Chapter Summaries

Curze defended Guilliman from suspicion and confined Futia to make her read Nostramo’s Evernight Code. After she finished, Curze brought her to meet Han Mingxuan, who recognized her as the woman from the picture that had brought him to this world.

• Curze reassured Guilliman that he trusted him and warned that Futia’s actions could cause trouble between the brothers.
• Cyrion imprisoned Futia in a sealed classroom and ordered her to read Nostramo’s Evernight Code before she could leave.
• Futia spent several days reading the code, then asked to see the Father of Night.
• Curze let Futia out and brought her to Han Mingxuan’s home, where several Primarchs and Trazyn were present.
• Han Mingxuan recognized Futia from the picture he had saved on his phone, and Futia told him she had dressed properly as an Imperial soldier.

Han Mingxuan tested Lieutenant General Futia’s loyalty and judgment before agreeing to make her his deputy and entrusting her with Nostramo’s command in his and Curze’s absence. Trazyn’s test left Futia unable to distinguish illusion from reality, and Guilliman had to stop her from attacking him.

• Han Mingxuan rejected Futia as a potential governor of Nostramo and explained that he needed a capable logistics leader who could think independently.
• Futia asked Han Mingxuan to teach her, and he had Trazyn test her in a dimensional space against a monstrous creature she believed was a Xenos.
• Futia appeared to pass the test, so Han Mingxuan appointed her deputy, and Curze gave her scales representing authority to command Nostramo in their absence.
• Futia realized something was wrong and attacked the illusion, only to find herself back in Trazyn’s test and unable to distinguish reality from deception.
• Futia mistook Trazyn for a Xenos and attacked him, but Guilliman knocked her sword away and brought her down.

Han Mingxuan settled Futia into ordinary administrative work and continued working under an alias on Nostramo. Fulgrim sought him out for poetry, only to find him laboring at a construction site alongside retired enforcers and Dorn.

• Han Mingxuan removed Futia from her official posts, took her ceremonial sword, and sent her to work as an ordinary clerk.
• Han Mingxuan reflected on the approaching 31st millennium and continued his mining work under an alias to avoid attention.
• Fulgrim asked Curze where Han Mingxuan was, and Curze explained that Nostramo's people took turns doing manual labor.
• Fulgrim found Han Mingxuan resting with laborers at a construction site and learned from contractor Old Kamon that Han would finish work at noon.
• Dorn arrived dressed in work clothes and told Fulgrim that he was a contractor.

Fulgrim joined Dorn at the City of Truth construction site and learned that Nostramo’s workers valued reliable food, pay, and survival more than elegance or culture. After spending the morning working and sharing his lunch with a fellow worker, he learned there would be an event after work.

• Dorn gave Fulgrim workers’ clothes and told him to stop disrupting construction, so Fulgrim changed and entered the site.
• A mortal foreman explained that workers cared more about steady work, income, and food than Fulgrim’s beauty or refinement.
• Fulgrim recognized the workers’ focus on survival, took safety precautions, and began building.
• A scarred woman called the workers to lunch, and Fulgrim learned that their current meals and paid work were far better than life on old Nostramo.
• Fulgrim offered his lunch to a worker, who urged him to eat and mentioned an event after work.

Fulgrim shared food and candy with Nova Spes at the Nostramo construction site, then led the workers and children in making music together. The lively gathering helped him understand his father’s appreciation for humanity, and he called this simple, living experience the most perfect thing humanity could pursue.

• Fulgrim gave Nova Spes some of his lunch, and Nova offered him candy he had saved for his family.
• Fulgrim and Nova split the candy as an act of loyalty, and Nova told Fulgrim that he had learned the word “hope.”
• The workers and children gathered around a campfire, and Fulgrim agreed to make music with them using construction tools and materials.
• Fulgrim guided the workers’ clanging and the crowd’s voices into a brief melody that filled him with wonder.
• Fulgrim reflected that the spontaneous music felt more alive than the refined beauty he had pursued before, and he called it humanity’s most perfect pursuit.

Curze watched Fulgrim become a construction foreman and reflected on how Han Mingxuan’s teaching had changed him and other Primarchs. As Curze worked with Guilliman, Horus, and the Great Angel, the Night Haunter warned him that Huangpizi might target him because he had become the most human of the demigods and knew about Horus’s relationship with Huangpizi.

• Curze saw Fulgrim head to the City of Truth construction site, where a couplet Han Mingxuan had put up was helping change Fulgrim’s disposition.
• Curze and Guilliman discussed how Han Mingxuan had influenced Fulgrim and persuaded Dorn to work at the construction site.
• Curze prepared a strategy game and fruit before Horus and the Great Angel arrived, with the brothers splitting between games and government work.
• The Night Haunter warned Curze that Huangpizi valued his human emotions and uncertainty, and that Curze was in great danger because he knew about Horus and Huangpizi.

Curze asked Horus about his relationship with the Emperor, prompting Horus to begin recounting their thirty years together. The brothers gathered for afternoon tea as Horus described how becoming the Emperor’s First-Returned Son shaped their bond.

• Curze recalled his father’s advice to break stalemates through action and decided to address his uncertainty by talking to Horus.
• Curze asked Horus about the Emperor and their other brothers, while Guilliman and the Great Angel realized Horus was about to retell his story of their thirty years together.
• Horus happily agreed to tell the story, believing Curze wanted to understand and accept the Emperor.
• Curze prepared pastries, side dishes, and wine his father had made, and invited Guilliman and the Great Angel to join them.
• Horus described being the Emperor’s First-Returned Son and recalled their thirty years together, the care he received, and the ring the Emperor gave him.

Curze helped Horus confront his fear that he could lose the Emperor’s love and the identity built around his name. He reminded Horus that he belonged to his brothers as well, and Horus’s sense of crisis began to fade.

• Horus spent five hours recounting how the Emperor had named and raised him, and Curze identified his fear of losing his place as the Emperor’s finest son.
• Curze told Horus that the Emperor was a father only after being the Master of Mankind, while Horus’s own father had been a father first.
• Curze shared his father’s view that Horus was exceptional but trapped by his fixation on the nameless child he had once been.
• Horus drank deeply, and Curze, Guilliman, and Sanguinius each added a drop of blood to water.
• Curze told Horus that he and his brothers shared blood and could trust one another, easing Horus’s sense of crisis.

Curze helped Horus ease his troubles with a blood-sealed covenant, while Han Mingxuan prepared Curze and Nostramo’s leaders for the Adeptus Mechanicus’s arrival. The chapter ended with Trazyn interrupting their discussion of the Mechanicus’s importance to Nostramo.

• Curze shared a blood-sealed cup with Horus, who drank it and relaxed among his brothers.
• Han Mingxuan found Curze and his brothers after work, then suggested Horus visit Lorgar at the City of Truth construction site.
• Lorgar felt a chill and briefly saw golden flames, but found no Warp corruption and returned to organizing books.
• Han Mingxuan showed Curze the notice that the Imperial Regent and Huangpizi would arrive with the Adeptus Mechanicus in three days, then met with Angrak and Herbert.
• Curze reassured Angrak and Herbert that the Evernight Code would protect Nostramo’s people and restrict the Mechanicus if they misbehaved.
• Angrak and Herbert argued that the Mechanicus’s technology was indispensable, and Trazyn arrived laughing at their claim.

Trazyn spent half a month eating across Nostramo after raising money by taking valuables from his museum exhibits. Meanwhile, Han Mingxuan received Imperial and Adeptus Mechanicus approvals to move the planet’s development forward, and Trazyn assured him that things had never been better.

• After Han Mingxuan refused to lend him money, Trazyn took valuables from his museum exhibits to fund his food-street spree.
• Trazyn ate through Nostramo’s shops and continued feasting through the night at his residence.
• Han Mingxuan received approval documents from the Adeptus Mechanicus and Malcador, then told Archmagos Angrak and Priest Herbert that Trazyn would handle technological concerns.
• Angrak and Herbert thanked Han Mingxuan and left, while he and Trazyn discussed Trazyn’s voracious appetite and newfound fame across Nostramo.

Ferrus Manus visited the nearly completed City of Truth and found Fulgrim working alongside the construction crew, chatting with a child named Nova Spes. Fulgrim told Ferrus he had become his most perfect self and could feel happiness, then they went to find Lorgar and the others.

• Ferrus Manus realized he missed Fulgrim and asked Curze where his brother was.
• Curze told Ferrus that Fulgrim had been working at the City of Truth construction site with Dorn and Lorgar.
• Ferrus found Fulgrim chatting with workers and Nova Spes, whom Fulgrim introduced as his dear friend.
• Nova praised Ferrus's forging skills, and Ferrus offered him candy while Fulgrim laughed with them.
• Fulgrim told Ferrus he felt he had become his most perfect self and could feel happiness.
• Ferrus and Fulgrim went to find Horus, the Great Angel, and Lorgar.

The Emperor arrived on Nostramo with Malcador to celebrate the completion of the City of Truth, where Malcador was astonished by Lorgar’s transformation and Curze’s hidden power. After Han Mingxuan laid the final brick, the City of Truth’s psychic force lit Lorgar’s First Lamp in the Warp.

• The Emperor brought Malcador to Nostramo, where the blue planet moved him deeply and the Adeptus Mechanicus recognized the system’s unusual technology.
• The Emperor and Malcador joined the ceremony at the City of Truth, and Malcador discovered that Lorgar had abandoned his scriptures and embraced the Imperial Truth.
• Malcador met Konrad Curze and found that golden light concealed part of the Primarch from his psychic sight.
• The Emperor laid the first brick, followed by Horus and Han Mingxuan, who declared the City of Truth complete.
• The three bricks released a psychic fluctuation that Lorgar directed into the city’s lighthouse, lighting his First Lamp in the Warp.

The Emperor crowned Lorgar in the name of truth, while Horus resolved to protect his younger brother. On Nostramo, Curze’s armour presentation became a public declaration of the planet’s laws and Han Mingxuan’s bond with his son, ending with the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion’s oath.

• The Emperor crowned Lorgar with a silver laurel, and Horus vowed to protect him as his younger brother.
• The Emperor presented Curze with armour in recognition of his position as lord of the Eighth Legion, and Curze went to the Adeptus Mechanicus ceremony attendants.
• Curze cited the Evernight Code to arrest the Adeptus Mechanicus members for their ceremonial prayers, and the Emperor publicly backed Nostramo’s right to enforce its laws.
• Curze arranged for Archmagos Angrak and Tech-Priest Herbert to bring the Power Armour to Han Mingxuan, who helped Curze put it on and told him he was proud of him.
• Han Mingxuan gave Curze a sword he had forged, and Curze led the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion in an oath to humanity, the Emperor, and the Father of Night.

After the ceremony, Malcador met Curze and praised Han Mingxuan for raising him well, while Curze and his brothers celebrated by drinking Han Mingxuan’s wine. Meanwhile, Old Kamon asked Trazyn to help his brothers fight again for the Father of Night, and Trazyn awakened his old friend Logia to seek her expertise.

• Han Mingxuan introduced Curze to Malcador, who gave Curze an Aquila pendant and invited him to ask for help in the future.
• The Emperor and Malcador praised Curze, and Han Mingxuan took them home for a meal after Curze left to celebrate with his brothers.
• Sevatar and the others admitted they had taken nearly all of Han Mingxuan’s wine, then chased after Sevatar when Han Mingxuan arrived at their base.
• Old Kamon asked Trazyn to optimize his brothers so they could fight again for the Father of Night, explaining that they sought redemption.
• Trazyn opened a phase portal to Logia’s Tomb World, activated its awakening protocol, and introduced himself to the newly awakened Logia.

Trazyn brought Jia to Han Mingxuan to discuss her resurrection, then reunited with his rival Orikan, who praised Han as the Necrons’ Reviver and warned the Emperor and Malcador not to treat him as a tool. The Silent King, Szarekh, was still traveling toward the galaxy as Han prepared to receive another guest.

• Jia learned through Trazyn’s protocol that he had returned to life, then attacked him for withholding hope of the Necrons’ revival.
• Trazyn told Jia that Old Han had two resurrection slots left and had reserved the final one for Orikan; Jia agreed to meet Han and secure her own slot.
• Trazyn took Jia to Nostramo, where Han Mingxuan, the Emperor, and Malcador discussed the possibility of future relations between humanity and the Necrontyr.
• Orikan arrived and berated Trazyn for keeping the prospect of the Necrons’ revival to himself, then praised Han as the race’s Reviver.
• Orikan warned the Emperor and Malcador that Han was entering humanity’s Sea of Destiny and must not be used as a tool.

Han Mingxuan resurrected Orikan and brought Jia to his laboratory, where she taught him Necrontyr biotechnology. The chapter ended with Jia agreeing to teach him how to integrate Blackstone Technology into genes and share that knowledge with Angrak and a Nostramo priest under strict encryption.

• Han Mingxuan took Trazyn and Orikan to Archmagos Angrak's laboratory, where Orikan used a prepared body for his resurrection.
• Trazyn and Orikan traded insults until Jia arrived and criticized the laboratory's equipment.
• Jia offered to teach Han Mingxuan Necrontyr biotechnology, and he recorded her lessons in his mind over three days.
• Han Mingxuan asked Jia about Blackstone Technology that could strengthen resistance to the Warp, then proposed sharing the knowledge with Angrak and a Nostramo priest.
• Jia agreed to teach the Blackstone-biotechnology theory on the condition that both recipients' brain regions received the highest level of encryption.

Han Mingxuan arranged for Jia to teach Archmagos Angrak and Priest Herbert Necrontyr technology after learning that they were already utterly loyal to him. He then visited the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion’s barracks to administer the Judicial Examination to its warriors.

• Han Mingxuan offered Angrak and Herbert Necrontyr technology, and they agreed to let Jia encrypt their brains for Nostramo’s future.
• After a month spent in Trazyn’s time-reversal space, Angrak and Herbert emerged with their brains encrypted, and Jia invited them to help genetically optimize Trazyn’s special warriors.
• Jia explained that Angrak and Herbert’s loyalty to Han Mingxuan had earned them the chance to work with Necrontyr technology.
• Han Mingxuan went to the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion’s base carrying books and told the reserve auxiliary troops to carry on as usual.
• Han Mingxuan prepared to give the legion’s warriors the Judicial Examination, which they needed to pass to serve as judges.

Han Mingxuan tested the Justiciar Legion in law and approved all five thousand members to go to Terra. He then learned that Old Kamon and the other Thunder Warriors had undergone genetic upgrades and pledged their loyalty to him.

• Han Mingxuan arrived at the barracks and announced a judiciary exam, requiring the Justiciars to earn an S rating or higher to go to Terra.
• Han Mingxuan questioned the assembled Justiciars for three days, and all five thousand earned at least an SS in every category.
• Han Mingxuan praised the Justiciars and ordered Curze to lead them to Terra to bring justice to the world.
• Dorn and Curze discussed future exchanges between their Legions, while Ferrus Manus proposed ties with Curze's Legion.
• Han Mingxuan learned that Old Kamon and forty-nine Thunder Warriors had received genetic upgrades from Trazyn.
• Old Kamon and the other Thunder Warriors knelt and pledged loyalty to the Father of Night.

Han Mingxuan prepared to leave Nostramo for Terra, accepted the Thunder Warriors as his Shadowbat Guard, and arranged for Trazyn and Orikan to protect the Peaceful Star System. Trazyn equipped him with powerful Necron resources, while Orikan took responsibility for the suspicious sword before Han went to meet Jia.

• Kamon and the Thunder Warriors pledged loyalty to Han Mingxuan, and he accepted them as the Shadowbat Guard.
• Han Mingxuan asked Trazyn and Orikan to watch over Nostramo and keep an eye on Lieutenant General Futia.
• Orikan calculated that the strange civilization linked to Han Mingxuan's sword was obscured by fog, and agreed to destroy the sword and replace it with a Blackstone copy.
• Orikan gave Han Mingxuan a time cloak and told him never to remove it.
• Trazyn implanted a device in Han Mingxuan's arm that contained access to the Solemnace Dynasty's armies, his collection, and the Nihilakh Dynasty's crown world.
• Trazyn told Han Mingxuan that Jia wanted to see him, so he set off to meet her.

Jia gave Han Mingxuan safeguards for his journey to humanity's crown world, including a cane with defensive and teleportation functions and a toxin-proof necklace. Meanwhile, the Emperor and Malcador met three hidden Perpetuals at Futia's dormitory, where they offered help to protect Han and stabilize Nostramo.

• Jia gave Han Mingxuan a cane containing a shield field generator, a phase teleportation device, a dimensional space, and an automatic supernova backup.
• Jia warned Han Mingxuan that physical injuries could kill him and put a toxin-proof necklace around his neck.
• The Emperor knocked Futia unconscious when she entered and recognized three Perpetuals who had concealed themselves from him.
• The three Perpetuals said they had come because Han had remade Earth and offered help to keep him alive while the planet became stable.
• Susan gave the Emperor bodily modification plans, Old Hawk offered a protective device for Han, and Klein introduced himself as a specialist in mysticism and alchemy.