Chapter Summaries

After gaining Jiang Lihua’s trust, Lin Cuo assessed Britannia’s expansion and used his new military authority to pursue pragmatic cooperation with the Liaodong Military District and Area 11’s resistance. Cao Yuanming approved initial aid and contact, though he remained unsure what Lin Cuo intended.

• Lin Cuo reviewed the improved opinion scores from Jiang Lihua and concluded that her trust would make her more willing to listen without taking away her judgment.
• Lin Cuo studied Britannia’s rapid conquest of Area 11 and the Great Han Federation’s vulnerable position, then identified the Liaodong Military District as a potential pragmatic ally.
• Lin Cuo sent Cao Yuanming an official invitation to an armament standardization conference and an encrypted proposal to restore limited contact with Area 11’s resistance groups.
• Cao Yuanming questioned Lin Cuo’s motives but authorized radios for Tōdō Kyōshirō and medicine for Major General Katase’s forces, along with renewed contact with Kaname Ohgi’s network.

Clovis dismissed concerns about Great Han’s Liaodong supplies while Lloyd pressed for funding to complete the Lancelot, and Suzaku endured discrimination as an Honorary Britannian. At Ashford Academy, Lelouch weighed the world’s failing powers and his own lack of allies, leaving his resolve for revenge sharpened as he cared for Nunnally.

• Clovis dismissed the Liaodong shipment as too small to threaten Area 11, while Villetta warned that organized resistance communications could pose a greater danger.
• Lloyd requested more funding for the Lancelot, and Jeremiah challenged the value of the experimental machine.
• Suzaku completed his training and ignored Britannian soldiers who insulted him as an Eleven, while C.C. lay restrained in a secret transport warehouse.
• Kallen received Kaname Ohgi’s message that the Liaodong route had reopened with radios, medicine, and parts, provided resistance groups used a standardized system and coordinated operations.
• Lelouch reflected on Britannia, Great Han, and the E.U. as failing powers, then set aside his cold thoughts when Sayoko brought Nunnally to the student council room.

Lin Cuo forced Li Xingke to undergo extensive medical examinations and persuaded him to accept long-term treatment and medical preservation of his tissue samples. The chapter left Lin Cuo preparing to summon a court physician through the system’s newly unlocked decision.

• After Li Xingke delivered a military plan, Lin Cuo ordered officers to escort him for a medical examination and showed him a report warning that his condition could become fatal at any time.
• Lin Cuo confronted Li Xingke about his willingness to die for his duties, then showed him a note in which Jiang Lihua asked him to take care of himself and fulfill his promise to show her the world.
• Li Xingke underwent extensive tests and objected when the examination included preserving germ cells, but he signed consent for medical uses after Lin Cuo removed the cloning clauses.
• Lin Cuo told Li Xingke that the Imperial Medical Academy could not cure him without years of rest, then announced that he had found a witch doctor.
• Lin Cuo opened the system panel and unlocked the decision, “Seek Court Physician.”

Lin Cuo found Takemi Tae, an aggressive-treatment specialist, to treat Li Xingke’s deteriorating health. Li Xingke accepted her risky treatment, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Lin Cuo searched across game characters and selected Takemi Tae, an omniscient physician with an aggressive treatment preference.
• Takemi Tae examined Li Xingke’s records and learned that he had coughed up blood for years and secretly fainted several times.
• Takemi Tae proposed a high-risk treatment using hypothermia, extracorporeal circulation, regenerative drugs, and microfield stimulation.
• Lin Cuo encouraged Li Xingke to choose the most aggressive option, while Takemi Tae warned that treatment could cause severe injury or death.
• Li Xingke signed the consent form and entered Takemi Tae’s care.

Takemi Tae treated Li Xingke’s longstanding health problems, and he woke with his injuries healed and his life expectancy restored. Lin Cuo agreed to enforce his recovery rules while negotiating the laboratory and clinic Takemi Tae wanted.

• Takemi Tae treated Li Xingke with medicine and a Sakuradite microfield while Lin Cuo watched from outside the room.
• Li Xingke slept for nineteen hours, then woke without chest pain or other familiar symptoms.
• Takemi Tae declared Li Xingke cured and ordered him to rest for a month before gradually resuming training.
• The system reported Li Xingke’s recovery, restored life expectancy, and increased prestige and appeal for the Imperial Succession Faction.
• Lin Cuo promised to enforce Takemi Tae’s recovery instructions, and Takemi Tae accepted his condition that test subjects be fully informed.

After Li Xingke’s recovery shifted the military’s political calculations, Lin Cuo and Li Xingke concluded that they had to act before the Chief Eunuchs could move against them. Lin Cuo proposed using an international conference at the Pingle Observatory as cover to rearrange security and strike at the Grand Eunuch Council.

• Li Xingke’s recovery spread through the military, prompting officers and retired generals to reassess their loyalty and the system to report that his faction appeal had risen.
• Lin Cuo, Li Xingke, and Chou Xianglin discussed how the Chief Eunuchs might try to remove Li Xingke and examined a draft deal involving the Son of Heaven’s marriage to Odysseus.
• Lin Cuo revealed that Zhao Hao, Cai Lishi, and Gao Hai had agreed to the proposed marriage and outlined plans for a conference in Luoyang with Britannian and Area 11 representatives.
• Lin Cuo explained that conference security would let them rotate guards and reposition troops while drawing all eight Grand Eunuchs to the meeting.
• Lin Cuo named the Pingle Observatory in Western Garden as the place where they would make their move.

Lin Cuo and Li Xingke planned how to remove the Eight Grand Eunuchs while keeping the operation legally sanctioned, as Luoyang prepared for the East Sea Peace Conference. The eunuchs remained suspicious of Li Xingke’s recovery, but rumors that Lin Cuo could pilot Shen Hu began to spread, and Jiang Lihua told Li Xingke not to correct them.

• Lin Cuo proposed adapting an ancient purge of the Lü clan, assigning Li Xingke the army’s challenges while giving Chou Xianglin and others supporting roles; he also teased Li Xingke and Chou Xianglin about marrying.
• Over the next month, Tong Lun and Xiang Sheng tried to test Li Xingke’s recovery, but Jiang Lihua blocked a high-load KMF test and Li Xingke followed Takemi Tae’s rest schedule while avoiding scrutiny.
• A report that Lin Cuo had passed Shen Hu’s low-power compatibility test was exaggerated into rumors that he could pilot the mech.
• Li Xingke considered clarifying the rumors, but Jiang Lihua said his original statement had been true and advised him not to explain.

Lin Cuo’s proposed East Sea Peace Conference brought the Great Han, Britannia, and Area 11’s resistance groups into a temporary ceasefire, preventing the Shinjuku incident and keeping Lelouch from meeting C.C. As the conference preparations reshaped events in Area 11, Lelouch reluctantly went on a date with Shirley and heard that her father would soon return home.

• Lin Cuo won the Eight Grand Eunuchs’ support for the East Sea Peace Conference, and Clovis and Area 11’s resistance organizations accepted its terms and a month-long ceasefire.
• Kaname Ohgi’s group canceled its plan to intercept the transport carrying C.C., so she reached the Governor-General’s underground facility and Lelouch never met her.
• The ceasefire put Lelouch’s plan to study the Governor-General’s troop deployments on hold, while news reports showed Lin Cuo and Li Xingke appearing together at the conference preparations.
• Milly pushed Lelouch into an aquarium outing with Shirley, and Nunnally encouraged him to go.
• Shirley learned that Joseph Fenette would return from Mount Narita the following week and invited Lelouch to dinner at her home, while Lelouch grew resentful of Lin Cuo for disrupting his plans and date.

Lin Cuo and Li Xingke finalized preparations to confront the Chief Eunuchs during the East Sea Peace Conference, while hidden broadcast plans threatened to expose the proceedings live. As the delegations gathered in Luoyang, tensions between Britannia and Area 11 surfaced before the conference began.

• Lin Cuo planned to have Jiang Lihua confront the eight Chief Eunuchs after they revealed their secret betrothal scheme, while Li Xingke blocked unauthorized killings from the operation orders.
• Jiang Lihua learned the Chief Eunuchs had arranged her marriage to Odysseus without asking her and decided to question them herself.
• Li Xingke arranged a backup broadcast line, while Detter Haruth secretly connected another feed to a civilian network in Area 11.
• Clovis arrived in Luoyang with the Lancelot and its pilot Suzaku Kururugi, while the Area 11 delegation arrived separately.
• Kallen Kouzuki nearly clashed with Britannian guards until Kaguya Sumeragi intervened, and Lin Cuo greeted Clovis and the delegates with calculated courtesy.
• Li Xingke quietly warned Lin Cuo to tone down his performance as they prepared for the conference.

At the East Sea peace conference, Britannia and Great Han pressed the Area 11 representatives to accept disarmament and proposed a marriage between Jiang Lihua and Prince Odysseus. Lin Cuo exposed the regents’ agreement on a live broadcast, and Jiang Lihua challenged Zhao Hao by asking what would happen if she refused.

• Clovis restricted the conference to humanitarian and administrative matters, while the Area 11 representatives objected to the unfair terms and limits on discussion.
• Diethard’s backup signal bypassed review and broadcast the conference live across Luoyang, Area 11, and other regions.
• The delegates agreed to release some detainees, provide medicine and quarantine support, and maintain the ceasefire, then Gao Hai proposed conditions that included Liaodong ending its support and the Liberation Front surrendering heavy weapons.
• Gao Hai proposed that Jiang Lihua marry Prince Odysseus upon reaching adulthood, and Lin Cuo publicly asked the regents to confirm the costs of the peace bargain.
• Zhao Hao, Gao Hai, Cai Lishi, Cheng Zhong, and the other regents confirmed their agreement, while Jiang Lihua asked Zhao Hao what would happen if she refused the marriage.

Lin Cuo exposed the Regent Council’s willingness to trade Jiang Lihua’s freedom and Great Han’s interests for Britannian concessions during a nationwide live broadcast. After Jiang Lihua declared she was unwilling, Lin Cuo rescued her, killed Zhao Hao, and launched a military purge as Great Han’s forces and Britannian officers split into opposing camps.

• Lin Cuo drew Zhao Hao and the ministers into defending Jiang Lihua’s forced marriage and offering Great Han’s sovereignty and territory as bargaining chips, while a hidden live broadcast carried their words nationwide.
• Jiang Lihua’s public image collapsed, and Lin Cuo knelt before her and urged her to accept the marriage until she declared, “I am unwilling.”
• Lin Cuo kissed Jiang Lihua’s forehead, carried her from the throne, and handed her to Chou Xianglin as Li Xingke’s signal set their forces in motion.
• Lin Cuo stabbed Zhao Hao and ordered Northern Army and Western Garden troops to identify their loyalties, disarm, or be treated as traitors.
• Xiang Sheng and Tong Lun tried to fight back and cut the broadcast, but Li Xingke stopped Xiang Sheng’s shot and Diethard spread the feed through the Governor-General’s backup line.
• Gao Hai and Cai Lishi sought Britannian protection, while Jeremiah guarded Clovis and Chevail ordered combat units activated without the prince’s consent.

Chevail defied Clovis and activated Britannia’s hidden forces as fighting erupted between Lin Cuo’s supporters and Xiang Sheng’s Palace Guards at the Pingle Observatory. As the Lancelot was authorized to deploy, Suzaku watched the battle unfold and believed an armed rebellion was underway.

• Chevail activated eighteen hidden Sutherlands and more than four hundred Britannian soldiers in Luoyang, despite Clovis ordering him to stop.
• Xiang Sheng mobilized the Western Garden Army while Lin Cuo sent Jiang Lihua through a security passage and ordered his soldiers not to kill unarmed people.
• Britannian Sutherlands advanced on the broadcasting center, where Western Garden Steel Skeletons ambushed them and coordinated their fire to cover damaged machines.
• Chevail ordered the Lancelot deployed to protect Clovis and the regents, overriding Lloyd’s objections through the Royal Family Emergency System.
• Suzaku watched Lin Cuo kill Zhao Hao and the forces at the Pingle Observatory exchange fire, and concluded that an armed rebellion was underway.

Suzaku and Li Xingke fought to control the Pingle Observatory as the coup spread through Luoyang. Li Xingke’s Shen Hu confronted the Lancelot, leaving the two pilots clashing over loyalty and the law.

• Suzaku launched the Lancelot and disabled several Steel Skeletons while trying to protect Clovis and clear a path through the fighting.
• Li Xingke boarded the Shen Hu and used its upgraded command system to coordinate forces and assess Suzaku’s conflicting objectives.
• Jiang Lihua ordered Li Xingke to win and return alive, and he launched the Shen Hu toward the battle.
• Li Xingke diverted the Shen Hu’s Heavy Particle Cannon to low power and attacked the Lancelot while handling urgent military requests.
• Suzaku urged Li Xingke to stop attacking and submit the regents to trial, but Li Xingke challenged Suzaku’s loyalty and told him to correct his own mistakes.

Li Xingke defeated Suzaku’s Lancelot as Britannian forces withdrew, leaving Jiang Lihua and Lin Cuo to consolidate control of Luoyang and begin a purge. Shen Hu continued breaking Xiang Sheng’s resistance, destroying his command vehicle and communications network.

• Li Xingke used Shen Hu to disable Lancelot and eject Suzaku from its wreckage without killing him.
• Clovis relieved Chevail of command and ordered Britannian forces to withdraw to the diplomatic security zone.
• Jiang Lihua stripped the regency council of power and ordered the military and city services to protect foreign guests and maintain order.
• Lin Cuo deployed the Capital Internal Affairs Purge First Corps and gave Yan Tieheng the finalized purge roster, after which executions and financial-network seizures began.
• Li Xingke attacked Xiang Sheng’s Gao Hai units while Lin Cuo’s training battalion advanced, then Shen Hu destroyed Xiang Sheng’s command vehicle and communications links.

After Xiang Sheng's death, Li Xingke used the Son of Heaven's edict to secure mass surrenders and crush the remaining resistance. The purge captured or killed the chief eunuchs and their allies, while Tong Lun was trapped in the Cipher Center.

• Li Xingke announced Xiang Sheng's death, broadcast Jiang Lihua's edict, and guaranteed fair hearings for soldiers who surrendered.
• The Western Garden and Northern Army units began disarming and sealing off districts, leaving only isolated pockets of resistance.
• Xia Wang retreated to the mausoleum grounds, but Li Xingke killed him with a low-output particle beam that spared the main hall.
• Yan Tieheng's men captured Cheng Zhong at the Inner Treasury and killed him and his financial aides, then seized the assets intact.
• Clovis rejected Gao Hai and Cai Lishi, and Lin Cuo ordered their execution after they were lured into a detention compound.
• Tong Lun entered the Cipher Center, where disguised internal affairs personnel took his keys and revealed that they had trapped him.

Lin Cuo consolidated control of the court through a purge, while Li Xingke challenged his authority to decide who would live and serve the Son of Heaven. After the Hexi Military Region mobilized to support Lin Cuo and send forces toward Luoyang, the system revealed a new national focus: Pacify the Interior.

• Huang Qian was executed after Palace Guards found him forging an edict in the Central Archives, and all eight Chief Eunuchs died before reaching trial.
• Li Xingke confronted Lin Cuo over the purge of senior officials, but Lin Cuo defended keeping capable people who would obey the Son of Heaven’s military orders.
• After seeing Lin Cuo kill Zhao Hao on the live broadcast, the Hexi Military Region gained loyalty and mobilized troops, workers, and military dependents to support him.
• Longyou, Qinghai, and North Sea demanded that Hexi detain Lin officers and stop troop transports, but Hexi attacked their positions while sending elite forces toward Luoyang.
• The system displayed a new Great Han national focus branch labeled “Pacify the Interior.”

Lin Cuo chose to centralize Great Han’s military and began forcing regional commanders to submit to unified control, triggering resistance across the country. He then witnessed a BETA Hive seeding unit arrive on Mars, where it began preparing an Earth-bound landing force due in 137 days.

• Lin Cuo selected the path to pacify the interior, unlocking wartime military measures while increasing hostility from warlords and separatists.
• Lin Cuo issued military orders requiring districts to accept central oversight of their forces, finances, railways, and armaments, while designating Hexi for early reorganization.
• Military districts across Great Han sent conflicting responses, and three commanders detained central envoys and began mobilizing.
• Lin Cuo’s system revealed a spatial rift beyond Mars through which BETA forces and a damaged Hive seeding unit entered the current world.
• The Hive unit crashed near the Hellas Basin, deployed excavation specimens, and began building toward an Earth-bound landing in 137 days.

After discovering that the BETA threat could spread between worlds, Lin Cuo set the multiverse aside to secure Area 11’s Sakuradite and bring its resistance into Great Han’s war effort. He reopened negotiations as Acting Regent, where Kaguya Sumeragi proposed a marriage alliance and Lin Cuo approved of it politically.

• Lin Cuo realized BETA units could cross between worlds through rifts and began worrying about where the next one might appear.
• Lin Cuo recognized that Area 11’s Sakuradite reserves were essential to Great Han’s military plans and invited its delegation back to the Pingle Observatory.
• Lin Cuo introduced himself to the Area 11 delegates as Great Han’s Acting Regent and accepted the informal title Lord Regent.
• Kaguya Sumeragi proposed a marriage pledge linking Area 11’s Imperial Lineage to Great Han, and Lin Cuo said he was satisfied with the idea politically.

Lin Cuo announced Great Han’s new policy recognizing Area 11’s continuing sovereignty and proposed establishing a government in exile under Great Han’s protection. Kaguya Sumeragi and the Six Kyoto Houses accepted the joint fund and military coordination terms, setting preparations in motion.

• Lin Cuo explained that the former Regent Council’s recognition of Britannian rule over Area 11 lacked authorization and would be suspended for review.
• Lin Cuo declared that Area 11’s sovereignty, Royal Family, institutions, assets, and national identity remained legally continuous, and offered an enclave in Goryeo for a government in exile.
• Lin Cuo offered military aid in exchange for unified coordination and contributions from the Six Kyoto Houses to a joint wartime fund.
• Kaguya Sumeragi agreed to contribute overseas assets, Sakuradite channels, and covert sea routes, and committed future troops to joint standards.
• Major General Katase accepted Kaguya Sumeragi’s decision, and notifications reported formal foreign recognition of Area 11 and preparations for its government in exile.

Kallen challenged Lin Cuo over whether unified registration would strip urban resistance groups of their weapons and influence. Lin Cuo proposed a United Blue Star Government that would preserve Area 11's sovereignty and bind even Great Han to shared rules, leaving Kallen less hostile but still wary.

• Kallen demanded to know who would control resistance groups' weapons after unified registration, and Kaname Ohgi tried to calm her and explain their concerns.
• Lin Cuo promised the resistance groups representation, seats, and budgets based on their strength and contributions, but Kallen questioned whether Luoyang would still control them.
• Lin Cuo presented a United Blue Star Government with independent member governments, shared defense standards, treaty-based aid, audits, and checks against Great Han's power.
• Kallen reconsidered her assumptions about Lin Cuo after he affirmed Area 11's sovereignty and proposed rules that could constrain Great Han, then sat down less confrontationally.
• The system reported that Kallen's opinion of Lin Cuo had risen from -47 to +63, though she remained personally wary of him.