Chapter Summaries

After sharing a first kiss with Ruan Mei on Punklorde, Bai Heng returned aboard a star patrol ship and caught up on his Interastral Astronomical Society emails. He later messaged Jingliu, who showed him the two Fire-lick Rabbits and joked that they could talk.

• Bai Heng and Ruan Mei shared a kiss, then clasped hands on their way back.
• Bai Heng read emails from the Interastral Astronomical Society, including Edmond's reply, and recalled how Edmond had helped him.
• Bai Heng messaged Jingliu, who said she was practicing swordsmanship and playfully repeated the answer when he asked again.
• Jingliu sent Bai Heng a selfie with the two Fire-lick Rabbits, and Bai Heng teased that they should miss their dad.
• Jingliu claimed the rabbits said they missed their mom, not their dad, leaving Bai Heng startled by her joke that the rabbits could talk.

Bai Heng chatted with Jingliu, reflected on his sword training, and was embarrassed when she sent him an old recording of his confession. After returning to Pillars of Creation, he rested, then woke to breakfast and news about recent events across the universe.

• Bai Heng asked Jingliu to prove that the two little guys could speak, and she challenged him to a swordsmanship test while asking about his training.
• Bai Heng admitted to himself that he had been slacking off and resolved to rely less on Aetherium Chips for his strength.
• Jingliu sent Bai Heng an old voice message of himself confessing that he wanted to bury his face in her hair, and he told her he was hungry.
• Bai Heng returned to Pillars of Creation after Xiao Si's fast trip and slept for fourteen System Hours.
• Bai Heng woke at 6:15 a.m., had breakfast, and listened to the Interastral Peace Broadcast report on current events.

Bai Heng practiced sword swings after hearing that he was wanted by the Ruan Fan Association, then spoke with Topaz about her Jarilo-VI debt-collection assignment and his romantic situation. He told Topaz he wanted to take responsibility for both Ruan Mei and Jingliu, leaving her horrified and advising him to buy burial insurance.

• Bai Heng heard the Corporation broadcast label him a suspect and practiced sword swings before traveling to the Interastral Astronomical Society.
• Topaz called Bai Heng to discuss her plan to evaluate Jarilo-VI’s assets and collect its bad debt.
• Topaz asked Bai Heng whether the broadcast about Ruan Mei was true, and he confirmed their relationship was real.
• Bai Heng asked Topaz how to take responsibility for two women at once, then named Jingliu as the other woman.
• Topaz called Bai Heng a scumbag and suggested he buy burial insurance.

Bai Heng asked Topaz to advise him on hiding his relationships with Ruan Mei and Jingliu, and she agreed to discuss it during a business trip to Jarilo-VI. At the Interastral Astronomical Society headquarters, Chairman Edmond summoned Bai Heng and revealed that he had called him in about the Molten Eremite.

• Topaz warned Bai Heng about the danger of choosing between Ruan Mei and Jingliu, but Bai Heng said he could not choose and planned to keep them unaware of each other.
• Topaz agreed to analyze Bai Heng's situation when she traveled to Jarilo-VI in ten days, and Bai Heng sent her information about the planet.
• Bai Heng arrived at the Interastral Astronomical Society headquarters, collected Jarilo-VI records, and received a message from Chairman Edmond asking him to visit.
• Edmond asked Bai Heng whether he had heard the morning's Interastral Peace Broadcast and said he had summoned him because of the Molten Eremite.

Bai Heng accepted Edmond’s request to investigate the Molten Knights and traveled with Xiao Si to the Falaco Star System, where the ancient armor was being excavated. At the temporary camp, he spotted a familiar figure.

• Edmond told Bai Heng about the Molten Knights and asked him to visit the excavation at the Molten Eremite.
• Bai Heng arranged the expedition, accepted Topaz’s invitation to travel to Jarilo-VI, and learned that the genetically modified Molten Knight pilots had suffered from Entropy Loss Syndrome.
• Bai Heng and Xiao Si departed Pierpoint aboard a survey ship and reached the Falaco Star System after stopping to refuel.
• Bai Heng arrived at the Molten Eremite, where three Molten Knights had been unearthed and excavation work continued.
• Bai Heng entered the temporary camp with Xiao Si to register for lodging and saw a familiar figure.

Bai Heng reunited with Herta at the Molten Eremite and learned that three excavated Molten Knights were still biologically active, making the expedition dangerous. Herta invited him to inspect a possible fourth Knight, but their trip stalled when she demanded he beg and he countered by threatening to withhold access to the Origin Chip.

• Bai Heng encountered Herta at the Molten Eremite and asked whether A Ruan had come; Herta said she was busy preparing for pregnancy, then admitted she was working on an experiment with Screwllum.
• Herta told Bai Heng that three excavated Molten Knights still carried the blood of Propagation and could revive, despite the excavation having faced no resistance.
• Bai Heng questioned the plan to transport the Knights to a laboratory in Pierpoint, and Herta explained that the Erudition Society believed the chance of them awakening was low.
• Herta said she was going to inspect the remains of a possible fourth Molten Knight, and Bai Heng decided to go with her.
• Herta demanded that Bai Heng beg before she took him, but Bai Heng warned that she could lose the chance to research the Origin Chip if she continued taking revenge on him.

Bai Heng and Herta watched the excavation of a fourth Molten Knight, which the Erudition Society named Seaborn after translating its ancient inscription. As Seaborn suddenly activated, Bai Heng sensed danger and shouted for everyone to run.

• Bai Heng and Herta arrived at the Molten Eremite excavation site as workers unearthed a fourth Molten Knight.
• Bai Heng recorded the known information about the first three Molten Knights, provisionally named Singer, Fool, and Radiance.
• Allen Jones translated the fourth Molten Knight’s inscription, and the Erudition Society named it Seaborn.
• Bai Heng sensed a dark presence in his mind and warned everyone to run.
• Blue lines and cross-shaped flames appeared across Seaborn as its mechanical voice announced that meltdown had reconnected.

Bai Heng fought the revived Molten Knight Seaborn while the Erudition Society evacuated meteor C-NUE3. After using a holographic projection to trick Seaborn, he gathered his Tai Xu Sword Intent for a counterattack.

• Seaborn revived, attacked the Erudition Society mech soldiers, and forced Bai Heng to help Allen Jones evacuate the site.
• Allen Jones ordered Wilke to warn the archaeologists and personnel to board their starships and leave the meteor.
• Bai Heng redirected Seaborn's beam through a wormhole, drawing its attention while Herta watched without intervening.
• Bai Heng used electromagnetic cannons and his longsword to fight Seaborn, but the Molten Knight gradually gained the upper hand.
• Bai Heng tricked Seaborn with a holographic projection and prepared to unleash Tai Xu Sword Qi, Divine Resonance.

Bai Heng disabled Molten Knight "Seaborn," but fled when more Molten Knights emerged, leaving Herta behind. A snow-white Molten Knight pursued him, and after two more mechs appeared, Bai Heng activated Dark Domain.

• Bai Heng used Tai Xu Sword Intent to pierce Molten Knight "Seaborn's" chest and temporarily stop it.
• When the ground cracked and more Molten Knights began emerging, Bai Heng teleported away and told Herta he would leave her to fend for herself.
• Three Molten Knights emerged, including a fast, crane-like white mech that pursued Bai Heng.
• Bai Heng tried to block the white mech with walls of stone, then stopped and prepared to use a trump card.
• Two more mechs appeared beside the white Molten Knight, and Bai Heng activated Dark Domain.

Bai Heng used the Dark Domain to evade the three Molten Knights, but Lady Death appeared and disappeared before he could escape. With the Knights closing in, he started a simulation inside the Dark Domain.

• Bai Heng kept his distance from the three Molten Knights while searching for a way out of the Dark Domain.
• Lady Death appeared and revealed that she had deleted Bai Heng's memories, but he still remembered her.
• A Molten Knight fired a beam near Bai Heng and Lady Death, prompting her to vanish in a cocoon.
• Bai Heng realized the Knights had blocked his escape and considered using the simulation system to find traits that could help him.
• Bai Heng opened the Simulation Shop, spent 1,000 Simulation Points to refresh an attempt, and began a simulation.

Bai Heng chose Fool, Clown, and Blood of the Propagation for his simulation and was born amid the Swarm Disaster on Glamour Star. His mother cared for him among the Propagation insects until she ran out of food and leaped into the swarm, leaving him alone.

• Bai Heng selected Fool, Clown, and Blood of the Propagation, then entered the life simulation.
• The simulation placed him on Mandalay Island during the Swarm Disaster, where insects emerged from pregnant women and spread across Glamour Star.
• A madwoman stayed behind on the island, sewing clothes and shoes for the newborns while the other residents fled.
• The madwoman gave birth to Bai Heng, who could wear her clothes and shoes and cry to summon her care.
• After the food ran out and the island became a ruin, the madwoman fed Bai Heng one last time, then opened the door and leaped into the insect tide.

A child abandoned by a giant locust grew up among refugees and orphans in Samoa-do, surviving by learning to read, telling stories, and finding scarce work. At five years old, the child followed two miners to a nearby mine after they offered a job.

• A giant locust carried the child from Mandalay Island to Glamour Star, then abandoned the child in Samoa-do.
• The child survived in the slums, where a priest taught them to read and older children took food from the younger ones.
• At four years old, the child read books and gathered other children to hear stories.
• At five years old, the child caught fish in locust-infested waters and told stories for bread when fishing was no longer possible.
• Two miners offered the child work, and the child followed them to a nearby mine where the snow had not fully melted.

Bai Heng entered a cave to harvest Dolin Oranges for Kokos and Jeros, who cheated him out of his promised share despite his injuries. Lost and near collapse in the snow, he was caught by a girl whose voice urged him not to die.

• Kokos and Jeros sent Bai Heng through a narrow cave entrance to collect Dolin Oranges, threatening him and disregarding the danger inside.
• Bai Heng found two giant locusts in the pit, gathered the fruit, and crawled back out covered in wounds.
• Kokos counted the thirty-one oranges, while Jeros searched Bai Heng; the miners gave him only one orange instead of the agreed reward.
• After the miners left, Bai Heng returned to the cave and took more than a dozen oranges, then became lost while walking through the snow.
• Bai Heng collapsed near a distant building, and a girl caught him as her voice urged him, "Don't die."

Bai Heng woke in the snow beside Firefly, a young girl who shared her only weekly cupcake and asked to be his friend. A siren called Firefly back to the research institute, where she said she and the other children were different from those outside.

• Bai Heng woke with his head resting on Firefly's down jacket and learned she had been watching over him.
• Firefly ran to the research institute and returned with a medical kit and a cupcake.
• Bai Heng ate the cupcake, and Firefly told him she received one each week and asked him to be her friend.
• A siren summoned Firefly back, and she left the medical kit behind because she could only spend about half an hour outside each week.
• Firefly told Bai Heng that the children at the research institute were different from the children outside.

You returned to meet Firefly at the research institute, and the two of you began sharing stories and books as she learned about the outside world. The chapter revealed that both of you had grown up without the love and freedom you longed for.

• You treated your wounds, sold seventeen Dolin Oranges, and spent a week living in a basement room in Samoa-do Town.
• You followed the miners’ trail back to the research institute and waited in the pine forest until Firefly emerged.
• You returned the medicine box and down jacket, and Firefly gave you the cupcake she had saved.
• Firefly arranged to lend you a book each week in exchange for stories about the outside world.
• Firefly longed for the natural world and freedom, while you remembered the embrace and encouragement that had been your only tenderness.

As the locust war reshaped Glamour Star, the narrator learned that their family would be relocated and decided to leave with Firefly. At the Snow Cotton Festival, Firefly shared her origins and illness with the narrator, and they promised to save the world together when they grew up.

• Entropy Ash expanded its fight against the locust plague, and refugees in Samoa-do Town began relocating to Wintergrad.
• The narrator told Firefly about the relocation and, at their next meeting, took her to Samoa-do Town for the Snow Cotton Festival.
• The narrator showed Firefly the festival and the surrounding harvest scenery, and she enjoyed the day while eating an Oak Cake Roll.
• As they watched the lights on the lake, Firefly told the narrator that she had been born in a hatchery to become a Molten Knight pilot and suffered from an incurable illness.
• The narrator and Firefly promised to save the world together when they grew up.

After Firefly disappeared, you entered an orphanage in Wintergrad and studied while developing a talent for mechanics. At ten, you were admitted to the academy training Molten Knight researchers, taking your first step toward joining Entropy Ash and helping save the world.

• Firefly left town at dawn, and you followed the refugees to Wintergrad, where the Orphanage gave you shelter, food, and lessons.
• You read extensively, earned a scholarship through your academic success, and used it to buy materials for experiments.
• You built a light bulb and a music box, then sold the music box for 2,000 credits and began earning money repairing machines.
• The Glamour Federation’s attempt to reclaim land intensified the Locust disaster, forcing its troops to halt their counterattack and the government to borrow from the Interastral Peace Corporation.
• Entropy Ash established a Molten Knight research academy, and you gained admission at age ten after a school recommendation and two interviews.

The narrator rose from scholarship student to researcher at Entropy Ash, excelling in locust and Molten Knight research while pursuing a way to spare pilots and genetically modified children from their costs. The chapter left the narrator determined to continue that work despite the rejection of their proposal for autonomous Molten Knights.

• At the academy, the narrator mastered locust dissection and live-subject experiments, eventually ranking among the top students.
• The narrator returned to Samoa-do Town and found it deserted after a locust disaster had forced its residents and institute staff to relocate.
• After receiving a love letter, the narrator rejected the confession and realized the girl they had once met was the person they thought of when considering love.
• At fifteen, the narrator joined Entropy Ash as an apprentice researcher and used dangerous locust experiments to gather data that opened a new direction for Molten Knight production.
• At sixteen, the narrator became an official researcher and published a proposal for Molten Knights with autonomous consciousness, but scholars rejected and mocked it.
• At seventeen, the narrator earned respect through other research achievements but continued seeking ways to protect Molten Knight pilots and alleviate Entropy Loss Syndrome.

Bai Heng went to meet the Molten Knight pilot assigned as his first research subject and collaborator. He recognized the silver-haired girl and murmured, “Long time no see...”

• Bai Heng received notice that Entropy Ash headquarters had assigned him a Molten Knight pilot for research.
• Sager told Bai Heng that the pilot had arrived, and Bai Heng left his dinner to meet her.
• Bai Heng found the pilot drawing on a fogged window in the reception room.
• The girl apologized for not hearing Bai Heng enter, and he recognized her as someone he had met before.

Bai Heng reunited with Firefly, his childhood friend, and learned that her Entropy Loss Syndrome was advancing rapidly. After she reassured him that she had no regrets, he resolved to personally make sure she lived well.

• Bai Heng revealed his identity to Firefly, and she recognized him as Little Bai.
• Bai Heng and Firefly shared stories about their lives since they parted, including her three years piloting the Molten Knight.
• Bai Heng decided to give Firefly a physical examination to learn why she had returned to Entropy Ash before completing her service.
• Bai Heng's examination results showed that Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome was deteriorating extremely quickly.
• Firefly told Bai Heng she was not afraid and had no regrets, and Bai Heng decided to add a rule that he would personally supervise her living well.