Chapter Summaries

Samantha fled through the Dark Forest toward a port, where Avril confronted her under orders to stop the Steel Warband defector. Avril let Samantha escape and secretly gave her the route and money she needed, leaving the two old friends separated as Samantha continued toward exile.

• Samantha evaded the Brown Kingdom's pursuit through the Dark Forest and reached a stream less than two hundred kilometers from a port.
• Avril confronted Samantha and urged her to put down her weapon and return to Elena, but Samantha refused, citing the lies behind her revenge and saying her path back had been severed.
• Avril exposed three Black Feather Special Forces assassins hiding nearby, paralyzed them with lightning magic, and ordered them to stop interfering in her mission.
• Avril warned Samantha about the dangers of defection, then cut her hair with a wind blade as punishment before telling her to leave.
• Avril gave Samantha gold and indirectly revealed a route to escape by joining an Aresi Family merchant caravan, hiring smuggler Montana Pidosi, and reaching the Amika Federation.
• Samantha took the gold and left, while Avril stayed behind, hoping her friend would survive.

Aboard the Pursuer, Anna deduced that Samantha Ann Speyer was John Maslow’s long-lost foster sister and was traveling to Faoken. She changed the Special Operations Division’s mission from capturing Samantha to secretly escorting her there while deceiving their supervisors.

• Anna compared Samantha Ann Speyer’s records with John Maslow’s and uncovered evidence that John Maslow could be Samantha’s missing brother.
• Anna traced Samantha’s likely route from Gray Harbor to Faoken and identified Crab Island as the probable resupply point.
• Anna told Royce, Mark, Margaret, and Zelin Stark that Samantha was John Maslow’s foster sister and explained the truth about her brother’s past.
• Anna assigned Margaret to plant false clues, Zelin to track Samantha’s ship, and Royce and Mark to stage an apparent interception while helping her escape.
• Anna planned to contact Faoken for a disguised pickup vessel and arrange an apparent accident at Crab Island to get Samantha aboard.

John ordered Anna to rescue his sister Samantha and began preparing a backup plan, while Samantha reached Crab Island and tried to slip away from the Allied pursuers. Her escape was interrupted when Jiawen Stirling and the Steel Warband confronted her.

• John learned that Samantha had defected from the Allied Forces and ordered Anna to rescue her at all costs.
• John calculated that the pursuers would reach Crab Island in fifteen days and decided not to intervene as Faoken’s governor, instead calling Ian to arrange a special mission.
• Fifteen days later, Samantha left the Wavebreaker at Crab Island and disguised herself to seek passage to South New Port.
• Carl Blade’s Falcon Unit attacked the black-market tavern where Samantha was seeking a ship ticket, but she survived and struck back with sword qi.
• Jiawen Stirling appeared to shield Carl’s soldiers and told Samantha that the Steel Warband had landed on Crab Island to capture her.

Samantha defeated Jiawen’s attack with Void Severance, but Laiya arrived and helped her escape Crab Island with Anna and Royce. Their speedboat was stopped at sea by Ilena Camlofi, the Crown Tier Sword Saint commanding the Steel Warband, leaving their escape in jeopardy.

• Jiawen attacked Samantha with lightning spells and sword techniques, but she erased his assault with Void Severance and severed his arm.
• Jiawen survived by using Thunderheart to teleport, then confronted Samantha again as she prepared another Void Severance.
• Laiya appeared, killed Major Carl and the Falcon Squad, and forced Jiawen to withdraw after he warned that the Steel Warband had surrounded Crab Island.
• Anna told Samantha that Governor John had sent her to rescue her, and she led Samantha to a speedboat where Royce said their plans would delay the Steel Warband.
• As Anna, Royce, and Samantha fled by boat, Ilena Camlofi appeared on the sea and stopped them from advancing.

Samantha refused Elena’s demand to return to the Allied Forces and fought her former teacher on the seabed. Elena defeated Samantha’s strongest technique, but paused before delivering the final blow after sensing something in the distance.

• Elena promised Samantha an answer about the Illusion Project but demanded she return, and Samantha refused because she would not abandon her brother or return to the Allied Forces.
• Elena opened her Crown Tier Domain, split the sea, and challenged Samantha to a duel as a traitor to the Steel Warband.
• Samantha entrusted Anna with a message for her brother, then faced Elena with her newly developed Absolute Destruction: Third Stage.
• Samantha unleashed the Sword of Annihilation, but Elena shattered her greatsword with a single thrust and left her gravely wounded.
• Samantha asked Elena to finish her, and Elena prepared to strike before sensing something in the distant sea and freezing in astonishment.

Ian Grant confronted Elena on Governor John Maslow’s behalf and offered the missing Thousand Blades Formula knowledge in exchange for sparing Samantha. He exposed secrets about the Kamlofi Family and revealed that Elena faced a hereditary illness, leaving her to weigh the deal against her principles and the threat to her life.

• Ian emerged from the sea and told Elena he had come to negotiate for Governor John Maslow.
• Ian explained that the Thousand Blades Formula was incomplete and offered scrolls containing its missing techniques in exchange for Elena sparing Samantha.
• Ian revealed that the Kamlofi Family had sacrificed the Mobius Family and traded magically talented orphans, including John, for forbidden knowledge.
• Ian disclosed that the Kamlofi bloodline came from an Astral Remnant and carried a curse that caused Stellar Eclipse Disease.
• Ian told Elena she was nearing the disease’s onset and that the offered formula could alleviate or reverse it.

Elena accepted John Maslow’s terms and let Samantha leave, though she warned she would kill her if she ever opposed the Allied Forces. As the group escaped toward Faoken, Samantha learned John had concealed the treatment’s low success rate and wondered how much her little brother had changed.

• Ian told Elena that John would reveal the Kamlofi Family’s secrets unless she let Samantha go, and Elena eventually agreed.
• Elena promised to take charge of the orphan-trade Purge Operation, warned Samantha not to face her again, and flew away.
• Ian guided Samantha, Anna, and Royce toward a warship and admitted the cure for Stellar Eclipse Disease had only a thirty percent success rate.
• Ian revealed John’s backup plan to kill the juvenile Kraken with a hidden fission shell and provoke its mother into attacking Elena.
• Samantha reflected on John’s ruthless schemes and her changed image of him, then fell asleep aboard the speedboat.

John learned that his older sister Samantha would arrive in Faoken in seven days, but he set aside his doubts about her identity to focus on the territory’s development. He proposed turning an ancient ruin into an adventurer attraction, using exploration fees and services to draw talent into Faoken and profit from their expeditions.

• John received word that Samantha had been picked up and would reach Faoken in seven days.
• Wendy reminded John of the pocket watch he had given Samantha as a child, but he worried that the Allied Forces might have prepared a false claimant.
• John reviewed Faoken’s progress and recognized that the territory lacked enough human residents and skilled talent.
• John summoned Faoken’s core officials and explained that an ancient outpost might still contain magitek equipment, energy cores, and dormant constructs.
• Despite Marda’s warning about the dangers of the constructs, John proposed letting adventurers explore the ruins while paying for permits, insurance, and support services.
• John admitted the plan was a scam designed to attract adventurers and said Faoken could make indebted explorers work off what they owed.

John laid out a plan to turn Faoken’s ruins into a profitable adventurer attraction, then welcomed his long-lost older sister Samantha when she arrived at the port. The chapter ended with John embracing Samantha and telling her she was home.

• John proposed publicizing the ruins, building a trial dungeon, charging adventurers for services, buying their discoveries, and recruiting promising visitors into Faoken.
• Laiya asked what Faoken would do if outside factions sent formal teams to inspect the ruins, and John said genuine treasures in the deeper ruins would let Faoken demand technology sharing.
• Seven days later, Samantha arrived at Faoken Port aboard the Silver Gull after nineteen years apart from her younger brother.
• Samantha grew overwhelmed and stumbled as she approached John, and he caught her before she fell.
• John recognized Samantha as his sister, embraced her as she wept, and welcomed her home.

Wendy told Samantha that Faoken had ample protection but needed skilled specialists, and John asked her to become chief instructor of its planned joint defense force. Three days later, Jack “White Rat” displayed treasure from Faoken in a Loran Kingdom tavern, stirring the adventurers’ interest.

• Wendy explained Samantha’s injuries required three months of recovery and described Faoken’s formidable defenses and need for skilled specialists.
• John brought Samantha fruit and asked her to train Faoken’s planned five-thousand-member mixed-race joint defense force after she recovered.
• Samantha accepted the chief instructor role on the condition that John share the full truth about Faoken and his plans.
• Three days later, Jack entered a Loran Kingdom tavern and claimed he had become wealthy through treasure found in Faoken.
• Jack revealed High-Energy Magic Crystals and rare enchanted artifacts in his case, drawing greedy attention from the adventurers.

Jack staged a story about striking it rich in Faoken’s ancient ruins to persuade the tavern’s adventurers to explore them. He left the crowd excited by the prospect of treasure and convinced that the ruins’ curse favored adventurers.

• Madam Field quelled the tavern’s hostility toward Jack and offered free ale, then tried to buy his story exclusively for one hundred thousand greenbacks.
• Jack refused the offer and claimed he had uncovered Third Era treasures in Faoken, displaying a mana disc that Old Merlin identified as priceless.
• Jack said he had earned at least three million D in two months and praised Governor John Maslow’s equal-development policy and support for adventurers.
• Jack distributed Faoken exploration flyers featuring supposed success stories, prompting an adventurer to question why the Empire had not claimed the ruins.
• Jack explained that a Third Era Grand Archmage’s curse let only people with a pure desire to explore reach the ruins’ treasures, and urged the crowd to go there.

Lunebo reported that the Ruins Promotion Project was succeeding, while John urged him to keep promoting it and slowly search for six future recruits. In the Loran Kingdom, bullied magitech student Fanny accepted Jasper’s invitation to explore the Faoken Ruins, hoping to find ancient knowledge that could change her life.

• Lunebo reported that the operation teams had built trust in the Faoken Ruins project through tavern performances, advertisements, and map sales, but Second Lieutenant Raymond had not found Vitas Westron.
• Lunebo briefed John, who praised the promotion work, ordered stronger efforts, and told his agents to search patiently for the six people he hoped to recruit.
• Fanny handed Jasper Kasga her work on an ancient Construct soul inscription algorithm, but he demanded that she present it as his research.
• Lilian Tewarin and Rex Spencer threatened Fanny with expulsion if she challenged their theft of her work, and Jasper privately resolved to keep her under his control.
• Jasper announced plans to explore the Faoken Ruins after hearing of possible Third Era Construct remains, and he invited Fanny to join as an assistant.
• Fanny accepted Jasper’s invitation, hoping that seeing a genuine ancient Construct could help complete the spell formation inherited through her family.

John arranged a tour to show the Morning Star and Black Marsh Clan elders Faoken’s industrial technology and trade offerings. The elders were stunned by the city’s machinery and infrastructure, and the chapter ended when Governor John arrived at the observation tower.

• Wendy told John the delegations had arrived and teased him about a surprise planned for their tour, while John warned her not to cause trouble.
• Bababo Yi showed the elders steel-and-Magic-Crystal tools made for their clans, and Kazak recognized their potential as weapons.
• The elders toured the Magic Crystal Core Power Room and learned that three large Leyline Magic Crystals powered the Governor’s Office for over fifty years.
• Bababo Yi showed the elders Revival City’s fields, construction, roads, trains, and transport vehicles, explaining how they would greatly speed up trade.
• A magical presence drew the elders’ attention, and Bababo Yi saluted Governor John as he arrived.

John met the Morning Star and Black Marsh Clan elders and explained how Faoken’s Cultivation Towers could produce highly profitable magical crops. He refused to sell the unfinished technology for now but offered to consider sharing it once Faoken mastered it and cooperation became stable.

• John set aside his work to meet the elders, recognized Gray Hoof’s unease, and warmly welcomed both clans.
• John explained the Cultivation Towers’ integrated crop-growing system and estimated that each of two towers could earn about 1.5 million D per harvest.
• Zalga offered resources or labor to buy the tower technology, but John declined because Faoken had not yet mastered it.
• John said he might share the technology after Faoken mastered it and cooperation stabilized, explicitly extending the possibility to the Morning Star Clan.

John hosted the Morning Star Clan and Black Marsh Clan elders at a Faoken military demonstration, where Marda unveiled a powerful new crystal shell developed with Dr. Caroline Carlisle. The shell erased a distant hill and created a vast Forced Low-Magic Domain, leaving the beastfolk elders terrified of John and resolved never to oppose him.

• John led the clan delegations to Faoken’s military demonstration ground, where the elders competed to praise his flag and each other’s clans nearly came to blows.
• Faoken’s Mage Soldiers demonstrated coordinated rifle tactics and other advanced military capabilities, convincing the beastfolk that Saga Kingdom was far behind the Empire.
• Marda surprised John and the delegates by presenting a new Leyline Mage Cannon Shell and its mobile launcher, which John recognized as a Crystal Annihilation Cannon shell.
• John learned that Marda and Dr. Caroline Carlisle had developed the weapon, confirmed the shell was stable, and allowed Marda to fire it at the abandoned Old Fang Clan Fortress Ruins.
• The shell transformed the hill into a vast purple crystalline plain and permanently created a Forced Low-Magic Domain, terrifying the elders and making them resolve never to become John Maslow’s enemies.

Doran discovered an unstable purple mineral in Silverstone Mine that could become a powerful weapon capable of bypassing the Allied Forces’ anti-magic defenses. Rather than let John benefit from the discovery, Doran and Toby planned to deceive Marda into using the ore as mountain-blasting explosive while secretly stockpiling it for the Empire.

• Doran analyzed the purple ore and traced it to a mutated seam formed where two ore veins overlapped and were affected by a Rainbow-3-class meteorite.
• Doran realized the ore was a natural high-energy explosive whose chain reaction could bypass conventional Anti-Magic Interference Fields.
• Doran hesitated to report the discovery because Faoken and its valuable mineral deposits would become more important to John, whom Doran resented.
• Toby proposed reporting the ore to Marda as a dangerous, efficient mountain-blasting material while secretly having Beastfolk miners extract and hide the valuable supply.
• Doran ordered Toby to give Marda samples and emphasize the ore’s explosive properties so she would use it to blast mountains without recognizing its military value.

Marda welcomed her old friend Caroline, a scholar on an imperial research team, while handling a new mineral sample from Silverstone Mine. Caroline discovered the mutated leyline growth crystal could potentially become a weapon that worked against Anti-Magic Devices and might permanently alter the magical environment where it detonated.

• Marda hosted Caroline for tea and explained that Faoken's workload kept John Maslow from welcoming the research team himself.
• Major Babanili brought Marda a report and purple ore from Silverstone Mine, which Marda asked Caroline to identify.
• Caroline identified the sample as a mutated leyline growth crystal and used an analyzer to confirm its unusual properties.
• Caroline explained that a shell made from the crystal could detonate despite Anti-Magic Devices and might create an Anti-Magic Field or Magic Turbulence Zone by resonating with local leylines.
• Caroline said the effect could last minutes or potentially permanently, and Marda realized the crystal could become a new tactical weapon against the Allied Forces' Anti-Magic Devices.

Marda realized Doran was hiding the value of the mutated Leyline Crystal and used his belief that she would treat it as explosives to secure a hundred kilograms for the Functional Group. Doran agreed to provide the crystals, unaware that Marda understood his deception, and both left their meeting believing they had the advantage.

• Caroline warned Marda that Doran likely knew the mutated crystal’s true value, so Marda decided not to alert Governor John and instead devised a plan.
• Doran worried that Marda had uncovered the crystal’s value when she arrived at Silverstone Mine, but Marda claimed the crystals were useful for controlled demolition.
• Marda requested a Mining Association technician, and Doran refused, promising instead to write instructions and describing the crystal as common Leyline Crystal.
• Marda asked Doran to provide a hundred kilograms for comparative blasting tests, while assuring him she would keep the project from Governor John.
• Doran agreed to deliver the ore to the Functional Group’s camp before six and warned Marda to conduct the experiments far from Fang City.
• Doran and Marda shook hands on the agreement, each privately believing the other had been deceived.

At a banquet in Revival City, Adam launched a coordinated assassination against John using his original body and a forbidden-art duplicate. As Balga prepared to intervene, John remained apparently motionless, and Balga saw something that shocked him.

• John detected a watcher and quietly anticipated trouble while Kazak and Zalga discussed the banquet.
• A guard reported a magical disturbance at Warehouse No. 1, but John dismissed the alarm and told the guests to continue celebrating.
• Adam burst from beneath the courtyard with Earth Vein Pierce as his duplicate attacked from above with Sky-Rending Blade.
• Gray Hoof realized Adam had sacrificed his remaining lifespan and potential to create the duplicate, and feared the attack would doom the Morning Star Clan.
• Balga, who had monitored Adam and judged John too weak to react, dispelled his spatial concealment and prepared to strike.
• Balga's remaining eye widened in shock at what happened next.

John used the Mark of Extraction to defeat Adam’s assassination attempt and drain the former Morning Star Clan chief of his magic. He then demanded that the clan publicly judge Adam before Faoken resumed cooperation, and Gray Hoof submitted to the governor’s terms.

• John revealed the Mark of Extraction, froze Adam’s Transcendent Tier spells, and began draining magic from Adam and his clone.
• Adam unleashed his remaining magic in a desperate attack, but John stripped away his magic connection, elemental affinity, and the magic sustaining his life.
• John subdued Adam, concealed the Mark, and ordered Major Wendy to take the former chief away for treatment.
• John told the Morning Star Clan that Faoken would suspend cooperation until the clan publicly judged Adam, making the clan demonstrate its acceptance of Faoken’s new laws.
• Gray Hoof acknowledged the clan’s responsibility, promised a fair public Judgment, and pledged the clan’s submission in the name of the Great Sage.