Recaps

Li Qinwu endured escalating data surges in the Titan Trial, reaching 3,500 Cogitator Arrays and earning a chance to face the Titan Machine Spirit. The Iron Skull Archmagos revealed that the Orks had destroyed 100,000 Skitarii and were nearing the Titan Temple, so he had begun the Destruction Protocol to sink the Divine Titan into Forge Lake.

• Busi connected Li Qinwu to the Ascension Throne and explained that the formal Titan Trial required him to withstand data from 5,000 Cogitator Arrays for twenty-four hours.
• Li Qinwu demanded that Busi raise the data load from 500 arrays to 2,000, then pushed him to increase it further.
• Li Qinwu endured surges of 2,500 and 3,000 arrays, using a Green Needle and Divine Cooling Balm to protect himself and strengthen his mind.
• Li Qinwu withstood 3,500 arrays, and Busi contacted the Iron Skull Archmagos to report that he might become a grand commander.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos told Busi that the Ork battlegroup was heading for the Titan Temple after wiping out 100,000 Skitarii, and that he had initiated the Destruction Protocol to send the Divine Titan into Forge Lake.

The Iron Skull Archmagos ordered the Titan Machine sent into the Lava Lake rather than letting Li Qinwu try to pilot it, despite the impending Xenos attack. Busi was left desperate, while the Archmagos prepared to die with the Titan and Li Qinwu forced his trial onward.

• The Iron Skull Archmagos told Busi that the Xenos would arrive in twenty-four hours and ordered the Titan Machine sent into the Lava Lake after a final day of prayers.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos stripped Busi of his authority and forbade him from joining the Titan Machine in martyrdom, insisting Li Qinwu could not pilot it without enduring the Ascension Throne's trial.
• Busi went to shut down the Ascension Throne, but Li Qinwu ordered him to continue, drove six Black Needles into his abdomen, and demanded the trial be raised to 5,000 arrays with a twenty-four-hour timer.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos ordered the Tech-Priests to clear the Titan Temple and prepare the Titan's transport to the Lava Lake.
• Alone with the Titan Machine, the Iron Skull Archmagos caressed its armor and vowed to enter the Lava Lake with it so they would never be apart.

Black Iron led the Greenskin Orks in a massive assault on the Titan Temple, overwhelming its defenses as Iron Skull Archmagos prepared to die with the Titan. After surviving twenty-four hours of mental bombardment and passing all six Black Needle checks, Li Qinwu ordered Father Busi to summon Captain Dolong and the Astartes to escort him onto the Titan.

• Black Iron drove the Orks toward the Titan Temple, where their vehicles cleared the minefield and overwhelmed the Skitarii in a firefight.
• Ork tanks and aircraft destroyed the Temple’s artillery positions, bombarded its facilities, and helped Kommandos infiltrate and sabotage its defenses.
• Iron Skull Archmagos rang the Temple’s bell three times and rejected Father Busi’s contact request, choosing to face the approaching Stompa in silence.
• Father Busi failed to reach Iron Skull Archmagos and turned to Li Qinwu, who had endured twenty-four hours of bombardment from five thousand Cogitator Arrays.
• Li Qinwu injected a Green Needle, stood with Father Busi’s help, and ordered him to summon Captain Dolong and the Astartes to escort him onto the Titan under armed guard.

Captain Dolong weighed the risks of helping Li Qinwu seize a Titan to stop the Orks and save the planet. After Sergeant Norn expressed his faith in Li Qinwu, Dolong committed the fifty Astartes to the mission and ordered them to prepare for the Titan Temple.

• Inquisitor Thraxol warned Captain Dolong that the planet would face Exterminatus within a month, while Li Qinwu remained on the surface trying to protect the Titan Temple.
• Li Qinwu asked Dolong and the fifty Astartes to help him board the Titan, claiming he had endured the psychic shock of five thousand Cogitator Arrays despite never having piloted one.
• Librarian Buddas said Li Qinwu's psychic resistance exceeded his own, and Dolong considered whether the Astartes could risk provoking the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Li Qinwu explained that the Iron Skull Archmagos had removed the Knight Mechs' and Squire Mechs' Plasma Engines, leaving him no way to seize the Titan without help.
• Dolong asked Li Qinwu why he was willing to risk himself, and Li Qinwu said he wanted to help while he could and asked whether the Astartes would take the same chance.
• Sergeant Norn said he believed Li Qinwu, and Dolong ordered the fifty Astartes to prepare their gear and board the Shuttle for the Titan Temple.

Captain Dolong brought fifty Astartes to help Li Qinwu seize the Reaver Titan, but Iron Skull Archmagos began moving the Titan toward the Lava Lake to destroy it. The chapter left Li Qinwu preparing to approach the Titan as the Mechanicus procession advanced and the Ork Stompa breached the Temple’s defenses.

• Captain Dolong led fifty Astartes through Ork fire to the Knight Mech assembly plant, where Tech-Priest Busi brought them to Li Qinwu.
• Li Qinwu explained that cranial surgery had connected him to the Titan, though he did not know whether its Machine Spirit would accept him.
• Captain Dolong ordered Lieutenant Colonel Noah to protect Li Qinwu in her Leman Russ tank while the Astartes prepared to act.
• Tech-Priest Busi heard Iron Skull Archmagos’s final bell and warned that the Archmagos was about to push the Titan into the Lava Lake.
• Iron Skull Archmagos led thousands of Tech-Priests and Skitarii in a procession as the Reaver Titan rolled out of the Temple toward the Lava Lake.
• The Stompa melted a huge breach in the first steel wall and advanced toward the Temple’s second wall.

As Black Iron's Orks attacked the walls, Captain Dolong tried to stop the Iron Skull Archmagos from completing his Titan martyrdom ritual and persuade him to help save the world. Dolong was killed, prompting the Astartes to attack the Adeptus Mechanicus, while Li Qinwu set out in a Leman Russ to reach the Titan.

• Black Iron's Stompa breached the second wall, and his forces fought the defenders at the third wall while Tech-Priests and Skitarii prepared to sacrifice themselves in the Titan Temple.
• Captain Dolong blocked the funeral procession and pleaded with the Iron Skull Archmagos to help save the world's fifty billion people as nuclear blasts sounded nearby.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos shot Captain Dolong dead, and fifty concealed Astartes retaliated with Electronic Pulse Bombs and weapons, overwhelming the Skitarii and slaughtering the Mechanicus forces.
• Lieutenant Colonel Noah told Li Qinwu that Dolong was dead, and Li Qinwu understood that Dolong had sacrificed himself to protect the Crimson Bite Chapter while trying to save the population.
• After Sergeant Norn announced that the path was clear, Li Qinwu ordered the Leman Russ forward, and Noah drove it toward the Titan.

The Stompa and Greenskin Orks breached the Titan Temple’s third wall while Astartes attacked the paralyzed Adeptus Mechanicus forces. As Li Qinwu and Busi climbed toward the Titan’s entrance, Lieutenant Colonel Noah rammed the Iron Skull Archmagos and crushed him against the Titan transport machinery.

• The Stompa melted a section of the third wall, and Greenskin Orks poured through to fight the Adeptus Mechanicus soldiers.
• An Electronic Pulse Bomb paralyzed most of the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel on the railway tracks, allowing fifty Astartes to attack them.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos killed Astartes until Sergeant Norn fought him, severed his laser-firing arms, and stabbed his mechanical body.
• Busi and the dizzy Li Qinwu climbed the Titan’s transport machinery toward its entrance hatch while the Iron Skull Archmagos broke away from Sergeant Norn to pursue them.
• Lieutenant Colonel Noah drove a Leman Russ tank into the Iron Skull Archmagos, pinning him against the transport machinery and crushing his body.

Li Qinwu reached the Reaver Titan’s cockpit while Lieutenant Colonel Noah and Busi died trying to stop the Iron Skull Archmagos. The Titan opened its hatch for Li Qinwu, leaving the Archmagos stunned as he watched him enter.

• Lieutenant Colonel Noah crushed the Iron Skull Archmagos beneath the Leman Russ, then shot him with the roof-mounted Logging Gun after his Ion Shield failed.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos pierced and killed Lieutenant Colonel Noah, then climbed toward the Titan after realizing Li Qinwu had reached its top.
• Busi severed the Iron Skull Archmagos’s climbing hand with a Gear Great Axe and accused him of betraying their group.
• The Iron Skull Archmagos killed Busi and tore his head and part of his electronic spine from his body.
• Busi told the Iron Skull Archmagos that the Titan had opened its doors for the Count, prompting him to look toward the cockpit.
• The Titan’s hatch opened for Li Qinwu, who entered as the two Titan Adjutants watched, and the Archmagos stared in disbelief.

Li Qinwu connected to the Titan and faced its Machine Spirit’s trial, climbing an endless mountain in the spiritual world while the Orks pressed toward the pyramid outside. He continued despite nearing his mental limit, with the Titan’s trial unresolved.

• The Iron Skull Archmagos pleaded for an explanation as Li Qinwu was taken into the Titan, then collapsed after the isolation door shut and a nuclear blast’s shockwave knocked him onto the tracks.
• The Astartes withdrew with their fallen comrades and joined the battle against the Greenskin Orks, while Black Iron’s Stompa melted through the fourth wall and threatened the final wall.
• The Titan Adjutants connected Li Qinwu and themselves to the throne, activated the Titan’s systems, and told him that the Titan would give him a trial.
• Li Qinwu’s mind entered a spiritual world where he faced an immense mountain and understood that he had to climb to its summit.
• Li Qinwu climbed for what felt like years, enduring the Titan’s endless neural assault as he feared that failing would doom fifty billion people and waste Captain Dolong’s sacrifice.
• Li Qinwu recognized that he was approaching his limit, but the mountain’s summit remained infinitely distant.

Li Qinwu urged the dormant Titan to choose battle, while Sergeant Norn and the surviving defenders prepared for the Stompa’s assault. Just as Black Iron was about to fire on them, the Reaver Titan arrived with Li Qinwu and opened fire.

• Li Qinwu exhausted his psychic power climbing the mountain and challenged the Titan to fight beside him rather than be destroyed in a Lava Lake.
• Sergeant Norn and the surviving Astartes retreated behind the final wall with the Skitarii and armed workers to defend the Titan Temple’s vital facilities.
• Black Iron’s Stompa melted through the steel wall, and Sergeant Norn led the defenders in firing at it despite their weapons failing against its Void Shields.
• As Black Iron prepared to shoot the defenders, the Reaver Titan bombarded the Stompa’s Void Shield and advanced into the temple.
• Black Iron recognized Li Qinwu aboard the Titan, and Li Qinwu taunted him over the loudspeakers.

Li Qinwu used the Reaver Titan to break through Black Iron’s Stompa Void Shield and devastate the Greenskin Ork forces. As the Orks’ Waaagh! weakened, Li Qinwu focused on wiping out their Boyz while Black Iron struggled to stop him.

• Li Qinwu advanced in the Reaver Titan as Black Iron fired the Stompa’s weapons at him.
• Li Qinwu used Gatling Burst Cannon fire to fill the air with smoke, then pushed his Void Shield through Black Iron’s shield and exposed the Ork forces.
• Li Qinwu launched more than two hundred Destruction Rockets, nearly wiping out the Orks’ elite armored force.
• Three Hands warned Black Iron that the Waaagh! Field had weakened by a third and urged him to protect the remaining Boyz.
• Li Qinwu shrank the Reaver Titan’s Void Shield and massacred surviving Orks with its cannons and lasers while Black Iron’s shots failed to stop him.

Li Qinwu and the Reaver Titan slaughtered the Orks trapped inside the Stompa’s Void Shield, then knocked Black Iron’s Stompa flat. As Black Iron was abandoned by Three Hands, Li Qinwu caught Three Hands as he tried to escape.

• Li Qinwu’s Reaver Titan massacred the Orks inside the Stompa’s Void Shield while the Norn sergeants, Skitarii, and warships destroyed those who fled outside.
• Black Iron’s Super Rotary Shoota ran out of ammunition, and Whoever You Look At Dies short-circuited after firing at Li Qinwu’s Void Shield.
• Li Qinwu struck the Stompa across the face with the Titan’s Power Fist, knocking it onto its back and leaving Black Iron unable to get up.
• Three Hands strapped on a rocket pack and told Black Iron he could not take him along because Black Iron was fused with the Stompa.
• Three Hands launched himself from the Stompa, but Li Qinwu’s Reaver Titan grabbed him and his rocket in its mechanical hand.

Li Qinwu defeated Black Iron’s Stompa but delayed killing him to devise a more dramatic ending. After the Titan Machine Spirit resisted his plan, Li Qinwu tricked it and sat the Titan down, crushing the Stompa beneath it.

• Li Qinwu crushed Three Hands to dust and tore the Stompa’s faceplate away, revealing Black Iron fused into its machinery.
• Black Iron begged for peace, but Li Qinwu raised the Titan’s Power Fist to kill him, then stopped to invent a more elaborate death.
• Li Qinwu decided to crush Black Iron beneath the Titan’s rear, but the Titan Machine Spirit resisted and repeatedly forced the machine to stand back up.
• Astartes, Skitarii, and combat workers watched the Titan squat and rise while Li Qinwu struggled to control it.
• Li Qinwu pretended to give up, then abruptly squatted and toppled the Titan onto the Stompa, crushing Black Iron beneath it.

After Li Qinwu’s death and resurrection, the planet’s forces began eradicating the Orks while Gretchins fled into space. Li Qinwu returned to the surface to check his rewards and discovered that Tech-Priest Busi had survived, though most of his body had been replaced with machinery.

• The Titan killed Li Qinwu by electrocuting him after his stunt, and the Reaver Titan remained stranded sitting on the ground.
• Ge Laopi’s Gretchins scavenged the battlefield, then launched a mass escape from the planet in rockets after Black Iron’s defeat.
• Li Qinwu resurrected in the Hideout and learned from Inquisitor Thraxol that the planet was being reclaimed from the weakened Orks.
• Thraxol told Li Qinwu to seek rewards from the local planet, so Li Qinwu took a Shuttle to the Titan Temple to check his Value Points.
• Li Qinwu found Tech-Priest Busi alive, and Busi explained that his colleagues had recovered his head after the Iron Skull Archmagos tore it off.

Li Qinwu learned that Busi could no longer stay on the planet and brought him into his team, leaving him to negotiate rewards from the Adeptus Mechanicus. After checking on the Titan and the Astartes, Li Qinwu asked who would carry on Captain Dolong’s agreement to tow a warship.

• Busi told Li Qinwu that his actions had made it unsafe for him to remain on the planet, and Li Qinwu invited him to join his team.
• Busi reported that Li Qinwu’s Knight Mechs and supplies would be ready in three months, then agreed to secure rewards for him through the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Busi showed Li Qinwu footage of the Iron Skull Archmagos jumping into the Lava Lake and warned him that the Titan and its Skitarii would kill him if he approached.
• Li Qinwu visited the Astartes, learned that twenty-three members of Captain Dolong’s fifty-man force had died, and asked who would continue Dolong’s agreement to tow a warship.
• Li Qinwu recalled that the Scimitar-class Frigate near Agricultural World 496B could be repaired in low orbit, without a Space Dock.

After Sergeant Norn promised to honor the captain’s agreement and arrange to tow Li Qinwu’s frigate, Li Qinwu visited Desai for an examination. Desai discovered that Li Qinwu’s gluteal muscles had become unusually dense, and Li Qinwu realized the change came from the Gretchin’s faith before proposing to replace all his muscles with glute muscles.

• Sergeant Norn told Li Qinwu he would serve as acting captain, continue the agreement, and arrange a ship to tow the Scimitar-class Frigate when the company’s flagship returned.
• Li Qinwu visited Desai and complained of various ailments before asking him to examine his ass.
• Desai found that Li Qinwu’s gluteal muscles had more than twice the density of his surrounding muscles, though his other physical indicators were normal.
• Li Qinwu realized the Gretchin’s Waaagh Energy and their tale about his diamond ass had caused the mutation.
• After Desai explained the change could modestly improve Li Qinwu’s physical power, Li Qinwu proposed replacing all his muscles with glute muscles using Green Needles, leaving Desai stunned.

After Apothecary Desai finished replacing Li Qinwu’s muscles with ass meat, Li Qinwu celebrated his increased strength and energy. He then negotiated rewards from the Planetary Governor, securing fifty years of industrial tax payments for Agricultural World 496B and requesting a lasgun production line to strengthen its economy.

• Apothecary Desai reflected on the eighteen-hour operation to replace Li Qinwu’s muscles with ass meat as Li Qinwu shouted triumphantly from the operating room.
• Li Qinwu celebrated his new Strength of 134, Endurance of 134, and Energy of 120, then traveled to the Planetary Governor’s Spire to claim his reward.
• The Planetary Governor rejected Li Qinwu’s request for ten Glory Queen-class Battleships and offered to pay Agricultural World 496B’s industrial taxes for fifty years instead.
• Li Qinwu accepted the tax relief but also requested a lasgun production line for Agricultural World 496B.

Li Qinwu secured a Lasgun production line and a legitimate trade route between Industrial World 496A and Agricultural World 496B. He reunited with the Big Ivan’s captain, rescued him from a suicide attempt, and offered him a job commanding a warship.

• The Planetary Governor agreed to send a Lasgun production line to Agricultural World 496B, with an initial capacity of three million Lasrifles per year.
• Li Qinwu obtained a Warrant of Trade permitting commerce between Industrial World 496A and Agricultural World 496B.
• After the Planetary Governor told him the Big Ivan had returned, Li Qinwu flew to the tug to visit its captain.
• Li Qinwu found the captain hanging from a rope in his cabin and pried open the door to rescue him.
• The captain explained that he feared punishment for delaying his cargo for twenty years, so Li Qinwu promised the Planetary Governor would spare him and offered him a captaincy on a future warship.

Li Qinwu arranged for the captain to start a risky but profitable cargo-rocket operation, then returned to Agricultural Planet 496b to see how his old friends were doing. He reunited with Nightingale, who was caring for their baby, and the story ended.

• Li Qinwu learned from the captain how cargo rockets could carry goods between Industrial World and Agri-World, and he told the captain to organize shipments and recruit warship operators.
• Li Qinwu used resurrection to return to the Lower Hive of Agricultural Planet 496b and met Black Charcoal, now a PDF major.
• Black Charcoal told Li Qinwu that his former allies had prospered, including the Kai family, Little Joel's parents, Egghead, and Reno.
• Black Charcoal escorted Li Qinwu to Nightingale's home in the Atmosphere Garden, where Li Qinwu found her nursing their baby.
• Li Qinwu reunited with Nightingale, and the story ended.

Li Qinwu secured plans to ease his planet’s debt and expand its industry, then heard Father Anthony’s plea to leave the local Magos and join him. Although he had no need for another trained Tech-Priest, Li Qinwu offered Anthony a vacant position as his crew’s Jester.

• Li Qinwu fed Li Dadan, gave him a topknot haircut, and planned to train his children to pilot Knight Mechs.
• Li Qinwu told Governor Zeppelin about the fifty-year tax exemption, new trade rights, and plans to use industrial production to pay off the planet’s debt.
• Li Qinwu discussed developing the planet’s industry and shaping it into a source of goods and troops for his commercial empire.
• Father Anthony asked to leave the local Magos and join Li Qinwu after his minor invention was claimed by the Magos.
• Li Qinwu offered Father Anthony the vacant position of Jester on his crew.

Li Qinwu sent Father Anthony through a Warp Portal to join him aboard Inquisitor Thraxol's warship, where Father Anthony arrived safely despite the dangerous journey. He chose to focus on research and began filling a gap in Li Qinwu's forces.

• Li Qinwu entertained Father Anthony, then explained that the fleet would leave before a conventional spacecraft could reach it.
• Li Qinwu opened a Warp Portal to an armored container holding a Warp Beacon and warned Father Anthony to use his pistol if he showed signs of corruption.
• Father Anthony entered the Warp Portal, and Li Qinwu used a Black Needle to resurrect and complete his own interstellar jump.
• Li Qinwu reunited with Father Anthony aboard Inquisitor Thraxol's warship and confirmed that he showed no signs of Warp corruption.
• Father Anthony chose to conduct research, and Li Qinwu gave him access to resources while expecting results.

After three months of resupply, Li Qinwu gained weapons, equipment, a Skitarii regiment, and a team of gang scientists as Inquisitor Thraxol prepared to leave the Industrial World. Thraxol and Inquisitor Bruno agreed to investigate the disappearance of Feudal World 481 together.

• Li Qinwu received ten nuclear bombs, supplies for his infantry, two shuttles, and three thousand Skitarii from Tech-Priest Busi, who had transformed himself into a heavily armed mechanical worm.
• Little Knife introduced Li Qinwu to a dozen cyborg gang scientists, and Li Qinwu welcomed them as unconventional technical recruits.
• Inquisitor Bruno told Inquisitor Thraxol that he planned to investigate Feudal World 481, which had vanished with its population eighty years earlier.
• Inquisitor Thraxol agreed that his fleet would travel with Bruno's and help investigate the missing world.

Li Qinwu and Silent One discovered that the Lesser Daemon they had tormented had become a powerful Khorne-aligned Greater Daemon and reached Khorne’s Brass Fortress. They watched it stand near the Skull Throne as Khorne observed a duel, then learned that Khorne’s blessings had amplified the soul brand, tormenting videos, and wounds they had inflicted.

• Li Qinwu explained that Holy Oil candles summoned fallen Astartes as Heroic Spirits and kept Daemons from attacking the fleet in the Warp.
• Silent One connected to the Lesser Daemon’s soul mark and showed Li Qinwu that it had reached Khorne’s Brass Fortress.
• Li Qinwu realized the Lesser Daemon had slaughtered its way to Khorne’s favor and transformed into a Greater Daemon.
• Li Qinwu and Silent One saw Khorne watching Angron duel an unfamiliar Greater Daemon in the arena.
• Silent One discovered that Khorne’s blessings had strengthened the Lesser Daemon’s soul shackles and sword wounds, making its short-video torment and pain vastly worse.

Khorne’s blessing turned a tormented Lesser Daemon into a Greater Daemon, and Li Qinwu used the soul mark to trick it into striking Khorne. Khorne punched the daemon out of the Brass Fortress and into an unknown dimension, where it vanished, earning the name Fearless One.

• Khorne intensified the daemon’s suffering as he blessed it, eventually making it a Greater Daemon plagued by a rule-based curse of short-video noise.
• The Silent One confirmed that the strengthened soul mark let him and Li Qinwu issue powerful suggestions, while Li Qinwu warned against drawing Khorne’s attention.
• Li Qinwu promised the Greater Daemon peace if it obeyed him, then guided it behind Khorne’s Skull Throne during Angron’s duel.
• After Li Qinwu threatened to double the videos’ speed, the Greater Daemon struck Khorne’s helmet with a broken warhammer.
• Khorne punched the Greater Daemon through the Brass Fortress ceiling and sent it flying at faster-than-light speed into an unknown dimension, earning it the name Fearless One.

Tzeentch tried to seize Li Qinwu, but the God-Emperor intervened and drove him back. Tzeentch then hurled Li Qinwu into a strange world under his control, while Inquisitor Thraxol learned the Count had vanished.

• Li Qinwu left the Silent One behind and returned to training after the Greater Daemon flew away.
• Tzeentch noticed Li Qinwu's ambush of Khorne and began plotting to bring him into his realm.
• Tzeentch's power disrupted Inquisitor Thraxol's fleet and reached for Li Qinwu in the Hideout.
• The God-Emperor clashed with Tzeentch and stopped him from directly seizing Li Qinwu.
• Tzeentch sent a psychic storm that engulfed Li Qinwu and hurled him into a kaleidoscopic space, where he lost consciousness.
• The Navigator told Inquisitor Thraxol that the God-Emperor had fought an evil being over the Count, and Thraxol's men reported that the Count had vanished.