Chapter Summaries

Moli'an silenced the races protesting the Mother Goddess Elves’ arrest of twenty gods by threatening their clans. In the C02 Containment Facility, the Director ordered an armless human to retaliate against one of the captured gods, then asked Weidiya for a weapon capable of harming a god.

• Moli'an arrived as other races demanded an explanation for the Mother Goddess Elves’ arrest of twenty gods.
• Moli'an refused to justify the arrests, warned the crowd against questioning a Great Old One, and threatened their clans before vanishing.
• The Doctor asked Liu Ni whether she had learned from the incident, and she suspected he might be the Director in disguise.
• The surveillance feed showed the Director and Weidiya holding the twenty gods in a steel room as an armless human entered.
• The Director told the human to repay the god who had injured him, then asked Weidiya for a weapon that could hurt a god.
• Weidiya warned that the human could not use such a weapon without risking his life.

The Director gave an armless man nanobot prosthetic limbs so he could wield Weidiya’s sacred sword and take revenge on a god. The man began torturing the god, while the other nineteen gods watched in horror.

• The armless man agreed to offer his soul in exchange for the power to avenge his lost arms, and Weidiya presented him with a sacred emerald sword.
• The Doctor’s staff used nanobots to form new arms for the man, painfully connecting them to his nerves.
• The Doctor explained to the Warden that master-controller nanobots guided the rest through interconnected nerves, and that the procedure’s intense pain could cause shock.
• After recovering, the man took Weidiya’s sword and attacked the bound god within the Director’s five-minute limit.
• The man drove the sword into the god’s head and twisted it, draining the god’s Divinity and energy as the other nineteen gods watched in horror.

A human used the sacred rapier to exhaust a god’s divinity and avenge his people, dying with a smile after returning the relic to Weidiya. The Director’s broadcast stirred public support for the human leaders and fired up the soldiers.

• The human spent five minutes extinguishing the god’s divinity until the god could barely maintain his rank.
• The human returned the sacred rapier to Weidiya, thanked her, and dissolved into bloody slime.
• The Director ordered the cleanup and the next person to prepare while Liu Ni questioned his calmness.
• The Warden reflected on humanity and animal nature, and the Doctor said the livestream would strengthen human cohesion.
• Viewers saw that gods could fear humans, embraced their leaders’ actions, and became eager to stand up to the strong.

After the livestream made Liu Ni famous, the Director learned that Weidiya expected him to return to the Mother Goddess Star for a coronation, while Liu Ni and the Doctor discussed how to handle the trip. Elsewhere, Moli'an invited the Warden to share wine and talk, and he joined her in a red sports car.

• Liu Ni's livestream fame spread, making her a celebrated goddess.
• Weidiya told the Director that he would return with her to the Mother Goddess Star for a coronation and become a true Goddess.
• Liu Ni asked the Doctor about returning to the Mother Goddess Star, and the Doctor described plans to send wine-making equipment and specialists with her.
• The Doctor advised Liu Ni to keep interacting with the Imperial Princess as the Director did and adapt to circumstances.
• Moli'an asked the Warden to share wine and discuss something, and he agreed to go with her in a red convertible.

Moli'an urged Li Changqing to return with her and offered Mother Goddess Elf protection for humanity as a subordinate race. The Warden rejected her proposal and challenged her to wager on whether humanity could ignite a star, leaving the stakes set on Moli'an staying or deciding humanity's future.

• Moli'an asked Li Changqing to leave with her for Mother Goddess Star, but he refused to abandon humanity.
• Moli'an explained that the Mother Goddess Elves would protect humanity if it became their subordinate race, and offered Li Changqing a position in their Think Tank.
• The Warden and Li Changqing argued over accepting the offer, with the Warden warning that the Think Tank's promises could carry a hidden price.
• The Warden took control of the body and proposed a wager with Moli'an over whether humanity could ignite a star through its own power.
• The Warden set the stakes: if humanity succeeded, Moli'an would stay; if it failed, she could arrange everything concerning humanity.

The Warden and Antie sent a team of specialists to survey the sun and test whether it could be reignited. As the survey team descended toward the photosphere, the Doctor’s doubles began luring Alfred away, and one double drew his attention on a distant asteroid.

• Antie told the Warden that the survey team and equipment were ready, and the Warden agreed to notify the Chosen One of 'Death.'
• The Warden and Antie gathered the specialists at the Post Office, where the Warden encouraged them before they entered the gate to the sun.
• The Chosen One of 'Death' returned, and the Warden ordered the teleportation gate activated as the survey team departed.
• The first specialist emerged onto the sun and saw a dim reddish-brown photosphere, suggesting the star might still be reignited, before its gravity began pulling him down.
• The antigravity vessel arrived and carried the specialists downward toward the sun’s surface.
• The Doctor called Alfred’s name from a desolate asteroid, sensed Alfred’s malice, and severed his main consciousness’s connection to the double.

A stand-in of the Doctor injected himself with a substance that let him look at an Old One, but he transformed into a monster after questioning Alfred. In Hell, Lu Xiao learned that Antie and the Warden had begun their plan while the Allied Forces prepared a desperate attack on Tina, and he remained troubled by the sense that the war was missing something.

• The Doctor’s stand-in injected himself with a syringe, questioned whether Alfred belonged to the silicon-based faction, and became a mindless monster after Alfred answered.
• The Warden and Antie waited anxiously by the spatial Teleportation Gate after taking the first step of their plan.
• Lu Xiao learned that the Allied Forces planned to gather their Gods in two days for a suicide attack on Tina Empress.
• Lu Xiao wondered why no enemy God bearing an elemental authority had appeared and felt that the final battle was missing something.
• Lu Xiao shared news from the Present World with the Gambler, Zhang Chu, and the others, and their conversation eased the somber mood.

As the war in Hell continued to favor Tina’s Zerg, the solar survey team found that the Sun’s hydrogen and helium were still sustaining thermonuclear reactions, raising hopes that it could be reignited. The team began its dangerous return journey, where Meier Gauss and Matthew met the young scientist Li Xiuqi.

• Zhang Chu told Lu Xiao that he wanted to start a media company, and Gambler joked that he could pressure Warden into funding it.
• The Mother Worm continued laying eggs as Tina’s Swarm grew larger than it had been before the war.
• The solar survey team found ongoing thermonuclear reactions in the chromosphere but turned back because they could not safely reach the photosphere.
• Meier Gauss recorded his observations while he and Matthew discussed their hopes for returning to the Present World.
• Li Xiuqi approached Meier Gauss and Matthew for an autograph, and Meier praised his published paper.
• Matthew recognized Li Xiuqi and clapped him on the shoulder.

After leaving the corona, Li Xiuqi and the others helped assemble a Space Teleportation Gate while Matthew and Meier Gauss joked about their pasts. The gate was ready for calibration, and Matthew began explaining how his love story had drawn blood.

• Matthew apologized to Li Xiuqi, asked for his autograph, and received one; Meier Gauss and Matthew then signed Li Xiuqi’s notebook and gave it to him.
• Meier Gauss said he had stopped writing about the chromosphere because his words could not capture what he had seen.
• After the antigravity ship left the corona, the crew reassembled the Space Teleportation Gate, leaving specialists to calibrate it.
• Matthew invited Li Xiuqi to a champagne party, and he and Meier Gauss teased each other about their interests.
• Meier Gauss explained that Matthew had switched from mathematics to astronomy to pursue a junior, and Matthew said their love story had drawn blood.
• Meier Gauss revealed that the junior Matthew pursued was still a virgin.

As the Teleportation Gate neared completion, a vast malevolent eye appeared on the sun and began killing and corrupting the mission team. Li Xiuqi was hurled toward the gate while Matthew warned him not to look back, and in the Present World the Doctor told the Warden that someone had returned.

• Li Xiuqi told Meier Gauss that he chose astronomy to uncover the universe's mysteries, and the mission crew took a group photo before returning to their stations.
• A wave of resentment struck as the Teleportation Gate neared opening, and the staff member calibrating it exploded, followed by others near the gate.
• Matthew and Meier Gauss saw an immense eye on the sun, and Meier Gauss's eyes burst as Matthew became corrupted and shouted for Li Xiuqi not to look back.
• Li Xiuqi felt a sharp pain at his waist and was propelled toward the glowing Teleportation Gate while Matthew's voice repeated, "good luck."
• The Doctor called the Warden and said that He had returned, causing the Warden to drop his phone as Antie asked what was wrong.

Antie and the Warden received a notebook from the failed solar survey mission and learned that the sun still had solar prominences. The Doctor sent doubles through the gate to investigate, but discovered that the entire survey team had died and could not identify the one person missing from the ship’s reported headcount.

• Antie urged the Warden to arrange another survey and volunteer to lead it, but the Warden warned him not to risk losing him.
• A notebook bearing Meier Gauss and Matthew’s signatures emerged from the Teleportation Gate, and the Doctor confirmed the signatures had not been there before the mission.
• Antie found Meier Gauss’s notes about solar prominences, confirming that the sun had not collapsed and was still alive.
• The Doctor injected himself with Cage and sent successive doubles through the gate to investigate, severing their links to his main consciousness.
• After the fifth Doctor entered the gate, the sixth noticed that one person was missing from the ship’s reported headcount and snapped his neck, triggering the same action among the remaining doubles.
• A newly printed Doctor arrived and told the Warden that he had not had enough time to identify the missing person.

The Doctor searched subspace for the missing person who he believed had entered the Teleportation Gate before it was calibrated. After repeated attempts and more than half a day of searching, a newly produced Doctor told the Warden and Antie that they had found him.

• The Doctor concluded that the missing person had entered the incompletely calibrated Teleportation Gate and returned to search for him.
• The Doctor entered subspace by opening a hole in the space around the gate, but suffocated when he found there was no air.
• A second Doctor equipped himself with oxygen tanks and a dose of "Cage" before entering subspace again.
• The Doctor used "Cage" to extend his consciousness and search the lightless space for the missing person.
• More than half a day later, a newly produced Doctor told the Warden and Antie, "We've found him."

The Doctor rescued Li Xiuqi from Subspace, and Li woke up in the Present World after the Prison Doctor treated him. He reported that the exploration team had vanished, shared what he knew about their solar survey and Meier Gauss’s notebook, and realized he was the only survivor.

• The Doctor used a substitute and the drug Cage to retrieve Li Xiuqi from Subspace, leaving other substitutes behind.
• After the Prison Doctor treated him, Li Xiuqi woke and urgently asked the Warden and Antie to rescue the exploration team.
• Antie asked Li about the solar survey, and Li explained that the commander had copied the data to every team member’s portable computer.
• Antie showed Li Meier Gauss’s notebook, and Li recounted how Meier had given it to him aboard the antigravity ship.
• Antie returned the notebook to Li and explained that it had fallen out of the Teleportation Gate.
• Li realized the exploration team had been wiped out and broke down crying over Matthew and Meier Gauss; Antie promised that the glory Li deserved would come.

Antie returned to his hotel after meeting the Warden and planned to go back to Northern Europe, though the Warden questioned whether he had time. He reunited with Futiya, who described how the Warden had provided for the succubi and minotaurs, while people across the Present World worked to rebuild and advance civilization.

• Antie told the Warden he intended to return to Northern Europe, but fell silent when the Warden asked whether the trip was important and whether he had enough time.
• Antie returned to the hotel, where Futiya asked whether he had finished his work, and he admitted that he had not.
• Futiya prepared a hot bath for Antie and told him the Warden had arranged housing and supplies for the succubi and minotaurs.
• The Warden assigned minotaurs to manual labor and met their request for fresh fodder, while an agricultural expert developed fast-growing synthetic grass seed.
• People throughout the Present World pursued research and other work to support the continuation of civilization.

The Warden appointed Zhang Weidong commander-in-chief of the Southern Heavenly Gate starship program, and Zhang struggled with the technical reports and repeatedly tried to resign. After the Ninth Group Army received Mother Tree leaves, more than a hundred soldiers awakened traits, including Zhang, and the army expanded to prepare for the project.

• The Warden signed off on the Southern Heavenly Gate plan and appointed Zhang Weidong, recently returned from Hell, as its commander-in-chief.
• Zhang Weidong repeatedly submitted resignation letters, but the Warden discarded them without reading them.
• The Warden gave Mother Tree leaves to the Ninth Group Army, and over a hundred of its more than sixty thousand soldiers awakened traits, including Zhang Weidong, who gained a special trait.
• The Ninth Group Army expanded its authorized strength to three hundred thousand after more than ninety percent of applicants chose to join it.
• Zhang Weidong complained to his guard that the Warden had not accepted his resignation, while struggling to understand reports and direct the Southern Heavenly Gate starship program.

Zhang Weidong resented the Warden for allowing exaggerated rumors about the Ninth Group Army to grow while its members were forbidden to correct them. Meanwhile, Moli'an challenged the Warden over his wager, insisting humanity could not relight a dimmed star, and revealed that Silicon-based Life had imposed the requirement for registering a race.

• Zhang Weidong reflected on how the Warden's influence and the secrecy rules left the Ninth Group Army unable to refute wild rumors about its supposed victories and plunder.
• Zhang Weidong suspected the Warden was building up his reputation in order to bring him down, and privately cursed him as a black-hearted old fox.
• The Warden met Moli'an in his office, where she teased him about making the wager as a graceful excuse to leave with her.
• Moli'an argued that humans could not relight a dimmed star and said they should instead focus on producing a Great Old One.
• The Warden asked why relighting a star was required to register a race, and Moli'an answered that Silicon-based Life had set the condition.

Moli'an told the Warden that Silicon-based Life's Species Registration rules might be intended to find races capable of completing its incomplete Technology, prompting him to suspect that Life itself might also be incomplete and that Liu Ni was connected to it. He discussed the possibility with Antie and the Doctor, who considered using the situation to their advantage and questioned whether Moli'an knew the truth about the real Liu Ni.

• The Warden asked Moli'an why Silicon-based Life required races to use their own power for Species Registration, and she explained that the rules had been created by the Silicon-Based Race.
• Moli'an said other major races suspected the rule was meant to find Silicon-based Life's Kin or identify races that possessed the missing part of its incomplete Technology.
• The Warden connected Moli'an's theory to Liu Ni and wondered whether Life was incomplete, then decided to consult Antie about a contingency plan.
• Antie and a Doctor double arrived, and the Warden repeated Moli'an's claims to them.
• Antie and the Doctor discussed what they could gain from the situation, while the Warden objected that treating Liu Ni as a bargaining chip seemed inhumane.
• Antie asked whether Moli'an knew there was another Liu Ni, and the Doctor said he could not be certain.

The Warden, Antie, and the Doctor questioned Moli'an’s motives after realizing she may have deliberately steered the Warden toward information about completing authority. The Warden began to suspect Moli'an was acting against the Goddess’s return and might even be wary of Augusis.

• The Warden realized Moli'an may have guided their conversation so she could reveal that incomplete authority could be made whole.
• Antie asked whether Moli'an was loyal to her race, her faith, or neither, while the Doctor explained that their shielded Monitoring Room had been built before they returned from Hell.
• Antie reasoned that Moli'an might know the Goddess had been replaced, while Weidiya likely did not, and suggested the two elves served different loyalties.
• The Warden wondered whether Moli'an wanted the Doctor’s Goddess to return to Mother Goddess Star or hoped to prevent her from completing her authority.
• The Warden recalled that Moli'an had controlled the pace of their interactions and began to suspect she might be wary of Augusis, who had rarely left the Post Office since her arrival.

The Warden and Doctor found a stockpile of nuclear weapons in the Dark Prison that could raise the chance of reigniting the sun to seven percent, prompting a worldwide military mobilization to retrieve them. Commander Yang Zhan headed toward his assigned coordinates, but Old Chen warned him that they were in Chernobyl.

• Doctor calculated that existing nuclear bombs could not restart stellar fusion, and the Warden revealed that around thirty thousand nuclear weapons were buried in the Dark Prison.
• Doctor said recovering and repairing the weapons would raise the chance of igniting the star by seven percent, and he placed the overall chance of success at seven percent.
• Military Headquarters ordered millions of troops across the Dark Prison to assemble and move to assigned coordinates.
• Commander Yang Zhan ordered his Fourth Group Army to march toward its coordinates while Old Chen urged him to stay behind.
• Old Chen told Yang Zhan that his son, a senior Researcher at C02 Containment Facility, had warned him not to go because the destination was Chernobyl.

The Warden, Antie, and Young Chen discussed the mystery of Chernobyl, including Russia’s costly military campaign there and the possibility that it held nuclear weapons. Young Chen asked Antie to reveal what was hidden there as the Fourth Group Army headed toward the site.

• Yang Zhan dismissed Old Chen’s warning about Chernobyl and ordered him to drive after the troops, who had to reach the coordinates within forty-eight hours.
• Antie asked the Warden why nuclear bombs had been stored in Chernobyl, and the Warden recalled that Chief Bai had wondered the same thing.
• Antie and the Warden discussed Russia’s deployment of two hundred thousand troops to retake Chernobyl and its later withdrawal, while Young Chen listened.
• The Warden revealed that the Doctor had monitored Young Chen’s call to his father in the Fourth Group Army, then invited him to listen openly rather than hide his curiosity.
• Antie speculated that Chernobyl might explain Russia’s early history during the Outsiders’ advent, and the Warden questioned why the site had attracted the Outsiders.
• Young Chen asked Antie to tell him exactly what was in Chernobyl, and Antie answered with a question of his own.