Chapter Summaries

Cornelia ended her meeting with Lin Cuo after his wandering gaze and left the remaining negotiations to Gilford and Dalton. Dalton then arranged Lin Cuo’s early return to Great Han, leaving the regent to insist that his visit had merely been voluntarily rescheduled.

• Cornelia rejected detaining Lin Cuo and abruptly ended their meeting, assigning the remaining talks to Gilford and Dalton.
• After Cornelia left, Lin Cuo praised Dalton and Gilford, then proposed sharing a bed with Dalton to discuss military affairs.
• Dalton removed Lin Cuo’s hand from his shoulder and ordered the airport to prepare the Great Han aircraft for Lin Cuo’s return.
• Lin Cuo protested that the talks were unfinished, but Dalton cited his injury and diplomatic etiquette risks and refused to let him meet Cornelia or Euphemia.
• Within forty minutes, Lin Cuo boarded the aircraft for Great Han and told his officials that the visit had been voluntarily rescheduled.

Lin Cuo learned that C.C. was sealed inside a hazardous specimen container in Goryeo and redirected his return there to retrieve her. After Charles declared Britannia’s planetary defense race and challenged Great Han, Lin Cuo drafted a response for Jiang Lihua to deliver in a worldwide broadcast.

• Lin Cuo identified the sealed CODE R container in Goryeo as holding C.C. and ordered the site secured while diverting his flight there.
• Charles announced that Britannia would compete with Great Han and the E.U. in a race to develop planetary defenses and reach the Moon.
• Lin Cuo dismissed calls for a protest and began preparing a worldwide broadcast in response to Charles’s speech.
• Lin Cuo sent Jiang Lihua a detailed speech script and broadcast plan, and Jiang Lihua objected to his instructions before writing “[You big jerk.]” in the margin.

Jiang Lihua delivered her first major speech to Great Han and the world after the Kashgar Campaign, acknowledging the victory’s terrible losses and rejecting the idea that strength gave anyone the right to oppress the weak. She ended by declaring that Great Han and humanity would never surrender, as the people of Luoyang Square roared their support.

• Jiang Lihua struggled with the lectern and microphone, accidentally opening her speech with a complaint that made listeners across the broadcasts laugh.
• Jiang Lihua acknowledged Great Han’s victory at Kashgar and the many Indian soldiers killed, missing, or still unaccounted for.
• Jiang Lihua argued that people differed in strength and ability, but that power and authority existed to serve others rather than trample them.
• Jiang Lihua promised to rebuild Great Han’s forces and infrastructure, defend its territory, and support India and Area 11.
• Jiang Lihua declared that Great Han would never surrender, then put down Lin Cuo’s manuscript and threatened to punish him for ordering the Son of Heaven around.
• Jiang Lihua called for a Great Han worthy of its people’s trust, and Luoyang Square answered with cries of support for Great Han, the Son of Heaven, and humanity.

Leila Malcal addressed the E.U. Forty-Person Committee as its members argued over the alien threat and whether to join the Great Han-Britannia space race. The committee proposed sending Leila as its representative, then suggested her gender could help secure a meeting with Great Han’s Regent.

• The E.U. committee argued over whether the BETA threat was real and whether to join the planetary defense effort, while a dispute over gifts and political donations erupted into a brawl.
• The three consuls offered conflicting positions, and the committee called Leila Malcal to testify after its observer authorization arrived too late for the Kashgar Campaign.
• Leila criticized the committee for delaying decisions and invoked Napoleon’s legacy while defending democratic principles and demanding accountability for inaction.
• Committee members proposed that Leila represent the E.U. in the space race discussions because she could appear politically reliable and represent exiles through her responsibility for W-0.
• A committee member argued that Leila’s youth and gender might help her secure a direct meeting with Great Han’s Regent.

Leila secured appointment as head of an E.U. delegation to Luoyang, though the committee left its funding and major policy questions unresolved. Meanwhile, Clovis approved a plan for Ashford Academy’s second year to relocate to Great Han for a year, with an Education Liaison Officer accompanying them.

• Leila rejected the committee’s suggestion that she use her sex to approach Great Han’s Regent and demanded recognition of her delegation’s rights and W-0’s members’ choices.
• After a chaotic debate, the committee agreed in principle to send a planetary-defense and technical-observation delegation led by Major Leila Malcal, while postponing other decisions.
• Leila told Anna that she worked for people who believed in freedom and equality, as well as for Akito and the others.
• The Ashford Family Head explained to Clovis that moving the entire second year to Great Han would disguise the relocation as a normal international exchange.
• Clovis approved the students’ departure and said his office would send an Education Liaison Officer, while presenting the program as a way to demonstrate Britannian youth’s competitiveness.

At Ashford Academy, Tabane announced a one-year exchange program at Penglai IS Academy and revealed that Lelouch was already in Goryeo helping with military courses. Nina decided to apply, while Shirley considered going so she could ask Lelouch why he had left and check on Nunnally.

• Milly teased Shirley about repeatedly watching Lelouch's empty seat, while Rivalz shared rumors about Lelouch's work in Goryeo.
• Nina studied footage of the IS operations in Kashgar and questioned how Great Han had developed its technology and academy.
• Tabane announced that Penglai IS Academy was inviting Ashford students to a one-year exchange program, with IS operator courses restricted to women.
• Tabane showed footage of Lelouch in Goryeo, teased Shirley about her feelings for him, and revealed that he was helping design courses for the exchange program.
• Nina decided to apply after learning that Princess Euphemia might visit Penglai, and Shirley considered applying to speak with Lelouch and check on Nunnally.

After C.C. woke in Luoyang, Lin Cuo tried to confirm her contract by kissing her without permission, prompting Jiang Lihua to scold him and join C.C. in criticizing his conduct. The encounter established a weak psionic resonance for Lin Cuo, leaving him with a new potential trait rather than an immediate power.

• Nina hesitated before submitting an unpublished Orbital Physics paper to the Sakuradite High-Energy Experimental Group application.
• Lin Cuo kissed the newly awakened C.C. before she could explain her contract terms, and she bit his lip.
• Jiang Lihua arrived, heard C.C.'s complaint, and warned Lin Cuo not to act without consent again.
• Lin Cuo invoked Chancellor Cao's tradition of recruiting talent, while Jiang Lihua and C.C. mocked his excuse and discussed his kiss.
• The system granted Lin Cuo the leader trait psionic potential after he formed a weak, stable resonance with the higher-dimensional sea of consciousness.

Lin Cuo recruited the newly awakened C.C. as a temporary consultant for the Regent Council's supernatural affairs while she negotiated limits on her employment. After Tabane praised Nina Einstein's research on sakuradite, Lin Cuo ordered her immediate recruitment.

• Lin Cuo discovered that his new [Psionic Potential] ability had not given him a Geass contract, and C.C. clarified that their consciousnesses had only briefly resonated.
• Lin Cuo tried to draw C.C. into a ceremonial embrace, then offered her a position with the Regent Council; C.C. accepted temporary consultant work with the right to quit at any time.
• Lin Cuo assigned C.C. a large collection of research files, and she objected by throwing one at him.
• A Prussian adjutant reported that the Empire's confidential secretariat had cleared the area, while Jiang Lihua left to handle the Son of Heaven's live broadcast.
• Tabane told Lin Cuo that Nina Einstein had derived key boundary conditions for high-energy sakuradite, and Lin Cuo ordered her recruited immediately.

Nina arrived at Penglai as head of the Firmament Project’s student theory group, while Milly accepted a paid role overseeing student research ethics. Lin Cuo also arranged for the E.U. delegation to remain in Great Han for 180 days, offering access to research and protections for W-0 members as Leila challenged the arrangement.

• Nina received a special researcher appointment and learned she would lead the Firmament Project’s international student theory group under strict safety rules.
• The Great Han Court Television Bureau announced the Firmament Project’s first phase, with five joint research groups and a 120-day target for the first low-orbit satellite.
• Lin Cuo greeted Nina and explained that Tabane had found two errors in her theory; Milly accepted a paid position as the student self-governance committee’s founding chair and research ethics liaison.
• Leila and the E.U. delegation arrived in Luoyang to find their mission extended to 180 days, with their equipment and funding tied to staying in Great Han.
• Lin Cuo offered the delegation research access and proposed status options and protections for W-0 members, while Leila accused him of manipulating the E.U. committee.

Lin Cuo publicly praised the E.U. delegation before detaining its armed W-0 personnel, claiming he was protecting their freedom to choose their allegiance. Kaguya Sumeragi and Great Han officials offered Area 11 citizenship and legal protections to W-0 members, while Lin Cuo examined Eito Hyuga’s unusual combat traits.

• Dietrich began a worldwide broadcast, and Lin Cuo and Leila described the E.U. observation mission and debated W-0 members’ freedom to choose their futures.
• After the broadcast ended, Great Han Military Police and Prussia Gendarmerie disarmed and restrained the delegation’s armed personnel.
• Lin Cuo told Leila the detentions temporarily separated W-0 members from military orders so they could decide freely.
• Kaguya Sumeragi announced that eligible W-0 members could regain Area 11 citizenship, while Great Han offered additional citizenship and support to those who joined its defense framework.
• Lin Cuo viewed Eito Hyuga’s character information, including his high Valor and the dangerous effects of his mind-control experiment.

Lin Cuo secured the transfer of W-0’s combat personnel to the Area 11 Government-in-Exile by offering citizenship and military service, while Leila objected to losing her unit. He then revealed that Great Han had acquired W-0’s Apollo’s Chariot deployment system and its technology license, leaving Leila and Anna alarmed by its dangers.

• Lin Cuo offered Eito Hyuga a custom-built Alexander unit and military enlistment in Area 11 under conditions that forbade suicide tactics and required obedience to retreat orders.
• Sayanami, Naruse Yukiya, Kousaka Ayano, and Eito Hyuga signed documents becoming Area 11 and Great Han Community citizens, with Naruse securing a protection against involuntary Brain Raid experiments.
• Leila accused Lin Cuo of poaching her unit, while he invited her to remain as their political supervisor and tactical adviser.
• Lin Cuo announced that Great Han had purchased an Apollo’s Chariot system, its engineering documentation, and a nonexclusive production license from the E.U.
• Anna explained that Apollo’s Chariot launched KMFs through a mountain track and sent pilots through a hazardous high-altitude descent into enemy territory.

Lin Cuo proposed transforming Apollo's Chariot into Great Han's first crewed return system, with unmanned tests and verified safety measures before any pilots flew. He offered Akito Hyuga the first pilot's place, making survival and the choice to launch explicit priorities, and waited for Akito's answer.

• Lin Cuo criticized the W-0 program's lack of recovery systems, and Leila challenged his motives for buying Apollo's Chariot.
• Lin Cuo unveiled plans to adapt Apollo's Chariot into a crewed spacecraft, with unmanned launches, life-support tests, and three escape systems before crewed flights.
• Lin Cuo ordered the military police to remove the W-0 members' restraint bands.
• Lin Cuo offered Akito Hyuga a role as a test pilot for Great Han's first crewed near-orbital return flights, promising to cancel the mission if safety checks failed.
• Lin Cuo named Akito the first pilot and asked whether he would join the mission, while Akito's answer remained unheard.

Akito Hyuga agreed to join the Golden Crow Project after securing safeguards for himself and his companions, with Tōdō Kyōshirō backing the conditions. After the public proceedings, Akito and the others left with Area 11's Government-in-Exile, while Leila Marukal was summoned to hear a new personnel decision from Paris.

• Akito Hyuga agreed to join the Golden Crow Project on the condition that Ryo, Naruse Yukiya, and Kousaka Ayano serve on the Mission Safety Committee and retain the right to refuse missions.
• Lin Cuo promised that launches required approval from the Son of Heaven, the Common Defense Military Affairs Committee, the Mission Safety Committee, and the Driver.
• Tōdō Kyōshirō supported Akito's conditions and vowed to petition the Son of Heaven if Lin Cuo tried to reinterpret the safety rules.
• Kaguya Sumeragi asked Lin Cuo to include Area 11's Government-in-Exile emblem on the Return Capsule, and he agreed to display both nations' emblems.
• Akito Hyuga, Sayanami, Naruse Yukiya, and Kousaka Ayano left for the Independent Medical Zone with Area 11 officials, while Leila Marukal was summoned to hear Paris's new personnel decision.

The E.U. suspended Leila’s delegation and surrendered her to Great Han’s protective detention as part of a ceasefire deal with Britannia. Great Han used Anna and the other delegation members as leverage to force Leila’s cooperation, while Lin Cuo later received the system updates and noticed C.C. enjoying pizza.

• The E.U. committee revoked Leila’s delegation mandate and diplomatic immunity, revealing that the Marukal Family and other factions had traded her removal for concessions from Britannia and Great Han.
• Great Han detained Leila, Anna, and the rest of the delegation, then separated them and took them to different locations.
• An interrogator presented Leila with a supervision agreement and threatened her team to force her to stop interfering with W-0’s change of nationality and Great Han’s defense projects.
• Great Han’s guards beat Leila while interrogators threatened Anna and a technician, but Leila told Anna not to surrender the encryption key.
• The system recorded Leila’s imprisonment and her shift to viewing Lin Cuo as an enemy, while Lin Cuo saw C.C. enjoy pizza and receive a temporary improvement in her mood toward him.

Lin Cuo persuaded C.C. to consider a future trip to the moon, then convened Great Han’s supreme Common Defense military conference to propose standardizing the army’s equipment. Cao Yuanming eagerly accepted leadership of the new commission, while Lin Cuo also presented plans to upgrade tanks and develop a massive siege vehicle.

• Lin Cuo argued that C.C. could observe the moon from lunar orbit, and she conditionally agreed to discuss going after he built a Return Capsule.
• At the military conference, Li Xingke anticipated another major assignment, while Lin Cuo proposed creating the Great Han Commission on Armored Force Organization and Military Equipment Standards.
• Lin Cuo flattered Cao Yuanming into accepting the commission’s directorship and tasked Liaodong with preparing standard equipment samples within thirty days.
• Li Xingke questioned Lin Cuo’s plans for conventional tanks, and Lin Cuo outlined upgrades to existing tanks alongside a 180-millimeter Quake-Mountain Siege Vehicle.
• Lin Cuo showed how the siege vehicle would deploy spread tracks, hydraulic supports, and recoil spades before firing.

Lin Cuo presented the Earth-Shaking Type concept, but engineers raised technical challenges he could not answer. Li Xingke connected the design to the Dragon's Gall's amphibious technology and proposed separate operating modes for movement and firing, leaving Lin Cuo considering a heavier, costlier machine.

• An engineer questioned the Earth-Shaking Type's recoil, track deployment, electromagnetic acceleration, and energy storage, while Lin Cuo admitted he did not understand the technical details.
• Li Xingke refused Lin Cuo's attempt to delegate the technical review to him and asked whether he remembered the Dragon's Gall.
• Chou Xianglin explained that the Dragon's Gall was a huge tracked command platform that could be refitted to operate on water, and Lin Cuo realized its propulsion system supported different modes.
• Li Xingke proposed combining floating mobility with ground spades and hydraulic locks for fixed firing, while engineers suggested interlocking the power systems and adapting the Dragon's Gall's heavy gun mounts for testing.
• Lin Cuo asked whether the machine could have two operating modes, and Li Xingke warned that the design would increase weight, cost, and maintenance.

Lin Cuo and Li Xingke discussed expanding the Earth-Shaking Type project as Great Han mobilized its neglected technical workforce. The meeting ended with officials restricting Lin Cuo’s authority to make foreign commitments after reviewing Leila Malcal’s detention, while the system exposed his poor diplomatic credibility.

• Lin Cuo agreed to pay more for the Earth-Shaking Type, and engineers were tasked with preparing three prototype designs.
• Great Han’s population review verified nearly four billion people, revealing a vast technical workforce that had been misallocated or left away from professional posts.
• The system initiated a national focus to bring back those who had left their posts and improve engineering, procurement, and equipment reliability.
• Li Xingke presented Leila Malcal’s detention report, and officials agreed that her immediate release could create diplomatic risks.
• Cao Yuanming proposed requiring the Son of Heaven’s countersignature and legal review for external commitments, and C.C. told Lin Cuo that others could no longer trust him.
• The system rated Lin Cuo’s personal and treaty credibility extremely low and said Great Han’s ability to fulfill commitments depended primarily on Son of Heaven Jiang Lihua.

Lin Cuo used a global broadcast to defend Great Han’s actions and promote military and industrial reforms, boosting domestic support while damaging international trust. He then enlisted C.C. to examine ancient records and planned a visit to Penglai’s academy, while Nina remained unaware that Lin Cuo intended to recruit her.

• Lin Cuo gave a global speech denying that Great Han had detained the E.U. delegation, defending his credibility, promising better support for engineers, and justifying the Great Purge.
• Cao Yuanming ordered Liaodong officials not to cite Lin Cuo’s technical comments, while the broadcast increased domestic support and engineers’ willingness to return but further reduced diplomatic credibility.
• C.C. criticized Lin Cuo’s handling of his credibility and challenged his claim that Leila was being treated well in detention.
• Lin Cuo gave C.C. twelve boxes of historical and supernatural records, and she corrected an error in one document and identified a hidden entrance on an ancient map.
• Lin Cuo assigned C.C. eighteen hours of archival work per day, and she added a permanent right to refuse overtime and forced labor.
• Lin Cuo told C.C. to review the third box while he prepared to visit the academy in Penglai, and Nina remained unaware of his plans to recruit her.

Lin Cuo visited Nina Einstein at Penglai Academy and used personal attention and reassurance to draw her out, while C.C. warned him not to exploit her vulnerability. The chapter left Nina listening as Lin Cuo told her she had noticed his injury when others only saw his authority and usefulness.

• Lin Cuo asked for Nina Einstein at Penglai Academy and activated a plan to win her trust by appealing to her need for affirmation and protection.
• C.C. criticized Lin Cuo's approach and warned him that Nina might mistake his attention for her whole life, and he promised to take responsibility for her.
• Lin Cuo visited Nina's temporary theory room, put aside her reports, and told her he had come to meet her rather than discuss work.
• Lin Cuo complimented Nina, asked to call her Big Sister Nina in private, and noticed she had not eaten.
• Nina noticed Lin Cuo's injured hand, and he told her she was warm and that she was the only person who had noticed his pain.

Lin Cuo deepened Nina Einstein’s attachment by giving her personal attention before leaving Penglai, while Leila endured coercive interrogation in Luoyang. The chapter ended with Leila receiving three books, including Lin Cuo’s My Struggle.

• Lin Cuo told Nina that her care gave him a feeling of maternal warmth, and Nina admitted she did not dislike hearing it.
• Lin Cuo left without pressing Nina further, promised to visit again, and called her “big sister Nina”; Nina spent the evening thinking about him instead of working.
• Leila refused to surrender the E.U.’s encrypted communications structure despite hunger, sleeplessness, and manipulated footage of Anna being tortured.
• Leila confronted the interrogator after he used her wartime records and her former comrades’ departure from the E.U. to provoke her.
• After the interrogator left, a tray arrived for Leila containing three books, the last titled My Struggle and bearing Lin Cuo’s courtesy name, Fengxian.