Chapter Summaries

Jonas met with Noel while Esnie infiltrated the Alt Conglomerate to rescue Yucas. Esnie reached Yucas’s location but was confronted by Karin.

• Noel refused to treat Beigong Ling as an outsider, while Jonas pointed out the surveillance devices recording their meeting.
• Noel suspected Jonas was stalling while Esnie attempted a prison break, and she warned that she would show Esnie no mercy if she caught her.
• Noel turned the room’s surveillance cameras toward Jonas, making Beigong Ling sense danger.
• Iris guided Esnie through surveillance blind spots to the building where Yucas was held.
• Esnie cut through the roof and entered the facility, triggering an alarm and drawing Karin’s attention.

Esnie fought Karin after Karin revealed a gun emplacement designed to capture her, while Noel tested Jonas during negotiations and discovered he had anticipated her holographic trick. The chapter ended with Jonas exposing Noel’s projection and returning her metal spheres.

• Karin aimed sixteen machine guns and a surveillance system at Esnie, but Esnie vanished and reappeared to attack with her Thermal Sword.
• Noel asked Jonas what trump card he had prepared, then fired at him and forced Beigong Ling to shield him and evade the barrage.
• Noel resumed negotiations over the Alt Conglomerate’s planted pawn in the Peacekeeping Forces, and Jonas ordered Beigong Ling to cut her down.
• Beigong Ling’s blade passed through Noel, revealing that the negotiator was a holographic projection, and Noel plunged the meeting room into darkness.
• Jonas dropped four metal spheres and told Noel he had already worn out that trick.

Jonas turned Noel’s trap against her after Iris disabled the Illusion Generators, then revealed that he had sent people to rescue Yucas. Noel agreed to wait at the negotiating table while the rescue unfolded, leaving both sides poised to see who would gain the upper hand.

• Jonas revealed that he had anticipated Noel’s trap and destroyed the devices she had set up, while Beigong Ling realized he had kept her uninformed about the plan.
• Jonas identified the devices as Illusion Generators from the predecessor civilization, and Iris disabled them after taking over the security system.
• Jonas offered to resume negotiations, but Noel prepared to cut off the projection and have Karin eliminate Yucas.
• Jonas warned Noel not to end communications and gave her Yucas’s location, Artemis District, coordinates X21,37, revealing that he had sent rescuers.
• Noel decided to keep Jonas occupied while the rescue played out, and she sat back down at the negotiating table.

Esnie defeated Karin and destroyed Noel’s prepared defenses in the Artemis District while Jonas revealed that his forces had been buying time. Noel realized Karin was unreachable and her secure stronghold was in danger.

• Noel weighed whether to withdraw or keep Jonas occupied, unaware that her recklessness had cost her advantage.
• Esnie stood amid the wreckage of sixteen T20 Recoil Machine Guns and the 3.5R information surveillance system as Karin failed to activate the room’s security controls.
• Karin began a self-destruct command, but Esnie cut off her head with the Thermal Sword and reported that the mission was complete.
• Jonas told Noel that six Tactical Mecha squads had been converging on the Artemis District and declared her in double check.
• Noel’s holographic projection vanished, and she grew uneasy inside her supposedly secure stronghold after failing to contact Karin.

Noel suspected that Jonas had located her and that the Arbitration Bureau troops guarding her might be working with the Alt Conglomerate. After a psionic intruder bypassed her defenses, Jonas appeared and overwhelmed her with a hallucination tied to her deepest fears, leaving her falling into darkness.

• Noel considered how Jonas might have put her in check and began to suspect the Arbitration Bureau guards were watching her rather than protecting her.
• When the psionic detector registered an intruder, Noel sealed the room and armed herself, but the security systems failed to reveal anyone.
• Noel noticed a metal sphere and ethereal butterflies that filled the room and trapped her in a terrifying dreamscape.
• Jonas Wetting emerged among the butterflies, approached Noel, and told her to remember her fear.
• Jonas lifted Noel, rendered her psionic energy powerless, and released her into an endless darkness.

Noel relived memories of her childhood experiments and learned that her father had tried to turn her into a Psionic, leaving her with psionic energy and confined to a wheelchair. She woke in an unfamiliar Recovery Room and found Jonas Wetting beside her.

• Noel struggled through darkness and followed a faint light into memories of her past.
• Noel remembered growing up in a laboratory with the researcher she called her father, who subjected her to experiments beginning when she was eight.
• Noel recalled that the experiments aimed to turn ordinary people into Psionics and left her with psionic energy and a lifelong need for a wheelchair.
• Noel remembered that the Federation shut down her father's laboratory and that the Misen Conglomerate took her in, contrary to the story circulating in the Federation.
• Noel woke gasping in an unfamiliar Recovery Room and saw Jonas Wetting.

Jonas convinced Noel to accept a fabricated account of her rescue, leaving her suspicious of the Arbitration Bureau, and discussed the threat posed by the Misen Family’s heir with Beigong Ling. He offered Beigong Ling independent command of the Star of Dawn, and she accepted, while Jonas ended their talk by saying he needed to check on Yucas.

• Jonas told Noel that the Alt Conglomerate and Peacekeeping Forces had rescued her, and she thanked him without challenging his story.
• Jonas reflected that Nightingale’s ability had helped him defeat Noel and plant a mental imprint that could be useful against the Misen Family’s heir.
• Jonas told Beigong Ling that the heir, not Noel, was the main threat and that Noel could be used against her.
• Jonas offered to make the Star of Dawn an independent battle group under Beigong Ling’s command, and Beigong Ling accepted after he threatened to give the position to Esnie.
• Jonas suggested they celebrate with drinks, then revealed he had to check on Yucas instead.

Jonas checked on Yucas after rescuing her from Noel, apologized for what she had suffered, and teased her about her appearance. Yucas remained embarrassed by his attention but secretly delighted by his compliment.

• Jonas took Beigong Ling back to her residence after explaining that Yucas was recovering and urging her to rest.
• Jonas visited Yucas in the Recovery Room, where she felt awkward about seeing him after her failed attempt to handle Noel herself.
• Jonas apologized to Yucas for not thinking the situation through properly, though she felt responsible for what had happened.
• Jonas noticed that Yucas's hospital gown was tight across her chest and joked that the hospital needed larger gowns.
• Jonas called Yucas attractive, leaving her embarrassed and secretly delighted.

Yucas told Jonas about her harsh childhood and the childhood dream she pursued despite the punishment awaiting her. In the garden, she asked whether he regretted his own choices, leaving him to answer.

• Yucas explained that her parents had died when she was young and that her strict master had raised her.
• Yucas invited Jonas to walk with her in the hospital garden, where they talked about childhood wishes.
• Yucas recalled sneaking away from the Peacekeeping Forces at twelve to find a meadow like the one she had dreamed of.
• Yucas told Jonas she would pursue whatever she wanted at any cost, then asked, "Do you regret it now?"

Yucas confessed her feelings to Jonas and kissed him, and he returned her affection. Later, Jonas rested in Eiffel’s lap at the Alt Conglomerate, where his thoughts turned to how she compared with Yucas.

• Yucas admitted to herself that she loved Jonas and recalled her mentor’s advice to pursue love without regrets.
• Yucas kissed Jonas, and Jonas responded to her affection.
• After their first kiss, Jonas kissed Yucas again, and she told him she wanted more.
• Jonas returned to work at the Alt Conglomerate and complained that he could not take a vacation.
• Eiffel comforted Jonas with a lap pillow and offered to handle his work, while Jonas privately compared her body to Yucas’s.

After the secret clash with Noel, Jonas secured the Alt Conglomerate’s alliance and dismissed Carol’s warning as he planned to remove the Arbitration Bureau from his path. Iris was rewarded with a day of Jonas’s company, while Nora felt overlooked and humiliated.

• Noel stayed in an Alt Conglomerate hospital after waking, and the Conglomerate’s public explanation matched Jonas’s account of the incident.
• The Chamber of Commerce proceedings concluded without Noel’s interference, strengthening the Alt Conglomerate’s alliance with District 25’s other conglomerates.
• Carol warned Jonas that challenging boundaries could provoke dangerous enemies, but he resolved that the Alt Conglomerate would eventually oppose the Arbitration Bureau.
• The Alt Conglomerate rewarded Iris for her contributions with a full day of Jonas’s company.
• Nora, who had faced danger confronting Noel’s hideout, became tearful after receiving no praise from Jonas and seeing Iris celebrated.

Jonas spent a day with Iris, who invited him home and revealed that her preparations were a romantic dinner and an intimate evening together. The next day, Iris and the other personality sharing her body argued over who would control it on their next date, while Jonas confronted Nora at the Alt Conglomerate and demanded to touch her legs as punishment.

• Jonas spent the day with Iris and took her to his home after she asked to show him what she had prepared.
• Iris served Jonas a meal, then used the room's climate control system to turn off the lights and initiated an intimate encounter.
• The next morning, Iris's other personality scolded her for monopolizing their body during the date, and Iris promised to let her take control for ten minutes next time.
• Jonas returned to the Alt Conglomerate after spending thirty-seven hours with Iris and discovered Nora hiding in his office.
• Nora admitted she had come to check the security situation, and Jonas told her to come over so he could touch her legs as punishment.

Jonas confronted Nora about her jealousy over Iris and the rewards others received, then gave her the intimate attention she had secretly wanted. Afterward, Jonas discovered that the encounter had caused his Psionic Energy to ascend, leaving him baffled by the unexpected condition.

• Nora visited Jonas and claimed she was checking security, but he deduced that she was upset about Iris receiving the most credit for their recent incident.
• Nora admitted she had spied on Jonas and seen Esnie kiss him and him flirting with Beigong Ling, which made her feel she was the only one without a reward.
• Jonas teased Nora, then began the punishment and reward she had implied she wanted.
• Eiffel delivered payment documents to Jonas's office and left after noticing he seemed strange.
• Jonas realized his Psionic Energy had ascended and wondered why the encounter had triggered it.

Nora awakened as an Advanced Psionic after her psionic energy underwent a sudden transformation, and she discovered that she could open stable portals through space. She demonstrated the ability’s power and a mischievous new way to use it on Jonas.

• Jonas noticed Nora’s psionic energy surging while she was unconscious and realized she had advanced beyond an ordinary Psionic.
• Nora woke feeling rejuvenated and found that her psionic reserves had grown enormously.
• Nora opened a stable portal through space and showed that she could use it to cut an object in two, though she needed to have touched and imprinted it first.
• Nora secretly marked Jonas and used her portal ability to take a pile of Character Shards from him.

After Nora’s ability advanced, Jonas visited Yushua Delan to reopen their stalled discussion about cooperation and offer her a way to advance from Level Three to Level Four. Yushua listened as Jonas invited her to explore the method with him.

• Nora teased Jonas about using her new ability on little Mr. Jonas and messaged him that she would return for more Character Shards.
• Yushua spent her house arrest questioning whether Jonas might truly be the world’s savior, while Afanixi’s visits became less frequent.
• Jonas visited Yushua in the garden, apologized for neglecting her, and said he wanted to rebuild trust between them.
• Jonas brought up Nora’s advancement to Level Four and offered Yushua a method for Third-Level Psionics to advance reliably.

Jonas offered Yushua information about advancing to Level Four as a gift, hoping to deepen their relationship and investigate his theory about Psionic advancement. After learning that Yushua's ability involved dreams or consciousness, he asked her to experience an uncontrolled dream, partly to uncover more about her.

• Jonas told Yushua that he wanted to take their relationship further and offered his advancement knowledge as a gift.
• Yushua accepted Jonas's sincerity and asked what he wanted to discuss.
• Jonas questioned Yushua about her ability, and she said she did not know whether it came from within her or from her faith.
• Yushua described her ability as related to dreams or consciousness, and Jonas asked whether she had dreamed recently.
• Yushua explained that she could control whether she dreamed and easily control her dreams.
• Jonas suggested that Yushua let herself experience an immersive, uncontrolled dream.

Yushua agreed to let Jonas explore her dreams, then spent several sleepless days troubled by his confirmed surveillance. When she finally dreamed of meeting him in his office, the dream turned intimate, leaving her embarrassed and unsure whether Jonas had caused it.

• Yushua reluctantly agreed to trust Jonas and let him enter her dreams while she rested normally.
• Jonas left, and Yushua realized his words confirmed that he could reach her dreams and monitor her remotely.
• For several days, Yushua struggled to sleep because she felt watched and blamed Jonas for her distress.
• Yushua fell asleep and dreamed that she met Jonas in his office to discuss advancing her psionic energy.
• In the dream, Jonas pressed Yushua into an unwanted intimate encounter, and she woke embarrassed by her dream and its physical effects.
• Yushua wondered whether Jonas had influenced the dream but hesitated to confront him for fear it had been her own.

Yushua confronted Jonas about her recurring dreams, but he convinced her that he had not caused them, leaving her too ashamed to verify his claim. Jonas suspected that he himself might be needed for psionic advancement, while the white-haired girl in the Wasteland ordered the Forerunners summoned to eliminate him.

• After enduring the same humiliating dreams for several days, Yushua went to Jonas’s office to demand an explanation.
• Jonas admitted that he could see Yushua’s dreams but insisted they came from her and offered to let her use her abilities to check whether he was lying.
• Too embarrassed to test him, Yushua fled the office, and Jonas decided to reassure her later so she would not abandon their collaboration.
• Reflecting on Yushua’s dreams and Nightingale’s character fragments, Jonas wondered whether he himself was material needed for psionic advancement.
• In an underground Wasteland laboratory, the white-haired girl raised Jonas Wetting’s threat rating and ordered the Central AI to assess summoning the Forerunners.
• After the Central AI recommended it, the white-haired girl began mobilizing every available resource to eliminate Jonas.

Dorothy Misen left the Federation Parliament after a vote set new measures against District 25 in motion. When a man condemned her for the decision, she denied responsibility and continued on, while he was restrained by parliamentary security.

• Dorothy Misen left the parliamentary chamber after the session ended and the Federation prepared to act against District 25.
• A man shouted accusations at Dorothy, blaming her for the decision to send Federation troops into District 25.
• Dorothy told him to file a complaint with the arbitration court and claimed she was only a councilor's secretary.
• Dorothy left as parliamentary security restrained the man, who knew the Federation's measures against District 25 could no longer be stopped.

Dorothy Misen resolved to eliminate Jonas Wetting and revealed the Star Guardian, her orbital-cannon trump card, while District 25 rallied against what it believed was a Federation annexation attempt. Jonas had united District 25’s conglomerates ahead of the Federation legion’s arrival, with the Alt Conglomerate leading the resistance.

• Dorothy dismissed the Misen elders’ objections, told Lin Gong that only Dorothy Misen mattered, and ordered her not to silence the reporter unless he had ulterior motives.
• Dorothy received a warning from the Predecessor Civilization to eliminate Jonas Wetting and reaffirmed her plan to destroy him after Noel’s defeat.
• Dorothy inspected the Star Guardian, a powerful orbital cannon that served as her final trump card and the Misen Family’s deterrent.
• News of the Federation’s measures spread through District 25, whose residents believed the Federation planned to annex them and prepared to resist.
• Jonas recognized that Dorothy’s public pretext concealed her intention to target the Alt Conglomerate and united District 25’s companies before the Federation legion arrived.
• The Alt Conglomerate led District 25’s growing opposition to the Federation.