Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Su Yi challenges Gabriel’s authority on the fleet’s Bridge, pressing him to explain his motives. Gabriel refuses to engage, insisting the Goddess will vindicate him and daring Su Yi to attack.
• Commander Gianna intervenes before the confrontation turns violent. Su Yi backs down, while Gabriel stops provoking him.
• In a private meeting, Su Yi reports that four cult groups—the Death Church, Order of Flowers, Corpse Companions, and Shadow Soul Hunters—have been active on Red Sun Star for years. He says major local institutions have been deeply infiltrated for at least fifty years and that many leaders are already dead.
• Gabriel dismisses the warning as alarmist, defending Red Sun Star’s long-standing reputation for peace. Gianna considers Su Yi’s account credible and valuable.
• Su Yi receives word that cultists have attacked his home and the woman close to him. He immediately leaves for Red Sun Star, sarcastically leaving Gabriel to handle arrangements for the fleet’s arrival.
• The 101-ship fleet contacts the planet’s defense force. Deputy Commander Roger Osmon claims the orbital port is full and delays the fleet’s docking by 300 hours. He then says Gianna’s forces may have to wait up to 100 hours for a route to open.
• Gianna recognizes the obstruction as evidence that Red Sun Star is far from peaceful. She angrily tells Gabriel to negotiate with Osmon himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi remains composed and assertive under pressure, using Gabriel’s refusal to answer against him. His report demonstrates his firsthand knowledge, while news of the attack on his home reveals a personal stake in the crisis.
• Gabriel is shown to be highly concerned with status and respect. Humiliated by Su Yi, he clings to his version of events and interprets others’ opposition as hostility, even when evidence mounts.
• Gianna acts as a mediator at first, then becomes decisive and openly distrustful of the local authorities. She values Su Yi’s intelligence despite finding his manner rash.
• Roger Osmon uses polite excuses, apparent reprimands, and contradictory delays to obstruct the fleet’s entry.
• The exchanges between Su Yi and Gabriel expose their rivalry; Gianna’s intervention prevents it from escalating. Her later confrontation with Gabriel makes clear that his assurances have lost credibility.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Red Sun Star’s reputation for stability conceals deep cult infiltration and institutional corruption.
• Power and legitimacy: Su Yi’s low rank is offset by his achievements and influence, while Gabriel’s formal authority fails to command genuine respect.
• Denial and accountability: Gabriel rejects warnings rather than reconsidering them, and the port’s obstruction makes the crisis impossible to dismiss.
• Personal stakes amid political conflict: The attack on Su Yi’s home turns the wider mission into an urgent personal matter.

Plot points and events

• Director Duke blocks Su Yi from entering Red Sun Star, citing an investigation into a factory accident and the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf gang. Su Yi reveals that Duke’s wife, Misha, is a spy for the Order of Flowers and that Su Yi can trigger and control Duke’s Pleasure Virus.
• Su Yi exploits Duke’s resentment toward the Burton family, whose interests Duke has served without gaining status or inheritance. He offers Duke a future as head of the Duke family. Duke agrees to obstruct Su Yi publicly while helping him secretly, and asks Su Yi to beat him so the arrangement looks convincing. Su Yi knocks out his teeth and forces his way through.
• Meanwhile, Order of Flowers assassins attack Aurecia’s apartment with explosives and the Pleasure Virus. Wheelchair and many Players are killed or incapacitated; Big Watermelon is captured or nearly overwhelmed. Emma and Dora turn the fight around: Emma uses psychic powers and Desire Spiritfire, while Dora traps the enemy leaders in sensory deprivation. Together, they defeat the attackers.
• The surviving assailants reveal that Julie Myers summoned them from the Void Abyss, and that the Order of Flowers now knows Su Yi caused the Pleasure Virus outbreak. Su Yi sees the attack as proof that local factions have not yet openly committed themselves.
• Rather than seek reconciliation, Su Yi launches the Horus Cup Challenge: Players receive triple rewards for a week of extreme missions designed to gather intelligence and provoke factional clashes. More than 100,000 Players on Red Sun Star take up the missions, staging attacks and insults under rival factions’ names.
• Their provocations reignite hostilities between the factions, undoing tentative moves toward peace.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates political cunning as well as power. He wins Duke over by recognizing his buried grievances and offering a concrete path to advancement, then responds to the attack on his home with a calculated campaign to destabilize his enemies.
• Duke shifts from a confident obstacle to a covert ally. His bitterness toward his family and superior makes Su Yi’s offer persuasive, though he must maintain the appearance of loyalty.
• Emma and Dora reveal their formidable combat abilities, surprising the Players who had mostly seen them as companions rather than fighters. Emma’s confidence is reinforced; Dora, while brave and effective, privately feels left behind by Emma and seeks reassurance from Su Yi.
• Su Yi and Dora share a tender moment when he heals her injuries and comforts her. His concern for his household contrasts with his ruthless strategy against the factions.
• Winter and Mountain Dog support Su Yi’s plan, recognizing that the Players’ willingness to take risks can turn the challenge into a powerful tool for espionage and disruption.

Significant themes

• Power through information and leverage: Su Yi gains allies by uncovering secrets and uses intelligence to manipulate factional politics.
• Resentment and ambition: Duke’s long-suppressed anger makes him vulnerable to—but also receptive to—a promise of independence.
• Loyalty and protection: Su Yi’s response to the attack shows how strongly he regards his companions and household as his responsibility.
• Escalation and manipulation: The mission challenge deliberately sacrifices safety and stokes mistrust, showing how easily conflict can be engineered and peace undermined.

Plot points and events

• The leaders of the Shadow Soul Hunters, the Order of Flowers, the Corpse Companions, and the Death Church agree to restrain their people and focus on the approaching Company Fleet and the suspected troublemaker Gheros. Their ceasefire is already fragile: old grievances and fresh clashes keep flaring up.
• Director Duke, humiliated by Su Yi and resented by Hassie Burton, secretly gives Su Yi intelligence about the Death Church in exchange for permission to take revenge on the Duke and Burton families himself. Su Yi’s agents circulate the information, and Players receive missions designed to provoke conflict.
• At a Death Church lounge, Player Western Valkyrie follows a staged plan to inflame tensions. When Death Church officers torture her despite her revealing her identity and appealing to the ceasefire, she detonates her soul, badly wounding them.
• Her cousin, Diamond Star Idea King, brings recorded footage to a Shadow Soul Hunters branch. He presents the incident as proof of Death Church betrayal and urges the Hunters to avenge their fallen. Anger and recent losses push the gathered Hunters to abandon restraint; Rossi leads them in an attack on the lounge.
• The raid kills many Death Church members and causes major losses. Pasi escapes and reports the attack to Childe Tarber, who confronts Colby. Colby responds with the footage showing that the Death Church struck first, but Tarber remains furious over the damage.

Character developments and interactions

• Duke shifts from an obedient, battered official into a vengeful informant, using Su Yi to pursue personal scores.
• Su Yi exploits Duke’s bitterness and directs the resulting intelligence toward a broader strategy of destabilization.
• Western Valkyrie proves her loyalty through her sacrifice, while Idea King manipulates the Shadow Soul Hunters’ grief and anger. He risks his life—not because he wants to die, but because his death would make the provocation harder to investigate.
• Rossi tries to maintain control, but his dependence on his followers and their accumulated hatred eventually leads him to authorize retaliation.
• Colby and Childe Tarber trade accusations rather than restore trust; even evidence of who struck first cannot contain the feud.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and escalation: Carefully staged provocations turn genuine resentments into open violence.
• Revenge versus restraint: Leaders call for a ceasefire, but grief, humiliation, and bloodshed make discipline increasingly difficult.
• The cost of factional hatred: Ordinary customers and lower-ranking members become casualties of conflicts shaped by powerful interests.
• Performance and deception: Disguises, scripted behavior, selective footage, and false identities blur the line between spontaneous conflict and deliberate orchestration.

Key plot points and events

• After a viral video shows the torture and death of members of the Shadow Soul Hunters, Colby’s attempt to negotiate with Childe Tarber collapses. Tarber humiliates the Hunters as outsiders, and Colby—unable to restrain his furious followers—declares war. Their conflict escalates into brutal, unrestricted fighting.
• Players have helped provoke the planet’s factions into renewed conflict. As violence spreads, the Cosmic Alarm Clock Group’s heavily defended neighborhoods remain unusually safe. Its reputation grows, residents flock to its protection, and Su Yi secures enormous contracts while recruiting hundreds of thousands of Players.
• The Company fleet cannot intervene: the Dark Universe has reopened, but the Company is stretched thin by new alien arrivals and conflicts elsewhere. Gabriel is left waiting, while Roger Osmond keeps delaying Gianna’s access to Red Sun Star.
• Gianna and Gabriel finally travel down to investigate, accompanied by only eight guards. They find a planet in widespread turmoil, with smoke, ruined shops, and bodies in the streets. Osmond insists matters remain “under control,” then abandons them in a dangerous district.
• Gianna contacts Su Yi for help. He arrives with a convoy and offers assistance, but immediately clashes with Gabriel, who accuses him of exploiting the crisis and demands obedience. Su Yi counters by attacking Gabriel’s hypocrisy and demands that he kneel and admit he was wrong before they discuss cooperation.

Character developments and interactions

• Colby abandons compromise when Tarber’s contempt and the video’s effect on his people make restraint untenable. His choice turns simmering hostility into open war.
• Su Yi converts the crisis into both a successful security business and a growing foothold on the planet. He remains confident and confrontational, particularly toward Gabriel.
• Gianna arrives determined to investigate firsthand. Seeing the devastation deepens her anger and convinces her to rely on Su Yi despite his opportunism, trusting the Goddess’s judgment.
• Gabriel remains prejudiced against Su Yi and focused on asserting rank. Gianna’s disappointment in him and Su Yi’s direct rebuke expose his strained authority and arrogance.
• Osmond uses excuses to delay the Company representatives, then tries to control what they see. His shameless defense of the chaos and abandonment of the visitors reinforce his self-serving nature.
• Colby and Tarber’s confrontation reflects long-standing resentment between outsiders and local elites; Gianna and Gabriel’s disagreement highlights their contrasting judgment; and Su Yi and Gabriel’s exchange turns their past hostility into an immediate test of pride and accountability.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and manufactured conflict: Players and unseen instigators exploit old grudges, turning isolated deaths into faction-wide violence.
• Prejudice and power: The Shadow Soul Hunters’ outsider status fuels enduring contempt, while Gabriel’s rank-based attitude mirrors the same abuse of authority.
• Crisis as opportunity: As ordinary people face danger, Su Yi’s protection network gains trust, influence, and immense wealth.
• Leadership and responsibility: Colby’s inability to restrain his people, Osmond’s evasion, and Gabriel’s insistence on hierarchy contrast with Gianna’s commitment to direct investigation.
• Trust and accountability: With institutions failing, Gianna must choose whom to rely on, while Su Yi insists that cooperation begin with Gabriel acknowledging his wrongdoing.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi confronts Director Gabriel over his handling of Red Sun Star, accusing him of prioritizing profit and appeasing the Red Sun Alliance over the Goddess’s interests. He tells Commander Gianna that he will not work with Gabriel.
• A Void Abyss Rift opens in a mall, releasing a horde of demons. Gianna immediately leads her guards into battle, while Gabriel panics and prepares to flee.
• A second, larger rift opens, and Void Abyss Lord Jawbone announces his arrival. Gabriel and his guards escape, claiming they must bring back reinforcements. Gianna condemns his cowardice.
• Su Yi’s forces reveal their strength: Emma, a Pure Spirit Goddess, incinerates thousands of weaker demons with psychic fire, while thirty elite warriors use the newly developed Boom-Boom Guns to devastate the horde.
• Gianna’s guards are nearly overwhelmed until another of Su Yi’s allies, a Sorceress with a direct divine Benediction, rescues them by shredding more than a hundred Fanatics.
• Jawbone begins threatening the humans, but recognizes Su Yi and recoils when Su Yi brings out the hilt of the sword that frightened him on Diamond Star.
• Su Yi negotiates with Jawbone, offering him opportunities to raid selected areas of Red Sun Star in exchange for public notices and cooperation. He also gives Jawbone information about the distant Sol Star System, persuading him to accept.

Character developments

• Su Yi proves himself a forceful, strategic leader. He openly challenges Gabriel, trusts his allies to display their abilities, and turns a dangerous enemy into a potential partner through negotiation.
• Gabriel is exposed as fearful and self-serving: when confronted with a Void Abyss Lord, he abandons Gianna and the others, dressing his escape up as a mission to get reinforcements.
• Gianna demonstrates discipline and courage, fighting on the front lines and keeping the focus on sealing the rifts. She is also surprised by the depth of Su Yi’s resources and allies.
• Jawbone has grown stronger since Diamond Star and now calls himself a Void Abyss Lord, but his confidence collapses when he recognizes Su Yi and the feared sword. He remains wary of Su Yi, yet agrees to the deal.
• Emma and Su Yi’s other allies reveal their formidable combat abilities, reshaping Gianna’s view of Su Yi’s group from apparent showpieces into powerful assets.

Significant themes

• Courage versus self-preservation: Gianna and Su Yi’s forces confront the invasion, while Gabriel chooses flight.
• Leadership and loyalty: The chapter contrasts Su Yi’s assertive commitment to his stated goals with Gabriel’s perceived tendency to put personal safety and short-term advantage first.
• Power and reputation: Jawbone’s transformation into a stronger Lord does not erase his fear of Su Yi, whose reputation—and sword—still dominate the encounter.
• Pragmatic alliances and manipulation: Su Yi uses honest information, intimidation, and promises of opportunity to turn Jawbone’s failed invasion into a useful arrangement.
• Innovation and teamwork: The Boom-Boom Guns’ success comes from combining expertise and technology, showing how collaboration can produce decisive battlefield advantages.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Gabriel trade accusations over loyalty to the Goddess and the company; Gianna is forced to weigh their competing claims.
• Gianna works with her guards to resist the demons and rebukes Gabriel after he abandons them.
• Su Yi’s allies demonstrate their power alongside Gianna’s troops, earning her surprise and respect.
• Su Yi and Jawbone resume their old, antagonistic rapport: Jawbone boasts and threatens, Su Yi unsettles him with the sword, then persuades him to cooperate.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi tells Jawbone to publicly reveal the Order of Flowers’ alliance with the Osmon Family and its officials, who helped the Void Abyss open rifts and planned to divide Red Sun Star’s people and resources. Jawbone agrees, though he complains about the losses he suffered.
• Su Yi unleashes the Ember Tree’s roots and branches, destroying many demons and sealing the Void Abyss Rift. Gianna and her guards witness the display and realize Su Yi possesses a level-six Divine Fire Blessing.
• Gianna abandons her neutral stance, accepts that Gabriel cannot be trusted, and agrees to follow Su Yi. Her view of him shifts from cautious assessment to respect and recognition of his extraordinary power.
• Red Sun Star’s factions react differently to the battle: the Order of Flowers remains confident, while the Shadow Soul Hunters decide not to provoke Su Yi, and the Corpse Companions consider recruiting him. Jawbone’s contacts in the External Relations Office, meanwhile, discuss expanding their cooperation with him.
• Su Yi’s security business continues to grow as Players arrive on the planet. The four factions’ fighting also creates an opportunity for his organization to attract clients.
• Su Yi receives word that the first regiment of the Heavenly Tribulation’s Punishment is ready: one thousand heavily armored Void Abyssal soldiers, alongside two thousand Steel Moon-Eroding Shadow fighters. The force is ordered to Red Sun Star.
• Two days after the battle, Jawbone hijacks a public channel and releases evidence of the Order of Flowers’ and Osmon Family’s collaboration with him. The disclosure sparks mass outrage and unrest.
• The Osmon Family’s defenses fail, the Planetary Defense Force fractures amid factional infighting, and Roger Osmon is assassinated. The Order of Flowers’ power collapses as rival factions move to seize its personnel and territory.
• Su Yi takes control of the hijacked broadcast and announces that the company’s fleet has arrived, with Gianna as commander and himself as general manager. Invoking the joint-defense ordinance, he declares martial law and transfers authority to himself and Gianna, warning that resistance will be met with lethal force.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates both overwhelming power and strategic skill: he directs Jawbone to expose his allies, then uses the resulting crisis to justify a company-led intervention. He balances public reassurance with an uncompromising demand for obedience.
• Jawbone follows Su Yi’s plan and presents the leaks as his own betrayal of the Order of Flowers and the Osmon Family. He is angry over his losses but remains willing to cooperate for promised rewards and leverage.
• Gianna reassesses Su Yi after witnessing his level-six blessing. She recognizes her former superior’s warning not to make an enemy of him and accepts his leadership.
• The Order of Flowers and the Osmon Family are caught off guard by Jawbone’s disclosure. Their leaders’ confidence gives way to shock as public anger and factional defections dismantle their control.
• Rival factions exploit the collapse to settle old scores and seize power, while some leaders take a more cautious or opportunistic interest in Su Yi.

Significant themes

• Power and political legitimacy: Su Yi’s force and legal authority allow him to turn a crisis into a transfer of planetary control.
• Betrayal and calculated alliances: Jawbone’s public exposure of his partners shows how alliances can be manipulated when interests shift.
• Public anger and accountability: Evidence of leaders’ collusion with demons turns private political schemes into mass revolt.
• The cost of factional conflict: Infighting disables the planet’s institutions and leaves the population vulnerable to chaos.
• Ambition and reputation: Su Yi’s growing influence draws allies, clients, and wary rivals, while the fallen factions’ arrogance accelerates their ruin.

• Public support and seizure of authority: Su Yi uses a press conference and the Common Defense Agreement to win the crowd’s support and claim legal authority over Red Sun Star. With Roger Osmon dead, he orders the Company Fleet into attack posture and moves to seize the Planetary Defense Force before rival factions can control its orbital weapons.
• Confrontation at headquarters: Su Yi and Gianna arrive at the orbital station, where leaders of the Death Cult, Shadow Soul Hunters, and Corpse Companions are fighting over command. Su Yi asserts control; when Childe Tarber refuses, he and Gianna attack. Colby joins the battle, but Su Yi reveals the Soul Abyss Dominator, forcing Colby to escape after losing an arm.
• The cult leaders fall: Emma uses Desire Spiritfire against Tarber’s summoned spirits and reveals that the group has taken power from the Soul Well. Her control over desire immobilizes Tarber, allowing Gianna to kill him. Green Oil, the Corpse Companions’ representative, is left alive and agrees to carry Su Yi’s instructions to Tianyu.
• The Defense Force surrenders: Su Yi threatens officers who resist, then broadcasts that he is acting commander. He orders troops not to fire on the Company Fleet and promises pardon and a cure for those infected with the Pleasure Virus. The corps accept his command, and the guards surrender.
• A strategic compromise: Gianna objects when Su Yi lets the Corpse Companions withdraw safely. He explains that destroying every faction outright would unite them; instead, he intends to divide them through selective alliances, pardons, and pressure.
  Character developments and interactions: Su Yi shows himself to be a calculated political and military strategist, using public legitimacy, force, and selective mercy to secure control. Gianna begins to grasp the scope of his planning but remains morally troubled by his willingness to spare cultists. Emma’s powers and role in the conflict become clear, while Colby escapes and Green Oil becomes a reluctant intermediary.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes power won through both legitimacy and coercion, the use of division and negotiation as tools of war, and the difficult distinction between enemies and potential allies. Su Yi’s promise of forgiveness also presents unity and protection of ordinary people as alternatives to factional rule.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi consolidates control of Red Sun Star’s Planetary Defense Force, using pardons and treatment for the Pleasure Virus to reconcile its divided ranks. He tasks Winter with restoring order and Matthew with publicly trying the corrupt Osmon Family, while arranging for Matthew to inherit its businesses and help build a new chamber of commerce.
• The 27-hour televised trial ends with 14,073 executions and thousands more sentences. It eases public anger, but the purge and Su Yi’s announcement that Green Oil survived trigger open warfare among all four cult factions.
• As cultists spread violence and corruption across the planet, Su Yi orders civilians to evacuate to safer districts and offers the factions transport off-world. They refuse and threaten to devastate Red Sun Star. Players and local allies hold evacuation routes while infiltrators gather intelligence.
• After seven days, Su Yi identifies the Order of Flowers’ headquarters. The Shadow Puppet Sanctum has discovered and erased the Players’ teleportation points, however, and the Order unleashes hundreds of thousands of monsters—including corrupted City Defense Force soldiers—against the planet.
• Su Yi announces a counterattack and calls in Alton Kyle’s Void Abyssal Legion. A thousand heavily armored warriors and their steel beasts arrive to reinforce the front line. Though vastly outnumbered, they shrug off powerful attacks and annihilate the monsters with devastating guns and melee weapons, advancing directly into the enemy ranks.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates strategic patience and political control: he secures the defense force, channels public anger through the trials, protects civilians, and waits to deploy his strongest reinforcements until the enemy commits.
• Gianna recognizes the full scope of Su Yi’s maneuvering and shifts from shock to admiration.
• Matthew embraces his role in bringing his family to justice. The trial both clears his name and positions him to lead the family’s businesses.
• Winter, the Players, and local allies support Su Yi’s efforts through arrests, troop stabilization, evacuation defense, and risky intelligence-gathering missions.
• The cult leaders—Colby, Abby, and Raffi—reject Su Yi’s offer to leave and escalate their threats and attacks. Raffi’s confidence falters when Alton survives her strongest opening strike and his legion devastates her forces.
• Alton introduces himself as the Profound Emperor’s agent and leads the Void Abyssal Legion into battle, transforming the defenders’ despair into astonishment and hope.

Significant themes

• Strategy and timing: Su Yi wins leverage through coordinated political, military, and intelligence operations rather than relying on force alone.
• Justice and legitimacy: The public trials satisfy the population’s demand for accountability, while Matthew’s leadership offers a path toward rebuilding.
• Unity amid crisis: Players, officials, soldiers, and civilians cooperate against the cults, despite their earlier divisions.
• Hope through overwhelming intervention: The chapter contrasts the cults’ spreading terror with the arrival of a disciplined force powerful enough to turn the tide.

Key plot points and events

• Gianna and more than four thousand Ash Executioners arrive expecting to find the front overwhelmed by over a million infected. Instead, they witness Su Yi’s forces—the Void Abyssals and Moon-Eroding Shadows—decimating the enemy.
• The Steel Warriors’ extraordinary strength and the Steel Wraiths’ ability to pass through solid matter make them devastating opponents. Their leader, Alton, destroys the enemy’s rear line and the Snake-Eyed Behemoths before joining the assault.
• The battle’s broadcast convinces Red Sun Star’s merchants and civilians of Su Yi’s power. His supporters celebrate, while those who hesitated to cooperate rush to contact his company. Gabriel, an opponent at the Red Sun Chamber of Commerce, reacts with alarm.
• Su Yi suspects the Shadow Puppet Sanctum’s attack is a diversion. Reviewing death records, he realizes that approximately 6.9 million people have died—a number sacred to the Twins of Pleasure—and concludes the Sanctum intends to sacrifice their souls to the elder Twin.
• Su Yi cannot stop the ritual through his own divine authority on Red Sun Star. He thinks the awakening Golden Saint King may be able to receive the souls, but his first attempt to contact him fails because the King is not yet fully conscious.
• With time running short, Su Yi contacts Kilman, hoping to find another way to reach the Golden Saint King. The chapter ends as Kilman agrees to ask Nine Blades, who previously told him about the King.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shifts from confidence in his military advantage to urgent concern as he uncovers the sacrifice plot. He reasons quickly, attempts an unsuccessful prayer, then adapts by seeking Kilman’s help.
• Gianna and the Ash Executioners are shocked by the legion’s power, underscoring how far beyond conventional soldiers Su Yi’s forces are.
• Kilman has matured into a capable leader, organizing reconstruction, military labor, and education on Storm Nome. He credits Su Yi as his model, while Su Yi encourages him to develop his own path.
• Nine Blades, once hostile toward Su Yi, now accepts the relationship between him and Kilman and takes pride in Kilman’s growth.
• The Golden Sisters show deep devotion to Kilman and readily accept their assigned responsibilities.
• Merchants and civilians grow more loyal to Su Yi after witnessing the battle; their reactions contrast with Gabriel’s fear and resentment.

Significant themes

• Power and protection: The legion’s victory establishes Su Yi as a formidable defender of Red Sun Star.
• Appearance versus true purpose: The enormous assault hides a ritual objective; the apparent attack may chiefly be meant to produce mass death and souls.
• Leadership and growth: Kilman’s practical service and Su Yi’s mentorship show the transition from imitation to independent leadership.
• Urgency and adaptation: Su Yi’s failed attempt to contact the Golden Saint King forces him to seek help through others rather than rely on a single solution.

Plot points and events

• In the Molten Fire Temple, Su Yi meets Nine Blades, Kilman’s guard commander. Nine Blades recognizes Su Yi’s unusual abilities and confirms that the Golden Saint King is connected to the Ancient Entropy Human Emperor, though he does not know the exact nature of the connection.
• Su Yi explains that the Order of Flowers is preparing to sacrifice 6.9 million souls to the Twins of Pleasure. He proposes diverting the souls to the Golden Saint King to speed His awakening. Nine Blades approves and explains that the King’s Soul Authority should let Him seize the souls without a ritual.
• Su Yi reveals that the Order of Flowers is led by Copper Tomb, a traitor responsible for the deaths of Nine Blades’ comrades—including his closest friend, Fierce Bow. Nine Blades agrees to help and asks Su Yi to report any leads on Copper Tomb.
• Nine Blades warns that Kilman’s blood samples could expose him to a fatal Blood Curse. Su Yi agrees to have the samples retrieved, despite having kept them as a way to reconnect with the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers. Nine Blades also gives Su Yi instructions for linking to the Golden Saint King and cautions him not to look directly at the King’s light.
• Back on Red Sun Star, Su Yi’s forces rout the enemy. The Order of Flowers is nearly destroyed, while the Shadow Soul Hunters and Death Cult begin withdrawing. Su Yi publicly takes charge of the planet’s defenses, and the Company authorizes and supports his takeover.
• Su Yi visits Astral Technology and asks Atani and Zeral to use their secret, newly advanced Astral Algorithm to locate the planet’s dead souls. The system maps soul signatures and identifies them by strength, condition, and divine influence—giving Su Yi a potential means to intercept the coming sacrifice.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates strategic foresight, compassion, and political authority. He accepts Nine Blades’ security concerns about Kilman’s blood and reassures Kilman that protecting him matters more than keeping the samples.
• Nine Blades begins wary but respects Su Yi’s judgment and character. His composure breaks when he learns Copper Tomb is involved, exposing old grief and a desire for accountability.
• Kilman openly defends Su Yi against Nine Blades’ suspicion, showing deep trust and affection. Su Yi calls him “my child,” underscoring their parental bond.
• Atani and Zeral are initially awed by Su Yi and anxious that he will punish them for hiding the algorithm’s progress. Su Yi responds with understanding, earning their trust and enthusiasm.
• Winter sees a new possibility in the Astral Algorithm: combining its soul-tracking capabilities with his hacking skills to wield psionic power through code.

Significant themes

• Trust and protection: Su Yi and Nine Blades disagree over how best to safeguard Kilman, but both act from concern for him.
• Sacrifice versus salvation: Su Yi seeks to prevent innocent souls from being consumed by the Twins of Pleasure, even if he must redirect them to awaken another power.
• Trauma and vengeance: Copper Tomb’s betrayal resurfaces as a personal wound for Nine Blades.
• Power and responsibility: Su Yi’s victory makes him a public protector and political leader, while the algorithm offers technology that could influence the fate of every soul on the planet.

Plot and key events

• Atani’s Astral Algorithm tracks free-floating souls across the planet and reveals that 6.9 million souls are being drawn to a hidden site in Zone 42, apparently for a sacrifice. Su Yi praises Atani and Zeral for the discovery.
• Atani proposes using the technology more broadly to authenticate souls online and expose Void Abyss cultists, potentially making large societies much easier to secure.
• In a group chat, the Players discuss Su Yi’s unusual powers. Leg Kicker connects his eye-covered Deified Form and the Bronze Gate to Unity, a legendary Rule True God said to possess knowledge spanning all time and space. The group suspects Su Yi may carry Unity’s bloodline, which could explain his uncanny knowledge and why the Shadow Puppet Sanctum wants him dead.
• Su Yi refuses to storm the sacrifice site, fearing the enemy would move the souls. He plans to investigate first while Winter develops a covert approach: combining her hacking with the Astral Algorithm and Su Yi’s Binary Magic.
• With Emma linking their souls and Su Yi’s Multithreading Spell boosting Winter’s processing power, the pair enter the planet’s data ocean as digital forms. Su Yi gives Winter an authorization ring that lets her use his Binary Magic.
• Winter demonstrates her newfound power by infecting, gathering, and destroying a swarm of Electronic Demons. The pair then head to inspect the enemy’s operation.
• In the Zone 42 ruins, the conspirators are collecting souls in a vast pool and preparing a sacrificial array. The Shadow Puppet Prisoner, Raffi, Colby, and Abby oversee the work. They plan to act in twenty-five hours, intending to offer a feast to the True God while their enemies remain unaware.

Character developments and interactions

• Atani and Zeral gain recognition as their ancestral technology proves strategically valuable. Atani also shows ambition, proposing a global application for the algorithm.
• Winter evolves from a talented hacker into a formidable digital combatant. Her coordination with Su Yi boosts her abilities dramatically, and the authorization ring gives her confidence and power.
• Su Yi shows caution and trust: he avoids alerting the enemy and names Winter the Pioneer he trusts most. His reassurance helps her adjust to their direct soul connection.
• The soul link exposes Winter’s private feelings for Su Yi. Emma teases her, while Winter—embarrassed—insists on focusing on the mission.
• The Shadow Puppet Sanctum’s allies remain battered from their previous defeat, but their confidence returns as they near completion of the sacrifice.

Significant themes

• Technology as power and protection: the Astral Algorithm could identify cultists and stabilize vast populations, while also enabling covert infiltration.
• Trust and collaboration: Su Yi’s magic, Winter’s hacking, Atani’s algorithm, and Emma’s psychic link combine into a powerful team effort.
• Identity and hidden knowledge: the suspected Unity bloodline suggests Su Yi may embody a force connected to the universe’s laws and secrets.
• Power’s risks and stakes: Winter’s rapid rise in strength contrasts with the looming mass sacrifice and the enemy’s plan to invoke a True God.

Plot points

• Su Yi and Winter locate the hidden underground base and bypass its powerful firewall. Su Yi recognizes the ancient Spirit Torch Language behind it and uses Binary Magic to disguise them as data that can pass inspection.
• Inside, they discover the soul-sacrifice operation and spy on the Shadow Puppet Prisoner, Raffi, Colby, and Abby. The group plans to sacrifice 6.9 million souls to the Twins of Pleasure, open a massive Void Abyss Rift, and take revenge on Su Yi. They believe they have about twenty-five hours before the ritual can proceed.
• Su Yi and Winter return to their allies. Su Yi orders the base’s equipment upgraded, while publicly staging celebrations, tours, and military victories to make himself appear distracted and reassure the conspirators that he has not found their hideout.
• Winter organizes the Ten Pioneers to prepare a diversion, protect the ruins, and teleport in when signaled. Over the next day, unrest escalates across the planet as the enemy makes increasingly desperate attacks.
• The conspirators gather the souls and begin their ritual, convinced Su Yi cannot stop them. Su Yi appears at the crucial moment with the Soul Abyss Dominator, startling the Shadow Puppet Prisoner. He reveals that Raffi’s earlier use of her soul on the battlefield allowed him to trace its path to the ruins.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates his knowledge of the Spirit Torch Language and exceptional skill with Binary Magic. He turns the enemy’s caution and confidence against them, using a convincing public show to conceal his preparations.
• Winter is impressed by Su Yi’s abilities and grateful for his promise to teach her the ancient language. Her growing affection is noticed by the Ten Pioneers, though she avoids responding to their teasing.
• The Shadow Puppet Prisoner is increasingly rattled by Su Yi’s interference. His plan has been disrupted repeatedly, and his composure finally collapses when Su Yi appears at the ritual.
• Raffi, Colby, and Abby remain driven by revenge and distrust one another, blaming past failures while cooperating only because the ritual offers them power. At the end, they turn in shock toward Raffi when Su Yi credits her with leading him to the base.
• Winter and the Ten Pioneers coordinate their roles in the coming confrontation; their banter also shows their admiration for Su Yi and their close camaraderie.

Significant themes

• Technology and magic: Su Yi argues that both are ways of understanding and controlling universal laws; what seems supernatural to one society may be ordinary technology to another.
• Knowledge as power: Su Yi’s command of the ancient language and ability to read systems let him penetrate defenses and uncover the enemy’s plan.
• Deception and misdirection: Su Yi’s public celebrations hide his real preparations, while the conspirators’ own confidence makes them vulnerable.
• Self-interest versus cooperation: The villains’ rivalries weaken them, whereas Su Yi’s allies coordinate around a shared goal.
• Hubris and reversal: The Shadow Puppet Prisoner believes the ritual is unstoppable, only to have Su Yi appear at its climax.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi teleports back to confront Raffi, Abby, and Colby, using Faith Power to greatly reduce the cost of his teleportation coordinates.
• Raffi transforms and lands a devastating blow that punches through Su Yi’s chest. His wound closes instantly, and he challenges all three enemies.
• Raffi seizes the Soul Abyss Dominator, but its thorns drain her life force and mental strength. Meanwhile, Abby and Colby attack Su Yi together.
• Winter, operating through Su Yi’s body, uses her new soul-affecting abilities to immobilize Abby and Colby, burn away their Bandwidth, and kill them. Su Yi absorbs their Unity Essence and reaches level 40.
• Although Raffi becomes enthralled by the sword and prepares a powerful attack, its conditional access system prevents her from wielding it against Su Yi. He takes it back and draws her soul into the weapon, reaching level 41.
• Su Yi turns to the Shadow Puppet Prisoner, who reveals that a sacrifice is already underway. The ritual opens Void Abyss Rifts and releases monsters, while the prisoner summons a divine presence using millions of souls.
• Su Yi counters by invoking the Loving Father of all souls. His vision reveals a distant, empty suit of golden armor and a childlike hand, which draws the gathered souls toward it.
• The summoned Twins seize the Shadow Puppet Prisoner, who is consumed as the sacrifice he had intended to provide.

Character developments

• Su Yi demonstrates his resilience, strategic preparation, and growing command of powerful abilities. His Deified Form no longer overwhelms him, and he turns the enemy’s ritual to his advantage.
• Winter proves that her soul-based combat techniques work, killing two powerful foes while inhabiting Su Yi’s digitized form. Her playful, inventive style complements his tactics.
• Raffi shifts from furious confidence to obsession and helplessness. The Soul Abyss Dominator drains her, then rejects her when she tries to attack Su Yi; he ultimately absorbs her soul.
• The Shadow Puppet Prisoner reveals himself as a ritualist intent on destroying Red Sun Star, but loses control of his plan and becomes its final sacrifice.
• Dora experiences the Twins’ suffering and is taken by Emma and Winter to the soul pool to undergo an advancement.

Significant themes

• Power and its price: The Soul Abyss Dominator grants immense strength while consuming its wielder, and Raffi’s ambition leaves her vulnerable to it.
• Reversal and poetic justice: The prisoner’s sacrifice is redirected, and he is consumed by the very divine power he summoned.
• Faith, sacrifice, and divine mystery: Both sides invoke gods through vast quantities of souls, while Su Yi’s vision hints at a cosmic being whose nature remains unexplained.
• Preparation and teamwork: Su Yi’s teleportation network, Winter’s support, and the arriving Players turn a seemingly overwhelming crisis into a coordinated fight.

Character interactions

• Raffi, Abby, and Colby taunt and attack Su Yi; he answers with defiance, even after suffering severe injuries.
• Winter supports Su Yi from within his body, coordinating with him and later working with Emma to help Dora.
• The Players arrive as Su Yi’s reinforcements and battle the monsters released by the ritual.
• Su Yi and the Shadow Puppet Prisoner trade boasts as their competing summonings collide, ending with the prisoner seized and consumed by the Twins.

Key plot points and events

• The Puppet Prisoner is killed, but the Twins’ Shadow immediately reveals a far more terrifying divine presence. Its gaze overwhelms the Players and Void Abyss demons, causing them to lose control, mutate, and die.
• Dora completes her ascension to Pure Spirit Goddess. The Twins spare Emma and Dora, address them as Su Yi’s allies, and say the world is changing because of him. They also hint that the sisters may be the only hope of salvation.
• The Twins transform Emma’s veil and Dora’s ring into SSS-Class relics, granting Emma transcendent soul-based power and Dora a greatly enhanced body. Both rise to the low-40s in level and become Pleasure Saints.
• In the Gate of Unity, the baby emerges from the golden armor after absorbing nearly seven million souls. His first cry sweeps across the universe, announcing the Golden Saint King’s birth and calming the Dark Universe Storm.
• The cry triggers reactions across the galaxy: Kilman and the Golden Sisters welcome the King; the Second Empire’s Six Sages fear a rival god and call for a holy war; the Redstone Empire’s leadership rejects calls to expand; the Primordial Empire prepares for war; Wildfolk emerge from the Dark Universe Maze; and Black Sun Group begins an age of expansion.
• The Golden Saint King recognizes Su Yi’s connection to Unity, the Black Cinders, and the Black Abyss. Su Yi explains his aid to Kilman and says his goal is to destroy the Dreamwalker. The King approves his chosen path and gives him a drop of divine Umbilical Cord Blood.
• The blood fuses with Su Yi’s soul. By channeling its power through the Steel Soul Helmet, he survives a painful transformation: his soul becomes calm and divine, his True God Bloodline changes, and he gains the ability to manifest that form at will.

Character developments and interactions

• Emma and Dora gain major new abilities: Emma becomes a transcendent soul-based being, while Dora receives extraordinary physical power. Their gratitude and confidence in Su Yi deepen.
• Su Yi earns the Golden Saint King’s favor through his past deeds and resolve. Though wary of being claimed by multiple powers, he accepts the blood and emerges transformed.
• The Golden Saint King is an infant in appearance but carries immense authority and ancient awareness. He rewards Su Yi, endorses his independence, and departs to visit an old friend.
• The Twins’ Shadow treats Emma and Dora gently, in stark contrast to its lethal effect on everyone else, and uses them to pass a message to Su Yi.

Significant themes

• Divine power and mortal limits: Even elite fighters cannot withstand a god’s presence directly.
• Reincarnation and prophecy: The Golden Saint King’s birth confirms the Golden Sisters’ belief that he is an incarnation of the Ancient Entropy Human Emperor.
• A changing world: The King’s cry ends the Dark Universe Storm and launches rival powers into a new era of expansion, conflict, and political maneuvering.
• Agency and allegiance: Su Yi accepts divine aid without abandoning his own mission, while factions interpret the same cosmic event as either salvation or threat.

Key events

• Su Yi wakes after the Twins of Pleasure’s blessing, which has transformed Emma and Dora into Pleasure Saints. Both have risen greatly in level and power, absorbed Void Abyss relics, and gained Soul Ascension, making them immune to ordinary physical attacks. Emma’s abilities favor stealth and psionic precision; Dora’s favor direct, berserker-style combat.
• Su Yi’s own ascension brings a dramatic boost: he rises from level 38 to 47, gains the Golden Saint Body and Void Abyss Walker, and becomes resistant to soul attacks and Void Abyss erosion. His new ability to enter the Void Abyss freely also enables short-range jumps.
• Su Yi recognizes that the sisters could help protect his faction from enemy Sorceresses, whose temptations can turn allies against one another. He even considers that they might one day succeed the Twins.
• He reassures the Ten Pioneers and compensates those killed by the divine blessing, explaining that the Twins’ power crossed the material world’s barrier during the ritual. Meanwhile, Emma and Dora recover equipment from the transformed Players.
• Back on Earth, the Players learn Su Yi is safe. Leg Kicker reveals that he survived briefly after the others because his Scholar talent kept his mind calm while he looked at the gods. He heard the Twins speaking and reports that they are sisters, dislike the usual offerings, and blessed Emma and Dora to repay Su Yi for a favor.
• Leg Kicker also announces that he has become a Time Scholar, a hidden class that can advance further. The Deceiver of Yore granted him a boon and shared knowledge, though divine restrictions prevent him from disclosing everything.
• Leg Kicker explains a revised classification of gods: Rule True Gods draw power from the universe’s fundamental laws; Ancient True Gods embody fragments of those rules; Void Abyss gods arise from pure human thoughts or energies and depend on followers’ devotion and sacrifices; Planetary Old Gods form the fourth category. Some gods, such as the Shadow King and Loving Father of Light, may have fallen from Ancient True God status and now depend on faith.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi becomes far more powerful and confident, while treating the Pioneers’ deaths as recoverable losses and promising generous compensation. He sees Emma and Dora as both trusted allies and an answer to a major strategic threat.
• Emma and Dora have become complementary fighters and agents of the Twins. They show relief that the transformed Players are not dead and cooperate to collect their gear.
• Leg Kicker emerges as the chapter’s key investigator: his new class and divine boon give him access to important, though restricted, knowledge. He shares selected findings with the Ten Pioneers while withholding details from the larger group.
• The guild members show strong concern for Su Yi, then curiosity and alarm as Leg Kicker reveals the Twins’ connection to their leader and the hidden structure of the gods.

Significant themes

• Power and transformation: Divine blessings reshape characters’ abilities, status, and roles.
• Strategic trust and corruption: The sisters’ power may help defend Su Yi’s faction against seductive infiltration and betrayal.
• Knowledge and secrecy: Divine truths can be valuable, dangerous, and subject to restrictions; Leg Kicker’s revelations are deliberately limited.
• A changing era: Su Yi sees the end of the Dark Universe Storm as the beginning of a period of expansion—and an opportunity for his rise.

I’m sorry you’re feeling so rough. Rest up, and don’t worry about making up the chapters—your health comes first.
The text you shared is an author’s note, not a story chapter, so there are no plot events, character developments, interactions, or themes to summarize.

Plot points and events

• Leg Kicker explains the distinctions among Planetary Old Gods, born from a planet’s will, Rule True Gods, manifestations of universal laws, and Planetary New Gods, who seize a planet’s Divine Authority through faith and sacrifice. The explanation gives the Players a clearer framework for understanding divine powers.
• Madman warns that the Dark Universe’s storms have ended. Long-vanished forces are returning to the Mountain River Star Sector, and war may be imminent. The Second Empire, armed with Ancient Entropy technology, could become a major threat.
• The Ten Pioneers decide to accelerate their Legion Plan and consider Diamond Star as a shared base for equipment and respawns. They judge its benefits worthwhile despite concerns about relying on Godfather.
• After the victory over the Shadow Puppet Prisoner and the Cult, Su Yi takes charge of Red Sun Star’s security. The Players hunt down the remaining cultists, and Su Yi publicly presents evidence of the battle.
• Ilis secretly searches Red Sun Star for the Machine Spirit Casket, interrogating and killing a man to obtain its location. She trades the coordinates at a gathering of the Retracing Council for Yi Dragon Condensate, a substance needed for her level-50 ascension and transformation into a Years-Woven Body.
• Red Sun Star is rapidly purged and rebuilt. Its economy rebounds, and the company rewards the project: Gianna advances to L49, Su Yi to L45, while Gabriel receives no reward. The Cosmic Alarm Clock Group is effectively entrusted with the planet’s future, with Gianna’s fleet stationed there.
• Su Yi reorganizes the Red Sun Chamber of Commerce under his allies and plans to use the planet’s powerful media industry to promote the Xuanhuang Empire. He also reviews the flaws battlefield testing exposed in his troops’ equipment.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi consolidates his authority on Red Sun Star and turns the victory into both a promotion and a strategic foothold. He credits his allies’ help, but moves quickly to secure the planet before leaving.
• Winter and the Ten Pioneers respond to the coming conflict with practical planning, emphasizing logistics, respawn access, and military readiness. Their joking about Winter as Godfather’s “godmother” lightens the discussion.
• Ilis pursues her own agenda independently of Su Yi, using her powers to extract information and advance her ascension. At the Council, she hints that she may know why the Golden Saint King appeared early and suspects Su Yi caused disturbances in the sector.
• Gianna is promoted and made the company’s chief representative on Red Sun Star; she partners with Mota in the reorganized Chamber of Commerce.
• Madman acts as the group’s source of intelligence, linking the sector’s mounting danger to the Second Empire and the returning forces.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as preparation: Understanding gods and their limits may shape future encounters.
• War and logistics: The Players recognize that bases, equipment, manpower, and supply systems matter as much as individual strength.
• Power and institutional change: Su Yi’s military victory enables a political and economic takeover, while the company formalizes his group’s control.
• Progress through testing: Battlefield failures are treated as valuable feedback for improving troops and equipment.
• Hidden agendas and looming conflict: Ilis’s secret dealings and the return of powerful forces suggest that the sector’s troubles are part of a much larger upheaval.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi arrives at Alton’s base during a battle debrief. The newly transformed Void Abyssals hail him as their lord, and he praises their performance.
• Molly reports serious flaws in the Powered Armor’s software and in the Bang-Bang Gun 1.0’s materials and design. She and Wen Qi begin planning fixes and a new equipment batch; Su Yi promises to help Molly overcome an algorithm bottleneck with his Binary Magic.
• At Black Sun Group headquarters, executives debate how to handle Su Yi’s powerful forces and talented researchers. Some favor coercing them into company service, but the Ash Envoy and others argue that force would alienate valuable allies. The company decides to pursue cooperation, with the Ash Envoy’s help.
• The executives confirm that Su Yi awakened the Golden Saint King and discuss an urgent mission in the Soul Dead Zone. Before that, however, he must face a final trial: the Desire Catastrophe.
• The chapter explains that the Void Abyss can unleash universe-wide calamities when accumulated emotion or power overflows. After the long Dark Universe Storm, a new catastrophe has become inevitable, and the Demons of Desire are its first sign.
• Iris reunites with Su Yi and explains that the catastrophe will infect more than two thousand planets across four star sectors. A company fleet is already trying to block the Divine Fire Xisi Corridor, but is likely to fail.
• Iris asks Su Yi to protect her while she undergoes ascension at level 50. She plans to absorb the Power of Time at the Rift of Days Past and become a Time Weaver. Su Yi agrees, recognizing that the corridor will likely be his next major destination.
• Their reunion turns intimate, reaffirming their romantic bond and Iris’s determination to remain tied to Su Yi.

Character developments

• Molly is now mature, confident, and technically capable, though frustrated by humanity’s reliance on ancient technology.
• Su Yi is increasingly recognized as a major military asset by the company, while remaining devoted to his allies and partners.
• Iris has grown stronger and more assured. She welcomes Su Yi’s progress, seeks his protection for her dangerous ascension, and vows to retaliate against those who threaten him.
• Black Sun Group’s leadership shows a divide between expedient coercion and long-term loyalty, ultimately choosing cooperation.

Significant themes

• Survival versus ethics: The company’s crisis tempts leaders to seize talent and technology, but trust and loyalty are presented as essential to lasting strength.
• Innovation and dependence: Molly’s frustration reflects humanity’s fear of losing its own technological future, even as ancient ruins may be necessary for survival.
• Accumulating forces and looming disaster: The long storm has left the universe primed for catastrophe, turning the Desire Catastrophe into a major new threat.
• Partnership and mutual reliance: Su Yi and Iris frame their ambitions as connected, with each offering the other trust, protection, and support.

Character interactions

• Su Yi praises the Void Abyssals and listens to Molly and Wen Qi’s technical debrief, promising practical help.
• Black Sun Group executives clash over whether to exploit Su Yi’s researchers; the Ash Envoy and Iron Atom advocate preserving trust.
• Iris and Su Yi discuss the coming catastrophe and her ascension, balancing strategic planning with affection and renewed intimacy.

Plot and key events

• After an intense, uninhibited encounter, Ilis reflects on how it freed her from years of pressure and emotional restraint. She explains that a secret she learned from a Memory Thief advised people on her path to embrace their instincts rather than bottle up their madness.
• Ilis recounts her recent work: on Sea-Iron Star, she acquired the memory-based Talent Memory Simulacrum, and she has been fighting the Undying Heart, an extremist group that steals valuable memories. The memories she has absorbed are pushing her body toward its limit, so she will need to ascend before taking in more.
• Ilis reveals that the company assigned her to find the Sword of Against the Light, an Ancient Artifact and one of three keys to the Soul Dead Zone. Su Yi connects the artifact to his own search for the Zone, a deadly region believed to conceal the origin of the Void Abyss and potentially crucial secrets about the Dreamwalker.
• The Sword is believed to lie in the ruined Divine Fire Xisi Corridor, now a dangerous region of storms, magnetic fields, and Demons of Desire. Su Yi invites Ilis to return with him to Diamond Star.
• Ilis is astonished to learn that Kilman is the Human Emperor’s Holy Son, that Su Yi has guided him, and that Kilman’s associates gave Su Yi the ritual that helped awaken the Golden Saint King. Recording these secrets earns Ilis a major boon from the Deceiver of Yore: the Book of Yore, a vast memory archive that filters madness and distortion. It removes a major danger from her work and helps push her toward ascension.
• Back at Su Yi’s residence, Emma and Dora report that the Twins urgently need help. A Desire Catastrophe is overwhelming the universe, leaving the Twins unable to manifest miracles. Su Yi explains that they are midway through ascension; the Twins’ message, “Use light to sever desire,” leads him to conclude that they need outside help—especially Kilman’s.
• Su Yi makes final arrangements on Red Sun Star and departs for Diamond Star with Ilis. Mota remains behind to secure Red Sun Star, while Winter and others plan to establish a branch of the Ten Pioneers there.
• In Web Space, Ilis is questioned by the other Saints about the Golden Saint King. A masked man named Gu Yang asks to speak with her privately and presses for details about the King’s Divine Authority, appearance, and whether Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers were present at his birth.

Character developments and interactions

• Ilis reveals a freer, more instinctive side than her usual cool, controlled persona. She trusts Su Yi enough to share dangerous secrets and respects his privacy despite being tempted by what he knows. The Book of Yore gives her greater security and power.
• Su Yi strengthens his partnership with Ilis, offers her a place in his life and empire, and takes charge of preparing a response to the Desire Catastrophe. His connection to Kilman and the Golden Saint King appears far more consequential than Ilis realized.
• Mota reports that he has killed Tianyu and gained influence over Red Sun Star’s power structure, earning Su Yi’s confidence to manage the planet.
• Emma and Dora welcome Ilis as an elder sister and relay the Twins’ plea, helping bring her into Su Yi’s household and the unfolding crisis.
• Ilis and Gu Yang begin a guarded exchange: she is willing to trade information for something valuable, while Gu Yang’s urgent questions suggest a significant connection to the Second Empire.

Significant themes

• Release versus repression: Ilis’s emotional and physical liberation reflects the danger of bottling up one’s nature.
• Memory, knowledge, and corruption: Ilis’s work depends on collecting secrets, but memories can overwhelm or distort the mind; the Book of Yore offers protection.
• Hidden influence and interconnected power: Su Yi’s ties to Kilman and the Golden Saint King link personal relationships to major political and cosmic shifts.
• Cooperation against catastrophe: The Desire Catastrophe and Soul Dead Zone are threats too large for one faction, making alliances essential.

Summary

• Key events: The author explains that the book was inspired by an early Black Myth demo featuring a scorpion demon who stayed peaceful unless the player broke his wine jar. This sparked the idea of a protagonist who is an enemy NPC but survives by maintaining good relations with players. The first draft made the protagonist an outlaw leader, but the author struggled with the story’s moral questions. Inspiration from Aventurine’s storyline in Honkai: Star Rail and a replay of Cyberpunk 2077 led to the protagonist becoming a low-ranking corporate drone instead. The book took shape in April.
• Character development: The protagonist’s concept evolved from a bandit leader into a corporate employee, giving the author a more workable starting point for the character and story.
• Themes: The chapter reflects on creative inspiration, adapting ideas across games, moral uncertainty in storytelling, and perseverance amid distraction. Its central rallying idea is to “face destiny.”
• Interactions: The chapter describes no direct character-to-character exchanges. Instead, it traces how the author’s engagement with game characters and storylines influenced the book’s premise. The author also shares a playful schedule for the game’s release day, ending with a determination to keep writing.