Chapter Summaries

Stelle helped the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild improve its cargo-loading method, then joined its effort to resolve shipping problems at Heron Express. When Jiang Yu learned that the IPC might take over Aurum Alley and threaten its shops and food, he vowed that Scott would still bark like a dog.

• The guild secretary explained that Aurum Alley’s dock was in debt, shops were avoiding it, and the guild was struggling to increase revenue or cut costs.
• Stelle redesigned the dock’s cargo stacking, and the workers acknowledged that the method improved loading efficiency.
• The secretary asked Stelle and Sushang to visit Heron Express, where Yuanfeng suspected the IPC was discouraging shops from using the dock.
• Jiang Yu feared that an IPC takeover would change Aurum Alley’s shops and food, then declared that Scott would bark like a dog.
• The distant Amber Lord paused while building a wall and wondered who was calling them.

Jiang Yu rallied the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild against the IPC’s plan to turn the alley into a logistics warehouse and asked Topaz to improve its delivery routes. The guild gained a practical way to compete, while its secretary began explaining how Aurum Alley had declined.

• Yuanfeng told Jiang Yu that the IPC planned to convert Aurum Alley into a logistics warehouse, forcing its businesses to move out.
• Jiang Yu promised temporary help and urged the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild to build the skills to survive on its own.
• Jiang Yu sent Yuanfeng’s map and Heron Express’s routes to Topaz, who devised a more efficient delivery plan and shared Aventurine’s threat against Scott.
• Yuanfeng praised Topaz’s revised routes, and Stelle reassured him and the secretary that Topaz was on Jiang Yu’s side.
• The little secretary explained that Aurum Alley had once thrived as a night market but declined after civilian Golden Automatons were restricted and new commercial centers emerged.

The merchant guild invited Stelle and her companions to help save Aurum Alley from the IPC’s planned development as its contract neared expiration. After Sushang described her worries about the IPC’s influence on the Yaoqing, Jiang Yu proposed warning its people about harsh IPC work schedules and declared that he wanted the world to accommodate him.

• The little secretary explained that the IPC was bidding to develop Aurum Alley and that the merchant guild wanted consultants to help protect local merchants.
• Jiang Yu and Bailu agreed that Aurum Alley should be saved, and Sushang asked Stelle to join them.
• Sushang described how the IPC’s influence had changed the Yaoqing and left its older residents worried about losing their culture.
• Jiang Yu suggested that Sushang explain the IPC’s demanding work schedules to people considering employment there, and offered to ask Topaz for an example schedule.
• Stelle asked Jiang Yu what he believed as a member of the Nameless, and he said he wanted the world to accommodate him rather than be swept along by it.

Stelle accepted a business consultant role to help save Aurum Alley, and she accompanied Bailu, Jiang Yu, and Sushang to meet the merchant guild president. The president turned out to be a Golden Automaton head and a fan of Jiang Yu, whose question about Machine Heads prompted Nous to halt its calculations and send a mysterious signal to the geniuses it had blessed.

• Stelle agreed to help Aurum Alley as a business consultant, and the little secretary led her group to meet the merchant guild president.
• Jiang Yu and Bailu asked Yuanfeng to deliver their medicine jars to the Alchemy Commission before they left.
• Lianyan gave Stelle's group a test: incorporate the Oldies Depot into the logistics plan, then invited Bailu, Jiang Yu, and Sushang inside to meet the president.
• The group discovered that the president was a Golden Automaton head, who declared that he was Jiang Yu's fan.
• Jiang Yu asked whether the president was a Machine Head too, and Nous stopped calculating for ten seconds before sending a signal to the geniuses it had blessed.

Jiang Yu’s strange encounter with the Golden Automaton head disrupted the meeting, so Lianyan entrusted Stelle with helping Aurum Alley despite the president’s condition. The next day, Stelle started work at the docks while Jiang Yu began training Yanqing.

• The Golden Automaton head briefly spoke in response to Jiang Yu, then became bewildered by the strange sensation he had experienced.
• Lianyan hurried Jiang Yu, Bailu, and Sushang out of the meeting to keep them safe from the malfunctioning president.
• After reviewing Stelle’s logistics plan, Lianyan granted her administrative access and asked her to help Aurum Alley repay its debt and recover.
• Jiang Yu told Stelle about the Golden Automaton head, and the two went their separate ways for the night.
• Stelle went to work at the docks the next morning while Jiang Yu set Yanqing a training goal of running fifty laps around Whirling Stars Haven while pushing two shipping containers.
• Bailu stayed at the Alchemy Commission, and Sushang helped at the docks whenever she was free from guard duty.

As Stelle and Jiang Yu helped with Aurum Alley’s revitalization, Sushang and Mingxi caught Scott amid suspected cargo-damage schemes at the docks. Jiang Yu challenged Scott’s claim that he was merely a tourist, leaving Scott scrambling to find a way out of the confrontation.

• Stelle received messages saying Sushang and the others had caught Scott at the docks after repeated cases of damaged goods.
• Stelle and Jiang Yu went to the docks, where Sushang had cornered Scott and demanded an explanation.
• Scott claimed he was a tourist mailing a package, while Jiang Yu mocked his blond hair and challenged his right to speak.
• Scott insulted the Xianzhou natives and the Luofu, but Jiang Yu asked who could prove Scott was a tourist.
• Scott realized neither the dockworkers nor the Earth-Balance Commission could support his claim, so he secretly messaged his subordinates and tried to redirect the argument to his package.

Jiang Yu and Stelle confronted Scott after Sushang discovered his cargo was damaging shipments, and Jiang Yu stopped the Golden Cloud Toad hidden in Scott’s package from rampaging. A dockworker confessed to planting it, but Jiang Yu declared that he would be sent to the Prison of Deep Seclusion for plotting to harm someone.

• Sushang told Stelle that Scott’s cargo had damaged other customers’ goods and forced the dock to pay compensation.
• Jiang Yu warned Scott not to claim he was a tourist without proof, while Sushang moved to inspect his package.
• Jiang Yu revealed a Golden Cloud Toad inside the package and calmed the awakened Entranced Ingenium by patting it.
• Scott denied owning the toad and accused the Xianzhou natives of being thugs, while Jiang Yu demanded an explanation or a trial.
• A dockworker confessed to planting the Golden Cloud Toad in Scott’s package, and Jiang Yu said Sister Xueyi would lock him in the Prison of Deep Seclusion.

Jiang Yu and his companions confronted Scott after discovering his scheme, while Scott silenced a bribed worker before he could expose him. Jiang Yu turned Scott’s threats back on him and warned that the Ten-Lords Commission would soon arrive, leaving Scott furious and rattled.

• Scott shocked the worker with a concealed stun gun, then pretended the unconscious man was faking an injury.
• Stelle mocked Scott by pretending she could not hear him, and Sushang challenged his complaint about the vase.
• Jiang Yu told Sushang to use Scott’s own tactics against him, and she mimicked his exaggerated way of speaking.
• Scott threatened to damage Sushang’s standing with the merchants of Aurum Alley, but Jiang Yu said the Ten-Lords Commission’s judgment would carry more weight.
• Jiang Yu dismissed Scott’s supposed influence over the corporation, and Scott angrily shouted for him to stop talking.

Jiang Yu and his allies exposed Scott’s attempt to avoid the Ten-Lords Commission and prepared for the Aurum Alley rent dispute by gathering evidence and practicing negotiations. After the Merchant Guild repaid its debt, the debate began under Xikui’s mediation, with Scott and Sushang trading insults.

• Jiang Yu drove Scott away with sharp remarks, and the little secretary realized Scott had also been trying to avoid the Ten-Lords Commission.
• Huohuo and Hanya arrested A-Feng, whose dealings with Scott included recorded money transfers and involvement with the Golden Cloud Toad.
• Lianyan gave the group negotiation advice and documents, and Jiang Yu arranged mock negotiation practice with Tingyun.
• Stelle and the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild repaid the debt and prepared evidence of A-Feng’s bribes before heading to the docks.
• Xikui opened the Sky-Faring Commission’s mediation, and Sushang shouted back at Scott after he insulted the Merchant Guild.

Jiang Yu and the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild challenged Scott’s claims of mismanagement during negotiations over the dock’s operating rights. Scott left unsettled after Jiang Yu hinted that Topaz had provided the guild’s new logistics routes.

• Scott insulted the guild’s representatives, but the hostile reactions around him made him stop and state the Corporation’s demands.
• Stelle and Jiang Yu challenged Scott’s claim that the Corporation had no choice but to lease the dock, and Xikui sided with Jiang Yu.
• Scott accused the guild of failing to cooperate with shops, while Jiang Yu argued that businesses could leave Aurum Alley if they could not wait for the logistics network to grow.
• Scott called the dock’s low trade volume proof of mismanagement, and Jiang Yu answered that the new routes had only been running for a few days and had come from Topaz.
• Scott doubted Jiang Yu’s connection to Topaz, but Jiang Yu told him to confirm the matter with the Corporation, leaving Scott uneasy.

Scott learned that the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild had paid its debt and retained the dock’s operating rights, while the Ten-Lords Commission confirmed evidence of his sabotage. After Jiang Yu reminded him that he had lost their bet, Scott apologized to Aurum Alley.

• Stelle told Scott that the guild had paid off its debt, and Xikui verified the documents and confirmed the guild retained the dock’s operating rights.
• Scott realized Jiang Yu’s influence had helped attract businesses to the dock, then denied sabotaging it.
• Stelle and Sushang revealed that A-Feng had confessed and that the Ten-Lords Commission had found evidence tying Scott to the sabotage.
• Scott refused to apologize to Sushang until Jiang Yu pointed out that he had lost their bet.
• Scott admitted that he had wronged Aurum Alley.

Scott apologized to the people of Aurum Alley after Jiang Yu and the crowd refused to let him speak quietly, then was forced to bark like a dog to honor his bet. Xikui ended the spectacle, and Scott left the docks humiliated.

• Stelle and Sushang joined Jiang Yu in urging Scott to speak louder as the crowd shouted that they could not hear him.
• Scott struggled with his pride but loudly apologized to the good people of Aurum Alley and called himself a blind fool who barked like a mad dog.
• Jiang Yu and the dockworkers reminded Scott that he had promised to bark like a dog, and Stelle mocked him for not keeping his word.
• Scott barked and howled in front of the crowd until Xikui declared the spectacle over.
• Scott left the docks with his head lowered, while Siberian Duck and the livestream commenters laughed at him.

Jiang Yu and the others traveled to Belobog aboard the Astral Express after resolving Aurum Alley’s crisis. On the journey, Huohuo revealed she had sensed an invisible presence, and Jiang Yu identified it as a Memokeeper hiding in the Observation Car.

• Aurum Alley returned to normal, and Jiang Yu spent the remaining days on the Xianzhou training with Yanqing and visiting friends while the group waited for the Astral Express.
• Jiang Yu, Stelle, Huohuo, Yanqing, and the others boarded the Express for Belobog, carrying Phantylia and the captured Mirror Holders in gourds under Huohuo’s custody.
• Jiang Yu planned to deliver the prisoners to Aha’s Fragmentum Factory, retrieve Black Cleave from Argenti, and attend Belobog’s festival, while noting that the debt collection had already been settled through an agreement with Bronya.
• Huohuo quietly told Jiang Yu that she had sensed an invisible presence near the Observation Car’s mirror, though the feeling had disappeared.
• Jiang Yu reassured Huohuo that the presence was a Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection who had concealed herself, then wondered whether she could provide Yanqing with a memory-based trial.
• The hidden Memokeeper realized Jiang Yu could see her and feared he was already considering how to make use of her.

Huohuo saw through the Memokeeper’s concealment and confirmed there were no space ghosts aboard the Astral Express. After Wilder invited Stelle to an Aetherium Wars festival on Jarilo-VI, she decided to try the game with her friends.

• Huohuo alone saw the Memokeeper’s hidden form appear before the mirror and mistook the reveal for a voluntary appearance.
• Jiang Yu reassured Huohuo that his Blessing and Mr. Tail would protect her from space ghosts.
• Wilder contacted Stelle to promote Aetherium Wars, and Stelle asked whether the game could copy a Lord Ravager.
• Wilder said the corporation’s technology could hardly copy an Emanator and invited Stelle to the Interastral Tournament Festival in Rivet Town on Jarilo-VI.
• Stelle decided to get into Aetherium Wars after agreeing that playing games with friends was enjoyable.

Wilder celebrated Belobog’s festival preparations and joined his colleagues in mocking Linden Scott after Scott lost a roulette game to Aventurine. As the Astral Express approached Jarilo-VI, March 7th and Stelle looked forward to the celebrations, while Dan Heng declined to join them.

• Wilder felt pleased after persuading Stelle to try Aetherium Wars and enjoyed preparing for Belobog’s festival.
• Wilder’s colleague showed him photos of Linden Scott losing a roulette game to Aventurine, and the two mocked Scott.
• March 7th told Stelle and Jiang Yu that the Astral Express would visit Penacony after stopping at Jarilo-VI.
• March 7th, Stelle, and Jiang Yu went to the Data Bank and asked Dan Heng whether he would attend Belobog’s festival.
• Dan Heng declined because he was mentally exhausted, and Jiang Yu offered to take photos for him.

March 7th and Jiang Yu showed off their new outfits while preparing for a festival trip to Belobog with their friends. The chapter ended with Jiang Yu asking March 7th and Stelle whether his sharp new look suited him.

• March 7th and Jiang Yu agreed to attend the festival without Dan Heng, and Jiang Yu explained how he had planned activities in Belobog for Boss Que, Yanqing, Argenti, Bailu, Huohuo, Mr. Tail, and Svarog.
• March 7th returned to her room to pack, and Siberian Duck followed the quest marker there to see March 7th reveal her elegant new gown.
• March 7th told Stelle that the gown had been waiting in her wardrobe, while Stelle remained in her usual outfit.
• Jiang Yu entered March 7th's room in a dark tweed suit, hat, and pocket watch, then asked March 7th and Stelle whether the outfit suited him.

March 7th helped Jiang Yu style his long hair to suit his new outfit, then discovered that Stelle’s wardrobe was full of identical clothes. The group set out to gather Yanqing and the others before preparing to land on Jarilo.

• Siberian Duck and the viewers admired Jiang Yu’s new clothes and discussed how his long hair affected his appearance.
• March 7th gathered Jiang Yu’s hair into a low bun secured with a black ribbon.
• March 7th asked Stelle about her clothes and went with Jiang Yu to inspect Stelle’s wardrobe.
• March 7th, Jiang Yu, and the viewers saw that every piece in Stelle’s full wardrobe was the same style.
• March 7th told Stelle they should get Yanqing and the others and prepare to land.

Jiang Yu’s companions discovered that he had split Belobog’s sky with his sword, then met Topaz and Numby in the Outlying Snowfield. Topaz greeted the group and eyed Huohuo’s tail with interest.

• Yanqing saw the enormous rift in Belobog’s sky and asked whether Jiang Yu had created it.
• Jiang Yu confirmed that he had split the sky, and Stelle and March 7th described how he had done it.
• March 7th changed the subject to Belobog’s festival customs, and Yanqing and Bailu shared their thoughts.
• Numby emerged from the snow, recognized Jiang Yu, and leaped into his arms.
• Topaz arrived, hugged Jiang Yu, and met the five Xianzhou visitors.
• Huohuo hid behind Jiang Yu as Topaz studied her tail, thinking of it as an unusual pet.

Huohuo, Topaz, and Jiang Yu brought the Mirror Holders and Phantylia to Aha's Fragmentum Factory to settle them into work. The Mirror Holders obediently followed Jiang Yu’s orders, while Phantylia tried to escape and was pulled back by Jiang Yu’s wind.

• Topaz led Jiang Yu and Huohuo through Aha's Fragmentum Factory, where Huohuo was unnerved by its strange workers and Tail laughed at the thought of the prisoners working there.
• Huohuo released the Mirror Holders, who listened eagerly to Jiang Yu and followed the factory veterans to their posts with tearful gratitude.
• Jiang Yu handed Huohuo the gourd holding Phantylia, and Huohuo released her.
• Phantylia realized she was away from the Xianzhou and tried to flee, but Jiang Yu’s wind pulled her back.

Stelle, March 7th, and their companions explored Belobog and saw how Jiang Yu and the Astral Express had become part of the city’s public celebrations and stories. After March 7th received a message from Wilder, they headed to Rivet Town to check out Aetherium Wars.

• Bronya welcomed the Astral Express crew while managing Belobog’s rebuilding and government affairs.
• March 7th, Qingque, Bailu, and Yanqing noticed Belobog’s many posters featuring Jiang Yu and learned that some promoted Aetherium Wars while others celebrated his help and the Astral Express’s deeds.
• March 7th suggested placing a statue of Jiang Yu by the Everwinter Monument, and an old man ran off to share the idea.
• March 7th received a message from Wilder, and Stelle explained that he was a company salesman who had introduced her to Aetherium Wars.
• The group saw a brief flare of energy in the distance on the way to Rivet Town, then followed Wilder’s location information to find him.