Chapter Summaries

Griseo used Nangong’s money to arrange a large purchase of Sun Mirrors, giving Casa and Caesar timely support for Blazewood and the Sons of Calydon. The group then headed to meet Phaethon about the Inferno Rider and the missing Hollow data.

• Casa thanked Caesar for helping the Sons of Calydon through difficult times, and Caesar vowed to become Overlord and stop Lucius.
• Griseo photographed the Sun Mirror and called Nangong, who agreed to buy ten thousand and sent her five million Dennies.
• Griseo asked Caesar whether 500 Dennies per Sun Mirror was enough, leaving Caesar and Casa stunned by the donation.
• Casa picked Griseo up and thanked her, relieved that the money would let her refuse a request.
• Lucy arrived and told Caesar that gaps in the Sons of Calydon's Hollow data meant Phaethon had to work overtime to complete the Carrot Data for the Inferno Rider course.

Lucius ordered Mors to ambush the Sons of Calydon in the Hollow, while Caesar and her crew collected data stakes with Belle and Griseo assisting remotely. When a large swarm of Ethereals attacked, Griseo destroyed them with an Ether net, leaving the group safe for the moment.

• Lucius confirmed the Sons of Calydon's key members were traveling together and ordered Mors to make sure none of them left the Hollow.
• Caesar and the others planted and activated data stakes while Lighter and Piper fought off a few low-level Ethereals.
• Lucy became suspicious of how smoothly the mission was going, and Griseo warned her that danger had arrived.
• A large swarm of Ethereals, including nearly ten Dullahans, approached the group as they protected the data stakes.
• Griseo used her Stars Signets to form an Ether net that sliced the swarm into cubes and cleared the area.

Griseo defeated the Ethereal swarm, and the Sons of Calydon faced an ambush led by Mors and a challenge from Baroum. Baroum asked Griseo and Billy not to interfere as he prepared to settle his score with Lighter.

• Belle finished copying the data and called for Caesar and the others to withdraw, while Griseo revealed that more people were approaching.
• Caesar, Lucy, Lighter, Piper, Belle, Billy, and Griseo waited as motorcycle engines drew near.
• Baroum arrived with his crew to challenge Lighter, while Mors and his attackers emerged from the mist and threw daggers at the Sons of Calydon.
• Caesar blocked the daggers with her gear shield, and Griseo explained that she had let Billy take the spotlight by not warning him about the ambush.
• Mors admitted that he had arranged the Ethereal swarm and ambush, while Baroum angrily confronted him for nearly harming Lighter.
• Baroum asked Griseo and Billy not to interfere, and Billy agreed as Baroum challenged Lighter to settle their old score.

Pulchra attacked Belle in Blazewood to disrupt her connection to Eous, while Griseo and Billy realized Belle was in danger and summoned Hua to end the fight in the Hollow. The chapter left Belle facing Pulchra and Burnice, while Hua defeated Mors and Baroum fled with his crew.

• Pulchra shot at Belle and Burnice in Blazewood, severing Belle's connection as Burnice charged at her.
• Lighter defeated Baroum, while Caesar, Lucy, Piper, and Billy fought Mors and The Victors without using lethal force.
• Griseo and Billy suspected Belle was in danger and Griseo summoned Hua to help end the fight.
• Hua drove back the fighters with her palm strikes and knocked Mors out with Inch Force—Heaven-Splitting.
• Baroum made an excuse and fled on his motorcycle with his underlings.

Caesar rushed Griseo back to Blazewood, fearing Lucius had harmed the Proxy, but found Burnice and Belle tormenting the defeated Pulchra instead. Caesar took Griseo away while the two continued their playful assault on Pulchra.

• Caesar drove Griseo to Blazewood after the Sons of Calydon split up, leaving Lucy and the others to deal with Mors and the captives.
• Pulchra tried to escape after destroying the HDD connection equipment, but Burnice attacked and overwhelmed her with her flamethrower.
• Burnice taunted Pulchra about a past romance, distracting her long enough to grab her tail and knock her down.
• Belle joined Burnice in stroking Pulchra's tail and ears while Pulchra protested and whimpered.
• Caesar and Griseo arrived, saw Burnice and Belle tormenting Pulchra, and left so Griseo would not have to watch.

Belle told Caesar that the Cat Thiren had damaged the HDD connection equipment, and said Wise could bring a replacement. Griseo planned to investigate whether Lucius had helped cause the tanker crash and to protect Pompey, while Belle arranged for Trigger to accompany her.

• Caesar returned to Cheesetopia and heard Belle explain that the Cat Thiren seemed to be a mercenary who had not intended to hurt anyone, though the damaged HDD equipment could have been part of Lucius's plan.
• Belle told Caesar that Wise could bring a replacement connection module, and Caesar went to check on Burnice.
• Griseo told Belle she had sensed Mors and another person near the tanker truck, and wanted to find out whether the other person was Lucius.
• Griseo said she wanted to protect Pompey until the Inferno Rider so Caesar could challenge him fairly, and Belle agreed to ask Trigger to accompany her.
• Belle called Wise while he was at Lumina Cinema, then the chapter ended with a humorous author note about being short on money.

Trigger and Griseo secretly met Pompey to warn him about Lucius and the danger surrounding Inferno Rider. Pompey recognized them after they subdued him, while Lucius left believing his poison would kill the overlord the next day.

• Belle dodged Wise’s questions about Trigger and Griseo’s whereabouts as Caesar and the Sons of Calydon prepared for their day’s errands.
• Pompey questioned Lucius about Mors and his squad, gave him updated transport-route documents, and asked about companies from New Eridu approaching him.
• Lucius claimed he was handling a supplier problem, then left believing Pompey had drunk the poison he had administered.
• Pompey revealed that Trigger and Griseo were hiding in his room and called them out.
• Trigger and Griseo had beaten Pompey after he mistook them for assassins, and Griseo used a Discipline to immobilize him until he agreed to listen.

Trigger and Griseo exposed Lucius’s plot to poison Pompey and seize power by sacrificing the Outer Ring’s residents to mine Flame Lake. Pompey recovered temporarily with Griseo’s help and vowed that Lucius would die.

• Griseo discovered that Lucius had poisoned Pompey’s water, and Trigger explained that the drug would make Ether exposure fatal.
• Griseo summoned Ether Energy, and Pompey confirmed the danger when it burned his finger and coated it in Ether Crystal.
• Trigger told Pompey that Lucius had also ordered attacks on the Sons of Calydon and tried to kill Belle and Griseo.
• Pompey reviewed Trigger’s evidence showing that Lucius had conspired with Ether corporations to seize power and mine Flame Lake at the cost of the oilfield district’s residents.
• Griseo temporarily restored Pompey’s bodily functions, and Pompey swore that Lucius must die.

Trigger, Wise, Belle, and Griseo prepared with Pompey and Caesar to expose Lucius during Inferno Rider by broadcasting his confession live. Pompey left to compete, while Caesar vowed to challenge him fairly.

• Trigger told Wise and Belle that Pompey would pretend Lucius's poison had worked before springing back up and exposing him.
• Pompey met Caesar, Belle, and Griseo outside Blazewood and explained that Lucius planned to cut the livestream during Inferno Rider.
• Belle said Fairy could restore the signal, and Fairy proposed routing a zero-delay live broadcast through the HDD system.
• Pompey planned to draw a confession from Lucius on camera and punish him after the Motor League heard his crimes.
• Caesar agreed to help Pompey but vowed she would not lose to him in Inferno Rider.

Sons of Calydon and The Victors began the Inferno Rider finals as Wise guided Caesar, Lighter, and Lucy through the course. The race continued after they evaded a suspected ambush, while Fairy effortlessly repelled a network attack on the camp.

• Wise connected Eous and coordinated the team’s race support, while Piper carried Eous to Caesar at the starting line.
• Burnice went to mix fuel cocktails after Belle told her Caesar had given her Big Daddy’s prized barrel.
• Caesar and Pompey faced off before the race began, and the teams sped away at the starting signal.
• Wise detected life signs on the original route, so Caesar, Lighter, and Lucy followed his instructions and turned onto a new road through the Hollow.
• Caesar accelerated and showered Lucy and Lighter with sand, prompting Lighter to ask if he could defect.
• Fairy reported a network attack and revealed that its remaining 21,294 firewalls were already built, leading Belle to suspect it had been using electricity unnecessarily.

Pompey exposed Lucius’s plot to destroy Flame Lake and arranged for Caesar and the Sons of Calydon to share authority over the Old Oilfield District. Caesar lit the lake’s flint, while Pompey began preparing her to succeed him.

• At Brimstone Lake, Lucius revealed that he had poisoned Pompey and replaced the flint with a Volatile Ether Aggregator to extinguish Flame Lake for profit.
• Lucius boasted about betraying the Outer Ring and turned to throw the altered flint into the lake, but Pompey struck him with an uppercut and revealed that his apparent illness was staged.
• With Fairy’s drone broadcasting Lucius’s confession, Pompey captured him and declared that the people would judge him rather than Pompey killing him.
• Pompey told viewers he would remain overlord until the next Inferno Rider and grant the Sons of Calydon equal authority with his group.
• Pompey asked Caesar to use her amber flint to ignite Flame Lake, signaling his intention to train her as his successor.

After the Inferno Rider, the Sons of Calydon celebrated their new role in the Outer Ring while Wise, Belle, and Griseo prepared to return to New Eridu. At the Great Rift, Belle revealed the siblings’ connection to Carole Arna, and Griseo hinted that she had come from Hollow Zero as well.

• Caesar welcomed the Motor League leaders as they discussed restructuring the Outer Ring, then gave Griseo Sun Mirrors and promised the Phaethon crew free services in Blazewood.
• Caesar promised to contact Wise and Belle when Perlman woke, and the group saw the siblings and Griseo off.
• Wise drove Belle and Griseo to the Great Rift, where he and Belle remembered their past at the Helios Institution.
• Belle told Griseo that Carole Arna had created Hollow Zero and that she and Wise were the Sinner’s Children, but Griseo calmly called Belle a liar.
• Griseo stepped out of the car and said she had come from Hollow Zero, then raised her hand toward it.

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi investigated Random Play after a report accused the store of distributing obscene videos, but the investigation ended with a misunderstanding and the confiscation of old tapes. Qingyi suspected Wise and Belle were hiding a secret, and Wise warned Belle that Qingyi might have seen through them.

• Zhu Yuan explained that her superior Bringer’s planned celebration performance had led her to ask Belle to arrange a performance by Griseo, even hinting she could arrest Belle over the cereal tapes.
• At the Lumina Avenue Public Security Department, Zhu Yuan mistook Qingyi’s review of an obscenity case file for watching adult videos, and Qingyi traced the reports to Random Play on Sixth Street.
• Zhu Yuan and Qingyi inspected Random Play, where Belle and Wise showed them complete business records and Qingyi searched the store.
• Zhu Yuan found prohibited videotapes in a box beneath the counter, and Wise and Belle argued over how the tapes had ended up there.
• Qingyi concluded that the tapes were likely part of a setup, and Zhu Yuan apologized to Wise and Belle before confiscating them.
• After the officers left, Wise told Belle that Qingyi had probably seen through their secret, but Belle dismissed his concern.

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi visited Griseo to request a script, and Griseo shared a humorous story about Elysia manipulating King Qi into accepting Mei. The script stirred Qingyi’s thoughts about her lost past, and she gave Griseo her memory data to use in a story about her.

• Belle hesitated to help Zhu Yuan until Wise encouraged her, and they learned from Little 18 that Qingyi had gone to Griseo’s third-floor studio.
• Griseo gave Qingyi a script in which Elysia persuaded King Qi to gather Mei for his harem, then took control of the kingdom and the harem herself.
• Qingyi praised the script but fell silent as she wondered when her life began and where it was going.
• Qingyi reassured Zhu Yuan and gave Griseo her memory data, asking her to base a story about Qingyi on it.

In a prosperous Jiangnan city, Qingyi slipped away from her guarded home and joined constable Zhu Yuan in fighting bandits. After they defeated the gang, Zhu Yuan warned Qingyi about the dangers of pursuing justice, but Qingyi insisted on choosing her own future.

• Qingyi's maid Xiaochun discovered that Qingyi had disappeared from her chamber again and alerted the steward.
• Zhu Yuan overheard troubled patrons in a tavern, noticed suspicious newcomers, and followed them into the streets.
• Bandits surrounded Zhu Yuan in an alley, where she fought them off with her saber.
• Qingyi arrived with an oil-paper umbrella and helped Zhu Yuan defeat the bandits.
• When the leader tried to flee, Zhu Yuan shot him in the thigh with an arrow.
• Zhu Yuan cautioned Qingyi against pursuing justice, but Qingyi declared that her future was hers to decide.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Yuan rescued Qingyi from falling into the river, then accompanied her through the lantern-lit city. Qingyi confessed she wanted to wander the martial world with Zhu Yuan, and they joined hands after Zhu Yuan affirmed her duty as a constable.

• When Qingyi began to fall from the crowded dragon boat, Zhu Yuan leaped across the crowd and caught her with an umbrella.
• Zhu Yuan apologized for arriving late, and Qingyi playfully insisted she accompany her through the festival.
• Zhu Yuan bought blue-green hair ribbons for Qingyi and tied them onto her braids.
• When the crowd surged toward a dragon dance, Zhu Yuan shielded Qingyi, and Qingyi asked her to leave with her and wander the martial world.
• Zhu Yuan said she could not abandon her duty to protect the city, and Qingyi replied that she would become a constable with her if necessary.
• Zhu Yuan offered Qingyi her hand, and Qingyi took it as fireworks burst overhead.

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi fought Misty Rain Tower’s bandits, but Zhu Yuan fell with Ghost Hand over a cliff while saving Qingyi. Three years later, Qingyi traveled as a famed heroine, still grieving Zhu Yuan, and watched their last keepsake blow away.

• Zhu Yuan fought alone against Misty Rain Tower’s bandits until Qingyi arrived and stood with her.
• Zhu Yuan and Qingyi killed the bandits, but Ghost Hand struck Qingyi and attacked them both.
• Zhu Yuan used her hairpin to wound Ghost Hand, and the two fell together into the abyss.
• Three years later, Qingyi traveled as a renowned heroine who had wiped out seventeen bands of bandits.
• Qingyi’s green hair ribbon blew away, and she wept as she wished to protect Zhu Yuan in another life.

Griseo’s script turns Qingyi’s fragmented memories into a story of three lives, and Qingyi agrees to use it while privately asking to read the hidden third life. The chapter ends with Qingyi awakening in the HIA laboratory’s combat body and meeting Zhu Yuan, whose appearance matches the figure she had long been searching for.

• Qingyi chased a woman resembling Zhu Yuan through the rain at a Shanghai reception, but fell and lost sight of her.
• Griseo showed Wise, Belle, Zhu Yuan, and Qingyi her story based on Qingyi’s backup data, and Qingyi approved it.
• Qingyi privately asked Griseo about the omitted third life, and Griseo offered to let her read it.
• A researcher accidentally named the combat body “Qingyi” after misreading its model number while uploading its consciousness data.
• Qingyi fought Ethereals in a Hollow, collapsed, and woke in a hospital to meet Zhu Yuan.

Tsukishiro Yanagi received a secret order from the Mayor and sent Harumasa and Soukaku to find Hoshimi Miyabi, who had skipped work to train. After evading Soukaku, Miyabi faced Harumasa outside an antique shop, where he challenged her to a contest to decide whether she would return.

• Lycaon delivered the Mayor's secret order to Tsukishiro Yanagi and asked her to tell Hoshimi Miyabi to stay safe during the operation.
• Harumasa asked Tsukishiro Yanagi for three days off, but she sent him to find the missing Miyabi and promised him and Soukaku leave after they completed the assignment.
• Hoshimi Miyabi played games at the Cunning Hares office until Soukaku arrived to bring her back, then escaped by distracting Soukaku with taiyaki.
• Harumasa confronted Hoshimi Miyabi outside an antique shop and failed to catch her as she dodged through a nearby alley.
• Harumasa proposed a contest: if he won, Miyabi would return with him, and if he lost, he would stop disturbing her training; Miyabi agreed.

Harumasa and Hoshimi Miyabi got stuck with a dessert bill after Miyabi ate nineteen melon parfaits, and Tsukishiro Yanagi arrived to pay and order Miyabi back to work. Miyabi and Yanagi imagined an escalating supernatural battle over melon training and overtime while Harumasa and Soukaku slipped away to enjoy their vacation.

• Hoshimi Miyabi beat Harumasa in a melon parfait contest, then told him he had to pay because she had brought no money.
• Harumasa had no money either, so Tsukishiro Yanagi paid their 10,086 Denny bill and reprimanded them for skipping work.
• Miyabi refused Yanagi's order to return to headquarters, and the two imagined themselves clashing in an over-the-top battle.
• Harumasa told Soukaku that Miyabi and Yanagi were fighting inside the Thoughtless Barrier, then suggested they escape before work resumed.
• Harumasa and Soukaku agreed to leave the milk tea shop and enjoy their vacation while Miyabi and Yanagi continued their imagined fight.