Chapter Summaries

The Annihilation Gang attacked the auction on Punklorde, and Herta discovered that Bai Heng could fight far better than she had expected. After Herta teleported the VIP group outside the burning Bololunzi Hotel, a fierce pressure descended on Bai Heng, and he shouted for everyone to run.

• Afrit led the Annihilation Gang’s Fire Demons in an attack on the auction, trapping the in-person guests in karmic flames.
• Herta found that altered spatial parameters would delay her escape for three minutes, while the security personnel’s weapons failed to stop the Fire Demons.
• Bai Heng used the Nameless to destroy the Fire Demons and bought Herta enough time to activate her silver ring.
• Herta teleported the VIP group to the Bololunzi Hotel entrance, where they saw the hotel burning despite the heavy rain.
• Herta praised Bai Heng’s fighting ability, but a fierce pressure descended on him, and he shouted for everyone to run.

Bai Heng was confronted by Constance and Katrina, who demanded the Seed of Destruction, an item tied to Nanook’s gaze. After using a story about witnessing golden death to distract them, he dragged Constance off the bridge into the river, leaving the confrontation unresolved as the third simulation was about to begin.

• Katrina attacked Bai Heng with her chain hammer, while Constance transported them to an isolated bridge where she introduced herself.
• Constance and Katrina demanded that Bai Heng hand over the Seed of Destruction, which he realized was connected to his sword and the soul fragment Jing Yuan had given him.
• Katrina attacked Bai Heng again, and he struggled to withstand the heat and force of her chain hammer.
• Bai Heng claimed he had witnessed golden death, making Katrina and Constance hesitate when they realized Nanook might once have looked upon him.
• Bai Heng used the pause to grab Constance and pull them both over the bridge railing into the river.

Bai Heng unlocked a unique simulation by touching the Aetherium Chip on Constance, entering a life in Punklorde as a frail but talented child. The simulation left him at five years old, when his father returned home carrying a swaddled infant.

• Bai Heng learned that Constance could sense lies and heard her offer him a choice between joining the Annihilation Gang and marrying into her family.
• Bai Heng touched the Aetherium Chip hanging from Constance and accepted a unique simulation that would take only one second in real time.
• The simulation began Bai Heng's life in District 86 of Punklorde's Great Wilderness, where his father served as administrator and his mother had left The Family to live with him.
• Bai Heng survived frequent illnesses, showed exceptional talent for numbers and Aether Editing, and received an Aetherium Chip at four years old.
• After a disaster at five years old, Bai Heng's mother used her savings and contacted her former family to help District 86's residents.
• As the year-end festival approached, Bai Heng's father returned home carrying an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Bai Heng cared for his baby sister Brownie after their parents left for the Oasis District to obtain disaster relief funds and failed to return. When he learned they had died in prison and angry townspeople ransacked their home, he used an Aetherium Chip to crush their leader and retaliated for his threats.

• Bai Heng's parents left for the Oasis District, entrusting him with Brownie while they sought disaster relief funds.
• After the promised week passed, Bai Heng rationed their dwindling food and powdered milk, then asked the townspeople for help and received rice and expired powdered milk from one family.
• A month later, townspeople broke into Bai Heng's home, accusing his father of stealing disaster relief funds and telling Bai Heng that his parents had died in prison.
• Bai Heng carried Brownie outside while the intruders searched the house, then challenged their leader when they found only the family's meager supplies.
• When the leader insulted Bai Heng's mother and threatened him, Bai Heng used his Aetherium Chip to crush the man beneath a wall and pin him down with Heavy Pressure.
• Bai Heng struck the leader's hand with an iron nail and warned him to watch his mouth.

Bai Heng used his mother's Aetherium Chip to persuade a truck caravan to take him and his baby sister Brownie in from the Great Wilderness. After years of traveling and growing up with the caravan, he left at ten to seek the Oasis District when new taxes forced the caravan to disband.

• Bai Heng offered to use his Aetherium Chip to keep the caravan warm and explained that his mother, who came from the Oasis District, had left it to him.
• The caravan leader agreed to take Bai Heng and Brownie in and provided powdered milk for the baby.
• Bai Heng and Brownie lived with the caravan for years as he learned about Aetherium Chips and cared for his sister.
• Brownie grew into a bright, silver-haired girl who remained attached to Bai Heng and joked about finding a sibling in a trash can.
• After the Punklorde Oasis Zone raised taxes on large caravans, Bai Heng said goodbye to the caravan leader and set out for the Oasis District.

After years of investigating his parents’ case while raising Silver Wolf in Punklorde, you decided to leave the Oasis District and pursue a lead at Scrap Mountain alone. On the night before Silver Wolf’s tenth birthday, you prepared her gifts and breakfast, left her a stack of birthday cards, and slipped away.

• A caravan leader used fake identification to smuggle you and Brownie into Punklorde’s Oasis District, where you struggled to survive as illegal residents.
• A fast-food restaurant owner hired you and Brownie, gave you the names Silver Wolf and White Fox, and provided them with a place to live.
• You worked at the restaurant and investigated your parents’ case while Silver Wolf attended school and spent her free time playing games with you.
• After five years of investigation, you traced the case to an Oasis District Inspectorate official and the Slag Gang at Scrap Mountain.
• You decided to leave Silver Wolf with the restaurant owner and go to Scrap Mountain alone.
• You left Silver Wolf an Aetherium Chip, eighteen birthday cards, prepared food and school clothes, and wished her a happy birthday before closing the door.

On her tenth birthday, Silver Wolf learned that Bai Heng had left with a convoy and would be gone for an unknown length of time. She clutched the photographs and birthday cards he had left behind and broke down in Windsor’s arms.

• Silver Wolf overslept, hurried to school, and only remembered it was her birthday when her classmates wished her well.
• After school, Silver Wolf returned to the restaurant expecting Bai Heng to have prepared a surprise, but Windsor told her he had left and asked her to look after Silver Wolf.
• Silver Wolf found Bai Heng’s birthday gift, an Aetherium Chip, and a card explaining that he had left with the morning convoy and would make up for missing her birthday.
• Three photographs fell from the cards, reminding Silver Wolf of the years she had spent with Bai Heng.
• Silver Wolf called Bai Heng a liar and cried as Windsor held her.

White Fox rose from a Slag Gang hacker to an Oasis District government operative while investigating Punklorde’s corrupt officials and the mystery of her parents’ deaths. As inferior Aetherium Chips began spreading into the Great Wilderness amid worsening tensions, she realized a second global network war was approaching.

• White Fox gained fame for hacking defenses across Punklorde and joined the Slag Gang, where she survived the boss’s deathmatch missions and became his confidant.
• The boss brought White Fox into dealings with the Oasis District and Owl Serpent, whose political enemies she hacked while secretly protecting some honest officials.
• White Fox discovered that officials tied to Aetherium Chip companies were widely corrupt, but she still could not identify who had caused her parents’ deaths.
• After selectively destroying Owl Serpent’s political enemies, White Fox entered the government and became a subject of fascination in upper-class circles.
• An inferior Aetherium Chip developed in the Great Wilderness began spreading as the region’s conflict with the Oasis District intensified, prompting White Fox to fear a second global network war.

As war clouds gathered over Punklorde, you advanced your Dark Domain research and rose into the core ranks of the Punklorde Network Corporation while hearing rumors of a young hacker searching for White Fox. The attack began when the city’s traffic systems failed and drones rained down on Punklorde, ending with the message “Game, begin.”

• You intensified your hacking and Dark Domain research as Punklorde prepared for war and Silver Wolf left the fast-food restaurant, occasionally asking whether Bai Heng had returned.
• At twenty, you nearly breached the Dark Domain and became a first-class inspector after Owl Serpent’s promotion, gaining access to confidential Aetherium Chip materials.
• You heard that a young hacker in Scrap Mountain had attacked a Slag Gang stronghold and was searching for her older brother, White Fox.
• Traffic signals across Punklorde malfunctioned, paralyzing the roads and causing accidents.
• Drones fell from the sky and attacked vehicles, buildings, and crowds as projections across the city displayed “Game, begin.”

Bai Heng discovered that Owl Serpent had brought the Aetherium Chips to Punklorde and that the war was connected to the Annihilation Gang. After finding the Origin Chip, he used it to challenge every hacker and paralyze Punklorde’s global network, at the cost of his rapidly fading vitality.

• Bai Heng entered the Dark Domain, learned Owl Serpent had caused the war, and found the Origin Chip without facing any enemies.
• Bai Heng visited Silver Wolf’s abandoned basement, saw that she had beaten his arcade records, and reclaimed them.
• Bai Heng gave food to two orphaned girls and promised to end the war after learning their parents had died.
• Bai Heng used the Origin Chip to enhance his body and mind, then challenged every hacker in Punklorde through the Dark Domain.
• Bai Heng endured three minutes of attacks, bleeding and losing vitality, before Punklorde’s global network fell into paralysis.

Bai Heng used the Aetherium Chip to paralyze Punklorde’s network, then confronted Owl Serpent at the corporation’s central control center. He left Owl Serpent at gunpoint and revealed that he was the game’s bug.

• Punklorde Network Corporation’s central control team discovered that the network across the Oasis District and the Great Wilderness had paralyzed after a hacker counterattack.
• Bai Heng restored his body temporarily with the Aetherium Chip and entered the company headquarters while its systems were down.
• Bai Heng told Owl Serpent that a hacker had pulled Punklorde’s hackers into the Dark Domain, then suggested they speak somewhere private.
• Owl Serpent refused and had soldiers aim their guns at Bai Heng when he reached into his pocket.
• Bai Heng’s lighter transformed into a submachine pistol, while his Firearm Nullification program jammed the soldiers’ weapons.
• Bai Heng told Owl Serpent, “Because I'm this game's bug.”

After ending the war, Bai Heng was branded a criminal and hunted across Punklorde for possessing the Origin Chip. With only two days left and his defenses failing, he was joined by a silver-haired girl who offered to help him fight back.

• Bai Heng crippled Punklorde's global network, and the Origin Chip made him a target for the Punklorde Network Corporation and other forces.
• Punklorde's authorities spread accusations that White Fox had caused the war and stolen the Origin Chip, turning the city against Bai Heng.
• Bai Heng endured relentless attacks and mourned the people he had hoped to visit before his remaining time ran out.
• A girl with long silver-gray hair arrived, saved Bai Heng from fuel bombs, and proposed that the two genius hackers team up.

Bai Heng and Silver Wolf escaped to the Great Wilderness after destroying the upper floors of Punklorde Network Corporation headquarters, where he collapsed from his injuries. At Silver Wolf’s hidden home, they reunited and talked about their past, ending with Bai Heng questioning her appearance.

• Bai Heng asked Silver Wolf to help him give Punklorde Network Corporation a parting gift, then escaped with her on a modified motorcycle while she teleported the mercenaries’ gunfire away.
• Bai Heng and Silver Wolf destroyed the headquarters floors above the sixty-fourth floor, sparing the lower floors where ordinary employees worked.
• Two system hours later, Bai Heng began coughing blood as the effects of his cartridge editor wore off, and Silver Wolf supported him to her abandoned-amusement-park hideout.
• Silver Wolf showed Bai Heng her basement home and asked why he had left her behind five years earlier; he apologized and explained his reasons.
• Silver Wolf asked about Bai Heng’s parents, introduced her virtual friends, and avoided talking about the hardships she had endured alone.
• Bai Heng asked why Silver Wolf, a minor, wore a black ear stud and blue streaks in her silver hair.

Bai Heng activated the Dark Domain to stop the forces hunting him, but The Deceased saved him in exchange for all his memories. After their deal erased him from others’ memories, an amnesiac Bai Heng was arrested and recruited by Professor Edmond to join the Interastral Astronomical Society.

• Bai Heng cooked dinner for Silver Wolf, stayed up gaming with her, and covered her with a blanket after she fell asleep.
• When helicopters and drones approached, Bai Heng teleported Silver Wolf to safety and apologized before activating the Dark Domain, trapping his pursuers inside it.
• Bai Heng glimpsed a girl inside a silver cocoon, then awoke in the Dark Domain and met The Deceased, who revealed that she had saved him.
• The Deceased offered to let Bai Heng leave if she could take all his memories, and he accepted before dancing with her.
• Bai Heng awoke on a snowy plain with no memories and was arrested by an Interastral Peace Corporation transport.
• Professor Edmond confirmed Bai Heng’s amnesia and persuaded the corporation’s board to let him join the Interastral Astronomical Society.

Silver Wolf’s childhood memories in the basement arcade ended when she joined Kafka, Blade, and the others, and Bai Heng completed the Punklorde simulation. After returning to the chaotic space, Bai Heng used the Origin Chip to resist the death threads and declared that Constance would be buried with the graveyard of Destruction.

• Silver Wolf returned to the basement arcade, replayed her childhood games, and wondered about the blank name atop the high-score records.
• Silver Wolf lost a long hacker-domain battle to an unidentified opponent, then joined Kafka, Blade, and the others as her Punklorde game ended.
• Bai Heng received his simulation rewards, including Punklorde Spirit, Origin Chip usage rights, and access to the Dark Domain.
• Bai Heng sensed deathly threads burning his soul in the chaotic space and loosened his grip on Constance’s throat.
• Bai Heng resisted the death threads and told Constance that the graveyard of Destruction would be buried along with her.

Bai Heng used his enhanced strength and the Origin Chip’s spatial transfer ability to drive Katrina and Constance off Golden Arch Bridge. After bluffing them into retreating, he collapsed from the cost of editing his body.

• Katrina noticed a black vortex and dahlia forming in the river before Bai Heng attacked her with his sword.
• Constance landed beside Katrina and warned her that Bai Heng had taken the chip and was too strong to handle.
• Bai Heng used spatial transfer and a powerful sword strike to blast Katrina into a bridge pillar.
• Bai Heng told the two members of the Annihilation Gang to leave, and Constance retreated with Katrina.
• After they vanished, Bai Heng admitted he had bluffed them and collapsed in the rain from his injuries.

After the Stellaron Hunters recovered the Stellaron on Punklorde, Bai Heng woke up in Ruan Mei’s lap and discussed the Origin Chip and the recent chaos with her and Herta. The group ended the conversation with Herta explaining why she had let Duke Inferno escape and how the Stellaron Hunters had handled him.

• At the Bololunzi Hotel, Kafka persuaded Sam to wait while Silver Wolf returned, and Sam agreed to give her three system hours.
• Bai Heng woke from a dreamlike near-death state with his head on Ruan Mei’s lap and considered the dangerous powers he could use as a last resort.
• Bai Heng found Herta watching over him and traded teasing remarks with her before Ruan Mei redirected them to business.
• Bai Heng showed Herta the Origin Chip and explained how Constance had dragged him into the dream.
• Ruan Mei told Bai Heng that the Stellaron Hunters had ended the chaos at the Bololunzi Hotel and taken the Stellaron, while Herta said she could have crushed Duke Inferno but had chosen not to.

Bai Heng and Ruan Mei visited a fast-food restaurant in Punklorde, where Bai Heng revisited a place from his past. In the basement arcade, he found a message addressed to Silver Wolf, leaving him with a new mystery.

• Herta invited Bai Heng to test the Simulated Universe, and Ruan Mei agreed on the condition that she calibrate it and send Herta the data.
• Herta left for the Space Station, while Bai Heng invited Ruan Mei to visit a place in Punklorde.
• Bai Heng took Ruan Mei to a fast-food restaurant, where she tried its food and liked the egg custard cake best.
• Bai Heng learned the restaurant's basement arcade had been converted into storage, then used the owner's key to enter it.
• Bai Heng activated an arcade machine and found a new War Wheel 32 record-holder's message: "Now it's your turn—Silver Wolf."

Bai Heng recognized Silver Wolf’s message on the arcade screen and reflected on how his memories and past might have led him to the Interastral Astronomical Society. While spending time with Ruan Mei in the restaurant basement, he explained that he had once known Silver Wolf as an older brother before she forgot him, then diverted Ruan Mei’s teasing questions about his romantic past.

• Bai Heng recognized Silver Wolf’s message and considered how his past, erased memories, and simulations fit together.
• Bai Heng made space for Ruan Mei in the basement and demonstrated a curled-up gaming posture, placing headphones over her ears.
• Ruan Mei recognized Silver Wolf’s name and asked Bai Heng whether he knew her.
• Bai Heng said he had lived on Punklorde, met Silver Wolf as an older brother, and was later forgotten by her.
• Ruan Mei reflected that forgetting could be an ending, while Bai Heng said new feelings could sprout again and compared their connection to fate.
• Ruan Mei teased Bai Heng about winning women’s favor, and he jokingly called himself an introvert to change the subject.

Bai Heng spent the day playing games and exploring Punklorde with Ruan Mei, taking her to the Central Aquarium. As they shared memories and discussed their feelings, he called her his white moonlight of six hundred years and kissed her.

• Bai Heng beat Silver Wolf’s record in War Wheel 32, then played cooperative games with Ruan Mei until sunset.
• Bai Heng left Credits with the fast-food restaurant’s owner and asked him to preserve an old machine for a possible returning customer.
• Bai Heng took Ruan Mei to Punklorde Central Aquarium, where they shared a cotton candy rice ball skewer and watched the virtual marine scenes.
• Ruan Mei recalled how she had once overlooked emotions and admitted she still struggled to respond to Bai Heng’s feelings.
• Bai Heng told Ruan Mei that he had liked her since he was two, and Ruan Mei said she had realized her feelings only after he was gone.
• Ruan Mei asked what she meant to Bai Heng, and he called her his white moonlight of six hundred years before kissing her.