Chapter Summaries

Ye Buyu, Lou Guanshan, and Minister Wusu tried to feed the [Hunger King], but it refused the food. Ma Zhuo told them about surviving hunger during the Great Cataclysm, and the [Hunger King] asked what he would do if trapped outside a towering wall.

• Ye Buyu suggested taking the [Hunger King] to eat, and Wusu agreed to go with her and Lou Guanshan.
• Ye Buyu got rice from a Cook Squad, but the [Hunger King] said eating it would not help.
• Ma Zhuo arrived, gave the [Hunger King] softened rice, and urged it to eat.
• Ma Zhuo recounted how rescuers and the Social Security Bureau had brought food to people during the Great Cataclysm.
• The [Hunger King] asked Ma Zhuo what he would do if trapped outside a towering wall.

Ma Zhuo’s compassion and words gave [Hunger King] a glimpse of hope and satisfaction, dissolving the Calamity as it remembered the starving people’s struggle to overcome hunger. As [Hunger King] fell at last, a woman who had died in the drought caught its arm and invited it beyond the high wall, where obsessions faded away.

• Ma Zhuo told [Hunger King] that even an impossible wall had to be climbed, and comforted it as it ate porridge.
• [Hunger King] tasted satisfaction, then left the kitchen as its body scattered into golden particles.
• The particles passed through streets where people received food and across golden fields, where an old farmer caught the final one in his palm.
• [Hunger King] awoke outside the high wall and remembered carrying rocks and lifting starving infants to help people climb over it.
• As [Hunger King] closed its eyes and declared that it was the end, the woman who had died in the drought caught its arm and offered to take it inside the high wall.

After the [Hunger King] fulfilled its wish and vanished, the [Seedling Eater] agreed to leave the Present World alone for half a year and revealed that an unknown being had once awakened and guided it to the [Hunger King]. The [Whale of Wailing] denied being responsible, then began to suspect the mysterious power sounded familiar.

• The [Hunger King]'s presence disappeared, and the [Seedling Eater] wished it eternal peace in a beautiful dream.
• [Eternal Frozen Silence] admitted defeat in its wager with the [Whale of Wailing] and promised not to act against the Present World for half a year.
• The [Seedling Eater] asked whether the [Whale of Wailing] had awakened and guided it to meet the [Hunger King], but the [Whale of Wailing] denied doing so.
• The [Seedling Eater] described being compelled by an unknown wisp of Soul Power and later glimpsing a future in which the [Hunger King]'s wish came true.
• The [Seedling Eater] agreed not to act against the Present World for half a year but warned that other calamities, especially man-made ones, were beyond its control.
• As the [Whale of Wailing] prepared to check on the Present World, it recognized that the account of awakening and compulsion sounded familiar and wondered who was responsible.

Little Whale revealed that the Present World was the last world left in the universe and stood on the brink of destruction. Ye Buyu reeled from the truth, but Little Whale claimed there was still hope and offered itself as an ally.

• At the Present World's Frontline, Lou Guanshan told Ma Zhuo that the whale had gone to the place it dreamed of and thanked him.
• Ye Buyu entered her Mindscape and demanded that Little Whale explain its secrets and what it had been doing.
• Little Whale explained that Ye Buyu had correctly understood the origins of Calamities, but corrected her: every other planet had already been destroyed.
• Ye Buyu learned that the Present World was the universe's only remaining world and reacted with despair.
• Little Whale told Ye Buyu that some Calamities could be allies and declared that it supported the Present World.

Ye Buyu learned that she had met Little Whale before her birth and had set events in motion across time, including founding the Withered Glory Theatre. Little Whale revealed that Ye Buyu’s past actions had triggered its price and dumped it into the River of Forgetfulness, leaving her to confront how thoroughly she had caused her own troubles.

• Ye Buyu listened to a memory in which her own voice told Little Whale to pay a price later, then realized Little Whale had met her before she was born.
• Ye Buyu heard herself urge Little Whale to resist becoming Calamity and give it the Thousand Tides Tracing the Moon skill.
• Ye Buyu heard several voices discuss setting a plan in motion across time, and recognized the refined speaker as the founder of the Withered Glory Theatre.
• Little Whale told Ye Buyu that the price had been collected when she was blasted into the River of Forgetfulness, forcing it there and making it pay the price repeatedly.
• Little Whale explained that it had not entered the river voluntarily and said Ye Buyu had screwed it over twice that day.

Ye Buyu learned from Little Whale that it had helped orchestrate several crises and that its allies would remain dormant for six months after she defeated their combined assault. Little Whale then revealed that their work with Thousand Tides Tracing the Moon had enabled the rewind after the Sun exploded, leaving Ye Buyu unsure how to share what she knew with the Present World's leaders.

• Ye Buyu pressed Little Whale to explain its goals and schemes, and it admitted that it had helped force the River of Forgetfulness reform and expose [Earthshaker].
• Little Whale said it had bet with [Eternal Frozen Silence] and the [Seedling Eater] that they would remain dormant for half a year if Ye Buyu defeated the combined assault of the [Perception Controller] and the [Hunger King].
• Little Whale told Ye Buyu that her bad luck came from her own extraordinary-luck buff, and that it had returned Thousand Tides Tracing the Moon to its rightful owner.
• Little Whale revealed that the creations it and the others made from studying Thousand Tides Tracing the Moon were used to rewind the Present World after the Sun exploded and destroyed it.
• Ye Buyu choked on her water after hearing the revelation, then returned to the table, where Wusu, Ma Zhuo, and Lou Guanshan asked what was wrong.
• Ye Buyu decided to eat before considering whether she could safely pass her new information to the Present World's leaders.

Ye Buyu informed Minister Wusu that [Eternal Frozen Silence] and [Seedling Eater] would avoid attacking the Present World for six months and arranged for new weapons to be deployed on the Frontline. Back at Command Headquarters, Wusu began planning deeper Third Zone exploration, while a message about the Hold Up the Heavens Team shocked the Vermilion Bird Division; the chapter ended with an angry stranger confronting Wan Lan in New Rome.

• Ye Buyu told Wusu that [Eternal Frozen Silence] and [Seedling Eater] would restrain their forces for six months.
• Ye Buyu explained that the Scholars' Association would send weapons to the Frontline and warned that Soul Power had to be stored and could not be overdrawn without risking lives.
• Wusu returned to Command Headquarters and told Shen Juan that the six-month lull might allow an expedition deeper into the Third Zone.
• Wusu ordered Bai Zhao to go, and Bai Zhao lamented that the Hold Up the Heavens Team was causing trouble on multiple fronts.
• The Vermilion Bird Division gathered around Bai Zhao's Terminal message and reacted with shock.
• Wan Lan encountered an unfamiliar young man in the Knights' Order, and he accused her of forcing him to self-detonate twice.

Wan Lan confronted the [Wind and Thunder King], whose avatar revealed that [Tempest Fiend] had died for the Present World and left it unable to ascend. The [Wind and Thunder King] said it had come seeking a way to survive and suggested it might surrender.

• Wan Lan stabbed the [Wind and Thunder King]'s avatar before hearing its explanation, then allowed it to speak when it offered information about the Present World, the Third Zone, and her teammates.
• The [Wind and Thunder King] said [Tempest Fiend]'s death had been suspicious and claimed [Tempest Fiend] had been on the Present World's side, but Wan Lan challenged its honesty.
• The [Wind and Thunder King] told Wan Lan that Calamities were stirring at the Frontline, remnants of [Abyssal Erosion] had approached Mu Bingge, and the [Void Order] was colluding with Man-Made Calamities in the Americas.
• The [Wind and Thunder King] explained that restraints left by [Tempest Fiend] prevented it from ascending beyond its current stage because [Tempest Fiend] had fused its core into the Present World.
• The [Wind and Thunder King] said it had come looking for a way to survive and asked why it could not surrender.

[Wind and Thunder King] told Wan Lan it wanted to defect from the Calamities and work with the Present World against the Calamities it despised. After presenting proof that it had killed a King-level Calamity, it proposed an undercover alliance, leaving Wan Lan to decide whether to trust it.

• [Wind and Thunder King] complained to Wan Lan that the Calamities had mocked [Earthshaker] after its death and said it no longer wanted to remain among them.
• [Wind and Thunder King] offered to work undercover with the Present World, while Wan Lan questioned its motives and whether it was truly on the right side.
• Wan Lan said she would need proof and asked [Wind and Thunder King] to bring back the head of a King-level Calamity.
• [Wind and Thunder King] produced a jade-green bone and explained that it had killed the Calamity that wanted to claim [Earthshaker]'s title, along with its Priests and Blessed Ones.
• [Wind and Thunder King] proposed marking targets and killing their leaders while Wan Lan's side dealt with the weaker Calamities, on the condition that they kept its existence secret.

Wan Lan learned that [Wind and Thunder King] wanted to defect after discovering a higher existence watching the Present World, and she alerted the Emperor of New Rome. Si Erweiqi conscripted his reluctant younger brother Slyder for the mission, despite Slyder's hatred of Hold Up the Heavens and refusal to go.

• Wan Lan asked [Wind and Thunder King] whether it had come to cooperate because it was angry, and it revealed that it had discovered a higher existence watching the Present World while investigating [Tempest Fiend]'s death.
• Wan Lan messaged the Emperor of New Rome, and the Knights' Order initiated a lockdown as preparations began for the mission.
• Slyder tried to flee after hearing Hold Up the Heavens mentioned, but Si Erweiqi's Old Secretary pulled him back inside with an illusory hand.
• Slyder argued with Si Erweiqi and insisted he would not work with Hold Up the Heavens again, while Si Erweiqi said the mission was important and both Knights' Order leaders would attend.
• Slyder dismissed [Wind and Thunder King] as a piece of trash that had been ostracized by the Calamities.

Wan Lan, Slyder, Gerard, and Kelin accompanied [Wind and Thunder King] into the Third Zone, where he claimed to be defecting while secretly guiding them to massacre Calamities. They cleared enemy groups with ease, but Wan Lan warned him to rein in his power and leave before [Withered Glory Theatre] could expose him as a traitor.

• Si Erweiqi sent Slyder to protect Wan Lan while allowing him to investigate the matter that preoccupied him.
• Wan Lan met Slyder, Gerard, and Kelin at the Knights' Order's records repository, where Gerard and Kelin challenged [Wind and Thunder King] about breaching the Archives' security.
• The group entered the Third Zone, and [Wind and Thunder King] attacked the Calamities while Wan Lan, Slyder, and Kelin covered him.
• [Wind and Thunder King] led the group through the zone, killing Calamity bosses and helping the others wipe out enemy groups before they could respond.
• Wan Lan warned [Wind and Thunder King] that Calamities in the Level Six Zone could recognize him and urged him to leave before [Withered Glory Theatre] put his actions into a script.

Wan Lan tried to break the standoff between Slyder and the Royal Knights over his plan to enter [Iron Prison]'s territory. She chose to help investigate, and the [Wind and Thunder King] agreed to conceal their auras after Wan Lan trusted it.

• Slyder decided to enter [Iron Prison]'s territory, but Gerard refused to let him explore alone.
• Slyder warned Gerard that his presence could expose them and provoke [Iron Prison], while Gerard and Kelin insisted he could not go because his foundation had already been shattered once.
• Wan Lan asked the [Wind and Thunder King] whether it could conceal their auras, and it warned her that [Iron Prison] was one of the strongest level-ten Calamities.
• Wan Lan told the [Wind and Thunder King] that she trusted it because the wind said it was not lying.
• The [Wind and Thunder King] was moved by Wan Lan's trust and agreed to help conceal their auras.

Wan Lan joined Kelin, Gerard, and Slyder on a concealed expedition into [Iron Prison] territory, while [Stillwater King] declared its intent to approach Mu Bingge. The group followed Slyder’s watch to find the Calamity that killed Knight Changsi, Slyder’s mother and their teacher.

• Wan Lan persuaded Kelin, Gerard, and Slyder to let her accompany them into [Iron Prison] territory, and [Wind and Thunder King] concealed their presence with wind.
• [Stillwater King] told [Wind and Thunder King] it was heading toward Mu Bingge and believed all rivers had to return to their Origin.
• [Wind and Thunder King] reflected on the struggle against calamities and the uncertainty of hope as the group entered [Iron Prison]'s steel-built territory.
• Slyder used an old pocket watch to lead the group toward a Calamity that Kelin said had killed Knight Changsi, their teacher and Slyder's mother.

Wan Lan and the others reached the coffin-shaped palace of [Iron Prison], where she coaxed a guard into revealing that [Iron Prison] had gone to New Rome during the Great Cataclysm after a nameless Calamity visited. As they tried to leave, [Iron Prison] summoned them inside, and Slyder sent Wan Lan away with Gerard.

• Wan Lan, Slyder, Gerard, and Kelin reached the palace where [Iron Prison] slept, but its guard warned them that the Calamity Lord granted no audiences.
• Slyder stared at the palace in anger, and Kelin blocked his gaze while Wan Lan distracted the guard with praise.
• Wan Lan persuaded the guard to reveal that [Iron Prison] had gone to New Rome during the Great Cataclysm after a nameless Calamity visited.
• As the group prepared to leave, the molten iron stopped and [Iron Prison] summoned them inside.
• An invisible force bound Wan Lan, but Slyder broke its hold and told Gerard to take her away; Wan Lan was transported into a place of black steel.

Wan Lan and the others confronted [Iron Prison], who revealed that it had engineered Slyder’s suffering to forge him into a weapon capable of killing it. The chapter ended with Wan Lan resisting its manipulation and trying to pull Slyder out of his rage as the palace shook.

• [Iron Prison] caught Gerard’s sword between two fingers, broke it, and greeted Wan Lan and the others.
• Kelin accused [Iron Prison] of plotting against Wierlt, framing Changsi, and destroying Slyder’s foundation; [Iron Prison] admitted its role and explained how Changsi and Wierlt died.
• [Iron Prison] revealed that it had targeted Slyder to turn him into a blade that could kill it, and Slyder realized his parents and Si Erweiqi had been endangered for that purpose.
• [Iron Prison] provoked Slyder and threatened to hurt Kelin, but Wan Lan fired arrows at it and rejected the idea that they were anyone’s weapons.
• Wan Lan threatened to publish a book of Slyder’s meltdown screams, jolting him out of his fury.

Wan Lan and Slyder escaped the Coffin Palace as Gerard stayed behind to fight [Iron Prison] and began activating soul self-destruction. As Gerard prepared to sacrifice himself to keep [Iron Prison] from recovering, it revealed that its Origin was not in the Palace.

• Wan Lan grabbed Slyder and fled with Kelin through the Palace while Kelin cut a path through [Iron Prison]'s attacks.
• Gerard split the Palace with a sword strike, letting Wan Lan, Slyder, and Kelin escape, then vowed to kill [Iron Prison].
• Gerard attacked [Iron Prison], activated his soul self-destruction pathway, and fought it through the collapsing Palace.
• [Iron Prison] claimed Gerard's death would feed Slyder's hatred and said it would survive by recovering over time.
• Gerard seized [Iron Prison] and promised to keep it from interfering with their lives for a hundred years.
• [Iron Prison] silently revealed that its Origin was not in the Palace, and Gerard froze as the severed Coffin Palace rose again.

Slyder and his allies escaped [Iron Prison] after Gerard nearly sacrificed himself, and Slyder wounded the weakened Calamity with the broken Knight's Sword. [Iron Prison] conceded that the Knight had won, while Narrator recorded the battle and hinted that restoring the civilization [Iron Prison] destroyed would matter far more than killing it.

• A mysterious Soul-Suppressing Song interrupted Gerard's Soul Self-Destruction, letting him escape the Coffin Palace before [Iron Prison] could trap him.
• Slyder, Kelin, and Wan Lan rescued the wounded Gerard and fought their way out as Slyder drove the broken Knight's Sword through [Iron Prison].
• [Iron Prison] collapsed after the group fled, acknowledged Gerard's strength, and said, "Knight, you won."
• [Wind and Thunder King] questioned Narrator's presence, and Narrator explained that it had recorded the battle as a routine performance.
• Narrator said that restoring the civilization destroyed by [Iron Prison] would be significant, then departed and left [Wind and Thunder King] alone.

Wan Lan and Kelin explained how [Iron Prison] had manipulated Slyder’s past and driven Gerard to attack it, leaving Gerard unconscious. Slyder directed the others to prepare for a future campaign, then called Wan Lan outside to ask for the meltdown compilation.

• [Wind and Thunder King] sent Wan Lan and the others back toward the Present World, where Kelin brought the unconscious Gerard to New Rome.
• Wan Lan briefly recounted their encounter with [Iron Prison], and Kelin revealed that it had caused the deaths of Knight Changsi and His Majesty Wierlt to shape Slyder into a weapon against it.
• Si Erweiqi learned why Slyder had distanced himself from his companions and slaughtered the nobles, while the Old Secretary recalled Slyder’s past sacrifices to protect them.
• Slyder emerged from behind a pillar, ordered Kelin to bring the others back, and told Si Erweiqi to stabilize the situation and coordinate a future campaign against [Iron Prison].
• Slyder took Wan Lan outside and asked her for the meltdown compilation.

Wan Lan and Slyder discussed his past and his resolve to protect the Present World before returning to find Gerard and Kelin arguing for Slyder’s titles and position to be restored. Wan Lan proposed a public account that secured Slyder’s title of Prince, while Gerard continued pressing for his old command.

• Slyder told Wan Lan that he had endured years of manipulation because losing control would have endangered his friends and solved nothing.
• Slyder said he would keep growing stronger, fighting Calamities, and protecting the Present World.
• Gerard, Kelin, and the Old Butler urged Si Erweiqi to restore Slyder’s title of Prince and his position as Commander of the Knights' Order.
• Wan Lan presented a polished account of the group’s battle with [Iron Prison] and declared Slyder’s title of Prince restored.
• Si Erweiqi and the others approved Wan Lan’s proposal, and Gerard asked again about restoring Slyder’s command.

Slyder reluctantly accepted the decision to make him a prince as Hold Up the Heavens received word of its members’ victories and dangerous projects across the Present World. The world’s leaders realized that neither splitting up the team nor keeping it together prevented trouble, and they dreaded the Awakened League in five months.

• Slyder rejected becoming commander of the Knights' Order and resisted being made a prince, but Gerard, Kelin, the old butler, and Wan Lan insisted on the decision.
• The Old Secretary read reports that Ye Buyu and Lou Guanshan helped the Frontline defeat the [Hunger King] and repel the [Perception Controller], while Mu Bingge captured the [Stillwater King] and killed the other Calamities in North Russia.
• The Old Secretary reported that Kou Ying helped track Man-Made Calamities and the [Void Order] in the Americas, while Su Wuwei helped upgrade the Sun Project into a potential weapon.
• Wan Lan asked Slyder to release news of her safety so she could contact her teammates, and Slyder imagined the six members reporting that they were safe across the world.
• The Present World Union Secretariat concluded that separating Hold Up the Heavens did not prevent trouble and learned that the Awakened League was five months away.