Chapter Summaries

As Skorint descended into violent conflict, Luwan shared the regrets of his life with Chu Mu and offered him a final lesson about making his own choices. Luwan chose euthanasia and died with Chu Mu holding his hand.

• The city broadcast a curfew and threatened to exterminate rebels as Skorint's unrest escalated.
• Chu Mu and Silver Wolf returned to the ship, where Kafka sent everyone to their cabins and Asta worried that she had led them into danger.
• Chu Mu told Asta that coming to Skorint was something he was destined to do.
• A doctor called Chu Mu to Luwan's room, where the dying man recounted his failed research, lost love, and regrets over his adopted son.
• Luwan urged Chu Mu to learn from his mistakes, then pressed the euthanasia button and died holding Chu Mu's hand.

After Skorint sank, Asta suspected the research vessel’s Acting Governor and his crew were Rebels and asked Kafka and Chu Mu to help take the ship. Kafka used her suggestion ability to make the Acting Governor trade vessels, while his own men later killed him; the chapter ends with the research vessel’s crew giving Luwan a sea burial.

• The Bosang escaped Skorint as missiles struck the fleeing ships, and the ancient city sank after its seabed supports were destroyed.
• Asta met the research vessel’s Acting Governor, who urged her to switch ships, and she suspected he and his crew were Rebels.
• Asta revealed that she recognized Kafka as a Stellaron Hunter and asked her to help seize the research vessel.
• Kafka used her suggestion ability to make the Acting Governor and his squad trade ships with the Bosang’s crew.
• The Acting Governor realized what had happened and threatened to seize another vessel, but his squad stabbed him and threw him into the sea.
• The research vessel’s crew tied weights to Luwan’s body and gave him a sea burial.

Chu Mu misunderstood Asta’s attempt to spend time with him, believing relationships were based on mutual usefulness, while Asta hoped he would invite her to play games. After Silver Wolf suggested Asta might have feelings for Chu Mu, he said they could be friends only because they currently needed each other.

• Silver Wolf continued trying to decrypt the data while Chu Mu played games with her aboard the old ship.
• Asta came looking for Chu Mu, but left the Command Module without speaking to him; Kafka later urged him to find her.
• Chu Mu found Asta in the captain’s quarters and failed to understand why she wanted to see him without a practical reason.
• Arlan explained that Asta was upset because Chu Mu had not invited her to play, and Chu Mu told her she could play with Silver Wolf next time.
• Silver Wolf suggested Asta might have fallen for Chu Mu, but Chu Mu said they could remain friends because they needed each other.

Chu Mu, Kafka, and Silver Wolf examined stolen expedition records about Deep Blue Star and learned that the artificial planet was still operating as an incubator for an Aeon. The chapter left them wondering whether it was growing a resurrected fallen Aeon and what Path that Aeon would follow.

• Silver Wolf offered to create an AI to describe what Chu Mu saw, while Kafka insisted it be limited to descriptions and imitate her voice.
• Silver Wolf discovered that the copied data was missing records from nearly the last five years and searched the older files.
• Silver Wolf read expedition records describing a descent to the seabed, where investigators found ancient remains and concluded that Deep Blue Star was artificial.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf explained the Dusk War, the Eldbeasts, and Ouroboros to Chu Mu.
• Silver Wolf found that Deep Blue Star was still operating as an incubator for an Aeon, and Kafka suggested it might be preparing a fallen Aeon to return.

Kafka and Silver Wolf investigated the incubator on Deep Blue Star and concluded that it belonged to Tayzzyronth, while Chu Mu privately realized he might be the unknown Aeon born from it. The chapter ended with Chu Mu questioning why the Aeons had guided and helped him.

• Silver Wolf found records indicating the Corporation identified the incubator as Tayzzyronth's thirty years earlier, and that strange activity ten years ago preceded the whales' deaths and the Swarm's takeover of the seabed.
• Silver Wolf and Kafka speculated that the whales had answered Propagation's summons and that an unknown Aeon might have emerged from the incubator before Tayzzyronth occupied it.
• Silver Wolf worried that Propagation might resurrect before Asta's family sent help, then invited Chu Mu to play a game, but he declined and returned to his cabin.
• Kafka told Silver Wolf that Chu Mu's distress was about more than Luwan and said she would speak with him after the crisis, while for now she could only trust him.
• Chu Mu entered the imagined space and suspected that he had hatched from the incubator on Deep Blue Star, drifted to Jarilo-VI, and been prematurely freed from his egg by a researcher.
• Chu Mu wondered whether Yaoshi had blinded him to restore his perfection and why Aha and the other Aeons were helping him, but he felt his deduction was missing crucial information.

Chu Mu returned to the seabed aboard the last giant whale, determined to confront the Propagation and uncover the truth about his origins. The Swarm carried him into a passage beneath the seabed, where he heard a heartbeat pulsing in the depths.

• Chu Mu met the young whale on the Research Vessel, and Kafka gave him her coat as he chose to descend despite the danger.
• Chu Mu resolved that he had to stop the Propagation, believing the Eyeless had guided him back to Deep Blue Star and fearing he might not return as himself.
• The young whale struggled under the deep-sea pressure until the Swarm wrapped around it and carried it downward.
• The Swarm guided Chu Mu and the whale through bones and artificial structures into a passage beneath the seabed, whose entrance closed behind them.
• Chu Mu heard a heartbeat pulsing deep within the passage.

Chu Mu exposed Propagation's failed fusion and asserted control of the Path of the Eyeless. After Propagation annihilated himself, Chu Mu met a crowned young man who called himself Chu Mu's future self.

• The crowned young man claimed he was Luwan's adopted son and explained how Propagation's remains had entered the Incubation Chamber and merged with its inhabitants.
• Chu Mu deduced that Propagation had devoured and fused with the young man, a remnant soul, and the Giant Whale, and connected the Path of the Eyeless to obedience.
• Propagation emerged as a worm-like figure and tried to merge Chu Mu into his nest, but Chu Mu revealed his own crown and throne.
• Propagation admitted his fusion had failed, then chose to annihilate himself rather than fight Chu Mu.
• A crowned young man appeared on a golden throne and greeted Chu Mu as his future self.

The man with mismatched eyes told Chu Mu how the Eyeless Aeon’s followers and the Giant Whales betrayed him, and how Propagation used the Incubator to pursue the Path of the Eyeless. He challenged Chu Mu to discover the Path’s final defining word and warned him that rejecting the Path would carry a price.

• The Eyeless Aeon created a dark ocean world and made his followers and its beasts serve him, but an Eyeless Emanator and a Giant Whale Leader secretly agreed to leave the seabed.
• The Giant Whale Leader built a landmass from his bones, and the Eyeless Emanator returned beneath it, hoping to stop the Aeon from harming his descendants when he revived.
• Thirty years ago, the Eyeless Emanator agreed to help Propagation enter the Incubator, and ten years ago he tricked the Giant Whales into opening it after the Aeon revived.
• Propagation massacred the Giant Whales, merged with the Eyeless Emanator, and launched the infant from the Incubator before trying to seize the Path of the Eyeless through Luwan’s adopted son.
• The man with mismatched eyes told Chu Mu that the Path’s known aspects were blindness and obedience, but withheld its final word and asked Chu Mu to find it himself.
• Chu Mu refused to inherit the Path, and the man warned him that he had betrayed both his previous self and the Path and would pay a price.

Chu Mu learned that the mismatched-eyed man was his past incarnation and that several Aeons wanted to resurrect him through his body. After Chu Mu passed the man’s test by staying true to himself, he advanced along the Path and prepared to absorb the Red Sun, while Yaoshi’s grudge against the man remained unexplained.

• Chu Mu confronted the mismatched-eyed man about his Path, and the man explained that those who travel farthest along it can command the others.
• The mismatched-eyed man revealed that Fuli, Yaoshi, and others wanted to resurrect him through Chu Mu, whose memories would eventually replace his own identity.
• The mismatched-eyed man told Chu Mu that betraying him while remaining true to his heart had been a test, and Chu Mu passed and advanced along the Path.
• The mismatched-eyed man offered to help Chu Mu absorb the Red Sun into his empty right eye socket, while Chu Mu asked him to preserve his Artificial Eye.
• The mismatched-eyed man said he would help Chu Mu become a god in ten years and revealed that Yaoshi might kill him if he returned to life.

Chu Mu received the Red Sun and learned how its power could inspire hope, while refusing the mismatched-eyed man's plan to create slavish followers. Kafka and Silver Wolf descended to find him, and Chu Mu reappeared before them, apparently much taller.

• The man with mismatched eyes housed the Red Sun within Chu Mu and explained that its light could affect minds and awaken hope, while the Black Sun represented despair.
• Chu Mu rejected the idea of making followers and insisted that he and the man with mismatched eyes were walking different paths.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf descended in a submarine, prepared to face Propagation, while Kafka said she would never leave Chu Mu to fend for himself.
• The submarine's scanners revealed Giant Whale skeletons and dead Swarm across the seabed, leading Kafka and Silver Wolf to conclude Chu Mu had won.
• Chu Mu appeared inside the submarine, and Kafka welcomed him while Silver Wolf cried out at how tall he had become.

Chu Mu told Kafka and Silver Wolf the truth about his past and discussed the dangers posed by the Aeons watching him. After Deep Blue Star recovered and the rescue ship arrived, Chu Mu and Asta reaffirmed their friendship as they prepared to leave the planet.

• Chu Mu recounted his past to Kafka and Silver Wolf, including Elio's role in bringing him to Deep Blue Star.
• Kafka, Silver Wolf, and Chu Mu discussed the threats from Aha, Yaoshi, and Fuli, and Chu Mu said he wanted to return to Belobog after leaving Deep Blue Star.
• Deep Blue Star moved into a brighter orbit, its rains cleared the dark clouds, and its Governor began rebuilding civilization for the Hope Era.
• Chu Mu told Asta that they were already friends, and she complained that he had never said so directly.
• A rescue ship arrived, and Chu Mu's three contracts involving Luwan, Sampo, and Asta were fulfilled as the group prepared to leave Deep Blue Star.

Chu Mu waited at a corporate Spaceport with Asta, Kafka, and Silver Wolf, while arranging for Sampo to return to Jarilo-VI. He learned Kafka planned to take him somewhere to treat his eyes before they decided where to go next.

• Chu Mu sent Sampo toward Jarilo-VI aboard a merchant ship, but Silver Wolf's hack had made the ship at Dock Six appear ready to depart, and Asta discovered the ship was delayed.
• Asta offered to investigate the ship, while Chu Mu asked her to make its journey even longer; Silver Wolf laughed when she learned Sampo had boarded it.
• Silver Wolf told Chu Mu that Kafka was shopping and that she had tampered with the Corporation's facial-recognition system to protect Kafka.
• Silver Wolf said Kafka wanted to take Chu Mu somewhere to remove the Ambrosial Arbor seed and possibly restore sight in his left eye.
• Silver Wolf told Chu Mu she was nearly finished building an artificial intelligence, then changed the subject and invited him to play a game.

Chu Mu received a Star Destroyer and the Planet Card for Deep Blue Star from Asta before they parted ways. Asta’s mother supported her dream of astronomy and arranged an opportunity for her to interview for the Space Station’s acting director position, while Chu Mu and Kafka prepared to leave with their new ship.

• Kafka returned with clothes for Chu Mu and discussed his gift from Asta and their plan to wait before returning to Belobog.
• Asta gave Chu Mu a Star Destroyer and the Planet Card for Deep Blue Star, which had been purchased for one Credit.
• Chu Mu encouraged Asta to pursue her dream of astronomy, and they said they hoped to meet again on their separate journeys.
• Asta’s mother promised to support her astronomy ambitions and arranged for her to be evaluated for the Space Station’s acting director position.
• Kafka celebrated the Star Destroyer at the port by hugging and kissing Chu Mu, while Silver Wolf teased them.

Chu Mu explored the Star Destroyer while Silver Wolf completed an artificial intelligence to help him navigate, and Kafka planned the crew’s next mission to the Sand Sea. The chapter ended with Chu Mu trying the AI named Faf and preparing to play a game with Silver Wolf.

• Silver Wolf connected the Star Destroyer’s ten thousand combat robots to her terminal, and Kafka said the crew would head to the Sand Sea to seek a way to escape Yaoshi’s blessing.
• Chu Mu told Kafka he hoped to regain his sight and see the people he missed, and Kafka promised he would get the chance.
• Kafka told Chu Mu that Silver Wolf had worked hard on his artificial intelligence, and Chu Mu learned that she had been building it on her secondary screens while gaming.
• Silver Wolf gave Chu Mu a headset and introduced Faf, an AI that rapidly described objects and distances ahead of him.
• Chu Mu accepted Silver Wolf’s controller and prepared to play a game with her.

Kafka, Silver Wolf, and Chu Mu traveled to Sand Sea Planet to investigate how its inhabitants had escaped the Blessing of Abundance, while a Xianzhou merchant group pursued the same goal. The chapter ended with Tingyun wondering how Interstellar Pirates had known to target her covert mission.

• Kafka explained that Sand Sea Planet was too poor to attract the Interastral Peace Corporation, and Silver Wolf spotted Xianzhou Starskiffs near the planet.
• Kafka described how Yaoshi's immortality blessing caused long-lived Xianzhou natives to become mara-struck, and said the Xianzhou sought a way to escape that fate.
• Silver Wolf detected strong shielding around Sand Sea Planet, so Kafka decided they would follow the Xianzhou merchant group down to the surface.
• Tingyun arrived aboard a Starskiff with Norton, who credited her with sacrificing her Warship to help their ships escape Interstellar Pirates.
• Tingyun questioned whether the pirates had targeted her Minghuo Merchant Guild and wondered how they had discovered her covert trip.

Tingyun learned about Sand Sea Planet from Norton before arriving at the northern tribe’s pyramid, where Silver Wolf shot its chief and Kafka’s forces took control. Kafka declared the conquered territory Chu Mu’s, though he could not see it.

• Norton told Tingyun that Sand Sea’s people lived underground, described the rival tribes, and warned her to keep business dealings strictly professional.
• Tingyun’s subordinate questioned Norton’s trade and suspected he might be connected to pirates, but Tingyun told them to focus on their own work.
• At the pyramid, the chief scolded Norton, then lustfully pursued Tingyun after noticing her.
• Silver Wolf shot the chief from a distant dune, and Kafka summoned her starship and robots as Sand Sea soldiers charged.
• Silver Wolf joked that Kafka had become Chief Kafka, and Kafka told Chu Mu she had conquered the territory for him.

Chu Mu became chief of the Blaze tribe and planned to build trust by holding a court while searching for clues about the secret formula. That night, he dreamed of a veiled bride whose sorrow and anger filled him with strange, violent words.

• Kafka explained that the group needed to fit in with the people of Sand Sea Planet and quietly investigate the secret formula and the Xianzhou natives.
• Chu Mu proposed creating a court to address injustices and earn the tribe’s trust, and Kafka worried that hearing the locals’ thoughts could affect him.
• Chu Mu studied courtroom procedures in his cabin while Kafka wished him good night and Silver Wolf played games.
• Chu Mu dreamed that he entered a treehouse and saw a bride in red robes crying beneath her veil.
• Chu Mu felt sorrow and rage in the dream and heard himself accuse the bride of betraying him.

Chu Mu recovered in the Star Destroyer's medical bay and told Kafka and Silver Wolf about his dream, which raised new questions about his past and the Aeons' plans. He decided to proceed with his plan to hold court on Sand Sea Planet.

• Faf's alarm brought Kafka and Silver Wolf to Chu Mu after his heart pain left him unable to move.
• Chu Mu said his dream memories seemed to guide him toward the truth and agreed to follow the Aeons' arrangements for now.
• Chu Mu recounted dreaming of a huge tree and a girl in a red wedding dress, prompting the trio to discuss possible links to Xianzhou history and the Ancient Kingdom.
• Kafka recalled sensing a Xianzhou aura from Chu Mu before his Path awakened, but admitted she might have mistaken it for the Ancient Kingdom's aura.
• Kafka and Silver Wolf speculated that the girl might have been Yaoshi, while Chu Mu cautioned them not to draw conclusions before learning the truth.
• Chu Mu announced he would hold court that day and told Silver Wolf she could pretend to take notes while playing games.

Chu Mu opened the Small Court and learned how the Blaze Tribe’s underground society and trade with Norton worked. After discovering the tribe’s supposed gold was pyrite and confronting a tribesman who wanted to exploit Norton, Chu Mu declared that his own authority made him right by the tribe’s rules.

• Chu Mu learned that the Blaze Tribe’s 230 underground cave levels had strict divisions, while the pyramid’s officials controlled only the surface and a few upper levels.
• A tribesman complained that Norton underpaid the tribe for its supposed gold dust, and Chu Mu demanded to see some.
• Kafka used a gunshot to make the tribesman hand over his pyrite, which Silver Wolf and Chu Mu identified as fool’s gold.
• The tribesman defended the trade as a source of food and insisted that Norton should pay more, while Chu Mu accused him of refusing to acknowledge the truth for personal gain.
• When the tribesman claimed that only self-interest counted as justice, Chu Mu pointed out that the previous chief had left disputes to be settled by force.
• Chu Mu asked whether the rule that the stronger party was right meant that whatever he said was right, leaving the tribesman speechless.

Chu Mu investigated a tribe whose people had grown selfish while relying on Norton's decades-long food business, and suspected their behavior reflected the reverse side of the Path of Abundance. Tingyun arrived at the Pyramid to thank her supposed benefactor, but Chu Mu’s blindness made her elaborate attempts to charm him awkwardly apparent.

• A tribesman defended the tribe’s demands for compensation from Norton, and Chu Mu let him go while condemning the tribe’s selfishness.
• Chu Mu tore up his proposed bill and told Kafka he suspected the tribe’s selfishness was tied to the reverse side of the Path of Abundance.
• Chu Mu, Kafka, and Silver Wolf discussed Norton’s unexplained business losses and whether he wanted his reputation cleared.
• Tingyun came to thank Silver Wolf, whom she had mistaken for the person who saved her, and Silver Wolf rejected the thanks.
• Tingyun asked Chu Mu about his origins and tried to charm him, but he told her to stop because he was blind, leaving her blushing.