Chapter Summaries

Alvin and the Dark Angels crossed Nurgle’s corrupted garden to reach the main hall, relying on Ilya’s Blank domain to protect them from its plagues. There, they found Lloyd transformed into a bloated monster calling himself Count Rot, who planned to spread the Eternal Garden across Nomad Port.

• Ilya scouted through the garden and destroyed the Nurglings while the Dark Angels cleared the path for Alvin.
• Alvin confirmed Nurgle’s mark at the lake and stopped Ilya from attacking it, telling the group to focus on the main hall.
• Ilya struggled to maintain her protective domain as the group followed the garden path to the vine-covered main hall.
• Ilya cut down the corpse-hand door handle, and Reinhardt blasted open the doors with a cannon shot.
• Alvin recognized the monstrous Lloyd, who called himself Count Rot and declared that the Eternal Garden would soon cover Nomad Port.

Alvin confronted Count Rot in the Garden of Nurgle and learned that Lloyd had sacrificed the Fernando Family to spread the garden across Nomad Port. As Count Rot unleashed his forces, golden flames consumed the garden and a sword-wielding figure entered the hall with a Rotting Lord’s head.

• Alvin taunted Count Rot and realized that the Fernando Family had been sacrificed to create the Garden of Nurgle.
• Count Rot revealed that his granddaughter had exposed Alvin as the heir of the Valshius Family and that he planned to sacrifice Alvin to become a Daemon.
• Alvin ordered his people to attack after Count Rot summoned plague-ridden servants, animated armor, winged infants, and tree spirits.
• Golden flames swept through the garden and burned Count Rot’s forces.
• A golden figure cleaved open the hall doors, tossed in a Rotting Lord’s head, and asked Count Rot whether he had forgotten how the garden burned before.

Winnie arrived at the burning Garden and confronted Alvin for risking his life, then faced Count Rot as it unleashed its plague army and opened a Warp rift. When Count Rot claimed Winnie was alone, she summoned black-armored Space Marines who charged into battle.

• Winnie destroyed Count Rot’s Garden, then punched Alvin and scolded him for entering Nurgle’s domain.
• Alvin showed Winnie the magical inscriptions he had prepared to trade away any diseases, easing some of her anger.
• Count Rot ordered its forces to attack, and Winnie revealed her golden sword and wings as a Living Saint.
• Count Rot unleashed swarms of corpses and flies and opened a ritual rift that poured plague forces and Chaos Space Marines into the hall.
• Ilya struggled to suppress the Warp rift, while Winnie declared she was not alone and summoned black-armored Space Marines who roared, “For Sanguinius!!!”

Garell Grail-Singer unleashed the Black Legion’s Death Company against Fabius’s Chaos Gang, whose warriors were overwhelmed by the Blood Angels’ ferocious assault. Fabius fled through the Warp Rift, leaving Count Rot stunned by the sudden retreat.

• The Chaos Gang emerged before a radiant Living Saint and the black-armored Death Company, whose warriors charged while shouting about Sanguinius and Horus.
• The Death Company charged through the Chaos Gang’s gunfire and toxic weapons, killing its warriors despite their injuries.
• Hektor attacked Fabius with his Thunder Hammer and smashed aside Chaos Space Marines with his bare fists.
• Seeing his forces being slaughtered, Fabius ordered the survivors to retreat through the Warp Rift.
• Alvin was astonished that the Chaos Gang had fled, while Count Rot stood dumbfounded.

Alvin’s forces defeated Count Rot’s daemonic army, and Count Rot revealed that the star chart was hidden in the Fernando Family vault before Winnie killed him. Alvin learned that the chart had led hundreds of expeditions to vanish, and Count Rot hinted that another gift awaited in the vault.

• The Blood Angels routed Count Rot’s daemonic army, suffering heavy casualties and leaving many survivors lost to the Blood Thirst.
• Alvin confronted Count Rot, who accepted defeat and explained that he had planned for worse outcomes but never expected Alvin and the Inquisitor to interfere.
• Alvin refused to approach Count Rot, and Count Rot disclosed that the star chart was in the Fernando Family vault and that Byrne could explain how to open it.
• Count Rot warned that the star chart led only to death and chaos, then said the Fernando Family never lost and that he had left Alvin a gift in the vault.
• Winnie killed Count Rot with her Emperor-empowered blade, leaving Alvin wary of what awaited him in the vault.

Alvin and his allies subdued the frenzied Blood Angels, then opened the Fernando Family vault to find Lillian alive inside. Lillian revealed that Burne had left her as his “gift” and that only she could use the Eternal Forge, leaving Winnie displeased and the Forge’s purpose unresolved.

• Winnie calmed the berserk Blood Angels, and Garell controlled them with blood from the chalice while Alvin had the Dark Angels burn and seal the Garden of Nurgle.
• Alvin confronted Burne Cok, who opened the Fernando Family vault after the Void Dragon admitted he had searched Burne’s mind and tortured him.
• The vault appeared empty until the Void Dragon sensed a human in a hidden chamber, where the group found Lillian chained to a rack.
• The Dark Angels freed and examined Lillian, and Burne gave her medicine so she could explain herself.
• Lillian said she was Burne’s “gift” to Alvin and revealed that she was the only heir authorized to use the Eternal Forge.

Alvin realized Lloyd had arranged for Lillian to preserve the Fernando Family through the Eternal Forge, and he visited the badly injured Aldrich to ask him to spare her in his report. Aldrich agreed in exchange for joining Alvin’s exploration fleet on its voyage to the Dark Zone, leaving Alvin worried about what that would mean for him.

• Alvin learned that the Valshius Family’s star chart was inside the Eternal Forge and understood that Lloyd had made Lillian’s survival necessary to preserve the Fernando Family’s future.
• Lillian remembered confronting Lloyd after he discovered her betrayal, and he accepted that the Fernando Family’s old way of life should end while naming her its foundation for rebirth.
• Alvin visited Aldrich, who was recovering from severe injuries and expected to receive extensive implants and artificial organs.
• Alvin asked Aldrich to omit Lillian Fernando from his report so the Vought would not punish her for the Fernando Family’s crimes.
• Aldrich agreed to help Alvin but asked to join his exploration fleet and travel with him to the Dark Zone.

Alvin learned that Aldrich’s Inquisition mission concerned the same Black Zone expedition as Alvin’s fleet, and that a missing Inquisitor had sent a message apparently twenty years earlier. Aldrich swore not to pursue Alvin’s heretical acts and asked to travel with him to search for Tal Sokenus.

• Alvin panicked when Aldrich hinted that the Inquisition suspected him, but Aldrich said his request was separate from investigating Alvin.
• Aldrich explained that the Inquisition and Valshius were both seeking someone in the Black Zone, and Alvin asked whether an Inquisitor had accompanied his father’s expedition.
• Aldrich described Tal Sokenus’s extreme actions, his departure from the Inquisition, and his joining Valshius’s exploration fleet twenty years earlier.
• Aldrich revealed that the Inquisition had received a Warp Astropathic Message from Tal Sokenus a year ago, though the message was likely sent twenty years earlier.
• Aldrich asked to join Alvin’s fleet on its Black Zone journey, and he swore before the Emperor not to pursue Alvin’s heretical acts.

Alvin prepared his fleet for the journey into the Black Zone and visited Lillian to retrieve the Valshius Family star chart. He discovered that the Eternal Forge was an incomplete Old Ones artifact, while the chart revealed coordinates for an unknown region at the galaxy’s edge.

• Alvin agreed to let Aldrich join the Valshius exploration fleet, and Aldrich swore to keep the secret while awaiting an Inquisition frigate and medical treatment.
• Alvin arranged repairs and resupply at Nomad Port and went to the Fernando Family estate to settle Lillian’s affairs before the fleet departed.
• Lillian reassured Alvin that she was content to be useful to him and said she had retrieved the Valshius Family star chart.
• Alvin examined the Eternal Forge and learned that it was an incomplete Old Ones artifact that could travel through the Warp and form part of the Eternal Star Chart.
• Alvin received the Crimson Yellow Coordinate Navigation Chart, which marked an unknown star region at the edge of the galaxy using Holy Terra’s equator and ecliptic.

Alvin recovered the Valshius Family’s star chart and learned that repeated expeditions to its final coordinate had vanished in the Black Zone. Lillian chose to remain in Nomad Port to rebuild the Fernando Family and support Alvin’s future voyage.

• Alvin received the Crimson Yellow Latitude Longitude Navigation Chart, a vast record of planets, ruins, civilizations, and resources assembled by generations of the Valshius Family.
• Lillian showed Alvin records that the Fernando Family and five Mechanicus exploration fleets had repeatedly disappeared while following the chart’s mysterious route into the Black Zone.
• Alvin welcomed the danger of exploring unknown realms, and Lillian praised his Rogue Trader spirit and wished his fleet a safe return.
• Lillian said she had revoked her authorization for the Eternal Forge and would teach Alvin to control it without her.
• Lillian explained that she would stay in Nomad Port, take over the Fernando Family’s hidden assets, and rebuild the family into Alvin’s strongest support.

Lillian introduced Alvin to Anna Asmodeus, the Night Owl’s countess and a member of the surviving Shadow Dome Council, to establish a new alliance. Alvin agreed to help Anna against a Kabal Archon in exchange for the Night Owl’s aid against his human enemies, then received a system prompt announcing a target world.

• Lillian led Alvin into a reception room and presented Anna Asmodeus, startling him by revealing she was a Dark Eldar.
• Lillian explained that the Shadow Dome Council had survived the destruction of its Daemon-infused Armor factory and had made a new agreement with the Fernando Family.
• Anna revealed that she knew Alvin’s identity and wanted his help turning a Kabal Archon into her slave.
• Anna offered the Night Owl’s help against Alvin’s human enemies in exchange for his help against the Kabal Archon, and Alvin accepted.
• The Navigator system spoke in Alvin’s mind and asked whether he wanted to proceed to a newly discovered target world.

Alvin began exploring a world the Navigator System warned was extremely dangerous and survived an immediate attack by drones using the Void Dragon’s power. He realized he had arrived in the world of Wandering Earth, directly beneath the collapsing space elevator.

• Alvin prepared for a new exploration and received a warning that the world was extremely dangerous.
• After arriving, Alvin used his Energy Shield to withstand explosions, gunfire, and missile strikes.
• Alvin unleashed an electromagnetic pulse to disable the attacking drones, then crushed them into a metal sphere with psychic power.
• Alvin emerged from the smoke and saw the space elevator falling from the sky amid a battle.
• Alvin recognized the world as Wandering Earth and realized he was standing at the center of the space elevator’s impact zone.

Alvin confronted Moss as the Space Elevator collapsed and learned that the AI had classified him as a likely alien invader and ordered humanity to eliminate him. After escaping the impact zone, he decided he needed to win at least one person's trust to survive Moss's coming hunt.

• Alvin accused Moss of plotting against him and asked why it wanted him dead.
• Moss explained that its scans showed Alvin was almost certainly not human and that it considered him a threat to civilization and the Moving Mountains Plan.
• Moss declared that eliminating Alvin would become humanity's highest directive as the Space Elevator fell toward him.
• Alvin used Space Teleportation to escape the impact zone and realized that humanity would soon hunt him.
• Alvin decided he would have to earn humanity's trust, or at least the trust of one person, and thought of someone he could approach.

Alvin decided to approach the United Government for cooperation, but, with time running out, chose to make a dramatic move against MOSS. At the Gabon base, troops mistook an alert about Alvin as a Rebel Army attack and rushed to defend the Planetary Engine.

• Alvin rejected using his weapons to force the United Government into submission and decided to seek out Zhou Zhezhi and Ma Zhao for help against MOSS.
• Alvin noted that the Inquisition's fleet would reach Nomad Port in about thirty days and resolved to lay everything on the table.
• The damaged Gabon Spaceflight Training Base sounded an alarm warning that an unknown life-form was heading for the Planetary Engine.
• The furious combat personnel assumed the Rebel Army was attacking and mobilized to protect the unfinished Planetary Engine.
• Zhang Peng and Nov boarded a fighter as troops, Door Frame Robots, and drones surged toward the Planetary Engine.

Alvin confronted MOSS at the Planetary Engine, neutralized the human forces with an electromagnetic pulse, and forced the AI to back down by revealing a planet-destroying Whirlwind Torpedo. MOSS finally spoke to Alvin directly, who recognized its 550W identity and called it MOSS.

• Zhang Peng, Nov, and the United Government forces arrived at the Planetary Engine and found no Rebel Army, while drones opened fire on their own.
• Alvin emerged from the Planetary Engine and stopped the bullets with an invisible barrier before disabling nearby drones, fighters, weapons, and Door Frame Robots with an Electromagnetic Pulse.
• MOSS locked its weapons onto Alvin and prepared to fire, despite the risk of destroying the Planetary Engine.
• Alvin restored a Whirlwind Torpedo to full size and warned MOSS that it could destroy the planet, prompting the AI to disarm its missiles.
• MOSS spoke through a Door Frame Robot, and Alvin identified it as 550W before calling it MOSS.

Alvin confronted the United Human Government and MOSS, demanding talks and threatening humanity. After demonstrating his power by destroying the summit of a mountain, he persuaded MOSS to agree to negotiate.

• Alvin concluded that MOSS had received information from the future to guide its evolution.
• Alvin identified himself as a Rogue Trader and demanded talks with the United Human Government within twenty-four hours, openly threatening humanity.
• MOSS agreed to relay Alvin's demands and recognized that his missile could destroy a planet.
• Alvin used a rune-engraved spear and psychic power to destroy the summit of the Bongouès Mountains.
• Alvin claimed that an Alpha Plus Psyker could crush the sun and said he had two top-tier Psykers.
• MOSS agreed to hold talks with Alvin.

The United Human Government sent five representatives to Gabon to negotiate with Alvin, a dangerous extraterrestrial trader offering help with humanity’s coming crisis in exchange for resources. At the first meeting, Alvin openly admitted he was biased against four of the representatives, leaving them stunned.

• The United Human Government judged Alvin an extreme threat and chose representatives from five great powers to negotiate with him at the Gabon Aerospace Training Base.
• Zhou Zhezhi traveled to Gabon with his student Hao Xiaoxi, joined by Mike Wilson, Isabelle Leclerc, Arthur Cavendish, and Grigori Voronin.
• Zhou Zhezhi insisted on walking into the Planetary Engine meeting despite his wheelchair, calling it humanity’s first meeting with an extraterrestrial.
• Alvin introduced himself as a Rogue Trader representing the Imperium of Man and offered to resolve the solar crisis and help humanity find a new home in exchange for resources.
• After Zhou Zhezhi said Xia Nation could survive without Alvin’s help, Alvin praised its people but suggested the other four nations might not fare as well.
• Arthur Cavendish challenged Alvin’s apparent prejudice, and Alvin bluntly admitted he was biased against them.

Alvin offered Earth advanced technology in exchange for joining the Human Alliance and Holy Terra Council, explaining that he came from humanity’s future in a parallel universe. He showed the ambassadors the wars threatening humanity, leaving them shaken by the brutal future awaiting mankind.

• Alvin revealed that another intelligent life form had infiltrated human databases and that MOSS had been unable to stop it.
• Alvin offered help with atmospheric transformation, stellar energy capture, and automated industry in exchange for taxes, membership in the Human Alliance and Holy Terra Council, and military service.
• Alvin explained that he was a human from the future of a parallel universe, not a time traveler.
• Alvin described the 40th Millennium as a future of endless war and named the Tyranids, Orks, Chaos Gods, Eldar, and Necrons as humanity’s enemies.
• Alvin showed the ambassadors a battle against the Tyranids, and they clenched their fists as they watched human forces being slaughtered.

Alvin showed Zhou Zhezhi and the other representatives the Krieg Death Korps’ child soldiers and described twelve thousand years of war against the Xenos, urging humanity to unite in the Holy Terra Alliance Council. After the representatives left to consider his proposal, MOSS deduced that Alvin had concealed how powerful the Imperium of Man was.

• The representatives watched Krieg soldiers charge the Tyranid Swarm and learned that many were children conscripted as part of the Krieg’s tax to the Imperium.
• Alvin told Zhou Zhezhi, Mike, Arthur, and the others that humanity had endured twelve thousand years of war, including battles involving hundreds of billions or trillions of people.
• Arthur asked what would happen if humanity lost, and Alvin urged humanity to form the Holy Terra Alliance Council and resist the Xenos.
• Zhou Zhezhi thanked Alvin but said the representatives needed to discuss the proposal before giving an answer, and they departed.
• MOSS confronted Alvin with its deduction that humanity could not be as weak as his description suggested, and Alvin confirmed he had concealed the Imperium’s strength.

After forcing the United Human Government to cooperate and placing MOSS under Cybertron’s control, Alvin learned that a vast alien object was approaching Earth. A frightened blue-skinned girl from Eridanus then warned that the Devourers were coming.

• Alvin made the United Human Government join the Holy Terra Council by presenting cooperation as its only chance to survive.
• MOSS joined the Cybertron Intelligence Protocol and gained access to far greater computing power.
• MOSS interrupted Alvin’s basketball game with Liu Peiqiang and Zhang Peng to report a fifty-thousand-kilometer ring-shaped object approaching Earth.
• Alvin learned the object was likely an alien artifact and ordered MOSS to notify the United Human Government.
• MOSS received a holographic transmission from Eridanus, and Alvin understood the blue-skinned girl’s warning: the Devourers were coming.