Recaps

Chu Mu questioned an Ember Ascetics leader about the Lady and learned that the Ascetics blamed a blind outsider for the world’s ancient fire. Three days later, the Red Sun Ascetics’ priest returned and explained that his sect planned to awaken the Red Sun by burning the Sand Sea Planet.

• Chu Mu learned that the Ember Ascetics and Blind Ascetics had been resurrected from embers, and that the Ember Ascetics blamed a blind outsider for burning the world.
• Chu Mu asked whether the Lady had a spouse, then sent the Ember Ascetics away under Sampo’s guard.
• Three days later, the Red Sun Ascetics’ priest arrived, and Chu Mu questioned him privately about the new world and the flames he had foretold.
• The priest said the Red Sun Ascetics worshipped the ancient Red Sun and believed the Lady’s ember-made world was a prison rather than salvation.
• The priest explained that his sect had returned to the surface two hundred years earlier, used Denizens of Abundance as kindling, and planned to awaken the Red Sun.

The Red Sun Priest explained how Sand Sea Planet’s history, population, and competing ascetic groups had been shaped to prepare for the Red Sun’s return. Chu Mu realized he had been drawn into a centuries-long scheme and had brought the Red Sun to the planet, where it was reviving along the threads of history.

• The Red Sun Priest revealed that the Inner World was a Stellaron-created historical point and recounted how he had used expeditions, Artificial Humans, and human-faced mushrooms to grow Sand Sea Planet’s population.
• The priest declared that Chu Mu’s arrival had rekindled a great fire that was consuming historical points and would soon bring back the Red Sun.
• The priest explained his version of the Red Sun’s disappearance, claiming that the lady had loved the Eyeless and that the Eyeless had sought the Red Sun’s Heart.
• Chu Mu challenged the priest’s certainty and learned that the Blind Ascetic Group worshiped the Eyeless while the Ember Ascetic Group worshiped the lady.
• Chu Mu concluded that the scheme had drawn him to Sand Sea Planet with the Red Sun inside him, and that its revival was already beyond his control.

Chu Mu weighed the three Ascetic accounts of Sand Sea Planet’s catastrophe and concluded that the Red Sun Ascetics’ version best matched his dream of the Red Sun’s memories. He then questioned the three factions about their goals and warned that awakening the Red Sun might only leave it vulnerable to being refined by another Aeon.

• Chu Mu compared the Blind, Ember, and Red Sun Ascetics’ accounts, trusting the Red Sun’s version because it matched his dream of the Wedding-Dress Woman and the Red Sun.
• Chu Mu worried that the Red Sun had escaped his control and would seek vengeance when it awakened, then asked Tingyun whether a person was responsible for the sins of a previous life.
• On the fourth day, Chu Mu gathered the three Ascetic groups, whose leaders said they sought to save the faithful, be reborn in the embers, and awaken the Red Sun.
• Chu Mu judged the Blind Ascetics surrenderist, the Ember Ascetics conservative, and the Red Sun Ascetics radical, while arguing that the Red Sun’s awakening could end with an Aeon refining it into a Strange Object.

Chu Mu suspected several Aeons were manipulating events around him, especially Fuli, and refused to let the Ascetics preach. As his mood grew colder and more withdrawn, Tingyun sought Sampo’s help, and Sampo proposed a folk remedy involving marriage.

• Chu Mu considered how Fuli, Yaoshi, Aha, and possibly Nanook might be involved in the scheme surrounding him.
• Chu Mu forbade the Ascetics from preaching, rejected their appeals about reaching the New World, and had the guards take them away.
• Tingyun noticed Chu Mu had grown agitated and withdrawn, while he reassured her that the Ascetics’ insults did not anger him.
• Tingyun visited Sampo, who claimed Chu Mu was oppressed by Vengeful Spirits and dark energy.
• Sampo told Tingyun that a folk remedy called bringing good luck through marriage might help Chu Mu.

Tingyun arrived at Chu Mu’s quarters in a wedding gown after Sampo’s tale about a marriage cure convinced her to try bringing him good luck. Chu Mu mistook her for an assassin, then let her sit beside him before falling asleep; he awoke to Sampo’s return and the Ancestor Tree announcing that a new Lady had been selected as a gift to the Red Sun.

• Sampo warned Tingyun not to take the wedding gown or try the marriage cure, but she left after hearing his explanation.
• Chu Mu returned exhausted to his treehouse and shouted that there was an assassin when he heard Tingyun breathing inside.
• Tingyun admitted she had arranged the wedding, and Chu Mu learned that she believed marrying him could bring him good luck.
• Tingyun asked Chu Mu to sit with her, and he stayed beside her before lying down and falling asleep.
• Sampo returned and announced that the group was back as the Ancestor Tree declared that a new Lady had been selected for the Red Sun.

Chu Mu learned that the ascetic orders had chosen Tingyun as the Lady to offer to the Red Sun, then raced through his fictional space toward the burning Ancestor Tree to save her. He was still climbing as the flames pursued him.

• Chu Mu realized Tingyun had been chosen as the Lady, and Kang Shuo revealed the ascetic orders’ scheme to offer her to the Red Sun.
• Kang Shuo explained how he had betrayed his expedition, become trapped on Sand Sea Planet, and lured expeditions there in hopes of escaping.
• Kang Shuo said Tingyun was being held in the Ancestor Tree and warned that the tribespeople planned to burn it, but Chu Mu vanished into his fictional space.
• Sampo learned that the Ancestor Tree was already burning and realized Chu Mu had rushed off to rescue Tingyun.
• Chu Mu raced up the burning Ancestor Tree’s spiral staircase, determined not to let Tingyun be taken from him.

Chu Mu rescued Tingyun from the burning treehouse and explained that the Red Sun was eroding their historical world. Kafka and Silver Wolf arrived with the Stellaron, and as the false world began to collapse, Chu Mu prepared to return with Tingyun.

• Chu Mu used the Path of the Eyeless to pull Tingyun from the burning treehouse and teleport her away.
• Chu Mu told Tingyun that the Red Sun was awakening and that he was waiting for his family to rescue him.
• Tingyun asked to join Chu Mu's family, and Kafka and Silver Wolf emerged from a rift in space.
• Silver Wolf revealed that she had obtained the Stellaron after she and Kafka fought through the Fragmentum.
• Chu Mu explained the Red Sun's plan, and the historical world began to shatter as the Stellaron's power faded.
• Chu Mu took Tingyun's hand and said they could return to the real world.

After the Antimatter Legion and the Denizens of Abundance devastated Sand Sea Planet, Chu Mu reflected on the Sand Sea people’s endless but miserable lives. As the group tried to leave, Sampo appeared and sparked a chaotic argument over whether Chu Mu and Tingyun had married.

• The Antimatter Legion and the Denizens of Abundance left Sand Sea Planet after destroying much of its surface and finding nothing, leaving the tribespeople without their Inner World.
• Chu Mu explained that the Sand Sea people’s immortality had trapped many of them in lives they no longer wanted, and Tingyun, Silver Wolf, and Kafka discussed their suffering.
• Chu Mu asked how the group could escape, but Sampo appeared and Silver Wolf and Kafka accused him of owing them for the Star Destroyer, her coat, and her game cartridges.
• Sampo claimed he had planned Chu Mu and Tingyun’s wedding, prompting Kafka and Silver Wolf to assume they had married.
• Tingyun admitted she had married Chu Mu but said he had not agreed, and Kafka declared that the marriage was settled while Chu Mu objected.

Chu Mu and his companions prepared to leave Sand Sea Planet aboard a replacement Star Destroyer while teasing him about Tingyun’s feelings and his reluctance to discuss marriage. Sampo stayed behind in exchange for having his Star Destroyer debt canceled, and the others departed without him as Kafka began a private chat with Tingyun.

• Kafka asked Chu Mu whether he was putting off Tingyun’s affection because she might feel differently after recovering her memories, and Chu Mu avoided making any promises about marriage.
• Kafka took Tingyun’s hand to talk privately after Chu Mu joked that Kafka could raise Tingyun as her daughter, while Silver Wolf announced that their replacement Star Destroyer had arrived.
• Silver Wolf explained that Asta’s insurance had provided the replacement ship, and Chu Mu insisted that Sampo still owed him a Star Destroyer despite the accident.
• Chu Mu offered to cancel Sampo’s debt if he stayed on Sand Sea Planet for a year to record what happened there, and Sampo eagerly agreed.
• Chu Mu, Kafka, Silver Wolf, and Tingyun boarded the Star Destroyer and sealed the doors to keep Sampo from following them.
• Silver Wolf began configuring and checking the ship before departure, while Kafka took Tingyun aside to answer her question.

Chu Mu prepared to return to Belobog’s Underworld, reflecting on how Kafka had helped him find hope and resolve to save it. Tingyun approached him despite her lost memories, and the chapter ended when she placed her tail in his hand.

• Chu Mu measured the Star Destroyer and decided he would hold everyone’s hands during the next warp.
• Tingyun told Chu Mu that Kafka had said she was a successful merchant and that she wanted to earn money for him.
• Chu Mu confronted Kafka and Silver Wolf after realizing Kafka had encouraged Tingyun to try to become family with him.
• Chu Mu reflected on how Kafka had changed his life and resolved to save Belobog’s Underworld when he returned.
• Tingyun challenged Chu Mu’s rejection of her, asked him to hold out his hand, and placed her trembling tail in his palm.

Chu Mu and Kafka discussed Tingyun’s feelings before Silver Wolf prepared the Star Destroyer to jump to Jarilo-VI, with Chu Mu planning to undergo Artificial Eye surgery. The jump succeeded, but Chu Mu disintegrated into embers and realized he had died long ago on Sand Sea Planet and could not leave it.

• Kafka told Chu Mu that Tingyun believed his rejection of her tail-touching was a failed courtship, and Chu Mu promised to explain his feelings to her.
• Chu Mu said he was not ready for marriage, and Kafka warned that Tingyun might mistake his familial affection for romantic love.
• Silver Wolf prepared a jump to Jarilo-VI, while Chu Mu asked to undergo Artificial Eye surgery and Tingyun chose to stay with the group.
• Chu Mu took Tingyun’s hand as Silver Wolf initiated the jump, which succeeded without any apparent failure.
• Chu Mu disintegrated into embers and realized that he had died on Sand Sea Planet long ago and that the Red Sun’s hope had concealed the truth.

Chu Mu sacrificed himself to sprout the Ambrosial Arbor and destroy Red Sun, while the departing Star Destroyer mourned him. Norton revealed Yaoshi’s account of the Lady and Eyeless, but Red Sun’s memories contradicted that history before Reignbow arrived and shattered the tree.

• Chu Mu called upon Yaoshi as Red Sun fought to take over his body, and the Ambrosial Arbor Seed sprouted from his left eye, absorbing the embers and transforming him into a vast tree.
• Kafka, Tingyun, and Silver Wolf watched the Arbor rise; Silver Wolf ordered the Star Destroyer to leave before the Hunt arrived, and Faf played Kafka’s recorded good-night message.
• Norton told Chu Mu that Red Sun had preyed on the Lady, that Eyeless had betrayed her to obtain the Red Sun’s Heart, and that Yaoshi’s scheme sought Red Sun’s death.
• As Red Sun’s consciousness faded, Chu Mu saw memories suggesting the Red Sun’s Heart had been fake and Eyeless had fought Red Sun from within after being swallowed.
• Reignbow followed the Ambrosial Arbor’s presence and shot the immense tree to pieces.

Herta’s latest Strange Objects included a broken remnant of the Ambrosial Arbor from Sand Sea Planet, leading Asta and Arlan to fear that Chu Mu and the Stellaron Hunters had encountered it. Elsewhere, a girl won a game against an AI modeled on Chu Mu, but his absence left her grieving.

• A girl bought a broken piece of wood from a vendor for two billion Credits, and he claimed it was his big brother.
• Herta’s staff placed the wood in containment, where the Rating Gun repeatedly failed to determine its rating.
• Asta recognized Sand Sea as the site of Chu Mu’s Star Destroyer accident and worried that he and the Stellaron Hunters had encountered the Ambrosial Arbor.
• Asta left the containment chamber with Arlan, fearing for Chu Mu despite Arlan’s attempt to reassure her.
• A girl beat an AI based on Chu Mu’s past gameplay and broke down in tears, while a purple-haired woman cried silently outside the door.

Seven years after A-Mu was left inside a broken piece of wood, an invasion and the Antimatter Legion threw Herta Space Station into chaos. Kafka and Silver Wolf visited the storage chamber, spoke to the sleeping A-Mu, and left before he woke, telling him they would be waiting for him to come home.

• Asta evacuated the researchers after the Space Station was invaded and the Antimatter Legion appeared, suspecting the enemy had unsealed the Stellaron to cause confusion.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf entered the storage chamber, where the Rating Gun gave Silver Wolf a score of 110 before freezing.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf found A-Mu's consciousness inside the broken piece of wood and reflected on how he had survived The Hunt's arrow.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf told A-Mu they had missed him and would meet him again, then left before he woke.

Stelle discovered Chu Mu, who had been trapped in broken wood, and became the only person able to hear his thoughts. Chu Mu explained the cost of his bargain with Yaoshi and his limited time before returning to Deep Blue Star, while a newcomer caught Stelle beside his puppet body and misunderstood what she was doing.

• Stelle entered the containment chamber, touched the broken wood, and met Chu Mu in the form of a boy-shaped puppet.
• Chu Mu introduced himself and offered to tell Stelle about Kafka, but Stelle decided she would rather ask Kafka in person.
• Chu Mu revealed that Yaoshi had restored his sight at the cost of his voice, sealed the Red Sun, and arranged for his past self to revive within him.
• Chu Mu reflected that he had one year left before he had to return to Deep Blue Star, and Stelle agreed to protect him in exchange for meeting Kafka.
• A pink-haired girl entered, saw Stelle with Chu Mu, and accused Stelle of stripping him naked.

March 7th met Chu Mu and learned he was a Strange Object who had taken human form. Stelle decided to leave the Space Station with March and bring Chu Mu along, disguising him as a Herta Puppet as they prepared to sneak out.

• March 7th arrived, met Chu Mu, and heard Stelle explain that he was a Strange Object in human form.
• March urged Stelle to travel with the Express and seek answers about her lost memories and Stellaron, and Stelle agreed to leave the Space Station.
• Stelle decided to take Chu Mu with them and warned that Herta might subject him to experiments.
• March accidentally pulled Chu Mu's arm off, while Stelle falsely told her he wanted compensation before Chu Mu retrieved and reattached it.
• Stelle picked Chu Mu up and concealed him as they planned to sneak past the researchers without alerting Herta.

Stelle carried a Herta Puppet toward the Astral Express, while Chu Mu reflected on March 7th’s lost past and her place among the crew. When Herta confronted Stelle at the Platform, Stelle revealed that the puppet was actually Chu Mu and called him a summoned beast.

• Stelle and March 7th crossed the space station toward the Platform while Chu Mu listened to March 7th talk about her past and the Astral Express Crew.
• Chu Mu felt kinship with March 7th because he had also struggled with questions about his origins.
• At the Platform, Stelle saw Asta, Arlan, Herta’s puppet, and Himeko waiting by the Astral Express and tried to turn back.
• Asta and Arlan confronted Stelle about the puppet she was carrying, and Stelle called it a local specialty from the space station.
• Herta demanded to see the puppet, so Stelle shook off the coat and shouted, “Go, summoned beast!”

Herta discovered Stelle’s scheme and considered dissecting Chu Mu, but Himeko persuaded her to let him join the Astral Express. As the train departed, Asta and Arlan silently said goodbye to Chu Mu and planned to prepare supplies for his next return.

• Herta revealed that she had watched Stelle sneak into the storage compartment and recognized Chu Mu as a transformed remnant of the Ambrosial Arbor.
• Asta stopped Arlan from greeting Chu Mu because she feared Herta would become curious and experiment on him.
• March 7th and Himeko intervened when Herta proposed dissecting Chu Mu, and Herta agreed to let the Astral Express take him.
• Stelle asked Herta for a reward for recruiting Chu Mu to the simulated universe, and Herta discussed using him to attract Yaoshi’s attention.
• Chu Mu boarded the Astral Express and waved goodbye as the train departed, while Asta and Arlan watched him leave.
• Asta told Arlan she wanted to buy travel supplies for Chu Mu before the train’s next return.

As the Astral Express headed for Jarilo-VI, Chu Mu revealed that he had left the planet over ten years earlier and offered to share what he knew about it. The crew welcomed his privacy and explained their trust in fellow passengers, leaving Stelle asking who could challenge Welt’s strength.

• The Astral Express crew welcomed Chu Mu and Stelle aboard, though Chu Mu viewed himself as a passenger while Stelle chose to join the Nameless.
• When Himeko announced Jarilo-VI as the next stop, Chu Mu became agitated and typed that he was from the planet.
• Chu Mu told Welt Yang that he had left Jarilo over ten years ago, declined to discuss the secrets behind his later experiences, and offered to explain the planet’s situation.
• Himeko explained that the crew respected passengers’ privacy and cited Dan Heng as a member whose complicated past they did not pry into.
• Welt said he would watch for anyone with ill intentions, and Himeko said he had no equal below an Emanator.
• Stelle squeezed over and asked who was stronger than an Emanator.

Himeko explained Aha’s fatal prank on the Astral Express and prepared the crew for a Stellaron-sealing mission on Jarilo-VI. Before the warp, March 7th offered to make Chu Mu clothes, and he began listing what he wanted.

• Himeko told Chu Mu and Stelle that Aha had once disguised themself aboard the Express and destroyed half the train and a planet, then reassured them that Aha was unlikely to return without Akivili.
• Chu Mu discussed Jarilo-VI’s Stellaron and Elio’s plans, wondering whether Stelle and he had both been drawn into the script.
• Himeko assigned Stelle, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Chu Mu to seal Jarilo-VI’s Stellaron while she and Welt stayed aboard the Express.
• March 7th accidentally pulled Chu Mu’s arm off when she tried to draw him into her room, and Chu Mu reattached it.
• March 7th offered to sew Chu Mu clothes, showed him the outfits she had made for Pom-Pom, and watched eagerly as he typed his requirements.

March 7th reconsidered Chu Mu’s outfit so it would make a striking impression when he returned to Jarilo-VI, while Stelle and Himeko interrupted the fitting with jokes. The scene ended with Dan Heng investigating the shuffled books in the Data Bank as Chu Mu approached him and Stelle braced for trouble.

• March 7th persuaded Chu Mu to choose a brighter outfit for his return to Jarilo-VI, and he agreed to her suggestion.
• March 7th began measuring Chu Mu, but Stelle opened the unlocked door and teased them about the scene.
• Himeko arrived with coffee and joked that March 7th had finally gotten a life-sized doll, then offered to help design Chu Mu’s clothes.
• Stelle drank Himeko’s bitter black coffee to persuade Chu Mu to try it, but Chu Mu pointed out that he was a puppet and could not drink.
• Dan Heng asked who had rearranged the books in the Data Bank, and Stelle nervously suspected Chu Mu would report her.

Chu Mu joined the Astral Express crew as they prepared to warp, wearing a formal outfit made by Himeko and March 7th. Pom-Pom reminded Stelle of the train’s rules, then the warp began and Chu Mu caught March 7th as she fell backward.

• Chu Mu told Stelle he did not know who had messed up the data bank, after making her finish her coffee to hear the answer.
• Himeko and March 7th finished Chu Mu’s formalwear, and he tried it on while March 7th took his picture.
• Welt called everyone to the parlor car, where Chu Mu met the Conductor, Pom-Pom.
• Pom-Pom questioned Stelle about the overturned trash cans and reminded her to follow the Express’s rules.
• Pom-Pom started the warp countdown, and Chu Mu steadied March 7th when she tipped backward.

Chu Mu returned to the icy planet Jarilo and prepared to reunite with the people he had left behind thirteen years earlier. The Astral Express was forced to stop because of a Stellaron, and Chu Mu set out with the others to investigate.

• Chu Mu arrived near Jarilo, reflected on the people he hoped to see again, and received encouragement from Himeko and March 7th.
• Pom-Pom announced that a Stellaron had disrupted the star rail and extended the Express's stop indefinitely, so Himeko assigned the Trailblaze mission to Stelle, Chu Mu, and March 7th after Dan Heng finished collecting data.
• March 7th wondered whether her unknown past was connected to the ice-covered planet.
• Stelle helped Pom-Pom clean the Express, and March 7th wrote in her diary about her new companions and her fear of forgetting them again.
• Dan Heng arrived with his spear, and Chu Mu wondered about the people who had been hunting him.

Chu Mu and the Astral Express Crew landed on Jarilo-VI and encountered Sampo on the snowfield outside Belobog. Sampo claimed he had stayed on the planet for years, leaving Chu Mu wondering whether the Sampo he had met elsewhere—and the news about the Old Director—had been false.

• Himeko sent Stelle and Dan Heng to Jarilo-VI while the Express remained in orbit, and Chu Mu joined them as they approached Belobog on foot.
• Dan Heng warned the group to stay alert for Fragmentum Monsters, and Chu Mu worried that the corruption might have reached the Underworld.
• March 7th and Stelle tried to stop a man running toward them, but he shouted for Chu Mu before Dan Heng held him at spearpoint.
• Sampo recognized Chu Mu as his big bro, and Chu Mu demanded two billion Credits before recording Sampo's promise to pay.
• Sampo claimed he had been in Belobog for thirteen years, prompting Chu Mu to question whether another Sampo had appeared on Deep Blue and Sand Sea and whether the Old Director might still be alive.

Chu Mu and the Astral Express crew were caught up in Sampo’s pursuit by the Silvermane Guards, and Sampo escaped with Chu Mu while the others faced Guard Captain Gepard. Chu Mu then dreamed of his arrival as a child from beyond the heavens and the uncertain woman who took him in.

• A Silvermane Guard squad confronted Chu Mu, Sampo, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Stelle, and the crew fought back rather than be arrested.
• Sampo used a Smoke Bomb to escape with Chu Mu as Gepard and several squads of reinforcements arrived.
• March 7th and Dan Heng stopped fighting and told Gepard that Sampo had tricked them and fled with Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu dreamed of nobles demanding his death and a woman gently taking him in as a child who had fallen from the heavens.