Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• After an apparent breakdown in negotiations, Red Dragon’s fleet retreats from Black Sail and announces it will join the Gold Coin Pirate Gang, hoping to escape destruction.
• Golden Dagger, head of the supposedly neutral Gold Coin gang, briefly considers the valuable fleets and Legendary Mechas he might gain, but suspects Red Dragon is trying to offload his problems. He refuses the surrender, orders his forces to full alert, and warns Flint that he will stay out of the war.
• As Black Sail pursues Red Dragon toward the gang’s industrial base, Dragon Cavalry’s fleet appears from the north. Golden Dagger’s warnings go unheeded: Red Dragon enters the gang’s weapons perimeter claiming to surrender, and Dragon Cavalry joins him in attacking the base.
• Golden Dagger opens fire, turning the attempted “surrender” into a battle. He then offers to ally with Black Sail against the Twin Dragons, but receives no response.
• Black Sail advances from the west while Dragon Cavalry attacks from the north and Red Dragon presses from the south. Golden Dagger realizes the three fleets may have coordinated all along: the Gold Coin Pirate Gang was their real target.

Character developments

• Golden Dagger shifts from cautious neutrality to anger and desperate resistance as the conflict is forced onto him. His growing unease proves justified when he recognizes the possibility of a coordinated trap.
• Red Dragon appears to seek refuge by offering to join the Gold Coin gang, but after Golden Dagger rejects him, he retaliates rather than surrendering.
• Flint / Black Sail remains silent when Golden Dagger offers cooperation, deepening suspicion that Black Sail’s pursuit may be part of a larger plan.

Character interactions

• Red Dragon appeals to Flint for mercy, then announces his supposed intention to join Golden Dagger.
• Golden Dagger rejects Red Dragon’s offer and warns all fleets to remain outside his territory.
• Red Dragon responds to the gang’s warning with a call to arms; Dragon Cavalry joins his attack.
• Golden Dagger tries to enlist Black Sail against the Twin Dragons, but Flint does not answer.

Significant themes

• Deception and misdirection: The apparent surrender and pursuit may conceal a plan to draw Golden Dagger into the conflict.
• The cost of neutrality: Golden Dagger’s attempts to stay uninvolved fail once the fighting reaches his base.
• Trust and suspicion: Every offer and movement becomes suspect as the battle’s true target emerges.
• Escalating consequences: A local clash spirals into a major assault on the Gold Coin gang’s wealth and power.

Key plot points and events

• Black Sail attacks the Gold Coin Pirate Gang alongside two other pirate forces, rapidly breaching its defenses. Golden Dagger rallies his outnumbered troops with promises of reinforcements and increased compensation.
• Black Sail’s leader, Flint, orders his forces to limit casualties and mainly pin down Gold Coin. He explains that he joined the Dragon Cavalry and the others because Gold Coin may be secretly aligned with the Dark God Temple or Kalon—and poses a greater threat than Red Dragon.
• Flint acknowledges that the Ghost Captain’s intervention disrupted his plans, but remains skeptical that the newcomer has the strength to claim a place among the Seven Great Pirate Gangs.
• Nie Yun decides not to wait for the other factions to test his strength. He orders the Ghost Knight Corps to attack using an arrow-shaped formation of tens of thousands of asteroids aimed at Gold Coin’s base.
• Golden Dagger recognizes the eastern assault as a diversion and commits his remaining 50,000 reserve mechas to defend that approach.
• Gold Coin’s missiles initially break apart the formation’s leading asteroids. Then hundreds of thousands of miniature interceptor drones emerge, remotely guided to destroy a later missile salvo. The asteroid formation continues advancing, despite heavy losses, as the chapter ends with the hidden “Ghost” nearing its target.

Character developments and interactions

• Golden Dagger shifts from stunned panic to determined crisis management, but his options narrow as the three-front assault and eastern threat strain his forces.
• Flint reveals himself as a calculating strategist: he prefers temporary cooperation over a mutually damaging fight and views Gold Coin as a hidden, potentially powerful rival. He is also wary of Nie Yun, though he intends to judge him by force.
• Nie Yun demonstrates confidence and strategic patience, using the attack not only to threaten Gold Coin but also to prove the Ghost Pirate Gang’s capabilities to its prospective allies.
• Codename supports Nie Yun in a formal, disciplined officer role, while his private amusement at her manner hints at their familiarity.

Significant themes

• Power and credibility: Pirate alliances rest on demonstrated strength; promises mean little without the force to back them.
• Pragmatic, shifting loyalties: Flint treats enemies and allies as temporary categories shaped by interest.
• Strategy through deception and adaptation: Diversions, concealed weapons, and the asteroid formation compensate for the Ghost Pirate Gang’s lack of large warships.
• Technology as a force multiplier: Inexpensive, mass-produced drones and AI-guided targeting turn an unconventional formation into a serious assault.

Plot and events

• Golden Fang returns to the Ghost Pirate Gang’s base with supplies and learns that Nie Yun has taken nearly everyone on a major raid. Relieved that the gang may finally be going after a lucrative target, Golden Fang orders liquor to celebrate.
• The scene shifts to the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s heavily defended base, Starlink. Nie Yun’s meteorite formation has been battered down to its final section, but it conceals hundreds of electromagnetic launch rails.
• The rails fire 50,000 miniature “Little Black” combat robots—players in a closed beta—toward the base at more than Mach 10. Their mission is to penetrate the defenses and attack from within, avoiding the enormous cost of sending mecha.
• The Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s mechas, antiaircraft lasers, and EMP weapons devastate the assault. Fewer than 10,000 robots survive the crossing. The survivors grapple onto Starlink, use disposable jetpacks to blast through its outer armor, and begin infiltrating the base.

Character developments and interactions

• Golden Fang is encouraged by the prospect of a major raid, having grown concerned about the gang’s rising expenses and Nie Yun’s reluctance to seek new targets.
• Nie Yun shows strategic ingenuity: he uses small, hard-to-target robots for a high-risk decapitation strike rather than committing expensive, vulnerable mecha.
• Lancelot survives the approach and quickly demonstrates practical battlefield instincts, using his jetpack as a breaching charge before crawling into the base.
• The Knights of the Round Table suffer heavy losses: only three of their twelve main combat members survive the initial attack, including neither their commander, Arthur.
• The attackers and defenders interact mainly through combat: the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s commander orders interception, while the robot players endure successive layers of fire to reach the base.

Significant themes

• War’s cost and risk: The assault sacrifices most of its force to achieve a foothold.
• Innovation and adaptation: Nie Yun’s miniature robots and disposable equipment offer a different answer to the base’s formidable defenses.
• Luck versus skill: Even elite fighters cannot reliably survive the crossing; Lancelot recognizes that luck is as important as ability.
• Gaming blended with warfare: The robots are controlled by selected beta players, turning a dangerous military operation into a trial for a future elite force.

Key plot points and events

• Lancelot, a player-controlled robot, barely slips through a closing airlock and incapacitates two pirates guarding the passage.
• He hacks a nearby terminal, downloads a small portion of the base map, and shares the information with the allied force. Nie Yun’s experience with Wulf Empire technology makes the hack routine.
• Lancelot encounters three heavy unmanned armor units and dozens of infantry. Rather than risk a direct fight, he uses specialized jammer smoke grenades to blind and confuse them.
• As the ventilation system clears the smoke, he slips into a vent and escapes, demonstrating how player-controlled robots can outmaneuver stronger automated enemies.
• He later emerges in another passage and meets the Chinese player Black Pineapple, who warns him about a laser corridor. Two of Black Pineapple’s companions have already been sliced apart by it.

Character developments

• Lancelot/Nie Yun: Shows quick reflexes, tactical restraint, and strong knowledge of enemy technology. He prioritizes the mission over fighting unnecessary battles and adapts readily to changing conditions.
• Black Pineapple: Appears to have been waiting near the laser corridor and is deeply affected by the loss of his companions, though his solemn account is undercut by the confusing translated names.

Character interactions

• Lancelot greets and defeats the two pirates, then communicates with allied players through the shared combat network.
• He avoids engaging the larger pirate force through deception and stealth rather than brute strength.
• Black Pineapple briefs Lancelot on the laser corridor and introduces his fallen teammates. Lancelot’s confusion over their transliterated names creates the scene’s comic ending.

Significant themes

• Adaptability over raw power: The lighter player-controlled robots survive by using creativity and flexibility against superior weapons.
• Teamwork and shared intelligence: Map data and allied positions help coordinate the broader assault.
• Technology as both weapon and vulnerability: The pirates’ sensors are defeated by a jammer designed to disrupt multiple detection systems.
• Humor amid danger: The deadly mission is punctuated by Lancelot’s frustration with translation software and unintelligible character names.

Plot points and events

• Lancelot and Black Pineapple hear a large force approaching and take cover as their pursuers fire. They use Wulf Empire No. 7 bombs to collapse part of the passage, temporarily blocking the enemy—and their own retreat.
• The passage ahead is protected by a laser trap. Unable to hack its manual controls, they avoid destroying the whole route and instead shoot apart its concealed power lines, advancing through the hazard.
• Along the way, they salvage weapons and supplies from fallen comrades. Black Pineapple replaces his damaged arm with one taken from a wreck, since the robots’ standardized parts are interchangeable.
• The pair reach a fierce battle in progress. Seven “Little Black” robots are defending a special, heavily armored unit marked with a red “4”: a rare demolition-focused robot called C4.

Character developments and interactions

• Lancelot is bold and improvisational, suggesting they blast through obstacles; Black Pineapple is more cautious and explains the dangers of the exterior defenses. They ultimately cooperate, fighting side by side.
• Black Pineapple adapts to losing an arm by replacing it from a fallen comrade, while both he and Lancelot honor the dead—though with theatrical, humorous gestures.
• Their looting reinforces their practical, battlefield-minded camaraderie: they treat fallen comrades’ usable equipment as a way to keep the surviving force fighting.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and resourcefulness: The two combine firepower, explosives, and quick thinking to overcome traps and pursue a dangerous route.
• Sacrifice and persistence: Fallen robots’ parts and equipment help the survivors continue, giving the army a literal form of resilience.
• Humor amid danger: Casual jokes, playful references, and mock solemnity contrast with the intense combat.
• The cost of survival: The protagonists make progress, but the passage is littered with wreckage and casualties.

Character interactions

Lancelot and Black Pineapple trade jokes and tactical arguments, then coordinate their advance. They share a brief, playful memorial for their fallen comrades before pressing on toward the endangered C4 unit.

Key plot points and events

• Lancelot and Black Pineapple join a beleaguered allied squad near the mission rendezvous. The Tactical Assistance System analyzes the battlefield and assigns roles, prioritizing the safe escape of C4 over defeating the enemy.
• The two use smoke grenades to disrupt enemy fire. Black Pineapple lures a Chainsaw Maniac while the squad concentrates armor-piercing fire on it. Though badly injured, he survives long enough for the allies to destroy the Powered Armor.
• Lancelot throws a powerful No. 5 Bomb at the remaining enemies, but a defensive force field contains the blast. He is then killed by enemy fire and discovers C4 has already slipped away.
• The surviving allies charge the remaining Chainsaw Maniacs to buy C4 time. They suffer heavy losses, but C4 reaches the mission marker, completing the objective.
• The mission awards Lancelot 50 combat merit points, raises his pirate class level, and grants him the title “Pirate Lieutenant.” A later blast engulfs the battlefield.
• Afterward, silver spider-like machines emerge from the wreckage, repair a damaged Chainsaw Maniac, and set off through another passage.

Character development and interactions

• Lancelot and Black Pineapple quickly coordinate under pressure, trusting one another’s actions. Their joking exchange about meeting for drinks—and using real names next time—shows their camaraderie despite the danger.
• Black Pineapple willingly serves as bait and continues to evade the enemy even after losing limbs, helping the squad bring it down.
• The allied squad accepts the system’s sacrificial strategy, fighting on despite scarce ammunition so C4 can escape. Their willingness to give their lives underscores their commitment to the mission.

Significant themes

• Mission success over survival: The battle’s real goal is C4’s escape, not victory or the survival of every fighter.
• Technology and teamwork: The Tactical Assistance System turns battlefield data into coordinated action, but human judgment, trust, and sacrifice remain essential.
• Resilience and uncertainty: The apparent destruction of the enemy forces is unsettled by the silver machines’ ability to repair and revive a damaged unit.

Plot points and events

• The Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s base comes under a devastating, coordinated assault. Explosions destroy an energy node and disable defensive installations, while infiltrating robots sabotage vital areas from within.
• Golden Dagger is alarmed by the robots’ unconventional tactics: they use ventilation ducts, pretend to be disabled, and take pirates hostage. Their apparent judgment and ingenuity make him suspect they are more than ordinary machines.
• His subordinates assure him that the central asteroid is heavily armored, protected by guarded passages, and equipped with a powerful shield. Golden Dagger believes he can hold out until reinforcements arrive.
• He tries to work out why Black Sail and the Twin Dragons have united against him, and concludes that an unknown faction must be leading the eastern assault.
• When thirty thousand mecha emerge from the asteroid swarm—many modeled on Gold Coin’s own “Bronze” designs and marked with a ghost-ship emblem—Golden Dagger decides he has solved the mystery. He identifies the attackers as the Ghost Pirate Gang, or the “All Things Unity Society.”
• His conclusion is built on incomplete and misleading information: Golden Fang had passed off Nie Yun’s casual bluff as classified intelligence. The chapter closes with comic dramatic irony, suggesting Golden Dagger has mistaken a sliver of truth for a complete explanation.

Character development and interactions

• Golden Dagger shifts from fury at the damage to confidence in his fortress, then to anxious suspicion and finally to triumphant certainty that he has uncovered the conspiracy. His confidence is misplaced, as the reader is told he does not know how badly he has misread the situation.
• Golden Dagger and his subordinates: A subordinate reports the damage and later reassures him that the core asteroid is secure. Golden Dagger accepts the reassurance and relies on the defenses he has invested in.
• Golden Fang, Nie Yun, and Golden Dagger: Though absent from the scene, their indirect interaction drives the misunderstanding: Golden Fang has turned Nie Yun’s bluff into supposed intelligence, shaping Golden Dagger’s interpretation of the attack.
• The invading robots are portrayed as resourceful and unpredictable, unsettling the pirates by behaving in ways Golden Dagger thinks ordinary machines should not.

Significant themes

• Intelligence versus brute force: The robots’ tactics matter more than their individual combat strength, exposing the limits of Golden Dagger’s expectations.
• Deception and mistaken certainty: Golden Dagger pieces together real clues but reaches an overconfident, incomplete conclusion.
• Security and vulnerability: A fortress built to withstand direct attacks is still vulnerable to infiltration, sabotage, and coordinated pressure.
• Comic dramatic irony: Golden Dagger believes he has uncovered a grand hidden plot, while the reader knows his supposed intelligence rests on a bluff and a chain of miscommunication.

Key plot points and events

• Spartacus leads the Ryan Race’s elite mecha force, the Doomhammer Corps, out from cover and launches a missile barrage against the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s disorganized reserve forces.
• Although most missiles are intercepted, damage to the base’s defenses lets the remaining missiles disrupt the enemy formation. The Ryan warriors then charge into battle despite being outnumbered.
• The Gold Coin leader, Golden Dagger, recognizes that many of the attacking Bronze Mecha are copies his gang recently sold to the Ghost Pirate Gang—including units still bearing its marks.
• He realizes the Ghost Pirate Gang owes him money for the weapons and has also taken out a large secured loan for more supplies. As the Ghost forces attack his gang, Golden Dagger concludes the debt is unlikely to be repaid and orders every available force to destroy them.

Character developments

• Spartacus has become a confident commander, leading his people with pride and fierce resolve. Thoughts of the safe, happy lives of the Ryan Race’s children reinforce his determination to fight.
• Golden Dagger shifts from confusion to fury as he understands that his own weapons and credit have helped arm the force attacking him.

Character interactions

• Spartacus rallies his warriors with a call to fight for Ryan, and they answer together, united in their new identity.
• Golden Dagger’s subordinates notice the familiar mecha but do not understand why he is enraged. He alone grasps that the Ghost Pirate Gang has effectively turned a creditor’s own merchandise against him.

Significant themes

• A transformed identity: The Ryan warriors have moved from slavery and desperate survival to paid service as “pirate mercenaries,” with homes, education, medical care, and benefits for their families.
• Belonging and purpose: Better conditions and a cause to fight for give the warriors renewed pride and solidarity.
• Criminal irony and debt: The title’s dark joke captures the Ghost Captain’s apparent strategy: rather than repay a debt, eliminate the creditor.

Plot points and events

• Golden Dagger’s forces struggle against the Ryan Race, whose fighters are more experienced, disciplined, and skilled. Despite having superior equipment, the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s reserve units are overwhelmed by coordinated attacks and battlefield guidance from Codename’s tactical network.
• As enemy mecha advance toward his asteroid, Golden Dagger orders its connecting passages closed and activates a powerful shield, isolating the central asteroid.
• Meanwhile, Nie Yun secretly takes control of powered armor and Chainsaw Maniacs, assembling an eleven-unit team. They infiltrate a passage leading to the central control room, trick the guards, and destroy two Mechanical Guards.
• The team uses coordinated formations and silver spiders to restrain successive groups of enemies while pushing forward. One by one, the Chainsaw Maniacs are lost, leaving only the “Quarterback” unit.
• With the control-room door closing and enemies blocking its path, Nie Yun launches a spinning silver sphere—his “Super Bouncy Spiral Bug Ball.” It ricochets through the narrowing gap and lands on the console just as the door shuts, leaving Golden Dagger stunned.

Character developments

• Golden Dagger shifts from furious confidence to alarm as his troops falter and intruders breach the central asteroid. His authority remains intimidating, but his dependence on subordinates and defenses is exposed.
• Nie Yun shows tactical ingenuity and a playful, theatrical streak, using misdirection, remotely controlled machines, and an unconventional final throw rather than relying on direct force.
• Spartacus fights as a disciplined member of the Ryan Race force, following precise shared battlefield commands and supporting the larger operation.
• The Ryan Race warriors are shown as capable, coordinated soldiers, in contrast to the less experienced Gold Coin pirates.

Significant themes

• Training and coordination can outweigh equipment: the pirates’ better gear cannot compensate for weak experience and discipline.
• Technology as a force multiplier: AI coordination, tactical analysis, and remote control give relatively small forces extraordinary effectiveness.
• Adaptability and deception: Nie Yun turns enemy machines and expectations against the defenders.
• Humor amid danger: the exaggerated name and baseball-style delivery of the final weapon contrast with the serious battle.

Character interactions

• Golden Dagger berates a subordinate over the failing defense, then orders the central asteroid sealed and shielded.
• Ryan Race fighters protect one another and act in coordinated groups, while Spartacus follows the AI’s instructions to cooperate with the main force.
• Nie Yun’s controlled Chainsaw Maniacs fool and then overwhelm the guards; their relentless advance forces the defenders back toward the control room.
• At the climax, Nie Yun’s last unit delivers the sphere past the closing door, confronting Golden Dagger with an apparent threat inside his supposedly secure command center.

Plot points and events

• Nie Yun’s plan is to use the meteorite formation for a surprise approach, disable the base’s defenses with Remote Robots, and send his mecha legion in as a distraction while a small squad captures the enemy leader.
• A miniature werewolf-shaped robot reaches the control room inside a silver sphere. When a pirate shoots at it, its tiny energy shield blocks the beam. Nie Yun warns the room that the robot is explosive, forcing the pirates to stand down.
• Nie Yun confronts Commander Golden Dagger and asks why the Gold Coin Pirate Gang helped the Locke Conglomerate. Golden Dagger’s reaction confirms a connection, but each man misunderstands what the other knows.
• Nie Yun fears the gang may be tied to powerful forces, possibly even the second prince. Golden Dagger, meanwhile, assumes Nie Yun belongs to a vast secret organization called the All Things Unity Society, with spies inside the Empire and ambitions for the throne.
• Believing he must protect the prince and reveal nothing, Golden Dagger takes poison and dies before Nie Yun can ask for the base AI’s startup password.
• The other pirates interpret the death as proof of Nie Yun’s terrifying skill at interrogation. Nie Yun can only insist—without being believed—that he wanted the password.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun shows strategic skill and technological ingenuity, but his bluffing and the rumors around him repeatedly produce unintended consequences. He is privately anxious about the powerful enemy he may have provoked.
• Golden Dagger begins composed and wary, then becomes convinced that Nie Yun’s supposed organization poses a threat to the Empire. His loyalty and fear drive him to suicide rather than risk exposing secrets.
• The pirates move from frozen terror to submission, then mistake Golden Dagger’s death for a deliberate result of Nie Yun’s verbal intimidation.
• Codename, observing the encounter, records the incident as Nie Yun’s “Werewolf Kill” achievement—an exaggerated account of an outcome Nie Yun never intended.

Significant themes

• Miscommunication and dramatic irony: Both men draw wildly different conclusions from the same exchange, and their mistaken assumptions turn a simple request into a fatal event.
• Reputation and unintended influence: Nie Yun’s intimidating image gives his words more power than he intends, while Golden Fang’s supposed organizational identity makes the “All Things Unity Society” seem real.
• Loyalty and secrecy: Golden Dagger chooses death over the possibility of revealing information that could endanger the prince.
• Comedy amid danger: The deadly misunderstanding is undercut by Nie Yun’s genuine, mundane goal—obtaining a password—and by Codename’s grandiose retelling.

Plot points and events

• After Golden Dagger’s death, Nie Yun gains control of the base’s defenses by forcing the gang’s third- and fourth-in-command to surrender their access privileges.
• The base’s surviving guns stop firing on the attackers and turn against their own defenders. Nie Yun sends a surrender order, claiming the boss’s negotiations have failed and promising prisoners humane treatment.
• Already surrounded, outnumbered, and demoralized, the defenders quickly lay down their weapons. Spartacus’s forces take custody of them and secure the defensive positions.
• More than a hundred Ghost Pirate Gang ships enter the docks. Led by the three brothers in their “EVERYTHING”-branded Mithril Knights, the pirates launch a full-scale looting operation against the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s base.
• They strip warehouses, dismantle production equipment, seize ships, collect weapons and energy supplies, and even haul away server hardware and technicians.
• Meanwhile, the Black Sail fleet notices that fighting on the eastern front has suddenly stopped. Its leaders mistakenly assume the Ghost Pirate Gang has surrendered—until a report clarifies that the Gold Coin Pirate Gang was the one that gave up.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun shows resourcefulness: unable to hack the base’s defenses quickly, he secures access through the captured officers, then uses the names of Black Sail and Twin Dragons to make surrender seem less humiliating to the defenders.
• The captured gang officers choose self-preservation over loyalty and hand over their control privileges.
• The defenders abandon resistance once they realize their leadership has surrendered and their position is hopeless.
• The three brothers take command of the plundering with theatrical enthusiasm, turning the raid into a coordinated operation.
• Flint and his adjutant misread events and mock the Ghost Pirate Gang for supposedly folding. Their confidence collapses into awkward silence when they learn the Gold Coin gang actually surrendered.

Significant themes

• Deception and information control: Nie Yun’s false framing and control of the base’s systems make surrender possible without winning a conventional battle.
• Self-preservation over loyalty: The defenders and officers quickly switch sides when resistance appears futile.
• Greed and opportunity: The pirates’ excitement at looting the region’s richest gang reveals how strongly wealth motivates them.
• Appearances can mislead: The Black Sail leaders draw the wrong conclusion from the sudden silence, while the supposed surrender turns out to be an unexpected victory.

Chapter Summary

Plot and events

• The Ghost Pirate Gang unexpectedly enters the Gold Coin Pirate Gang’s base after forcing part of its eastern defenders to surrender. The other pirate leaders realize Nie Yun has gained an enormous head start on the spoils and intensify their attacks on the remaining fronts.
• As the Gold Coin defenders begin to panic, Nie Yun remotely puppeteers the dead Golden Dagger through tiny silver threads. Using Golden Dagger’s voice and authority, he orders a fighting retreat and takes control of the gang’s defense systems.
• Nie Yun manipulates the battlefield to slow Black Sail and the Madmen, directing especially accurate fire at their fleets, while allowing the Twin Dragons and Dragon Cavalry to advance with fewer losses.
• Flint confronts Nie Yun over the suspiciously selective resistance. Nie Yun denies targeting him, though he admits to hacking the base systems. Red Dragon and Messiah defend Nie Yun, arguing that each faction’s gains depend on its own abilities; the Madmen leader also objects that the others helped keep Gold Coin occupied.
• To explain why only the eastern defenses have fallen, Nie Yun invents a technical excuse: Gold Coin’s AI is split into four supposedly independent “blocks,” named after Hogwarts houses. He claims he has breached only Gryffindor, leaving the other leaders baffled.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun reveals his control over Golden Dagger and the base’s systems, combining battlefield strategy, manipulation, and shameless improvisation. He quietly favors his allies while hindering Flint, then lies smoothly when challenged.
• Flint recognizes the battlefield pattern and directly accuses Nie Yun, showing his suspicion and concern that Black Sail is being deliberately disadvantaged.
• Red Dragon and Messiah back Nie Yun, partly out of alliance loyalty and partly because they prefer the Ghost Pirate Gang to gain the spoils rather than Black Sail.
• The Madmen leader voices resentment that the Ghost Pirate Gang is benefiting from the others’ efforts; he also appears physically recovered after treatment.
• Golden Dagger’s lifeless body, manipulated as a puppet, horrifies the command-room witnesses and highlights Nie Yun’s unsettling methods.

Significant themes

• Deception and control: Nie Yun uses a dead leader’s body, hacked systems, and fabricated explanations to shape both the battle and its interpretation.
• Rivalry beneath cooperation: The pirate gangs are nominally allied, but each seeks advantage and wealth, and their temporary alliances are fragile.
• Information asymmetry and comic bluffing: Nie Yun’s technical jargon leaves the others unable to challenge his explanation, turning a serious dispute into an absurd joke.

Plot points and events

• Nie Yun faces Flint’s demand to negotiate the division of spoils after the assault on the Gold Coin Pirate Gang. Flint argues that the Ghost Captain broke into the base first, but the other gangs tied down most of its defenders and deserve a share.
• Nie Yun proposes one hour to loot the base, then offers to forgo a share of Gold Coin’s businesses in Shattered Star City. The other gangs can divide those more valuable, lasting assets instead. Flint, the Twin Dragons, and Madmen agree.
• Nie Yun leaves the group call to organize his crew’s haul. His Ghost Pirate Gang is already overloaded with captured ships, weapons, and supplies, and lacks the capacity to take over Gold Coin’s city businesses.
• Back in Gold Coin’s command room, Nie Yun realizes his call was still on speakerphone. The pirates have overheard his dealings with the rival leaders. He hints that they now know too much, terrifying them into offering to persuade the remaining fleet to surrender.
• The Gold Coin leaders contact their commanders and use personal favors, family ties, and even blackmail to urge them to give up.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun shows tactical restraint: rather than press for every possible prize, he trades a short-term share of the base’s loot for the long-term burden of Gold Coin’s businesses, which his gang cannot yet manage. He also uses the command-room pirates’ fear to his advantage.
• Flint recognizes Nie Yun’s strength but still tries to protect his own gang’s interests and drive a wedge between Nie Yun and the Twin Dragons. He accepts the compromise when the city businesses seem more valuable.
• Red Dragon and Messiah initially stay quiet over the division, reflecting their need for the spoils, but support Flint’s agreement.
• The Gold Coin pirates go from stunned and frightened to desperately cooperative, scrambling to secure the fleet’s surrender.

Significant themes

• Power and negotiation: In the pirate world, a claim to the spoils rests on strength, but alliances and bargaining shape how that strength is used.
• Pragmatism over greed: Nie Yun knows his gang cannot absorb everything at once and prioritizes what it can actually handle.
• Fear as leverage: The command-room pirates’ fear turns them into useful intermediaries.
• Dark comedy: Nie Yun’s accidental speakerphone “mistake” and the leaders’ increasingly shameless pleas create an absurd contrast with the danger of the situation.

Key plot points and events

• The Ghost Pirate Gang keeps its agreement to withdraw from Gold Coin Base, but leaves with an enormous haul: nearly a hundred freighters, substantial cargo, and close to three hundred Gold Coin warships.
• Much of the surviving Gold Coin fleet surrenders to the Ghost Pirate Gang rather than to the established pirate powers. Nie Yun’s ships evade retaliation by withdrawing behind the Twin Dragons fleet, making an attack risky for Flint’s Black Sail Camp.
• The remaining Gold Coin forces surrender. The rival gangs seize prisoners and divide the base’s remaining supplies, finding far more wealth than expected.
• Nie Yun’s operation dramatically transforms his gang: its fleet grows from roughly a hundred vessels to more than five hundred, and it gains a fortune and a path toward a seat among the Seven Great Pirates.
• The victory carries serious risks. The gang’s new recruits are unreliable, its overloaded ships are slow, and its combat readiness is poor. Gold Coin’s approaching reinforcements also mean the conflict is not over.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun proves adept at planning, alliance-building, and exploiting chaos. He anticipates Flint’s possible treachery and positions his fleet to deter an attack. Despite his success, he recognizes how vulnerable his gang has become and focuses on shoring up its forces.
• Flint is furious that the Ghost Pirate Gang has taken ships he expected to claim. He considers striking back but holds off because the Ghost Pirate Gang’s position and the risk of restarting a war make it impractical. He orders his troops to take the remaining surrendering pirates and joins the other gangs in looting the base.
• The rival pirate leaders compete to recruit Gold Coin officers and divide the spoils, but restrain themselves from open conflict while plundering.
• Gold Coin’s surviving crews choose to surrender, with many joining Nie Yun’s gang and the rest falling into the hands of the other powers.

Significant themes

• Opportunity and risk: Nie Yun’s bold maneuver brings extraordinary wealth and power, but also exposes his gang to envy, retaliation, and military danger.
• Shifting loyalties: Gold Coin’s fleet changes hands as its former members seek survival, showing how quickly allegiance can shift when a faction is defeated.
• Power through strategy: Nie Yun’s gains come less from overwhelming strength than from timing, negotiation, and positioning.
• Wealth as a burden: The haul makes the Ghost Pirate Gang powerful but cumbersome, while also making it a tempting target.

The Scorched-Earth Squad’s raid on the Gold Coin Pirate Gang yields an enormous haul: over 50,000 mechas, infantry gear, weapons, industrial machinery, hundreds of ships, and a fortune in valuables and energy crystals worth an estimated 30–40 billion shattered star credits.
Nie Yun sees the industrial equipment and captured ships as more valuable than the cash. His advanced technology and the Mechanical Insects could turn the Ghost Pirate Gang into a major industrial base beyond the Solar System, while the 300-plus warships and cargo ships solve its critical shortage of mobility and lay the groundwork for a powerful Ghost Fleet. Energy Crystal Charging Technology also promises a growing source of wealth, though current output remains limited by the energy required.
The surrendered Gold Coin ships are then systematically taken over. Player-controlled Little Black robots secure vital systems and remove the pirates from the bridges, where a specialist group of skilled virtual fleet commanders takes control. Their leader, “C4,” rallies the group—known as the Boundless Fleet School—to prove their worth after the ground-combat players have completed their part.
Character and group developments: Nie Yun shifts his focus from immediate loot to long-term industrial and military strength, while recognizing that his earlier concern over modest procurement costs was shortsighted. The players reveal distinct specialties: one group excels at boarding and combat, while the Boundless Fleet School focuses on piloting and coordinated fleet command.
Themes: The chapter emphasizes the strategic value of industrial capacity, technology, and mobility over money alone. It also highlights specialization, teamwork, and the conversion of virtual-game expertise into practical real-world capability.

Key plot points and events

• After surrendering, the pirates worry that the Ghost Captain’s Machine Race robots will treat them as disposable organic matter. Their captain discourages rebellion, warning that the robots and Mecha could easily overpower them.
• A pirate vouches for the Ghost Captain, citing a friend who found better work and improved benefits in his gang. The former captives agree to wait and see whether their new situation is really so bad.
• At the hangar, players surround the returning Ryan Race warriors, admiring their strength and discussing them as potential recruits or “elite NPCs.”
• Spartacus returns from battle and is startled by the robots’ suddenly lively behavior. These are the fewer than five thousand survivors of a decapitation mission that began with fifty thousand units. Despite their enormous losses, the players’ morale remains high.
• When a player recognizes Spartacus as a “golden NPC,” the surrounding players erupt with excitement.

Character developments and interactions

• The pirate captain tries to preserve his authority by confidently portraying the robots as advanced Machine Race technology, though their chaotic behavior confuses him too.
• The pirates shift from fear and suspicion toward cautious optimism after hearing that the Ghost Captain’s faction offers safety and decent conditions.
• Spartacus, an exhausted Ryan Race warrior who covered the retreat, encounters the players’ exuberant attention and is left bewildered.
• The players treat both the robots and Ryan warriors less like ordinary soldiers and more like game characters to inspect, befriend, or recruit.

Significant themes

• Fear versus reputation: Empire propaganda has taught the pirates to fear the Machine Race, but personal testimony offers a more reassuring picture.
• Players’ unconventional mindset: The players remain enthusiastic despite catastrophic losses, viewing danger and casualties through the lens of a game.
• Clashing perspectives: Pirates and warriors see the robots as military forces, while players see them as lively units and valuable NPCs.
• The ordinary made exceptional: Robots once regarded as mere guards have proved decisive in battle, changing how others judge their capabilities.

Plot points and events

• After the robots address Spartacus as a “revolutionary chosen by fate,” players mistake his gold-name status for a hidden boss or quest-giver. They crowd around him, offering friendship and eager to take on dangerous jobs, leaving him bewildered.
• The Gold Coin Pirate Gang surrenders after Black Sail and the Twin Dragons Camp secretly turn on it. To outside observers, the maneuver looks like the supposed enemies staged a chase, then attacked a neutral gang together. Gold Coin becomes the first major casualty of the conflict.
• The pirates watching initially treat Gold Coin’s defeat as spectacle, then realize they may lose their own money and goods held by the gang. Some call for revenge, but others point out that confronting the powerful attackers would likely be suicidal. One pirate even hopes the gang’s destruction will erase their debt.
• A fleet of more than 1,200 ships arrives, bearing the flags of the Dark God Temple and Kalon. Their arrival confirms that the neutral gangs had secretly been cooperating.
• Flint orders Black Sail’s ground forces to continue looting while its fleet withdraws and prepares for battle. The Madmen, Red Dragon, and Dragon Cavalry also stop plundering and form a loose joint battle line.
• The newcomers see that Gold Coin’s base has already fallen. Dark Shadow and an unseen, threatening companion decide to meet the opposing forces and identify who uncovered their arrangement.

Character developments and interactions

• Spartacus is baffled when players swarm him with offers of friendship and service, treating him as a quest-related NPC.
• Flint responds cautiously to the newly confirmed threat, coordinating a defensive deployment rather than letting his fleet remain exposed.
• Dark Shadow remains composed and curious about the enemy who disrupted the plan; his companion is openly furious and threatens anyone opposing “His Highness.”
• The watching pirates shift from mocking Gold Coin’s defeat to panicking over their own losses. Their brief calls for collective retaliation collapse when they recognize the attackers’ overwhelming power.

Significant themes

• The cost of power struggles for bystanders: Gold Coin is portrayed as a neutral party destroyed by larger factions, while smaller gangs and ordinary business partners suffer collateral losses.
• Deception and shifting alliances: Apparent enmity and a staged retreat conceal cooperation, making the conflict difficult for outsiders to interpret.
• Greed and vulnerability: The pirates’ wealth, debts, and dealings with Gold Coin turn distant violence into personal disaster.
• Dark humor amid danger: The players’ eagerness to recruit under Spartacus and the debt-evader’s comment contrast with the chapter’s escalating military threat.

Plot points and events

• During a tense standoff between Flint’s pirate alliance and the combined forces of the Dark God Temple and Kalon, Dark Shadow suddenly appears in his nearly undetectable Legendary Mecha, the Shadow.
• Flint probes Dark Shadow about Golden Dagger’s death. Golden Dagger’s apparent suicide seems suspicious: the pirate leaders suspect he died to protect a secret powerful enough to make capture impossible. Though they privately consider the possibility of a powerful patron, they avoid discussing it openly.
• Flint shifts the conversation to accuse Dark Shadow and Kalon of conspiring with Golden Dagger. Dark Shadow counters that they merely joined forces to protect themselves from Flint’s strengthened alliance.
• Dark Shadow asks what role the Ghost Pirate Gang played in the attack. Flint publicly credits Nie Yun with organizing the alliance and leading the assault, then announces that the Ghosts will receive the largest share of the spoils and take Gold Coin’s vacant place among the Seven Great Pirate Gangs.
• Flint’s praise is a tactic: it makes Nie Yun the obvious target for anyone seeking revenge over Gold Coin’s destruction. Nie Yun recognizes the maneuver but embraces the attention, bluntly claiming responsibility for Golden Dagger’s death and challenging Dark Shadow to fight him.
• The pirates’ stunned reaction becomes the subject of a famous future painting, “Defiance.”

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun shows confidence and showmanship under pressure. Though he understands Flint has pushed him into the spotlight, he chooses to turn the risk into a public display of strength.
• Flint proves politically shrewd, redirecting suspicion and danger toward Nie Yun while protecting his own gang. His exchange with Dark Shadow is courteous on the surface but full of veiled accusations.
• Dark Shadow remains controlled and evasive. His advanced stealth technology and fanatical religious army underscore his power, while his probing question about Nie Yun suggests he recognizes the Ghosts as a serious new force.
• The pirate leaders grow uneasy at the implications of Golden Dagger’s suicide, but their fear of the secret’s possible backer keeps them silent.
• Flint and Nie Yun’s interaction is a contest of strategy: Flint tries to make Nie Yun a scapegoat, while Nie Yun accepts—and exploits—the attention.

Significant themes

• Power and intimidation: Dark Shadow’s technology and devoted followers show how control can rest on both superior force and belief.
• Secrets and fear: Golden Dagger’s death suggests that some truths are dangerous even to powerful pirates.
• Political maneuvering: Public praise can function as a weapon, shifting blame and redirecting an enemy’s attention.
• Reputation and audacity: Nie Yun turns a dangerous accusation into a bold declaration, beginning to shape the legend that will define him.

Key plot points and events

• Kalon’s fleet reveals its leader: the Kalon Beast, fused with a colossal, artificially modified Leviathan.
• The pirate leaders recognize Kalon as an exceptionally dangerous fighter. His gang is infamous for forcibly modifying its members and consuming those who refuse.
• Nie Yun reflects on Leviathans’ destructive life cycle: they devour planets and other celestial bodies, eventually fighting among themselves until one survivor may grow large enough to attack a star.
• Kalon challenges Nie Yun to a duel, confident that he can defeat him. Flint hopes the two enemies will weaken each other.
• Nie Yun immediately refuses, then claims he is an honorary member of the Milky Way Wildlife Protection Association. Since Leviathans are endangered and protected in the Wulf Empire, he says he cannot risk killing Kalon.
• The remark enrages Kalon and amuses the onlookers, who recognize it as a deliberate counter-provocation.

Character developments and interactions

• Nie Yun remains irreverent and provocative, using humor and mock concern for endangered wildlife to unsettle Kalon rather than accept his challenge.
• Kalon presents himself as a powerful, brutal fighter and tries to bait Nie Yun into combat. Nie Yun’s refusal—and the “protected animal” insult—turns his confidence into fury.
• Flint hopes Kalon will eliminate or seriously injure Nie Yun, and becomes excited when Nie Yun’s words provoke Kalon.
• The other pirate leaders regard Kalon with fear and treat the Leviathan fusion as a formidable weapon.

Significant themes

• Cruelty and survival: Kalon’s gang embodies coercion and brutality, while Leviathans’ own evolution is driven by endless consumption.
• Humor as provocation: Nie Yun turns a serious threat into an absurd joke, using ridicule to challenge Kalon without fighting.
• Irony and perspective: The fearsome Kalon is reframed as endangered wildlife—technically plausible, but deliberately insulting in context.

Key events

• The Kalon Beast leads a charge against the Ghost Pirate Gang, backed by swarms of mechanically enhanced Synthetic Beasts and the Kalon Fleet’s artillery.
• Dark Shadow tries to restrain Kalon, suspecting the opposing alliance is divided and warning that a battle would put their smaller “Orc Coalition” at a numerical disadvantage. Kalon ignores him, enraged by Nie Yun’s insult.
• A second enemy force arrives: more than five hundred pirates demanding compensation for losses tied to Gold Coin’s destruction. Their grievance gives opportunists cover to join the attack.
• Nie Yun admits he deliberately provoked Kalon. He wants to force a fight now, weaken the forces behind Gold Coin, and avoid facing the Kalon Fleet and Dark God Temple together later.
• Nie Yun pressures his allies to honor their agreement. Flint, the Madmen, and the Twin Dragons initially hesitate, but the threat that Nie Yun and the Twin Dragons will withdraw brings Flint into the fight.
• As battle approaches, Nie Yun assigns Codename to handle the Debt Collection Alliance and declares that he will face the Kalon Beast himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Kalon is portrayed as powerful but impulsive and unusually sensitive to insults, charging despite Dark Shadow’s warnings.
• Dark Shadow acts cautiously, recognizing the danger of the alliance’s internal tensions and trying to prevent escalation.
• Nie Yun reveals himself as a deliberate strategist: he uses provocation to force enemies into a battle on his terms, while also maneuvering reluctant allies into supporting him.
• Flint tries to avoid helping Nie Yun, but changes course when he realizes the alliance may collapse. Messiah and Red Dragon back Nie Yun mainly because they fear the greater threat behind Gold Coin.
• Codename remains dryly practical, worrying about the Kalon Beast’s scientific value rather than Nie Yun’s confidence.

Significant themes

• Strategic manipulation: Nie Yun turns insults, threats, and alliance obligations into tools for shaping the coming battle.
• Fragile alliances and self-interest: The coalition’s members cooperate less from loyalty than from shared fear and calculation.
• Greed and opportunism: The smaller pirates use genuine losses as justification to attack a weakened rival, hoping to profit.
• Comedy amid danger: The chapter mixes an impending multi-front battle with jokes about endangered wildlife, Pokémon, and anime power levels.