transformed into a giant lizard resembling a Gem Crystal Dragon.
• Durandal grew afraid of the crystal-covered creature because it reminded her of difficult battles in a game.
• Bronya encouraged Durandal to treat the encounter as a chance to get revenge.
• Durandal rallied herself and strode toward the Lava Emperor with her lance, while Zhao Bai watched.

Durandal destroyed the Crystalline Dragon with a single powerful shot, leaving Zhao Bai and Bronya to inspect the wreckage. Zhao Bai reassured her that the damage could be explained in the report, and Durandal accepted the excuse before heading back down.

• Durandal leaped into the air and fired at the Crystalline Dragon while Bronya shielded Zhao Bai's eyes.
• Durandal celebrated one-shotting the enemy and lamented that she was not as successful at games.
• Bronya lowered her hand, and Zhao Bai saw that Durandal's attack had scattered burning armor fragments throughout the area.
• Durandal worried about the damage, but Zhao Bai suggested reporting that she had stopped a dangerous enemy after a grueling battle.
• Durandal convinced herself the explanation was reasonable, adjusted her appearance, and headed down to the ground.

Zhao Bai gave Amber orders to clear the subway tracks and prepare for repairs, while Durandal planned to head home and use her borrowed wages to buy a PS4 Pro. When Durandal asked about his plans, Zhao Bai said he might visit Paris.

• Zhao Bai ordered Amber to keep the subway closed, send a protected cleanup team to collect crystals, and prepare the construction crew.
• Amber accepted the task with relief and led the cleanup team and construction crew into the subway.
• Durandal looked forward to buying a PS4 Pro and defeating the Gem Crystal Dragon with a one-shot attack.
• Durandal asked Zhao Bai what he planned to do, and he said he might visit Paris.

Zhao Bai and Bronya chose Paris as their next destination after Durandal warned them about the protests and dangers there. They boarded a Gulfstream jet, leaving Amber to arrange the trip, and began their journey with a film playing overhead.

• Durandal warned Zhao Bai that Paris was unsettled by Yellow Vest protests, but Zhao Bai and Bronya decided to go anyway.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya watched Durandal fly away, then agreed that she was too tall and too dumb.
• Amber returned from the subway with a construction crew, and Zhao Bai told her to arrange a trip to Paris.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya flew toward Paris on a Gulfstream jet, drinking juice and watching Joker.

Zhao Bai and Bronya arrived in France after Zhao Bai lost interest in a film and browsed magazines during the flight. They found the airport deserted and disorderly, with an inflammatory banner hanging above the boarding gate.

• Zhao Bai called the film a bunch of lunatics but decided not to have it banned.
• Zhao Bai found a magazine full of afternoon tea desserts, then switched to one about French cuisine.
• Zhao Bai noticed Bronya reading about the manufacturing process of the Maxim machine gun.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya landed in France and found the airport deserted, with scattered beer bottles and chairs pushed against the walls.
• Bronya read the banner above the boarding gate: "Sow the seeds of misery, and all you harvest is anger."

Zhao Bai, Bronya, and Amber walked through a divided Paris amid a protest over pension cuts. As rain began to fall and tensions rose between protesters and police, Amber advised Zhao Bai to take a detour.

• Zhao Bai observed that Paris's protest had left some districts in chaos while wealthy entertainment districts continued as usual.
• Zhao Bai asked whether rain was coming, and Bronya estimated a 70% chance of rain, possibly with thunderstorms.
• Amber hurried over and gave Zhao Bai a large, sharply pointed umbrella.
• Amber advised Zhao Bai to detour for his safety as protesters and police faced each other across barricades.
• Rain began falling, and Zhao Bai opened the umbrella and looked at Amber with pity.

Zhao Bai had Amber brighten the rain-soaked road while he walked with Bronya under an umbrella. Schicksal’s satellite illuminated the clouds, and Zhao Bai watched the silver-lit rain with a brief spark of delight.

• Zhao Bai pulled Bronya under his umbrella and dismissed Amber’s suggestion.
• Zhao Bai told Amber to make the dark road brighter, and she began issuing orders despite the district-wide power outage.
• Bronya asked whether Zhao Bai’s demand was inappropriate, and he said he wanted to vent while he still had the chance.
• Schicksal’s satellite cast light over the district, making the clouds and rain glow silver as Zhao Bai looked on.

Zhao Bai and Bronya crossed between protesters and police officers as Zhao Bai demonstrated his Still Water technique by freezing the falling rain. The chapter ended with an author’s note explaining the poetic lines and the purpose of the display.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya walked beneath a shared black umbrella through the standoff between the protesters and police officers.
• Zhao Bai asked Bronya what she knew about the Still Water Realm of the Taixu Divine Sword.
• Zhao Bai recited a few lines of poetry, then froze the falling rain into solid, star-like drops.
• The author explained that the display was meant to show off Zhao Bai’s cultivation of the Taixu Divine Sword.

Zhao Bai demonstrated his new control over Honkai energy through the Taixu Divine Sword, but his concentration broke when Bronya praised him. He and Bronya then arrived at a bar filled with young members of Schicksal’s three great families, where a blond man in a white suit approached them.

• Zhao Bai gathered rain into a shining silver spearhead using the Taixu Divine Sword’s Internal Force while Bronya watched.
• Zhao Bai took Bronya’s hand and hurried forward, but his control slipped and the water spear crashed down.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya crossed into the power supply area, where the reflective satellites stopped and their brief truce ended.
• Zhao Bai entered an old bar filled with European-looking young people he identified as members of Schicksal’s three great families.
• A blond young man in a white suit approached Zhao Bai.

Zhao Bai met with Calvados Apocalypse, who introduced himself as Carl, while Bronya joined the negotiations with apple juice. The talks continued as Carl struggled to understand Zhao Bai’s unusual way of handling the meeting.

• Carl introduced himself to Zhao Bai and offered him tequila with butterfly larvae.
• Zhao Bai drank the tequila, asked for apple juice for Bronya, and ordered a children's meal when Carl mentioned one was available.
• Bronya refused the children's meal, but agreed not to drink alcohol that night.
• Carl wondered why Zhao Bai held Bronya during formal negotiations as she sipped apple juice.
• Carl reflected on how quickly Otto had retired and disappeared before Zhao Bai took over and went to patrol the North Africa Branch.

Carl tried to probe Zhao Bai about who should lead the Apocalypse family and whether he resented a biohuman holding power. Zhao Bai named Theresa and said he had received her care, while Bronya realized he was gripping her shoulder because he feared being hit.

• Carl asked Zhao Bai who had the best chance of leading the Apocalypse family, and Zhao Bai answered that it had to be Theresa.
• Carl poured champagne for himself and tequila for Zhao Bai, then questioned whether Zhao Bai would accept a biohuman standing above him.
• Zhao Bai joked that someone standing on his face would be fine if she took off her shoes, confusing Carl and making Bronya understand why Zhao Bai was holding her shoulder.
• Zhao Bai told Carl to investigate him properly and pointed out that he was a student at St. Freya Academy who had received much care from Principal Theresa.
• Carl replied that he already knew.

Carl tried to persuade Zhao Bai to accept the Apocalypse family's plan for sharing power in Schicksal, but Zhao Bai rejected her invitation. Outside the bar, Amber listened in and worried about the factions scrambling to claim influence while Otto was absent.

• Carl argued that Otto had held too much power and questioned whether Zhao Bai could continue ruling the empire he built.
• Zhao Bai corrected Carl's remarks about Shenzhou's acting presidents and told her to stop.
• Carl explained that the Apocalypse family had devised a plan after weighing its own interests, Zhao Bai's interests, and Schicksal's interests.
• Amber listened to the conversation through devices she had planted in the bar and resented the factions trying to divide Schicksal's benefits.
• Zhao Bai appeared moved by Carl's proposal, then rejected her invitation without hesitation.

At a negotiation over Zhao Bai joining their group, he became increasingly drunk and threatened Carl when asked what would happen if talks failed. The chapter left the room without surveillance cameras as Zhao Bai approached the gathered negotiators.

• Zhao Bai ignored most of the proposal and thought about Theresa after only three glasses of tequila.
• Bronya stopped Zhao Bai from cracking his knuckles and noticed that he was too distracted for negotiations.
• Zhao Bai asked Carl how he would respond if Zhao Bai dragged him to the cellar and drowned him in wine.
• Zhao Bai stood up, set Bronya down, and asked whether the room had surveillance cameras.
• Bronya said there were no cameras, and Zhao Bai rolled up his sleeves and strode toward the gathered young people.
• Amber's listening device failed.

Amber trapped the rising stars of the three great families inside the bar while Zhao Bai beat them, then watched with satisfaction as they panicked. Carl confronted Zhao Bai and warned him about the price he might pay, but he ignored her.

• Amber realized Zhao Bai no longer needed the bug as crashing bottles and screams came from inside the bar.
• Amber had people nail planks over the bar's doors and windows so the young family heirs could not escape.
• Amber announced through the door that a demolition team would come to rescue the trapped heirs, making them panic further.
• Amber laughed as the heirs whispered and cried out inside the bar.
• Carl, disheveled and dark-circled, warned Zhao Bai that he would pay a price, but Zhao Bai hummed and kept walking with uninjured fists.

Zhao Bai beat Carl while giving her a drunken lesson about negotiation, then turned on the young Schicksal nobles. The chapter ended with their screams as he began beating them too.

• Zhao Bai interrupted Carl’s argument and struck her for urging him to drink and proposing that he marry into her family.
• Zhao Bai explained that drunken conversation suited vague ideals, while discussing concrete interests required sobriety.
• Zhao Bai knocked Carl unconscious, poured tequila over her, and left a butterfly larva in her ear.
• Zhao Bai turned toward the young people of Schicksal and walked toward them as screams rose around the room.

After Zhao Bai emerged into the rain, Bronya comforted him as Amber watched. Zhao Bai later awoke in a dark, featureless void and approached the golden gate of the Void Archive.

• Zhao Bai walked out into the torrential rain, and Bronya followed him.
• Bronya used Heavy Cannon Rabbit 19C to shelter herself and Zhao Bai, then hugged him from behind.
• Amber watched them and crouched down, moved to tears.
• Zhao Bai regained consciousness in a dark void and walked toward a golden gate.
• Zhao Bai recognized the gate as the entrance to the Void Archive Otto had described, then stopped.

Zhao Bai woke in a hotel room after collapsing from drinking, with Bronya watching over him. After learning he had caused no trouble, he put the sleeping Bronya to bed properly and quietly left the room.

• Zhao Bai faced an immense presence in the darkness until a whisper interrupted him and he lost consciousness.
• Zhao Bai woke in reality with his head on Bronya's thighs.
• Bronya explained that she had brought him to a Schicksal-arranged hotel after he got wet in the rain, and said he had fallen asleep without causing trouble.
• Bronya fell asleep, and Zhao Bai gently moved her into a more comfortable position.
• Zhao Bai tucked Bronya's feet beneath the blanket, loosened her twin-tails, turned off the light, and left the room.

Zhao Bai discussed the injuries caused by his attack with Amber, then ate at the hotel while recovering from a hangover. He said he wanted to avoid crowds and planned to go to the Arctic with Bronya to watch the aurora.

• Amber told Zhao Bai that his attack had injured thirty-two people, including two who were permanently disfigured.
• Zhao Bai joked about the injuries, and Amber kept her private thoughts about the previous night to herself.
• Zhao Bai suffered from a headache and weakness from his hangover and ordered a few dishes at the hotel restaurant.
• Amber asked Zhao Bai about his plans, and he said he wanted to avoid crowds after the bar conflict.
• Zhao Bai chose the Arctic as their next destination so he could lie in the snow with Bronya and watch the aurora.

Zhao Bai and Bronya set off on a private trip to the Arctic, while Amber stayed behind in Murmansk Oblast. They parachuted from a plane onto the ice field, where their journey began.

• Bronya woke up wrapped in blankets in Zhao Bai's arms and struggled to get free, waking him.
• Zhao Bai helped Bronya sit up and put on her antigravity exoskeleton.
• Amber arranged a flight that dropped Zhao Bai, Bronya, parachutes, and supplies over the Arctic, then planned to wait in Murmansk Oblast.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya parachuted onto the Arctic ice field, and Zhao Bai rolled after landing.