Chapter Summaries

Mei investigated a Doll that had used the Herrscher of Reason’s Authority and ordered Raven to retrieve its remains so she could test a theory. At the school where the first Herrscher of Domination appeared, Theresa sent Fu Hua to investigate while discussing Fu Hua’s struggle to regain control of her core and Kiana’s confinement; Theresa was left grieving how distant and changed Kiana had become.

• Mei and Raven escaped the illusion and identified the Doll’s use of the Herrscher of Reason’s Authority.
• Mei asked Raven to recover the Doll’s remains so she could test her theory in person.
• Theresa and Fu Hua arrived at the school tied to the first Herrscher of Domination, and Theresa assigned Fu Hua to investigate a professor and the first core.
• Fu Hua explained that she could glimpse fragments through her core but could not locate or reclaim the Herrscher of Sentience while her Authority remained beyond Fu Hua’s control.
• Theresa told Fu Hua that Bronya was recovering and Kiana was under house arrest to prevent the enemy from reclaiming her Herrscher Authority.
• Theresa mourned Kiana’s lost liveliness and the distance between the girl she remembered and the quiet soldier behind the facility’s glass.

Theresa and Fu Hua entered the university disguised as sisters and searched the professor’s office for clues about the First Herrscher of the Thousand People. They found a diary describing a mysterious theater and a wooden double, linking the professor’s experience to the Dolls and the victims’ disappearances.

• Theresa and Fu Hua convinced a security guard to let them into the university by pretending Theresa was a child eager to visit.
• Theresa focused on investigating the professor while Fu Hua quietly reflected on St. Freya Academy.
• Theresa and Fu Hua searched the professor’s messy office and found bills showing that the professor was deeply in debt.
• Fu Hua showed Theresa the professor’s diary, which described recurring dreams of a theater and a voice inviting more companions.
• The diary recounted the appearance of a wooden double and the professor’s descent into fragmented, disturbing thoughts.
• Theresa recognized that the diary’s theater and Dolls matched the pattern in which hosts went mad, fell into comas, or vanished as their puppets began imitating them.

Fu Hua and Theresa captured a Doll and recovered its core, helping Anti-Entropy predict where the Dolls would appear. After the Dolls suddenly vanished, Welt proposed luring the Herrscher of Domination into a trap, and Kiana agreed to serve as bait as the plan turned toward the Arctic base.

• Fu Hua encountered a Doll in the corridor, but Theresa restrained it with the Oath of Judah and destroyed it while preserving its core module.
• Fu Hua and Theresa suspected the operation had gone too smoothly and withdrew with the core to regroup.
• Einstein reported that analyzing the core let Anti-Entropy intercept dozens of attacks, but the Dolls had vanished after their monitored number dropped from 501 to 500.
• Welt concluded that the Dolls had completed a phase of their plan and proposed using bait to force the Herrscher of Domination to act.
• Kiana volunteered as bait because she carried two cores, then revealed that she and Welt had planned the move beforehand.
• Welt clarified that he did not intend to send Kiana to her death and said the Hyperion would fly directly to the Arctic base.

Kiana agreed to risk her life to reclaim the power of the Void, while the Theatre of Domination voted to attack her. In the present, Hanser recognized the resemblance between herself and a puppet on the livestream, and the Hyperion came under attack on its voyage to the Arctic.

• Kiana asked Theresa, Bronya, Seele, and the others to trust her as she prepared to take the power of the Void.
• A wooden puppet rallied the Theatre of Domination, which unanimously declared war on the Herrscher of the Void.
• Hanser recognized that the Herrscher of Domination's design resembled her, and she threatened Lin Yuhao after he teased her during the livestream.
• Lin Yuhao reviewed the Genshin Impact project schedule and ordered Qin Xiaofeng to hire a top opera troupe to record the singing.
• Three days into the Hyperion's voyage, Tesla detected numerous fast-moving objects approaching from behind, and an eerie laugh sounded beneath Bronya's feet.

Bronya’s team fought off the Dolls on the Hyperion’s deck, but the remaining enemies infiltrated the ship and captured Kiana after disabling her barrier. Kiana was taken to the Theatre of Domination, where the Dolls debated what to do with her.

• Seele, Rozaliya, and Liliya defeated the Dolls and mech puppets attacking the Hyperion’s deck.
• Tesla detected that the remaining hostile signals had entered the ship’s cargo hold.
• Dolls emerged from the ventilation ducts in Kiana’s compartment and hijacked the ship’s power system, collapsing her barrier.
• Three Dolls seized Kiana before Theresa could stop them, and Tesla’s warning to avoid using her power was cut off.
• The Dolls brought Kiana to the Theatre of Domination and discussed taking her apart to study her.

Kiana opened a rift to bring the Hyperion into the Theater of Domination, where her allies helped her destroy the Dolls. After defeating the last Doll, she shot it when it tried to use Arc City and the Dolls’ supposed souls to unsettle her.

• Kiana drew on the Herrscher of the Void’s authority and Taixu Sword Energy to open a passage for the Hyperion into the Theater of Domination.
• Tesla fired the Hyperion’s main cannon at the Dolls, then sent Anti-Entropy mechs to crush their forces.
• Kiana confronted the Doll leader as it threatened her, and Tesla warned that five hundred Dolls were converging on her.
• Kiana fought alongside Bronya, Seele, Theresa, Fu Hua, the twins, and the mech army until only one Doll remained.
• The last Doll invoked Arc City and questioned whether the Dolls had souls, but Kiana shot it and declared the cleanup complete.

After Kiana defeated the Herrscher of Domination, she reflected on how the Dolls’ despair differed from the support that had helped her survive. The chapter ended with Kiana recognizing their helplessness while refusing to accept that failure justified giving up.

• Kiana shut down the remaining reactors, and Theresa helped her return to the Hyperion as the Theatre of Domination collapsed.
• Viewers questioned the Dolls’ fate, but Hanser and Sister Zhou argued that their convictions had led them down the wrong path and urged everyone to trust Lin Yuhao’s story.
• Tesla discovered five hundred energy cores and scrap remains on the Hyperion, then learned that she was responsible for cleaning them up.
• Half a month later, Einstein invited Kiana and Seele to Anti-Entropy’s postponed sixtieth-anniversary celebration, where Kiana found that people no longer treated her as a danger.
• Kiana and Bronya talked privately about the Dolls, and Kiana wondered how her own life might have turned out without the people who had supported her.
• Kiana empathized with the Dolls’ despair but concluded that failure was no excuse to give up.

Kiana resolved to bring Mei and Miss Himeko back as she endured Sirin’s memories of abuse and loss at Babylon Laboratory. The chapter ended as Sirin’s hatred surged while guards closed in, setting the stage for the birth of the Herrscher of the Void.

• Bronya comforted Kiana, who thanked her and vowed to bring Mei and Miss Himeko back.
• A broken Doll rose among the ruins of the Theatre of Domination and claimed that its rebirth was assured by its convictions.
• Kiana plunged into Sirin’s memories and witnessed her suffering in a dungeon at Babylon Laboratory.
• Sirin found Bella dead beside Aurora and Agata, then forced open a door and tried to escape.
• Researchers and guards cornered Sirin, who swore to kill them all as her hatred grew.

Kiana witnessed Sirin’s memories of torture at Babylon Laboratory, her transformation into the Second Herrscher, and her revenge against Schicksal. The dream then shifted to a warm family life with Siegfried and Cecilia, leaving Sirin shaken by Cecilia’s kindness and a taste that recalled her mother.

• Sirin endured torture at Babylon Laboratory and wished for absolute power to punish those who had hurt her.
• Sirin gained divine power, escaped the laboratory, and became the Second Herrscher.
• Sirin confronted Theresa and blamed Schicksal for turning her and the other children into weapons, while Doctor Tesla and Theresa fought to suppress her.
• Doctor Tesla fired Silver Chariot Ver0314 at Sirin, but her memories continued to surge and the dream shifted.
• Sirin found herself treated as Siegfried and Cecilia’s daughter; Cecilia offered her cake, awakening memories of her mother and leaving her grief-stricken.

Sirin relived a memory of Cecilia’s kindness and the betrayal and violence that followed, before Cecilia comforted her with a final declaration of love. Outside the Biopod, K423 opened her eyes, and Hanser blamed Otto and Boss Lin for what had happened.

• Sirin followed Cecilia through a shop, briefly wanting her affection before recoiling from her embrace.
• An explosion sent glass shards flying, and Cecilia shielded Sirin with her body and told her, "Ich liebe dich."
• Sirin learned Cecilia had known she was not her biological daughter, then accused her of lying and attacked her as hatred overwhelmed her.
• Schicksal's forces wounded Sirin until she fell and lost consciousness, while Cecilia's voice comforted her in the darkness with a final declaration of love.
• K423 opened her eyes outside the Biopod, and Hanser shouted that she would kick Otto and Boss Lin the next day.

Kiana woke from a dream of Sirin and asked Bronya what Sirin meant to her, prompting them to discuss the pain and regret behind the Second Eruption. After sparring, they discovered Bronya’s Herrscher of Reason authority was still dormant, while Kiana’s Herrscher of the Void power had never been taken as expected.

• Kiana woke from a dream of Sirin and saw Sirin’s face reflected in the mirror.
• Kiana asked Bronya what Sirin meant to her, and Bronya admitted she still hated the Herrscher of the Void who had killed her parents.
• Bronya told Kiana that the Sirin inside her, awakened by Otto, disgusted her because she was tormenting Kiana.
• Kiana and Bronya sparred, briefly recapturing the ease of their days at St. Freya Academy.
• Bronya revealed that the Herrscher of Reason’s authority remained dormant despite the Dolls’ defeat.
• Kiana told Bronya that her own Herrscher of the Void authority had remained intact and easy to use during the fighting, raising questions about what had happened in the Theater.

Kiana questioned why the enemy had not taken the Herrscher of the Void's Authority, then sought advice about Sirin and her own choices. After failing to get answers from Dr. Tesla, she collided with a panicked Seele in the corridor.

• Bronya warned Kiana that the enemy's decision not to seize the Herrscher of the Void's Authority was suspicious and urged her to stay alert.
• Kiana helped Veliona get wasabi-flavored peanuts from a vending machine, and Veliona offered her advice about choosing her own path.
• Kiana asked Theresa about Sirin, and Theresa explained that Sirin had lacked guidance and that Cecilia had tried to save her.
• Theresa told Kiana she believed in passing on Cecilia's kindness, and Kiana said she would think carefully about her eventual choice.
• Kiana failed to get information from the busy Dr. Tesla, then collided with a rushing Seele, who anxiously apologized.

Seele reassured Kiana that she had not said anything strange, and Kiana reflected on how much her friends cared for her before an eerie noise led her into the Theatre of Domination. There, a Doll revealed that Kiana had once rescued it in Arc City, then said its hope in her had been misplaced.

• Seele asked Kiana whether she had said anything strange, and Kiana said she did not remember and thanked Seele for her advice.
• Kiana went to bed feeling grateful for her friends’ care, but a heavy thud and mechanical rumbling outside her room startled her awake.
• Kiana opened her door and was pulled into the Theatre of Domination, where a Doll greeted her and challenged her to chase it.
• The Doll called Kiana the Herrscher of the Void and said it had survived Arc City, where she had rescued it as a student during a Honkai Beast attack.
• The Doll recalled how Kiana had given it hope, then said it had been wrong to believe that following her light would make everything better.

The Doll confronted Kiana with the suffering of a disaster survivor whose family had been ostracized after Kiana saved her, then blamed Kiana for rescuing the people who tormented her. Kiana defended her choice to stop the disaster, but the Doll revealed that it knew her identity as Sirin and hinted that Kiana was its real target.

• The Doll recounted how the survivor's family was shunned after the disaster, leaving her parents broken and her own life filled with anguish.
• The Doll accused Kiana's heroism of worsening the survivor's suffering, while Kiana said the Doll magnified people's dark emotions and insisted her host was not fragile.
• The Doll told Kiana that her host was still alive but was slowly breaking under rejection from the people around her.
• The Doll blamed Kiana for saving the survivor's tormentors, but Kiana said she would stop the disaster again even to save people who did not deserve it.
• The Doll called Kiana the source of evil and addressed her as Kiana, Test Subject K423, and the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, prompting Kiana to realize she was the real target.

The Dolls revealed that their plan was to force Kiana into the Theater and use her as a vessel, then staged a humiliating trial to break her. The livestream viewers erupted in anger and rushed into the game to destroy Dolls.

• The Doll explained that the Dolls had lured Kiana into the Theater so they could use her in their play.
• Kiana confronted three Dolls on a platform, and they revealed they wanted to unleash the fully awakened Herrscher of the Void and turn Anti-Entropy against her.
• The Dolls transformed the platform into a tribunal and surrounded Kiana with a jeering audience.
• The Dolls mocked Kiana’s identity and blamed her for the suffering of Siegfried, her friends, and her mentor.
• PD, Hanser, Sister Zhou, and other livestream viewers erupted in anger, and players deleted hundreds of millions of Dolls in the virtual world.

Kiana rejected the Doll’s attempts to shake her faith in her companions, but the Doll confronted her with the Gem of Haste and claimed Himeko was already dead. The livestream ended on that revelation, leaving PD and the viewers desperate for confirmation.

• Kiana halted the trial and rejected the Doll’s accusations, insisting that her companions’ trust had made her resolve unshakable.
• The Doll accused Cecilia and Himeko of risking humanity to save Kiana, then targeted Kiana’s grief over someone she had promised to bring back.
• The Doll revealed the Gem of Haste, and Kiana froze as she recognized the crystal she believed was embedded in Himeko’s armor.
• The image froze as the Doll declared that Himeko was already dead.
• After the stream ended, PD erupted in anger while viewers demanded answers, and Lin Yuhao could not reassure them.

As Lin Yuhao and his colleagues watched Hanser’s livestream for a hint about Himeko, the new story showed the Hyperion base under attack and the Herrscher of Domination cores mysteriously vanishing. The chapter ended as Theresa and Seele arrived at the base’s perimeter.

• Lin Yuhao told the anxious Qin Xiaofeng and his coworkers to keep watching Hanser’s stream for the story’s turning point.
• Hanser started “Flame That Ignites Tomorrow,” revealing a level-one alert aboard the Hyperion as the mechs malfunctioned and attacked.
• Fu Hua and Bronya rushed to the vault, destroyed the attacking mechs, and found Tesla and Einstein trapped nearby.
• Einstein explained that all recovered Herrscher of Domination cores had collapsed and been annihilated without signs of forced entry.
• Theresa hurried to the base’s perimeter with Seele.

After Kiana disappeared from Salt Lake Base, the awakened Tenth Herrscher’s doll hosts began attacking people around the world, and the team concluded Kiana had been taken into the Theatre of Domination. Raiden Mei entered the theater to reach her, where a doll tried to break her resolve, but Mei remained confident in their bond.

• Theresa and the others discovered that Kiana was missing, her tracking signal had vanished, and a doll had been left in her room.
• Surveillance footage showed hundreds of confirmed doll hosts losing control, and Einstein concluded that the Tenth Herrscher had returned and targeted Kiana.
• Raiden Mei entered the Theatre of Domination before the infiltration device reached its required safety rating and fought through the puppets blocking her way.
• A doll revealed that Kiana had already entered the theater and taunted Mei about leaving her behind, while hinting at another hidden variable.
• Mei rejected the doll’s attempts to weaken her and said that distance and their different positions would not shake her bond with Kiana.