Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• After a grueling encounter with Su Yi, Maria admits that he has surpassed her in raw physical strength. She learns that the Divine Authority baptism raised him five levels, bringing him to level 35—above her level 33—though he has not become a god.
• With Maria’s help, Su Yi contacts Sword of Judgment headquarters, presenting their cooperation and arguing that the organization deserves a share of the benefits on Kevin-9.
• Su Yi begins rebuilding the devastated planet, organizing Players and Steel Warriors to clear rubble, replace contaminated soil, and plan the city and mineral development.
• Black Sun Group departments arrive to assess the planet, evaluate personnel, establish communications, and investigate key figures. A week later, the company’s enormous fleet arrives with thousands of staff, ships, vehicles, and machines, overwhelming the local Players and inhabitants.
• Su Yi meets Mo Long, the company’s representative, and receives an unusually generous cooperation agreement. Su Yi gains authority over regional operations, ownership of the planet’s land, half the net profits from company operations, and broad autonomy for Kevin-9.
• In exchange, Su Yi must protect company property and nearby routes, help enforce company sanctions, and ensure that the Steel Legion supports company operations and combat when needed. Confident the arrangement will help him grow stronger, he accepts.

Character developments

• Su Yi is shown to have grown substantially stronger and to be gaining political as well as physical power. He recognizes the hidden responsibilities beneath the company’s lavish offer but accepts the bargain as a strategic opportunity.
• Maria acknowledges Su Yi’s strength and shifts from trying to dominate him to cooperating with him politically, using her standing to secure Sword of Judgment’s interests.
• Mo Long appears gentle and approachable, but his sadness and admission that his cultivation prevents him from advancing suggest a complicated past and personal limitations.
• The Players and Steel Warriors are shaken by the fleet’s scale and begin to understand the immense power of the organization backing Su Yi.

Significant themes

• Power and ambition: Su Yi’s growing strength translates into influence over a planet and its future.
• The price of generosity: The company’s extraordinary benefits come with serious duties, making the agreement a calculated exchange rather than a gift.
• Rebuilding and order: Kevin-9’s recovery depends on coordinated labor, infrastructure, and political planning.
• Scale and vulnerability: The company’s fleet makes local forces feel small, underscoring the vast imbalance between planetary communities and interstellar corporations.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Maria’s private encounter establishes his physical superiority and leads into her political assistance.
• Maria communicates with Sword of Judgment headquarters, emphasizing her partnership with Su Yi and defending her own ambition and commitment to its ideals.
• Su Yi’s group greets Mo Long and negotiates terms with him; their respectful exchange reveals mutual recognition, while Mo Long’s candid explanation helps Su Yi understand the agreement.
• The arriving company personnel and local forces react to one another: the locals are awed by the fleet, while the company’s careful attention to Su Yi signals how valuable it considers him.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi renegotiates his company agreement, asking that his Steel Warriors not be forced into unjust massacres or used for executives’ private schemes. Mo Long agrees, promising Su Yi authority to refuse suspicious missions and, with evidence, investigate or arrest those responsible.
• Mo Long reveals that the Goddess of Black Cinders trusts Su Yi’s judgment. Su Yi suspects she is preparing for the Shadow Puppet Sanctum’s plan to turn Players against the company by provoking atrocities in its name.
• Su Yi and the company finalize their agreement. He names his new world Diamond Star in honor of Josuke Higashikata and Ailian Diamond, crediting their sacrifices with making his victory possible.
• The company begins rebuilding Diamond Star at extraordinary speed, while Su Yi reviews vast amounts of development plans through his Divine Authority.
• Joseph Ember and the Sacrificial Department establish a permanent presence on the planet and perform a costly ritual to close its Void Abyss Rift. The Goddess’s power transforms the site into a sacred crystal mountain range.
• During the ceremony, Su Yi experiences the Goddess examining him across the Void Abyss. She marks him with a fiery handprint and grants him a powerful Boon: he jumps from level 35 to 38, and his Ember Branch becomes the new Talent Ember Controller. It lets him wield Ember Divine Flame and summon parts of the Ember Tree, while making him immune to damage below 4,000 degrees.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shows himself to be both politically astute and protective of his transformed Steel Warriors. He accepts the company’s support but insists on safeguards against abuse.
• Mo Long acts as a cooperative negotiator and confirms the Goddess’s confidence in Su Yi, strengthening their alliance.
• Su Yi memorializes Joestar and Ailian through Diamond Star’s name, emphasizing that his success rests on their contributions.
• Joseph Ember warmly welcomes Su Yi as a fellow servant of the Goddess and leads the ritual that brings the Goddess’s favor down upon him.
• Su Yi reacts to his new power with satisfaction, privately teasing the far less generous Stigmata Totem by comparison.

Significant themes

• Power with moral limits: Su Yi wants his forces to fight for legitimate causes, not become tools of exploitation.
• Memory and sacrifice: Naming Diamond Star honors those whose actions made its founding possible.
• Divine favor and political foresight: The Goddess’s blessing suggests she sees Su Yi as a safeguard against future corruption and conflict.
• Rebuilding after destruction: The company’s rapid transformation of the ravaged planet signals a shift from warfare toward development.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Goddess of Black Cinders grants Su Yi the Goddess’s Hand Stigma, adding to the authority she had already given him to investigate and arrest superiors. The Sacrificial Department’s zealots react with ecstatic reverence, and the Future Company establishes its Diamond Star headquarters.
• Su Yi organizes Diamond Star under the Xuanhuang Empire, joining government and religion. The Zeroing Society becomes the state religion. Evil God declines the role of pope, and Rijia is deemed unsuitable because of his other loyalties; Dutch is appointed instead, accepting the position with fervent gratitude.
• Using his Divine Authority to assess people and assign them roles, Su Yi rapidly builds the government and military structure. He strips the souls from 120,000 corrupt and treacherous people, turning them into soulless steel puppets.
• After two months of intensive work, Diamond Star has been rebuilt with cities, industrial facilities, and around 200 space stations. The empire’s identity and citizens’ sense of belonging grow stronger. New entertainment and services also make life more vibrant, including a craze for sampling and reviewing electric currents.
• A company evaluation meeting concludes the Kevin-9 Expansion Project review. Su Yi is promoted from L26 to L37, credited with 90.2% of the project’s contribution. Billy, found to have obstructed the mission, abused his authority, and evaded responsibility, is demoted from L34 to L27, loses 60% of his project-cycle earnings, and is barred from leading projects for ten years.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi consolidates both political and religious power, using his judgment and Divine Authority to shape the empire and place capable people in suitable roles.
• Dutch becomes the Zeroing Society’s pope, expressing absolute devotion and resolve to serve Su Yi.
• Evil God shows that he prefers exploration to religious office, while Rijia is passed over because his existing religious and personal ties make him an unsuitable leader.
• The Steel Warriors respond to the company’s presence by intensifying their studies and military training, hoping to match its capabilities and honor Su Yi.
• Billy’s jealousy of Su Yi and past misconduct culminate in his public reprimand and career-ending punishment. His attempt to challenge Su Yi’s promotion only gives Pales an opening to address his own record.
• Winter, 108, and their companions observe how unexpectedly rich life has become for Steel Life; Erzhuzi’s failed attempt to sample a current provides comic relief.

Significant themes

• Power and governance: Su Yi’s near-absolute authority enables rapid reconstruction and highly efficient administration, but also gives him the power to impose severe punishment.
• Loyalty and accountability: Dutch is rewarded for steadfast service, while Billy falls because he places self-interest above duty and refuses to own his mistakes.
• Rebuilding identity and hope: The Xuanhuang Empire gives Steel Life a shared home, purpose, and future after their earlier confusion and emptiness.
• Transformation and adaptation: Both the planet and its people are changing, from military modernization and industrial expansion to new forms of culture and even the possibility of becoming Steel Life.

Key plot points and events

• Billy is punished for abandoning responsibility and exploiting frontline troops. He is barred from company headquarters and exiled to a Fringe Planet for the rest of his life.
• Pales announces that Su Yi is sharing 20% of his contribution credit with four captains who helped in the Diamond Star campaign. Chuck is promoted from L26 to L29 and receives six million Void Abyss Coins; Kadir, Laidi, and A21 each rise from L45 to L46 and receive three million.
• Su Yi publicly thanks the Goddess, company leaders, and his colleagues, specifically crediting Joseph Ember, Chuck, and the three supporting captains. His generosity wins him respect and improves others’ willingness to work with him.
• The evaluation concludes without further disputes, formally settling the Diamond Star project and establishing the authority Su Yi needs to distribute rewards.
• More than 60,000 Players gather to learn what they earned for two months of work. Su Yi uses Divine Authority and the Dragon Vein to calculate each Player’s contribution score, factoring in combat, deaths, escorts, and other duties.
• Players receive access to a broad reward shop, including class-change items, equipment, Powered Armor, ships, trade permits, land, technologies, and Void Abyss Relics. The standout new option is Super-Gene Steel Surgery for 150,000 points, which could turn a Player into a powerful modified warrior.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates that his humility is backed by real generosity. By sharing credit and naming others’ contributions, he builds trust and goodwill among both company personnel and Players.
• Chuck is especially grateful: his promotion brings him close to L30 and makes him eligible for a valuable promotion opportunity. Kadir, Laidi, and A21 are also delighted by recognition they had not expected.
• Billy serves as a contrast to Su Yi: while Billy shifts blame onto subordinates, Su Yi gives colleagues credit and tangible rewards.
• The Players eagerly compare scores and speculate about rewards. Winter leads the rankings with three million points, followed by Mountain Dog and Evil God; Girlfriend earns the highest score among later arrivals.
• When the Players discover the gene-surgery option, several immediately resolve to pursue it. One Player short of the cost asks another for a loan, offering to work off the debt.

Significant themes

• Shared credit and leadership: Leaders earn loyalty when they recognize the people who actually contribute.
• Accountability versus blame-shifting: Billy’s punishment reflects the consequences of abandoning subordinates and manipulating responsibility.
• Merit and reward: Contribution scores translate varied forms of service—not just kills—into rewards.
• Progress and empowerment: The Players’ shift from ground combat to space warfare, along with access to advanced equipment and gene modification, marks their growing capabilities and the expanding possibilities of the setting.

Key plot points and events

• Players spend the points earned in the battle for Kevin-9 on rewards, especially Divine Tree Fruits for changing classes. Others choose weapons, skills, or Void Abyss Coins.
• Conservative Thought persuades a group of mid-tier players to buy a Profound Emperor Empire Commerce License. It offers caravan registration, reduced taxes, protection, low-interest loans, and access to Company goods.
• Players organize into numerous caravan guilds, each reflecting its members’ interests. Some prefer to remain independent, while the Ten Pioneers focus on an available surgery and discuss building a Player Legion.
• The Ten Pioneers conclude that players will need support from a major faction to grow. They choose to align with the Xuanhuang Empire while maintaining enough independence to act beyond Su Yi’s direct plans.
• Su Yi has spent two months assembling roughly seven billion Void Abyss Coins’ worth of rewards, drawing on relics, equipment, spoils, and special privileges. Players redeem 6.1 billion points’ worth, and he is pleased that the distribution strengthens their loyalty and ties them to his empire.
• After the players leave satisfied, the chapter describes the Tower of the Lord of Light, the Divine Tree at the heart of Diamond Star, and Su Yi’s growing ability to control the planet through the tree.
• The chapter ends when Su Yi senses a powerful surge beneath the palace. Molly reports that the surgery has succeeded.

Character developments and interactions

• Conservative Thought emerges as a shrewd organizer, explaining the commercial benefits of the empire’s license. Cute Qiqi, Mechanic Kid, Erzhuzi, and Giant Jet enthusiastically join the plan, pooling resources for a caravan.
• Players form groups based on shared interests, from archaeological expeditions to political and military ambitions. Their choices show growing cooperation and long-term commitment to the game world.
• Winter and the Ten Pioneers think strategically about their relationship with Su Yi. They intend to work with him while also building an independent legion that could serve as a flexible ally—or even an opposing force.
• Su Yi reveals himself as a calculated patron: he offers generous rewards not only to thank players but to build their sense of belonging, improve his reputation, and secure a powerful force for future conflicts.
• Molly’s announcement shifts the focus from player politics to the potentially consequential success of the surgery.

Significant themes

• Incentives as instruments of loyalty: Rewards, tax breaks, loans, and privileges encourage players to commit to Su Yi’s empire.
• Collective ambition and pragmatism: Players move beyond individual advancement toward guilds, fleets, and political organizations.
• Alliance and independence: The Ten Pioneers see cooperation with Su Yi as valuable, but believe players should retain their own power and agency.
• Institution-building: The chapter shows both the players’ emerging organizations and Su Yi’s growing religious and political center taking shape.

Plot and events

• Su Yi arrives at an underground laboratory, where Molly and Wen Qi have successfully revived Alton. After two and a half months of work—and with the aid of several gods’ powers—Alton has become a new kind of transcendent human, combining a Silicon-Based Symbiote with Solid-State Blood.
• Alton can transform into a nearly four-meter-tall steel giant. His new abilities include reshaping his body, controlling and fusing metals, and mentally linking with others like himself.
• Su Yi restores Alton’s memories and explains what has happened while he was unconscious. Alton learns that Su Yi has become a god and founded the Xuanhuang Empire. Overcome with emotion, he asks whether he can finally remain at Su Yi’s side as a worthy companion. Su Yi embraces him and affirms that Alton is his trusted right hand and will join him on the crusade.
• Alton and Wen Qi are given time together, while Molly is appointed Imperial Grand Sage, responsible for the empire’s scientific research.
• Three days later, Su Yi publicly introduces Alton as his first Saint and announces the creation of the First Void Abyssal Legion, Heavenly Tribulation’s Punishment. Alton will command it, and the force will eventually include Void Abyssals, Iron Void Beasts, and the Moon-Eroding Shadow.
• The announcement inspires many citizens to enlist, but Su Yi limits the first intake to 10,000. He realizes the empire and his faction have serious funding constraints: building and maintaining the legion will cost billions of Void Abyss Coins, with enormous ongoing expenses.
• Seeking a way to raise money and attract people to Diamond Star, Su Yi decides to advertise the planet by contrasting its safety with the dangers of Red Sun Star. He turns his attention to “The Ascension of the Twins,” determined to prevent the Twins of Pleasure from being forced to ascend again.

Character developments and interactions

• Alton moves from grieving his former weakness and sudden death to discovering a powerful new body and renewed purpose. His emotional reunion with Su Yi confirms their close, almost familial bond.
• Su Yi acts as both mentor and brother to Alton, then shifts from celebration to the practical challenges of governing, financing, and expanding the empire.
• Wen Qi and Molly receive recognition for their work: Wen Qi’s expertise helped make Alton’s transformation possible, while Molly is elevated to a major scientific leadership role.
• The steel citizens embrace Alton as a Saint and rally enthusiastically behind the new legion.

Significant themes

• Rebirth and belonging: Alton’s transformation gives him the strength and longevity he feared he lacked, allowing him to reclaim his place beside Su Yi.
• Faith, power, and leadership: Alton’s new status and the legion’s founding turn personal loyalty into an institution serving the empire.
• The cost of ambition: Even a god faces material limits; building a powerful military force demands immense resources and compromises.
• Protection and exploitation: Su Yi’s plan to promote Diamond Star’s safety also involves confronting threats elsewhere, setting up a conflict over the Twins’ fate.

• Plot and events: The narrator can’t finish the promo-video script for the game’s upcoming open beta, an important milestone. The open beta will accompany version 1.0, titled The Expedition After the Burning. As a result, there is no chapter update today; the narrator promises three updates tomorrow.
• Character development: The narrator comes across as conscientious about presenting the milestone well, but admits to being creatively stuck. Their joking request for readers’ ideas shows a playful, self-aware side.
• Themes: Creative block, the pressure of a major launch, and the collaborative relationship between creator and audience.
• Interactions: The narrator directly invites readers to suggest promo lines, joking that they might “steal” the ideas for inspiration.

Key plot points and events

• Red Sun Star is introduced as a wealthy commercial and entertainment hub, where advanced technology supports mass-produced films and affluent, orderly districts. Its lounges offer niche communities a place to socialize and reinforce shared views.
• At Rick’s Lounge, Mantis Maguire—who despises the Black Sun Group—is approached by Jiezhen with a paid job: capture Morta Abbas, a member of the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf’s organization, for 400,000 Void Abyss Coins. Maguire eagerly accepts.
• On Diamond Star, Su Yi tells Mota that their target has taken the bait and instructs him to wait. Mota reports that the female Sorcerers of the Desire Cultivation Faction are gaining influence among trend-conscious middle-class people through clubs and lounges. Su Yi plans to let them become the spectacle greeting him on Red Sun Star.
• Mist Sage confirms that all fifteen Spawn Points are ready for the game’s open beta. Su Yi admits he has scaled back his costly Void Abyssal plan but says he can still support a thousand units.
• Maria arrives with orders sending her to Twin Sun Star. She has risen to Grand Adjudicator after her work establishing the Sword of Judgment’s Diamond Star office and gaining institutional privileges. Su Yi reveals he helped arrange her dangerous assignment because her letter angered powerful people. She thanks him, then the two flirt and part intimately.
• On Earth, more than a hundred million Players receive headsets for the launch of Void God and the Interstellar Empire. The opening cinematic recounts the Great Cataclysm, the rise of the Void Abyss, and humanity’s renewed expedition. Players then see the fifteen Spawn Points; many veteran forum users choose Diamond Star.

Character developments and interactions

• Maguire is established as hostile toward the Black Sun Group and willing to take risky work for money; Jiezhen recruits him by exploiting that resentment.
• Mota has become more mature and capable, reporting on the Desire Cultivation Faction while following Su Yi’s instructions to remain patient.
• Su Yi balances covert plans and game preparations, while exercising influence over Maria’s assignment.
• Maria has advanced in rank and strength, but her promotion and official achievements come alongside a dangerous transfer. Her relationship with Su Yi remains affectionate, teasing, and physically intimate.
• Mist Sage oversees the launch and openly teases Su Yi about his financial constraints.

Significant themes

• Technology and commercial power: Corporate infrastructure shapes trade, entertainment, and even the scale of the game launch.
• Community and conformity: Lounges offer belonging, but also encourage groups to validate themselves and dismiss outsiders.
• Influence and hidden agendas: Recruitment, factional expansion, and political assignments are presented as parts of larger schemes.
• Renewal after catastrophe: The game’s cinematic frames humanity’s exploration and revival as a new beginning after cosmic destruction.

Key plot points and events

• On Diamond Star, tens of millions of new players arrive and receive a warm welcome, guidance, and rewarding starter quests. Within two months, many have joined guilds and Caravans and begun exploring deep space.
• After a hectic period acting as the players’ “godfather,” Su Yi welcomes the core members of Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf to Diamond Star. The gang remains independent, headquartered on Rhode Star, rather than being absorbed into the Xuanhuang Empire.
• The reunion brings together familiar friends and former allies. The group catches up on the Pioneers’ ongoing missions across several star systems.
• Su Yi promises the visitors a month of personalized training, equipment, and Void Abyss Relics. He leads them through the relic trials, which they pass under his protection.
• The chapter highlights two major relics: Mota receives the S-Class Loving Father Sprite, which supports his healing and mutant-army abilities; Rijia receives the S-Class Ice-Thunder Divine Spear, which greatly strengthens his particle magic and combat power.
• Su Yi also reveals that Emma and Dora will someday become Pure Spirit Goddesses at a grand ceremony, though the two drunkenly speculate about what he is doing to prepare for it.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi has grown into a powerful planetary god and public figure, but remains deeply involved in nurturing his friends and developing the players.
• Mota and Rijia have both reached level 25 and refined their distinct abilities under Su Yi’s guidance. The new relics further define their paths: Mota toward large-scale support and mutation, Rijia toward powerful ice-lightning combat.
• Alton is now a Saint. The other early Pioneers are busy leading newcomers, escorting supplies, suppressing bandits, assisting an Arbiter, and commanding transport fleets.
• Rijia’s affectionate reunion with Caroline turns into playful chaos when he kisses her repeatedly and she chases him in embarrassment.
• Emma and Dora are delighted by Su Yi’s promise but become flustered as they imagine how he might be preparing for their future elevation.

Significant themes

• Community and belonging: New players and old companions are welcomed into a shared world, where relationships and cooperation matter as much as individual progress.
• Mentorship and growth: Su Yi uses his authority and resources to help others develop their talents and become independent.
• Exploration and opportunity: The influx of players and distribution of rare relics signal a widening frontier of adventure and power.
• Humor and camaraderie: Affectionate teasing, drunken speculation, and the friends’ reunion balance the chapter’s large-scale developments.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi gives Emma and Dora two rare S-Class Void Abyss relics ahead of schedule. Emma receives the Self-Guarding Veil, which grants her control over desires; Dora receives the Broken-Promise Ring, which enhances her control over flesh and grants Sensory Threads. Both relics suit their abilities and promise to make them far more powerful.
• Su Yi spends the next thirty-five days training the senior officers of the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf on Diamond Star. Their combat abilities rise substantially, and their physical resilience improves.
• On industrial Luoquan Star, Criminal Department investigators uncover a conspiracy involving two secretly built Catastrophe-Class transport ships. Ilis Barrett, a Keeper of Secrets, searches the planetary industry minister’s memories and discovers that the ships were transferred to the Beautiful Tomorrow Chamber of Commerce.
• The investigation reveals that the Chamber of Commerce is involved in human trafficking and other illicit medical services. Ilis’s success builds on her remarkable record: she has risen from Rank 33 to Rank 40, exposed 120 long-term moles, and shown no visible mental deterioration despite the dangers of her work.
• After declining team leader Jack Laps’s dinner invitation, Ilis returns to her ship and privately acknowledges the psychological toll of searching forbidden memories. She finds comfort in thinking of Uncle Rick and Su Yi.
• An emergency alert interrupts her rest: the Soul Scream has been seized by fugitive Julie Myers, a Sorcerer of the Desire Cultivation Faction. The ship is corrupted, carries at least 2,000 company employees, and is accompanied by roughly 60,000 Order of Flowers Fanatics. The company calls for an urgent interception and rescue, offering major rewards.

Character developments and interactions

• Emma and Dora are delighted by their relics, which are tailored to their distinct spiritual and physical fighting styles. Su Yi encourages them to repay him by becoming Pure Spirit Goddesses.
• Su Yi continues strengthening his allies through intensive training, while expanding their capabilities with powerful relics.
• Ilis emerges as a highly capable but deeply burdened investigator. Her unusual resistance to corruption has enabled her rapid rise, though the memories she absorbs leave her isolated and exhausted.
• Jack Laps praises Ilis’s work and tries to court her; she politely refuses, and he interprets her reserve as an attractive form of pride.
• Alloy Blade provides the investigation’s background on the Chamber of Commerce, helping connect the ships to a wider criminal network.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Relics, training, and professional advancement bring strength, but Ilis’s work exacts a severe psychological price.
• Corruption and hidden knowledge: Searching memories can expose vital truths while endangering the investigator’s mind and identity.
• Companionship amid isolation: Despite her outward composure, Ilis draws emotional comfort from her connections to Rick and Su Yi.
• Institutional corruption and moral conflict: The company’s criminal investigation uncovers trafficking and clandestine operations, while the looming Soul Scream crisis turns the chapter toward a dangerous rescue mission.

Key plot points and events

• Ilis receives news that Su Yi is connected to a Criminal Department bounty near Twin Sun Star. She uses it as a reason to contact him, then is shocked to discover he has reached L37 and acquired grand titles, including “Sole True God of the Xuanhuang Empire.”
• Su Yi prepares to leave Diamond Star with Emma and Dora. He plans to raise funds on Twin Sun Star and then continue to Red Sun Star. His Void Abyssal troops are still months away from combat readiness.
• The Moon-Eroding Shadows, however, have become a major source of income. Players hire them for missions involving infiltration, theft, and assassination, paying their expenses and wages.
• Su Yi and Ilis reconnect after six months. He recounts his recent exploits, while Ilis reveals that her work is overwhelming her: she sleeps little and is haunted by terrifying visions connected to buried memories and hidden truths.
• Su Yi suspects Ilis’s earlier death in a stellar explosion may not have been an accident, and wonders whether the Shadow Puppet Sanctum was involved. He promises to find a way to bring her to his side temporarily.

Character development and interactions

• Ilis remains composed and teasing, but her shock at Su Yi’s rise gives way to vulnerability. She admits she is frightened and exhausted, and longs to feel safe with him.
• Su Yi has grown in power and stature, but his concern for Ilis is personal. He notices the strain behind her confident presentation and offers emotional support and protection.
• Their familiar “big sister/little brother” banter preserves their closeness, while Ilis’s candid confession deepens their trust.

Significant themes

• The burden of hidden knowledge: Ilis’s memories and the universe’s disturbing truths seem to threaten her sanity and possibly her life.
• Power and responsibility: Su Yi’s growing authority is accompanied by plans to build an army and protect those close to him.
• Found family and refuge: Their reunion shows how affection and trust can offer comfort amid political danger and psychological pressure.

Key plot points and events

• Ilis tells Su Yi that Julie Myers, the notorious “Rose Witch” of the Order of Flowers, has taken many company employees hostage and is heading toward Twin Sun Star. The Criminal Department wants the hostages rescued and Julie captured or killed.
• On Twin Sun Star, the Resistance Army and the Sword of Judgment have formed an allied force under Maria Judgment. They have retaken parts of two cities and rescued civilians, but an escort column is suddenly destroyed by an air attack. The sorceresses’ unusually indiscriminate violence suggests something has changed.
• Su Yi warns Maria that Julie is approaching the planet, likely to resupply, and says he will arrive in two days. Maria identifies Julie as a powerful candidate for the title of Pleasure Saint, notorious for corrupting entire planets.
• Su Yi proposes using the Alliance’s fearless Pioneers as infiltrators. Maria issues a voluntary mission to seduce the Desire Cultivation sorceresses and gather intelligence.
• Players initially complain that the mission has no rewards, but enthusiasm explodes once they see attractive targets and their preferences. Many eagerly sign up.

Character developments and interactions

• Ilis’s conversation with Su Yi leaves her visibly happier and more relaxed; she trusts him because he consistently keeps his promises. Rick notices the change and offers her affectionate support.
• Su Yi and Maria speak with familiar warmth and flirtation. Maria is pleased by his attention, though she blushes when he returns her compliment.
• Maria is shown as a capable but resource-strapped commander, cautious about risking spies to the sorceresses’ dangerous influence. Su Yi persuades her that the Pioneers’ unusual resolve and technology make infiltration possible.
• Girlfriend and Evil God tease each other about the number of women in Su Yi’s life. The Pioneers’ comic, irreverent reactions turn a dangerous intelligence operation into an unexpectedly popular mission.

Significant themes

• Trust and loyalty: Ilis relies on Su Yi, while the Resistance trusts the Pioneers to remain loyal even under extreme temptation.
• Resistance and liberation: The allied army fights to free Twin Sun Star’s people from the sorceresses’ control.
• Sacrifice and unconventional warfare: The Pioneers’ willingness to risk death—and their ability to transmit information afterward—makes them suited to hazardous espionage.
• Comedy through contrast: The mission’s serious purpose clashes with the players’ enthusiastic, dating-sim-like response to its targets.

Plot points and events

• The Ecstasy Witches’ new mission attracts over 100,000 Human Alliance Pioneers in less than four hours. Maria is surprised by their enthusiasm, while Girlfriend and Evil God insist their interest in beautiful women does not conflict with their duties.
• Girlfriend jokingly wishes for a witch destined for him—whereupon a grotesque, talking mass of flesh appears. He immediately destroys it with Psychic Manifestation, his newly acquired SS-Class skill. He earned the versatile power by spending 100,000 Void Abyss Coins in a ruined Spiritual Cultivation temple on Twin Sun Star, making him the first of the Ten Pioneers with an SS-Class skill.
• Meanwhile, Joseph Cinder visits Su Yi to explain the company’s internal factions. Su Yi’s support from Ma Li and Rosys Monte places him in the Cinder Faction, whose members put the Goddess’s interests first. Joseph also outlines the profit-driven Divine Fire Faction, the radical Ash Faction, and the stability-minded Blackwood Faction.
• Joseph reveals that the missing ship’s crew were Cinder-aligned missionaries who explored the Dark Universe Storm. They found it weakening and crossed newly opened routes into the Highwall Star System—territory of the isolationist Redstone Empire.
• Su Yi recalls the empire’s advanced, extravagant society and formidable Redstone technology. In the future, the Ascension of the Twins will provoke the First Redstone Calamity: Redstone forces will devastate the company’s fleets and threaten its headquarters. Only the Goddess’s intervention will save Sacred Tree Star, and the Cinder Faction’s heavy losses will enable the Divine Fire Faction to dominate and drive the company toward a split.

Character developments and interactions

• Girlfriend gains a major combat advantage and shows both comic exasperation and pride in being ahead of the other Pioneers. His banter with Evil God underscores their camaraderie.
• Maria trusts Girlfriend and Evil God to handle the mission while keeping her informed of important intelligence.
• Su Yi quickly affirms loyalty to the Cinder Faction, convincing Joseph that his existing choices already reflect its principles. Joseph’s visit shifts from factional orientation to a grave warning about the Redstone discovery.

Significant themes

• Desire versus duty: The Pioneers’ attraction to the witches tests their self-control, even as they frame their interest as compatible with their mission.
• Factional loyalty and power: Company backing and advancement are tied to internal alliances, and later losses will alter the balance of power.
• Complacency and concealed danger: The Redstone Empire’s indifference and isolation mask devastating capabilities that will eventually reshape the company and the wider universe.

Plot

• Joseph explains that the Redstone Empire has a device called the Will Converter, which enables direct thought-based communication across language barriers. The empire refuses to share its technology, while dismissing the danger posed by the Desire Cultivation witches operating there.
• A company fleet returning from the empire discovered that Ecstasy Witches had infiltrated its ship. After a battle damaged the jump engine, Julie Myers and her followers seized the surviving crew and supplies, destroyed the company’s ships, and obtained custom vessels through manipulation. They are now bound for their stronghold in the corrupted Sea of Flowers Star System, with a planned supply stop at Twin Sun Star.
• Faction politics prevent the company from intervening openly: Twin Sun Star’s nearby fleets belong to the Divine Fire Faction. The company arranged for Su Yi to take a discreet private mission using forces unconnected to it.
• In return for success, Su Yi is promised a role in future dealings with Redstone, a higher partnership level for the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf, and a grant of twenty billion Void Abyss Coins for the Xuanhuang Empire.
• Su Yi says he has prepared on Twin Sun Star and will go there immediately. He takes Emma and Dora, equips them with powerful armor, and travels aboard an ordinary transport ship under false identities rather than using his conspicuous flagship.
• As the ship leaves Diamond Star, Su Yi loses his planetary control over Steel and Soul, though he retains his power of faith.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi recognizes the opportunity and stakes of the mission, agrees confidently, and shows increasing influence: the company is willing to reward both him and his empire. He also acts cautiously, choosing secrecy over displaying his flagship.
• Joseph shifts from excitement about the Will Converter to explaining the crisis and the company’s political constraints. He trusts Su Yi but warns him not to underestimate Julie Myers, now level 42 with the dangerous SS-Class ability Ecstasy Weaving.
• Emma and Dora eagerly volunteer to fight the witches. Su Yi prioritizes their protection by outfitting them with advanced armor.
• The chapter also reveals the company’s confidence in Su Yi’s personal ties and usefulness: Joseph expected Ilis to contact him and arranged the mission with that outcome in mind.

Significant themes

• Arrogance as a cause of downfall: Redstone’s leaders know the witches’ intentions but believe their empire is immune to corruption.
• Communication as power: The Will Converter could transform interstellar commerce and reduce conflict, yet political distrust blocks cooperation.
• Factional politics and covert action: Company interests cannot be pursued openly, making Su Yi’s unofficial status an advantage.
• Shifting power and vulnerability: Away from Diamond Star, Su Yi loses his planetary authority and must rely on his remaining abilities and resources.

Key plot points and events

• As Su Yi travels to Twin Sun Star, Players begin exploiting the mission to infiltrate the Desire Cultivation Faction. They form groups offering paid services—from combat and sabotage to deliberately outrageous displays meant to impress the Sorcerers.
• Pile Driver, an experienced Player fascinated by the Sorcerers, recruits like-minded veterans. He explains the Order of Flowers’ hierarchy: Desire Emissaries, Desire Floggers, Flesh-and-Spirit Nuns, and the four First Night Godmothers who control Twin Sun Star.
• The group plans to gain the trust of a Desire Flogger and work their way toward higher-ranking Sorcerers. They recruit expendable Players willing to die in exchange for money and improved standing, and Pile Driver contacts Beth, a Flogger he already knows.
• The chapter shifts to Kaan City, a once-prosperous industrial center now under the Flower Chamber of Commerce’s influence. Its leaders have been corrupted, resistance has been crushed, and the population is trapped in widespread exploitation and depravity.
• Beth, a former streetwalker transformed into a powerful Desire Flogger, enjoys tormenting the city’s people. She welcomes Pile Driver’s call, recalling that he previously returned a Desire Emissary to her and appeared tempted but conflicted. She hopes to use his approach to corrupt the Alliance’s Players from within.

Character developments

• Pile Driver moves from privately pursuing his fascination with the Sorcerers to openly treating it as a mission. He presents himself as knowledgeable and strategic, though his friends’ enthusiasm and his own desires threaten to cloud his judgment.
• Beth is established as both a brutal enforcer and a calculating recruiter. She understands Pile Driver’s hesitation and believes desire can eventually bind him.
• The veteran Players readily embrace Pile Driver’s plan, motivated by money, curiosity, and sexual fantasies; their jokes and teasing reveal their crude, irreverent camaraderie.

Significant themes

• Corruption through desire: The Order of Flowers controls individuals and institutions by exploiting pleasure, fear, and dependency.
• Self-interest disguised as duty: The Players’ infiltration mission mixes strategic goals with personal gratification.
• Social decay and resistance: Kaan City’s collapse shows how corruption spreads from elites to the wider population, while resistance is neutralized by manipulation.

Character interactions

• Pile Driver explains the Sorcerers’ ranks and methods to his fellow Players, who respond with eager questions and crude jokes.
• The group’s banter—including teasing Soup Down My Crotch about an old scam—underscores their familiarity and comic tone.
• Beth and Pile Driver speak politely but warily: she welcomes his return while recognizing that he may be useful to her plans.

Key plot points and events

• Beth, a leader of the Desire Cultivation Faction, tempts Pile Driver with the prospect of being reunited with Sharan, a Desire Emissary he once rescued. She claims Sharan is suffering and about to be reassigned, and says Pile Driver could keep her if he helps the faction.
• Pile Driver reveals a planned Human Alliance Pioneer infiltration of Kaan City and offers to prove his loyalty. In reality, he and his allies are staging a deception: a recruited squad will act as enemy fighters, allowing him to infiltrate the faction.
• Beth anticipates an attack and prepares an ambush. Pile Driver’s team enters the city, fights fiercely, and appears to be caught in a trap. After most of the staged squad is killed, Pile Driver turns on the survivors, killing them—including their leader—to convince Beth that he has truly defected.
• Beth accepts his apparent betrayal and reunites him with Sharan. She welcomes him as a prospective new master; Sharan embraces him and draws him into an intense encounter.
• By dawn, Pile Driver has experienced the faction’s seductive power firsthand. The encounter leaves him afflicted with several debilitating toxins and the Desire Virus. Sharan calls these effects the “Twins’ boon” and urges him to continue, while he struggles to resist.

Character developments

• Pile Driver uses his longing for Sharan to sell a convincing fake defection. His performance is calculated, though his feelings for her appear genuine. He underestimates how thoroughly the faction’s pleasure and toxins can compromise him.
• Beth proves cunning and manipulative: she exploits Pile Driver’s attachment to Sharan and confidently assumes the Emissary’s influence will control him regardless of his true intentions.
• Sharan is presented as both a victim of her lack of freedom and an agent of the faction’s seduction. Her reunion with Pile Driver quickly becomes a means of binding him to the cult.
• Pile Driver’s allies and recruited actors willingly risk their lives to support his plan, showing their unusual commitment and resourcefulness. Maria is impressed and sends a team to assist.

Significant themes

• Desire as both leverage and danger: Pile Driver’s affection makes him vulnerable to Beth’s scheme, while pleasure becomes a tool for control.
• Performance and deception: The infiltration depends on staged loyalty, fabricated conflict, and convincing sacrifices.
• Freedom versus coercion: Sharan’s lack of choice under the faction’s orders parallels Pile Driver’s growing loss of physical control.
• The cost of indulgence: Pile Driver initially celebrates the experience, only to discover that pleasure comes with serious physical and psychological consequences.

Character interactions

• Beth bargains with Pile Driver by tying Sharan’s future to his cooperation, then directs Sharan to win him over.
• Pile Driver coordinates with his Player allies and hired actors, while Maria supports the operation after hearing his plan.
• During the ambush, Pile Driver kills the staged team members in front of Beth to establish his credibility.
• Sharan reunites affectionately with Pile Driver, then uses intimacy to deepen his attachment—and, ultimately, his vulnerability.

Plot points and events

• Pile Driver completes his month-long ordeal with Sharan and arrives at the hotel lobby, where Duchess Sewei—the Order of Flowers’ powerful Flesh-and-Spirit Nun—tests his loyalty with a mind-altering whisper.
• Under the spell, Pile Driver claims Maria Judgment sent him to seduce sorceresses for intelligence. He also says he killed the other men on the mission out of jealousy, but would never betray Sharan; he would help her gather information on Judgment.
• Sewei accepts him as a potential informant and offers a three-day Virus Benediction that turns the harmful effects of his diseases into weaker positive boosts. In exchange, he must bring Natural Jailer to her. Sewei promises to introduce Pile Driver to Director Lilith, whom he admires.
• Pile Driver returns to camp, where Girlfriend approves the infiltration plan. The players recruit Natural Jailer and several others, then stage another apparent betrayal by killing their companions in front of the sorceresses to earn their trust.
• The sorceresses do not know the players can revive, a secret the players exploit to infiltrate them. Most of the recruits pass the sorceresses’ loyalty tests using the game system.
• Natural Jailer’s encounter takes an unexpected turn: his molten body burns three Desire Envoys. Sewei sees this as a chance to harm a chosen of the Goddess of Black Cinders and becomes fascinated by him.

Character developments and interactions

• Pile Driver shifts from a target of the sorceresses’ influence to a deliberate double agent. He exploits Sewei’s test while pursuing both intelligence and the chance to meet Lilith.
• Sharan remains devoted to Sewei and helps present Pile Driver as a trustworthy convert.
• Madam Sewei proves shrewd and politically motivated, but her eagerness to exploit Natural Jailer’s divine blessing turns into personal fascination.
• Girlfriend backs the deception, while Natural Jailer and the other players eagerly join in, driven by their own desires and the campaign’s opportunities.
• The players’ apparent betrayals convince the sorceresses of their loyalty, even as the players secretly intend to exploit them.

Significant themes

• Deception and double loyalty: The players perform devotion while secretly serving their own plan.
• Power through hidden knowledge: Their revival ability gives them a decisive advantage because their enemies do not know it exists.
• Desire as leverage: Attraction and pleasure are used to test, recruit, and manipulate characters.
• Gaming logic and dark comedy: The players treat dangerous seduction and betrayal as missions, mixing genuine peril with crude humor.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi learns that Maria’s infiltration operation is going well: Human Alliance Pioneers, including Natural Jailer and Pile Driver, have joined the enemy organization for the chance to be with higher-ranking witches. Their intelligence has helped kill nearly five thousand enemy Pioneers.
• Su Yi tells Maria to keep the operation running and, when the infiltrators are exposed, let the rank and file become angry and panicked so the infiltrators will seem less suspicious. He reminds Emma and Dora that the Pioneers are motivated by rewards and respect rather than faith or loyalty.
• A prayer reaches Su Yi through the Molten Fire Temple. He summons Kilman, whom he has not heard from in a long time, and learns that Kilman has grown into a powerful, golden-armored figure.
• Kilman recounts his travels with the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers and describes the Ancient Entropy Golden Race Second Empire, founded by survivors of the old empire. Though it inherited the Human Emperor’s technology, territory, and institutions, Kilman says it has become corrupt, fanatical, and oppressive.
• The Second Empire has turned the Human Emperor’s legacy into a cult, sacrificed people in grotesque rites, persecuted dissenters and nonhuman species, and drawn the Heavenly Soldiers into political schemes. Its rulers have also repeatedly tried to assassinate Kilman.
• Su Yi advises Kilman to abandon the rotten regime and found a new empire capable of uniting all species. Kilman is inspired by the idea.

Character developments

• Su Yi displays strategic pragmatism in managing the infiltration, then shifts into a caring mentor when Kilman confides in him. He encourages Kilman to lead rather than remain dependent on him.
• Kilman is no longer a childlike follower but a powerful figure with the standing and allies to shape his own future. His anger at the Second Empire gives way to hope when Su Yi suggests founding a new one.
• Maria shows confidence in the infiltration and has prepared for the risks of the agents’ eventual exposure.
• Emma and Dora continue treating Su Yi’s instructions as lessons, recording his principles with earnest devotion.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism and human motivation: Su Yi accepts that people may act from self-interest, and sees rewards and respect as effective tools for directing them.
• Corruption of legacy: The Second Empire has betrayed the Human Emperor’s ideals while claiming to uphold them.
• Leadership and renewal: When an institution becomes irredeemable, rebuilding may be better than reforming it.
• Mentorship and independence: Su Yi’s support helps Kilman find the confidence to pursue his own path.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Maria coordinate the infiltration, with Su Yi advising her to manage appearances when the agents are exposed.
• Su Yi instructs Emma and Dora on how to understand and motivate the Human Alliance Pioneers; they respond with dutiful note-taking.
• Kilman reunites emotionally with Su Yi, asks after their shared acquaintances, and shares his grievances in a rare moment of vulnerability.
• Su Yi listens without judgment and offers Kilman a bold alternative: build a new empire rather than remain trapped by the old one.

Chapter summary

Plot points and events

• Kilman tells Su Yi that he has decided to stop trying to reform the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers from within. Their rigid beliefs and self-interest make change impossible, so he will create a new empire built on more flexible policies and unite former allies against the Evil Gods of the Void Abyss.
• Su Yi urges Kilman to rescue the Golden Sisters in the Storm Nom Sector. The Second Empire has abandoned them to an assault by Demons of Desire, despite their loyalty and resistance. In Su Yi’s past, more than ten thousand Sisters endured for twelve years before dying; their bodies were later corrupted into Desire Witches. Kilman changes course to save them, and Nine Blades orders the fleet toward the sector.
• Su Yi also asks whether Kilman knows of anything from the Ancient Entropy Empire that might interest the isolationist Redstone Empire. Kilman promises to consult Nine Blades and the others.
• The next morning, Emma and Dora hear painful whispers and wails. Su Yi identifies them as a call from the Twins of Pleasure, whose power is responding to Dora’s holy relic.
• Su Yi explains that the Twins are only partly corrupted by the Void Abyss and retain a human-aligned essence. A conspiracy is pushing their followers toward a second ascension through fanaticism and distorted sacrifices. If it succeeds, the Twins will become Evil Gods, and both the Desire and Spiritual Cultivation factions will be devastated by the resulting madness and violence.
• Emma and Dora accept that they must help prevent this transformation and vow to fight the Twins’ enemies.

Character developments

• Kilman grows more confident and politically independent. Su Yi’s encouragement helps him commit to founding a new empire, and he takes decisive action by redirecting his fleet to rescue the Golden Sisters.
• Su Yi acts as Kilman’s mentor and as the sisters’ guide, sharing knowledge from his past and explaining the stakes of the Twins’ crisis. He also reveals his own fear of ascension: becoming a god would strip away his humanity.
• Emma and Dora move from fear and confusion to determination. Their distressing connection to the Twins becomes a responsibility they are ready to embrace.
• Nine Blades remains disciplined and loyal, accepting Kilman’s changed orders without resistance.

Significant themes

• Reform versus rigid tradition: Kilman concludes that entrenched institutions cannot be changed from within and chooses to build a new political order.
• Abandonment and loyalty: The Second Empire sacrifices the Golden Sisters, while their devotion endures; Kilman’s decision to help them challenges the empire’s priorities.
• Faith’s double edge: Sincere belief can preserve the Twins’ humanity, but fanaticism and excessive offerings can also corrupt them.
• Humanity and power: Su Yi warns that ascension may bring immense power at the cost of compassion and human identity.
• Responsibility and hope: Both Kilman and the sisters act to protect others and avert disasters that Su Yi knows have occurred in another possible future.

Character interactions

• Su Yi praises and reassures Kilman, whose gratitude and admiration deepen their mentor–student bond. Kilman calls Su Yi the universe’s “one true light,” and Su Yi encourages him not to doubt himself.
• Kilman consults Nine Blades after returning to his fleet; Nine Blades carries out the order to head for Storm Nom.
• Emma and Dora turn to Su Yi for help when the voices affect them. He explains their connection to the Twins and persuades them that the gods they worship need their protection.
• Once they understand the threat, Dora urges Su Yi to let them destroy the enemies behind the plot.

Plot and key events

• Su Yi explains the strange howling affecting Emma and Dora. The Void Abyss relics they carry come from the Twins of Pleasure: the younger sister, tied to the body, fell into madness and ascended unconsciously, while the elder sister stopped their final transformation. The younger sister’s followers became the more frenzied Desire Cultivation Faction. Dora’s symptoms are stronger because her relic and abilities are more body-oriented.
• Su Yi, Emma, and Dora arrive at Twin Sun Star, where fighting remains concentrated in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Sword of Judgment’s ship inspections are dangerously lax, despite twelve Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf ships having recently been hijacked.
• At headquarters, Su Yi warns Maria that lax security could let enemy ships infiltrate the planet and leave her blamed for any disaster. Maria orders Evil God and Iron Pillar to address the problem.
• Maria reports that the infiltrators have persuaded Natural Jailer’s group they are in control. The Sorcerers now want about a thousand Gifted people as sacrifices to welcome an arriving Quasi-Saint, likely Julie Myers. Su Yi plans to infiltrate the ceremony among the captives.
• In Kaan City, Madam Sewei and Lilith manipulate Natural Jailer and Pile Driver through pleasure, persuading them to provide the sacrifices. Their recruited Players return to camp with a supposed reinforcement force: 1,200 Human Alliance Pioneers, actually hired actors.
• When the Players recognize that the generous plan sounds like Su Yi’s work, Maria admits he won their bet. Su Yi reveals himself, delighting the Players, who learn they will join his mission.

Character developments and interactions

• Emma and Dora become more accustomed to the relics’ effects. Their teasing sisterly tussle gives way to readiness for the mission.
• Su Yi demonstrates his knowledge and strategic caution, prompting Maria to recognize the security threat and trust his plan. Their playful wager underscores their flirtatious rapport.
• Maria is overburdened by growing suspicion among the soldiers and by the risk of being made a scapegoat, but she acts on Su Yi’s advice.
• Natural Jailer and Pile Driver are deeply compromised by their relationships with Madam Sewei and Lilith. Both agree to procure sacrifices, mistaking their captors’ manipulation for affection and freedom from their duties.
• The Players’ crude banter contrasts with the danger surrounding their mission; even so, they carry out the plan and help assemble the cover force.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and betrayal: The Sorcerers exploit desire to turn powerful allies into unwitting collaborators, while Su Yi warns Maria that danger may come from within her own side.
• Faith, corruption, and inheritance: The relics’ history reveals the dark origins behind the Twins’ worship and the differing effects of their powers.
• Appearances and deception: Disguises, false reinforcements, lax inspections, and compromised loyalties make it difficult to tell friend from foe.
• Power and responsibility: Maria’s command is vulnerable to political blame, while Su Yi’s foresight gives her a chance to prevent disaster.