Chapter Summaries

Cheng Yu suspected Feis was using the Inspectors to undermine his rivals, then confronted them when they tried to shut down his debate tournament. He revealed that he was a Trial-Taker and challenged the monsters to attack him, relying on his recognized status to force them to follow the proper procedure.

• Cheng Yu realized Feis might target Dermot, who controlled two voting districts, before the final competitive speech.
• An envoy told Cheng Yu that the Inspectors had arrived and demanded that the debate tournament stop.
• Cheng Yu met Inspector Number Seven, who accused him of violating a new regulation by disclosing Trial-Taker information and ordered him to Central District for questioning.
• Cheng Yu argued that the God Emperor's rules took precedence over the Prime Minister's regulations and revealed that he was a Trial-Taker.
• The monsters recognized Cheng Yu's true appearance but did not seize him, and Cheng Yu challenged a hundred of them to attack him.

Cheng Yu defeated repeated challengers to his office while learning that Dermot was being politically isolated and had lost access to Eastern District Seven. As the election approached, Cheng Yu considered other ways to secure Dermot’s victory, and his Main Quest progress unexpectedly rose to ninety percent.

• Cheng Yu used his Infinite Techniques to kill Number Seven and the other monsters who challenged his office, then faced a surprise attack when the challenge timer reset.
• For about ten days, Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet fought off challengers while Cheng Yu stayed awake to guard against ambushes.
• The monster liaison told Cheng Yu that Dermot’s approval rating in Southern District Thirteen had fallen below ten percent and that the club had lost contact with its people in Eastern District Seven.
• Cheng Yu learned that Prime Minister Faceless had restricted access to Eastern District Seven during the transport of a worst-class criminal.
• Cheng Yu reviewed his Main Quest and saw that its completion progress had risen to ninety percent after he prevented the other Cabinet members from gaining a foothold in Northern District Six.

Cheng Yu remembered that making an electoral district disappear could complete the final 10% of his Main Quest, while Feis planned to use Belial and Grete’s execution in Eastern District Seven to weaken Dermot in the election. As the General Election began, the city’s citizens prepared for the approaching final stage of the Divine Emperor Trial.

• Cheng Yu checked his quest and considered which electoral district to make disappear, while Miss Puppet smiled at him.
• Feis arranged to bypass Belial and Grete’s trial and execute them in Eastern District Seven, intending to cut off its votes from Dermot.
• Belial examined his restraints and speculated that the woman who made them was an Epic being from a technological race.
• Grete privately reflected on the big sister’s return from the previous epoch and his own new grasp of death, then Belial called him Magnus.
• The Members of Parliament’s speeches ended, the General Election began, and citizens anticipating the final stage of the Divine Emperor Trial set out to pursue clues.

Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet reached Central Square as monsters searched for Trial-Takers, then the General Election began and revealed sharply divided regional votes. With two days left before the final count and speech contest, Cheng Yu realized his chance to make the votes disappear was running out.

• Cheng Yu finished his daily challenges in Northern District Six and went with Miss Puppet to Central Square.
• A monster found clues about the Terrorists mistakenly arrested in Northern District Six, prompting it to investigate the Public Security Office for Trial-Takers.
• The General Election began, and the Central Region split its votes evenly among the four Members of Parliament.
• Northern District Six gave Thousand Eyes 87% of its vote, while results elsewhere showed Dermot trailing badly in several regions.
• Cheng Yu concluded that he had only two days left to act before the final vote count and the contest to face Feis.

As the game’s final exam approached, Cheng Yu and the other candidates headed for the Central Region, where they were supposed to identify the God Emperor. The dark figure waiting there looked forward to revealing the answer and surprising them.

• Cheng Yu reviewed the changing election shares, then boarded the Flesh Train for the Central Region as Miss Puppet said the candidates would soon arrive.
• Vira learned from the Green-Skinned Frog that the candidates would discover the God Emperor’s identity when the time came, and she set off with Fat Jack.
• Deep Affection, A Big Old Sow, A Du, and Qiu Ji gave up trying to resolve their ambiguous clues and decided to travel to the Central Region.
• Shui Feifei, Xiao Ming, and Alanna chose to head to the Central Region, hoping the game’s conclusion would let them return.
• Belial and Grete prepared to leave the military fortress after reviewing their clues about the God Emperor.
• At the Central Region tower, the dark figure eagerly awaited the candidates while Yog criticized his game as a farce.

Cheng Yu and Miss Puppet reached the tower for the General Election, where Prime Minister Faceless delivered a report and addressed the Trial-Takers. Faceless’s warning about being a Disciple of the Divine Emperor left Qiu Ji, Vira, and the other listeners questioning what the role really meant.

• Cheng Yu used Infinite Technique: Domain to eliminate six monsters targeting him, restoring his score to 100/100 as he and Miss Puppet headed for the tower.
• Cheng Yu noticed monsters testing suspected Trial-Takers and saw a chaotic brawl break out, while a wounded ratlike monster slipped away from the melee.
• Cheng Yu joined Dermot at the tower, examined Ten Noses and Hundred Ears, and learned Dermot believed Northern District Six’s votes gave him a chance in the election.
• Faceless emerged from the tower, took the central seat, and delivered a concise report on his term as Prime Minister.
• Faceless warned the Trial-Takers that being a Disciple of the Divine Emperor was neither as prestigious nor as simple as they imagined, prompting Qiu Ji and Vira to react with uncertainty.

Belial transformed into his true demon form, broke free of the Mechanical Ouroboros, and destroyed Eastern District Seven. Cheng Yu received confirmation that the special task and main quest were complete just as the General Election reached its final seconds.

• Belial let the shelled monsters pierce him, then unleashed dark green flames and began transforming while Grete watched.
• The Mechanical Ouroboros released Belial’s tail and returned the power it had absorbed, allowing him to emerge as the enormous Demon Emperor.
• Belial used a speck of dark green fire to make Eastern District Seven’s charging monsters collapse, then consumed the flames that engulfed the district.
• Grete saw that nothing remained of Eastern District Seven, and Cheng Yu received notices that the special task and main quest were complete.
• The countdown entered its final ten seconds, and the sky suddenly darkened.

Belial arrived as the election results were tallied, and the God Emperor declared the referendum valid despite Eastern District Seven disappearing. Faceless withdrew from the race, making Dermot the winner, and warned Cheng Yu to trust no one on the way to the Final Trial.

• Belial revealed that he was a Trial-Taker as the election countdown reached zero.
• Ten Thousand Mouths challenged Dermot's 43% vote share, but the God Emperor declared the referendum valid and announced the Final Trial.
• Faceless withdrew from the competitive speech round, making Thousand Eyes the victor and Dermot the next Prime Minister.
• Faceless congratulated Dermot and headed to the Hall of the Divine Throne, while Ten Thousand Mouths vowed to win the Prime Minister's seat next time.
• Dermot thanked Cheng Yu for helping him win, promised support, and warned him not to trust anyone, not even himself, on the way to the Hall of the Divine Throne.
• The tower replayed Dermot's campaign and Cheng Yu's contributions before the crowd turned its attention to the approaching Final Trial.

Cheng Yu entered the tower’s final trial alone and passed through a door that forced him to relive an entire life of loss and grief. As his older self was about to accept a chance to start over, his younger self appeared and told him he could not wake up.

• Cheng Yu climbed the tower’s spiral stairs and questioned the System, which assured him it was real before ending their conversation.
• Cheng Yu read the door’s warning that he would lose whatever he could not let go of, then pushed it open.
• Cheng Yu experienced a life in which his father died, his grandmother passed away, and his mother grew distant before he reached adulthood.
• Cheng Yu lost his first love, married another woman, and later lost his wife and daughter to illness.
• A voice offered the dying Cheng Yu a chance to open his eyes and begin again, but his younger self appeared and told him he could not wake up.

Cheng Yu reconciled with a despairing version of himself before waking with both sets of memories restored. The Trial-Takers then gathered before the Cabinet Members of Parliament and began the Final Trial, which required them to identify the God Emperor by wagering something they valued.

• Young Cheng Yu told the world-weary Cheng Yu that their lives had diverged and chose to respect his decision not to start over; the older Cheng Yu faded away.
• Cheng Yu woke in an empty room and endured the return of two sets of memories, while Miss Puppet, Doggy, and Belial were also awake.
• More Trial-Takers recovered, and Belial, Grete, and Cheng Yu moved toward the chamber where the Final Trial would take place.
• Dermot announced that the Trial-Takers had to identify the God Emperor using their clues, with three attempts and a clue erased after each wrong answer.
• Dermot explained that the chance to answer would go to whoever offered the highest perceived price, and that if nobody won, all Trial-Takers would fail.

The final trial forced the remaining players to identify the God Emperor as incorrect answers cost clues and personal stakes. Fat Jack correctly named himself as the God Emperor, revealing the identity hidden on the throne.

• A monster identified Cheng Yu as the God Emperor, but Dermot ruled the guess incorrect and removed the monster’s family as his stake.
• Players who failed to answer or guessed incorrectly lost clues and stakes, and the first monster was eliminated and returned outside the tower without his memories or tentacle.
• During the thirteenth round, Cheng Yu received the completed Main Quest’s perfect clue, but Dermot exempted him from penalties and barred him from the next vote when he failed to answer in time.
• Fat Jack used clues about the World Before the Door and the Fly-Fly Restaurant to identify himself as the God Emperor.
• Dermot, Faceless, and the others bowed to Fat Jack, the humanoid mosaic on the throne dissolved, and Belial burst into laughter.

Fat Jack revealed overwhelming power to Belial, then yielded to a white-haired JK who freed Belial from his fear of the Abyssal Will and had Grete devour him. Yog and the JK discussed the JK’s planned Amusement Park, with Yog agreeing to help as the New Era’s restrictions had fallen.

• Fat Jack dismissed most of the onlookers and demonstrated that he could imprison Belial and block the Abyssal Will’s gaze.
• Fat Jack asked Yog to send power from his original self, and the white-haired JK appeared as Fat Jack’s independent personality was assimilated.
• The white-haired JK broke Belial’s fear of the Abyssal Will, slapped him for imitating their laughter, and ordered Grete to devour him.
• Grete swallowed Belial and gained a piece of a Holy Spirit creature.
• The white-haired JK asked Yog to undo the Corruption and agreed to make their chosen world an Amusement Park, while Yog promised to help.

After Yog restored Cheng Yu’s body, Cheng Yu learned that the events in Small Heavens had taken place fifty thousand years in the past and that his old friends were still alive. He prepared to begin the third act, “Starsea Heavenly Punishment,” and turned his attention to Miss Puppet.

• After the white-haired JK left, Cheng Yu begged Yog for sympathy, and Yog told him to restore his body and begin the third act.
• Cheng Yu’s body was restored, the System returned, and he exchanged his achievements for currency before checking his status.
• Cheng Yu learned that Small Heavens was fifty thousand years in the past and that the real world outside the sandbox had advanced by the same span.
• The System explained that Cheng Yu’s old friends were still alive because of monster tissue brought back by the Vax Corporation and the resurgence of spiritual energy.
• Cheng Yu decided to pose as a rising machine civilization and launch Starsea Heavenly Punishment in Third Calamity mode.
• Cheng Yu presented his third act to Yog and turned his attention toward Miss Puppet.

Miss Puppet granted Cheng Yu Highest Authority and the Deputy Core identity, and he began planning the Legion’s deployment in a remote universe. While Cheng Yu faced a long journey to Universe B3397, Yog, Miss Puppet, and Grete arrived in an Apocalypse World where the surviving Evolvers resembled the walking dead.

• Miss Puppet transferred the Deputy Core’s command key to Cheng Yu, making him the Legion’s Highest Authority holder and Deputy Core.
• Conductor told Cheng Yu that basic Legion deployment required the resources of an entire universe, and Cheng Yu bought a faction star map of the Small Heavens from System.
• Cheng Yu approved Conductor’s choice of Universe B3397 on the outer fringe of Balchik’s territory, then discovered that reaching it from the Playa Civilization’s homeworld meant crossing the map.
• Yog, Miss Puppet, and Grete left Cheng Yu behind and arrived in a luxurious suite where Grete found no ordinary signs of living things.
• Miss Puppet identified the destination as an Apocalypse World, and Grete explained that its remaining survivors were Evolvers whose life fluctuations resembled those of the walking dead.

Yog and Grete watched events unfold while Cheng Yu traveled by spaceship to Balchik and learned that the Kabonebog Church’s Holy Son had been born in disputed territory. Cheng Yu’s use of soul perception led to a confrontation with Eloise Babbit, who discovered he lacked a True God’s mark.

• Yog told Grete that he was more interested in the third act of his Script, and said Miss Puppet’s advancement would be its climax.
• Cheng Yu secured passage on a spaceship to Balchik and overheard passengers discussing the Kabonebog Church’s Holy Son and the Shatra Civilization’s possible conflict with the church.
• Cheng Yu extended his Silver-tier soul to learn about Balchik, and Eloise Babbit accused him of acting rudely and punched at him.
• Cheng Yu immobilized Eloise with his Gold-tier strength, then released her and denied knowing what she meant.
• Eloise examined Cheng Yu and realized that he had no True God’s mark.

Cheng Yu, using the name Yuri Constantine, met Eloise Babbit and agreed to temporarily join the Legendary Sword Mercenary Group. They were bound for the B3397 Star Sector, a destination Cheng Yu felt was important to him and where the group would investigate possible meme contamination.

• Eloise mistook Cheng Yu for an unregistered True God and invited him to join her group after learning he was an Intruder from an unknown star sector.
• Cheng Yu told Eloise that he had awakened on Playa's homeworld and learned that people who appeared from elsewhere were known as Intruders.
• Eloise introduced herself as a Star Hunter with the Legendary Sword Mercenary Group and invited Cheng Yu to travel with them.
• Cheng Yu mentioned his interest in the B3397 Star Sector, and Eloise revealed that the group was already heading there to investigate possible meme contamination.
• Cheng Yu accepted a temporary place in the group, then responded to the mercenaries' teasing by saying he preferred intimacy with someone he would spend his life with.

Cheng Yu and the Legendary Sword mercenary company reached the B3397 Star Sector to investigate the Meme Bomb, but found no memetic activity and learned it might be the Mad God's territory. The Mad God Fleet intercepted them, and Darren Beckon confronted Bernard over the mercenaries' arrival.

• Eloise convinced Bernard that bringing Cheng Yu along would make the journey safer, and Cheng Yu joined the Legendary Sword mercenary company at a Balchik border outpost.
• The company revealed its ship and traveled for nearly twenty days before arriving in the B3397 Star Sector.
• The crew detected no memetic activity, and Eloise suggested the Mad God might have intervened in the sector.
• Eloise explained that Darren Beckon was a former Kabonebog Church genius who had become a powerful pirate leader, and Cheng Yu worried he might have to fight him.
• The ship detected the approaching Mad God Fleet, and Bernard learned there was no chance of escape before agreeing to answer its hail.
• Darren Beckon appeared on the screen, recognized Bernard, and claimed the mercenaries' discovery of him had made their mission his business.

Bernard challenged Mad God, Dylan Becken, to spare the Legendary Sword mercenaries, and agreed to face him in a ten-move fight. Mad God overwhelmed Bernard in two moves and absorbed his True God talent, then prepared to demonstrate that talent’s power.

• Mad God agreed to release the Legendary Sword if Bernard survived ten moves against him, despite Eloise warning Bernard that the fight could be a trap.
• Bernard told Cheng Yu to preserve the Legendary Sword and report Mad God’s whereabouts to the Star Sea Alliance if the fight went badly, then went out to face Mad God.
• At the signal flare, Mad God broke Bernard’s arms, removed the dense plane beneath him, and tore off one of his legs in two moves.
• Mad God absorbed Bernard’s severed leg and revealed that he could absorb the talents of up to fifteen True Gods.
• Mad God’s body swelled as he invoked Super Heavy Strike and vanished from his position.

Mad God battered Bernard with his techniques until Cheng Yu intervened and challenged him to continue the duel. Mad God accepted Cheng Yu’s offer to exchange ten moves, leaving them poised to fight.

• Bernard used Super Heavy Strike against Mad God, but Mad God injured him and continued attacking with Collapse and Mental Stasis.
• Mad God hurled a black sphere toward Bernard, who braced against it as it consumed celestial bodies and triggered a supernova.
• Mad God recalled the sphere, leaving Bernard gravely mutilated, and watched him regenerate before using Collapse again.
• Cheng Yu donned the Pure White Emissary, teleported to Bernard, and rescued him from the black point.
• Cheng Yu offered to take Bernard’s remaining moves and challenged Mad God to withstand ten moves in return, and Mad God accepted.

Cheng Yu fought the Mad God, using the Pure White Emissary to withstand his attacks and taunting him into a decisive clash. Cheng Yu's Legendary Strike overwhelmed the Mad God, who realized Cheng Yu was Limit-Breaking as his body crumbled.

• The Mad God tested Cheng Yu with Collapse, but Cheng Yu erased the micro black hole with Infinite Technique: Annihilation.
• The Mad God charged Cheng Yu at close range, but the Pure White Emissary repelled his punch, and Cheng Yu hurled him through several meteoroids with Infinite Technique: Spicy Stuffing.
• Cheng Yu mocked the Mad God and named several powerful Limit-Breaking figures, provoking the Mad God into attacking him in a rage.
• Cheng Yu released Infinite Technique: Legendary Strike and collided fists with the Mad God, whose body began crumbling as he recognized Cheng Yu was Limit-Breaking.