Chapter Summaries

The Warden reunited with Bai Ning, now called the Director, and heard how he had helped establish the New World. After they discussed the past and the Present World, the Warden asked the Director to choose between leading a dangerous plan to contact extraterrestrial life and advancing humanity’s technology at home.

• The Warden greeted the Director and heard him describe the New World’s slow start and rapid construction progress.
• The Warden told the Director that Antie, Bai Suoyi, Liu Guang, and Gambler had all behaved differently than the preserved records suggested during their own pioneering work.
• The two groups completed their handover, retained the New World, and sent it mechanized equipment.
• The Warden told the Director that the Present World’s situation had improved, but Liu Guang had fallen.
• The Warden offered the Director a choice between leading Lu Xiao’s business plan and negotiating with extraterrestrial life, or leading the home front to advance humanity’s technology under the Postman’s protection.

The Director, later identified as Bai Ning, became the highest-ranking leader of the Foreign Ministry of Human Civilization and used strict rules and promises of genetic upgrades to win over skeptical financial elites. He ended the meeting by inviting questions, and a guard spoke up.

• The Warden persuaded the Director to take the first option and lead the Foreign Ministry of Human Civilization.
• The Director gathered financial elites for a meeting and imposed strict rules and regulations on them.
• He showed combat footage of Dawn of the Gods leaderboard members and explained how genetic upgrades could extend their lives.
• Bai Ning promised outstanding contributors genetic modification, greater strength, and a chance to become Gods in the world's eyes.
• A soldier guarding the meeting asked Bai Ning a question.

Bai Ning promised that anyone who made a sufficient contribution could earn a longer lifespan, stirring the crowd’s ambition. He then offered Zhang Ming a chance to become his second-in-command by producing a business plan within one day, leaving Zhang Ming angry but determined to compete.

• A soldier asked Bai Ning whether everyone could earn a place among the elite, and Bai Ning said everyone would be treated equally.
• The crowd, including financial professionals and cleaning staff, erupted with excitement at the prospect of a longer life.
• Zhang Ming watched the crowd’s greed with concern, while a colleague praised Bai Ning’s cold, commanding gaze.
• After the meeting, Bai Ning kept Zhang Ming behind and criticized his past record while describing him as steady and overly cautious.
• Bai Ning gave Zhang Ming veto power and demanded a detailed business plan within one day, promising appointment papers if it satisfied him and a plane ticket home if it did not.
• Zhang Ming suspected Bai Ning was testing him and felt his competitive spirit rise at the chance to become second-in-command.

The Director pressured Zhang Ming to produce a business proposal in one day, while explaining to the Warden that he meant to test Zhang Ming’s ability rather than judge the plan alone. After Zhang Ming and his colleagues submitted their proposal, they waited anxiously for the Director’s response, ready to leave for the front lines if it failed.

• The Director sent Zhang Ming away to prepare a business proposal, then told the Warden that completing it in a day would demonstrate Zhang Ming’s ability.
• The Warden praised the Director for taking responsibility, while the Director joked about his unreliable father and threatened to beat him if he ever gained power.
• A day later, Zhang Ming submitted a thick proposal, but the Director set it aside and prepared a different document for the Assistant to deliver to him.
• Zhang Ming and his exhausted colleagues waited in a smoke-filled office, having agreed to go to the front lines if the Director rejected their proposal.
• When a colleague asked whether the proposal would satisfy the Director, Zhang Ming said he did not know and that they had done their best.

Zhang Ming received his ministerial appointment, but realized the Director had approved his proposal without reading it. Meanwhile, the Warden prepared the Postman to establish a Logistics Point and discussed mentoring the Postman’s descendant before the Director arrived.

• An assistant told Zhang Ming that Mr. Bai Ning approved his proposal and handed him a Ministerial Appointment Letter.
• Zhang Ming concluded that the Director had not read the proposal and urged his colleagues to work overtime to find its flaws.
• After reading the Warden’s email, the Director left his office to watch the Logistics Point being established, and the Warden sent a helicopter to pick him up.
• The Warden learned that the Postman’s descendant would arrive within a few days and agreed to mentor him.
• The Director arrived by helicopter and greeted the Postman, while the Warden asked whether they should fly over to the prepared site.

Gambler visited the Swarm with Zhang Chu, who was already irritated by his sect’s elders and threatened him with lightning. In the Holy City, Yi Hao finished a sketch for Driver’s divine statue, but the drawing depicted a raised-front taxi rather than Driver.

• Gambler contacted his Swarm fans and learned their location through Drak’s shared vision.
• Gambler failed to persuade Dart to accompany him, so Zhang Chu took him there on a Flesh Cloud.
• Gambler questioned the Flesh Cloud and annoyed Zhang Chu, who warned him not to misbehave or risk being struck by lightning.
• Zhang Chu silently flew Gambler toward the Swarm while stewing over his sect elders’ pressure to take Lu Qian as a disciple.
• Yi Hao drew a draft for Driver’s divine statue while Lu Xiao and Nico praised details of the image.
• Driver examined the finished sketch and realized it showed a taxi with its front end raised, not him.

Yi Hao designed a gown for Nico and explained that his Deification Ritual required the beings of an entire world to accept his aesthetic, which he pursued by building a new Holy City. Lu Xiao proposed using Yi Hao’s soon-to-be-acquired Authority for real estate design, and Yi Hao eagerly asked to hear more.

• Driver complained that Yi Hao’s drawing of the Transforming Vehicle showed only Driver’s face pressed against a window.
• Yi Hao sketched Nico and planned a seaside-themed summer sleepwear gown around her azure bell.
• Yi Hao told Lu Xiao that his Deification Ritual would be complete when the beings of an entire world accepted his aesthetic, and explained why he had chosen architecture over fashion design.
• Lu Xiao asked about Yi Hao’s Authority, and Yi Hao said it was difficult to use in combat.
• Lu Xiao proposed making Yi Hao chief designer of a real estate development business for aliens, and Yi Hao responded with excitement.

Yi Hao finished Nico’s design and prepared to return to the Human Settlement with Lu Xiao, while Ding Dan warned them that the final battle in the Demon Clan’s Royal City was near. Lu Xiao questioned what prize could justify the immense cost of sending species into Hell as he set out to learn more.

• Lu Xiao promised to help Yi Hao develop a business plan that could earn Star Source, and Driver asked for a prestigious job but was told to keep driving.
• Yi Hao finished his design, and Nico eagerly took the canvas to look it over.
• Lu Xiao told Yi Hao about the Mother Goddess Elves and asked him to help with their needs; Yi Hao decided to inform Ding Dan and return to the Human Settlement.
• Yi Hao told Lu Xiao that a succubus who had been with Mr. Antie wanted to reunite with him, so Lu Xiao arranged to bring her to the Base.
• Ding Dan let Yi Hao leave and told Lu Xiao to bring Chef to him, as he was preparing to ascend to godhood.
• Ding Dan warned Lu Xiao that the final battle would soon begin in the Demon Clan’s Royal City, and Lu Xiao questioned what the species were paying so much to fight for.

Lu Xiao learned that the fighting in Hell was a contest for qualification in the Species Ranking Tournament, and that the Demon Clan planned to use its mixed-blood allies and the 'King' authority to recover its standing. He realized Niu Bo had likely been maneuvering humanity into the conflict, leaving him furious at the Minotaur leader.

• Ding Dan told Lu Xiao that species in Hell were fighting for qualification in the Species Ranking Tournament, which could improve their standing and access to resources.
• Ding Dan explained that humanity would struggle to compete in the tournament itself and that he only needed to hand over the 'King' authority to fulfill his deal with Daimon.
• Ding Dan said the Demon Clan planned to rely on mixed-blood species with 'demon' in their names to gain qualification and form alliances, using the 'King' authority to keep them loyal.
• Ding Dan explained that rival species called the Outsiders bandits because they used dirty tactics to weaken the Demon Clan and seize qualification.
• Lu Xiao connected Niu Bo's earlier remarks and actions to the Minotaur Tribe's likely support for the Demon Clan, and cursed Niu Bo for possibly treating humanity as something to sell.

Lu Xiao learned that the Demon Clan had fabricated the Savior prophecy to recruit the vast Wanderer population for the final battle, and he hurried back to confront Niu Bo. Meanwhile, Yi Hao's attempt to woo a Mother God Elf ended with a punch, and the Warden's group saw Postman deploy a cube that instantly built a vast Logistics Point.

• Ding Dan confirmed that the Demon Clan had invented the Savior prophecy to make the Wanderers fight in the final battle, and Lu Xiao realized humanity was being treated as expendable pawns.
• Lu Xiao returned to the Base intending to extort Niu Bo, while Driver took Chef to the Holy City and Yi Hao went to Liu Ni's room to meet a Mother God Elf.
• Yi Hao declared his love for the Mother God Elf and kissed her hand, but she punched him before he could finish introducing himself as a fashion designer.
• The Warden and his group arrived at the C02 Containment Facility in Chang'an and showed Postman the vast site planned for a Logistics Point.
• Postman tossed down an Integrated Building Cube, which instantly generated a twenty-thousand-square-meter building and astonished the Warden and the Director.

The Warden and the Director discussed buying integrated building cubes and planning an airport, while Lu Xiao dealt with the battered Yi Hao and Driver. Elsewhere, Gambler and Zhang Chu reached the Swarm, and Gambler approached Drak in disguise.

• The Postman told the Director that the company could build customized integrated building cubes, and the Director decided he wanted to buy some.
• The Director argued that the Logistics Point needed an airport to handle incoming supplies, and the Warden reluctantly agreed to discuss how much to invest after the shipment arrived.
• Lu Xiao dragged the beaten Yi Hao from Liu Ni's room and encountered Driver, who was pulled inside and badly beaten before Lu Xiao dragged both men away to find the Prison Doctor.
• Gambler and Zhang Chu reached the Swarm, and Gambler disguised himself and sneaked toward Drak while Zhang Chu watched from the air.
• Gambler found that Drak had changed considerably and was looking increasingly human.

Gambler discovered that the Heavenly Insect Clan’s Swarm had grown to over three billion newborn Zerg and returned to Base with Zhang Chu to report it to Lu Xiao. Lu Xiao planned to help Gambler control the Swarm and use it to enter the Species Ranking Tournament, but Doctor’s return revealed that he had become digital life and could create countless copies of himself.

• Gambler learned that the Swarm had gained over three billion newborn Zerg in a few days and ordered it to stop expanding.
• Gambler returned to Base with Zhang Chu and told Lu Xiao about the Swarm’s rapid growth.
• Lu Xiao decided to help Gambler control the Heavenly Insect Clan and planned to recruit Daimon to support its entry into the Species Ranking Tournament.
• Doctor returned with Antie and Futiya, and Lu Xiao learned that the real Doctor was inside a container while a stand-in spoke for him.
• Antie explained that Doctor had become digital life as part of the Deification Ritual, allowing him to back up his consciousness and upload it into many bodies.

Lu Xiao, Antie, and the Doctor discussed entering the Species Ranking Tournament to qualify while postponing the decision to compete. In the Present World, the Warden and the Director struggled with how to handle the Mother Goddess Elves’ carefully chosen shipment until the Doctor called to say he had returned and would collect it with them.

• The Doctor proposed securing tournament qualification first, and Antie agreed that a small group could compete despite their limited population.
• Lu Xiao told Antie and the Doctor about the Mother Goddess Elves and the resources he had borrowed from Weidiya.
• The Warden and the Director received 7,300 spatial cubes of supplies, and the Postman warned them that selling the shipment could disappoint the Mother Goddess Elves and attract their attention.
• The Doctor called the Warden, announced that he had returned, and asked them to wait so he could collect the shipment with them.
• The Warden told the Director to accompany him to the C02 Containment Facility to borrow equipment while they waited for the Doctor to explain his return.

The Doctor breached C02's systems and used its biological printer to create a body for his consciousness backup. The malformed Doctor emerged from the printer and was handed a lab coat.

• The Director and the Warden arrived at C02's server room, where the facility's database came under attack.
• The Doctor spoke through a disconnected call and told his mentor to stop resisting while he tried to return.
• The Doctor took control of C02's electronic equipment, including devices that were not network-connected.
• The Director, the Warden, and the acting leader went to the biological laboratory after its equipment started operating on its own.
• The biological printer created a malformed humanoid body and loaded the Doctor's consciousness backup into it.
• The Doctor's new body opened its eyes, stepped out of the tank, and received a lab coat.

The Doctor returned to the present in an altered body and explained how to collect the supplies trapped in independent spaces. He then exposed a critical flaw in Qi Shangqing’s Curvature Engine research and declared that he understood space.

• The Doctor returned wearing a White Lab Coat, and the Warden and Director recognized him before questioning why he had not used his clone.
• The Doctor said the Warden could destroy his remaining clones, then proposed merging the cargo spaces into a large storage space with a Teleportation Gate.
• The Doctor revealed that they had the technology to manipulate space, shocking the Warden and the Director.
• The Doctor identified Qi Shangqing as the Apprentice and criticized his Curvature Engine research for overlooking the need for a warp bubble.
• Qi Shangqing recoiled as the Doctor explained that a warp bubble would protect living beings from the forces of changing space, and the Doctor declared that he understood space.

In Hell, Lu Xiao, Antie, and Doctor discussed the cost of using the pen and parchment, Antie’s search for lightning authority, and Doctor’s authority of “creation.” Meanwhile, in Chang'an City, the Director feared Doctor was spying on him and warned the Warden that Doctor could destroy civilization if he turned against humanity.

• Antie set aside creating materials with the pen and parchment and said he wanted to obtain lightning authority, which he hoped Lu Xiao would give him.
• Lu Xiao urged Antie to ask Mr. Ivan for help, and Antie agreed.
• Doctor explained that his “creation” authority worked through technological production and said he was digital life, though he could create silicon-based life.
• Doctor considered himself possibly a Chosen One of “Technology” because technologies from Lu Liangren’s books had revealed his Deification Ritual.
• In Chang'an City, the Director unplugged the hotel’s electronic devices and accused Doctor of hiding in them, while the Warden tried to calm him.
• The Director warned that Doctor could dismantle human civilization or send it back to the Iron Age if he betrayed humanity.

The Warden reassured the Director that the Doctor was unlikely to threaten humanity, then praised the Doctor’s work on the God-Making Plan and his care for its subjects. The Director asked what had become of the Sacrificial Ones, but a television report interrupted them before the Warden could answer.

• The Warden dismissed the Director’s suspicions about the Doctor and turned on the television, where a report featured the Dawn of the Gods leaderboard.
• The Warden admitted he was exhausted and hoped his precious student would take on some of his workload, while the Director teased him about it.
• The Warden told the Director that War Elephant had been a military recruit selected by the Doctor for the God-Making experiment.
• The Warden revealed that the God-Making Plan’s success rate had risen from less than one percent to around sixty percent and that the Doctor had kept failed subjects alive.
• The Warden said the Sacrificial Ones had privately called the Doctor “Poker-Faced Nanny,” and the Director asked what arrangements had been made for them.
• A television report introduced Sly, ranked sixth on the leaderboard, before the Warden could answer the Director’s question.

The Director learned that seventy-five people had become deities and discovered that Life Thief, a mysterious man sent by Bai Suoyi, topped the rankings. After the Warden signed Doctor’s resource authorization, a transport plane carrying supplies took off almost immediately.

• The Warden told the Director that ten thousand people had participated in genetic modification and seventy-six had completed the Deification Ritual, with one having ascended to godhood.
• The Director checked the Dawn of the Gods rankings and found Sly, Gambler, and the first-ranked Life Thief.
• The Director watched videos of Life Thief walking through the Dark Prison as monsters fell dead around him, and learned that Bai Suoyi had sent him there.
• The Director tried to call Bai Suoyi but discovered that Bai Suoyi had blocked him, while the Warden suggested he had done so because he missed his son.
• Doctor emailed the Warden a request for authorization to allocate resources, and the Warden signed the document electronically.
• The Warden received confirmation that the dedicated transport plane carrying the supplies had taken off from the central warehouse’s airport.

Sly and War Elephant traveled to the Dark Prison for a mission to infiltrate the Outsiders and draw the attention of a powerful being. Lucilla took them toward the Depths, where she demanded War Elephant become her battle thrall, while Sly eagerly volunteered instead.

• Sly told War Elephant to pose as an accidental captive and attract the attention of the being who watched creatures fight, with the Life Thief assisting from the shadows.
• War Elephant questioned why he had been chosen for an infiltration mission despite being publicly known, while Sly joked that he would act as the camera.
• Half a day later, Sly and War Elephant entered the Dark Prison and boarded a helicopter bound for the Depths.
• Lucilla ordered War Elephant to call her master and become her battle thrall.
• War Elephant agreed only if the demand served the mission and objected to Lucilla's disrespectful tone, while Sly begged her to step on him.

Lu Xiao stopped at Hell’s Logistics Point and questioned Postman about the Zerg. Postman revealed that the Supreme Insect Emperor was an Old One-level Brain Worm controlling the Mother Worm Empress, and said it would be killed if it left the Brood Nest.

• War Elephant agreed to Sly’s demand, and he and Sly jumped from the helicopter at Lucilla’s instruction.
• Lu Xiao, Gambler, and Driver stopped at Hell’s Logistics Point, where Lu Xiao wanted to ask Postman about the Gods.
• Lu Xiao asked Postman about the Zerg, and Postman told Gambler that the Supreme Insect Emperor was seeking information about the King of the Heavenly Worms.
• Gambler joked that Postman could claim the Insect Emperor’s reward and split it with him, but Postman warned that the Zerg were notorious for breaking promises.
• Postman explained that the Supreme Insect Emperor was a Brain Worm that controlled the Mother Worm Empress and commanded the Zerg.
• Postman said the Supreme Insect Emperor remained inside the Brood Nest because powerful beings would kill it if it ventured outside.