Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Goudan tells researcher Wen Qi about a red, self-aware substance that transforms its host. Wen Qi identifies it as Solid-State Blood, a long-lost research subject crucial to her declining institute, and agrees to contact Su Yi—provided his group can help locate it.
• Su Yi’s group asks Wen Qi for a fast, portable way to kill people across a battlefield on Kevin-9, where Void Abyss energy is abundant. Wen Qi proposes a powerful Titan-class machine, but Goudan insists on disposable bombs instead; the cost can come out of the group’s wages.
• After securing a second Spawn Point, Su Yi persuades gang member Lacey to take him to the Winter Family. He promises that, with Su Yi’s help, the Ditai Gang could dominate the Western World and Lacey could lead it.
• Su Yi demonstrates Sacred Binary Magic by revoking Lacey’s access to his own gun, then restoring his own ability to use it. Awed by the seemingly impossible power, Lacey pledges his allegiance and agrees to arrange transport to Wente City.
• Joestar stays behind to search the old district for traces of the past; he and Su Yi plan to meet again in a few days.
• Su Yi asks Emma and Icegrass to perform a sacrificial prayer for an S-Class Pleasure Virus Boon. Icegrass warns that it can infect its user and reduce them to a mindless, flesh-driven creature. Su Yi is confident that his mastery of Self-Gratification gives him control over Pleasure-Type skills and immunity to their negative effects.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Qi shifts from reserved scientist to an intense, coldly practical researcher when Solid-State Blood is mentioned. Her institute’s desperation makes her willing to negotiate on extermination weapons.
• Goudan is unnerved by Wen Qi’s enthusiasm and by the scale of the institute’s weapons research, while remaining focused on his leader’s request.
• Lacey moves rapidly from respect to wholehearted allegiance. Su Yi wins him over through promises of power, political advancement, and a demonstration of Sacred Binary Magic.
• Su Yi proves adept at both command and persuasion, using Lacey’s ambition while insisting he must earn a place under his protection.
• Emma shows unwavering confidence in Su Yi and rebukes Icegrass for doubting him. Icegrass, ashamed of her hesitation, kneels and asks for punishment; Su Yi instead leaves her in Emma’s care.
• Joestar chooses a separate path for now, prioritizing his search for the past.

Significant themes

• Power and loyalty: Su Yi gains followers by demonstrating strength and offering them a path to greater status.
• Science and mass destruction: Wen Qi treats planetary extermination as a technical problem, while Goudan is disturbed by the possibility of carrying out such violence in a world that feels real.
• Faith and doubt: Icegrass’s caution gives way to renewed devotion, reinforced by Emma’s certainty.
• Control and corruption: The Pleasure Virus offers immense power but threatens to consume its user—an apparent danger Su Yi believes he has mastered.

• Journey to Wente City: After seeing Su Yi’s Sacred Binary Magic, Lacey eagerly takes charge of the Ditai Gang’s affairs in Diamond City and sets out for Wente City with Su Yi, Emma, Icegrass, and the Evil God. Yao stays behind to investigate Joestar and pursue answers connected to his dreams.
• The Winter Family and the city: During the trip, Lacey explains that Wente is the Winter Family’s frontier capital and the Ditai Gang’s headquarters. The Winter Family’s noble status is undermined by its slave origins, and the Alliance keeps it dependent on supplies while it guards the border against Void Beasts. Wente’s massive walls and ring-shaped, fortified buildings reveal that the whole city is designed as a battle fortress.
• Preparing for the next step: Lacey arranges lodging at the gang-owned Cloud Mist Hotel and promises to set up a meeting with Kailan Winter. Emma requests ritual supplies, which Lacey provides without pressing her for details. Su Yi plans to use the gang’s adult films as a carrier for a corruption virus, encode it with binary magic, and test its effects.
• Emma’s ritual and boon: Emma and Icegrass perform a sacrifice to the Twins of Pleasure. The Twins favor Emma alone, raising her from level 24 to 26 and granting her an innate talent. Icegrass is awed by Emma’s apparent special standing with the Twins and leaves the couple to themselves. Emma openly expresses how happy she is to help Su Yi, and he responds with affection.
• The Pleasure Virus: Su Yi examines the S-rank skill Emma obtained. When he learns it, its disturbing effects—intense desire and grotesque bodily growths—begin to manifest. He suppresses them with Self-Gratification EX, which grants immunity to most side effects of pleasure-type skills. Looking within his soul, he sees the virus as interwoven purple and pink particles and realizes he may be able to treat them as binary digits and edit them with his magic.
  Character developments and interactions: Lacey acts confidently as Su Yi’s capable, loyal intermediary in Wente. Emma’s devotion is rewarded by the Twins and becomes more openly affectionate, while Icegrass shifts into an observer, impressed by Emma’s favor. Su Yi remains focused on his larger plan, turning even the virus’s dangerous effects into a potential new application for his binary magic.
  Themes: The chapter contrasts Wente’s harsh, militarized survivalism with the intimate ritual and divine favor surrounding Emma. It also emphasizes power through alliances and ingenuity: political connections secure access to Wente, and Su Yi’s instinct to reinterpret a threat as usable information drives the closing discovery.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi experiments with the Twins’ pleasure power, using his Binary Code talent to control its soul- and body-related particles. Unable to manipulate the supernatural particles directly, he instead encodes the pleasure virus as a program and tests it on raw meat, transforming it into a grotesque tentacle. He destroys the test and plans to carry prepared viral code for use as a quick attack.
• The next morning, Su Yi and Lacey visit Kailan Decker Winter, a powerful Winter Family manager, at his estate. Kailan initially suspects Su Yi is an enemy from the Black Sun Group and tests him with a punch; Su Yi meets it head-on with a metal fist.
• Lacey and Su Yi explain that the hostility between their organizations stems partly from rival departments and the actions of the company’s envoys—not Su Yi’s own faction. Su Yi also says that Cairns, whom Kailan despises, was responsible for the attack that destroyed his cybernetic hand.
• Su Yi proposes taking legal control of Diamond City, offering the Winter Family over ten million soul crystals in annual taxes. Kailan remains skeptical and says Su Yi must first prove himself.
• The Winter Family is being harassed by the Kage Pirate Group, believed to be mercenaries hired by the rival Pellock Family. Su Yi promises to defeat them within three days, despite the pirates’ strength and powerful leader. He intends to use his newly developed pleasure virus against them.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi displays inventive use of his powers, turning a supernatural ability into programmable weaponry. He is confident, strategic, and eager to exploit the pirates’ likely desires as a weakness.
• Kailan comes across as domineering and suspicious, but also politically constrained: his family cannot freely pursue western expansion. Su Yi’s proposal catches his interest, though he demands proof before granting anything.
• Lacey acts as mediator, vouching for Su Yi and clarifying the misunderstandings between him and Kailan.
• Su Yi and Kailan begin with a physical test and mutual distrust, then move toward a possible business alliance. Su Yi’s blunt criticism of his own company’s envoys helps establish common ground.

Significant themes

• Power through ingenuity: Su Yi succeeds not by overpowering supernatural forces directly, but by finding a technical workaround.
• Trust and factional conflict: Misunderstandings between organizations conceal internal rivalries and create opportunities for alliances.
• Ambition and leverage: Su Yi offers economic gains to secure political authority, while Kailan uses a dangerous mission to test his worth.
• Weaponizing desire: The pleasure virus represents Su Yi’s willingness to turn an opponent’s impulses into a tool of control and psychological torment.

Key plot points and events

• Kai Lan, of the Winter Family, hears Su Yi’s proposal to eliminate the pirates around Diamond City. Before deciding, he also listens to Wolf Fang of the Bonebreaker Gang, who arrives with Jike and Free Man.
• Su Yi recognizes Jike as a former enemy and exposes the group’s ties to the Kage Pirate Group. Wolf Fang admits those ties have since broken, claiming they now intend to fight the pirates.
• Su Yi offers to clear out the pirates in three days. Wolf Fang argues that the job is too difficult on that schedule and had expected a lengthy campaign. Su Yi warns Kai Lan that a drawn-out partnership could give Wolf Fang room to prolong the operation and exploit the Winter Family.
• Kai Lan sets a three-day contest: whichever group deals with the pirates wins ownership of Diamond City. Both sides receive the same intelligence.
• In the car, Lacey doubts Su Yi has enough fighters to defeat more than forty pirate teams scattered across the region. Su Yi reasons that the teams’ coordination depends on a communications network and plans to attack it with a virus.
• Rather than merely disabling communications, Su Yi asks Lacey for a provocative movie and a computer. He embeds a desire virus and modular pleasure-virus functions in the video, programming them to trigger, spread, and repeat. After five hours, he completes the digital “sugar-coated shell,” ready to distribute.

Character developments

• Su Yi demonstrates confidence, strategic thinking, and technical ingenuity. He uses negotiation to undermine Wolf Fang’s credibility, then turns an unconventional digital weapon into his answer to the pirates’ numerical advantage.
• Kai Lan remains cautious rather than blindly accepting Su Yi’s claims, but Su Yi’s warning makes him reconsider Wolf Fang’s long-term plan. He responds by imposing a firm deadline and fair-seeming contest.
• Lacey moves from doubting the plan to becoming an enthusiastic collaborator, fascinated by Su Yi’s virus and digital engineering.
• Wolf Fang and Jike are rattled by Su Yi’s accusations and the sudden three-day deadline, which disrupts their intended slow campaign.
• Free Man is revealed as an anarchist with a notorious future history, though in the present he is still relatively weak and eager to rally other Players against Su Yi.

Significant themes

• Strategy versus force: Su Yi counters the pirates’ numbers and mobility through their reliance on communication and digital systems.
• Manipulation and trust: The chapter stresses the danger of vague, long-term partnerships and the possibility that supposed allies may have hidden motives.
• Technology as a weapon: A movie becomes a delivery system for a coded, self-propagating virus.
• Power and exploitation: Su Yi’s planned content is designed to appeal to the pirates’ fantasies of domination, turning their desires against them.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Wolf Fang trade accusations and veiled threats in front of Kai Lan; Su Yi’s warning shifts Kai Lan’s view of Wolf Fang’s proposal.
• Kai Lan sets both groups against each other in a three-day race for Diamond City.
• Lacey questions Su Yi’s ability to handle the pirates, then helps by supplying the movie and computer.
• Emma briefly misunderstands the movie’s purpose and becomes embarrassed, while Su Yi explains it is bait for his operation.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi’s investigation into the attacks on supply caravans is repeatedly obstructed by the Bonebreaker Gang, the Shadow Soul Hunters, and their player allies. Jike’s forces openly shadow his team and destroy evidence at one attack site.
• Jike and Wolf Fang believe Su Yi must rely on the Ditai Gang and can be stopped by keeping watch on him. When they learn he has slipped out of the city in disguise, they organize a pursuit.
• Su Yi concludes that the caravan attackers are creating chaos rather than stealing supplies, and remains unfazed by the harassment. A sudden loss of 100 bandwidth signals that the pleasure virus he planted has begun replicating.
• Far from Wente City, pirates scavenge a destroyed caravan. One pirate, Big Beard, finds a customized adult film and uses it in his entertainment system.
• The virus infects Big Beard, transforming him into a tentacled creature driven by uncontrollable desire. He attacks One-Eye; soon One-Eye also begins to feel attraction toward him, suggesting the infection is spreading.

Character developments

• Su Yi stays calm and confident, relying on his hidden plan rather than retaliating against the gang’s provocations.
• Emma gains a powerful form of Soul Perception, allowing her to sense people’s emotions and desires, and uses it to detect the hostility of the pursuers.
• Jike, Wolf Fang, and Free Man grow overconfident, convinced that surveillance and force will prevent Su Yi from accomplishing his task.
• Big Beard and One-Eye become the first visible victims of the pleasure virus: Big Beard mutates into a creature of desire, while One-Eye begins to succumb as well.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and unintended consequences: Su Yi’s unseen plan turns the pirates’ own behavior and appetites against them.
• Overconfidence versus patience: The gang assumes Su Yi can be contained, while Su Yi quietly waits for his plan to take effect.
• Desire as infection: The virus transforms ordinary lust into a contagious, physically mutating force.
• Chaos and misdirection: The attacks appear aimed at destabilizing the region rather than obtaining cargo.

Character interactions

• The players and Shadow Soul Hunters plan to monitor and ambush Su Yi, but his team continues despite their interference.
• Emma alerts Su Yi to the pursuers’ hostility, while he reassures the group that their chosen tactic will fail.
• Big Beard’s friendly invitation to One-Eye turns into a violent attack after the virus takes hold; One-Eye’s fear then gives way to infected desire, hinting at the virus’s rapid spread.

Key plot points and events

• Big Beard, One-Eye, and Steel Fang are infected by Su Yi’s pleasure virus. It spreads through them and the rest of their base, mutating all seven pirates into grotesque, tentacled masses.
• Following Su Yi’s instructions, the infected pirates send recordings to contacts at other bases. The virus spreads rapidly, reaching roughly 5,420 people across more than 400 locations in ten hours.
• Using the Molten Fire Temple’s connection to fertility-related powers, Su Yi tracks the infected and records their base coordinates. He gives them to Kai Lan, warning him to destroy the bodies and contaminated facilities.
• Kai Lan verifies the locations. His soldiers find no signs of battle—only mutated pirates—and begin burning and destroying the sites. Kai Lan orders strict secrecy and attributes the punishment to the Sky Goddess.
• Kai Lan reports Su Yi’s actions to his father, Marlock Winter. Marlock recognizes the virus as a power associated with the Twins of Pleasure and judges Su Yi both extraordinarily capable and a promising partner.
• Marlock grants Su Yi the title of Diamond Lord, giving him Diamond City and surrounding land within a fifty-kilometer radius. Su Yi will control the territory autonomously in exchange for paying thirty percent of its revenue as tax.

Character developments

• Su Yi demonstrates immense supernatural reach and strategic foresight, eliminating a widespread pirate threat while preventing Void Abyss demons from exploiting the weakened barrier. He uses the crisis to strengthen his position with the Winter family.
• Kai Lan shifts from skepticism to fear, respect, and trust after seeing the results firsthand. He recognizes Su Yi’s value and moves quickly to secure cooperation.
• Marlock Winter proves pragmatic: rather than spend scarce resources defending and developing Diamond City, he gives it to Su Yi, turning a potential liability into a source of revenue and a buffer against rival powers.
• Lacey grows even more devoted to Su Yi, impressed by the scale and power of his methods.
• The pirates’ desire for gratification becomes their downfall: the virus turns their appetites into a mechanism for their own destruction and its spread.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: Su Yi’s display of force changes the political calculations of the Winter family.
• Pragmatic alliance-building: Marlock treats territory as a strategic bargain, trading autonomy for taxes, protection, and leverage against rivals.
• Desire as corruption and punishment: The pirates’ exploitation and indulgence are turned against them, while their actions threaten to invite demonic forces into the world.
• Control and containment: Su Yi’s plan is not only to defeat the pirates but to stop the spreading crisis before it endangers the wider world.

Character interactions

• Big Beard and One-Eye lure Steel Fang into their infected group, showing how the virus uses personal trust to propagate.
• Su Yi presents Kai Lan with the coordinates and cautions him not to approach the infected bodies. Kai Lan verifies the information, then orders his forces to destroy the sites.
• Kai Lan explains the situation to Marlock, emphasizing Su Yi’s sincerity, power, and usefulness. Marlock responds by authorizing the Diamond Lord appointment, which Kai Lan agrees to deliver.

This is an author’s note, not a story chapter. The author says they will post two chapters together around 9 p.m. because posting them separately disrupts the reading experience, and will post the final overdue chapter tomorrow.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi secures ownership of Diamond City and the surrounding fifty-kilometer territory from Lord Winter, becoming its officially appointed lord. He and Kai Lan reaffirm their partnership.
• Lacey resolves his gang’s internal problems and gathers more than two hundred armed men and supplies to help develop the city.
• Su Yi’s group prepares to bring the Frost Elves, Winter, and their goods and research materials to Diamond City before the approaching beast tide. To obtain enough transport, they plan to seize vehicles from the attackers hiding nearby.
• Meanwhile, Jike and Wolf Fang learn that Su Yi has apparently eliminated the attackers and obtained Diamond City. Jike alerts Yaha, the space-pirate commander, who is furious that Su Yi has disrupted the operation and that his people have vanished.
• Back in Diamond City, Su Yi publicly announces his new authority. Local gang members mock and threaten him, refusing to recognize his claim.
• Su Yi gives them an ultimatum. Emma kills one ringleader with an invisible force, and Su Yi reveals his flames. He, Emma, Raptor, and the steel-enhanced Dutch, Lisa, and Cole then overwhelm the outlaws in a bloody assault.

Character developments

• Su Yi moves from negotiator and planner to openly terrifying ruler. He remains composed during the confrontation, then uses overwhelming force to establish his authority.
• Lacey becomes Su Yi’s committed ally, organizing manpower and backing his claim in front of the gangs. His men’s earlier doubts about following Su Yi disappear after witnessing the team’s power.
• Kai Lan trusts Su Yi’s sincerity and supports their new partnership.
• Jike and Yaha are shown as increasingly frustrated and alarmed by Su Yi’s unexpected successes.
• Emma, Raptor, Dutch, Lisa, and Cole demonstrate the extraordinary abilities that make Su Yi’s group far more dangerous than ordinary fighters.

Significant themes

• Authority backed by force: Su Yi’s legal appointment establishes his claim, but he secures obedience through a brutal display of power.
• Appearance versus reality: Su Yi’s refined, friendly appearance conceals a ruthless and formidable fighter; the steel warriors’ casual demeanor likewise masks their destructive capabilities.
• Fear as a tool of control: The gangs’ defiance turns to shock and terror once they see that resistance is futile.
• Preparation and expansion: Su Yi is building Diamond City as a strategic base, gathering people and resources ahead of the coming beast tide.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Kai Lan conclude their agreement on mutually confident terms.
• Su Yi briefs his allies on relocating people and goods, while Evil God raises the practical problem of transportation.
• Jike challenges reports of Su Yi’s success, then contacts Yaha, revealing the opposition’s confusion and mounting anger.
• Lacey confronts the gangs on Su Yi’s behalf, but Su Yi makes clear that his rule is not open to negotiation.
• Su Yi’s allies fight in coordination, while Lacey and his men watch—and shift from skepticism to awe and fear.

Plot and key events

• Evil God saves a mortally wounded outlaw, then turns him into a hulking flesh monster by combining Life Boon with Corpse Mutation Blessing. The creature attacks the remaining enemies. Evil God explains that his build emphasizes creating a few powerful flesh puppets rather than Mota’s larger hordes; his Flesh Hunger ability could make them heal by consuming victims and spread the mutation.
• Su Yi and his group finish wiping out the gangs resisting them—around 240 people, including core forces from more than twelve gangs. Roughly five hundred survivors, including Lacey’s people, submit to Su Yi’s rule over Diamond City.
• Su Yi orders the bodies transported to the city’s central square, where he plants the Divine Tree Fruit. Diamond City’s Void Abyss-tainted soil and the corpses provide ideal nourishment. The fruit’s roots consume the first body, turning it into charcoal that enriches the soil.
• With the city secured and the tree established, Su Yi departs with Emma and Joestar in an all-terrain flying vehicle, intending to bring the population to the new base.
• In the Bone Mountains, Winter, Alton, and the others finish clearing the soul crystal and prepare to evacuate before their activity attracts attackers. Molly studies the laboratory’s notes and discovers that the 4.2 million tons of soul crystal were made from the souls of roughly 400 million people.
• Molly focuses on the notes’ Soul Fusion Technique, which combines human souls with inorganic material. By connecting it with her research on the silicon-based symbiote, she realizes she can potentially solve the soul’s rejection of a steel body—allowing ordinary people to become Steel Warriors without losing their sense of self.

Character developments and interactions

• Evil God reveals a more deliberate, quality-over-quantity approach to combat, using a rescued enemy as the first of his flesh puppets. His brutality also serves to demonstrate his power to Lacey and the others.
• Su Yi consolidates his authority through overwhelming force, then acts pragmatically: he uses the defeated enemies’ bodies to establish the Divine Tree and leaves once his objectives are secured.
• Lacey and the surviving gangs shift from resistance to fearful submission. Lacey follows Su Yi’s instructions and helps transport the corpses.
• Molly advances from studying the symbiote’s structure to identifying a possible solution to its central problem. Her discovery suggests a major breakthrough in creating Steel Warriors safely.

Significant themes

• Power and submission: Su Yi’s victory makes clear that strength, rather than prior loyalties or pride, determines who rules Diamond City.
• Life turned into weapons and resources: Evil God converts an outlaw into a monster, while Su Yi uses corpses to nourish the Divine Tree; the laboratory’s history likewise reduces millions of souls to material.
• Scientific and supernatural convergence: Molly’s breakthrough comes from combining experimental research with an older technique, pointing toward new possibilities for human transformation—and its ethical stakes.

• Molly’s breakthrough: Studying Frost Elf biology and experimental records, Molly concludes that the elves can recover an ancient, permanent phantom form by using Void Abyss Resonance to fuse their six core crystals. She hopes this could eventually allow Frost Elves to merge with symbiotes and become a formidable force. Now level 21, her evolved Rune Spirits let her control Void Abyss energy, so she proposes a trial—carefully, since she does not want to endanger Su Yi’s devoted followers.
• Su Yi’s return and the camp’s progress: One-Eye announces Su Yi’s return. His people report that their Steel Warriors have repelled four waves of Void Beasts, whose poisons and attacks pose little threat to their metal bodies. A nearby Pioneer camp of roughly 500 people may soon attack, though it has stayed cautious since an earlier clash. Su Yi also learns the camp is orderly and well supplied.
• A new home for the Frost Elves: Su Yi announces that he has acquired the land within 50 kilometers of Diamond City, which he says can eventually house millions. He promises the Frost Elves a secure territory where they will no longer be hunted. The elves respond with fervent devotion, strengthened by stories of his recent victories and supernatural power.
• Icegrass volunteers for the experiment: Molly shares her discovery with Su Yi, who praises her warmly and immediately approves a test. Icegrass, the High Priest, volunteers and recognizes the proposed form as a lost ability once associated with Frost Elves of pure bloodlines. Molly explains that the elves abandoned it to conserve energy in harsh conditions; with Su Yi’s protection, they can reclaim it. She warns Icegrass to hold on to her identity while the Void Abyss affects her mind.
• The transformation: Molly channels the energy of a thousand Void Abyss Coins into six points on Icegrass’s body. As purple patterns spread and Icegrass suffers intense physical and mental turmoil, she steadies herself by reciting the Record of the Feast’s Teachings. Her fear and inner conflict give way to devotion, and she transforms into a translucent, prism-like wraith with glowing red eyes, floating in the air. Su Yi names this form Moon-Eroding Shadow and connects it to his Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf.
  Character and relationship developments: Molly’s scientific ambition is matched by growing confidence in her powers, while Su Yi’s affectionate praise reinforces their close, almost parental bond. Icegrass demonstrates resolve and unwavering faith, which appears to help her survive the transformation. Emma and Dora watch Molly’s praise with mild envy but no resentment, and Emma voices concern for Icegrass’s safety.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes scientific discovery and the recovery of lost potential, faith as a source of strength, and the way security can let a vulnerable people reclaim their heritage. It also sets up the contrast between the Frost Elves’ fragile bodies and the formidable power of their phantom form.

Plot points and events

• Icegrass awakens as a Moon-Eroding Shadow, a new Frost Elf form created by Su Yi’s power. Molly further enhances her by bonding her with a specially modified silicon-based symbiote, giving her silvery armor, claws, and the ability to shift between physical and ghostlike states.
• Testing shows Icegrass can phase through solid matter, strike from unexpected angles, withstand powerful attacks, and even send the symbiote inside a target before making it erupt into spikes. Her existing skills also grow stronger. However, the form uses eleven times the energy of a normal Frost Elf, and Molly can currently modify only one symbiote every five days.
• The other Frost Elves are awed and eager to earn the same transformation. Su Yi praises Molly and promises her a dedicated laboratory complex, then entrusts her with continued research.
• Su Yi decides to attack a Human Alliance outpost about 100 kilometers away to seize its transport vehicles. Winter worries that attacking will make conflict unavoidable, but Su Yi argues war is inevitable and intends to overwhelm the outpost directly. Winter and Mountain Dog are assigned to clear the battlefield rather than fight.
• At the Western Outpost Base, Fun God and a dozen like-minded Players—including Bathing Emperor and Technician No. 8—leave because the camp’s treatment of Frost Elf slaves violates their principles. Shadow Attendant notices but allows them to go, saying her plan is ready.
• Su Yi and Maria launch a crude, fire-propelled drop pod toward the camp. At the same time, Shadow Attendant tells the gathered Players that the Frost Elves possess soul crystals worth 300 million Void Abyss Coins, and urges them to keep Su Yi’s group pinned down until reinforcements arrive.
• The drop pod crashes into the meeting room before the briefing can finish, demolishing the tent and throwing the occupants into smoke, flames, and chaos.

Character developments and interactions

• Icegrass becomes the first Steel Wraith, combining ancient Frost Elf power with Molly’s technology. Her transformation inspires her people and establishes her as a model for those seeking the same strength.
• Molly demonstrates major technical progress and earns Su Yi’s confidence; she is ambitious about building a larger research operation.
• Su Yi remains confident in his group’s advantage, supports Molly’s work, and chooses a preemptive attack rather than wait for the Human Alliance to move against him.
• Winter raises practical concerns about the consequences of attacking, but accepts Su Yi’s orders. Mountain Dog agrees the conflict has already begun.
• Fun God and his companions draw a moral line at the camp’s enslavement of Frost Elves, distinguishing themselves from the Players who remain.
• Shadow Attendant exploits greed and organizes the outpost’s response, while Su Yi and Maria interrupt her meeting with a sudden assault.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Icegrass’s extraordinary abilities come with heavy energy demands and limited production capacity.
• Technological and biological synergy: Molly’s invention turns an obsolete ancient form into a formidable new combat role.
• Loyalty and reward: The Frost Elves’ devotion deepens as Su Yi offers them protection, power, and recognition.
• Moral boundaries versus greed: Some Players reject slavery, while others are tempted by the enormous promised fortune.
• Preemptive violence and escalation: Both sides prepare for conflict, and Su Yi’s attack turns the brewing confrontation into open battle.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• A gigantic fireball crashes into the players’ camp, wrecking their meeting tent and killing the three hunter leaders. Outlaw and several others survive the initial blast but lose much of their health.
• Su Yi appears in the ruins, holding the captive Shadow Attendant and mocking her as an empty body. He announces that he has come to kill every player.
• Outlaw calls the players to attack. Their opening barrage is stopped by Su Yi’s enormous shield, while a horn sounds and prompts the players to use Willpower Enhancement to resist possible illusions.
• Before the players can properly assess Su Yi’s abilities, thousands of Steel Warriors appear and surround the camp. Su Yi orders them to attack, turning the encounter into a massacre.
• The Steel Warriors prove difficult to kill: many player abilities are ineffective against them, their remains offer no useful rewards, and slain warriors can fuse into stronger creatures.
• Alton merges with 31 Steel Warriors to become a massive level-35 Fusion Steel Warwolf. The players’ attempted breakout collapses, and many are killed or forced to disconnect.
• The Steel Warriors win decisively. About 400 are temporarily destroyed, but they will recover at the Mist Horn within 24 hours.

Character developments

• Su Yi is revealed as a ruthless, confident enemy who arrives with overwhelming force and lets his army do most of the fighting.
• Outlaw takes charge, calling the raid and directing the players to spread out and cautiously assess the boss. His sensible tactics are undermined by the sudden appearance of the Steel Warriors.
• The players show courage and adaptability, fighting even when outmatched, but their confidence gives way to despair as they realize their enemies can regenerate and combine.
• Alton demonstrates the Steel Warriors’ frightening capacity for fusion by becoming a powerful warbeast.
• Shadow Attendant remains defiant despite being captured and insulted by Su Yi.

Character interactions

• Su Yi taunts Shadow Attendant while holding her captive, then addresses the players with an explicit threat.
• Outlaw rallies the players and coordinates their response; other leaders try to halt wasted attacks and establish a plan.
• Players trade alarmed, profane reactions as the battle shifts from a seemingly familiar boss fight to an overwhelming siege.
• The Shadow Legion blacksmiths recognize the Mist Horn as connected to the Steel Warriors, hinting at the source of their forces.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence versus preparation: The players follow familiar boss-fighting tactics, but their assumptions fail against an enemy who deploys an army immediately.
• Courage amid hopeless odds: The players continue fighting and even sacrifice themselves despite having little chance of victory.
• The horror of endless warfare: Steel Warriors that can recover and fuse make defeat feel temporary for the enemy but devastating for the players.
• Power and intimidation: Su Yi’s presence, shield, and army establish him as a threat far beyond the players’ current ability to handle.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi’s Steel Warriors overrun an enemy camp. The survivors’ equipment is confiscated, bodies are burned, and the camp’s supplies are prepared for transport.
• The haul includes millions of Void Abyss Coins, tens of thousands of soul crystals, hundreds of pieces of high-grade equipment, and valuable forging materials. Currency and equipment alone are estimated at 9.7 million coins; with the players’ gear, the total may exceed 15 million.
• Su Yi’s allies arrive and help move the loot to the Research Base in twenty-four heavy transport vehicles. The Steel Warriors load everything quickly and escort the convoy.
• Back at the base, Maria wonders how Su Yi can use the Mist Horn so effectively. Emma reflects that the group’s past defeat led them to meet Su Yi and join him, quoting a lesson from Rijia’s Scripture of Sacred Teachings.
• On Earth, hundreds of players defeated at the camp flood the forum with complaints about the powerful Steel Warriors. Their posts draw attention to Su Yi, whom players have nicknamed “Cyber Godfather.”
• Winter’s group publicizes Su Yi’s generosity and past support for players: better quest rewards, access to special skills, and valuable equipment. Combat footage further boosts his reputation.
• Firsthand player 108 describes Su Yi protecting him after an NPC framed him and killed someone he admired. The story sparks a surge of admiration and discussion, making Su Yi a forum sensation.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi is shown as both a shrewd commander and a provider: he values equipment and supplies as essential tools for strengthening and retaining future players.
• Winter, Mountain Dog, and Evil God are thrilled by the loot but recognize that Su Yi’s summoned Steel Legion made the victory possible without the heavy losses their own forces would have suffered.
• Joestar is amazed by how smoothly events are unfolding, while Maria remains impressed—and puzzled—by Su Yi’s mastery of the Mist Horn.
• Emma speaks warmly of Su Yi and explains how past failure brought her group to him. Her conversation leads Maria to reconsider the Scripture of Sacred Teachings and its ideas.
• Players’ forum discussions present Su Yi as generous and protective toward allies, but terrifying and ruthless toward enemies. Their praise, stories, and memes turn him into a legendary figure.

Significant themes

• Defeat as a path to opportunity: Emma sees the group’s earlier loss as the event that made their alliance with Su Yi possible.
• Power and loyalty: Su Yi’s generosity, protection, and military strength help secure players’ allegiance.
• Contrasting reputations: The same boss is celebrated by allies and feared by those he defeats.
• Reputation amplified by community: Forum posts, guides, footage, and personal testimony transform Su Yi from a relatively obscure NPC into a widely known legend.

Key plot points and events

• Planner Mist announces two new spawn points—Kevin-9 and Kainan Star—and credits the players who established them, rewarding them with private respawn pods. With testing ahead of schedule, the planned version 0.7 becomes version 1.0, and the open beta is brought forward; another 60,000 closed-beta invitations will arrive in two days.
• Su Yi’s convoy returns to Diamond City after a largely uneventful journey through the wilderness. He keeps most of his Steel Warriors in reserve because maintaining them is expensive and displaying such a large force could attract unwanted attention.
• Su Yi prepares a progression of beginner quests for incoming players, from scavenging and gathering to fighting beasts, building the city, and eventually forming parties and choosing classes.
• Back in Diamond City, residents recognize the convoy’s vehicles and are stunned to see Su Yi return with its spoils—and with former Shadow Legion smiths as prisoners. They realize he has defeated the Shadow Legion and hunter groups belonging to three powerful families. Some gangs plan to report him and hope those factions will retaliate.
• Su Yi begins organizing the city’s reconstruction. He tells Lacey to open a casino and attract gangs to pay taxes, promising protection for Lacey’s money-laundering business. He also assigns work on clearing ruins, building roads and utilities, securing water, and preparing defenses against northern beast tides.
• Su Yi unveils his ambitious vision: Diamond City will become a major transport hub and a lavish center for tourism, entertainment, and commerce—ultimately giving him influence over the planet’s wealthy families through the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shifts from conquest to institution-building. He plans both a repeatable onboarding system for players and a large-scale economic and urban development strategy, while carefully managing the cost and visibility of his military force.
• Lacey eagerly accepts the casino plan, seeing it as an opportunity to expand his influence under Su Yi’s protection.
• Alton and the others respond enthusiastically to Su Yi’s reconstruction plans, confident in his ability to make them real.
• Lacey and Geer initially doubt the scale of Su Yi’s ambitions, but the confidence of his experienced followers convinces them that his vision may be achievable—and that their own status could rise with it.
• Diamond City’s survivors move from confusion to alarm and resentment. Some see Su Yi’s return as a chance for rival powers to destroy him, though their schemes do not distract him from rebuilding.

Significant themes

• Ambition and state-building: Su Yi aims to turn a devastated city into a wealthy strategic center.
• Power and legitimacy: Military victory gives Su Yi control, while taxation, infrastructure, and protection are intended to consolidate it.
• Pragmatism: He balances expansion against resource costs and the danger of attracting powerful enemies.
• Game systems and real-world planning: The incoming players’ quest structure mirrors the broader project of developing the city, making them part of Su Yi’s long-term strategy.

Key plot points and events

• Following Su Yi’s meeting, Lacey quickly establishes a makeshift casino in Diamond City. He tells Ditai Gang boss Samo that casino revenue, routed through the Diamond Lord and declared for local taxes, can provide a way to launder money. Samo approves and plans to send more people, while ordering Lacey to keep the scheme secret.
• Other gangs learn about Su Yi’s actions. Jike is astonished by his recklessness, while Wolf Fang sees a chance to exploit the upheaval.
• In Metropolis, Sales Department project lead Cole Billy’s campaign to persuade Kevin-9’s nobles to embrace the company has stalled. He had envisioned turning the planet into a prosperous, technology-rich hub, but failed to understand the locals’ priorities. After two months, his team has little support and is being mocked.
• Billy learns that Su Yi has seized Diamond City, robbed the three major families’ outposts, and is facing a coalition of those families, Wolf Fang, and the Shadow Legion. Furious that Su Yi acted without reporting to him, Billy demands information about him.
• Cairns describes Su Yi as a dangerous, lawless former street thug and reveals their shared origins on Rhode Star. Madman, secretly working with Su Yi’s plan, persuades Billy to use Su Yi as a test case: if Su Yi succeeds, his struggle could pressure the local authorities; if he fails, the company can blame him.
• Meanwhile, the families and Shadow Legion representatives authorize Rag Bloodhand to lead their response. Rag promises a sacrificial ceremony in Diamond City and invokes the Shadow King.

Character developments and interactions

• Lacey and Samo turn Su Yi’s advice into a practical financial scheme. Samo’s anxiety over money gives way to confidence and enthusiasm.
• Billy shifts from frustration over his failed sales campaign to interest in exploiting Su Yi’s crisis, though he still sees Su Yi as a liability and tool.
• Cairns initially reacts to Su Yi with hostility, but accepts Madman’s strategic argument and feels proud of his student.
• Madman quietly advances Su Yi’s agenda by steering Billy and Cairns toward using Su Yi as leverage.
• Rag Bloodhand emerges as the militant coalition’s leader, framing the conflict as resistance to alien interference.

Significant themes

• Competing interests and manipulation: Each faction tries to turn Su Yi’s actions to its own advantage.
• Cultural misunderstanding: Billy’s polished sales pitch fails because he does not understand what Kevin-9’s locals actually want.
• Risk and opportunism: Su Yi’s bold moves create danger, but also openings for allies and rivals alike.
• Ideological conflict: The company’s promises of progress clash with the Shadow Legion’s religious vision of sacrifice and eternal life.

Plot and key events

• Su Yi’s plan advances as the Ditai Gang opens a casino. Though it attracts no real customers, the gang treats the opening as a success, while rival gangs assume Su Yi has fooled them.
• A huge Shadow Legion force arrives outside Diamond City, accompanied by representatives of the three great families and gangs Su Yi previously defeated. The Legion announces an indefinite blockade: no people or supplies may enter, and residents have two hours to leave before shelling begins.
• The Ditai Gang splits over how to respond. Lacey remains fiercely loyal to Su Yi, while Mira argues that the gang should side with the Shadow Legion if forced to choose.
• In Wente City, Kai Lan warns his father Marlock that the three great families may use the crisis to seize Diamond City. Marlock counsels waiting; Kai Lan, driven by years of family humiliation and his sister’s abuse and death, resolves not to endure passively this time.
• Su Yi welcomes the arriving army as a useful challenge for the players, many of whom are expected to gather in Diamond City. He meets the Shadow Legion envoy, Steel Bone, and mocks him until Steel Bone draws his weapon. Su Yi counters with a thornfire weapon, making the Soul Eater back down.
• Steel Bone leaves after declaring the blockade. Su Yi predicts the Legion will delay its attack to make an example of him and intimidate other resistance forces. He welcomes the confrontation, confident that the outcome may turn the Legion’s intended spectacle against it.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi is calm, provocative, and confident; he views the blockade as an opportunity to challenge the players and defeat a powerful enemy.
• Lacey has become an unquestioning supporter of Su Yi, clashing with the more cautious Mira, who fears the Legion’s overwhelming strength.
• Kai Lan shifts from frustration to determined defiance. His anger is rooted in his family’s subordination and his sister’s horrific fate, while Marlock remains pragmatic and urges inaction.
• Alton and Mountain Dog eagerly anticipate fighting the Legion. Madman identifies Steel Bone as a Soul Eater, while the players’ banter adds a light tone to the tense confrontation.
• Steel Bone begins with a demand for submission but retreats after realizing Su Yi’s thornfire poses a serious threat. Wolf Fang leaves with a warning, underscoring the hostility of the defeated gangs and their allies.

Significant themes

• Power and intimidation: The Legion uses a vast army and the threatened blockade to compel obedience, but Su Yi refuses to be cowed.
• Defiance versus pragmatism: Lacey and Kai Lan embrace resistance, while Mira and Marlock favor caution and survival.
• Grievance and inherited injustice: Kai Lan’s resolve reflects the lasting damage caused by the powerful treating subordinate families as disposable.
• Turning threats into opportunities: Su Yi sees the Legion’s campaign not merely as danger but as a chance to test the players, claim resources, and overturn the expected balance of power.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• After the Ditai Gang’s main force leaves with Mira, Lacey and fewer than thirty loyal men choose to stay with Su Yi. Su Yi assures Lacey that he will be glad he made that choice.
• Joestar reports that he has found a secure underground warehouse beneath Diamond City. Su Yi’s group has moved its supplies, equipment, and soul crystals there, and Molly is using part of it as a protected laboratory.
• Su Yi has also set Steel Warriors to clear underground routes, creating a passage between the players’ spawn point and the base. Other underground passages remain blocked or dangerous, leaving future exploration and salvage work to the players.
• The enemy begins a heavy artillery bombardment, destroying the group’s surface streets and vehicles. Su Yi leads Winter, Mountain Dog, and Evil God to the spawn point, where hundreds of newly arrived players are gathering. The number of players soon grows to more than a thousand.
• Su Yi rallies the players for the coming war, promising that the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf will cover their equipment and consumable losses. He also guarantees each player at least one S-Class item if they complete their objectives.
• The players enthusiastically accept the challenge and give Su Yi the affectionate nickname “Godfather.” Su Yi feigns confusion, while Winter and Evil God explain the nickname.
• The players follow Su Yi through the tunnel to the underground base. There, they find extensive equipment, mission boards, reward exchanges, and skill offerings. Missions range from basic supply work to combat against the enemy’s main forces and powerful war machines.
• The greatest attraction is three previously unknown “hidden classes”: Ember Summoner, Molten Assault, and Dark Thorn. The players are thrilled, particularly Big Watermelon, who wants to take Molten Assault alongside Wheelchair.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shows himself to be a confident organizer and charismatic leader. He prepares a secure base, plans for future troop movement, and uses generous, clearly structured rewards to motivate the players.
• Lacey demonstrates renewed trust in his own judgment by committing himself and his men to Su Yi.
• Joestar proves valuable through his knowledge of Diamond City, locating the warehouse and helping identify usable underground routes.
• Molly is pleased by the laboratory’s safety and quiet, allowing her to resume research.
• The players bring exuberant, competitive energy to the coming battle. Their excitement blends military roleplay, tactical knowledge, and enthusiasm for rewards. One player’s artillery experience also helps the group assess the enemy’s shells.
• Winter and Evil God share a lighthearted moment with Su Yi over his new nickname, while players such as Big Watermelon, Wheelchair, and Ever Upward voice their excitement about combat and advancement.

Significant themes

• Leadership and loyalty: Su Yi earns commitment through both confidence and tangible support, while Lacey’s decision reflects the value of trust.
• Preparation and cooperation: Securing underground infrastructure, organizing supplies, and assigning varied missions establish the base as a collective wartime effort.
• Motivation through reward: The promise of S-Class equipment and access to advanced classes turns the players’ enthusiasm into an incentive for sustained service.
• Optimism amid siege: Though Diamond City is isolated and under bombardment, the players treat the crisis as an opportunity to prove themselves.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi briefs the Players on the Shadow Legion, a cult seeking to seize Diamond City and turn it into territory for the Shadow King. Its forces include weak but numerous corrupted cultists, soul-eating officers reliant on Shadow Mechs, and blood priests who corrupt conquered land.
• Since the Players are not ready for a direct confrontation, Su Yi orders them to develop their strength, gather local food and water, and wage guerrilla warfare. One group will hunt in Kasan Forest; another will harass the Legion inside Diamond City and keep it away from the central square and Ember Tree.
• The Players organize into teams. Winter and Mountain Dog lead a frontline force, while Evil God takes a group north to gather supplies. Dutch, Geer, Lacey, and others are assigned to track the Players’ points and rewards.
• After a heavy bombardment, Shadow Legion vanguard commander Steel Bone sends troops into the ruins. Their hunters advance carelessly, splitting into small, unsupported groups.
• Mountain Dog’s team exploits their poor discipline. They ambush and kill a ten-man squad, loot its weapons, and use dust, improvised projectiles, stealth, and coordinated attacks to eliminate another group.
• The hunters mock the Players’ use of bricks and sticks, so the Players lure a second team into a trapped alley. Iron spikes, close-range attacks, and gunfire finish them off. The Players withdraw with the equipment, surprised by how manageable the enemy seems.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi takes a measured, strategic approach: he explains the enemy’s weaknesses, sets practical objectives, and emphasizes steady growth over a premature frontal battle.
• Mountain Dog emerges as a confident and resourceful field leader, combining his combat ability with ambush tactics and adapting quickly to the enemy’s arrogance.
• The Players show enthusiasm for the coming conflict and strong teamwork. Though many lack equipment, they compensate with coordination, stealth, traps, and whatever weapons they can find.
• The Shadow Legion hunters prove arrogant and undisciplined, dismissing their opponents as helpless “rats” and laughing at their improvised weapons—an attitude the Players exploit.
• Two-Way Passage helps bait the hunters into the second trap, while Pillar and others encourage Mountain Dog’s decision to attack again.

Significant themes

• Preparation over brute force: The Players avoid a direct battle and use terrain, intelligence, and ambushes to offset their weaker equipment.
• Arrogance as a weakness: The hunters’ contempt for their opponents blinds them to danger.
• Improvisation and cooperation: Bricks, sticks, dust, traps, and careful coordination become effective tools against a better-armed enemy.
• Growing confidence: The Players’ first victories suggest they may be more capable of fighting the Shadow Legion than they initially assumed.

Plot points and events

• Mountain Dog’s battle reports reach Winter and Evil God. Together with other veteran players, Winter confirms the Wilderness Hunters are weaker than expected and leads a rapid counterattack.
• Players spread into small teams and slaughter the Hunters using firearms, melee weapons, mental attacks, and improvised pit traps. The defeated Hunters’ reports reveal that they are facing hundreds of unusually powerful fighters, not the small force they expected.
• At the rear, Steel Bone angrily confronts the gang leaders who misreported the enemy’s numbers. After learning that another group of players has entered Kasan Forest to gather supplies, he sends Iron Eye with elite troops and cultists to capture them.
• In the forest, Maria clears a path through dense roots with a blast of sword energy. The players soon encounter a blood-faced spider nest; Maria’s power drives the smaller creatures back, allowing the group to escape.
• A gigantic, level-41 “Super Mother”—a massively evolved blood-faced spider—emerges from the forest. At the same time, players spot Iron Eye’s approaching army.
• Evil God recognizes a chance to turn the two threats against each other. He and more than twenty Deceptive Agents cut themselves to attract the monster, then lead it away while the other players scatter. Their weapons cannot penetrate its armor.
• Maria urges the players to flee and offers to hold the monster back. The players refuse to leave her to face it alone; she realizes they are deliberately risking themselves as the Human Alliance’s “Pioneers.”

Character developments and interactions

• Winter and the veteran players grow more confident once they confirm the Hunters’ weakness, shifting from cautious defense to aggressive, organized hunting.
• Evil God shows quick strategic thinking by exploiting the Super Mother’s hunger for blood to divert it toward the approaching enemy army.
• Maria moves from leading a supply-gathering party to protecting the players, even offering to sacrifice herself. Their loyalty and willingness to risk their lives deeply impress her.
• Steel Bone is furious at the misinformation and physically punishes Wolf Fang before ordering a stronger force into the forest.
• The players’ teamwork is evident throughout: they share equipment, coordinate small squads, improvise traps, and organize a rapid retreat when faced with a superior monster.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity and cooperation: The players compensate for limited resources with teamwork, traps, and tactical improvisation.
• Courage and sacrifice: The Deceptive Agents willingly use their own blood and put themselves in danger to protect the group and create an opportunity.
• Humanity as a force for change: Maria’s admiration grows as she sees the players’ solidarity and selflessness.
• Escalating danger: The chapter shifts from the relatively manageable Wilderness Hunters to a powerful monster and a converging army, setting up a high-risk confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Evil God leads twenty-three boosted players in a desperate attempt to lure the Super Mother toward the enemy forces. The spider devours several, while the rest charge Iron Eye’s cultists and detonate grenades, drawing the monster into their ranks.
• The Super Mother massacres Iron Eye’s force, including the Shadow Mechs, leaving hundreds dead.
• Su Yi learns that the players’ plan worked and sets out with Maria, Alton, Icegrass, and about 180 players to finish the monster.
• At the battlefield, Su Yi summons 200 Steel Warriors, which merge around Alton into a giant Steel Direwolf. It holds the Super Mother in place while Su Yi blasts open her back with a Blackflame attack.
• Icegrass phases through the monster’s armor and destroys several of its legs. Su Yi pours thornfire into its wound, then finishes it with a second Blackflame Spear. The Super Mother dies, and the players witness the power that defeated their fallen comrades.

Character developments and interactions

• Evil God’s leadership and promise of A-rank equipment rally the players, who willingly sacrifice themselves to complete the lure.
• Su Yi responds to their deaths with respect and determination, publicly vowing not to let their sacrifice be wasted. His support earns the players’ trust and admiration.
• Maria questions whether Su Yi can defeat the monster; he answers confidently and proves it.
• Alton and Icegrass demonstrate formidable abilities: Alton anchors the Steel Direwolf, while Icegrass’s unusual phasing power lets her disable the spider’s legs.
• The players shift from excitement at Su Yi’s arrival to awe at his strength, with several resolving never to oppose him.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and loyalty: The players’ deaths create the opening needed to bring the Super Mother into the enemy force.
• Leadership and mutual support: Su Yi honors his followers and personally acts to avenge them, strengthening their devotion.
• Power and spectacle: The battle emphasizes the gulf between ordinary fighters and Su Yi’s forces, especially through the Steel Direwolf and Su Yi’s devastating attacks.
• Horror amid comedy: Graphic slaughter and fear are punctuated by players’ irreverent gaming jokes and excited commentary.