Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Su Yi confirms that Leg Kicker understands his strategy and appoints him commander of the eastern front. Leg Kicker is tasked with bringing the Sacred Mechanism Family and Stardust Clocktower into an alliance against Copper Tomb.
• The Stardust Clocktower’s Kamo realizes Su Yi’s projection is extraordinarily powerful and likely created through a direct command of universal rules. Leg Kicker identifies Su Yi as his “Godfather,” protector, guide, and ideal, then requests an audience with a Divine Envoy to begin a plan that could reshape the universe.
• On Planet Three, the expeditionary forces reach an intact temple of the Ancient Entropy Empire. Its presence shields visitors from the Void Abyss’s corruption and fills the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers with a powerful, familiar sense of the Human Emperor.
• When Iron Root and the researchers move to investigate the temple’s technology, the fanatical soldiers object. Iron Root explains that Copper Tomb plans to use a device there to escape and may defile the temple. Hunter Tiger agrees to contact the marshal before allowing them to proceed.
• At the command post, Marshal Kexma insists the temple must be defended at any cost, while Grand Lord Severus warns that Copper Tomb’s plan remains a grave threat. Qingshan relays intelligence from Gheros: the temple runes may be linked to the Human Emperor’s Eye, which Copper Tomb intends to detonate to jump to the Edian Star Sector.
• Gheros proposes turning the crisis into an opportunity by linking counterweight passages to the Human Emperor’s Eye, creating routes across distant regions. Severus supports the idea but questions how to make the passages safe; Kexma worries that using the relic this way would be sacrilegious.
• Kilman arrives with the Human Emperor’s Guards, and the commanders greet him as the Holy Son.

Character developments and interactions

• Leg Kicker proves himself as a perceptive strategist and earns Su Yi’s trust and a major command. He openly expresses deep devotion to Su Yi, while Kamo responds with awe and caution.
• Su Yi shows a shift toward delegation, seeking capable people who can carry out his plans independently.
• Iron Root and the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers move from confrontation toward uneasy cooperation, their shared experience in battle moderating the soldiers’ suspicion.
• Kexma and Severus represent competing impulses: religious devotion to preserving the temple and practical concern about the danger Copper Tomb poses. Qingshan mediates by presenting Gheros’s strategic alternative.

Significant themes

• Delegation and trust: Su Yi begins building a team capable of acting on his intentions without direct supervision.
• Faith versus pragmatism: The soldiers’ reverence for the temple, especially Kexma’s, clashes with the need to investigate and potentially repurpose its power.
• Turning danger into opportunity: Gheros’s plan seeks to use the Human Emperor’s Eye’s impending eruption to create valuable long-distance routes.
• Power, mystery, and devotion: Su Yi’s seemingly rule-defying projection and the temple’s cleansing influence inspire awe, while the soldiers’ faith shapes military decisions.

Plot points and events

• Kilman addresses the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers and asks them to support a plan involving the sacred palace. He argues that using the Human Emperor’s legacy to help humanity honors the Emperor’s sacrifices. Marshal Kexma and the soldiers accept the plan.
• Nine Blades explains that Kilman’s persuasion was deliberate: commanding the soldiers outright could have deepened divisions among a generation whose beliefs had grown rigid and contradictory over ten thousand years.
• With Kilman’s approval, Hunter Tiger backs Iron Root’s exploration of the rune temple. Iron Root discovers a vast golden anchor, apparently linked to the temple’s power, and says he needs Godfather’s guidance and a major sacrifice—at least six million victims, preferably fanatical Pleasure cultists—to proceed.
• Su Yi recognizes the device as a combination of Soulless long-distance entanglement technology and the Human Emperor’s runes, echoing information in Qian Haonan’s diary. When news arrives of another Wildfolk attack, he says they can begin.
• The Wildfolk assault the front with a huge stone fortress whose magnetic field disables machines and breaks through the defenses. Maria arrives, uses her Order Aura to counter the stone domains, and rallies the shaken troops.
• The Wildfolk reveal that Maria—not merely the frontline—is their target. Three heavily armored Six-Armed Giants breach the defenders’ protective fields. Maria identifies their vulnerabilities: their leg joints and the soles of their feet. Players adapt their attacks while she fights nearby enemies; a cold-voiced opponent appears at the end, setting up a confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Kilman shows political tact and leadership, winning the soldiers’ cooperation through shared ideals rather than force.
• Kexma and the Heavenly Soldiers move from rigid resistance to willing support after Kilman reframes the plan as service to humanity and the Human Emperor.
• Nine Blades acts as Kilman’s adviser, helping him understand the soldiers’ history and avoid alienating them.
• Iron Root advances the investigation but recognizes he cannot operate the device alone; he coordinates findings through Leg Kicker to Su Yi.
• Su Yi interprets the technology and gives Maria tactical intelligence. Maria turns that guidance into battlefield leadership, restoring morale and directing the fight against the giants.
• The Players and frontline troops regroup around Maria and work together to counter the Wildfolk’s superior forces.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus judgment: devotion is valuable, but unquestioning loyalty can obstruct practical wisdom.
• Leadership through understanding: persuasion and respect can bridge divisions better than orders.
• Legacy and sacrifice: the Human Emperor’s power is presented as a resource meant to give humanity hope, not merely something to preserve.
• Cooperation across generations and factions: ancient knowledge, new soldiers, Players, and researchers combine their strengths against a common enemy.
• Hope amid crisis: Maria’s arrival and the troops’ renewed resolve briefly turn a collapsing defense into organized resistance.

Plot points and events

• A disguised Wildfolk soldier attacks Maria, but her Deified Form lets her impose her own rules of Order and destroy his humanlike shell. The real attacker—a powerful, four-armed Crystal Ape—breaks through her Order and withstands the Players’ attacks.
• Su Yi arrives and shatters half the Crystal Ape’s body with a blow. The wounded commander escapes with the other Wildfolk through a Teleportation Gate, but Su Yi follows with 12,000 Players equipped with Silicon-Based Symbiotes.
• In the Wildfolk fortress, Su Yi traps the commanders with the Azure Wolf Banner’s Magnetic Field Authority. The Crystal Ape recognizes both Destruction and Magnetic Field powers, and the Players’ Binary Code form lets them infiltrate the fortress. Su Yi destroys the commanders and triggers a chain explosion that devastates a Giant Stone Fortress and throws the Wildfolk fleet into disarray.
• The blast is felt across the region. The Shadow King realizes Su Yi cannot help him against the Eternal Wall coalition, while the Watchful Elder and Withered Branch see an opportunity to accelerate their offensive.
• With Su Yi absent, the coalition attacks in force. The Redstone Empire prepares to join the battle by stabilizing a Teleportation Gate and sending in its Assault Squad.
• Su Yi tells Leo Stowe that the Human Emperor’s Eye is about to erupt and calls on “Nightmare” to take the stage and turn the tide.

Character developments and interactions

• Maria confidently uses her Order authority to defend herself, then takes charge of the battlefield, ordering a counterattack and care for the wounded.
• Su Yi demonstrates his overwhelming power and tactical foresight: he pursues the retreating Wildfolk, turns their own fortress against them, and leaves the coalition with a plan for the next phase.
• The Crystal Ape shifts from arrogant confidence to fear and desperation when he recognizes Su Yi’s powers, but Su Yi refuses his plea for surrender.
• Leo Stowe moves from reporting the Empire’s intervention to eager anticipation when Su Yi reveals that his long-awaited role is about to begin.
• The Watchful Elder and Withered Branch coordinate their response to Su Yi’s absence, while the Players—led by figures such as Spinning Dragon King and Famicom Little Overlord—commit to carrying out Su Yi’s orders.

Significant themes

• Power and legacy: The Wildfolk fear the return of powers that once defeated and subdued them.
• Strategy over brute force: Su Yi exploits the gate, symbiotes, and Binary Code forms to infiltrate and destroy the fortress.
• Interconnected conflicts: Su Yi’s victory on one front creates an opening—and a new danger—on another.
• Trust and coordination: Maria, the Players, the coalition leaders, and Leo act on one another’s plans even when Su Yi is absent.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi bargains with Redstone Empire agent Leo Stowe. He promises advance knowledge of the coming catastrophe in exchange for updates on the Empire’s Assault Squad and an opportunity to seize Redstone resources and technology during the crisis.
• Leo’s preparations culminate in the arrival of an eleven-ship Redstone fleet, led by the Empire’s powerful Huntress Princess. She is eager to begin the hunt for the beleaguered Shadow King.
• Su Yi secretly visits the Shadow King using a powerless projection. He proposes using the Human Emperor’s Eye to unleash a devastating blast, drawing in the Wall Watchers and destroying their forces—and the Void Abyss entities—in its path.
• Though the plan is dangerously uncertain, the Shadow King agrees to stake his life on it. He gives Su Yi a fragment of his essence, which can help locate his true body and aim the coming attack.
• At Cassini, a fleet missing for over five thousand years arrives under unfamiliar banners. It is the force led by Winter and Alton, carrying Su Yi’s core companions and the scholar Long Shui. They are authorized to assist in recovering the Human Emperor’s Saint Mark and begin the Azure Wolf Homecoming Plan.

Character developments

• Su Yi acts as a strategist, balancing separate alliances while concealing the full truth of his plans. His newfound, mysterious power appears to place him beyond even the Shadow King’s sight.
• The Shadow King shifts from defiant isolation to a final act of faith. Accepting that his death may be unavoidable, he chooses to make it costly for the Wall Watchers and entrusts Su Yi with his essence.
• Leo Stowe proves pragmatic and ambitious, accepting Su Yi’s proposal because it could give him access to Nightmare’s power and opportunities to profit from the catastrophe.
• The Huntress Princess is introduced as a formidable warrior, confident that the Shadow King’s defeat will be her hunt.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and purpose: The Shadow King’s willingness to die echoes the words spoken at his birth: that his death might give the universe a new possibility.
• Trust amid danger: Su Yi asks the Shadow King to risk everything on a plan whose dangers cannot be fully known.
• Secrecy and hidden power: Su Yi conceals his true arrangements from Leo and displays an unfamiliar power that even a god cannot penetrate.
• Hope and renewal: The Azure Wolf fleet’s return links the immediate conflict to a larger effort to restore humanity’s future.

Character interactions

• Su Yi and Leo establish a transactional alliance, each expecting to benefit from the coming disaster.
• Su Yi challenges the Shadow King to choose a dignified, purposeful death; the Shadow King tests Su Yi’s confidence before accepting the gamble.
• The Huntress Princess praises Leo’s performance and prepares to lead the Redstone Empire’s campaign.
• Winter and Alton’s fleet is quietly allowed through after authorities identify it as a special reinforcement sent by Su Yi’s allies.

Key plot points

• Su Yi’s allies reach Planet Three after seven months apart, relieved to learn he is safe and encouraged by his victories. During their time in the Sealong Star Sector, they have trained and upgraded their forces with the help of Nine Blades’ Ancient Human Emperor Warriors.
• Copper Tomb learns that the Six-Winged Angel has arrived. His followers report that the sacrifices needed to complete his leap are ready, and he orders them to wait for his signal.
• In the Great Vortex, Su Yi reunites with the anti-Storm Gang alliance and reveals his plan: delay Copper Tomb’s sacrifice for about a week, then let it proceed so its power can detonate the Human Emperor’s Eye. The allies agree to help, despite the danger.
• Su Yi visits the Underground Ruins, where Great Sage Bell’s growing team has built a powerful projection system using ancient Soulless technology. Bell explains that the Human Emperor’s Eye connects to a hidden network of research bases spanning more than seven million light-years.
• With the improved system, Su Yi projects himself back to the Edian Star Sector with greater strength and control. He senses millions of worshippers and identifies an enormous anchor in the golden palace as both a fixed point and the trigger for firing the Human Emperor’s Eye.

Character developments and interactions

• Alton and the Void Abyssal Legion have been extensively upgraded, bringing their physical abilities and equipment closer to those of the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers, though they still lack comparable longevity and resistance to the Void Abyss.
• Emma and Dora earn the Human Emperor Warriors’ respect through their battlefield performance and unusually strong wills, and receive permission to train their Psychic Energy.
• Mota and Rijia pursue their own growth by leading Human Alliance Pioneers into battle and searching for ancient battlefields and relics.
• Copper Tomb remains focused on completing his ascension, while Ronnie’s position as an inside agent and the alliance’s cooperation give Su Yi’s faction leverage against the Storm Gang.
• Dante, Aisha, Fire Crow, and Sixth Sister commit to Su Yi’s risky strategy. Sixth Sister’s lucky roll seals her decision.
• Great Sage Bell emerges as a crucial scientific ally: his sixteen Doppelgangers have turned the ruins into a major research base and enabled Su Yi’s stronger projection.

Significant themes

• Trust and cooperation: Formerly divided groups unite behind Su Yi, whose allies accept a dangerous plan on faith.
• Growth through shared knowledge: Ancient technology and mentorship strengthen newer forces, even as their remaining limitations are acknowledged.
• Risk and sacrifice: Su Yi intends to harness a catastrophic event rather than prevent it, making trust in his judgment central to the coming conflict.
• Ancient foresight and hidden systems: The Human Emperor’s technologies appear far more extensive than expected, and the anchor’s purpose raises the possibility that the ruins were left for this moment.

Key plot points and events

• Copper Tomb orders the immediate activation of his crossing plan, but learns that Gheros’s Grave King faction has seized key positions at the Great Vortex and disrupted his backup forces.
• Cornered, Copper Tomb summons Sak, a powerful Soul Church leader who shares his ambition to overthrow the gods he serves. In exchange for 40% control of the Super-Distance Passage, Sak sends an undead army expected to arrive in three days.
• Su Yi avoids attacking Copper Tomb directly because he needs him to open the passage. Instead, Su Yi focuses on rebuilding the Human Emperor’s Saint Mark so it can prevent Cassini Star’s eruption, stabilize the passage, and cleanse it of Void Abyss power.
• Su Yi’s allies and the Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers keep up pressure on Copper Tomb’s forces, forcing him to spend the resources he hoped to preserve.
• On the far side of the Human Emperor’s Eye, Players embedded in the Holy War Expeditionary Fleet manipulate its factional rivalries and help control the enemy’s schedule. Fun God’s Nightmare Walkers join them under a fabricated identity as enemies of the Stardust Clocktower.
• The Redstone Empire’s forces make major gains in the Bloodburn Star Sector, killing six Demigods and splitting the Shadow King’s domain.
• The Shadow King finally enters the battle. His presence overwhelms the Void Abyss: soldiers mutate, and most Players who try to see him are killed or forced offline. Only a few veteran Players, Withered Branch, and the Demon-Hunting Princess withstand the pressure.

Character developments

• Copper Tomb shifts from calculated confidence to desperation. His investment in the crossing leaves him unwilling to retreat, and he resorts to calling in an old, costly favor.
• Su Yi demonstrates strategic restraint and technical skill. He directs the campaign while keeping Copper Tomb alive long enough to serve his plan.
• Sak emerges as a formidable but transactional ally, negotiating hard before agreeing to help.
• Evil God and the other Players prove adept at infiltration, deception, and coordinating operations across distant fronts.
• The Shadow King is established as a force whose mere presence can overwhelm even experienced fighters.

Significant themes

• Strategy over brute force: Su Yi’s goal is not immediate victory but controlling the timing and outcome of the passage.
• Ambition and its cost: Copper Tomb’s desire for godhood has left him trapped by the resources he invested.
• Deception and factional politics: Players exploit rivalries and scapegoats to hide their true loyalties.
• Cosmic horror and powerlessness: The Shadow King’s arrival shows how completely ordinary soldiers—and most Players—can be overwhelmed by higher powers.

Character interactions

• Copper Tomb and Casalis respond to the Great Vortex setback, with Casalis reporting the losses and Copper Tomb deciding to seek outside aid.
• Copper Tomb and Sak bargain over the passage’s future control before forming a temporary alliance.
• Su Yi coordinates with Iron Root, Long Shui, the researchers, and Marshal Kexma, while directing the Heavenly Soldiers to harass rather than fight to the death.
• Evil God, Fun God, Madman, Girlfriend, and their allies coordinate infiltration and battlefield intelligence, then react together to the Shadow King’s arrival.

Key plot points

• Withered Branch, the Redstone Empire’s Demon-Hunting Princess, and their coalition launch a carefully prepared assault on the Shadow King. Nightmare-powered Redstone chains and the World Guardians’ armor counter the Deity’s Divine Authorities, while Players and allied forces battle his demon army.
• Over seven days, the coalition steadily strips away the Shadow King’s power and defeats his forces. At his temple, the cornered Shadow King chooses to destroy himself rather than let Withered Branch determine his fate.
• Withered Branch contains the resulting energy in a Nightmare cage. As the coalition works to suppress it, Leo Stowe senses a distant threat and pulls the Demon-Hunting Princess into a spatial tunnel.
• A colossal golden beam suddenly erupts from the distant Edian Star Sector. It annihilates Withered Branch, the coalition, and everything along its path, splitting the Bloodburn Star Sector and leaving a vast region where magic no longer works. Su Yi reveals himself as the beam’s source, gloating over the shot.

Character developments and interactions

• Withered Branch directs the campaign with confidence, certain that the Shadow King’s power will become part of her master’s domain. Her triumph is cut short by the beam.
• The Shadow King realizes that Nightmare power and World Stone weapons make his defeat inevitable. Rather than surrender, he destroys himself, condemning his attackers as the Dreamwalker’s “lapdogs.”
• The Demon-Hunting Princess fights eagerly and resents Withered Branch taking the final victory. Leo’s warning—and sudden rescue—interrupts her confidence.
• Leo Stowe proves alert and protective by recognizing the danger before the blast and escaping with the Princess.
• The Players fight alongside the coalition and help contain the Shadow King’s self-destruction, unaware until the end that a still greater threat is approaching.

Significant themes

• Power and inevitability: The Shadow King’s defeat shows that even a Deity can be overcome when facing a force specifically suited to counter him.
• False victory and reversal: The coalition’s long-planned triumph collapses in an instant, turning a celebrated godslaying into catastrophe.
• Manipulation and hierarchy: The Shadow King’s accusation that his enemies are merely “livestock” and “lapdogs” suggests that the conflict is shaped by powers above the combatants.
• Destructive escalation: The golden beam surpasses the devastation of the battle, demonstrating a new, terrifying scale of force.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi and his allies turn the Human Emperor’s Eye into a controllable energy source, using its accumulated power to unleash a beam that tears through two star sectors, destroys everything along its path, and pierces a planet.
• The strike also completes a major stage in forging Su Yi’s weapon. The former Doomsday Sword Embryo becomes a three-meter, all-black blade, which Su Yi names the Myriad Heavens Tribulation-Annihilating Blade.
• The operation depends on extensive preparation: Su Yi modifies the Human Emperor’s Eye and combines it with the Gate of Unity to focus its energy; the Stardust Clocktower builds stabilizing structures, Players clear the beam’s path, and allies secretly seize control of Copper Tomb’s forces.
• Copper Tomb emerges through the Eye’s jump corridor expecting victory, only to find his forces gone and himself surrounded. Realizing Su Yi is taking control of the Eye’s energy, he abandons his followers and escapes.
• As the Eye nears catastrophic detonation, Su Yi’s Bronze Gate form encloses it. A radiant figure adds golden runes, and the gate opens to release a vast surge of white light. The chapter ends with everyone caught in what appears to be all-consuming divine punishment.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates extraordinary planning and power, coordinating a complicated operation while personally reshaping the Human Emperor’s Eye and forging his weapon. He is exhilarated by the result but recognizes the blade is unfinished and needs more divine blood, authorities, and souls.
• Copper Tomb goes from confident commander to panicked fugitive. He curses Su Yi and abandons even his most valuable followers to save himself.
• The Players and Su Yi’s allies work as a coordinated force. Leg Kicker, Evil God, Girlfriend, Madman, and others celebrate the successful deception, while their banter contrasts with the disaster unfolding around Copper Tomb.
• The trapped forces, including the Desire Sisters and Fallen Human Emperor Heavenly Soldiers, are left behind when Copper Tomb flees and face the unleashed energy with the others.

Significant themes

• Power forged through destruction: The weapon’s creation depends on channeling immense destructive energy, while its future growth is tied to the blood, souls, and divine power of defeated beings.
• Cooperation and preparation: Su Yi’s achievement relies on coordinated contributions from Players, Demigods, technology experts, and other allies—not just his own strength.
• Betrayal and self-preservation: Copper Tomb’s abandonment of his followers reveals the limits of his loyalty when his own survival is at stake.
• Ambition and peril: Su Yi gains a formidable new weapon, but the operation’s scale leaves everyone exposed to consequences that may exceed his control.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Human Emperor’s Eye detonates, leaving a vast region of space stripped of matter and energy. A strange power fuses with the area and suppresses supernatural abilities drawn from the Void Abyss.
• The Six-Winged Angel and the returning fleet emerge from the Eye’s passage. Emma and Dora reunite with Su Yi, but the mission is not finished; they stay behind with Alton while Su Yi presses on.
• On the battlefield, Cassiss and the Watchful Elder realize the blast was a deliberate ambush. They order their forces to secure the empty region and prevent Gheros from claiming the Shadow King’s Divine Authority.
• Leo Stowe appears with the Demon-Hunting Princess, Raffia, after rescuing her from the blast. She believes he saved her through quick thinking and honors him for his courage.
• Leo’s apparent bravery is part of a plan arranged with Su Yi: he had been warned in advance and deliberately let Raffia’s World Guardians die so she would depend on him. He also shares her opposition to the Empire’s growing reliance on Nightmare power.
• Withered Branch survives the blast and begins crawling toward the Shadow King’s Divine Authority. Before she can reach it, Su Yi teleports into the suppression zone.
• Su Yi’s Divine Blood Cloak expands into a vast maw and devours the Divine Authority, absorbing it into the cloak.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi acts decisively, completing his objective by claiming the Divine Authority. His return also reconnects him with Emma and Dora, who are eager to support him.
• Leo Stowe presents himself as a courageous, principled guard, but his rescue of Raffia is calculated. He exploits her loss of protection to strengthen their bond and advance Su Yi’s plan.
• Raffia is devastated by the deaths of her guardians and grateful to Leo. She reveals her distrust of Nightmare power and begins treating Leo as a trusted confidant, even inviting him to use her personal name.
• Cassiss and the Watchful Elder react with anger and urgency, mobilizing their forces to stop Gheros. Their efforts underscore how dangerous the Divine Authority is to the competing factions.
• Withered Branch survives but is too weakened to claim the prize before Su Yi arrives.

Significant themes

• Deception and strategic loyalty: Leo’s rescue and show of devotion are genuine in appearance but deliberately engineered.
• The cost of power: Nightmare power offers strength while threatening to corrupt the Redstone Empire.
• Control over supernatural forces: The suppression zone demonstrates that even powerful abilities can be cut off from their source.
• Competition for divine authority: Multiple factions converge on the Shadow King’s power, but Su Yi’s swift intervention gives him possession of it.

Plot and key events

• Su Yi absorbs the Shadow King’s Divine Authority through the Divine Blood Cloak, routing it into the Gate of Unity so he can safely absorb its immense power. The Tribulation-Slaying Blade also destroys the Shadow King’s lingering madness.
• Withered Branch, enraged by Su Yi’s absorption of the Shadow King’s power, unleashes Nightmare-born monsters. Su Yi counters with the Unity Sword and flying-sword formations, strengthened by the Blank Zone’s Soulless influence and the laws of the Material Universe.
• Cassiss sends Players and troops to aid Withered Branch, while awaiting the Watchful Elder. Su Yi uses the Azure Wolf Banner to generate a powerful electromagnetic field that keeps Withered Branch from replenishing her Nightmare energy.
• Su Yi lures her toward the Two-Headed Ogre, expecting her to escape through his thoughts. But the Ogre and the other Players log off, leaving soulless bodies that cannot serve as an escape route.
• Su Yi strikes Withered Branch with the Myriad Heavens Tribulation-Slaying Blade. It destroys not only her body and soul but her entire existence, preventing her usual Nightmare-based resurrection.
• Raffia and Leo flee, while Cassiss and his commanders are left horrified. Withered Branch’s death releases a vast eruption of Nightmare power. Su Yi retreats as the Watchful Elder arrives and attacks with a colossal, tentacled fist.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates greater command of the Shadow King’s power, combining it with the Soulless-enhanced environment, magnetic fields, and a carefully planned trap. His victory reveals the blade’s ability to erase even an apparently immortal Nightmare entity.
• Withered Branch shifts from furious aggressor to desperate fugitive, then realizes too late that her apparent escape route is a trap.
• Raffia learns that the Imperial Palace concealed information from her, grows angry at its elders, and then recognizes Su Yi as a serious threat. Leo Stowe explains Su Yi’s advantages and protects Raffia as they retreat.
• Cassiss refuses to risk the Molten Alliance’s core forces, instead ordering others to support Withered Branch. Her death leaves him and his command staff shaken.
• The Players’ willingness to charge—and their ability to log off—becomes central to Su Yi’s plan.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and control: Su Yi turns overwhelming Divine Authority into a source of power through preparation and precise technique.
• Mortality and erasure: Withered Branch’s death overturns the assumption that Nightmare beings can always return through memory and dreams.
• Knowledge and secrecy: Raffia’s anger highlights how withholding information can breed distrust and leave powerful figures unprepared.
• Tactics over brute force: Su Yi wins through battlefield conditions, misdirection, and exploiting his enemy’s dependence on living minds—not merely through strength.

Plot points

• Su Yi remains in the magic-suppressed domain rather than flee, relying on a portion of the Shadow King’s authority and Soulless technology to blunt the Watchful Elder’s Nightmare power.
• He coordinates with the Deceiver of Yore and the Golden Saint King: Su Yi will draw the Watchful Elder in, while they help create an opening for Su Yi’s Destruction Authority to matter.
• The Watchful Elder arrives and attacks. Su Yi publicly taunts him into admitting that he hunted Su Yi and was responsible for Horus’s death, shaking the Players’ trust in the supposedly righteous Eternal Wall.
• Ilis appears to betray Su Yi, stabbing and burning him. The Watchful Elder infers that Su Yi’s real body is in the Monk Great Vortex and traps his projection, unleashing a vast Nightmare assault that overwhelms Su Yi’s artifacts.
• The Watchful Elder sends Ilis to retrieve the Shadow King’s authority. Instead, she reveals her real purpose: she has recovered the Goddess of Black Cinders’ Primordial Authority and strikes the Elder with the Spear of Ten Thousand Worlds.
• The Watchful Elder realizes Ilis’s earlier stabbing was a feint. It let her reclaim the Flame Authority and secretly return the Soul Annihilator’s poison to him, leaving him vulnerable as the spear pierces his body.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi is more deliberate than before: he stays to fight on chosen ground, trusts his allies, and stages a convincing public confrontation despite the risks.
• Ilis appears to betray Su Yi, but is revealed to be executing their hidden plan. Her strength and resolve are on display as she confronts the Watchful Elder directly.
• The Watchful Elder shows both overwhelming power and dangerous confidence. Though he correctly deduces Su Yi’s location, he misreads Ilis’s actions and is caught off guard.
• The Deceiver of Yore and Golden Saint King back Su Yi’s plan, while the Players watch anxiously, unaware of the deception and confused by Ilis’s apparent betrayal.

Significant themes

• Deception and trust: The apparent betrayal is cover for a coordinated counterattack.
• Power versus preparation: The Watchful Elder’s immense strength does not protect him from a carefully timed plan.
• Truth and public legitimacy: His admission about Horus undermines the Eternal Wall’s reputation among the Players.
• Resistance under pressure: Su Yi and Ilis turn a seemingly hopeless confrontation into an opportunity to strike back.

Chapter Summary

• The betrayal: The Molten Queen, Ilis, suddenly turns against the Watchful Elder. Players and allies are stunned, but Veteran MT and the other veterans recognize that she and Su Yi have been working together. Raffia sees an opportunity to ally with them against the Wall Watchers and asks Leo Stowe to make contact if they succeed.
• The Molten Alliance reacts: Ilis’s followers are confused because they had joined the Wall Watchers under her orders. Cassiss tells them Ilis has been corrupted by the Evil God and urges them to help the Watchful Elder—attempting to preserve their loyalty while the situation remains unclear.
• The trap unfolds: The Watchful Elder tries to use Nightmare power to turn Ilis into a puppet, but it has no effect. Su Yi breaks free and attacks, while Ilis summons a mysterious tome that releases Mist. Their combined assault cannot seriously injure the Watchful Elder, but Su Yi reveals that defeating him is not their real purpose.
• The Human Emperor appears: The Mist momentarily disrupts the Watchful Elder’s thoughts, allowing Su Yi to open a Bronze Gate. The Ancient Entropy Human Emperor emerges as a golden figure. His presence inspires instinctive reverence among humans, including the Players and Cassiss’s troops. Using Su Yi’s Soul-Extinguishing Lock, he binds the Watchful Elder with empowered golden runes.
• The Watchful Elder recognizes his enemies: He realizes the Deceiver of Yore has manipulated his memory and exploited the vulnerability he must retain to remain in the physical universe. He then sees Gu Entropy, the Human Emperor, whose past battles nearly killed him. The chapter ends with the Watchful Elder’s confidence shaken by the return of his greatest historical enemy.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Ilis is revealed as a deliberate conspirator rather than a helpless, corrupted pawn. Her immunity to Nightmare power and her use of the sacred tome suggest careful preparation.
• Su Yi coordinates with Ilis and uses his artifacts to create an opening rather than relying on direct force.
• The Watchful Elder shifts from arrogant certainty to alarm as his control fails and his old nemesis appears.
• The Players rapidly move from uncertainty about which side to support to enthusiastic support for Su Yi once they recognize the Human Emperor.
• Cassiss and the Molten Alliance remain divided between formal loyalty to the Wall Watchers and devotion to the Goddess’s avatar.
• Raffia and Leo Stowe begin considering cooperation with Su Yi and Ilis, viewing the enemy of their enemy as a potential ally.

Significant Themes

• Hidden loyalty and deception: Apparent control and allegiance conceal a long-prepared betrayal.
• Memory as a vulnerability: The Watchful Elder’s need to preserve his identity leaves him exposed to the Deceiver of Yore.
• Legacy and collective identity: The Human Emperor’s history still inspires humans across generations, shaping their instincts and loyalties.
• Power versus strategy: Su Yi and Ilis cannot overpower the Watchful Elder directly, so they rely on coordination, psychological disruption, and the intervention of a legendary champion.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi and Ilis reveal their trap: they summon the Golden Saint King and the Deceiver of Yore to attack the Watchful Elder, buying time for their escape.
• The Watchful Elder recognizes that the deities are weakened or only phantoms, and his Nightmare Authority lets him absorb their attacks. The Deceiver’s power scrambles his memories and thoughts, however, while the Golden Saint King’s light slowly purifies him.
• The deities admit they never intended to kill him. Their real aim is to undermine the faith of his followers and help Su Yi and Ilis escape with the Shadow King’s Divine Authority.
• The Watchful Elder remembers his mission and summons a tentacle from his great master, sending it after Su Yi. This weakens his connection to his body—and his Nightmare power in the Material Universe.
• Su Yi uses the apparent pursuit as a feint. He reappears behind the Elder and cuts him apart with a black blade imbued with destructive power, preventing the Elder’s Backup Nightmare Core from restoring his body.
• The Elder’s body is destroyed, forcing him back toward the World Wall. His remaining Nightmare power spills into the Material Universe.
• Su Yi and the Players absorb the released power. Four hundred thousand Players consume only a small fraction, so Su Yi invites the millions more gathered nearby to join in.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi emerges as a calculating strategist as well as a formidable fighter. He exploits the Elder’s fixation on the Shadow King’s authority, reveals a previously concealed Destruction power, and treats the Players as allies by offering them a share of the spoils.
• The Watchful Elder shifts from confidence to vulnerability. Though he initially dismisses the deities’ limited strength, instinctive fear of the Ancient Entropy Human Emperor clouds his judgment. His obsession with his objective makes him abandon caution, leading to the destruction of his carefully prepared body.
• The Golden Saint King and the Deceiver of Yore work together to restrain and mislead the Elder. They openly frame their role as creating an opening for Su Yi rather than delivering a killing blow.
• The Players move from being an assembled force to eager participants in the aftermath. The Elder is shocked to recognize some of his own trusted personnel among Su Yi’s allies, while the wider group responds enthusiastically to Su Yi’s invitation.

Significant themes

• Deception and misdirection: The apparent escape, the deities’ attack, and the tentacle’s pursuit are all parts of a layered plan.
• Power’s limits: Even formidable divine beings are constrained by the Material Universe, and the Elder’s immense Nightmare Authority depends on a vulnerable connection.
• Faith and allegiance: The deities aim to weaken the Elder by making his followers doubt him; the reveal of traitors among his inner circle underscores how fragile loyalty can be.
• Collective strength and shared rewards: Su Yi turns a dangerous supernatural threat into a resource for the Players, reinforcing cooperation and mutual benefit.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi defeats and shatters the Watchful Elder, a powerful being whose body is infused with Nightmare power. He lets the Human Alliance’s Pioneers consume the remains rather than keeping the power for himself.
• The spectacle breaks the Molten Alliance commanders’ faith in the Watchful Elder. One commander succumbs to Nightmare corruption and is burned away by the fleet’s safeguards. Cassiss orders a retreat.
• Su Yi’s victory astonishes Raffia and Leo Stowe, who had expected at most to wound the Watchful Elder. Leo realizes Su Yi’s forces accomplished something that should have been nearly impossible.
• The Players absorb the Nightmare power in organized shifts. Their reactions vary: some mutate, some gain unusual abilities, some lose control and are erased, and some turn parts of their bodies into powerful treasures. Players blessed by Withered Branch prove especially resilient.
• The Deceiver of Yore celebrates the unprecedented event, while Ilis records it in the Book of Yore, strengthening her Divine Authority.
• The Golden Saint King praises Su Yi, explains that the Gate of Unity can connect to the Human Emperor’s Eye, and uses it to bring a vast allied fleet across hundreds of thousands of light-years. His Divine Body is fading, but he promises that Su Yi may communicate with him normally after absorbing the Shadow King’s power.
• Winter arrives with the fleet and uses Binary Magic, aided by the Ship Spirit Little Yellow Dragon, to seize control of Cassiss’s ships. The fleet’s systems lock down, and Winter appears aboard Cassiss’s command ship, displaying the captured Ship Spirits as beads.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi demonstrates both extraordinary power and strategic generosity, using the Watchful Elder’s remains to empower the Players and observe what they can withstand.
• Cassiss shifts from command to desperate retreat as his forces lose faith, then loses control of his fleet to Winter.
• Leo Stowe moves from cautious expectations to profound awe at Su Yi’s capabilities; Raffia sees the event as a moment worthy of myth.
• Winter shows how much she has grown as a leader and technologist, defeating an entire fleet’s defenses through coordination with Little Yellow Dragon.
• The Golden Saint King expresses trust and admiration for Su Yi, provides crucial help, and hints at closer communication in the future.
• The Deceiver of Yore and Ilis respond as witnesses and chroniclers, recognizing the scene’s historical and divine significance.

Significant themes

• The collapse of faith: The Watchful Elder’s defeat turns reverence into terror and exposes how fragile belief can be.
• Mortals claiming divine power: Players consuming a Deity’s body reverses the usual hierarchy between gods and humans, making the victory both miraculous and disturbing.
• Power’s risks and possibilities: Nightmare power grants mutations and new abilities but can also destroy those who cannot endure it.
• Unity and inherited technology: Su Yi’s Gate of Unity and Winter’s Binary Magic connect distant allies and turn enemy infrastructure against them.
• History and myth in the making: Several characters recognize that the feast on the Watchful Elder’s remains is an unprecedented event that may reshape the universe’s future.

Chapter Summary

Plot points and events

• Winter, leader of the Ten Pioneers, hacks the Molten Alliance fleet’s systems and disables its nine Ship Spirits. With resistance hopeless, Commander Cassiss orders his forces to surrender to the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf fleet.
• Su Yi explains to the gathered Players that the Human Emperor’s Eye can enable rapid travel and reinforcement—but it is also a route enemies could use to reach their territory. The Players plan to build a base around it and defend it.
• The battle ends. The victors must divide the spoils, process prisoners, clear the battlefield, and absorb the Watchful Elder’s remaining Nightmare Authority.
• Across the universe, news spreads that Su Yi has killed both the Shadow King and the Watchful Elder. The deaths cause a vast surge of Nightmare power and convince many factions that Nightmare forces can be defeated.
• Kilman and the Ancient Human Emperor Warriors seize the opportunity to expand, reactivate ancient temples for long-distance communication, and help cleanse Nightmare corruption. The Second Empire’s Six Sages Council debates how to respond, ultimately choosing to consult Kilman before acting.
• In the Primordial Empire, Kong Liang confirms his predictions and orders forces to seal off Golden Crow Star, where a huge opening has appeared, while mobilizing troops and resources.
• The Frost Empire awakens its dormant warriors, deciding it can no longer remain on the sidelines. Deities of the Void and their followers also begin acting, emboldened by the Wall Watchers’ defeat.
• Attention across the universe converges on the Human Emperor’s Eye, which is poised to become the strategic center of the emerging order.

Character developments and interactions

• Cassiss shifts from guarded flattery to complete surrender once Winter demonstrates that she can control the fleet and potentially its soldiers’ Powered Armor. His officers are relieved rather than ashamed when he orders them to stand down.
• Winter displays both overwhelming technical skill and sharp authority, forcing the Molten Alliance to surrender without a prolonged fight.
• Su Yi emerges as a decisive strategic force: his victory removes two major threats, while his warning about the Human Emperor’s Eye shows caution about the dangers accompanying its usefulness.
• The Players, including 108, Mountain Dog, Wheelchair, and others, celebrate the opportunity to establish a second home and pledge to defend the Eye.
• Kilman is elated by his teacher’s victory and swiftly turns the respite into a campaign of expansion and restoration. Nine Blades and Sun respond eagerly to his orders.
• Kong Liang gains confidence that his long preparations and predictions are coming to fruition, and directs a rapid response to the mystery at Golden Crow Star.
• The Frost Emperor awakens from a long dormancy and chooses to intervene, while the Second Empire’s council weighs its fading authority against the broader benefit to humanity.

Significant themes

• The balance of power is changing: the deaths of the Shadow King and Watchful Elder weaken forces that once seemed unstoppable.
• Opportunity carries risk: the Human Emperor’s Eye offers rapid travel and strategic reach, but can also expose the Players’ territory to invasion.
• Old powers are forced to act: empires, Deities, and factions abandon passivity as a new order takes shape.
• Hope challenges fatalism: the Wall Watchers’ defeat proves that Nightmare power can be resisted, inspiring the Deities of the Void and their followers to take a chance.

Plot and key events

• The Shadow King’s and Watchful Elder’s deaths shake the universe. Deities and dormant factions, newly convinced that Nightmare’s power can be defeated, rapidly expand their forces. Their competing ambitions spark a surge of conflict, new species, technologies, and schools of knowledge.
• Over the following months, Su Yi and the Players distribute rewards, absorb Nightmare power, and organize a feared Nightmare legion. In the Mountain River Star Sector, the Black Sun Group seizes control after the collapse of the front lines; the Molten Alliance forces soon surrender.
• Su Yi studies the Golden Saint King’s Stigmata Runes and begins absorbing the Shadow King’s Divine Authority. He later travels to the Human Emperor’s Eye, while Dante and his companions remain behind to help the Grave King search for the Power of Death.
• Su Yi and Kilman unite their forces to secure the Human Emperor’s Eye. They install an identity-checking inner gate and a powerful outer barrier that suppresses Void Abyss powers and destroys unauthorized intruders.
• Rather than keep the Eye exclusively for themselves, Su Yi and Kilman plan to make it the hub of a powerful Imperial Center, using its long-range passageways to attract allies, trade, and resources. The Stardust Clocktower joins the Light Empire and builds a Navigation Beacon there; the Sacred Mechanism Family is reorganized, retaining limited privileges while surrendering its former holdings.
• Over fourteen months, the leaders draft new laws, gather factions, and establish the Empire’s institutions. By the end of the year, the preparations are complete, and tens of millions assemble around the Human Emperor’s Eye for the Light Empire’s founding ceremony.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shifts from victorious warrior to imperial founder: he absorbs new power, secures the Empire’s strategic center, and contributes to its laws and administration.
• Kilman becomes Su Yi’s key partner in building the Light Empire, working with him on security, governance, and the integration of diverse factions.
• The Players grow stronger, organize into a Nightmare legion, help reclaim territory, and contribute practical expertise—especially legal work—to the Empire’s formation.
• Ilis, Nine Blades, Long Shui, Maria, Alton, Winter, Molly, and other leaders assist with military control, infrastructure, technology, and lawmaking. The Stardust Clocktower chooses cooperation, while the Sacred Mechanism Family accepts a subordinate place in the new order.
• Su Yi’s companions do not all follow him to the Eye: Dante and his group pursue their earlier mission with the Grave King, while the two leadership blocs formally join forces around the Empire’s new center.

Significant themes

• Hope after catastrophe: The Watchful Elder’s defeat inspires resistance to the supposedly unstoppable Nightmare.
• Power creates upheaval: Deities’ rival instincts drive expansion and conflict rather than cooperation.
• Opportunity and danger: The Human Emperor’s Eye promises wealth and influence, but also attracts enemies.
• Coalition-building and compromise: The Light Empire is an alliance of varied factions, held together by shared interests, leadership, and negotiated privileges.
• From victory to institution-building: The chapter turns the aftermath of a battle into the creation of a new political order.

Plot points and events

• The author’s New Year’s note explains that updates have slowed because they are researching a future novel, not abandoning the current one. The present book is planned to continue for roughly 600,000 more Chinese characters, with its next major arc set in the Primordial Empire. The author expects to finish it by late March and then begin the new book.
• The previewed prologue, “The Heart That Never Stops Beating,” is presented as diary entries by a villa caretaker. He grows obsessed with his employer’s unnaturally powerful heartbeat, which he hears even from far away.
• Influenced by mysterious beings he calls “Spirit Immortals,” the caretaker develops supernatural abilities and decides to kill the old man. He drugs him, dismembers his body, and removes his heart.
• The heart is black, bears six red eyes, and keeps beating outside the body. Freezing it and then abandoning it on a distant ice field do not stop its pulse—or the sound in the caretaker’s ears.
• As the caretaker’s own heart begins to beat in sync with the creature’s, he becomes sleepless and increasingly desperate. The Spirit Immortals themselves fear the heart.
• Finally, he resolves to cut out his own heart. A recovered memory reveals that his sixth “retrieval” failed: he is not a “Superior,” but “only a clown,” and therefore believes he is unworthy of the heart.

Character development

• The caretaker shifts from grateful employee to resentful, murderous, and increasingly unstable narrator. His actions bring him temporary exhilaration, but the heart’s influence turns that triumph into terror and desperation.
• His final revelation reframes his identity: he has been pursuing or expecting the status of a Superior, but sees himself as a heartless clown who has failed a crucial retrieval.
• The employer remains largely mysterious, defined through the caretaker’s account and the uncanny heart he possessed.

Character interactions

• The caretaker and employer have no stated personal conflict; they rarely meet, and the caretaker initially appreciates the generous job and comfortable home. The caretaker’s growing hatred is driven by the heartbeat, not by any dispute.
• The caretaker consults the “Spirit Immortals,” whose teachings help him gain powers and carry out the murder. They later share his fear of the heart, though they cannot resolve the crisis.
• The caretaker’s relationship with the heart becomes almost intimate and adversarial: its rhythm overtakes his own, and he comes to experience it as a force invading his body and mind.

Significant themes

• Obsession and madness: A sound the narrator cannot escape consumes his thoughts and drives him to violence.
• The limits of control: Neither murder, dismemberment, freezing, nor distance can silence the heart.
• Forbidden knowledge and supernatural influence: The Spirit Immortals grant power and insight, but their guidance does not protect the narrator from what he has unleashed.
• Identity and worthiness: The ending links the narrator’s self-image to his failed retrieval and perceived unworthiness of the heart.

Key plot points and events

• The Light Empire’s founding ceremony gathers representatives from across the universe, including factions that have joined, stayed independent, or cautiously observed. Its power and Su Yi’s recent actions have made even the Second Empire adopt a conciliatory stance.
• The chapter highlights the empire’s progress: Sun Philos now leads event security; former victims of the Void Emperor have been resurrected as enhanced Metal Lifeforms; and former rivals, including the Human Emperor’s soldiers and Su Yi’s pioneers and Players, now cooperate closely.
• Kilman opens the ceremony by recounting humanity’s long decline and the struggles that brought people together. He credits his mentor, Su Yi, and yields the stage to him.
• Su Yi declares the Light Empire officially founded, promising to reunite humanity, reclaim its lost territories and knowledge, and confront the alien races and Evil Gods that preyed upon it. The crowd and viewers across the empire echo the pledge: “Endure forever! Shine across every realm!”
• The empire activates its Citizen Authentication System, linking citizens through unique Binary Codes and shared belief. It strengthens and protects their souls, connects them to a collective Thought Assembly System, and may help humanity withstand the influence of Evil Gods. Initially, it can support only fifty billion people and must grow through broader participation.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi appears as the empire’s central strategist and protector, but presents its founding as a collective human cause. His speech turns the ceremony into a declaration of defiance and renewed purpose.
• Kilman demonstrates loyalty and humility by publicly honoring Su Yi and giving him the spotlight, while also establishing his own leadership through the opening address.
• Sun Philos has grown from a frustrated figure into a confident, capable security chief.
• The Human Emperor’s soldiers, Su Yi’s pioneers, Players, Golden Sisters, and other allies now share respect and strong working relationships, forged through battle and a year of preparation.
• Yellow Book and Mo Long look toward reconnecting with home, believing Su Yi’s opening of a path through the Human Emperor’s Eye may soon make it possible.

Significant themes

• Unity after fragmentation: The empire seeks to reunite humanity after millennia of division.
• Hope amid chaos: The changing universe is dangerous, but also offers humanity a chance to grow stronger.
• Collective identity and belief: The citizen system makes shared ideals a source of practical protection and coordination.
• Legacy and renewal: Humanity draws on the Human Emperor’s inheritance while creating new institutions and a future of its own.
• Defiance and perseverance: The empire promises to reclaim what was lost and resist forces once considered invincible.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Light Empire has united the Edian, Bloodburn, and Mountain River Star Sectors through advanced technology and Su Yi’s Binary Magic. The Bloodburn Sector, formerly devastated by the Life Devourers and the Shadow King’s cultists, is now being rebuilt.
• Kilman’s Great Development Act has attracted settlers with land grants, tools, and free transport. More than 150 billion people have already moved to the Bloodburn Sector, bringing its once-desolate planets back to life and opening up their unusual mineral wealth.
• The new government has mobilized production across the empire, while Kilman manages political and administrative affairs as Bright King and Su Yi commands the military as Expedition Warmaster. Their cooperation helps keep the many factions united.
• Su Yi has consolidated the empire’s armed forces into a vast, specialized military: Player legions, the dangerous Containment Legion, a seven-million-strong Nightmare Legion, more than ten million mass-produced Void Abyssal soldiers, Frost Elves and Moon-Eroding Shadows, and numerous supporting fleets and organizations.
• New military technology and structures improve the army’s reach and effectiveness. Moon-Eroding Shadows pilot mass-produced Great Celestial Generals, scout ships use enhanced jump capabilities, and Mota’s healing-focused rescue force provides medical support.
• With the empire’s forces organized, Su Yi addresses the troops and announces the start of a Great Crusade to reclaim lost lands, destroy evil gods, and punish treacherous enemies.

Character developments and interactions

• Kilman establishes himself as the empire’s political leader, directing government policy and reconstruction while working closely with Su Yi.
• Su Yi completes his transition from unifying the military to leading it as a single expeditionary force. His relationship with Kilman is presented as unusually cooperative and aligned in purpose.
• Alton and the revived residents of Diamond Star become the core of an evolved, adaptable Void Abyssal Legion, driven by a desire to avenge their homeworld.
• Mota abandons his former corruptive powers and commits himself to healing, building the empire’s medical rescue services.
• Researchers and commanders—including Long Shui, Molly, Rijia, Caroline, and others—contribute specialized machines, scouting fleets, and military units to Su Yi’s campaign.

Significant themes

• Reconstruction through collective effort: The Bloodburn Sector’s recovery turns devastation into opportunity, drawing settlers and industrial workers from across the empire.
• Unity and coordinated leadership: The division of political and military authority works because Kilman and Su Yi share goals and trust one another.
• Adaptation and transformation: Formerly dangerous or marginal groups are reshaped into useful forces, while new technology lets different kinds of beings serve in roles suited to their abilities.
• War as both reclamation and vengeance: The coming crusade is framed as a campaign against evil and betrayal, but also as a promise to reclaim what the empire has lost.

Key plot points and events

• The Light Empire dispatches three fleets on separate missions:
  • 108 and Alton lead forces to the Red Wolf Star Sector to protect its huge population and key resources from the Life Devourers. The Empire intends to let the people experience enough hardship to appreciate its intervention and accept its future rule.
  • Evil God, Girlfriend, and Rijia head to the chaotic Longke Great Triangle. Their goal is to use Players and missionaries to infiltrate, provoke, and divide local factions, making it easier for the Empire to gain influence. They are also tasked with finding the fugitive Copper Tomb, whom Qingshan Squad suspects is hiding there.
  • Iron Pillar, Iron Root, Iron Pot, and Great Sage Bell travel to the Fierce Dragon Star Sector to research and recover ancient technology from the Fallen God Abyss.
• Each fleet carries a device linked to Su Yi’s Azure Wolf Banner and a dormant Doppelganger of Su Yi, allowing him to receive reports and intervene if needed.
• Su Yi does not lead an expedition himself. As Warmaster, he focuses on diplomacy, deterrence, and seeing the wider universe firsthand.
• At a Rift of Time meeting, factions debate the new Light Empire. Some doubt its strength, believing its victory depended on the Human Emperor’s Eye, which can no longer be used as a weapon. Gu Yang defends the Empire but defers to Su Yi.
• Leo Stowe reports that the Redstone Empire is still debating whether to threaten the Light Empire. Su Yi remains unconcerned, saying he will go to the Redstone Empire himself if it attacks.
• Black Cat reveals that the Primordial Empire is in turmoil: its long-serving Grand Chancellor, Kong Liang, appears to be dying, while rival factions exploit the crisis to weaken the Flame Dragon Dynasty’s legitimacy.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi is shown exercising strategic patience and confidence: he uses carefully placed forces and political leverage rather than trying to conquer every region outright. His casual willingness to confront the Redstone Empire underscores his immense power.
• Leo Stowe has risen from fugitive to a powerful Redstone Empire minister. During their escape, he protected Princess Raffia, endured Nightmare corruption, and mastered it through sheer will. His courage and loyalty won her trust and love; after he proved he could prevent his power from corrupting her, she accepted him and supported his advancement.
• Raffia moves from testing Leo’s control of Nightmare power to trusting him completely and helping him gain influence in the Imperial Inner Court.
• Gu Yang enthusiastically urges other factions to join the Light Empire, while Fine Iron challenges his claims by pointing out doubts about the Empire’s military strength. Gu Yang holds back when Su Yi does not support an argument.
• Flame Dragon has missed several meetings and previously told Su Yi he still needed time. Black Cat’s findings suggest his absence may be connected to the crisis inside his own dynasty.

Significant themes

• Power and diplomacy: Military strength shapes negotiations, but political influence and reputation matter just as much.
• Strategic governance: The Empire sometimes chooses not to end a crisis immediately, believing hardship can make future rule easier.
• Corruption and self-mastery: Leo’s ability to control Nightmare power distinguishes him from those corrupted by it and becomes proof of his character.
• Factionalism and legitimacy: The Empire’s enemies may be divided internally, while the Primordial Empire’s leadership crisis threatens its identity and authority.
• Expansion through indirect influence: In regions too chaotic for straightforward conquest, the Light Empire plans to infiltrate, divide, and maneuver among local powers.